In Ecuador, the participatory political design of the political party forming the government from 2007 to 2017, along with the constitution of 2018, created opportunities for citizen participation. Participatory budgeting (PB) is the most commonly used citizen participation mechanism. The direct participation of citizens is reflected in improving the governance by democratizing decision processes. The contribution of PB to the local management and governance of seven rural communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon was analyzed using a case study. Based on (1) the level of compliance with municipal planning through management indicators and, the amounts allocated to PB, (2) along with the level of citizen satisfaction, complementary perspectives (acquired through a survey) on the implementation of PB are provided. These sources of evidence allowed us to critically assess the effects of PB in the improvement of local management and governance. We found low levels of municipal planning compliance, i.e., a 20% (2017) and 43% (2018), high levels of citizen dissatisfaction (around 91%) and also a “disagreement” with the PB implementation process. Finally, it is observed that the implementation of the participatory budget in rural communities presents deficiencies that limit the obtaining of representative benefits and that imply an improvement in the governance and quality of life of the citizenry. This is mainly caused by the low interest of citizens to participate in the phases of execution and monitoring of projects, due to a low culture and participatory education.

Influence of Olfactory and Visual Sensory Stimuli in the Perfume-Purchase Decision

Los estados financieros reflejan la situación financiera de la empresa como resultado su gestión interna y externa. Esta investigación diagnostica los estados financieros del sector industrial manufacturero ecuatoriano, específicamente de la ciudad de Cuenca, mediante la aplicación de indicadores financieros y el método caso-control, con la finalidad de determinar las razones financieras de relevancia o de especial interés para este sector. El estudio aplica indicadores de liquidez, endeudamiento, actividad y rentabilidad, de cuyos resultados se comprobaron hipótesis que reflejan las causas de las deficiencias financieras entre los grupos establecidos como caso —compañías no auditadas— y control —compañías auditadas—. Los resultados muestran los indicadores endeudamiento al corto plazo, rotación del activo no corriente, rotación de inventarios y margen de utilidad neta como los más representativos. Se observa que las compañías no auditadas presentan mayores niveles de liquidez y rentabilidad; sin embargo, su endeudamiento al corto plazo es elevado con respecto a los resultados de las compañías auditadas.

This study addresses the evaluation of indoor air quality, with a focus on mitigating respiratory diseases and sick building syndrome (SBS). Recognizing that different pollutants exhibit variable behavior depending on environmental factors and human activity, the objective was to develop a fuzzy logic-based classification system that integrates environmental variables such as temperature, relative humidity, and pollutant concentrations‒particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and total volatile organic compound (TVOC)‒into a unified model. The method involved defining risk levels as low, moderate, high, and very high, and implementing 54 fuzzy rules to dynamically and accurately categorize these risks, based on measurements taken between 2022 and 2024 in the states of Morelos and Puebla under various relative humidity and temperature scenarios. The analysis of the results demonstrated robust system performance, with an overall accuracy of 94.08%, but also revealed challenges in distinguishing between adjacent risk classes. This research contributes to a better understanding of the complex impacts of air quality on health and reinforces efforts to mitigate respiratory problems and SBS in densely populated indoor environments.