Análisis de un instrumento para monitorear acciones de un programa educativo: Confiabilidad y validez con R.

The Inclusion and Educational Equality Program (PIIE, in Spanish) has been performed in La Rioja Province from year 2004. The objective of the program is to strenghthen the instruction in general basic education schools located in vulnerable areas of the cities by means of five intervention lines. During year 2005, information from a sample of schools was collected and all teachers were interviewed to measure their perception of themselves regarding achievements and difficulties they encountered to perform each line of the program. This research work analyzes the reliability and validity of the instrument construct applied in order to determine if it is qualified enough to be used in the study. The answers of 204 interviewees, which include teachers and managers of educational institutions of the capital city and other cities of the province, were considered. Reliability has been evaluated according to Cronbach coefficient and the validity of the construct through the instrument applied has been evaluated by means of the exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation. The information has been processed with the reliability analysis available in the Rcmdr package from the R software. The realibility analysis has been performed for each of the five intervention lines and all of the quotients resulted in more than 0.80. Regarding validity, the exploratory factor analysis shows that five extracted factors remove 65% of the items variation or variables included, being the lines considered in the instrument associated to them. The relevance of the items related to the different lines and the need to reformulate one of them has been analysed. It has been concluded that, in general terms, the instrument has the required properties to be used in future applications.En la provincia de La Rioja a partir del año 2004, se ejecutó el Programa de Inclusión e Igualdad Educativa (PIIE) destinado a fortalecer la enseñanza en escuelas de educación general básica en el ámbito urbano ubicadas en zonas vulnerables, mediante cinco líneas de intervención. En el año 2005 se relevó información de una muestra de escuelas y se encuestó a todos los docentes con el fin de medir la percepción de los mismos con respecto a logros y dificultades de la ejecución de cada una de las líneas del programa. En este trabajo se analiza la confiabilidad y validez de constructo del instrumento aplicado, para determinar si el mismo posee las propiedades de calidad que lo habilitan como apropiado para utilizar en el estudio. Se consideraron las respuestas de unamuestra de 204 encuestados que incluye docentes y directivos de instituciones educativas de Capital y del interior de la provincia. La confiabilidad se evalúa según el coeficiente de Cronbach y la validez del constructo a través del análisis factorial exploratorio con rotación varimax. El procesamiento de información se realiza con el análisis de fiabilidad que dispone el software R en el paquete Rcmdr. El análisis de confiablidad se realiza para cada una de las cinco líneas de intervención, lográndose para todas coeficientes mayores de 0,80. Con respecto a la validez, el análisis factorial exploratorio indica que cinco factores extraídosremueven el 65% de la variación de los ítems o variables incluidas, asociándose estos a las líneas consideradas en el instrumento. Se analiza la pertinencia de los ítems relacionados a las diferentes líneas y la necesidad de reformulación de uno de ellos. Se concluye que, en términos generales el instrumento posee las propiedades para su utilización en futuras aplicaciones

Emerging cross-disciplinary profiles: The Geomatic Epidemiologist

Abstract Issue Geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies are increasingly used in Public Health epidemiology, showing a great potential in anticipating and responding to actual and future challenges for the public health system and in improving health services' excellence. According to the evidences collected within a wide meta-research carried on of relevant literature ("GIS geographic information system" and "GIS geographic information system and training" on Pubmed; "epidemiologist use of GIS and training" and "epidemiologist use of gis" on Google Scholar),GIS and new sensing technologies are mostly used to: map air and water pollution, map diseases prevalence, predict infection diseases and vector-spread diseases in big areas, study health service coverage and preparedness in emergencies, map cities and study urban health, study climate changes for decision making. Description of the Problem Specific skills and training are required to address the use of GIS and new sensing technologies.The specific aim of our study is to identify the professional profile of a new figure, called 'Geomatic Epidemiologist' and to define its professional and educational standards, as well as the relevant training programs. Results Data collection and analysis of INAPP and ESCO databases about existing professional profiles (starting from 2016) has allowed drafting a first qualification schema and profile. The profile has been defined according to the 4C model (elaborated by Univaq) distinguishing between Hard Skills (technical knowledge and skills),Soft Skills (cognitive, individual and social) and interpersonal behaviors. Conclusions Profile will be validated with relevant stakeholders and Public Health professionals in order to deepen the understanding of the main competences required to study health issues with GIS and related technologies; to this extent, a questionnaire has been elaborated to evaluate relevance, frequency and complexity of each component of the profile Key messages Developing cross-disciplinary profiles, (i.e. the Geomatic Epidemiologist) integrating clusters of competences (holistic approach). Public health research challenges and excellence

DNA metabarcoding reveals the dietary profiles of a benthic marine crustacean,Nephrops norvegicus

Norwegian lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, are a generalist scavenger and predator capable of short foraging excursions but can also suspension feed. Existing knowledge about their diet relies on a combination of methods including morphology-based stomach content analysis and stable isotopes, which often lack the resolution to distinguish prey items to species level particularly in species that thoroughly masticate their prey. DNA metabarcoding overcomes many of the challenges associated with traditional methods and it is an attractive approach to study the dietary profiles of animals. Here, we present the diet of the commercially valuable Nephrops norvegicus using DNA metabarcoding of gut contents. Despite difficulties associated with host amplification, our cytochrome oxidase I (COI) molecular assay successfully achieves higher resolution information than traditional approaches. We detected taxa that were likely consumed during different feeding strategies. Dinoflagellata, Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta accounted for almost 50% of the prey items consumed, and are associated with suspension feeding, while fish with high fisheries discard rates were detected which are linked to active foraging. In addition, we were able to characterise biodiversity patterns by considering Nephrops as natural samplers, as well as detecting parasitic dinoflagellates (e.g., Hematodinium sp.), which are known to influence burrow related behaviour in infected individuals in over 50% of the samples. The metabarcoding data presented here greatly enhances a better understanding of a species’ ecological role and could be applied as a routine procedure in future studies for proper consideration in the management and decision-making of fisheries

Population trends and urbanization. Simulating density effects using a local regression approach

7siopenDensity-dependent population growth regulates long-term urban expansion and shapes distinctive socioeconomic trends. Despite a marked heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the resident population, Mediterranean European countries are considered more homogeneous than countries in other European regions as far as settlement structure and processes of metropolitan growth are concerned. However, rising socioeconomic inequalities among Southern European regions reflect latent demographic and territorial transformations that require further investigation. An integrated assessment of the spatio-temporal distribution of resident populations in more than 1000 municipalities (1961-2011) was carried out in this study to characterize density-dependent processes of metropolitan growth in Greece. Using geographically weighted regressions, the results of our study identified distinctive local relationships between population density and growth rates over time. Our results demonstrate that demographic growth rates were non-linearly correlated with other variables, such as population density, with positive and negative impacts during the first (1961-1971) and the last (2001-2011) observation decade, respectively. These findings outline a progressive shift over time from density-dependent processes of population growth, reflecting a rapid development of large metropolitan regions (Athens, Thessaloniki) in the 1960s, to density-dependent processes more evident in medium-sized cities and accessible rural regions in the 2000s. Density-independent processes of population growth have been detected in the intermediate study period (1971-2001). This work finally discusses how a long-term analysis of demographic growth, testing for density-dependent mechanisms, may clarify the intrinsic role of population concentration and dispersion in different phases of the metropolitan cycle in Mediterranean Europe.openPolinesi G.; Recchioni M.C.; Turco R.; Salvati L.; Rontos K.; Rodrigo-Comino J.; Benassi F.Polinesi, G.; Recchioni, M. C.; Turco, R.; Salvati, L.; Rontos, K.; Rodrigo-Comino, J.; Benassi, F

La caries dental en los adultos jóvenes diferencias en el género

La presencia de caries dental en los adultos jóvenes se relacionaría con ciertas diferencias entre los géneros. En los hombres podría asociarse con la vía nerviosa simpática por aumento de igAs total y adrenalina. En las mujeres se asociaría con la vía hipotálamo, hipófisis, corteza suprarrenal por la disminución del cortisol. Las dos vías podrían modificar la inmunidad bucal permitiendo la presencia de caries en ambos géneros

A framework for increasing the availability of life cycle inventory data based on the role of multinational companies

Purpose The aim of the paper is to assesses the role and effectiveness of a proposed novel strategy for Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data collection in the food sector and associated supply chains. The study represents one of the first of its type and provides answers to some of the key questions regarding the data collection process developed, managed and implemented by a multinational food company across the supply chain. Methods An integrated LCI data collection process for confectionery products was developed and implemented by Nestlé, a multinational food company. Some of the key features includes: (1) management and implementation by a multinational food company, (2) types of roles to manage, provide and facilitate data exchange, (3) procedures to identify key products, suppliers and customers, (4) LCI questionnaire and cover letter, and (5) data quality management based on the pedigree matrix. Overall, the combined features in an integrated framework provides a new way of thinking about the collection of LCI data from the perspective of a multinational food company. Results The integrated LCI collection framework spanned across five months and resulted in 87 new LCI datasets for confectionery products from raw material, primary resource use, emission and waste release data collected from suppliers across 19 countries. The data collected was found to be of medium-to-high quality compared with secondary data. However, for retailers and waste service companies only partially completed questionnaires were returned. Some of the key challenges encountered during the collection and creation of data included: lack of experience, identifying key actors, communication and technical language, commercial compromise, confidentiality protection, and complexity of multi-tiered supplier systems. A range of recommendations are proposed to reconcile these challenges which include: standardisation of environmental data from suppliers, concise and targeted LCI questionnaires, and visualising complexity through drawings. Conclusions The integrated LCI data collection process and strategy has demonstrated the potential role of a multinational company to quickly engage and act as a strong enabler to unlock latent data for various aspects of the confectionery supply chain. Overall, it is recommended that the research findings serve as the foundations to transition towards a standardised procedure which can practically guide other multinational companies to considerably increase the availability of LCI data

Estimation of Financial Agent-Based Models with Simulated Maximum Likelihood

This paper proposes a general computational framework for empirical estimation of financial agent based models, for which criterion functions do not have known analytical form. For this purpose, we adapt a nonparametric simulated maximum likelihood estimation based on kernel methods. Employing one of the most widely analysed heterogeneous agent models in the literature developed by Brock and Hommes (1998), we extensively test properties of the proposed estimator and its ability to recover parameters consistently and efficiently using simulations. Key empirical findings point us to the statistical insignificance of the switching coefficient but markedly significant belief parameters defining heterogeneous trading regimes with superiority of trend-following over contrarian strategies. In addition, we document slight proportional dominance of fundamentalists over trend following chartists in main world markets

A numerical method for time dependent acoustic scattering problems involving smart obstacles and incoming waves of small wavelengths.

In this paper we propose a highly parallelizable numerical method for time dependent acoustic scattering problems involving realistic smart obstacles hit by incoming waves having wavelengths small compared with the characteristic dimension of the obstacles. A smart obstacle is an obstacle that when hit by an incoming wave tries to pursue a goal circulating on its boundary a pressure current. In particular we consider obstacles whose goal is to be undetectable and we refer to them as furtive obstacles. These scattering problems are modelled as optimal control problems for the wave equation. We validate the method proposed to solve the optimal control problem considered on some test problems where a "smart" simplified version of the NASA space shuttle is hit by incoming waves with small wavelengths compared to its characteristic dimension. That is we consider test problems with ratio between the characteristic dimension of the obstacle and wavelength of the time harmonic component of the incoming wave up to approximately one hundred. The website: http://www.econ.univpm.it/recchioni/w14 contains animations and virtual reality applications showing some numerical experiments relative to the problems studied in this paper. © 2006 American Institute of Physics