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Abstract Question In people who have undergone surgical carpal tunnel release, do sensorimotor-based exercises performed on the touchscreen of a tablet device improve outcomes more than a conventional home exercise program prescribed on paper? Design Randomised, parallel-group trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants Fifty participants within 10 days of surgical carpal tunnel release. Intervention Each participant was prescribed a 4-week home exercise program. Participants in the experimental group received the ReHand tablet application, which administered and monitored exercises via the touchscreen. The control group was prescribed a home exercise program on paper, as is usual practice in the public hospital system. Outcome measures The primary outcome was functional ability of the hand, reported using the shortened form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were grip strength, pain intensity measured on a 10-cm visual analogue scale, and dexterity measured with the Nine-Hole Peg Test. Outcomes were measured by a blinded assessor at baseline and at the end of the 4-week intervention period. Results At Week 4, functional ability improved significantly more in the experimental group than the control group (MD –21, 95% CI –33 to –9) on the QuickDASH score (0 to 100). Although the mean estimates of effect on the secondary outcome also all favoured the experimental group, none reached statistical significance: grip strength (MD 5.6 kg, 95% CI –0.5 to 11.7), pain (MD –1.4 cm, 95% CI –2.9 to 0.1), and dexterity (MD –1.3 seconds, 95% CI –3.7 to 1.1). Conclusion Use of the ReHand tablet application for early rehabilitation after carpal tunnel release is more effective in the recovery of functional ability than a conventional home exercise program. It remains unclear whether there are any benefits in grip strength, pain or dexterity. Trial registration ACTRN12618001887268. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: People with disabilities constitute a collective that requires continuous and customized attention, since their conditions or abilities are affected with respect to specific standards. People with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), or those who have suffered brain injury at some stage after birth, belong to this collective. The treatment these people require is mainly a continuous relearning process, as they must relearn to walk, read or even interact with their environment. This relearning is critical during the first two years after suffering brain damage. Thus, any assistance in the relearning process in the first two years is of paramount importance for their recovery. This paper describes the activities carried out in the course of developing a tool, HABITAT, to assist people with ABI. A description of the activity patterns that are used in the relearning process is provided. This paper also describes the experiment conducted in collaboration with ADACE (Association of Acquired Brain Injury of Castilla-La Mancha) to evaluate if the use of a computer-based treatment is accepted by people with ABI. This experiment was developed by recording several treatment sessions and passing out questionnaires. The analysis of the questionnaires reveals that computer-based treatment is especially accepted by younger people, increases the motivation of the patient, and reduces the activity completion time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Amidst the growing interest in enhancing the academic understanding of the relationships between e-shopping and transport, a key element remains underexplored – the impact of e-shopping on spatial accessibility to in-store retail. The paper studies variations in multimodal accessibility to in-store retail between e-shopper groups and the associated spatial effects. The research is based on a face-to-face questionnaire, administered in the city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain), which provides data on socio-economic characteristics, e-shopping habits, and travel time preferences to reach in-store retail. Clustering techniques serve to identify three e-shopper groups: occasional e-shoppers with a car, infrequent e-shoppers with a car, and frequent e-shoppers without a car. A comparison of e-shopper distance-decay functions to reach in-store retail is made, revealing significant differences between the three e-shopper groups for car and public transport for any time interval. However, for walking such differences are limited to time intervals between 10 and 40 min. Distance-decay functions are processed through a gravity-based model, identifying five categories of multimodal accessibility places that provide information on how in-store retail locations may be affected by e-shopping habits. The paper closes with concluding remarks on policy-making and a few pathways for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along their professional career, nurses can find patients who require palliative care (PC). It is necessary to have at least a basic education in this area, that should be acquired during their university education. The objective of this descriptive online-survey set in five nursing Colleges was to analyze Spanish nursing students' knowledge in PC, offering an image of the status of education in PC. 619 students took an online questionnaire with the Spanish version of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN-SV), which also collected information about their education in the field of PC. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed, and a predictive binary logistic regression model was developed. Students obtained an average 45.65% of right answers in PCQN-SV, with differences related to the college and academic year in which they were enrolled and to their education in PC. In the regression model having theoretical education in PC (OR = 1.70) and academic year (OR = 1.35) showed to be both predictors of getting a result in PCQN-SV over 45% of correct answers. This study showed that Spanish nursing students have a medium-low level of knowledge in PC, and it also supports the need to develop a common framework for nurses' education in PC. • This paper offers a picture of the heterogeneity of palliative care education received by nursing students in Spain. • Theoretical and practical education in palliative care is necessary for students to acquire adequate levels of knowledge. • This paper evinces the need for an homogenous education in palliative care in the different Spanish nursing colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Chronic patients are frequent users of healthcare services and are prone to hospital admissions. In Valencia (Spain) the Valcronic programme aims to manage chronic patients through different levels of telemonitoring and telecare. This paper examines the impact of the Valcronic programme on self-perceived HRQOL in a one-year period and on perceptions of satisfaction and usefulness in a sample of older adults with chronic diseases. Methods The sample ( n = 74) was randomly selected from Valcronic users and was stratified considering different variables. HRQOL was assessed using the EQ-5D questionnaire at two points in time: before the beginning of the Valcronic programme and after a one-year follow-up. Satisfaction and usefulness were evaluated one year after users’ inclusion. Results The whole sample experienced improvement, although not significant, of its HRQOL; patients over 75 showed impairment. Patients with at least one problem in the EQ-5D dimensions decreased after one year (82.43% vs. 74.32%). Users’ perceptions of satisfaction and usefulness were highly positive. Conclusions Our sample benefited from the Valcronic programme, experiencing an improvement in their HRQOL, a decreased use of health resources or high satisfaction levels. Implications Further adjustments are needed to address a comprehensive response to the needs of the global population of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a descriptive survey on human grasps. Sixty-four videos were selected to represent tasks performed in the main areas of activities of daily living (ADL) (personal care, meal preparation, eating, housekeeping, etc.). All the participants were right-handed. Elementary grasps were identified for each hand, and the grasp type (from a 9-type classification), the hands involved, and the duration were registered for each case. The results show that the most commonly used grasps are: pinch, non-prehensile, cylindrical, lateral pinch and lumbrical. The presence of these grasps in the areas of ADL is, however, very different (e.g., pinch is widely used in food preparation and very little in driving). Some grasps were used more frequently with one hand or when both hands were used simultaneously (e.g., special pinch was hardly used by the left hand). Knowing the grasp types most frequently used in ADL is essential to be able to assess grasp rehabilitation processes or hand prostheses development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Kinship care represents 46% of all out-of-home care placements in Spain and 80% of all foster care placements. Therefore, the role of fostering relatives, most of whom (about 70%) are grandparents, is particularly relevant in the Spanish child care system. In 1998 we carried out a descriptive study on profiles of kinship care in Spain, including children, birth parents, fostering relatives and patterns of process and intervention, with a sample of 568 cases. This paper presents a follow-up study of a part of this group who were adults in 2006, aimed at assessing their transition to adulthood. A subset of 143 young adults was eligible for this follow-up study, which consists of a personal interview and questionnaires. We were able to assess a sample of 67 young adults in this way, and collect some relevant information on another 56 cases. The results show that only a small part of the sample present serious problems of social exclusion (9%), whilst 70% have found employment or are in higher education and with a relatively stable life, even though, in general, their jobs are of a low-skilled nature. We also discuss other important aspects, such as the frequent loss (through death) of grandparent foster carers and the lack of help and support from the authorities for their kinship carers perceived by the young people themselves. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we address the problem of personalization and automatic generation of museum visits with mobile devices guidance. We propose here a ubiquitous software and hardware infrastructure that supports, in a collaborative way, the generation of museum handheld-based visits. Particularly, we define the problem to be solved as an instance of the Orienteering Problem. We present an implementation of a distributed algorithm in which every computing element of the ubiquitous infrastructure contributes to the generation of sub-optimal solutions that meet the user requirements. Finally, we discuss some experimental results that validate the proposed ideas and the results obtained by a questionnaire answered by real visitors. This questionnaire was filled in during the largest deployment of this technology in Spain in which 100 Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were made available to visitors as part of the exhibition “Sorolla: Vision of Spain”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Motivation and satisfaction are two concepts widely studied in tourism literature; the relevance of these constructs being derived from their impact on tourist behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between motivation and visitor satisfaction. A survey questionnaire was distributed to visitors at a rural destination in Spain and the data analysed by ANOVA, factor and cluster analyses. The results verified our hypothesis that motivation is a determinant of the visit assessment criteria and, as a direct consequence, of the level of satisfaction (specific factors) of the visitor. However, this investigation also detected the existence of certain elements, which are independent of the reasons that motivated the journey (general factors), but which affect general satisfaction. Based on our findings, implications for management and marketing are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As in other products, quality labels that designate the origin of lamb meat are increasingly used by consumers as a cue for inferring the quality of the meat. The aim of the present paper is to identify those factors that most affect the purchase of lamb with an origin quality label. For this purpose a total of 371 questionnaires were carried out in the region of Aragón located in the north east of Spain. This region produces 48.5% of the total amount of lamb meat with a Spanish protected geographical indication, whilst it also has the country’s greatest per capita consumption (6.8kg/person/year). To identify the most determining factors a logistic regression analysis was performed between three groups of buyers, characterised by their degree of loyalty towards purchasing origin quality-labelled lamb. The results show that those buyers who are less loyal to the label pay less attention to the origin of the meat when forming quality expectations at the time of purchase, whilst these are the buyers that place greatest importance on animal feeding as an aspect affecting the final quality of lamb meat. The buyers that are very loyal to the quality label associate this label with a product that offers greater guarantees and is healthier. Lamb meat buyers with medium loyalty to quality labels, consider quality-labelled lamb meat has better intrinsic attributes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study describes the process that was followed in the construction and validation of the foreign language attitudes and goals survey (FLAGS), a new questionnaire based on qualitative data from Tragant and Muñoz [Tragant, Muñoz, C., 2000. La motivación y su relación con la edad en un contexto escolar de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. In: Muñoz, C. (Ed.), Segundas lenguas. Adquisición en el Aula. Ariel, Barcelona, Barcelona, pp. 81–105]. FLAGS was developed taking into account as much as possible the conditions in which language learners in Spain come into contact with English at secondary school and outside school. The following sections describe the pretesting and piloting phases of the survey involving internal reliability checks as well as analyses of response and construct validity. Going through these phases has allowed us to elaborate a final version of the survey including 41 items clustered around three attitudinal factors (‘General motivation’ and ‘Appeal for English’; ‘Attitudes towards instruction’ and ‘Language Self-efficacy’) and three goal orientations (‘Professional/Academic’, ‘Functional’ and ‘Xenophilic’). The paper ends with a claim to reconsider the concept of integrative motivation, which is absent in our data as well as in other late studies where English is a foreign language as well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]