Consumers' purchase intention of rapid COVID-19 tests

PurposeThis research aims to analyse the variables related to the purchase intention of COVID-19 rapid tests in Monterrey, Mexico's metropolitan area.Design/methodology/approach The chosen method was probit regression. The results show that purchase intention depends on the consumer's perceived value and the perception of having a potential contagion and/or presenting symptoms related to the virus. Regarding limitations, the sampling method used in this investigation is a nonprobabilistic convenience approach delivered through a digital platform, which may not be the first option in other contexts.FindingsThe findings indicate that the probability of the purchase intention of rapid COVID tests increases when consumers perceive symptoms of the disease and when they have higher education or are female rather than concerning price or income, as suggested by classical demand theory.Research limitations/implicationsProbabilistic sampling was impossible due to the difficulty of collecting surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, a nonprobabilistic sample of a representative random selection of different zip codes from the responses received was considered.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper is its contribution to consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Latin American context.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Diagnosis and Therapy of Single Hepatocellular Carcinoma Less Than 3 Cm in a Western Country

Introduction: The aim of a cancer screening program is to reduce cancerrelated mortality. For that reason patients with liver cirrhosis are enrolled into surveillance through biannual ultrasonography plus AFP to detect single hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) less than 3 cm, best candidates to apply therapies with curative intent. This study evaluates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the time between detection, diagnosis, and treatment in patients with uninodular HCC < = 3 cm. The secondary objective is to assess the number and sequence of tests needed to achieve the final diagnosis. Aims & Methods: Retrospective inclusion of consecutive patients with final diagnosis of single HCC <= 3 cmat ourcentre. Baseline clinical and analytical variables, date of detection, diagnosis, treatment / entry on the transplant waiting list and the sequence of tests performed (CT, MRI, biopsy) were recorded. Time to diagnosis (period from detection to diagnosis), time to treatment (from diagnosis to date of treatment/entry on the waiting list) and overall time (the sum of the above) were defined. The results were analyzed globally and divided into two periods: pre-COVID (Jan-15 to Feb-2020) and COVID (Mar-20 to the present). Result(s): From Jan 27th2015 to Dec 27th2021, 128 patients of 685 had a final diagnosis of single HCC <= 3 cm, 18% in the pre-COVID era and 22% in the COVID era. Baseline characteristics: median age 64 years old, 84% males, aetiology: alcohol 46%, hepatitis C 39%, fatty liver disease 5%. Child-Pugh class A 86%, BCLC-0 29%, BCLC-A 71%. Median size 20.5 mm, median AFP 5 ng/mL. Only 74% were diagnosed within the screening program. Thermal ablation was applied in 58 patients, liver transplantation in 29, surgical resection in 21 and intraarterial therapy in 16. Twelve patients were left in natural history. Diagnosis was reached by non-invasive criteria (imaging) in 112 patients and by biopsy in 16.The tests performed are shown in the TABLE 1. No statistically significant differences were found in the diagnostic capacity between multiphasic CT (67.6%) and dynamic MRI (73.3%), p-value 0.113. There were no differences in the diagnostic method (imaging versus biopsy) according to the size of the nodule (21.43 mm vs. 21.13 mm), p-value 0.199;nor in the number of studies performed according to the sequence (CT-MR-Biopsy vs MR-CT-Biopsy vs others), p-value 0.746. There were no significant differences neither in the proportion of tumors diagnosed between 10-20 mm and 21-30 mm on the pre-COVID vs COVID era, p-value 0.80, nor in the therapy applied (surgical versus loco-regional, p-value 0.639). Time to diagnosis, time to treatment, and overall time are shown in TABLE 2. Significant differences were found in the time to treatment between the pre-COVID and COVID eras:8 weeks vs 11 weeks, p-value 0.038. Conclusion(s): The COVID pandemic did not affected the proportion of single HCC <=3 cm diagnosed, but it increased the median time from diagnosis to treatment.

REGULATE OR ABOLISH SEX WORK? FEMINIST APPROACHES TO THE SEX INDUSTRY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

This chapter develops analytical and comparative approaches on the advance of the sexual exploitation industry in Eurozone countries, addressing specific regulations and norms on what is called sex work (when regulated by the state) or prostitution (countries with abolitionist normative frameworks). Indeed, in scenarios of economic and health recession due to Covid-19, this issue is controversial and of urgency in the public agenda due to the scarcity of statistical records that can account for the impact of the sexual exploitation market on women and feminized bodies and in relation to gender equality and equity indexes, as well as public policies. As a working assumption, it is proposed that there is a “sociological erasure” on the impact of the sexual exploitation industry on populations of high social vulnerability. Methodologically, on the one hand, a comparative analysis of indicators relevant to gender equality and human rights is developed, using second-order data to compare European countries with antagonistic legal regulations on the sex market. On the other hand, the perceptions, discourses and representations of experts in the field and key informants related to the sex market are analyzed. Finally, it is concluded that coercive prostitution affects feminized corporalities, especially migrant and poor women. Therefore, prostitution should be considered a violation of human rights and should be evidenced as an emergent of gender violence. Information and analysis regarding this industry are required to know how to intervene and contribute to reach new levels of gender equality, and to provide timely assistance to those who need it, according to the objectives for the Eurozone established in agreement with UNICEF’s global Goal 5. © Emerald Group Holdings Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Has COVID affected the treatment of oncology patients?: a descriptive study of treatments from 2019 to 2021

Background and importanceThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on cancer diagnosis and treatment worldwide.Aim and objectivesTo describe patients in oncology treatments comparing 2019, 2020, and 2021 to September 2021.Material and methodsA descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital from January 2019 to September 2021. Inclusion criteria were patients undergoing parenteral and oral oncology treatment. Variables were: gender, age, diagnosis, patients with oral and parenteral oncology treatments dispensed by the Pharmacy Service. Data were collected from the electronic medical record (FarmaTools).ResultsDuring the study period, 1010 patients were treated with parenteral and 402 with oral antineoplastics. The average age was 67±23.7 years (51.6% male). In the group of parenteral treatments the main diagnoses in 2019 were: vesical carcinoma (VC) (14%), metastasic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) non-squamous (NS) noALK noEGFR (7.1%) and metastatic KRAS and NRAS mutated colorectal cancer (mCC) (6%);in 2020 were VC (13%), mNSCLC NS noALK noEGFR (6.2%) and adjuvance in breast cancer (mBC) noHER2 and positive hormonal receptor (+HR) (5.6%);and in 2021 (to September) VC (9%), metastasic NSCLC NS noALK noEGFR (5,9%) and KRAS and NRAS mutated mCC (5.9%). In treatment with oral antineoplasics in 2019: adjuvance CC (27.6%), mBC noHER2 +HR (20%) and metastasic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) (10.5%);in 2020 mBC noHER2 +HR (20%), adjuvance CC (12.5%) and mCRPC (10.5%);and in 2021 mBC noHER2 +HR (21%), adjuvance CC (11.8%) and mCRPC (7.8%). 364 patients were treated by an intravenous route in 2021, 356 in 2020 and 290 in 2021. 105 patients were treated by oral treatment in 2019, 144 in 2020 and 153 in 2021. Patients treated in metastasic stages were 241 in 2019, 254 in 2020 and 234 in 2021.Conclusion and relevanceIn 2020, there was a decrease in patients treated with KRAS and NRAS mutated mCC and an increase in adjuvance BC. Regarding oral treatment, patients on adjuvant treatment with colorectal cancer decreased in 2020. The increase in the number of patients on oral treatments from 2019 to 2021 is notable, and the important role that telemedicine has had from 2020 and the home delivery of medication by pharmacy services, thus reducing hospital visits. Further studies are needed to confirm this.References and/or acknowledgementsConflict of interestNo conflict of interest

ESG Risk Disclosure and Earning Timelines in the Mexican Capital Market Using Fuzzy Logic Regression

This study analyzes whether ESG risk information disclosures impact on earnings per share to confirm accounting conservatism in Mexico. The main objective is to determine if nonfinancial information disclosure, such as the ESG risk metric, affects the quality the earning timeliness in Mexico. This re-search was conducted during 2020 using a sample of 31 listed companies from the Mexican capital market. However, due to the volatility and uncertainty of the 2020 profits due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, an alternative method to estimate under this environment is necessary. Thus, to estimate the model, we applied the fuzzy regression. The results suggest that the impact of the market reaction (positive or negative returns) on the financial performance is ambiguous since there is a probability of 41% to obtain a positive or direct effect of market returns on financial performance. However, this probability rises to 100% if the firms increase the ESG risk to medium, high, or severe levels. On other words, the “bad socially responsible news” increases the impact of the market reaction to financial performance. These results suggest the presence of accounting conservatism in the Mexican capital market in 2020 due to the negative disclosures of ESG risks. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Learning Analytics to Detect Evidence of Fraudulent Behaviour in Online Examinations

Lecturers are often reluctant to set examinations online because of the potential problems of fraudulent behaviour from their students. This concern has increased during the coronavirus pandemic because courses that were previously designed to be taken face-to-face have to be conducted online. The courses have had to be redesigned, including seminars, laboratory sessions and evaluation activities. This has brought lecturers and students into conflict because, according to the students, the activities and examinations that have been redesigned to avoid cheating are also harder. The lecturers' concern is that students can collaborate in taking examinations that must be taken individually without the lecturers being able to do anything to prevent it, i.e. fraudulent collaboration. This research proposes a process model to obtain evidence of students who attempt to fraudulently collaborate, based on the information in the learning environment logs. It is automated in a software tool that checks how the students took the examinations and the grades that they obtained. It is applied in a case study with more than 100 undergraduate students. The results are positive and its use allowed lecturers to detect evidence of fraudulent collaboration by several clusters of students from their submission timestamps and the grades obtained.

An Avenue to Social Equilibrium

The purpose of the second part of the third part of the book is to show how the theory translates into reality. That is why the most important factors studied in the first and second parts of the book are concluded in this chapter. The first part of the chapter is addressed to examine the personal characteristics and motivation of the social entrepreneur, that is, it is focused on the micro approach. The second part is addressed to analyze the institutional context, that is, it comprehends the macro approach. Based on this, the chapter shows the stages followed by social entrepreneurs to shift the context. The legitimation process is the base of this shift. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The role of social health work during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This article aims to review the narrative of the existing literature in reference to Social Health Work (TSS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing the literature written so far and publicizing three different experiences in population and palliative care services, showing the health and social impact for the affected people, their families and for the rest of the community. Methodology: Review of the published literature on the intervention of the TSS in times of COVID-19 in the field of palliative care. Results: Highlight the difficulty in finding publications regarding TSS experiences in the face of the pandemic, beyond the recommendations for intervention from the general councils of Social Work and the official schools themselves. Share three experiences of intervention by the TSS, in the field of palliative care during the time of COVID19, that highlight the effectiveness of the contingency plans developed, which were key to being able to cover the needs detected in the adult and child population since concrete experiences, as well as sharing future proposals after analyzing the results obtained.