Calculation of the variance in surveys of the economic climate

Public opinion surveys have become progressively incorporated into systems of official statistics. Surveys of the economic climate are usually qualitative because they collect opinions of businesspeople and/or experts about the long-term indicators described by a number of variables. In such cases the responses are expressed in ordinal numbers, that is, the respondents verbally report, for example, whether during a given trimester the sales or the new orders have increased, decreased or remained the same as in the previous trimester. These data allow to calculate the percent of respondents in the total population (results are extrapolated), who select every one of the three options. Data are often presented in the form of an index calculated as the difference between the percent of those who claim that a given variable has improved in value and of those who claim that it has deteriorated. As in any survey conducted on a sample the question of the measurement of the sample error of the results has to be addressed, since the error influences both the reliability of the results and the calculation of the sample size adequate for a desired confidence interval. The results presented here are based on data from the Survey of the Business Climate (Encuesta de Clima Empresarial) developed through the collaboration of the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) with the Chambers of Commerce (Cámaras de Comercio) of Sabadell and Terrassa

Service availability and readiness for hip fracture care in low- and middle-income countries in South and Southeast Asia

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the current pathways of care for patients with a fracture of the hip in five low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in South Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka) and Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines). Methods: The World Health Organization Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool was used to collect data on the care of hip fractures in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Respondents were asked to provide details about the current pathway of care for patients with hip fracture, including pre-hospital transport, time to admission, time to surgery, and time to weightbearing, along with healthcare professionals involved at different stages of care, information on discharge, and patient follow-up. Results: Responses were received from 98 representative hospitals across the five countries. Most hospitals were publicly funded. There was consistency in clinical pathways of care within country, but considerable variation between countries. Patients mostly travel to hospital via ambulance (both publicly- and privately-funded) or private transport, with only half arriving at hospital within 12 hours of their injury. Access to surgery was variable and time to surgery ranged between one day and more than five days. The majority of hospitals mobilized patients on the first or second day after surgery, but there was notable variation in postoperative weightbearing protocols. Senior medical input was variable and specialist orthogeriatric expertise was unavailable in most hospitals. Conclusion: This study provides the first step in mapping care pathways for patients with hip fracture in LMIC in South Asia. The previous lack of data in these countries hampers efforts to identify quality standards (key performance indicators) that are relevant to each different healthcare system

Decision Making for Inconsistent Expert Judgments Using Negative Probabilities

In this paper we provide a simple random-variable example of inconsistent information, and analyze it using three different approaches: Bayesian, quantum-like, and negative probabilities. We then show that, at least for this particular example, both the Bayesian and the quantum-like approaches have less normative power than the negative probabilities one.Comment: 14 pages, revised version to appear in the Proceedings of the QI2013 (Quantum Interactions) conferenc

The Term Equity in Education: A Literature Review with Scientific Mapping in Web of Science

In this section you can acknowledge any support given which is not covered by the author contribution or funding sections. This may include administrative and technical support, or donations in kind (e.g., materials used for experiments).The term “equity” (EQUI) is a complex concept to be defined, because it depends on many factors, mainly political ideals. The objective of this research is to determine the evolution and development of the term equity in education by the scientific community. The main objective is to identify the scientific production and performance of the term equity in the field of education. The research method developed is based on bibliometrics, specifically on the technique of scientific mapping, and a process of quantification, analysis, evaluation and estimation of scientific documents was developed. The results indicate there is no established line of research or strong connections between the themes. This shows the existing variety of research on the term equity. Thus, the trend in research on the term equity is focused on the early periods of study on the students’ diversity in order to evolve to more concrete and specific aspects of equity, such as gender and race. It is concluded that the theoretical framework of reference shows how equity should be incorporated into the education system under the parameters of equal opportunities, of equality in access to higher education, regardless of gender or socio-cultural background.Proyecto de investigacion I+D Reference: ISPRS-2017-2021Corporacion Escuela Tecnologica del Oriente y Secretaria de Educacion de Santander (Colombia) & University of Granad

Correlations between various hardness ratios of gamma-ray bursts

We study correlations between various hardness ratios of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and investigate if there are any differences between the two classes of the objects in the distributions of the ratios. The results suggest that, statistically, the slope of the higher part of the spectrum of the long duration bursts has nothing to do with that of the lower part; emissions at higher energy bands from the bursts of both short and long duration classes must be significantly different for different sources, while radiations at lower energy bands of the objects are relatively similar; the spectrum of the short duration bursts must be harder than that of the long duration bursts, confirming what the well-known hardness-duration correlation reveals; the profiles of the spectra between the long duration bursts must be more similar than that between the short duration bursts. The long duration bursts would share more common properties than the short duration bursts. A possible interpretation is proposed with the concept of the Doppler boosting in the relativistic beaming model in AGNs.Comment: 38 pages, 30 figure

Seminario Impactos del COVID-19 en la industria de los biocombustibles

Aporta información sobre las repercusiones de las medidas contra el COVID-19 en el consumo, precio y producción de los mercados del petróleo y los biocombustibles Destaca la caída en el consumo y los precios de combustibles derivados del petróleo durante los primeros meses de pandemia en los países de América Latina. Reporta que, aunque la producción de biocombustibles disminuyó durante el mismo período, algunas cadenas de producción cultivos que utilizados como biomasa se mantuvieron activa