Participatory modelling to support decision making in water management. A case study in the middle Guadiana basin, Spain.

The objective of this research was the implementation of a participatory process for the development of a tool to support decision making in water management. The process carried out aims at attaining an improved understanding of the water system and an encouragement of the exchange of knowledge and views between stakeholders to build a shared vision of the system. In addition, the process intends to identify impacts of possible solutions to given problems, which will help to take decisions.

Exploiting Structured Linked Data in Enterprise Knowledge Management Systems: An Idea Management Case Study

In parallel to the effort of creating Open Linked Data for the World Wide Web there is a number of projects aimed for developing the same technologies but in the context of their usage in closed environments such as private enterprises. In the paper, we present results of research on interlinking structured data for use in Idea Management Systems - a still rare breed of knowledge management systems dedicated to innovation management. In our study, we show the process of extending an ontology that initially covers only the Idea Management System structure towards the concept of linking with distributed enterprise data and public data using Semantic Web technologies. Furthermore we point out how the established links can help to solve the key problems of contemporary Idea Management Systems

Energy- and environmentally efficient road management: The case of the Spanish motorway network

Transport is responsible for 41% of CO2 emissions in Spain, and around 65% of that figure is due to road traffic. Tolled motorways are currently managed according to economic criteria: minimizing operational costs and maximizing revenues from tolls. Within this framework, this paper develops a new methodology for managing motorways based on a target of maximum energy efficiency. It includes technological and demand-driven policies, which are applied to two case studies. Various conclusions emerge from this study. One is, that the use of intelligent payment systems is recommended; and another, is that the most sustainable policy would involve defining the most efficient strategy for each motorway section, including the maximum use of its capacity, the toll level which attracts the most vehicles, and the optimum speed limit for each type of vehicle.

The new challenges of end-of-life tyres management systems: a Spanish case study

Directive 2008/98/EC released by the European Union represents a significant step forward in all relevant aspects of waste management. Under the already established, extended produced responsibility (EPR) principle, new policies have been enunciated to continuously achieve better overall environmental performance of key products throughout their life phases. This paper discusses how the directive is being articulated in Spain by the main integrated management system (IMS) for end-of-life (EOL) tyres since its creation in 2006. Focusing on the IMS technological, economic and legal aspects, the study provides a global perspective and evaluation of how the IMS is facing the current issues to resolve, the new challenges that have appeared and the management vision for the coming years.

Participatory modelling to support decision making in water management under uncertainty: Two comparative case studies in the Guadiana river basin, Spain.

A participatory modelling process has been conducted in two areas of the Guadiana river (the upper and the middle sub-basins), in Spain, with the aim of providing support for decision making in the water management field. The area has a semi-arid climate where irrigated agriculture plays a key role in the economic development of the region and accounts for around 90% of water use. Following the guidelines of the European Water Framework Directive, we promote stakeholder involvement in water management with the aim to achieve an improved understanding of the water system and to encourage the exchange of knowledge and views between stakeholders in order to help building a shared vision of the system. At the same time, the resulting models, which integrate the different sectors and views, provide some insight of the impacts that different management options and possible future scenarios could have. The methodology is based on a Bayesian network combined with an economic model and, in the middle Guadiana sub-basin, with a crop model. The resulting integrated modelling framework is used to simulate possible water policy, market and climate scenarios to find out the impacts of those scenarios on farm income and on the environment. At the end of the modelling process, an evaluation questionnaire was filled by participants in both sub-basins. Results show that this type of processes are found very helpful by stakeholders to improve the system understanding, to understand each others views and to reduce conflict when it exists. In addition, they found the model an extremely useful tool to support management. The graphical interface, the quantitative output and the explicit representation of uncertainty helped stakeholders to better understand the implications of the scenario tested. Finally, the combination of different types of models was also found very useful, as it allowed exploring in detail specific aspects of the water management problems.

Knowledge Modelling in Multiagent Systems: The Case of the Management of a National Network

This paper presents the knowledge model of a distributed decision support system, that has been designed for the management of a national network in Ukraine. It shows how advanced Artificial Intelligence techniques (multiagent systems and knowledge modelling) have been applied to solve this real-world decision support problem: on the one hand its distributed nature, implied by different loci of decision-making at the network nodes, suggested to apply a multiagent solution; on the other, due to the complexity of problem-solving for local network administration, it was useful to apply knowledge modelling techniques, in order to structure the different knowledge types and reasoning processes involved. The paper sets out from a description of our particular management problem. Subsequently, our agent model is described, pointing out the local problem-solving and coordination knowledge models. Finally, the dynamics of the approach is illustrated by an example.

Molecular tools to improve chestnut management: El Bierzo as a case study

The European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is a multipurpose species that has been widely cultivated around the Mediterranean basin since ancient times. New varieties were brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Roman Empire, which coexist since then with native populations that survived the last glaciation. The relevance of chestnut cultivation has being steadily growing since the Middle Ages, until the rural decline of the past century put a stop to this trend. Forest fires and diseases were also major factors. Chestnut cultivation is gaining momentum again due to its economic (wood, fruits) and ecologic relevance, and represents currently an important asset in many rural areas of Europe. In this Thesis we apply different molecular tools to help improve current management strategies. For this study we have chosen El Bierzo (Castile and Leon, NW Spain), which has a centenary tradition of chestnut cultivation and management, and also presents several unique features from a genetic perspective (next paragraph). Moreover, its nuts are widely appreciated in Spain and abroad for their organoleptic properties. We have focused our experimental work on two major problems faced by breeders and the industry: the lack of a fine-grained genetic characterization and the need for new strategies to control blight disease. To characterize with sufficient detail the genetic diversity and structure of El Bierzo orchards, we analyzed DNA from 169 trees grafted for nut production covering the entire region. We also analyzed 62 nuts from all traditional varieties. El Bierzo constitutes an outstanding scenario to study chestnut genetics and the influence of human management because: (i) it is located at one extreme of the distribution area; (ii) it is a major glacial refuge for the native species; (iii) it has a long tradition of human management (since Roman times, at least); and (iv) its geographical setting ensures an unusual degree of genetic isolation. Thirteen microsatellite markers provided enough informativeness and discrimination power to genotype at the individual level. Together with an unexpected level of genetic variability, we found evidence of genetic structure, with three major gene pools giving rise to the current population. High levels of genetic differentiation between groups supported this organization. Interestingly, genetic structure does not match with spatial boundaries, suggesting that the exchange of material and cultivation practices have strongly influenced natural gene flow. The microsatellite markers selected for this study were also used to classify a set of 62 samples belonging to all traditional varieties. We identified several cases of synonymies and homonymies, evidencing the need to substitute traditional classification systems with new tools for genetic profiling. Management and conservation strategies should also benefit from these tools. The avenue of high-throughput sequencing technologies, combined with the development of bioinformatics tools, have paved the way to study transcriptomes without the need for a reference genome. We took advantage of RNA sequencing and de novo assembly tools to determine the transcriptional landscape of chestnut in response to blight disease. In addition, we have selected a set of candidate genes with high potential for developing resistant varieties via genetic engineering. Our results evidenced a deep transcriptional reprogramming upon fungal infection. The plant hormones ET and JA appear to orchestrate the defensive response. Interestingly, our results also suggest a role for auxins in modulating such response. Many transcription factors were identified in this work that interact with promoters of genes involved in disease resistance. Among these genes, we have conducted a functional characterization of a two major thaumatin-like proteins (TLP) that belongs to the PR5 family. Two genes encoding chestnut cotyledon TLPs have been previously characterized, termed CsTL1 and CsTL2. We substantiate here their protective role against blight disease for the first time, including in silico, in vitro and in vivo evidence. The synergy between TLPs and other antifungal proteins, particularly endo-p-1,3-glucanases, bolsters their interest for future control strategies based on biotechnological approaches.