An optimal transportation approach for assessing almost stochastic order

When stochastic dominance $F\leq_{st}G$ does not hold, we can improve agreement to stochastic order by suitably trimming both distributions. In this work we consider the $L_2-$Wasserstein distance, $\mathcal W_2$, to stochastic order of these trimmed versions. Our characterization for that distance naturally leads to consider a $\mathcal W_2$-based index of disagreement with stochastic order, $\varepsilon_{\mathcal W_2}(F,G)$. We provide asymptotic results allowing to test $H_0: \varepsilon_{\mathcal W_2}(F,G)\geq \varepsilon_0$ vs $H_a: \varepsilon_{\mathcal W_2}(F,G)<\varepsilon_0$, that, under rejection, would give statistical guarantee of almost stochastic dominance. We include a simulation study showing a good performance of the index under the normal model

Letter to the editor

AbstractThis letter shows how the main result contained in a paper recently appeared in the Journal of Multivariate Analysis was in fact a particular case of a more general theorem published three years before

A 1973-2008 archive of climate surfaces for NW Maghreb

Climate archives are time series. They are used to assess temporal trends of a climate-dependent target variable, and to make climate atlases. A high-resolution gridded dataset with 1728 layers of monthly mean maximum, mean and mean minimum temperatures and precipitation for the NW Maghreb (28ºN-37.3ºN, 12ºW-12ºE, 1-km resolution) from 1973 through 2008 is presented. The surfaces were spatially interpolated by ANUSPLIN, a thin-plate smoothing spline technique approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), from georeferenced climate records drawn from the Global Surface Summary of the Day (GSOD) and the Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly (GHCN-Monthly version 3) products. Absolute errors for surface temperatures are approximately 0.5ºC for mean and mean minimum temperatures, and peak up to 1.76ºC for mean maximum temperatures in summer months. For precipitation, the mean absolute error ranged from 1.2 to 2.5 mm, but very low summer precipitation caused relative errors of up to 40% in July. The archive successfully captures climate variations associated with large to medium geographic gradients. This includes the main aridity gradient which increases in the S and SE, as well as its breaking points, marked by the Atlas mountain range. It also conveys topographic effects linked to kilometric relief mesoforms.Focus on Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia North of 28ºNDeSurvey IP (European Commission FP6 contract No. 003950), MesoTopos (Junta de Andalucia PE P08-RNM-04023) and MELODIES (European Commission FP7, contract No. 603525)Ye

Models for the Assessment of Treatment Improvement: The Ideal and the Feasible

Comparisons of different treatments or production processes are the goals of a significant fraction of applied research. Unsurprisingly, two sample problems play a main role in statistics through natural questions such as. Is the the new treatment significantly better than the old. However, this is only partially answered by some of the usual statistical tools for this task. More importantly, often practitioners are not aware of the real meaning behind these statistical procedures. We analyze these troubles from the point of view of the order between distributions, the stochastic order, showing evidence of the limitations of the usual approaches, paying special attention to the classical comparison of means under the normal model. We discuss the unfeasibility of statistically proving stochastic dominance, but show that it is possible, instead, to gather statistical evidence to conclude that slightly relaxed versions of stochastic dominance hold.Research partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y fondos FEDER, grants MTM2014-56235-C2-1-P and MTM2014-56235-C2-2, and by Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León, grant VA212U13

La rítmica -música en movimientocomo estrategia de reeducación corporal y rehabilitación psicosocial en personas con problemas de salud mental

Este artículo tiene como objetivo principal analizar la eficiencia de un programa artístico de reeducación corporal y su repercusión en el comportamiento físico, cognitivo, emocional y socioafectivo de un grupo de adultos con problemas de salud mental. Se presenta el trabajo emprendido durante 5 meses con personas con problemas de salud mental en fase de rehabilitación que asisten a un centro de día en Barcelona. La interacción entre las necesidades físicas y emocionales de los participantes, el favoritismo musical y los principios metodológicos de la rítmica Dalcroze: imitación, reacción, improvisación, orientaron este trabajo personalizado de música, ritmo y movimiento a la reeducación corporal y la rehabilitación psicosocial. Se utiliza el método cualitativo fenomenológico interpretativo, fundamentado en la valoración de las experiencias rítmicas de una muestra (n=10) configurada por un grupo de 10 adultos de edades comprendidas entre 34 y 61 años. El uso de instrumentos cualitativos: Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Scale, grupos de discusión, entrevistas y diario de reflexión proporcionaron los datos que confirman los beneficios de la rítmica en la activación corporal, cognitiva y socio-afectiva. La práctica de la rítmica -música en movimiento- implica la respuesta física y la atención, motiva la autoestima, la memoria motriz y la creatividad y mejora la dimensión expresiva verbal-no verbal, la confianza, la autonomía y la sociabilidad. This paper has as the main purpose of analyzing the efficiency of an artistic body reeducation program and its impact on the physical, cognitive, emotional and socio-affective behavior of a group of adults with mental health problems. The work undertaken for 5 months is presented with people with problems of mental health rehabilitation phase in attending a day center in Barcelona. The interaction between the physical and emotional needs of participants, the musical favoritism and the methodological principles of the Dalcroze rhythmic: Imitation, reaction, improvisation, oriented this custom work of music, rhythm and movement to the body re-education and psycho-social rehabilitation. The qualitative interpretative phenomenological method is used, based on the valuation of the rhythmic experiences of a sample (n = 10) set up by a group of 10 adults aged between 34 and 61 years . The use of qualitative instruments: Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Scale (COTE), group discussions, interview and journal of reflection provided data that confirm the benefits of the rhythmic activation body, cognitive and affective. The rhythmic -music in motion- practice involves the physical response and attention, encourages self-esteem, motor memory and creativity and improves the verbal non-verbal expressive dimension, trust, autonomy and sociability