Self-defined information indices: application to the case of university rankings

[EN] University rankings are now relevant decision-making tools for both institutional and private purposes in the management of higher education and research. However, they are often computed only for a small set of institutions using some sophisticated parameters. In this paper we present a new and simple algorithm to calculate an approximation of these indices using some standard bibliometric variables, such as the number of citations from the scientific output of universities and the number of articles per quartile. To show our technique, some results for the ARWU index are presented. From a technical point of view, our technique, which follows a standard machine learning scheme, is based on the interpolation of two classical extrapolation formulas for Lipschitz functions defined in metric spaces-the so-called McShane and Whitney formulae-. In the model, the elements of the metric space are the universities, the distances are measured using some data that can be extracted from the Incites database, and the Lipschitz function is the ARWU index.The third and fourth authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (Spain), Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, and FEDER, under Grant MTM2016-77054-C2-1-P. The first author gratefully acknowledge the support of Catedra de Transparencia y Gestion de Datos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia y Generalitat Valenciana, Spain.Ferrer Sapena, A.; Erdogan, E.; Jiménez-Fernández, E.; Sánchez Pérez, EA.; Peset Mancebo, MF. (2020). Self-defined information indices: application to the case of university rankings. Scientometrics. 124(3):2443-2456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03575-6S244324561243Aguillo, I., Bar-Ilan, J., Levene, M., & Ortega, J. (2010). Comparing university rankings. 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Generating new indicators on universities by linking data in open platforms. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68(2), 508–529.Cobzaş, Ş., Miculescu, R., & Nicolae, A. (2019). Lipschitz functions. Berlin: Springer.Deza, M. M., & Deza, E. (2009). Encyclopedia of distances. Berlin: Springer.2019 U-Multirank ranking: European universities performing well. https://ec.europa.eu/education/news/u-multirank-publishes-sixth-edition-en .Dobrota, M., Bulajic, M., Bornmann, L., & Jeremic, V. (2016). A new approach to the QS university ranking using the composite I-distance indicator: Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(1), 200–211.Falciani, H., Calabuig, J. M., & Sánchez Pérez, E. A. (2020). Dreaming machine learning: Lipschitz extensions for reinforcement learning on financial markets. Neurocomputing, 398, 172–184.Kehm, B. M. (2014). Global university rankings—Impacts and unintended side effects. European Journal of Education, 49(1), 102–112.Lim, M. A., & Øerberg, J. W. (2017). Active instruments: On the use of university rankings in developing national systems of higher education. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 1(1), 91–108.Luo, F., Sun, A., Erdt, M., Raamkumar, A. S., & Theng, Y. L. (2018). Exploring prestigious citations sourced from top universities in bibliometrics and altmetrics: A case study in the computer science discipline. Scientometrics, 114(1), 1–17.Marginson, S. (2014). University rankings and social science. European Journal of Education, 49(1), 45–59.Pagell, R. A. (2014). Bibliometrics and university research rankings demystified for librarians. Library and information sciences (pp. 137–160). Berlin: Springer.Rao, A. (2015). Algorithms for Lipschitz extensions on graphs. Yale University: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 10010433.Rosa, K. D., Metsis, V., & Athitsos, V. (2012). Boosted ranking models: A unifying framework for ranking predictions. Knowledge and Information Systems, 30(3), 543–568.Saisana, M., d’Hombres, B., & Saltelli, A. (2011). Rickety numbers: Volatility of university rankings and policy implications. Research Policy, 40(1), 165–177.Tabassum, A., Hasan, M., Ahmed, S., Tasmin, R., Abdullah, D. M., & Musharrat, T. (2017). University ranking prediction system by analyzing influential global performance indicators. In 2017 9th International Conference on Knowledge and Smart Technology (KST) (pp. 126–131) IEEE.Van Raan, A. F. J., Van Leeuwen, T. N., & Visser, M. S. (2011). Severe language effect in university rankings: Particularly Germany and France are wronged in citation-based rankings. Scientometrics, 88(2), 495–498.von Luxburg, U., & Bousquet, O. (2004). Distance-based classification with Lipschitz functions. Journal of Machine Learning Research, 5, 669–695

Self-defined information indices: application to the case of university rankings

University rankings are now relevant decision-making tools for both institutional and private purposes in the management of higher education and research. However, they are often computed only for a small set of institutions using some sophisticated parameters. In this paper we present a new and simple algorithm to calculate an approximation of these indices using some standard bibliometric variables, such as the number of citations from the scientific output of universities and the number of articles per quartile. To show our technique, some results for the ARWU index are presented. From a technical point of view, our technique, which follows a standard machine learning scheme, is based on the interpolation of two classical extrapolation formulas for Lipschitz functions defined in metric spaces—the so-called McShane and Whitney formulae—. In the model, the elements of the metric space are the universities, the distances are measured using some data that can be extracted from the Incites database, and the Lipschitz function is the ARWU index

Diagnostic imaging techniques of the respiratory tract of sheep

Diagnostic imaging techniques are very useful non-invasive methods to obtain medical images for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases in sheep. The use of ultrasound and thermographic cameras must be enhanced at farm level with the objective of assisting in the diagnosis of major respiratory diseases present in sheep farms. X-ray and, particularly, computed tomography are very interesting tools to facilitate the understanding of the main pathological processes in sheep, especially at the respiratory level. This article shows more than 40 images of thermograms, X-ray, ultrasonography and computed tomography of the most significant respiratory diseases in sheep

A new strategy to maximize organic matter valorization in municipalities: combination of urban wastewater with kitchen food waste and its treatment with AnMBR technology

[EN] The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of treating the kitchen food waste (FW) jointly with urban wastewater (WW) in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) by anaerobic membrane technology (AnMBR). The experience was carried out in six different periods in an AnMBR pilot-plant for a total of 536 days, varying the SRT, HRT and the food waste penetration factor (PF) of food waste disposers. The results showed increased methane production of up to 190% at 70 days SRT, 24 hours HRT and 80% PF, compared with WW treatment only. FW COD and biodegradability were higher than in WW, so that the incorporation of FW into the treatment increases the organic load and the methane production and reduces sludge production (0.142 vs 0.614 kg VSSkg removed COD-1, at 70 days SRT, 24 hours HRT and 80% PF, as compared to WW treatment only).This research work was possible thanks to financial support from Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETE0/2012/029) which is gratefully acknowledged. Besides, support from FCC Aqualia participation in INNPRONTA 2011 IISIS IPT-20111023 project (partially funded by The Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) is gratefully acknowledged.Moñino Amorós, P.; Aguado García, D.; Barat, R.; Jiménez, E.; Giménez, J.; Seco, A.; Ferrer, J. (2017). A new strategy to maximize organic matter valorization in municipalities: combination of urban wastewater with kitchen food waste and its treatment with AnMBR technology. Waste Management. 62:274-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.02.006S2742896

Use of antifungal Saponin SC-2 of Solanum chrysotrichum for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis: in vitro studies and clinical experiences

Saponin SC-2 from Solanum chrysotrichum showed antifungal activity, demonstrated in vitro, which inhibited the growth of dermatophytes, and in vivo, to be effective in the treatment against tinea pedis and pityriasis capitis. Fungistatic and fungicidal activity of saponin SC-2 on Candida albicans and other Candida species, fluconazole and ketoconazole resistaent strains was demostrated. SC-2-associated ultrastructural alterations in several Candida species were observed. An exploratoryclinical, randomized, double-blind, and controlled ketoconazole study of ketoconazole was conducted with the aim of assessing the effectiveness and tolerability of an herbal medicinal product containing SC-2, on women with Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). The results exhibited a percentage of therapeutic clinical effectiveness similar to that of ketoconazole (X2, p .0.30), but obtained a smaller percentage of mycological effectiveness, and 100% tolerability. In conclusion, saponin SC-2 possesses fungicidale and fungistatic activity on Candida albicans and other multi resistant Candida species, causes morphological changes and fungal death, and it is an alternative therapy for the treatment of VVC.Key words: Solanum chrysotrichum, saponins, antifungal activity, vulvovaginal candidiasis, alternative therapy

The Category of Node-and-Choice Forms, with Subcategories for Choice-Sequence Forms and Choice-Set Forms

The literature specifies extensive-form games in many styles, and eventually I hope to formally translate games across those styles. Toward that end, this paper defines $\mathbf{NCF}$, the category of node-and-choice forms. The category's objects are extensive forms in essentially any style, and the category's isomorphisms are made to accord with the literature's small handful of ad hoc style equivalences. Further, this paper develops two full subcategories: $\mathbf{CsqF}$ for forms whose nodes are choice-sequences, and $\mathbf{CsetF}$ for forms whose nodes are choice-sets. I show that $\mathbf{NCF}$ is "isomorphically enclosed" in $\mathbf{CsqF}$ in the sense that each $\mathbf{NCF}$ form is isomorphic to a $\mathbf{CsqF}$ form. Similarly, I show that $\mathbf{CsqF_{\tilde a}}$ is isomorphically enclosed in $\mathbf{CsetF}$ in the sense that each $\mathbf{CsqF}$ form with no-absentmindedness is isomorphic to a $\mathbf{CsetF}$ form. The converses are found to be almost immediate, and the resulting equivalences unify and simplify two ad hoc style equivalences in Kline and Luckraz 2016 and Streufert 2019. Aside from the larger agenda, this paper already makes three practical contributions. Style equivalences are made easier to derive by [1] a natural concept of isomorphic invariance and [2] the composability of isomorphic enclosures. In addition, [3] some new consequences of equivalence are systematically deduced.Comment: 43 pages, 9 figure

White dwarf-main sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3 : the unresolved 100 pc volume-limited sample

We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both components. The stellar parameters are compared to those from the currently largest catalogue of close WDMS binaries, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find important differences between the properties of the Gaia and SDSS samples. In particular, the Gaia sample contains WDMS binaries with considerably cooler white dwarfs and main sequence companions (some expected to be brown dwarfs). The Gaia sample also shows an important population of systems consisting of cool and extremely low-mass white dwarfs, not present in the SDSS sample. Finally, using a Monte Carlo population synthesis code, we find that the volume-limited sample of systems identified here seems to be highly complete (≃ 80 ± 9 per cent), however it only represents ≃9 per cent of the total underlying population. The missing ≃91 per cent includes systems in which the main sequence companions entirely dominate the SEDs. We also estimate an upper limit to the total space density of close WDMS binaries of ≃ (3.7 ± 1.9) × 10-4 pc-3.Fil: Rebassa Mansergas, A. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Solano, E.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiologí­a; EspañaFil: Jiménez Esteban, F. M.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiologí­a; EspañaFil: Torres, S.. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Rodrigo, C.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiologí­a; EspañaFil: Ferrer Burjachs, A. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Córsico, Francisco Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin

Physics demos for all UVEG degrees: a unique project in Spain

The Physics Demo Project at the University of Valencia (www.uv.es/fisicademos) has developed a collection of physics demonstrations to be used during lectures. It consists of more than 130 experimental demos about different physics topics. More than 30 professors borrow them whenever they lecture on physics in any of our 40 courses in 17 different science or technical degrees, involving 246 ECTS and more than 3500 students. Each demo kit with a simple experimental set displays a particular physics phenomenon. An on-line user guide highlights the main physics principles involved, instructions on how to use it and advices of how to link it to the theoretical concepts or to technical applications. Demo lectures (and collections) are a usual and widespread practice in many countries but not in Spain. This unique initiative aims at the recovery of this practice by involving a growing collaborative team of users and with the aid of educational innovation projects. Here we explain the project content, organization and recent developments. Our experience, together with the positive students comments, allows us to draw the following conclusions: demos introduce the real sensible world in the lecture hall, providing the necessary link between concepts and everyday life, and becoming, again, something more than "chalk and talk"

Quality indicators in radiation oncology: proposal of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) for a continuous improvement of the quality of care in oncology.

Purpose Current cancer treatment options include surgical intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The quality of the provision of each of them and their effective coordination determines the results in terms of benefit/risk. Regarding the radiation oncology treatments, there are not stabilised quality indicators to be used to perform control and continuous improvement processes for healthcare services. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology has undertaken a comprehensive project to establish quality indicators for use with the information systems available in most Spanish healthcare services. Methods A two-round Delphi study examines consensus of several possible quality indicators (n = 28) in daily practice. These indicators were defined after a bibliographic search and the assessment by radiation oncology specialists (n = 8). They included aspects regarding treatment equipment, patient preparation, treatment, and follow-up processes and were divided in structure, process, and outcome indicators. Results After the evaluation of the defined quality indicators (n = 28) by an expert panel (38 radiation oncologist), 26 indicators achieved consensus in terms of agreement with the statement. Two quality indicators did not achieve consensus. Conclusions There is a high degree of consensus in Spanish Radiation Oncology specialists on which indicators in routine clinical practice can best measure quality. These indicators can be used to classify services based on several parameters (patients, equipments, complexity of the techniques used, and scientific research). Furthermore, these indicators allow assess our current situation and set improvements’ objectives.pre-print241 K