Teaching Nash Equilibrium and Strategy Dominance: A Classroom Experiment on the Beauty Contest

The aim of this investigation is to display how the use of classroom experiments may be a good pedagogical tool to teach the Nash equilibrium (NE) concept. The basic game for our purposes is a repeated version of the Beauty Contest Game (BCG), a simple guessing game whose repetition lets students react to other players’ choices and to converge iteratively to the equilibrium solution. We performed this experiment with undergraduate students without any previous knowledge about game theory. After four rounds, we observed in all groups a clear decreasing tendency in the average chosen number. So, our findings prove that, by playing a repeated BCG, students quickly learn how to reach the NE solution.Classroom Experiments, Beauty Contest Game, Teaching, Nash Equilibrium.

Communication, coordination and competition in the beauty contest game: eleven classroom experiments

Este trabajo ha sido publicado en Central European Journal of Operations Research 12(4): 369-287 (2004).This paper introduces some new features in the standard experimental design of the beauty contest in order to allow communication among participants. With that aim, we use the mode instead of the mean and non-rival payoffs. This design encourages students to communicate their guessed number, with a higher probability if subjects know the 0 Nash equilibrium. The lack of communication can only be explained by subjects endowed with competitive other-regarding preferences. Experiments are run in 11 classrooms ranging from 11 to 60 students in size. Participants are given at least one week to submit their guesses and a questionnaire explaining their choice. Results indicate that: i) communication induces coordination in the responses, ii) communication does not guarantee any improvement in the average reasoning level, iii) there exist significative differences according to classroom size and duration of degree.We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the University of Jaén R+D program (# 20210/148)

Minimum penalized φ-divergence estimation under model misspecification

This paper focuses on the consequences of assuming a wrong model for multinomial data when using minimum penalized φ-divergence, also known as minimum penalized disparity estimators, to estimate the model parameters. These estimators are shown to converge to a well-defined limit. An application of the results obtained shows that a parametric bootstrap consistently estimates the null distribution of a certain class of test statistics for model misspecification detection. An illustrative application to the accuracy assessment of the thematic quality in a global land cover map is included.Ministerio de Economía y Competitivida

Adquisición de Competencias Transversales: Comparación entre los Grados en Estadística y Empresa, Administración y Dirección de Empresas y Finanzas y Contabilidad de la Universidad de Jaén

El objetivo de este trabajo es cuantificar la percepción del alumnado de tercer curso de Grado sobre el nivel de adquisición de competencias genéricas alcanzadas hasta el momento. En concreto, son seis las competencias analizadas: capacidad de resolver problemas, capacidad de análisis y síntesis, capacidad de redactar informes, trabajo autónomo, comunicación oral y escrita y trabajo en equipo. Para ello, se han encuestado a 120 estudiantes de los Grados en Estadística y Empresa (EE) (14.17%), Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ADE) (64.17%) y Finanzas y Contabilidad (FC) (21.67%). De los resultados obtenidos se desprende que existen diferencias significativas entre los tres Grados en relación a algunas de las competencias, como son: capacidad para resolver problemas (el 47% de los estudiantes de EE consideran que alcanzan un nivel alto en la aplicación del método apropiado para la resolución de un problema, frente al 23% en FC); capacidad de análisis y síntesis (el 76.47% de los encuestados de EE dicen tener un nivel alto para transmitir sintéticamente las ideas más relevantes, mientras que en ADE es el 29.87%) y comunicación oral y escrita (el 70.6% de los estudiantes de EE se valoran con un nivel alto, siendo en FC un 42.3%)

La vida que quiero: proyectos de vida aplicando psicología positiva y metodologías visuales

Podeu consultar el document complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/58585Éxito y fracaso escolar conviven diariamente en la escuela. Uno es oportunidad para el otro y viceversa. Combinando la teoría de las fortalezas del carácter, identidad narrativa, teoría de la autodeterminación y otros constructos con metodologías audiovisuales, el programa invita a jóvenes a descubrir sus recursos personales y reescribir su biografía a partir de ellos, de modo de finalmente proyectarlos hacia el futuro en un Proyecto de Vida positivo y realista. Para lograrlo, los alumnos son invitados a auto-observarse, observar a sus compañeros y a entrevistar a sus familiares, aprovechando siempre las representaciones visuales. Esta nueva versión de la propia vida queda plasmada en un relato digital, una secuencia de imágenes que retrata la propia vida pasada, presente y futura, sincronizada con un guion que da cuenta del proceso de convertirse en Persona con Fortalezas del Carácter. Se discuten las dificultades, las oportunidades y los desafíos de su implementación en escuelas en Barcelona, Castelldefels y Viladecans

A novel orally available inhibitor of focal adhesion signaling increases survival in a xenograft model of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system involvement

Central nervous system dissemination is a relatively uncommon but almost always fatal complication in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients. Optimal therapy for central nervous involvement in this malignancy has not been established. In this paper, we aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of E7123, a celecoxib derivative that inhibits focal adhesion signaling, in a novel xenograft model of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system involvement. Cells obtained after disaggregation of HT subcutaneous tumors (HT-SC cells) were intravenously injected in NOD/SCID mice. These mice received oral vehicle or 75 mg/kg of E7123 daily until they were euthanized for weight loss or signs of sickness. The antitumor effect of E7123 was validated in an independent experiment using a bioluminescent mouse model. Intravenously injected HT-SC cells showed higher take rate and higher central nervous system tropism (associated with increased expression of beta 1-integrin and p130Cas proteins) than HT cells. The oral administration of E7123 significantly increased survival time in 2 independent experiments using mice injected with unmodified or bioluminescent HT-SC cells. We have developed a new xenograft model of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system involvement that can be used in the pre-clinical evaluation of new drugs for this malignancy. E7123 is a new, well-tolerated and orally available therapeutic agent that merits further investigation since it may improve current management of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients with central nervous system involvement

Application of biological variation - a review

Ovaj rad sadrži opsežan pregled sastavnica biološke varijacije (BV), tj. intraindividualne (nasumična fluktuacija analita oko osnovne vrijednosti svakog pojedinca) i interindividualne (ukupna varijacija od osnovnih vrijednosti različitih osoba) varijacije, zatim ukratko objašnjava procjenu veličine intraindividualne i interindividualne BV u zdravih i oboljelih ispitanika, podrobno obrađuje osam složenijih primjena procjena BV, te govori o zanimljivim detaljima koji izazivaju najviše rasprava. Cilj rada je raspraviti kako pomoću današnje tehnologije doći do specifikacija kvalitete dobivenih na temelju BV u zdravih pojedinaca te u kojim se slučajevima koristiti podacima od oboljelih ispitanika. Konačno, u radu se promiče daljnji razvoj primjene BV, poput upozoravanja liječnika o promjenama u bolesnikovu stanju.This paper introduces an extensive revision of the types of components of biological variation (BV), i.e. intraindividual (random fluctuation of analytes around the setting point of each individual) and interindividual (overall variation from the different person\u27s setting point), briefly explains estimation of the magnitude of within- and between subject BV in healthy and non-healthy subjects, details the eight common applications of BV estimates and discusses the most debated points of interests. The aim is to discuss how quality specifications derived from BV determined in healthy individuals are attainable with current technology and in what cases data from non-healthy subjects should be used. Finally, the paper promotes further development of BV application, such as notifying doctors about changes in patient status

Application of biological variation - a review

Ovaj rad sadrži opsežan pregled sastavnica biološke varijacije (BV), tj. intraindividualne (nasumična fluktuacija analita oko osnovne vrijednosti svakog pojedinca) i interindividualne (ukupna varijacija od osnovnih vrijednosti različitih osoba) varijacije, zatim ukratko objašnjava procjenu veličine intraindividualne i interindividualne BV u zdravih i oboljelih ispitanika, podrobno obrađuje osam složenijih primjena procjena BV, te govori o zanimljivim detaljima koji izazivaju najviše rasprava. Cilj rada je raspraviti kako pomoću današnje tehnologije doći do specifikacija kvalitete dobivenih na temelju BV u zdravih pojedinaca te u kojim se slučajevima koristiti podacima od oboljelih ispitanika. Konačno, u radu se promiče daljnji razvoj primjene BV, poput upozoravanja liječnika o promjenama u bolesnikovu stanju.This paper introduces an extensive revision of the types of components of biological variation (BV), i.e. intraindividual (random fluctuation of analytes around the setting point of each individual) and interindividual (overall variation from the different person\u27s setting point), briefly explains estimation of the magnitude of within- and between subject BV in healthy and non-healthy subjects, details the eight common applications of BV estimates and discusses the most debated points of interests. The aim is to discuss how quality specifications derived from BV determined in healthy individuals are attainable with current technology and in what cases data from non-healthy subjects should be used. Finally, the paper promotes further development of BV application, such as notifying doctors about changes in patient status

Epidemiologic Features and Control Measures during Monkeypox Outbreak, Spain, June 2022

During June 2022, Spain was one of the countries most affected worldwide by a multicountry monkeypox outbreak with chains of transmission without identified links to disease-endemic countries. We provide epidemiologic features of cases reported in Spain and the coordinated measures taken to respond to this outbreak.S

Effectiveness of influenza vaccine against laboratory-confirmed influenza, in the late 2011-2012 season in Spain, among population targeted for vaccination

Background: In Spain, the influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) was estimated in the last three seasons using the observational study cycEVA conducted in the frame of the existing Spanish Influenza Sentinel Surveillance System. The objective of the study was to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically attended, laboratory-confirmed influenza-like illness (ILI) among the target groups for vaccination in Spain in the 2011-2012 season. We also studied influenza VE in the early (weeks 52/2011-7/2012) and late (weeks 8-14/2012) phases of the epidemic and according to time since vaccination. Methods: Medically attended patients with ILI were systematically swabbed to collect information on exposure, laboratory outcome and confounding factors. Patients belonging to target groups for vaccination and who were swabbed 4 months, respectively, since vaccination. A decrease in VE with time since vaccination was only observed in individuals aged ≥ 65 years. Regarding the phase of the season, decreasing point estimates were only observed in the early phase, whereas very low or null estimates were obtained in the late phase for the shortest time interval. Conclusions: The 2011-2012 influenza vaccine showed a low-to-moderate protective effect against medically attended, laboratory-confirmed influenza in the target groups for vaccination, in a late season and with a limited match between the vaccine and circulating strains. The suggested decrease in influenza VE with time since vaccination was mostly observed in the elderly population. The decreasing protective effect of the vaccine in the late part of the season could be related to waning vaccine protection because no viral changes were identified throughout the season