Assisting blog publication: annotation, model transformation, and crossblogging techniques

Although blogs exist from the beginning of the Internet, their use has considerablybeen increased in the last decade. Nowadays, they are ready for being used bya broad range of people. From teenagers to multinationals, everyone can have aglobal communication space.Companies know blogs are a valuable publicity tool to share information withthe participants, and the importance of creating consumer communities aroundthem: participants come together to exchange ideas, review and recommend newproducts, and even support each other. Also, companies can use blogs for differentpurposes, such as a content management system to manage the content of websites,a bulletin board to support communication and document sharing in teams,an instrument in marketing to communicate with Internet users, or a KnowledgeManagement Tool. However, an increasing number of blog content do not findtheir source in the personal experiences of the writer. Thus, the information cancurrently be kept in the user¿s desktop documents, in the companies¿ catalogues,or in another blogs. Although the gap between blog and data source can be manuallytraversed in a manual coding, this is a cumbersome task that defeats the blog¿seasiness principle. Moreover, depending on the quantity of information and itscharacterisation (i.e., structured content, unstructured content, etc.), an automaticapproach can be more effective.Based on these observations, the aim of this dissertation is to assist blog publicationthrough annotation, model transformation and crossblogging techniques.These techniques have been implemented to give rise to Blogouse, Catablog, andBlogUnion. These tools strive to improve the publication process considering theaforementioned data sources.

Could innovative teams provide the necessary flexibility to compete in the current context?

[EN] In the modern era firms should look for a sustainable and profitable business model. They operate in highly volatile and competitive markets. Innovation is a key element that allows firms to survive in these complex environments. Accordingly, some companies are developing human resource models that align to the actual competitive context. For instance, they establish democratic systems, flexible work practices, they focus on responsibility and initiative and increase the self-control of team members. In this framework, firms tend to use resources such as creativity, capacity for innovation or development of human talent. Therefore, innovative teams are able to adapt and react to turbulent, complex and dynamic environments, which allow them to handle in a more efficient way several subtasks. This fact gives rise to a higher effectiveness in the activities of firms. This paper analyze the characteristics and performance of multifunctional teams, virtual teams, open-innovation teams and self-managing teams. It also study the case of Semco, a company that is characterized by its innovative practices in human resources management and focus on responsibility and initiative and increase the self-control of team members.

Self-Organized Criticality, Plasticity and Sensorimotor Coupling. Explorations with a Neurorobotic Model in a Behavioural Preference Task

During the last two decades, analysis of 1/f noise in cognitive science has led to a considerable progress in the way we understand the organization of our mental life. However, there is still a lack of specific models providing explanations of how 1/f noise is generated in coupled brain-body-environment systems, since existing models and experiments typically target either externally observable behaviour or isolated neuronal systems but do not address the interplay between neuronal mechanisms and sensorimotor dynamics. We present a conceptual model of a minimal neurorobotic agent solving a behavioural task that makes it possible to relate mechanistic (neurodynamic) and behavioural levels of description. The model consists of a simulated robot controlled by a network of Kuramoto oscillators with homeostatic plasticity and the ability to develop behavioural preferences mediated by sensorimotor patterns. With only three oscillators, this simple model displays self-organized criticality in the form of robust 1/f noise and a wide multifractal spectrum. We show that the emergence of self-organized criticality and 1/f noise in our model is the result of three simultaneous conditions: a) non-linear interaction dynamics capable of generating stable collective patterns, b) internal plastic mechanisms modulating the sensorimotor flows, and c) strong sensorimotor coupling with the environment that induces transient metastable neurodynamic regimes. We carry out a number of experiments to show that both synaptic plasticity and strong sensorimotor coupling play a necessary role, as constituents of self-organized criticality, in the generation of 1/f noise. The experiments also shown to be useful to test the robustness of 1/f scaling comparing the results of different techniques. We finally discuss the role of conceptual models as mediators between nomothetic and mechanistic models and how they can inform future experimental research where self-organized critically includes sensorimotor coupling among the essential interaction-dominant process giving rise to 1/f noise.