Francisco Orlando Rosales

This study examines the sociodemographic, technological, and pedagogical factors associated with the frequency of digital tool use and students’ perceived learning impact in secondary education. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used with a non-probability convenience sample of 541 students enrolled in upper General Basic Education and the Unified General Baccalaureate in Ecuador. The statistical strategy was re-specified to address sparse response categories, non-proportional odds, multicollinearity, and marked institutional concentration. For frequency of use, ‘Never’ and ‘Occasionally’ were combined and a partial proportional-odds model was estimated. For perceived impact, the proportional-odds assumption was rejected globally, so two cumulative logits were estimated using Firth bias reduction. The two outcomes were positively associated (Spearman rho = 0.281, p < 0.001). Compared with students relying on a mobile phone only, those with a personal computer had higher odds of more frequent use (OR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.19–2.62) and of reporting significant perceived improvement (OR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.12–2.79). Reparameterisation around frequent reference categories showed that perceived teacher adaptation followed a non-monotonic pattern rather than a robust inverse gradient. The positive age association disappeared after accounting for its near collinearity with school year. Because the sample was convenience-based and 84.3% of participants attended one institution, the findings are interpreted as context-specific associations rather than population estimates.

Este estudio analiza la aplicabilidad de la Hipótesis de Inestabilidad Financiera (HIF) de Hyman Minsky en las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito del segmento I del Ecuador, considerando su estructura patrimonial, eficiencia operativa y calidad de activos. Según la HIF, los períodos de estabilidad generan comportamientos financieros más arriesgados, debilitando el capital y aumentando la fragilidad sistémica. A partir del análisis HJ-Biplot y técnicas de clúster, se identificaron tres etapas de fragilidad financiera entre las cooperativas. Los resultados revelan que aquellas con mayor suficiencia patrimonial exhiben mayor estabilidad, mientras que las que presentan altos niveles de morosidad y activos improductivos están más expuestas a transitar hacia esquemas especulativos o Ponzi. Algunas implementan estrategias de reestructuración para mitigar riesgos, aunque su efectividad puede ser limitada durante crisis prolongadas. Los hallazgos respaldan la validez empírica de la HIF, destacando el papel de las decisiones microeconómicas en la configuración de la estabilidad financiera institucional.

Current human population is mostly located in urban areas making cities the center of attention in terms of achieving sustainability goals. Evidence shows that ecosystems have evolved over time toward a balanced configuration between resource efficiency and functional redundancy. For this reason, they are exemplary models to follow in terms of sustainability. Here, we apply similar ecological network‐based methods to study the virtual water metabolic network (VWMN) of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The VWMN was obtained using novel bottom‐up, survey‐based methods to generate the urban metabolic network. We compare the VWMN results with those previously obtained from ecological food webs, to learn if there are insights about the sustainability of urban metabolic processes. We conclude that VWMN does not exhibit characteristics observed in sustainable ecological networks because this socioeconomic network exhibits higher levels of path redundancy. Urban metabolism studies are gaining in popularity as a research tool aimed at informing resource management and this is one of the first covering a city in the Global South and using a bottom‐up survey method.