This paper provides an empirical assessment of whether the world economy has become smaller in terms of economic distance over the last decades. We adopt a cross-sectional spatial econometric approach, relating domestic output volatility to (distance-weighted averages of) other countries' output volatility, using a sample of 135 countries and rolling 10-year time windows over the period 1955 to 2006. Using descriptive measures, test statistics, and spatial econometric estimates, we find that cross-country interdependence was virtually insignificant in the early post-war period but has increased strongly from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s and remained at a high level since then. Results for the most recent period suggest that common shocks to output volatility have a magnified impact and roughly quadruplicate through international spillover effects, which are transmitted through both trade and financial openness.

Abstract Background: Gastroenteritis is a common infection and the leading cause of morbidity worldwide and is mostly caused by viruses. Outbreaks appear in both developed and developing countries and result in large economic costs. Rapid detection is important for appropriate treatment, control and to prevent the spread of infection.  Objective: Evaluation and performance comparison between the BioFire®FilmArray® Torch System gastrointestinal panel and the Molecular BD MAXTMenteric viral panel to indicate a multiplex method for viral gastroenteritis diagnostic in a routine laboratory setting.  Material and methods: In this study, 58 different samples were used which consisted of selected stool specimens from patients who were tested and treated for gastroenteritis infection at Uppsala Academic Hospital and Norrlands University Hospital in Umeå during 2018-2021, samples from Quality control for molecular diagnostics viral gastroenteritis EQA pilot study during 2018-2019 and cultivated strains of different adenovirus species from 2018. All samples were analyzed with both systems for comparison of detected pathogens.  Results: Sensitivity and specificity values were 95% and 100% respectively for the BioFire®FilmArray®Torch System and 100% and 93.3% for the BD MAXTMSystem.   Conclusions: Bothsystems are rapid and adequate diagnostic tools. The BioFire®FilmArray®Torch System with greater coverage has the ability of detecting more pathogens and is more promising particularly in the occasional infection circumstance. The BD MAXTMSystem demonstrated almost the same results and seems to be a better option in times of an outbreak when the numbers of patients are significantly higher.