Universidad Espíritu Santo

The Influence of Culture on the Childbirth Experience: A Comparative Study of Women From Muslim and Christian Backgrounds

BACKGROUND: Childbirth is one of the most significant experiences in a woman's life, shaped by personal, healthcare, and cultural factors. It is widely recognized as a key indicator of obstetric care quality and woman-centered approaches. This study aimed to compare childbirth ex...

Dynamic Learning by Importing: New Insights Using the Local Projections Approach and Matching Techniques

ABSTRACT We study the dynamic effect of learning by importing on the productivity of Ecuadorian manufacturing firms that start to import intermediate inputs. To this end, we apply the local projections methodology to firm‐level data combined with matching techniques. Our results...

Sustainability Transitions: The Role of Private Sector Development, Human Rights Protection, and Energy Transition in Sustainable Development and Ecological Footprint

ABSTRACT Despite global cooperation, increased efforts toward the energy transition, and improved voluntary national commitments, progress toward the 2030 Agenda remains slow and uneven, highlighting the need for more effective governance and stronger policy interventions. Accord...

Maternal Influenza Infection During Pregnancy and Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Offspring

Importance Evidence on maternal influenza infection during pregnancy and offspring neuropsychiatric risk remains inconsistent and limited by methodologic concerns. Objective To evaluate the association of maternal influenza infection during pregnancy and offspring neuropsychiatri...

Overlap of Subcutaneous Adiposity Across World Health Organization Body Mass Index-for-Age Categories and Anthropometric Correlates of Handgrip Strength in Children Aged 6–12 Years Participating in Organised Club Sport in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Background/Objectives: Body mass index (BMI) is the most widely used screening tool in paediatric nutritional assessment, but it does not measure body fat directly and conveys no information on muscular development. We aimed to (i) compare the sum of six skinfolds (Σ6ST) across W...

Associations of the will to live with loneliness and psychological resilience in young and middle-aged Turkish adults

The will to live is a key motivational resource related to meaning, adaptation, and well-being. Most previous research has focused on older adults in Western countries, with limited evidence in younger populations and non-Western contexts. This study examined the relationships be...

Evaluating airline service quality using a Pythagorean fuzzy multi-criteria group decision-making framework

Growing competition in the airline industry has made service quality evaluation an increasingly important yet complex Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making (MCGDM) problem. Service quality depends on several interrelated attributes, and passenger or expert assessments are often su...

Beyond the Happy–Productive Worker: A Serial–Parallel Indirect-Effects Model of Organizational Justice, Climate, and Job Performance in Ecuadorian Higher Education

This study examines how organizational justice (OJ) and organizational climate (OCL) are statistically associated with self-reported job performance (JP) through job satisfaction (JS), work engagement (WE), and organizational commitment (ORC) among faculty in Ecuadorian public hi...

Firm growth, age and the intensity of international trade: evidence from Ecuadorian manufacturing firms

Purpose This paper examines whether firm age moderates the relationship between international trade intensity and firm performance, and whether this relationship differs across the firm-growth distribution. Design/methodology/approach Using a comprehensive administrative panel of...

Relación entre las prácticas de evaluación diagnóstica y la adaptación de estrategias didácticas en instituciones educativas fiscales

La evaluación diagnóstica constituye una práctica pedagógica necesaria para reconocer conocimientos previos, dificultades, ritmos de aprendizaje y necesidades del estudiantado en instituciones educativas fiscales. El objetivo del artículo fue analizar la relación entre las prácti...

Sociodemographic and Anthropometric Determinants of Body Dissatisfaction in a Sample of Spanish Adolescents: The EHDLA Study

Body dissatisfaction is prevalent among adolescents and linked to adverse outcomes. This study examined sociodemographic and anthropometric factors associated with body dissatisfaction in Spanish adolescents. Cross-sectional data from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities...

Do climate shocks induce technological change? Firm-level evidence from wildfire exposure and robot adoption

Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine whether wildfire exposure is related to firms’ adoption of industrial robots. The study focuses on Chinese manufacturing firms over 2001–2014 and analyzes whether the wildfire–automation relationship varies across adoption margins, fina...

Evidence-Guided SEM–EDX Assessment of Electrodeposited Copper on a Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode: A Retrospective Case Study

Copper-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes require morphological and compositional assessment before further functionalization. This retrospective single-electrode study organizes SEM–EDX evidence into local composition, local coating interpretation, strip-region localizati...

Dydrogesterone and inflammatory marker regulation: a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis

Objective To evaluate the effects of dydrogesterone on systemic inflammatory biomarkers in women across different reproductive and hormonal clinical contexts compared with placebo or other pharmacological interventions.Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis followed PRI...

Clinical and functional characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among smokers and never-smokers: a retrospective cross-sectional observational study at a specialist center in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2023–2025

Abstract Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) also occurs in people who have never smoked, particularly in settings where pulmonary tuberculosis and household biomass exposure remain common. We aimed to compare clinical and functional characteristics of smokers...

Occupational Risk of Histoplasma capsulatum Exposure among Field Biologists in Ecuador: Evidence from Skin Testing and Serology

Abstract Histoplasma capsulatum, a dimorphic fungus, is the causative agent of histoplasmosis, a respiratory disease with a wide clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe pulmonary or disseminated disease. Although Ecuador is recognized as an endemic country...

Can a card-based educational game enhance functional anatomy knowledge in first-year medical students? A mixed-methods study

Anatomy is a foundational yet cognitively demanding subject in undergraduate medical education. Although game-based learning has shown potential to enhance engagement and assessment performance, evidence remains limited for low-cost, single-session, card-based interventions desig...

Advances in artificial intelligence and geomatics technology for the transformation of global agri-food systems: A review

Abstract The world’s rapidly growing population is driving up food demand and placing significant pressure on natural resources, posing major challenges to agricultural sustainability. Ensuring food security requires integrating innovative technologies that enhance productivity w...

Mental Health and Psychological Constructs Related to Performance in Professional, Semi-Professional, and Competitive Adolescent Women’s Soccer Players: A Scoping Review

Background: Mental health has become a fundamental component of the sports world. Although previous studies have addressed psychological aspects of women’s soccer, no comprehensive review has mapped both mental health symptoms and adaptive psychological resources and psychophysio...

Geopolitical risk and renewable energy consumption: distributional patterns, innovation, and energy-exporter heterogeneity

Purpose This paper aims to examine how the relationship between geopolitical risk and renewable energy consumption varies across the conditional distribution. It also assesses renewable-energy innovation as a partial channel and energy-exporter status as a moderator. Design/metho...