scholarly journals A data generator for covid-19 patients’ care requirements inside hospitals

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Juan A. Marin-Garcia ◽  
Angel Ruiz ◽  
Maheut Julien ◽  
Jose P. Garcia-Sabater
Keyword(s):  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Data Generator

<p class="Abstract">This paper presents the generation of a plausible data set related to the needs of COVID-19 patients with severe or critical symptoms. Possible illness’ stages were proposed within the context of medical knowledge as of January 2021. The parameters chosen in this data set were customized to fit the population data of the Valencia region (Spain) with approximately 2.5 million inhabitants. They were based on the evolution of the pandemic between September 2020 and March 2021, a period that included two complete waves of the pandemic.</p><p class="Abstract">Contrary to expectation and despite the European and national transparency laws (BOE-A2013-12887, 2013; European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2019), the actual COVID-19 pandemic-related data, at least in Spain, took considerable time to be updated and made available (usually a week or more). Moreover, some relevant data necessary to develop and validate hospital bed management models were not publicly accessible. This was either because these data were not collected, because public agencies failed to make them public (despite having them indexed in their databases), the data were processed within indicators and not shown as raw data, or they simply published the data in a format that was difficult to process (e.g., PDF image documents versus CSV tables). Despite the potential of hospital information systems, there were still data that were not adequately captured within these systems.</p><p class="Abstract">Moreover, the data collected in a hospital depends on the strategies and practices specific to that hospital or health system. This limits the generalization of "real" data, and it encourages working with "realistic" or plausible data that are clean of interactions with local variables or decisions (Gunal, 2012; Marin-Garcia et al., 2020). Besides, one can parameterize the model and define the data structure that would be necessary to run the model without delaying till the real data become available. Conversely, plausible data sets can be generated from publicly available information and, later, when real data become available, the accuracy of the model can be evaluated (Garcia-Sabater and Maheut, 2021).</p><p class="Abstract">This work opens lines of future research, both theoretical and practical. From a theoretical point of view, it would be interesting to develop machine learning tools that, by analyzing specific data samples in real hospitals, can identify the parameters necessary for the automatic prototyping of generators adapted to each hospital. Regarding the lines of research applied, it is evident that the formalism proposed for the generation of sound patients is not limited to patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection. The generation of heterogeneous patients can represent the needs of a specific population and serve as a basis for studying complex health service delivery systems.</p><p class="Abstract"> </p><p class="Abstract"> </p>

scholarly journals Difficulty in implementing continuous improvement – Rasch measurement analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1228-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Sanchez-Ruiz ◽  
Beatriz Blanco ◽  
Emma Diaz
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Measurement Theory ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Rasch Measurement ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Of Difficulty ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to define a general and common construct in order to measure the level of difficulty companies experience when they implement continuous improvement (CI). Additionally, a rank of barriers is obtained together with a rank of companies. Design/methodology/approach In order to achieve the objective, first, a literature review is carried out to specify the domain of the construct; second, a sample of items is selected; third a survey is carried out in companies that have already implemented CI initiatives, the results being thus limited to this population; fourth, measures are purified by analysing the reliability and validity of the measurements, and finally results are obtained. The Rasch measurement theory will be used to provide a new perspective on a mature research topic. Findings It can be concluded that a new valid construct has been defined together with a rank of CI barriers, being lack of time the main barrier. A rank of companies is also obtained which is a first step in the development of future research studies. Practical implications Managers are provided with a better understanding of the barriers that can obstruct CI implementation. Thus, the rank of CI barriers guides managers through the most common and important obstacles so that they will be able to plan better CI strategies. In addition, the rank of companies allows each company to undertake a benchmarking exercise. Originality/value This work proposes a new way of analysing the difficulty in implementing CI as a continuum, rather than as independent barriers. From a theoretical point of view, it defines a new construct and offers a rank of CI barriers together with a rank of companies based on their level of difficulty when implementing CI initiatives. This is something new, as previous studies were mainly focussed on the items side. From a practical point of view, this study offers the surveyed companies the opportunity to see how they are positioned with respect to the other companies. Moreover, this rank of companies is the foundation on which to develop further studies with a practical orientation in the future.

Discursive turns and critical junctures

2020 ◽  
pp. 198-213
Author(s):  
Donatella della Porta ◽  
Pietro Castelli Gattinara ◽  
Konstantinos Eleftheriadis ◽  
Andrea Felicetti
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opening Up

The concluding chapter goes back to the theoretical debates presented in chapter 1, synthetizing the main empirical results of the various parts of our analysis as well as reflecting on the theoretical implications. From the theoretical point of view, the aim has been to analyze transformative events in order to trace their effects on the content and form of the debate in multiple public spheres. The research addressed discursive turns during a critical juncture that changed in the political debate. Empirically, the Charlie Hebdo controversy represented a most important moment in the assessment of collective understandings of citizenship, broadly understood as setting the boundaries of who is inside and who is outside. Opening up to future research in the field, the chapter speculates on the impact of the debate we have addressed in structuring the evolving debate over citizenship and citizenship rights.

Recent progress in prominence seismology

2005 ◽  
Vol 364 (1839) ◽  
pp. 405-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Ballester
Keyword(s):  
Small Amplitude ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Structure And Properties ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Solar Prominences ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Local Nature

Prominence seismology is a rapidly developing topic which seeks to infer the internal structure and properties of solar prominences from the study of their oscillations. An extense observational background about oscillations in quiescent solar prominences has been gathered during the last 70 years. These observations point out the existence of two different types of oscillations: flare-induced oscillations (winking filaments) which affect the whole prominence and are of large amplitude and small amplitude oscillations which seem to be of local nature. From the theoretical point of view, few models have been set up to explain the phenomenon of winking filaments while, on the contrary, for small amplitude oscillations a large number of models trying to explain the observed features have been proposed. Here, recent theoretical and observational developments on both types of oscillations are reviewed, and suggestions about future research topics which should provide us with a more in-depth knowledge of solar prominences are made.

Exclusive corporate philanthropy: rethinking the nexus of CSR and corporate philanthropy

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg von Schnurbein ◽  
Peter Seele ◽  
Irina Lock
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Philanthropy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to a better understanding of relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate philanthropy. The authors argue that corporate philanthropy is exclusive to CSR because of their different characteristics. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a profound literature review and discusses the relationship of CSR and corporate philanthropy from a theoretical point of view. By conceptually combining the CSR pyramid and the triple bottom line approach, the authors show that corporate philanthropy has a special role outside of the classical CSR concept. Findings Four fundaments of corporate philanthropy – economic, motivational, creative and moral – are described that illustrate the importance and outstanding role of corporate philanthropy for today’s businesses. Based on these, the authors formulate three new forms of corporate giving, volunteering and foundations, which the authors subsume under the novel notion of “exclusive corporate philanthropy”. Research limitations/implications The main contribution of this paper for future research is to regard corporate philanthropy as exclusive to CSR. Future studies might, therefore, consider the different characteristics of corporate philanthropy and engage in an empirical investigation of this new type. Practical implications The model of exclusive corporate philanthropy presented in this paper provides practitioners with a better understanding of how corporate philanthropy can be rolled out today. Originality/value This paper offers a new perspective on the relationship of CSR and corporate philanthropy. Based on the economic, motivational, creative and moral characteristics of corporate philanthropy, the authors establish a clear distinction between the two concepts.

One Parameter A (α) Distribution: Different Methods of Estimation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-09
Author(s):  
Sanku Dey ◽  
Mahendra Saha ◽  
Sankar Goswami
Keyword(s):  
Unknown Parameter ◽  
Parametric Bootstrap ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Bootstrap Confidence Interval ◽  
Likelihood Estimator ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Von Mises ◽  
Least Square Estimators

This paper addresses the different methods of estimation of the unknown parameter of one parameter A(α) distribution from the frequentist point of view. We briefly describe different approaches, namely, maximum likelihood estimator, least square and weighted least square estimators, maximum product spacing estimators, Cram´er-von Mises estimator and compare those using extensive numerical simulations. Next, we obtain parametric bootstrap confidence interval of the parameter using frequentist approaches. Finally, one real data set has been analysed for illustrative purposes.

Firm-Provided Training During the Great Recession

2014 ◽  
Vol 234 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz Bellmann ◽  
Hans-Dieter Gerner ◽  
Ute Leber
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Further Training ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Apprenticeship Training ◽  
Training Activities ◽  
The Impact

SummaryEven though the 2008/09 economic crisis had only minor employment effects on the German labor market, it might have affected firms’ further training and apprenticeship training behavior. From a theoretical point of view, the impact of the business cycle on firms’ training behaviour is ambiguous. There are reasons for an increase of training during a downturn (e.g., declining opportunity costs of training, fewer exit options for trained workers) as well as arguments for a decrease of training (e.g., uncertain future benefits of training). The existing empirical evidence on the relationship between training and economic downturns is relatively scarce. In particular, we are not aware of any empirical study investigating the effects of the most recent crisis on firms’ training activities in Germany. Our paper aims to fill this gap by using data from the IAB Establishment Panel, a representative German panel data set with annual information about almost 16,000 establishments. In particular, we analyzed the provision and the intensity of further training and apprenticeship training in firms which were affected by the crisis and in those which were not. Our empirical investigation revealed that the establishments, irrespective of whether or not they were hit by the economic crisis, decreased their further training and apprenticeship training efforts in 2009 compared to 2008. However, establishments directly affected by the great recession tended to reduce their training activities more often than those which were not affected. Furthermore, we found much stronger variations in the development of firms’ further training activities than in the development of their apprenticeship training.

scholarly journals Discriminating evidence accumulation from urgency signals in speeded decision making

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy E. Hawkins ◽  
Eric-Jan Wagenmakers ◽  
Roger Ratcliff ◽  
Scott D. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Evidence Accumulation ◽  
Gating Model ◽  
Noisy Information

The dominant theoretical paradigm in explaining decision making throughout both neuroscience and cognitive science is known as “evidence accumulation”—the core idea being that decisions are reached by a gradual accumulation of noisy information. Although this notion has been supported by hundreds of experiments over decades of study, a recent theory proposes that the fundamental assumption of evidence accumulation requires revision. The “urgency gating” model assumes decisions are made without accumulating evidence, using only moment-by-moment information. Under this assumption, the successful history of evidence accumulation models is explained by asserting that the two models are mathematically identical in standard experimental procedures. We demonstrate that this proof of equivalence is incorrect, and that the models are not identical, even when both models are augmented with realistic extra assumptions. We also demonstrate that the two models can be perfectly distinguished in realistic simulated experimental designs, and in two real data sets; the evidence accumulation model provided the best account for one data set, and the urgency gating model for the other. A positive outcome is that the opposing modeling approaches can be fruitfully investigated without wholesale change to the standard experimental paradigms. We conclude that future research must establish whether the urgency gating model enjoys the same empirical support in the standard experimental paradigms that evidence accumulation models have gathered over decades of study.

Beautiful Fractals as a Crystal Ball for Financial Markets? - Investment Decision Support System Based on Image Recognition Using Artificial Intelligence

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Abdel-Karim
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Financial Markets ◽  
Image Recognition ◽  
Fractal Geometry ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Theoretical Point

The work by Mandelbrot develops a basic understanding of fractals and the artwork of Jackson Pollok to reveal the beauty fractal geometry. The pattern of recurring structures is also reflected in share prices. Mandelbrot himself speaks of the fractal heart of the financial markets. Previous research has shown the potential of image recognition. This paper presents the possibility of using the structure recognition capability of modern machine learning methods to make forecasts based on fractal course information. We generate training data from real and simulated data. These data are represented in images to train a special artificial neural network. Subsequently, real data are presented to the network for use in predicting. The results show that the forecast of time series based on stock price illustration, compared to a benchmark, delivers promising results. This paper makes two essential contributions to research. From a theoretical point of view, fractal geometry shows that it can serve as a means of legitimation for technical analysis. From a practical point of view, highly developed methods from the field of machine learning are able to recognize patterns in data through appropriate data transformation, and that models such as random walk have an informational content that can be used to train machine learning models.

scholarly journals Employability and Sustainability of Young Graduates in the Slovak Labour Market: Counterfactual Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4462
Author(s):  
Lucia Svabova ◽  
Marek Durica ◽  
Katarina Kramarova ◽  
Katarina Valaskova ◽  
Katarina Janoskova
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
The European Union ◽  
State Budget ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Counterfactual Approach

A necessary condition for economic development and raising living standards in Slovakia is to address employment issues in a way that would inter alia contribute to employment sustainability. This important fact mirrors in the study that directly analyses the employability and sustainability of young unemployed jobseekers, participants of the intervention “Graduate Practice”, in the Slovak labour market in 2014–2017 by applying a counterfactual approach. The intervention is one of the active policy measures in the labour market, and its implementation is subject to the specifics of the excluded group of the unemployed. Its aim is to help the members of the group find a job and gain work experience and habits. The impacts of the intervention on the employability and sustainability of young graduates were evaluated based on real data using the caliper-matching technique, the technique of the propensity score-matching method. The intervention database was relatively robust and included 42,626 participants over a 24-month impact period. In the analysis, we considered both the effectiveness and efficiency of the Graduate Practice. The findings point to no or very weak effects of the intervention, especially to the long-term sustainability of jobs. However, its impact on the state budget we consider as positive due to the intervention’s ability to reduce total costs of unemployed graduates. From the methodology point of view, the use of the method is appropriate in finding possible imbalances in the active and passive policies of the labour market. The results of the study themselves have the explanatory power not only for Slovak policymakers but also for policymakers at the level of the European Union. The results are helpful in creating other interventions and setting their conditions for future periods to bring a desired effect on employability and sustainability of members of excluded groups in general.

scholarly journals Camouflaged Object Detection and Tracking: A Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 2050028
Author(s):  
Ajoy Mondal
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Object Detection ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Future Research Direction ◽  
Object Detection And Tracking ◽  
Detection And Tracking ◽  
Survey Papers

Moving object detection and tracking have various applications, including surveillance, anomaly detection, vehicle navigation, etc. The literature on object detection and tracking is rich enough, and there exist several essential survey papers. However, the research on camouflage object detection and tracking is limited due to the complexity of the problem. Existing work on this problem has been done based on either biological characteristics of the camouflaged objects or computer vision techniques. In this paper, we review the existing camouflaged object detection and tracking techniques using computer vision algorithms from the theoretical point of view. This paper also addresses several issues of interest as well as future research direction in this area. We hope this paper will help the reader to learn the recent advances in camouflaged object detection and tracking.

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