Policymakers are in growing need of metrics which will assist them in ranking and assessing entities on different topics. Composite indicators, aggregated individual indicators, have become a ...valuable metric to do so. One of the approaches used in the process of their creation is the benefit-of-the-doubt (BoD) model. To overcome the observed issue of full freedom of the BoD model, herein we propose the application of a novel unsupervised approach to imposing constraints: the bootstrap I-distance; a data-driven statistical method used to obtain weight intervals. The proposed variant of the BoD model is named Bootstrap I-distance benefit-of-the-doubt (B-ID-BoD). To verify the B-ID-BoD model, we employed it on the ease of doing business index (EDBI) issued by the World Bank. The obtained results indicate that the model can be solved, that all the imposed constraints have been adhered to, and that the official EDBI weighting scheme does not need alteration. The proposed approach can initiate further research on data-driven approaches to constraining the BoD model and further applications of the bootstrap I-distance.
The efficiency of the banking sector, particularly in developing countries, has captivated the attention of various researchers. Contributing to this issue, we present the results of in-depth ...analysis of the efficiency of Serbian banks during the period 2005–2016. Unlike previous papers evaluating the efficiency of South-Eastern European banks, we emphasize the importance of applying weight restrictions in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The aim is to incorporate every aspect of a decision-making unit’s performance to avoid misevaluation of a bank’s efficiency. As a possible remedy to the issue, a bootstrapped I-distance is suggested as a statistically sound framework for determining weight bounds in the Global Assurance Region (GAR) DEA model. In terms of average efficiency, the banking sector of Serbia exhibits an improving trend over the period analyzed. The results show how banks can be evaluated when the impact of all the operating inputs and outputs are properly factored into the study.
Sustainable development and public health quite strongly correlate, being connected and conditioned by one another. This paper therein attempts to offer a representation of Europe's current situation ...of sustainable development in the area of public health.
A dataset on sustainable development in the area of public health consisting of 31 European countries (formally proposed by the European Union Commission and EUROSTAT) has been used in this paper in order to evaluate said issue for the countries listed thereof. A statistical method which synthesizes several indicators into one quantitative indicator has also been utilized. Furthermore, the applied method offers the possibility to obtain an optimal set of variables for future studies of the problem, as well as for the possible development of indicators.
According to the results obtained, Norway and Iceland are the two foremost European countries regarding sustainable development in the area of public health, whereas Romania, Lithuania, and Latvia, some of the European Union's newest Member States, rank lowest. The results also demonstrate that the most significant variables (more than 80%) in rating countries are found to be "healthy life years at birth, females" (r2 = 0.880), "healthy life years at birth, males" (r2 = 0.864), "death rate due to chronic diseases, males" (r2 = 0.850), and "healthy life years, 65, females" (r2 = 0.844).
Based on the results of this paper, public health represents a precondition for sustainable development, which should be continuously invested in and improved.After the assessment of the dataset, proposed by EUROSTAT in order to evaluate progress towards the agreed goals of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), this paper offers an improved set of variables, which it is hoped, may initiate further studies concerning this problem.
Introduction
We evaluated the effectiveness of long-term continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) compared with multiple daily insulin (MDI) injections for glycaemic control and variability, ...hypoglycaemic episodes and maternal/neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with pre-existing type 1 diabetes (pT1D).
Methods
Our observational cohort study included 128 consecutive pregnant women with pT1D, who were treated from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2017. Of 128 participants, 48 were on CSII and 80 were on MDI. Glycaemic control was determined by glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (captured in preconception and each trimester of pregnancy). Glucose variability (GV) was expressed as the coefficient of variation (CV) calculated from self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) values, and hypoglycaemia was defined as glucose values < 3.9 mmol/l. The data on maternal and neonatal outcomes were collected from obstetrical records.
Results
Duration of the treatment was 8.8 ± 5.3 years in the CSII and 12.6 ± 8.0 years in the MDI group. The CSII lowered HbA1c in preconception (7.1 ± 0.1 vs. 7.9 ± 0.2%,
p
= 0.03) and the first (6.9 ± 0.1 vs. 7.7 ± 0.2%,
p
= 0.02), second (6.6 ± 0.1 vs. 7.2 ± 0.1%,
p
= 0.003) and third (6.5 ± 0.1 vs. 6.8 ± 0.1%,
p
= 0.02) trimesters significantly better than MDI. Significantly lower CV was observed only for fasting glycaemia in the first trimester (17.1 vs 28.4%,
p
< 0.001) in favour of CSII. Moreover, the CSII group had significantly lower mean hypoglycaemic episodes/week/patient only during the first trimester (2.0 ± 1.7 vs 4.8 ± 1.5,
p
< 0.01). In early pregnancy, the majority of women on CSII had less hypoglycaemia than on MDI (0–3: 79.1 vs. 29.1%; 4–6: 18.8 vs. 65.8%; ≥ 7: 2.1 vs. 5.1%,
p
< 0.01, respectively). We found no difference in the incidence of adverse maternal/neonatal outcomes.
Conclusions
Treatment with CSII resulted in a favourable reduction of HbA1c in the preconception period and each trimester in pregnancy. Moreover, long-term CSII treatment demonstrated more stable metabolic control with less GV of fasting glycaemia and fewer hypoglyacemic episodes only during early pregnancy.
Classification method in a team chess championship has long been an issue of great concern. In quest of the golden standard," Chess Federation officials applied many different ranking methods. As ...part of the improvements," significant changes were introduced at the 2009 Serbia Team Chess Championship. In this paper, we will examine results of the 2008 and 2009 tournament by applying the statistical ranking method. Our aim was to compare classification in these two tournaments and for the first time quantitatively evaluate the rankings method in team chess championships. Some significant results were obtained during the process and we see them useful for the quality evaluation procedure of the classification methods. The correlation between 2008 Serbia Team Chess Championship ranking and the ranking based on the I-distance method was very significant with r=0.9639 and p<0.001. On the other hand, in the 2009 Championship our results clearly showed that the proposed soccer ranking method" is inadequate for chess competitions. We propose the I-distance method of ranking as a possibility of rankings improvement and achievement of impartial results by any team.
Introduction
Women with previous gestational diabetes (pGD) are at higher risk of prediabetes (PD) after delivery. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and predictors for PD among ...women with pGD.
Methods
The study included 186 women with pGD treated by lifestyle modification. After delivery, the women were divided into group A (
n
= 80) with PD and group B (
n
= 106) with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), defined by the results of the 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at 4–12 weeks after delivery. We recorded age, body mass index (BMI) at conception and after delivery, fasting glucose (FG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (Tg), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and the Tg/HDL-c ratio measured in the third trimester of pregnancy.
Results
Of the 186 women with pGD enrolled in the study, 43% showed prediabetes at 4–12 weeks after delivery, with 13.9% of these women showing impaired FG (IFG), 12.9% showing impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 16.2% with IFG/IGT. The groups differed in terms of age and BMI at conception and after delivery. In the third trimester of pregnancy, HbA1c was higher in women in group A than in those in group B (mean ± standard deviation: 5.6 ± 0.4 vs. 5.2 ± 0.3%;
p
< 0.001), while FG was comparable. Compared to women in group B, women in group A had higher TC (7.1 ± 0.8 vs. 6.6 ± 1.0 mmol/L), Tg (2.7 ± 0.9 vs. 2.1 ± 0.6 mmol/L) and LDL-c (4.7 ± 0.8 vs. 4.3 ± 1.0 mmol/L) (all
p
< 0.001), lower HDL-c (1.0 ± 0.2 vs. 1.4 ± 1.0;
p
< 0.001) and higher median Tg/HDL-c (5.4 range 4.6–14.3 vs. 4.9 range 1.1–11.5;
p
< 0.001). Univariate analysis found an association between prediabetes and age, BMI at conception and after delivery, HbA1c, TC, LDL-c, HDL-c, Tg and Tg/HDL-c ratio. Of these variables, the multivariate analysis showed age (odds ratio OR 1.19;
p
< 0.001), HbA1c (OR 31.06;
p
< 0.001), Tg (OR 4.09;
p
< 0.001) and LDL-c (OR 2.00;
p
= 0.005) as predictors for prediabetes.
Conclusion
High prevalence of early diagnosed PD in women with pGD was accompanied by advanced age and higher BMI at conception and after delivery. Moreover, age, HbA1c, Tg and LDL-c were predictors for PD.
•A novel similarity measure of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS) is proposed.•The measure is based on the equivalence relation in IFS-IBA approach.•The proposed measure is flexible and easy to ...interpret.•Benefits of the measure are shown on pattern recognition and classification problems.•IFS-IBA similarity is applied for clustering Serbian medium-sized companies.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel similarity measure of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). The proposed measure is based on the equivalence relation in the IFS-IBA approach. Due to the logic-based background, this measure compares IFS from a different viewpoint than the standard measures, emphasizing comprehension of intuitionism. The IFS-IBA similarity measure has a solid mathematical background and can be combined with various IF aggregation operators. Additionally, we define IFS-IBA distance function as a complement of IFS-IBA similarity. Both IFS-IBA similarity and distance functions may have different realizations that are easy to interpret. Hence, the measures are offering great descriptive power and the ability to model various problems. The benefits of the proposed measure are illustrated on the problem of pattern recognition and classification within k-NN algorithm. Finally, we show that the proposed measure is appropriate for IF hierarchical clustering on the problem of clustering Serbian medium-sized companies according to their financial ratios. Results obtained using the IFS-IBA measure are clear-cut and more meaningful compared to a standard IF distances regardless of the I-fuzzification method used.
Some major concerns of universities are to provide quality in higher education and enhance global competitiveness, thus ensuring a high global rank and an excellent performance evaluation. This ...article examines the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking methodology, pointing to a drawback of using subjective, possibly biased, weightings to build a composite indicator (QS scores). We propose an alternative approach to creating QS scores, which is referred to as the composite I‐distance indicator (CIDI) methodology. The main contribution is the proposal of a composite indicator weights correction based on the CIDI methodology. It leads to the improved stability and reduced uncertainty of the QS ranking system. The CIDI methodology is also applicable to other university rankings by proposing a specific statistical approach to creating a composite indicator.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a fundamental tool for understanding the outcomes of business policies. Teaching these indicators is conventionally accomplished through verbal lecturing using ...mathematical equations, accompanied by presentation graphics and tabular information representing the company's operational, financial, and strategic achievements. The conventional teaching method enables the student to understand what a KPI means and how it is calculated, however, it does not enable the student to understand easily how to interpret it. Here, a hybrid fuzzy-crisp rule-based AI system is presented and its effectiveness when applied with a group of management and organization students at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, during the 2022/2023 academic year is evaluated. The potential of this tool is reflected in its ability to simulate adaptive and realistic business economic situations, its high interactivity and user-friendly interface, and intuitive graphical and tabular results that are easy to interpret enhanced with natural-language-inference-explanations. Univariate analysis along with some complementary statistical tests was used to examine students' satisfaction with the system and to distinguish between students who used the system, and students who attended conventional classes, both in terms of acquiring knowledge and retaining knowledge. In general, the results showed high students' satisfaction with the system. The scores obtained by the former group on the objective knowledge assessment test were on average significantly higher compared to those of the latter, proving the positive effect of the hybrid fuzzy-crisp rule-based AI teaching approach.
•The teaching of key performance indicators (KPIs) is lacking in scientific research.•This work enhances our understanding of KPI teaching, devising an effective approach.•KPI teaching theoretical framework, practices and challenges are highlighted.•A hybrid fuzzy-crisp rule-based AI method in the KPIs teaching is presented and assessed.•Method resulted in higher KPI knowledge acquisition and KPI knowledge retention.
PDF
