Knowledge and perceptions of open science among researchers-a case study for Colombia

Open science can provide researchers diverse opportunities to collaborate, disseminate their research results, generate important impacts in the scientific community, and engage in effective and efficient science for the benefit of society. This study seeks to analyse and evaluate researchers' knowledge of open science in Colombia using a survey to determine adequate instruments with which to improve research in the framework of open science. The aim of the study is to determine researchers' current awareness of open science by considering demographic characteristics to analyse their attitudes, values, and information habits as well as the levels of institutionalism and social appropriation of open science. A representative sample of Colombian researchers was selected from the National Research System. An anonymous online survey consisting of 34 questions was sent to all professors and researchers at Colombian universities and research institutes. Sampling was random and stratified, which allowed for a representative sample of different categories of researchers, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the sample design. A total of 1042 responses were received, with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 3%. The majority of respondents knew about open science, especially in relation to open science tools (software, repositories, and networks) and open data. Researchers consider open science to be positively impacted by factors such as the rise of digital technologies, the search for new forms of collaboration, the greater availability of open data and information, and public demand for better and more effective science. In contrast, a lack of resources to develop research activities within the open science approach and the limited integration between traditional and open science are identified as the most important barriers to its use in research. These results are important for building adequate open science policy in Colombia. © 2018 by the authors

Las tendencias de la pobreza y la desigualdad: una evidencia para los departamentos de Colombia

This study estimates poverty and inequality trends using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and panel data in Colombia during the sample period between 1993 and 2007. In this analysis, we suggest a DEA model to measure and rank poverty, inequality and development trends. The results from the DEA model show variation in the scores across Colombian departments during the sample period. A second-stage panel data analysis with fixed effects reveals that departments with higher population density, unemployment, homicide rates and property concentration have a lower efficiency score, whereas departments with higher health and education coverage and public investments have better results according to DEA and panel data estimations. Findings of this analysis demonstrate that the decrease in poverty and inequality could be achieved through adequate strategies that guarantee development and economic growth with policies concentrated to improve social welfare.poverty, inequality, efficiency, data envelopment analysis, panel data, Colombia

Climate change in Colombia: A study to evaluate trends and perspectives for achieving sustainable development from society

Purpose: This research analyses and evaluates the trends and perspectives of climate change in Colombia. This study aims to understand the main ideas and concepts of climate change in five regions of the country by analysing attitudes and values, information habits, institutionalism and the social appropriation of science and technology. Design/methodology/approach: The research study involved a focus group technique. Ten focus groups in five regions of the country, including rural regions, were administered. The selection of cities and municipalities in this study took into account vulnerability scenarios based on the two criteria of temperature and precipitation for the 2011-2040 period. Findings: The participants of the focus groups believe that climate change began 10 years ago and that human activities have caused climate change. The main effects of climate change are believed to be droughts and floods that have appeared in the past several years and have negatively impacted agricultural activities and the quality of life of the population. Moreover, the participants believe that it is important to design and apply adequate measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Originality/value: This study makes an important contribution to the extant climate change literature by identifying and categorising the main ideas and knowledge on this issue from the perspective of the population in Colombia. In developing countries with high climate change vulnerability, it is especially important to analyse this issue to determine relevant official policy instruments that could promote adequate actions and instruments to prevent, adapt to and mitigate climate change. © 2018, Clara Inés Pardo Martínez and William H. Alfonso P

Development and urban sustainability: An analysis of efficiency using data envelopment analysis

In recent decades, the majority of cities in developing countries have grown rapidly and have experienced increasing environmental problems. These changes have generated a broad discussion on urban sustainability and development. In this discussion, it is fundamental to establish methods for measuring urban sustainability using a quantitative approach. This research seeks to estimate and evaluate the environmental, social, and economic efficiency of cities in a developing country, Colombia, using data envelopment analysis to determine the changes that occurred between 2005 and 2013. In this study, indicators related to economic, environmental, and social performance are used with the objective of analyzing efficiency from urban sustainability. The results indicate differences among cities, where the efficient cities show adequate resource use, lower environmental impacts, improved social conditions, and guaranteed economic growth and development. Moreover, as the city scale increases, urban sustainability declines. All these findings are important in the formulation and design of adequate urban policies to improve and strengthen sustainability and social welfare over the long term, particularly in cities in developing countries. © 2016 by the authors

Climate change in Colombia: A study to evaluate trends and perspectives for achieving sustainable development from society

Purpose - This research analyses and evaluates the trends and perspectives of climate change in Colombia. This study aims to understand the main ideas and concepts of climate change in five regions of the country by analysing attitudes and values, information habits, institutionalism and the social appropriation of science and technology. Design/methodology/approach - The research study involved a focus group technique. Ten focus groups in five regions of the country, including rural regions, were administered. The selection of cities and municipalities in this study took into account vulnerability scenarios based on the two criteria of temperature and precipitation for the 2011-2040 period. Findings - The participants of the focus groups believe that climate change began 10 years ago and that human activities have caused climate change. The main effects of climate change are believed to be droughts and floods that have appeared in the past several years and have negatively impacted agricultural activities and the quality of life of the population. Moreover, the participants believe that it is important to design and apply adequate measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Originality/value - This study makes an important contribution to the extant climate change literature by identifying and categorising the main ideas and knowledge on this issue from the perspective of the population in Colombia. In developing countries with high climate change vulnerability, it is especially important to analyse this issue to determine relevant official policy instruments that could promote adequate actions and instruments to prevent, adapt to and mitigate climate change

Tendencias y dinámicas de los flujos de materiales y energía en un contexto urbano: un estudio de caso de una ciudad con una economía emergente

Antecedentes: Actualmente, la mayor parte de la población mundial vive en ciudades, y la rápida urbanización de la población está impulsando aumentos en la demanda de productos, bienes y servicios. Para diseñar eficazmente políticas de sostenibilidad urbana, es importante comprender las tendencias de los flujos de energía y materiales a medida que entran y salen de una ciudad. Este El conocimiento es fundamental para determinar los elementos clave que caracterizarán el futuro crecimiento urbano y abordarán el futuro. desafíos de suministro. Métodos: Este trabajo presenta un análisis de los flujos de energía y materia en la ciudad de Bogotá a lo largo del tiempo. de 2001 a 2017. Los flujos urbanos también se caracterizan en función de su evolución temporal con respecto a la población crecimiento para comparar e identificar cambios en los principales flujos de insumos, producción de riqueza, emisiones y residuos en el ciudad. Resultados: Los resultados del análisis se comparan luego con los de otras grandes aglomeraciones urbanas seleccionadas en América Latina y el mundo para resaltar similitudes y hacer inferencias. Los resultados muestran que en Bogotá había disminución de algunos de los flujos de materiales, como el consumo de agua y la generación de vertidos, en los últimos años, mientras que hubo un incremento en el consumo de energía y cemento y en la producción de emisiones de CO2 y materiales de construcción. La producción de residuos sólidos se mantuvo relativamente estable. En comparación con las otras grandes ciudades. considerado, observamos que las tasas de crecimiento de 10 años de los flujos en relación con el crecimiento de la población son más bajas en Bogotá, particularmente si se compara con otras aglomeraciones urbanas de América Latina. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos de este estudio son importantes para avanzar en las caracterizaciones de las tendencias de materiales y los flujos de energía en las ciudades, y contribuir al establecimiento de un referente que permita definir y evaluar los diferentes impactos de las políticas públicas y promover la sostenibilidad de Bogotá en las próximas décadas.Background: Currently, most of the world’s population lives in cities, and the rapid urbanization of the population is driving increases in the demand for products, goods and services. To efectively design policies for urban sustainability, it is important to understand the trends of fows in energy and materials as they enter and leave a city. This knowledge is essential for determining the key elements characterizing future urban growth and addressing future supply challenges. Methods: This paper presents an analysis of the energy and material fows in the city of Bogotá over the time span from 2001 to 2017. Urban fows are also characterized in terms of their temporal evolution with respect to population growth to compare and identify the changes in the main input fows, wealth production, emissions and waste in the city. Results: The results of the analysis are then compared with those for other selected large urban agglomerations in Latin America and worldwide to highlight similarities and make inferences. The results show that in Bogotá, there was a decrease in some of the material fows, such as the consumption of water and the generation of discharge, in recent years, while there was an increase in the consumption of energy and cement and in the production of CO2 emissions and construction materials. Solid waste production remained relatively stable. With respect to the other large cities considered, we observe that the 10-year growth rates of the fows with respect to population growth are lower in Bogotá, particularly when compared with the other urban agglomerations in Latin America. Conclusions: The fndings of this study are important for advancing characterizations of the trends of material and energy fows in cities, and they contribute to the establishment of a benchmark that allows for the defnition and evaluation of the diferent impacts of public policy while promoting the sustainability of Bogotá in the coming decades

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Inversiones y eficiencia energética en industrias manufactureras colombianas

This paper investigates the effects of investments on energy efficiency performance using data from Colombian manufacturing industries. These industries were analysed as a whole and as energy intensive sectors and non-energy intensive sectors between 1998 and 2005. Using a simple factor demand model, we estimate the structural parameters of the model using both time-series and cross-sectional dimensions of the data, and we include the effect that investments have on energy efficiency in Colombian manufacturing industries. The results showed that in Colombian manufacturing industries overall, as well as in non-energy intensive sectors, the main variables that determine energy efficiency performance are energy prices, machinery and equipment investments and foreign investments. Whereas electricity prices show lower significance levels, investments in research and development (R&D) are not statistically significant. In contrast, for energy intensive sectors, only energy prices and foreign investments are statistically significant. Therefore, these results demonstrate the close relationship between energy prices and investments with respect to energy efficiency improvements in Colombian manufacturing industries. These findings have important implications for policy makers aiming to encourage governments to adopt strategies that combine energy prices and technological change, as well as those policy makers wishing to strengthen foreign investment in order to improve technology development, productivity and energy efficiency in manufacturing industries

Estimating and analyzing energy efficiency in German and Colombian manufacturing industries using dea and data panel analysis. Part I: Energy-intensive sectors

In this article, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is employed to study the comparative performance of German and Colombian energy-intensive sectors between 1998 and 2005. The results of the DEA indicate that the great majority of energy-intensive sectors improved on this index during the sample period, demonstrating that energy input is an important variable within the production structure and a key element in technology development. At a second stage, regression analysis using panel data analysis reveals that several factors, including labor productivity, the share of electricity, investments and enterprise size can be considered determinants of differences in energy efficiency among German and Colombian energy-intensive sectors. Our results also show that different energy policies should apply, and that they should encourage the importance of energy efficiency in order to achieve a sustainable economic development and climate stabilization today and in the near future

An analysis of eco-efficiency in energy use and CO2 emissions in the Swedish service industries

This study determines the trends in energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of the Swedish service sector using data at the 2-digit level of aggregation for the Swedish service industry over the period 1993-2008, this empirical study examines eco-efficiency in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions based on a number of models. The results show that Swedish service industries increased energy consumption and CO2 emissions during the sample period, whereas energy and CO2 emission intensities have shown a decrease in recent years. Eco-efficiency models based on the Malmquist data envelopment analysis model suggest that Swedish service industries have an excellent potential to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Second-stage panel data techniques show that energy taxes, investments and labour productive have a significant and positive influence on energy and CO2 emission intensities implying that increasing these variables lead to higher energy efficiency and lower CO2 emission intensity. This analysis demonstrates the importance of designing and applying adequate energy policies that encourage better energy use and management in this industrial sector for the goal of achieving a low carbon economy. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd