I would walk 500 miles (if it paid)

One of the pillars of the educational voucher system instituted in Chile is that competition among schools to attract students would improve the quality of the education provided. Surveys have suggested that families rank the distance of the school from their home as the most important factor for choosing a school. They also suggest that parents largely ignore the results of standardized tests. We use a novel data set which includes measures of the distance between homes and schools to analyze the determinants of school choice. Economic theory suggests, and the estimations confirm, that parents consider quality of the school and its location when choosing schools. The paper quantifies the relevant trade-offs.Vouchers; School Choice; Distance; Chile

Uso del PD2i como pronóstico de mortalidad en pacientes con shock séptico en unidad de cuidados intensivos

The use of PD2i, a new prognostic scoring system, could prove beneficial in patients with Septic Shock in the Intensive Care Unit at Hospital General de las Fuerzas Armadas. Methods Seventy six patients with Septic Shock were selected from the Intensive Care Unit’s database and were evaluated with PD2i, APACHE II and SOFA predictive scoring systems. Patients were divided into two groups, a high risk and low risk of death groups based on each scoring system and their condition at discharge was compared. Sensitivity, Specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values were determined for the PD2i scale. Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation and kappa concordance index were used to measure the correlation between PD2i and APACHE and SOFA scoring systems. Results Patients who scored lower on the PD2i scale (less favorable prognosis) had a mortality rate of 84.5%. Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation and Kappa concordance index did not show any important association between the prognostic scores of all three scoring systems. Conclusions This study couldn’t find any significant difference between the use of PD2i, APACHE II and SOFA prognostic scores in patients with Septic Shock.El uso de nuevas herramientas pronosticas en una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, como el PD2i, puede ser beneficioso para el manejo de los pacientes con diagnóstico de Shock Séptico. Métodos Se analizó la Base de Datos de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos del Hospital General de las Fuerzas Armadas; de donde se seleccionaron 76 pacientes con diagnóstico de Shock Séptico, que fueron evaluados con el PD2i, el APACHE II y por el SOFA. Se dividió a los pacientes en grupos de alto y bajo riesgo, según cada escala de evaluación para poder compararlos con su condición de egreso hospitalario, como vivo o fallecido. Se determinó la Sensibilidad, la Especificidad, valores Predictivos positivos y negativos para cada escala. También se correlacionó el PD2i con las escalas de APACHE II y SOFA, a través de Coeficientes de Correlación de Pearson y los Índices de Concordancia Kappa. Resultados PD2i encontró una tasa de mortalidad de 84.5%, entre los pacientes que reportaron valores no favorables dentro de esta escala. No se encontraron valores óptimos de Sensibilidad y Especificidad para las tres escalas, así como no hubo una correlación adecuada según los Coeficientes de Pearson y los valores Kappa. Conclusiones No se pudo encontrar diferencias entre los resultados del PD2i, el APACHE II y el SOFA en los pacientes con Shock Séptico durante este estudio. La población no fue suficiente para demostrar resultados estadísticamente significativos

Holographic Flavored Quark-Gluon Plasmas

Holography provides a novel method to study the physics of Quark Gluon Plasmas, complementary to the ordinary field theory and lattice approaches. In this context, we analyze the informations that can be obtained for strongly coupled Plasmas containing dynamical flavors, also in the presence of a finite baryon chemical potential. In particular, we discuss the jet quenching and the hydrodynamic transport coefficients.Comment: 10 pages. Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop "The many faces of QCD", Ghent (Belgium), November 1-5 201

Sistema de gestão de reclamações baseado em blockchain

The existing complaint management systems aim to establish a line of communication between the consumer and service provider to facilitate a healthy interaction in order for both entities to come to an agreement, if that is the case. These systems present characteristics that may demotivate the customer from submitting a complaint, such as being administered by the very entities that the complaint is aimed at or not including a regulator authority in the complaint process. This study intends to point out those debilitations and propose an alternative method of processing complaints in a way that the customer, the service provider and the regulatory authority are more involved in the process and a better power balance between these entities. To that effect, the proposed solution is based on the technology that serves as the foundation for cryptocurrency and evaluate the pros and cons of applying said technology to this use case.Os sistemas de gestão de reclamações existentes visam estabelecer uma linha de comunicação entre o consumidor e o provedor de serviços para facilitar uma interação saudável entre ambas as entidades de forma a chegarem a uma solução, se for o caso. Estes sistemas apresentam características que podem desmotivar o cliente de submeter uma reclamação, tais como serem administrados pelas entidades cujas reclamações são dirigidas ou não incluírem uma autoridade reguladora no processo de reclamação. Este estudo pretende apontar essas debilitações e propôr um método alternativo de processar reclamações de forma a que haja um maior envolvimento do cliente, provedor de serviço e da autoridade reguladora e um equilíbrio de poder entre as entidades. Para esse efeito, a solução proposta é baseada na tecnologia blockchain que alicerça as cryptomoedas e são analisadas as suas mais valias e desvalias no contexto em questão.Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e Telemátic

Explicación y justificación: una interpretación de la epistemología naturalista de Quine a partir del antecedente kantiano

The aim of this article is to interpret the naturalist epistemological project of W. Quine from a problematic nucleus that we can identify in I. Kant, especially in the Critique of Pure Reason, which is expressed in the categories of explanation-justification, experimental psychology and transcendental philosophy. The hypothesis of our work is that the naturalization of epistemology in a psychology by Quine is possible due to a dissolution of the limits of the concepts of explanation and justification, which have in Quine a translation in the notions of concept and doctrine. To account for this, (i) we will propose, in a general way, the Kantian problematic nucleus about the distinction between explanation and justification and its relationship with the experimental psychology of the 18th century; ii) we will analyze some important texts of W. Quine where he bases the project of a naturalization of epistemology. Our focus will be to establish the relationship between concept and doctrine as translations of Quine of the concepts of explanation and justification; (iii) finally; we will describe the psychology as a new epistemology and observational statements as an expression of this epistemological turn of Quine.El objetivo de este artículo es interpretar el proyecto epistemológico naturalista de W. Quine a partir de un núcleo problemático presente en I. Kant, especialmente en la Crítica de la razón pura, que se expresa en las categorías de explicación-justificación, psicología experimental y filosofía trascendental. La hipótesis de nuestro trabajo es que la naturalización de la epistemología en una psicología por parte de Quine es posible gracias a una disolución de los límites de los conceptos de explicación y justificación, que tienen en Quine una traducción en las nociones de concepto y doctrina. Para dar cuenta de esto, (i) plantearemos, de modo general, el núcleo problemático kantiano sobre la distinción entre explicación y justificación y su relación con la psicología experimental del siglo XVIII; (ii) analizaremos algunos textos importantes de W. Quine donde fundamenta el proyecto de una naturalización de la epistemología. Nuestro foco será establecer la relación entre concepto y doctrina como traducciones quineanas de los conceptos de explicación y justificación; (iii) finalmente, describiremos la psicología como nueva epistemología y los enunciados observacionales como expresión de este giro epistemológico de Quine

¿Qué aporta el uso de diagramas de barras a la comprensión de la media y la moda, en estudiantes de educación básica?

El presente trabajo es una descripción de los conocimientos que emergen como parte de las estrategias o procedimientos empleados en la solución de algunas situaciones problema, relacionadas con las medidas de tendencia central (media y moda), las cuales fueron aplicadas a un grupo de estudiantes de sexto grado de la Corporación Instituto Cooperativo Malcolm X de Buenaventura. Dichas situaciones presentan información estadística en diferentes tipos de registro, y promueven la construcción e interpretación de diagramas de barras. El propósito de este trabajo es evidenciar si el uso de este tipo de diagramas favorece la comprensión de los conceptos de media y moda

Study of the preparation process and variation of wall components in chia (Salvia hispanica L.) oil microencapsulation

A study of the microencapsulation process of omega-3 rich oil extracted from chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds was carried out, which included a comparative analysis of the microcapsules obtained by the spray- and freeze-drying methods using isolated soy proteins and maltodextrin as wall materials at different proportions. Color characterization of the obtained powders was performed and revealed a darker and yellower appearance of the freeze-dried samples compared with the spray-dried ones. Moisture content was measured for each sample and all presented values around 3.5%. The SEM micrographs revealed that spray-dried microcapsules can occur individually or may form clusters or aggregates, with the particles exhibiting a size range varying from 4 to 10 µm. Encapsulation efficiency was measured, with no significant differences found between drying methods or on varying the proportion of wall components (all samples presented values of aproximately 60%). The oxidative stability of microencapsulated oils under accelerated oxidative conditions revealed protection factors 2-fold higher for all samples. In addition, microencapsulated oil stored under 25 ºC revealed lower hydroperoxide values than those of unencapsulated oil throughout the whole storage test. Finally, oil encapsulated in SPI microcapsules also showed lower HPV values than that of the acceptable limit for virgin and cold-pressed vegetable oils (15 meq. O2/kg oil) during the storage test, while unencapsulated oil attained the acceptable limit in 62 days. This result represents an increase in the time of the oil shelf life of between 30 and 48%.Fil: González, Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Marcela Lilian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Paredes, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; ArgentinaFil: Leon, Alberto Edel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Ribotta, Pablo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; Argentin

Peculiar objects towards 3FGL J0133.3+5930: an eclipsing Be star and an active galactic nucleus

Aims. We aim to contribute to the identification of unassociated gamma-ray sources in the galactic plane in order to enlarge the currently known population of gamma-ray binaries and related systems, such as radio emitting X-ray binaries and microquasars. These objects are currently regarded as excellent test beds for the understanding of high energy phenomena in stellar systems. Methods. Potential targets of study are selected based on cross-identification of the 3rd Fermi Large Area Telescope catalogue with historical catalogues of luminous stars often found as optical counterparts in known cases. Follow-up observations and analysis of multi-wavelength archival data are later used to seek further proofs of association beyond the simple positional agreement. Results. Current results enable us to present here the case of the Fermi source 3FGL J0133.3+5930 where two peculiar objects have been discovered inside its region of uncertainty. One of them is the star TYC 3683-985-1 (LS I +59 79) whose eclipsing binary nature is reported in this work. The other one is the X-ray source SWIFT J0132.9+5932, that we found to be a likely low-power Active Galactic Nucleus at z = 0:1143 \pm 0:0002. If this second object is of blazar type, it could easily account for the observed gamma-ray photon flux. However, this is not confirmed at present, thus rendering still open the star system TYC 3683-985-1 as an alternative counterpart candidate to the Fermi source.Comment: 8 pages; 10 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Fiscal policy shocks in the euro area and the US: an empirical assessment

We analyse the impact of fiscal policy shocks in the euro area as a whole, using a newly available quarterly dataset of fiscal variables for the period 1981-2007. To allow for comparability with previous results on euro area countries and the US, we use a standard structural VAR framework, and study the impact of aggregated and disaggregated government spending and net taxes shocks. In addition, to frame euro area results, we apply the same methodology for the same sample period to US data. We also explore the sensitivity of the provided results to the inclusion of variables aiming at measuring “financial stress” (increases in risk) and “fiscal stress” (sustainability concerns). Analysing US and euro area data with a common methodology provides some interesting insights on the interpretation of fiscal policy shocks. JEL Classification: E62, H30euro area, Fiscal multipliers, Fiscal shocks, SVAR