PEPSI: Privacy-Enhanced Participatory Sensing Infrastructure.

Participatory Sensing combines the ubiquity of mobile phones with sensing capabilities of Wireless Sensor Networks. It targets pervasive collection of information, e.g., temperature, traffic conditions, or health-related data. As users produce measurements from their mobile devices, voluntary participation becomes essential. However, a number of privacy concerns -- due to the personal information conveyed by data reports -- hinder large-scale deployment of participatory sensing applications. Prior work on privacy protection, for participatory sensing, has often relayed on unrealistic assumptions and with no provably-secure guarantees. The goal of this project is to introduce PEPSI: a Privacy-Enhanced Participatory Sensing Infrastructure. We explore realistic architectural assumptions and a minimal set of (formal) privacy requirements, aiming at protecting privacy of both data producers and consumers. We design a solution that attains privacy guarantees with provable security at very low additional computational cost and almost no extra communication overhead.

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.

Participatory modeling for sustainable development in water and agrarian systems: potential and limits of stakeholder involvement

Public participation is increasingly advocated as a necessary feature of natural resources management. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is such an example, as it prescribes participatory processes as necessary features in basin management plans (EC 2000). The rationale behind this mandate is that involving interest groups ideally yields higher-quality decisions, which are arguably more likely to meet public acceptance (Pahl-Wostl, 2006). Furthermore, failing to involve stakeholders in policy-making might hamper the implementation of management initiatives, as controversial decisions can lead pressure lobbies to generate public opposition (Giordano et al. 2005, Mouratiadou and Moran 2007).

Timed mind maps using MINDMANAGER & MS-PROJECT for educational innovation

The adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is becoming a great challenge for the University Community, especially for its teaching and research staff, which is involved actively in the teaching-learning process. It is also inducing a paradigm change for lecturers and students. Among the methodologies used for processes of teaching innovation, system thinking plays an important role when working mainly with mind maps, and is focused to highlighting the essence of the knowledge, allowing its visual representation. In this paper, a method for using these mind maps for organizing a particular subject is explained. This organization is completed with the definition of duration, precedence relationships and resources for each of these activities, as well as with their corresponding monitoring. Mind maps are generated by means of the MINDMANAGER package whilst Ms-PROJECT is used for establishing tasks relationships, durations, resources, and monitoring. Summarizing, a procedure and the necessary set of applications for self organizing and managing (timed) scheduled teaching tasks has been described in this paper.

Timed mind maps using mindmanager & msproject for educational innovation

The adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is becoming a great challenge for the University Community, especially for its teaching and research staff, which is involved actively in the teaching-learning process. It is also inducing a paradigm change for lecturers and students. Among the methodologies used for processes of teaching innovation, system thinking plays an important role when working mainly with mind maps, and is focused to highlighting the essence of the knowledge, allowing its visual representation. In this paper, a method for using these mind maps for organizing a particular subject is explained. This organization is completed with the definition of duration, precedence relationships and resources for each of these activities, as well as with their corresponding monitoring. Mind maps are generated by means of the MINDMANAGER package whilst Ms-PROJECT is used for establishing tasks relationships, durations, resources, and monitoring. Summarizing, a procedure and the necessary set of applications for self organizing and managing (timed) scheduled teaching tasks has been described in this paper

Assessing urban mobility through participatory scenario building and combined utility-regret assessment

La planificación de la movilidad sostenible urbana es una tarea compleja que implica un alto grado de incertidumbre debido al horizonte de planificación a largo plazo, la amplia gama de paquetes de políticas posibles, la necesidad de una aplicación efectiva y eficiente, la gran escala geográfica, la necesidad de considerar objetivos económicos, sociales y ambientales, y la respuesta del viajero a los diferentes cursos de acción y su aceptabilidad política (Shiftan et al., 2003). Además, con las tendencias inevitables en motorización y urbanización, la demanda de terrenos y recursos de movilidad en las ciudades está aumentando dramáticamente. Como consecuencia de ello, los problemas de congestión de tráfico, deterioro ambiental, contaminación del aire, consumo de energía, desigualdades en la comunidad, etc. se hacen más y más críticos para la sociedad. Esta situación no es estable a largo plazo. Para enfrentarse a estos desafíos y conseguir un desarrollo sostenible, es necesario considerar una estrategia de planificación urbana a largo plazo, que aborde las necesarias implicaciones potencialmente importantes. Esta tesis contribuye a las herramientas de evaluación a largo plazo de la movilidad urbana estableciendo una metodología innovadora para el análisis y optimización de dos tipos de medidas de gestión de la demanda del transporte (TDM). La metodología nueva realizado se basa en la flexibilización de la toma de decisiones basadas en utilidad, integrando diversos mecanismos de decisión contrariedad‐anticipada y combinados utilidad‐contrariedad en un marco integral de planificación del transporte. La metodología propuesta incluye dos aspectos principales: 1) La construcción de escenarios con una o varias medidas TDM usando el método de encuesta que incorpora la teoría “regret”. La construcción de escenarios para este trabajo se hace para considerar específicamente la implementación de cada medida TDM en el marco temporal y marco espacial. Al final, se construyen 13 escenarios TDM en términos del más deseable, el más posible y el de menor grado de “regret” como resultado de una encuesta en dos rondas a expertos en el tema. 2) A continuación se procede al desarrollo de un marco de evaluación estratégica, basado en un Análisis Multicriterio de Toma de Decisiones (Multicriteria Decision Analysis, MCDA) y en un modelo “regret”. Este marco de evaluación se utiliza para comparar la contribución de los distintos escenarios TDM a la movilidad sostenible y para determinar el mejor escenario utilizando no sólo el valor objetivo de utilidad objetivo obtenido en el análisis orientado a utilidad MCDA, sino también el valor de “regret” que se calcula por medio del modelo “regret” MCDA. La función objetivo del MCDA se integra en un modelo de interacción de uso del suelo y transporte que se usa para optimizar y evaluar los impactos a largo plazo de los escenarios TDM previamente construidos. Un modelo de “regret”, llamado “referencedependent regret model (RDRM)” (modelo de contrariedad dependiente de referencias), se ha adaptado para analizar la contribución de cada escenario TDM desde un punto de vista subjetivo. La validación de la metodología se realiza mediante su aplicación a un caso de estudio en la provincia de Madrid. La metodología propuesta define pues un procedimiento técnico detallado para la evaluación de los impactos estratégicos de la aplicación de medidas de gestión de la demanda en el transporte, que se considera que constituye una herramienta de planificación útil, transparente y flexible, tanto para los planificadores como para los responsables de la gestión del transporte. Planning sustainable urban mobility is a complex task involving a high degree of uncertainty due to the long‐term planning horizon, the wide spectrum of potential policy packages, the need for effective and efficient implementation, the large geographical scale, the necessity to consider economic, social, and environmental goals, and the traveller’s response to the various action courses and their political acceptability (Shiftan et al., 2003). Moreover, with the inevitable trends on motorisation and urbanisation, the demand for land and mobility in cities is growing dramatically. Consequently, the problems of traffic congestion, environmental deterioration, air pollution, energy consumption, and community inequity etc., are becoming more and more critical for the society (EU, 2011). Certainly, this course is not sustainable in the long term. To address this challenge and achieve sustainable development, a long‐term perspective strategic urban plan, with its potentially important implications, should be established. This thesis contributes on assessing long‐term urban mobility by establishing an innovative methodology for optimizing and evaluating two types of transport demand management measures (TDM). The new methodology aims at relaxing the utility‐based decision‐making assumption by embedding anticipated‐regret and combined utilityregret decision mechanisms in an integrated transport planning framework. The proposed methodology includes two major aspects: 1) Construction of policy scenarios within a single measure or combined TDM policy‐packages using the survey method incorporating the regret theory. The purpose of building the TDM scenarios in this work is to address the specific implementation in terms of time frame and geographic scale for each TDM measure. Finally, 13 TDM scenarios are built in terms of the most desirable, the most expected and the least regret choice by means of the two‐round Delphi based survey. 2) Development of the combined utility‐regret analysis framework based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). This assessment framework is used to compare the contribution of the TDM scenario towards sustainable mobility and to determine the best scenario considering not only the objective utility value obtained from the utilitybased MCDA, but also a regret value that is calculated via a regret‐based MCDA. The objective function of the utility‐based MCDA is integrated in a land use and transport interaction model and is used for optimizing and assessing the long term impacts of the constructed TDM scenarios. A regret based model, called referente dependent regret model (RDRM) is adapted to analyse the contribution of each TDM scenario in terms of a subjective point of view. The suggested methodology is implemented and validated in the case of Madrid. It defines a comprehensive technical procedure for assessing strategic effects of transport demand management measures, which can be useful, transparent and flexible planning tool both for planners and decision‐makers.

Supporting decision making under uncertainty: Development of a participatory integrated model for water management in the middle Guadiana river basin.

Following the Integrated Water Resources Management approach, the European Water Framework Directive demands Member States to develop water management plans at the catchment level. Those plans have to integrate the different interests and must be developed with stakeholder participation. To face these requirements, managers need tools to assess the impacts of possible management alternatives on natural and socio-economic systems. These tools should ideally be able to address the complexity and uncertainties of the water system, while serving as a platform for stakeholder participation. The objective of our research was to develop a participatory integrated assessment model, based on the combination of a crop model, an economic model and a participatory Bayesian network, with an application in the middle Guadiana sub-basin, in Spain. The methodology is intended to capture the complexity of water management problems, incorporating the relevant sectors, as well as the relevant scales involved in water management decision making. The integrated model has allowed us testing different management, market and climate change scenarios and assessing the impacts of such scenarios on the natural system (crops), on the socio-economic system (farms) and on the environment (water resources). Finally, this integrated assessment modelling process has allowed stakeholder participation, complying with the main requirements of current European water laws.

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.

Participatory design and business modeling

En este proyecto miraremos como los campos de Diseño Participativo de las tecnologías de la información (DP, Participatory IT Design) y el diseño empresarial de modelos de negocio interactúan entre sí. Exploraremos el hueco que existe en los asuntos que aborda un proyecto de DP señalado por Kyng (2010). DP es una forma de enfocar el diseño para diseñar sistemas informáticos que tiene su propia ideología, haciendo mucho hincapié en la participación de los usuarios en el proceso. Esta ideología propia de DP da paso a un conjunto de métodos y herramientas para diseñar. DP tiene sus orígenes en Escandinavia en la década de los setenta cuando cambios de progreso social de la sociedad se introdujeron en el lugar de trabajo. Ya hay algunos investigadores del campo de DP que empiezan a estudiar este hueco señalado por Kyng. Un modelo de negocios es la forma en que un negocio crea, entrega y captura valor. En las últimas décadas las empresas informáticas han cambiado su modelo de negocios, transformándose en una oferta de servicios informáticos mayoritariamente. El mundo empresarial ya conoce los beneficios de las metodologías de diseño orientadas al usuario, sin embargo no acaban de ser adoptadas por las empresas informáticas. En el proyecto buscamos responder a las preguntas que surgen al juntar estas dos áreas de estudio. ¿Cómo interpreta la comunidad de DP el mundo empresarial? ¿La teoría empresarial como trata la metodología de diseño orientado al usuario? ¿Cómo afecta en una compañía real su política de usuario a su modelo de negocio y que técnicas utilizan para involucrar al usuario? ¿Qué intereses comunes y opuestos existen entre DP y el mundo empresarial? ¿Cuál es el futuro de DP en el mundo empresarial? En cuanto a la metodología del proyecto realice un estudio de la literatura de los campos de DP y el mundo empresarial usando fuentes recomendadas por expertos de cada área así como trabajos encontrados por mi propia cuenta que eran relevantes al tema tratado. Además realice un estudio de compañías desarrolladoras de software locales a Copenhague. Mediante una serie de visitas y entrevistas con esas compañías obtuve información del modelo de negocio y proceso de desarrollo de software de las mismas. También dialogamos en cuanto a su visión de DP y metodologías de diseño orientado al usuario y como se podrían beneficiar de ellas. Durante el desarrollo del proyecto he encontrado que DP y el mundo empresarial tienen dos visiones muy diferentes. Mientras uno busca obtener el máximo beneficio el otro busca apoderar a los usuarios en su área de trabajo. Aunque al igual que DP las empresas necesitan obtener información acerca de los usuario como sus necesidades, gustos, etc. Está claro que el software producido para el mundo empresarial tiene mucho espacio para mejorar ya que suele venir con manuales de instrucciones extensos y es necesario un entrenamiento previo para su utilización. Un problema importante de la introducción de DP en las empresas es la falta de predisposición de los usuarios en colaborar en el proceso de desarrollo ya que no hay demasiada tendencia a usuarios a dar feedback. El trabajo de investigacion de Timpka y Vimarlund (1998) Participatory Design In Economic Terms: A Theoretical Discussion llega a la conclusión de que DP es económicamente favorable para los desarrolladores. Pero omite muchos factores críticos de la economía de una empresa. En cuanto al futuro de DP en el mundo empresarial, DP tiene que adaptarse a las compañías desarrolladoras de software. A sus necesidades y teniendo en cuenta sus límites de recursos. Pero hay ciertos aspectos que deben ser abordados. El primer aspecto es el uso de recursos en las técnicas de DP, ya que utilizan demasiados. Otro aspecto que debería abordar es el uso de las nuevas tecnologías de comunicación y redes sociales, ya que apenas se han utilizado en DP. Mientras que otras áreas de estudio han hecho uso de estas nuevas tecnologías y se han revolucionado DP no ha sido capaz de integrarlas en sus técnicas. Por último en el proyecto realizo una comparativa del actual modelo de negocios y proceso de desarrollo de software de la compañía Forecast.it. En esta comparativa miro como cambiaria el negocio en el caso de que se produjeran cambios en ella al introducir la ideología de DP. Donde más se notan los cambios seria en su esquema de desarrollo de software ya que habría que hacer hueco para nuevos factores y pasos.

Patent elucidation for clil and vice versa understanding the inventor´s mind

In this paper we present an English-medium instruction (EMI) team-teaching initiative to be soon implemented within the Agronomic Engineering masters programme at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). Through the patent genre we not only intend to teach specific agronomical syllabi contents synchronically and diachronically, but also broaden our students’ academic and professional literacies, help them practice and improve their communication abilities in English as a lingua franca, and motivate them as future autonomous professionals while fostering the exercise of higher-level transversal skills—critical thinking, creativity, cooperation, and entrepreneurship. We begin by introducing the current mobility trends in higher education contexts and the common misconceptions surrounding the notion of patent, and get on to describe the design and evaluation procedures of the course. To conclude, we recapitulate the main benefits of our pedagogical proposal and open windows onto further didactic applications.

El lugar de la mente. Sobre la capilla Sogn Benedetg de Peter Zumthor en Sumvitg/ The place of the mind. On Peter Zumthor’s Sogn Benedetg Chapel in Sumvitg

La Capilla de Sogn Benedetg en Sumvitg, parte de la obra temprana de Peter Zumthor, condensa aspectos de sus ideas, de su forma de proyectar y construir, que aún hoy siguen vigentes en él. Los recuerdos de infancia cimientan su enfoque de la arquitectura, en el que trata de reunir trazas de la vida cotidiana, sensible al lugar y utilizando materiales tratados de un modo preciso que bajo la luz adquieren su presencia. Con un lenguaje táctil y tectónico, desde una aproximación fenomenológica, persigue compartir una experiencia multisensorial, englobando percepciones complementarias que trascienden la geometría visual. Como Kahn, se apoya en el pensamiento de Heidegger, y se inspira en la pequeña cabaña que el filósofo habitaba en la Selva Negra, así como en la arquitectura religiosa de Rudolf Schwarz, cuya huella puede apreciarse tanto en el edificio como en los objetos que se encuentran en él. La tensión que genera entre interior y exterior mantiene despiertos los sentidos del visitante, a la vez que las características de la capilla enlazan con un regionalismo integrador que no se aparta de las formas abstractas contemporáneas. : Sogn Benedetg Chapel in Sumvitg, part of the early work of Peter Zumthor, condenses aspects of his ideas and his way of designing and building, which still remain valid today. Remembrances of childhood lay the foundation for his focus to architecture, which involves the collection of daily life traces, sensitive to the place and using materials treated in a precise manner, acquiring their presence under the light. With a tactile and tectonic language, from a phenomenological approach, he seeks to share a multi-sensory experience, encompassing complementary perceptions that transcend the visual geometry. As Kahn does, he relies on Heidegger?s thinking and is inspired by the little hut that the philosopher inhabited in the Black Forest, as well as by Rudolf Schwarz?s religious architecture, whose imprint can be appreciated in both the building and the objects encountered within it. The tension generated between interior and exterior keeps awake the senses of the visitor, while the characteristics of the chapel connect with an integrative regionalism that does not exclude contemporary abstract forms.

The impact of mind on nature. Lessons learned from the ecology-aesthetics interplay

The effects of nature on people's mind have been an active research theme for decades. However, the impact of people's mind on landscape ecological health has received less attention. How and why perception, meanings and mental constructs determine the way nature is valued and consequently managed? How this interplay should be? These are in some cases more relevant questions than knowing what particular landscapes are preferred (Carlson 1993). This was the underlying inquiry in the focus group experience held in a natural protected area in La Rioja (Spain). Participants were asked to locate in a map areas representing low/high quality in terms of ecology and aesthetics. Some relevant conclusions for landscape management were derived from the analysis of participant's discourse in terms of ecological aesthetical appreciation and their consideration about how human takes place in nature.

Understanding the inventor’s mind through patent analysis: a clil team-teaching experience at the Technical University of Madrid

Describimos una iniciativa de enseñanza en equipo, basada en la metodología CLIL y aplicada recientemente en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Dos profesoras—una ingeniera agrónoma y una lingüista, junto con cerca de 20 estudiantes de máster, analizamos una patente contrastándola con un artículo de investigación homólogo, escrito por los mismos autores sobre el mismo objeto tecnológico, y examinando sus diferentes contextos y consecuencias sociales. Con una duración de siete horas y media y un carácter eminentemente práctico, el seminario impartido no sólo se ha diseñado para proporcionar contenidos disciplinarios (agronómicos) y procedimentales (las estrategias propias de la escritura de patentes), sino también para suscitar sensibilidad hacia el lector y fomentar competencias transversales

O AGENDAMENTO DE TELEJORNAIS BRASILEIROS EM SITES NOTICIOSOS DE CONTEÚDO COLABORATIVO

The thesis investigates if with the free news production, people who post information on collaborative content sites, known as interacting, tend to reproduce information that was scheduled for Tv news. This study is a comparison of the collaborative content vehicles Vc reporter, Vc no G1 and Eu reporter with TV news SBT Brasil, Jornal Nacional, Jornal da Record and Jornal da Band. We sought to determine whether those newscasts guide the collaborative platforms. The hypothesis assumes that Brazilian TV news have been building over time a credible relationship with the viewer, so it is possible to think that the interacting use the same criteria for selecting the broadcasts and reproduce similar information in collaborative content sites. The method used was content analysis, based on the study of Laurence Bardin and the type of research used was quantitative. This research concluded that, within a small portion of the universe surveyed, there are schedules of television news across the collaborative content.

When the brain changes its mind: Interocular grouping during binocular rivalry

The prevalent view of binocular rivalry holds that it is a competition between the two eyes mediated by reciprocal inhibition among monocular neurons. This view is largely due to the nature of conventional rivalry-inducing stimuli, which are pairs of dissimilar images with coherent patterns within each eye’s image. Is it the eye of origin or the coherency of patterns that determines perceptual alternations between coherent percepts in binocular rivalry? We break the coherency of conventional stimuli and replace them by complementary patchworks of intermingled rivalrous images. Can the brain unscramble the pieces of the patchwork arriving from different eyes to obtain coherent percepts? We find that pattern coherency in itself can drive perceptual alternations, and the patchworks are reassembled into coherent forms by most observers. This result is in agreement with recent neurophysiological and psychophysical evidence demonstrating that there is more to binocular rivalry than mere eye competition.