Corrected Evolutive Kendall's tau Coefficients for Incomplete Rankings with Ties: Application to Case of Spotify Lists

[EN] Mathematical analysis of rankings is essential for a wide range of scientific, public, and industrial applications (e.g., group decision-making, organizational methods, R&D sponsorship, recommender systems, voter systems, sports competitions, grant proposals rankings, web searchers, Internet streaming-on-demand media providers, etc.). Recently, some methods for incomplete aggregate rankings (rankings in which not all the elements are ranked) with ties, based on the classic Kendall's tau coefficient, have been presented. We are interested in ordinal rankings (that is, we can order the elements to be the first, the second, etc.) allowing ties between the elements (e.g., two elements may be in the first position). We extend a previous coefficient for comparing a series of complete rankings with ties to two new coefficients for comparing a series of incomplete rankings with ties. We make use of the newest definitions of Kendall's tau extensions. We also offer a theoretical result to interpret these coefficients in terms of the type of interactions that the elements of two consecutive rankings may show (e.g., they preserve their positions, cross their positions, and they are tied in one ranking but untied in the other ranking, etc.). We give some small examples to illustrate all the newly presented parameters and coefficients. We also apply our coefficients to compare some series of Spotify charts, both Top 200 and Viral 50, showing the applicability and utility of the proposed measures.This research was funded by the Spanish Government, Ministerio de Economia y Competividad, grant number MTM2016-75963-P.Pedroche Sánchez, F.; Conejero, JA. (2020). Corrected Evolutive Kendall's tau Coefficients for Incomplete Rankings with Ties: Application to Case of Spotify Lists. Mathematics. 8(10):1-30. https://doi.org/10.3390/math8101828S130810Diaconis, P., & Graham, R. L. (1977). Spearman’s Footrule as a Measure of Disarray. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 39(2), 262-268. doi:10.1111/j.2517-6161.1977.tb01624.xMoreno-Centeno, E., & Escobedo, A. R. (2015). Axiomatic aggregation of incomplete rankings. IIE Transactions, 48(6), 475-488. doi:10.1080/0740817x.2015.1109737Criado, R., García, E., Pedroche, F., & Romance, M. (2013). A new method for comparing rankings through complex networks: Model and analysis of competitiveness of major European soccer leagues. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 23(4), 043114. doi:10.1063/1.4826446Fortune 500https://fortune.com/fortune500/Academic Ranking of World Universities ARWU 2020http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2020.htmlCWTS Leiden Ranking 2020https://www.leidenranking.com/ranking/2020/listThe Hot 100https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100Fagin, R., Kumar, R., Mahdian, M., Sivakumar, D., & Vee, E. (2006). Comparing Partial Rankings. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 20(3), 628-648. doi:10.1137/05063088xCook, W. D., Kress, M., & Seiford, L. M. (1986). An axiomatic approach to distance on partial orderings. RAIRO - Operations Research, 20(2), 115-122. doi:10.1051/ro/1986200201151Yoo, Y., Escobedo, A. R., & Skolfield, J. K. (2020). A new correlation coefficient for comparing and aggregating non-strict and incomplete rankings. European Journal of Operational Research, 285(3), 1025-1041. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2020.02.027Pedroche, F., Criado, R., García, E., Romance, M., & Sánchez, V. E. (2015). Comparing series of rankings with ties by using complex networks: An analysis of the Spanish stock market (IBEX-35 index). Networks and Heterogeneous Media, 10(1), 101-125. doi:10.3934/nhm.2015.10.101Criado, R., García, E., Pedroche, F., & Romance, M. (2016). On graphs associated to sets of rankings. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 291, 497-508. doi:10.1016/j.cam.2015.03.009KENDALL, M. G. (1938). A NEW MEASURE OF RANK CORRELATION. Biometrika, 30(1-2), 81-93. doi:10.1093/biomet/30.1-2.81Kendall, M. G., & Smith, B. B. (1939). The Problem of $m$ Rankings. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 10(3), 275-287. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177732186Bogart, K. P. (1973). Preference structures I: Distances between transitive preference relations†. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 3(1), 49-67. doi:10.1080/0022250x.1973.9989823Bogart, K. P. (1975). Preference Structures. II: Distances Between Asymmetric Relations. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 29(2), 254-262. doi:10.1137/0129023Cicirello, V. (2020). Kendall tau sequence distance: Extending Kendall tau from ranks to sequences. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Industrial Networks and Intelligent Systems, 7(23), 163925. doi:10.4108/eai.13-7-2018.163925Armstrong, R. A. (2019). Should Pearson’s correlation coefficient be avoided? Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 39(5), 316-327. doi:10.1111/opo.12636Redman, W. (2019). An O(n) method of calculating Kendall correlations of spike trains. PLOS ONE, 14(2), e0212190. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212190Pihur, V., Datta, S., & Datta, S. (2009). RankAggreg, an R package for weighted rank aggregation. BMC Bioinformatics, 10(1). doi:10.1186/1471-2105-10-62Pnueli, A., Lempel, A., & Even, S. (1971). Transitive Orientation of Graphs and Identification of Permutation Graphs. Canadian Journal of Mathematics, 23(1), 160-175. doi:10.4153/cjm-1971-016-5Gervacio, S. V., Rapanut, T. A., & Ramos, P. C. F. (2013). Characterization and Construction of Permutation Graphs. Open Journal of Discrete Mathematics, 03(01), 33-38. doi:10.4236/ojdm.2013.31007Golumbic, M. C., Rotem, D., & Urrutia, J. (1983). Comparability graphs and intersection graphs. Discrete Mathematics, 43(1), 37-46. doi:10.1016/0012-365x(83)90019-5Emond, E. J., & Mason, D. W. (2002). A new rank correlation coefficient with application to the consensus ranking problem. Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, 11(1), 17-28. doi:10.1002/mcda.313Spotify Reports Second Quarter 2020 Earningshttps://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-07-29/spotify-reports-second-quarter-2020-earningsCompany infohttps://newsroom.spotify.com/company-info/Bussines Wirehttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200429005216/en/Swanson, K. (2013). A Case Study on Spotify: Exploring Perceptions of the Music Streaming Service. Journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association, 13(1), 207-230. doi:10.25101/13.10Microsoft Retires Groove Music Service, Partners with Spotifyhttps://www.theverge.com/2017/10/2/16401898/microsoft-groove-music-pass-discontinued-spotify-partnerSpotify Launches on PlayStation Music Todayhttps://blog.playstation.com/2015/03/30/spotify-launches-on-playstation-music-today/You Can Now Share Music from Spotify to Facebook Storieshttps://techcrunch.com/2019/08/30/you-can-now-share-music-from-spotify-to-facebook-storiesMähler, R., & Vonderau, P. (2017). Studying Ad Targeting with Digital Methods: The Case of Spotify. Culture Unbound, 9(2), 212-221. doi:10.3384/cu.2000.1525.1792212Analyzing Spotify Data. Exploring the Possibilities of User Data from a Scientific and Business Perspective. (Supervised by Sandjai Bhulai). Report from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdamhttps://www.math.vu.nl/~sbhulai/papers/paper-vandenhoven.pdfGreenberg, D. M., Kosinski, M., Stillwell, D. J., Monteiro, B. L., Levitin, D. J., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2016). The Song Is You. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(6), 597-605. doi:10.1177/1948550616641473Spotify Charts Regionalhttps://spotifycharts.com/regionalSpotify Charts Launch Globally, Showcase 50 Most Listened to and Most Viral Tracks Weeklyhttps://www.engadget.com/2013-05-21-spotify-charts-launch.htmlSpotify says its Viral-50 chart reaches the parts other charts don’thttps://musically.com/2014/07/15/spotify-says-its-viral-50-chart-reaches-the-parts-other-charts-dont/Spotify Reveals New Viral 50 Charthttps://www.musicweek.com/news/read/spotify-launches-the-viral-50-chart/059027Reports Results for Fiscal Second Quarter Ended 31 March 2020https://www.wmg.com/news/warner-music-group-corp-reports-results-fiscal-second-quarter-ended-march-31-2020-34751COVID-19’s Effect on the Global Music Business, Part 1: Genrehttps://blog.chartmetric.com/covid-19-effect-on-the-global-music-business-part-1-genre/Top 200https://spotifycharts.com/regional/global/weeklySpotify Chartshttps://spotifycharts.com/viral

Mejora de la extracción proteica de la harina de girasol mediante hidrólisis con alcalasa

Extraction of proteins from defatted sunflower meal has been improved by addition of the protease alcalase during alkaline extraction. This method offers several additional advantages as compared to the traditional alkaline extraction without alcalase, which is usually carried out after a sedimentation/flotation step to remove the lignocellulosic fraction. As compared to extraction without alcalase, addition of 0.1% (v/v) alcalase improved the yield of protein extraction from 57.5% to 87.4%, providing an extract that is 22% hydrolyzed. In addition, an increment of up to 4.5 times in protein solubility at low pH values is achieved, which correlates with the degree of hydrolysis. The extracts that were obtained in the presence of alcalase had a higher proline and glycine content, suggesting that the protease improves extraction of proline-rich and glycine-rich cell wall proteins that are part of the lignocellulosic fraction. These protein extracts can be directly dried without generation of wastewater, and the resulting fiber-rich material could be used for animal feeding.Se ha mejorado la extracción proteica de la harina desengrasa de girasol mediante la adición de la proteasa alcalasa durante la extracción alcalina. Este método ofrece varias ventajas adicionales en comparación con la extracción alcalina tradicional sin alcalasa, que se desarrolla normalmente mediante un proceso de flotación/sedimentación para retirar la fracción lignocelulósica. En comparación a la extracción sin alcalasa, la adicción de 0.1% (v/v) de alcalasa mejora los rendimientos de extracción proteica desde un 57.5% a un 87.4%, dando un extracto con un 22% de grado de hidrólisis. Además se obtiene un incremento de hasta 4.5 veces de la solubilidad proteica a bajos pHs, que se correlaciona con el grado de hidrólisis. Los extractos obtenidos con alcalasa tenían un mayor contenido de prolina y glicina, sugiriendo que la proteasa mejora la extracción de las proteínas ricas en prolina y glicina de la pared celular que forma parte de la fracción lignocelulósica. Este extracto proteico puede ser secado directamente sin generación de aguas residuales, y el material resultante rico en fibra podría ser usado para alimentación animal

Diagnóstico florístico de la ficología marina bentónica en Chiapas

The checklist of macroalgae for 17 localities in the coast of Chiapas involves 53 species, including 16 Chlorophyta, 8 Phaeophyta, and 29 species of Rhodophyta. From this list, 32 species grow in estuarine habitats. Floristic affinities between Chiapas estuaries and those from the Gulf of Mexico and north of Quintana Roo, together with the fossil record, suggest an early contact during the Eocene and Miocene. The presence of two red macroalgae (one of them not clearly classified) in the deep benthos from Chiapas off shore, confirm, biologically, the up-welling process detected at the area with physical and chemical techniques. Floristic affinities with the coasts of Oaxaca, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, support the characterization of an area with strong interchange of tropical, sub tropical, and temperate elements. We called this phycofloristic-mosaic. We discuss on the possibilities of integrating theory of island biogeography to future phycological studies in estuarine habitats.El inventario de macroalgas para 17 localidades en el litoral de Chiapas se compone de 53 especies, incluyendo 16 Chlorophyta , 8 Phaeophyta y 29 Rhodophyta. De las 53 especies, 32 crecen en ambientes estuarinos. Las afinidades florísticas de los estuarios chiapanecos con aquellos del sur del Golfo de México y norte de Quintana Roo, junto al registro fósil, sugieren un contacto marino durante los períodos Eoceno y Mioceno. La presencia de dos macroalgas rojas (una de ellas aún no bien clasificada) en el bentos profundo frente a Chiapas confirma biológicamente la surgencia detectada por la oceanografía física y química. Las afinidades florísticas (Chlorophyta) de Chiapas con los estados de Oaxaca, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit y Sinaloa, plantean la caracterización de una zona de intercambio de elementos templados y tropicales, para lo cual proponemos el concepto de Mosaico Ficoflorístico. Se revisa la posibilidad de integrar la teoría de biogeografía de islas para los estudios de macroalgas estuarinas

Efectos de un programa Pilates-Capacidad cardiorrespiratoria sobre variables psicológicas de adultas-mayores: Aprendizaje-Servicio

The ageing of the population is a phenomenon of today's society. The economic, labor, structural and health repercussions are a challenge for any administration. The physical condition of this group is progressively decreasing if there are no regular physical activity habits. The present study aims to analyse the effects of a 12-week concurrent programme of Pilates and cardiorespiratory fitness through Service-Learning on the subjective happiness, self-perception of successful ageing and health-related quality of life of adult-older women. The results obtained showed an improvement in the perception of successful ageing and health-related quality of life (bodily pain, general health, vitality and emotional role) of the participants. In conclusion, the importance of regular physical practice and improvement of physical fitness on psychological factors of older adult women must be highlighted.El envejecimiento de la población es un fenómeno presente en la sociedad actual. La repercusión a nivel económico, laboral, estructural y de salud supone un reto para cualquier administración. La condición física de este colectivo va mermando progresivamente si no hay unos hábitos de práctica de actividad física regulares. El presente estudio pretende analizar los efectos de un programa concurrente de Pilates y capacidad cardiorrespiratoria de 12 semanas, a través de Aprendizaje-Servicio, sobre la felicidad subjetiva, la percepción de un envejecimiento exitoso y la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud de mujeres adultas-mayores. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron una mejora en la percepción de un envejecimiento exitoso y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (dolor corporal, salud general, vitalidad y rol emocional) de las participantes. Como conclusión, cabe destacar la importancia de una práctica física regular y mejora de la condición física sobre factores psicológicos de mujeres adultas-mayores

Alterations in Circulating Monocytes Predict COVID-19 Severity and Include Chromatin Modifications Still Detectable Six Months after Recovery

This study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (COVID-19 research call COV20/00181)—co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund “A way to achieve Europe” and by Consejería de Sanidad de la Comunidad de Madrid (CÍVICO study 2020/0082). R.L.G. and O.C.M. hold a research contract “Rio Hortega” (CM19/00120 and CM19/00092, respectively) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. MCL holds a predoctoral fellowship (FPU19/06393) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.An early analysis of circulating monocytes may be critical for predicting COVID-19 course and its sequelae. In 131 untreated, acute COVID-19 patients at emergency room arrival, monocytes showed decreased surface molecule expression, including low HLA-DR, in association with an inflammatory cytokine status and limited anti-SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response. Most of these alterations had normalized in post-COVID-19 patients 6 months after discharge. Acute COVID-19 monocytes transcriptome showed upregulation of anti-inflammatory tissue repair genes such as BCL6, AREG and IL-10 and increased accessibility of chromatin. Some of these transcriptomic and epigenetic features still remained in post-COVID-19 monocytes. Importantly, a poorer expression of surface molecules and low IRF1 gene transcription in circulating monocytes at admission defined a COVID-19 patient group with impaired SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response and increased risk of requiring intensive care or dying. An early analysis of monocytes may be useful for COVID-19 patient stratification and for designing innate immunity-focused therapies.Depto. de MedicinaFac. de MedicinaTRUEUnión EuropeaMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Comunidad de MadridInstituto de Salud Carlos IIIpu

Soil physicochemical properties associated with the yield and phytochemical composition of the edible halophyte Crithmum maritimum

There is growing interest in the consumption of halophytes due to their excellent nutritional profile and antioxidant properties, and because their cultivation offers viable alternatives in the face of irreversible global salinization of soils. Nevertheless, abiotic factors strongly influence their phytochemical composition, and little is known about how growing conditions can produce plants with the best nutritional and functional properties. Crithmum maritimum is an edible halophyte with antioxidant properties and considerable potential for sustainable agriculture in marginal environments. However, it is found naturally in contrasting habitats with a wide range of soil physicochemical properties and the extent to which edaphic factors can influence plant performance, accumulation of phytochemicals and their quality remains unknown. We investigated the influence of soil physicochemical properties (texture, pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter content and mineral element concentrations) on growth and reproductive performance, nutritional traits, and the accumulation of specific metabolites in C. maritimum. Soil, leaf and seed samples were taken from eight C. maritimum populations located on the southern coasts of Spain and Portugal. We found greater vegetative growth and seed production in coarser, sandier soils with lower microelement concentrations. The nutritional traits of leaves varied, with soil organic matter and macronutrient content associated with reduced leaf Na, protein and phenolic (mainly flavonoid) concentrations, whereas soils with lower pH and Fe concentrations, and higher clay content yielded plants with lower leaf Zn concentration and greater accumulation of hydroxycinnamic acids. The nutritional value of the seed oil composition appeared to be enhanced in soils with coarser texture and lower microelement concentrations. The accumulation of specific phenolic compounds in the seed was influenced by a wide range of soil properties including texture, pH and some microelements. These findings from a wide range of natural populations will inform the commercial cultivation of C. maritimum, particularly in the economic exploitation of poorly utilized, saline soils

Efecto de la variabilidad de las propiedades físico-químicas del suelo en el rendimiento de la halófita costera Crithmum maritimum L.

Póster presentado en el XV Congreso Nacional de la AEET. "El valor de la naturaleza par una sociedad global"18-21 de octubre, Plasencia, CáceresEl hinojo marino (Crithmum maritimum L.) es una planta halófita perenne perteneciente a la familia Apiaceae, típica de ecosistemas costeros de Europa Occidental. Dada su elevada calidad nutricional para consumo humano, en los últimos años diferentes estudios han resaltado su potencial como cultivo comercial para la agricultura salina, una alternativa sostenible y prometedora ante la creciente salinización de las tierras agrícolas. Sin embargo, existe una falta de información referente a los rangos de tolerancia de la especie frente a los principales factores ambientales ligados a su cultivo, a lo que se suman diversas dificultades prácticas ligadas al cultivo de una especie no domesticada. Además, varios estudios han puesto de manifiesto un alto grado de variabilidad en los rangos de tolerancia a la sal, así como en el perfil nutricional en función de la procedencia geográfica del material. En este estudio se analizó el rendimiento de la especie (en términos de crecimiento, productividad, éxito reproductivo y calidad nutricional) en relación a las propiedades físico-químicas del suelo (pH, conductividad eléctrica, textura, contenido en materia orgánica y macro- y micronutrientes) en siete poblaciones naturales, representativas de los diferentes tipos de hábitat de la especie, localizadas en el sur de la Península Ibérica. Los resultados de este estudio permiten avanzar en el conocimiento ecológico y los mecanismos de tolerancia de las halófitas frente a diferentes factores abióticos, como la salinidad y la riqueza nutricional del suelo, aportando asimismo información relevante de cara a la valorización de la especie para su explotación en agricultura salinaN

Differences in nutrient composition of sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum) grown in different habitats and optimally controlled growing conditions

10 páginas.- 1 figura.- 5 tablas.- referenciasCrithmum maritimum L. is an edible halophyte with large potential in human nutrition field. However, it is unclear whether its nutritional value is maintained throughout the contrasting habitats where it commonly grows (cliffs, sandy and rocky beaches) and the nutritional profile of cultivated plants still remains uncertain. In this work, we provided for the first time a comparison of the nutritional profile of C. maritimum across its different type of habitats in the south of Spain and between wild plants and plant material under optimal growing conditions. The protein, amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, minerals composition and phenolic content of plants were analysed. Plants under field conditions exhibited a nutritionally balanced composition (3.8–6.2 g protein/100 g DW, 4.9–7.5 mg lipids/g WW, 3.9–5.0 g Na/100 g DW), with high phenolic content (30.2–48.0 mg/g DW) regardless of the variability of the contrasting habitats. In contrast, under optimal conditions, C. maritimum showed a greater protein and lipid content (10.2 g/100 g DW and 9.6 mg/g WW, respectively), and lower sodium accumulation (1.2 g/100 g DW), allowing a greater consumption of this halophyte without exceeding the daily intake recommendations. Conversely, phenolics were strongly decreased in these plants (6.1 mg/g DW) likely due to the absence of stress factors. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.This work was financially supported by two grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RTI2018-099260-A- I00 to J. Cambroll é and RTI2018-099322-B-100 to X. Moreira).Peer reviewe

Contrasting Geographical Distributions as a Result of Thermal Tolerance and Long-Distance Dispersal in Two Allegedly Widespread Tropical Brown Algae

BackgroundMany tropical marine macroalgae are reported from all three ocean basins, though these very wide distributions may simply be an artifact resulting from inadequate taxonomy that fails to take into account cryptic diversity. Alternatively, pantropical distributions challenge the belief of limited intrinsic dispersal capacity of marine seaweeds and the effectiveness of the north-south oriented continents as dispersal barriers. We aimed to re-assess the distribution of two allegedly circumtropical brown algae, Dictyota ciliolata and D. crenulata, and interpret the realized geographical range of the respective species in relation to their thermal tolerance and major tectonic and climatic events during the Cenozoic.Methodology/Principal FindingsSpecies delimitation was based on 184 chloroplast encoded psbA sequences, using a Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent method. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred by analyzing a six-gene dataset. Divergence times were estimated using relaxed molecular clock methods and published calibration data. Distribution ranges of the species were inferred from DNA-confirmed records, complemented with credible literature data and herbarium vouchers. Temperature tolerances of the species were determined by correlating distribution records with local SST values. We found considerable conflict between traditional and DNA-based species definitions. Dictyota crenulata consists of several pseudocryptic species, which have restricted distributions in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Central America. In contrast, the pantropical distribution of D. ciliolata is confirmed and linked to its significantly wider temperature tolerance.Conclusions/SignificanceTectonically driven rearrangements of physical barriers left an unequivocal imprint on the current diversity patterns of marine macroalgae, as witnessed by the D. crenulata–complex. The nearly circumglobal tropical distribution of D. ciliolata, however, demonstrates that the north-south oriented continents do not present absolute dispersal barriers for species characterized by wide temperature tolerances