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On the optimality of coin-betting for mean estimation
No full textWe consider the problem of testing the mean of a bounded real random variable. We introduce a notion of optimal classes for e-variables and e-processes, and establish the optimality of the coin-betting formulation among e-variable-based algorithmic frameworks for testing and estimating the (conditional) mean. As a consequence, we provide a direct and explicit characterisation of all valid e-variables and e-processes for this testing problem. In the language of classical statistical decision theory, we fully describe the set of all admissible e-variables and e-processes, and identify the corresponding minimal complete class.The author would like to thank Gergely Neu, Peter D. Grünwald, Nishant A. Mehta, Hamish E. Flynn, and Claudia M. Chanu, for the insightful discussions that inspired this work. I would also like to thank Nick W. Koning and Aditya Ramdas for their constructive feedback, which helped improve this work following its initial appearance, and Wouter M. Koolen for helpful discussions on e-processes. Finally, I thank the anonymous reviewers for the insightful comments and feedback that helped improving this work. GPT-4o was used during the redaction of this paper to polish the presentation. All AI-generated text was reviewed and edited by the author, who takes full responsibility for the content of this manuscript. This project was funded by the European Research Council (ERC), under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 950180)
Empirical evidence of organizational transformation: the subsequent consequence of the causal relationship between the adoption of circular economy strategies and their performance
No full textThe adoption of circular economy (CE) strategies by companies-such as reduction, substitution, reuse, and others' is more necessary than ever to face recent challenges that have caused a rise in the price of raw materials, among other effects. However, incorporating CE strategies into the production process is not trivial because it can imply significant organizational transformation. To understand this transformation, this work analyses how the adoption of CE strategies impacts company performance and, consequently, the subsequent transformation of the company in adapting to this strategy. Based on a sample of 213 senior managers from companies in the manufacturing and service sectors, structural equation modelling is performed to contribute empirical evidence to the literature. The findings reveal that the adoption of CE strategies by companies can be more profitable than solely pursuing financial outcomes, as such adoption also impacts external stakeholders, society in general, and customers in particular. However, in return, the company must be open to deploying a certain degree of organizational transformation
High-resolution kinetics and cellular determinants of SARS-CoV-2 antibody response over two years after COVID-19 vaccination
No full textSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) studies usually rely on cross-sectional data of large cohorts but limited repeated samples, overlooking significant inter-individual antibody kinetic differences. By combining Luminex, activation-induced marker (AIM) and IFN-γ/IL-2 Fluorospot assays, we characterized the IgM, IgA, and IgG antibody kinetics using 610 samples from 31 healthy adults over two years after COVID-19 vaccination, and the T-cell responses six months post-booster. Antibody trajectories varied among isotypes: IgG decayed slowly, IgA exhibited an initial sharp decline, which gradually slowed down and stabilized above the seropositivity threshold. Contrarily, IgM rapidly dropped to undetectable levels after primary vaccination. Importantly, three vaccine doses induced higher and more durable anti-spike IgG and IgA levels compared to two doses, whereas infection led to the highest antibody peak and slowest antibody decay rate compared to vaccination. Comparing with ancestral virus, antibody levels recognizing Omicron subvariants had a faster antibody decay. Finally, polyfunctional T cells were positively associated with subsequent IgA responses. These results revealed distinctive antibody patterns by isotype and highlight the benefits of booster doses in enhancing and sustaining antibody responses.This work was supported by the Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu and by the European Union under grant agreement no. 101046314 (END-VOC). RR had the support of the Health Department, Catalan Government (PERIS SLT017/20/000224). GM was supported by RYC 2020-029886-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, co-funded by European Social Fund (ESF). MLE received support from the grant 100046TC21_2022 INV-1 00046 funded by AGAUR/European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. PS was supported by PID2021-125493OB-I00 grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. We acknowledge support from the grant CEX2018-000806-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program
Associations of maternal night shift work during pregnancy with DNA methylation in offspring: a meta-analysis in the PACE consortium
No full textBackground: Night shift work during pregnancy has been associated with differential DNA methylation in placental tissue, but no studies have explored this association in cord blood. We aimed to examine associations of maternal night shift work with cord blood DNA methylation. Methods: A total of 4487 mother-newborn pairs from 7 studies were included. Maternal night shift work during pregnancy was ascertained via questionnaires and harmonized into "any" versus "no". DNA methylation was measured in cord blood using the Illumina Infinium Methylation arrays. Robust linear regression models adjusted for relevant confounders were run in the individual cohorts, and results were meta-analyzed. Results: Maternal night shift work during pregnancy ranged from 3.4% to 26.3%. Three CpGs were differentially methylated in relation to maternal night shift work during pregnancy at a false discovery rate adjusted P < 0.05: cg10945885 (estimate (β) 0.38%, standard error (SE) 0.07), cg00773359 (β 0.25%, SE 0.05), and cg21836426 (β - 0.29%, SE 0.05). Associations of the identified CpGs were found in previous literature for gestational age and childhood and adolescent BMI. In a mouse model of prenatal jet lag exposure, information on offspring DNA methylation of ten homologous genes annotated to the 16 CpGs with P < 1 × 10-5 in our analysis was available, of which eight were associated (enrichment P: 1.62 × 10-11). Conclusion: Maternal night shift work during pregnancy was associated with newborn DNA methylation at 3 CpGs. Top findings overlapped with those in a mouse model of gestational jet lag. This work strengthens evidence that DNA methylation could be a marker or mediator of impacts of circadian rhythm disturbances
Le XVIIIe siècle et les décrets de Nueva Planta: accommodement et dissidence
No full textAprès la défaite catalane de 1714, à mesure que le temps passait, grâce à la croissance économique et à la participation grandissante sur le marché espagnol et latinoaméricain, les Catalans s'accommodèrent au nouveau régime bourbonien. Toutefois, comment l'image d'une Catalogne prospère dont parlent immanquablement les voyageurs étrangers durant le XVIIIe siècle et que l'historien Pierre Vilar a magnifiquement évoquée s'inscrit-elle dans ce récit d'une lourde répression des Bourbons - Malgré cela, les exemples de dissidence politique - conjointement à la méfiance chronique de la part des autorités bourboniennes - ne cessèrent pas au fil du siècle. Ainsi, on peut conclure que vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle perdurera le souvenir des libertés catalanes et de l'organisation spécifique de la res publica, nullement conforme aux dictats de l'absolutisme bourbonien
Alfred Hitchcock: L’art de ser-hi : una anàlisi de la construcció mediàtica i de la identitat pública del director de cinema amb base en tècniques de brànding personal, i la semiòtica i la narrativa aplicades als seus cameos
No full textTutor: Dr. Carlos Alberto ScolariTreball de fi de grau en Publicitat i Relacions PúbliquesAlfred Hitchcock va ser un pioner del cinema i de la construcció d’una identitat pública mitjançant estratègies de personal branding, semiòtica i narrativa. Fou dels primers a crear un personatge reconeixible a través dels seus cameos i un univers propi de contingut. Aquesta investigació analitza com va construir aquesta identitat pública, examinant les seves aparicions a les pel·lícules i el seu univers des del punt de vista del personal brànding. Es proposen dos models d’anàlisi: un basat en J.N. Kapferer i el brànding, i un altre en les teories semiòtiques i narratives de P. Bertetti i A.J. Greimas.
S’observa que Hitchcock aplicava tècniques de brànding personal de manera intuïtiva i que, mitjançant la seva narrativa i semiòtica als cameos, establia un joc d’atenció amb el públic. També es destaca la importància del contrast entre l’obra i la figura pública, així com l’ús de la repetició per construir una personalitat i un personatge coherents.Alfred Hitchcock was a pioneer in cinema and in the construction of a public identity through strategies of personal branding, semiotics, and narrative. He was among the first to create a recognizable persona through his cameos and a distinctive content universe. This study analyzes how Hitchcock built this public identity by examining his appearances in his own films and the broader narrative world he developed, through the lens of personal branding. Two analytical models are proposed: one based on J.N. Kapferer’s branding theories, and another grounded in the semiotic and narrative frameworks of P. Bertetti and A.J. Greimas. The analysis reveals that Hitchcock intuitively applied personal branding techniques and, through the semiotic and narrative dimensions of his cameos, established a game of attention with his audience. The study also highlights the importance of the contrast between the artistic work and the public figure, as well as the strategic use of repetition to construct a coherent personality and character
Pensamiento crítico e inteligencia artificial en la academia: procedimiento de análisis matricial cualitativo para evaluar sistemas de IA
No full textEste capítulo presenta el Procedimiento Matricial de Análisis de Sistemas de IA (MASIA), un método cualitativo basado en matrices, diseñado para evaluar el rendimiento y la calidad de los sistemas de inteligencia artificial generativa en entornos académicos. MASIA se centra en el análisis de tres componentes clave en las respuestas generadas por IA: síntesis narrativa, uso de fuentes y formulación de nuevos prompts. De esta forma, fomenta el pensamiento crítico en los usuarios de la IA y ofrece valiosas herramientas tanto para la docencia como para la investigación. El procedimiento define variables y parámetros analíticos que permiten la comparación de diferentes sistemas de IA, lo que facilita la toma de decisiones informada en entornos académicos y de investigación. Además, MASIA integra consideraciones éticas, como la trazabilidad, la atribución correcta y la prevención del plagio, lo que lo convierte en un instrumento flexible y adaptable a diversas necesidades y proyectos académicos. El capítulo concluye que MASIA es una herramienta sencilla pero potente para potenciar el pensamiento crítico, optimizar los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje y sentar las bases para la investigación comparativa sobre inteligencia artificial en el ámbito académico.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto “Parámetros y estrategias para incrementar la relevancia de los medios y la comunicación digital en la sociedad: curación, visualización y visibilidad (CUVICOM)”. Ayuda PID2021-123579OB-I00 financiada por MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 y por FEDER, UE
Anchor effects on entrepreneurial entry and risk-taking
No full textTreball de Fi de Grau en Estudis Internacionals d'Economia i Empresa. Curs 2024-2025Tutor: Theodor VladaselIt has been well documented that an individuals’ surroundings influences their entrepreneurial decisions. This paper provides a new behavioral perspective to explain the phenomenon. We focus on the university setting and argue that social reference points create anchoring effects on students and influence them on their likelihood of entrepreneurial entry and risk-taking. We conducted an empirical study with survey data collected from Spanish university students and found that a higher social anchor led to a higher likelihood of entry and risk-taking. Additionally, children of business owners had increased risk-taking due to the anchor, explaining why entrepreneurship tends to run in the family. Men and children of entrepreneurs were encouraged to enter, and men and high self-efficacy individuals took more risks when identifying their surrounding peers as entrepreneurs, explaining the prevalence of these characteristics among entrepreneurs. The general anchor was ineffective in influencing entrepreneurial decisions, highlighting the salience of social anchors.
The results of the study help explain how, from a cognitive perspective, environments such as elite universities are so prolific in producing successful entrepreneurs. This provides a more comprehensive view of the origins of entrepreneurship and has implications for institutional policies to foster business creation and increase overall welfare
AI and image banks: a research methodology
No full textThis chapter presents a methodological framework for analysing gender bias and the presence of sociocultural stereotypes in professional stock image banks, with a specific focus on the visual results returned by photographic and AI-generated platforms. The study is based on the hypothesis that neutral prompts — those lacking explicit references to gender, age, or ethnicity — should, in the absence of cultural or technical bias, yield a balanced visual representation across different social categories. Any significant deviation from such proportionality may indicate the existence of implicit biases or recurrent visual clichés. To explore this, the authors analysed images retrieved from four professional platforms — two based on conventional photography and two relying on AI image generation. A system of coded indicators was developed to classify the representations in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, functional diversity, beauty norms, and depicted actions. The methodology excluded group images and near-identical variants to ensure diversity and analytical rigour. The findings reveal that AI-based platforms more consistently align with user prompts (60.36%) compared to traditional photographic databases (44.84%). However, both types of platforms exhibit stereotypical patterns, suggesting a persistence of visual tropes and clichés. The proposed methodology proves effective in detecting these biases and offers a transferable analytical framework. The chapter aims to contribute to broader efforts towards more inclusive visual cultures, encouraging further interdisciplinary research on algorithmic image generation and representation in digital media.This work is part of the Project “Parameters and strategies to increase the relevance of media and digital communication in society: curation, visualisation and visibility (CUVICOM)”. Grant PID2021-123579OB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF, EU
Political belief formation: individual differences and situational factors
No full textThis chapter reviews research at the intersection of psychology and political science that studies how people form political beliefs. We discuss the degree to which people's motivations shape the beliefs that they form, paying particular attention to the extent to which people's political beliefs are generated through reflection. Both individual differences and situational factors affect the extent to which people are reflective in political domains. As always, more questions remain than researchers have answered, and we conclude with some thoughts about the most pressing ones that future research should tackle