Numerical models for coastal zone management

The basic equations for modelling two-dimensional hydrodynamics and transport in estuaries and coastal regions have been developed. By using the finite element method, it is possible to transform the model into a discretized counterpart. The model has been applied in order to study the dispersion of an effluent within the Bay of Santander. The results obtained by means of a computer program are discussed.

Development of the infrastructure for a multi-agent traffic management system simulation

This document contains detailed description of the design and the implementation of a multi-agent application controlling traffic lights in a city together with a system for simulating traffic and testing. The goal of this thesis is to design and build a simplified intelligent and distributed solution to the problem with the traffic in the big cities following different good practices in order to allow future refining of the model of the real world. The problem of the traffic in the big cities is still a problem that cannot be solved. Not only is the increasing number of cars a reason for the traffic jams, but also the way the traffic is organized. Usually, the intersections with traffic lights are replaced by roundabouts or interchanges to increase the number of cars that can cross the intersection in certain time. But still there are places where the infrastructure cannot be changed and the traffic light semaphores are the only way to control the car flows. In real life, the traffic lights have a predefined plan for change or they receive information from a centralized system when and how they have to change. But what if the traffic lights can cooperate and decide on their own when and how to change? Using this problem, the purpose of the thesis is to explore different agent-based software engineering approaches to design and build a non-conventional distributed system. From the software engineering point of view, the goal of the thesis is to apply the knowledge and use the skills, acquired during the various courses of the master program in Software Engineering, while solving a practical and complex problem such as the traffic in the cities.

Guidelines for the design of an environmental flow regime program at the regional scale: Application of the ELOHA framework in the Ebro River basin

La gestión de los recursos hídricos se convierte en un reto del presente y del futuro frente a un panorama de continuo incremento de la demanda de agua debido al crecimiento de la población, el crecimiento del desarrollo económico y los posibles efectos del calentamiento global. La política hidráulica desde los años 60 en España se ha centrado en la construcción de infraestructuras que han producido graves alteraciones en el régimen natural de los ríos. Estas alteraciones han provocado y acrecentado los impactos sobre los ecosistemas fluviales y ribereños. Desde los años 90, sin embargo, ha aumentado el interés de la sociedad para conservar estos ecosistemas. El concepto de caudales ambientales consiste en un régimen de caudales que simula las características principales del régimen natural. Los caudales ambientales están diseñados para conservar la estructura y funcionalidad de los ecosistemas asociados al régimen fluvial, bajo la hipótesis de que los elementos que conforman estos ecosistemas están profundamente adaptados al régimen natural de caudales, y que cualquier alteración del régimen natural puede provocar graves daños a todo el sistema. El método ELOHA (Ecological Limits of Hydrological Alteration) tiene como finalidad identificar las componentes del régimen natural de caudales que son clave para mantener el equilibrio de los ecosistemas asociados, y estimar los límites máximos de alteración de estas componentes para garantizar su buen estado. Esta tesis presenta la aplicación del método ELOHA en la cuenca del Ebro. La cuenca del Ebro está profundamente regulada e intervenida por el hombre, y sólo las cabeceras de los principales afluentes del Ebro gozan todavía de un régimen total o cuasi natural. La tesis se estructura en seis capítulos que desarrollan las diferentes partes del método. El primer capítulo explica cómo se originó el concepto “caudales ambientales” y en qué consiste el método ELOHA. El segundo capítulo describe el área de estudio. El tercer capítulo realiza una clasificación de los regímenes naturales de la cuenca (RNC) del Ebro, basada en series de datos de caudal mínimamente alterado y usando exclusivamente parámetros hidrológicos. Se identificaron seis tipos diferentes de régimen natural: pluvial mediterráneo, nivo-pluvial, pluvial mediterréaneo con una fuerte componente del caudal base, pluvial oceánico, pluvio-nival oceánico y Mediterráneo. En el cuarto capítulo se realiza una regionalización a toda la cuenca del Ebro de los seis RNC encontrados en la cueca. Mediante parámetros climáticos y fisiográficos se extrapola la información del tipo de RNC a puntos donde no existen datos de caudal inalterado. El patrón geográfico de los tipos de régimen fluvial obtenido con la regionalización resultó ser coincidente con el patrón obtenido a través de la clasificación hidrológica. El quinto capítulo presenta la validación biológica de los procesos de clasificación anteriores: clasificación hidrológica y regionalización. La validación biológica de los tipos de regímenes fluviales es imprescindible, puesto que los diferentes tipos de régimen fluvial van a servir de unidades de gestión para favorecer el mantenimiento de los ecosistemas fluviales. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre comunidades biológicas en cinco de los seis tipos de RNC encontrados en la cuenca. Finalmente, en el sexto capítulo se estudian las relaciones hidro-ecológicas existentes en tres de los seis tipos de régimen fluvial encontrados en la cuenca del Ebro. Mediante la construcción de curvas hidro-ecológicas a lo largo de un gradiente de alteración hidrológica, se pueden sugerir los límites de alteración hidrológica (ELOHAs) para garantizar el buen estado ecológico en cada uno de los tipos fluviales estudiados. Se establecieron ELOHAs en tres de los seis tipos de RNC de la cuenca del Ebro Esta tesis, además, pone en evidencia la falta de datos biológicos asociados a registros de caudal. Para llevar a cabo la implantación de un régimen de caudales ambientales en la cuenca, la ubicación de los puntos de muestreo biológico cercanos a estaciones de aforo es imprescindible para poder extraer relaciones causa-efecto de la gestión hidrológica sobre los ecosistemas dependientes. ABSTRACT In view of a growing freshwater demand because of population raising, improvement of economies and the potential effects of climate change, water resources management has become a challenge for present and future societies. Water policies in Spain have been focused from the 60’s on constructing hydraulic infrastructures, in order to dampen flow variability and granting water availability along the year. Consequently, natural flow regimes have been deeply altered and so the depending habitats and its ecosystems. However, an increasing acknowledgment of societies for preserving healthy freshwater ecosystems started in the 90’s and agreed that to maintain healthy freshwater ecosystems, it was necessary to set environmental flow regimes based on the natural flow variability. The Natural Flow Regime paradigm (Richter et al. 1996, Poff et al. 1997) bases on the hypothesis that freshwater ecosystems are made up by elements adapted to natural flow conditions, and any change on these conditions can provoke deep impacts on the whole system. Environmental flow regime concept consists in designing a flow regime that emulates natural flow characteristics, so that ecosystem structure, functions and services are maintained. ELOHA framework (Ecological Limits of Hydrological Alteration) aims to identify key features of the natural flow regime (NFR) that are needed to maintain and preserve healthy freshwater and riparian ecosystems. Moreover, ELOHA framework aims to quantify thresholds of alteration of these flow features according to ecological impacts. This thesis describes the application of the ELOHA framework in the Ebro River Basin. The Ebro River basin is the second largest basin in Spain and it is highly regulated for human demands. Only the Ebro headwaters tributaries still have completely unimpaired flow regime. The thesis has six chapters and the process is described step by step. The first chapter makes an introduction to the origin of the environmental flow concept and the necessity to come up. The second chapter shows a description of the study area. The third chapter develops a classification of NFRs in the basin based on natural flow data and using exclusively hydrological parameters. Six NFRs were found in the basin: continental Mediterranean-pluvial, nivo-pluvial, continental Mediterranean pluvial (with groundwater-dominated flow pattern), pluvio-oceanic, pluvio-nival-oceanic and Mediterranean. The fourth chapter develops a regionalization of the six NFR types across the basin by using climatic and physiographic variables. The geographical pattern obtained from the regionalization process was consistent with the pattern obtained with the hydrologic classification. The fifth chapter performs a biological validation of both classifications, obtained from the hydrologic classification and the posterior extrapolation. When the aim of flow classification is managing water resources according to ecosystem requirements, a validation based on biological data is compulsory. We found significant differences in reference macroinvertebrate communities between five over the six NFR types identified in the Ebro River basin. Finally, in the sixth chapter we explored the existence of significant and explicative flow alteration-ecological response relationships (FA-E curves) within NFR types in the Ebro River basin. The aim of these curves is to find out thresholds of hydrological alteration (ELOHAs), in order to preserve healthy freshwater ecosystem. We set ELOHA values in three NFR types identified in the Ebro River basin. During the development of this thesis, an inadequate biological monitoring in the Ebro River basin was identified. The design and establishment of appropriate monitoring arrangements is a critical final step in the assessment and implementation of environmental flows. Cause-effect relationships between hydrology and macroinvertebrate community condition are the principal data that sustain FA-E curves. Therefore, both data sites must be closely located, so that the effects of external factors are minimized. The scarce hydro-biological pairs of data available in the basin prevented us to apply the ELOHA method at all NFR types.

Application of low cost technology for the management of irrigation in organic orchards

Throughout history, humans have cyclically return to their old traditions such as the organic orchards. Nowadays, these have been integrated into the modern cities and could supply fresh vegetables to the daily food improving human health. Organic orchards grow crops without pesticides and artificial fertilizers thus, they are respectful with the environment and guarantee the food's safety . In modern society, the application of new technology is a must, in this case to obtain an efficient irrigation. In order to monitor a proper irrigation and save water and energy, soil water content probes are used to measure soil water content. Among them, capacitive probes ,monitored with a specific data logger, are typically used. Most of them, specially the data loggers, are expensive and in many cases are not used. In this work, we have applied the open hardware Arduino to build and program a low cost datalogger for the programming of irrigation in an experimental organic orchard. Results showed that the application of such as low cost technology, which is easily available in the market and easy to understand, everyone can built and program its own device helping in managing water resources in organic orchards .

Persuasive system design methods to deliver a cardio-rehabilitation program of post mi outpatients

Las enfermedades no transmisibles provocan cada ano 38 millones de fallecimientos en el mundo. Entre ellas, tan solo cuatro enfermedades son responsables del 82% de estas muertes: las enfermedades cardiovasculares, las enfermedades crónicas respiratorias, la diabetes, y el cáncer. Se prevé que estas cifras aumenten en los próximos anos, ya que las tendencias indican que en el año 2030 las muertes por esta causa ascenderán a 53 millones de personas. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) considera importante buscar soluciones para afrontar esta situación y ha solicitado a los gobiernos del mundo la implementación de intervenciones para mejorar los hábitos de vida de las personas y reducir así el riesgo de desarrollo de enfermedades no trasmisibles. Cada año se producen 32 millones de infartos de miocardio y derrames celebrales, de los cuales 12.5 son mortales. En el mundo entre el 40% y 75% de la víctimas de un infarto de miocardio mueren antes de su ingreso en el hospital. En los casos que sobreviven, la adopción de un estilo de vida saludable puede evitar infartos sucesivo, y supone un ahorro potencial de 6 billones de euros al año. La rehabilitación cardiaca es un programa individualizado que aplica un método multidisciplinar para ayudar al paciente a recuperar su condición física, a gestionar la enfermedad cardiovascular y sus comorbilidades, a adoptar hábitos de vida saludables, y a promover su salud mental. La rehabilitación cardiaca requiere la total involucración y motivación del paciente, solo de esta manera se podrán promover hábitos saludables y mejorar la gestión y prevención de su enfermedad. Aunque la participación en los programas de rehabilitación cardiaca es baja, hoy en día existen programas de rehabilitación cardiaca que el paciente puede realizar en su casa. Estos suponen una solución prometedora para aumentar la participación. La rehabilitación cardiaca se considera una intervención integral donde los modelos de psicología de la salud son aplicados para promover un cambio en el estilo de vida de las personas así como para ayudarles a afrontar su propia enfermedad. Existen métodos para implementar cambios de hábitos y de aptitud, y también se considera muy relevante promover no solo el bienestar físico sino también el mental. Existen tecnologías que promueven los cambios de comportamientos en los seres humanos. En concreto, las tecnologías persuasivas y los sistemas de apoyo al cambio de comportamientos modelan las características, las estrategias y los métodos de diseño para promover cambios usando la tecnología. Pero estos modelos tienen algunas limitaciones: todavía no se ha definido que rol tienen las emociones en el cambio de comportamientos y como traducir los métodos de la psicología de la salud en la tecnología. Esta tesis se centra en tres elementos que tienen un rol clave en los cambios de hábitos y actitud: el estado físico, el estado mental, y la tecnología. -Estado de salud: un estado de salud critico puede modificar la actitud del ser humano respecto al cambio. A la vez un buen estado de salud hace que la necesidad del cambio sea menos percibida. -Estado emocional: la actitud tiene un componente afectivo. Los estados emocionales negativos pueden reducir la habilidad de una persona para adoptar nuevos comportamientos. La salud mental es la situación ideal donde los individuos tienen predisposición a los cambios. La tecnología puede ayudar a las personas a adoptar nuevos hábitos, así como a mantener una salud física y mental. Este trabajo de investigación se centra en el diseño de tecnologías para la mejora del estado físico y emocional de las personas. Se ha propuesto un marco de diseño llamado “Well.Be.Sign”. El marco se basa en tres aspectos: El marco teórico: representa los elementos que se tienen que definir para diseñar tecnologías para promover el bienestar de las personas. -El diagrama de influencia: presenta las fuerzas de ‘persuasión’ en el contexto de la salud. El rol de las tecnologías persuasivas ha sido contextualizado en una dimensión donde otros elementos influencian el usuario.  El proceso de diseño: describe el proceso de diseño utilizando una metodología iterativa e incremental que aplica una combinación de métodos de diseño existentes (Diseño Orientado a Objetivos, Diseño de Sistemas Persuasivos) así como elementos originales de este trabajo de investigación. Los métodos se han aplicados para diseñar un sistema que ofrezca un programa de tele-rehabilitación cardiaca. Inicialmente se ha diseñado un prototipo de acuerdo con las necesidades del usuario. En segundo lugar, el prototipo se ha extendido especificando la intervención requerida para al programa de rehabilitación cardiaca. Finalmente el sistema se ha desarrollado y validado en un ensayo clínico con grupo control, donde se observaron las variaciones del estado cardiovascular, el nivel de conocimiento acerca de la enfermedad, la percepción de la enfermedad, la persistencia de hábitos saludables, y la aceptabilidad del sistema. Los resultados muestran que el grupo de intervención tiene una superior capacidad cardiovascular, mejor conocimiento acerca de la enfermedad, y más percepción de control de la enfermedad. Asimismo, en algunos casos se ha registrado persistencia de los hábitos de ejercicios 6 meses después del uso del sistema. Otros dos estudios se han presentado para demonstrar la relevancia del estado emocional del usuario en el diseño de aplicaciones para la promoción del bienestar.  En personas con una grave enfermedad crónica como la insuficiencia cardiaca, donde se ha presentado las conexiones entre estado de salud y estado emocional. En el estudio se ensena la relaciones que tienen los síntomas y las emociones negativas y como un estado negativo emocional puede empeorar la condición física del paciente. -Personas con trastornos del humor: el estudio muestra como las emociones pueden tener un impacto en la percepción de la tecnología por parte del usuario. ABSTRACT Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) cause the death of 38 million people every year. Four major NCDs are responsible for 82% of these deaths: cardio vascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer. These pandemic numbers are projected to raise to 53 million deaths in 2030, and for this reason the assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) considers communicable diseases as an urgent need to be addressed. It is also a trend to advocate the adoption of mobile technology to deliver health services and to promote healthy behaviours among citizens, but adopting healthS promoting lifestyle is still a difficult task facing human tendencies. Within this context, there is a promising opportunity: persuasive technologies. These technologies are intentionally designed to change a person’s attitudes or behaviours; when applied in this context, than can be used to change health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. Each year there are 32 million heart attacks and strokes globally, of which about 12.5 million are fatal. Worldwide between 40 and 75% of all heart-attack victims die before reaching hospital. Avoiding a second heart attack by improving adherence to lifestyle and medication regimens has a cost saving potential of around €6 billion per year. In most of the cases the cardiovascular event has been provoked by unhealthy lifestyle. Furthermore, after an MI event the patient's decision to adopt or not healthier behaviour will influence the progress of the disease. Cardio-rehabilitation is an individualized program that follows a multidisciplinary approach to support the user to recover from the Myocardial Infarction, manage the Cardio Vascular Disease and the comorbidities, adopt healthy habits, and cope with any emotional distress. Cardio- rehabilitation requires patient participation and willingness to perform behavioral modifications and change the attitude toward the management and prevention of the disease. Participation in the Cardio Rehabilitation program is not high; the home-based rehabilitation program is a promising solution to increase participation. Nowadays cardio rehabilitation is considered a comprehensive intervention in which models of health psychology are applied to promote the behaviour change of the individuals. Relevant methods that have been successfully applied to foster healthy habits include the Health Belief Model and the Trans Theoretical Model. Studies also demonstrate the importance to promote not only the physical but also the mental well being of the individuals. The idea of also promoting behaviour change using technologies has been defined by the literature as persuasive technologies or behaviour change support systems, in which the features, the strategies and the design method have been modelled to foster the behaviour change using technology. Limitations have been found in this model: there is still research to be done on the role of the emotions and how psychological health intervention can be translated into computer methods. This research focuses on three elements that could foster behaviour change in individuals: the physical and emotional status of the person, and the technology. Every component can influence the user's attitude and behaviour in the following ways: ' Physical status: bad physical status could change human attitude toward the necessity to adopt health behaviours; at the same time, good health status reduces the need to adopt healthy habits. ' Emotional status: the attitude has an affective component, negative emotional state can reduce the ability of a person to adopt new behaviours, and mental well being is the ideal situation in which individuals have a predisposition to adopt healthy behaviours. ' Technology: it can help users to adopt new behaviours and can also be support to promote physical and emotional status. Following this approach the idea driven in this research is that technology that is designed to improve the physical status and the emotional status of the individual could better foster behaviour change. According to this principle, the Well.Be.Sign framework has been proposed. The framework is based on three views: ' The theoretical framework: it represents the patterns that have to be defined to design the technologies to promote well being. ' The influence diagram: it shows the persuasive forces in the context of health care. The role of the persuasive technologies is contextualized in a wider universe where other factors and persuasive forces influence a patient. ' The design process: it shows the process of design using an iterative, incremental methodology that applies a combination of existing methodologies (Goal Directed Design and Persuasive System Design) and others that are original to this research. The methods have been applied to design a system to deliver cardio rehabilitation at home: first a prototype has been defined according to the user’s needs, then it has been extended with the specific intervention required for the cardio–rehabilitation, finally the system has been developed and validated in a controlled clinical study in which the cardiovascular fitness, the level of knowledge, the perception of the illness, the persistence of healthy habits and the system acceptance (only the intervention group) were measured. The results show that the intervention group increased cardiovascular capacity, knowledge, feeling of control of illness and perceived benefits of exercise at the end of the study. After six months of the study, a followSup of the exercise habits was performed. Some individuals of the intervention group continued to be engaged in the running exercise sessions promoted in the designed system. Two other cases have been presented to demonstrate the foundations of the Well.Be.Sign’s approach to promote both physical and emotional status: ' People affected by Heart Failure, in which a bidirectional connection between health status and emotions has been discussed with patients. Two correlations were demonstrated: the relationship between symptoms and negative emotional response, and that negative emotional status is correlated with worsening of chronic conditions. ' People with mood disorders: the study shows that emotions could also impact how the user perceives the technology.

Applications of Formal Languages to Management of Manned and Unmanned Aircraft

En el futuro, la gestión del tráfico aéreo (ATM, del inglés air traffic management) requerirá un cambio de paradigma, de la gestión principalmente táctica de hoy, a las denominadas operaciones basadas en trayectoria. Un incremento en el nivel de automatización liberará al personal de ATM —controladores, tripulación, etc.— de muchas de las tareas que realizan hoy. Las personas seguirán siendo el elemento central en la gestión del tráfico aéreo del futuro, pero lo serán mediante la gestión y toma de decisiones. Se espera que estas dos mejoras traigan un incremento en la eficiencia de la gestión del tráfico aéreo que permita hacer frente al incremento previsto en la demanda de transporte aéreo. Para aplicar el concepto de operaciones basadas en trayectoria, el usuario del espacio aéreo (la aerolínea, piloto, u operador) y el proveedor del servicio de navegación aérea deben negociar las trayectorias mediante un proceso de toma de decisiones colaborativo. En esta negociación, es necesaria una forma adecuada de compartir dichas trayectorias. Compartir la trayectoria completa requeriría un gran ancho de banda, y la trayectoria compartida podría invalidarse si cambiase la predicción meteorológica. En su lugar, podría compartirse una descripción de la trayectoria independiente de las condiciones meteorológicas, de manera que la trayectoria real se pudiese calcular a partir de dicha descripción. Esta descripción de la trayectoria debería ser fácil de procesar usando un programa de ordenador —ya que parte del proceso de toma de decisiones estará automatizado—, pero también fácil de entender para un operador humano —que será el que supervise el proceso y tome las decisiones oportunas—. Esta tesis presenta una serie de lenguajes formales que pueden usarse para este propósito. Estos lenguajes proporcionan los medios para describir trayectorias de aviones durante todas las fases de vuelo, desde la maniobra de push-back (remolcado hasta la calle de rodaje), hasta la llegada a la terminal del aeropuerto de destino. También permiten describir trayectorias tanto de aeronaves tripuladas como no tripuladas, incluyendo aviones de ala fija y cuadricópteros. Algunos de estos lenguajes están estrechamente relacionados entre sí, y organizados en una jerarquía. Uno de los lenguajes fundamentales de esta jerarquía, llamado aircraft intent description language (AIDL), ya había sido desarrollado con anterioridad a esta tesis. Este lenguaje fue derivado de las ecuaciones del movimiento de los aviones de ala fija, y puede utilizarse para describir sin ambigüedad trayectorias de este tipo de aeronaves. Una variante de este lenguaje, denominada quadrotor AIDL (QR-AIDL), ha sido desarrollada en esta tesis para permitir describir trayectorias de cuadricópteros con el mismo nivel de detalle. Seguidamente, otro lenguaje, denominado intent composite description language (ICDL), se apoya en los dos lenguajes anteriores, ofreciendo más flexibilidad para describir algunas partes de la trayectoria y dejar otras sin especificar. El ICDL se usa para proporcionar descripciones genéricas de maniobras comunes, que después se particularizan y combinan para formar descripciones complejas de un vuelo. Otro lenguaje puede construirse a partir del ICDL, denominado flight intent description language (FIDL). El FIDL especifica requisitos de alto nivel sobre las trayectorias —incluyendo restricciones y objetivos—, pero puede utilizar características del ICDL para proporcionar niveles de detalle arbitrarios en las distintas partes de un vuelo. Tanto el ICDL como el FIDL han sido desarrollados en colaboración con Boeing Research & Technology Europe (BR&TE). También se ha desarrollado un lenguaje para definir misiones en las que interactúan varias aeronaves, el mission intent description language (MIDL). Este lenguaje se basa en el FIDL y mantiene todo su poder expresivo, a la vez que proporciona nuevas semánticas para describir tareas, restricciones y objetivos relacionados con la misión. En ATM, los movimientos de un avión en la superficie de aeropuerto también tienen que ser monitorizados y gestionados. Otro lenguaje formal ha sido diseñado con este propósito, llamado surface movement description language (SMDL). Este lenguaje no pertenece a la jerarquía de lenguajes descrita en el párrafo anterior, y se basa en las clearances (autorizaciones del controlador) utilizadas durante las operaciones en superficie de aeropuerto. También proporciona medios para expresar incertidumbre y posibilidad de cambios en las distintas partes de la trayectoria. Finalmente, esta tesis explora las aplicaciones de estos lenguajes a la predicción de trayectorias y a la planificación de misiones. El concepto de trajectory language processing engine (TLPE) se usa en ambas aplicaciones. Un TLPE es una función de ATM cuya principal entrada y salida se expresan en cualquiera de los lenguajes incluidos en la jerarquía descrita en esta tesis. El proceso de predicción de trayectorias puede definirse como una combinación de TLPEs, cada uno de los cuales realiza una pequeña sub-tarea. Se le ha dado especial importancia a uno de estos TLPEs, que se encarga de generar el perfil horizontal, vertical y de configuración de la trayectoria. En particular, esta tesis presenta un método novedoso para la generación del perfil vertical. El proceso de planificar una misión también se puede ver como un TLPE donde la entrada se expresa en MIDL y la salida consiste en cierto número de trayectorias —una por cada aeronave disponible— descritas utilizando FIDL. Se ha formulado este problema utilizando programación entera mixta. Además, dado que encontrar caminos óptimos entre distintos puntos es un problema fundamental en la planificación de misiones, también se propone un algoritmo de búsqueda de caminos. Este algoritmo permite calcular rápidamente caminos cuasi-óptimos que esquivan todos los obstáculos en un entorno urbano. Los diferentes lenguajes formales definidos en esta tesis pueden utilizarse como una especificación estándar para la difusión de información entre distintos actores de la gestión del tráfico aéreo. En conjunto, estos lenguajes permiten describir trayectorias con el nivel de detalle necesario en cada aplicación, y se pueden utilizar para aumentar el nivel de automatización explotando esta información utilizando sistemas de soporte a la toma de decisiones. La aplicación de estos lenguajes a algunas funciones básicas de estos sistemas, como la predicción de trayectorias, han sido analizadas. ABSTRACT Future air traffic management (ATM) will require a paradigm shift from today’s mainly tactical ATM to trajectory-based operations (TBOs). An increase in the level of automation will also relieve humans —air traffic control officers (ATCOs), flight crew, etc.— from many of the tasks they perform today. Humans will still be central in this future ATM, as decision-makers and managers. These two improvements (TBOs and increased automation) are expected to provide the increase in ATM performance that will allow coping with the expected increase in air transport demand. Under TBOs, trajectories are negotiated between the airspace user (an airline, pilot, or operator) and the air navigation service provider (ANSP) using a collaborative decision making (CDM) process. A suitable method for sharing aircraft trajectories is necessary for this negotiation. Sharing a whole trajectory would require a high amount of bandwidth, and the shared trajectory might become invalid if the weather forecast changed. Instead, a description of the trajectory, decoupled from the weather conditions, could be shared, so that the actual trajectory could be computed from this trajectory description. This trajectory description should be easy to process using a computing program —as some of the CDM processes will be automated— but also easy to understand for a human operator —who will be supervising the process and making decisions. This thesis presents a series of formal languages that can be used for this purpose. These languages provide the means to describe aircraft trajectories during all phases of flight, from push back to arrival at the gate. They can also describe trajectories of both manned and unmanned aircraft, including fixedwing and some rotary-wing aircraft (quadrotors). Some of these languages are tightly interrelated and organized in a language hierarchy. One of the key languages in this hierarchy, the aircraft intent description language (AIDL), had already been developed prior to this thesis. This language was derived from the equations of motion of fixed-wing aircraft, and can provide an unambiguous description of fixed-wing aircraft trajectories. A variant of this language, the quadrotor AIDL (QR-AIDL), is developed in this thesis to allow describing a quadrotor aircraft trajectory with the same level of detail. Then, the intent composite description language (ICDL) is built on top of these two languages, providing more flexibility to describe some parts of the trajectory while leaving others unspecified. The ICDL is used to provide generic descriptions of common aircraft manoeuvres, which can be particularized and combined to form complex descriptions of flight. Another language is built on top of the ICDL, the flight intent description language (FIDL). The FIDL specifies high-level requirements on trajectories —including constraints and objectives—, but can use features of the ICDL to provide arbitrary levels of detail in different parts of the flight. The ICDL and FIDL have been developed in collaboration with Boeing Research & Technology Europe (BR&TE). Also, the mission intent description language (MIDL) has been developed to allow describing missions involving multiple aircraft. This language is based on the FIDL and keeps all its expressive power, while it also provides new semantics for describing mission tasks, mission objectives, and constraints involving several aircraft. In ATM, the movement of aircraft while on the airport surface also has to be monitored and managed. Another formal language has been designed for this purpose, denoted surface movement description language (SMDL). This language does not belong to the language hierarchy described above, and it is based on the clearances used in airport surface operations. Means to express uncertainty and mutability of different parts of the trajectory are also provided. Finally, the applications of these languages to trajectory prediction and mission planning are explored in this thesis. The concept of trajectory language processing engine (TLPE) is used in these two applications. A TLPE is an ATM function whose main input and output are expressed in any of the languages in the hierarchy described in this thesis. A modular trajectory predictor is defined as a combination of multiple TLPEs, each of them performing a small subtask. Special attention is given to the TLPE that builds the horizontal, vertical, and configuration profiles of the trajectory. In particular, a novel method for the generation of the vertical profile is presented. The process of planning a mission can also be seen as a TLPE, where the main input is expressed in the MIDL and the output consists of a number of trajectory descriptions —one for each aircraft available in the mission— expressed in the FIDL. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for the problem of assigning mission tasks to the available aircraft is provided. In addition, since finding optimal paths between locations is a key problem to mission planning, a novel path finding algorithm is presented. This algorithm can compute near-shortest paths avoiding all obstacles in an urban environment in very short times. The several formal languages described in this thesis can serve as a standard specification to share trajectory information among different actors in ATM. In combination, these languages can describe trajectories with the necessary level of detail for any application, and can be used to increase automation by exploiting this information using decision support tools (DSTs). Their applications to some basic functions of DSTs, such as trajectory prediction, have been analized.

O management e o índio: um estudo sobre o programa de sustentabilidade socioambiental e cultural na terra indigena Apucaraninha, Paraná

O Programa de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Socioambiental e Cultural da Terra Indígena Apucaraninha foi criado como condicionalidade para que a comunidade pudesse receber parte dos recursos oriundos da compensação pela construção e operação da Usina Hidrelétrica de Apucaraninha, instalada dentro das terras indígenas. Teoricamente criado para ser um programa em que os índios participassem de forma ativa e igualitária na sua construção e implementação, já nasce contraditório frente à hegemonia da ideologia da sociedade envolvente imersa na ideologia do management. É assim que tenho como objetivo compreender como o management, enquanto ideologia que se materializa em discurso, atua sobre o Programa de Sustentabilidade Socioambiental e Cultural na Terra Indígena Apucaraninha, Paraná. Para isso, faço uma pesquisa qualitativa em que os discursos, coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e grupo focal, aplicados aos indígenas e aos não-indígenas participantes do programa, foram interpretados sob a perspectiva dos elementos da Análise do Discurso na Linha Francesa. Como apoio, ainda analisei documentos do programa e os emitidos pelo Ministério Público Federal. Os principais resultados mostram que, como eu já desconfiava, o programa exclui a participação dos indígenas de fato, uma vez que eles são considerados pelos \"brancos\", de maneira estereotipada, como irracionais, indolentes e atrasados e, assim, incapazes de escolher o \"melhor caminho\" para a sustentabilidade do programa que, neste momento, passa se orientar por uma visão economicista e materialista, contrário a lógica dos índios Kaingang. Ao discurso do management, sustentado pelo discurso capitalista, que promete a felicidade, se junta o discurso do colonizador, que trabalha desclassificando o modo de vida dos indígenas, os colocando em uma situação de vulnerabilidade que pode, assim, promover o seu extermínio, mesmo que não seja físico

Criação de valor para o cliente: um estudo exploratório sobre programas de Key Account Management (KAM)

Nas últimas décadas, a maturidade de alguns mercados, a globalização e o crescente poder de barganha dos clientes aumentam ainda mais a necessidade das empresas em manterem e desenvolverem de forma eficaz seus clientes mais importantes. Neste contexto, ganham relevância os programas de Key Account Management (KAM), iniciativas corporativas que tratam de forma especial os clientes mais importantes do fornecedor. Para obter o desempenho financeiro superior, o programa de KAM precisa criar valor para o cliente para posterior apropriação de valor pelo fornecedor. Contudo, a maioria dos estudos enfatiza a apropriação de valor pelo fornecedor, porém poucas pesquisas investigam a criação de valor para o cliente em programas de KAM. Além disso, a maioria das pesquisas em marketing de relacionamento ainda foca muito nos impactos positivos do relacionamento. Dessa forma, é importante analisar empiricamente como é a implementação da criação de valor para o cliente em programas de KAM, identificando as principais dimensões e os fatores críticos. O objetivo do presente estudo é analisar o processo de criação de valor para o cliente em programas de Key Account Management (KAM) e propor um modelo de criação de valor para o cliente segundo a perspectiva da empresa fornecedora. As análises e o modelo são elaborados a partir de um processo de investigação abdutiva, ou seja, a combinação entre a fundamentação teórica sobre o conceito de valor e programas de KAM e a análise de conteúdo de 22 entrevistas em profundidade com especialistas em programas de KAM, profissionais de marketing/vendas que trabalham por pelo menos cinco anos com programas de KAM em grandes empresas no Brasil. O modelo proposto explica de forma integrada e sistemática como é a criação de valor para o cliente em programas de KAM segundo cinco dimensões (Desenvolvimento de relacionamentos; Entendimento dos direcionadores de valor; Desenvolvimento da proposta de valor; Comunicação da proposta de valor; e mensuração de valor), quatro moderadores (Orientação relacional do cliente; Formalização do programa de KAM para o cliente; Abordagem do fornecedor: \"orientada ao cliente\" vs. \"orientar o cliente\"; e Fit estratégico entre o fornecedor e o cliente) e três riscos (Não entrega do valor básico para o cliente; Rotatividade do Key Account Manager; e Sentimento de injustiça do cliente). Contribui-se com a teoria sobre o tema, ao incluir uma dimensão específica no modelo para desenvolvimento de relacionamentos do nível da díade (organização-organização) e indivíduo (funcionário-funcionário), e ao abordar não somente aspectos positivos do relacionamento, mas também os aspectos negativos (ou riscos da criação de valor para o cliente). Contribui-se também para a prática, ao prover uma visão mais ampla, sistemática e integradora dos diversos elementos da criação de valor para o cliente aos executivos das empresas que possuem programas de KAM, e ao recomendar práticas organizacionais que servem como guias para a tomada de decisão dos gestores de programas de KAM. Ademais, como a parte empírica do estudo é baseada no contexto brasileiro, amplia-se o conhecimento sobre KAM no Brasil. Por fim, apresentam-se as limitações do estudo com a agenda de pesquisas futuras

DUI program as OEF/OIF Veterans Outreach: Descriptive Data from Two Community-Based Outpatient Clinics

Although initially conceived as providing simply the preventive portion of an extended continuum of care for veterans, the Driving Under the Influence (DUI) program has turned out to be an important outreach service for active duty or recently discharged OEF/OIF (Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom) veterans. Veterans receive empirically-based, state-mandated education and therapy under the only Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) - sponsored DUI program in the State of Colorado, with the advantage of having providers who are sensitive to symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other relevant diagnoses specific to this population, including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In this paper, the rapid growth of this program is described, as well as summary data regarding the completion, discontinuation, and augmentation of services from the original referral concern. Key results indicated that for nearly one third (31.9%) of the OEF/OIF veterans who were enrolled in the DUI program, this was their initial contact with the VA health care system. Furthermore, following their enrollment in the DUI program, more than one fourth (27.6%) were later referred to and attended other VA programs including PTSD rehabilitation and group therapy, anger management, and intensive inpatient or outpatient dual diagnosis programs. These and other findings from this study suggest that the DUI program may be an effective additional pathway for providing treatment that is particularly salient to the distinctive OEF/OIF population; one that may also result in earlier intervention for problem drinking and other problems related to combat. Relevant conclusions discussed herein primarily aim to improve providers' understanding of effective outreach, and to enhance the appropriate linkages between OEF/OIF veterans and existing VA services.

The Creation of a Legal Ordinance and Program Manual for the Purpose of Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

Illegal dumping and improper disposal of pollutants in urban areas can contribute significant pollutant loads to the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) and natural environments. Illicit discharges to the MS4 can pose a significant risk to human and environmental health. The Clean Water Act requires that municipalities implement a legal mechanism and plan to detect and eliminate illicit discharges to the MS4. The methodology for program creation included the analysis of other municipal illicit discharge programs, review of state and federal guidance publications, and the review of illicit discharge case-studies. This paper describes a systematic approach applied to the creation and implementation of a legal ordinance and program manual designed for the purpose of illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE).

Developing a Citizen Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program for the Flathead Basin in Northwestern Montana for the early Detection and Prevention of the Introduction of Zebra Mussels and other Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS)

Preventing the introduction of aquatic invasive species (AIS) like zebra and quagga mussels in the U.S. is a high priority. This Capstone demonstrates zebra and quagga mussels are of concern as aquatic invasive species and a volunteer monitoring and intervention program is an effective means for early detection of AIS. This Capstone developed an AIS citizen volunteer lake monitoring program consistent with other programs concerned about AIS prevention and early detection. This Capstone concludes implementing such a voluntary program will help reduce the spread of zebra and quagga mussels and will provide early detection information to appropriate agencies empowered with response actions if species are found.

Development of a Household Pharmaceutical Waste Collection Program for Atlanta, Georgia: An Analysis of Risk Factors and Public Awareness with a Comprehensive Collection Plan

Decades of mixed messages from three federal agencies left many Americans unaware of the hazards associated with the indiscriminate disposal of unwanted or expired medicines. For this Capstone project, a systematic review of state and federal regulations was undertaken to determine how these laws obstruct household pharmaceutical waste collection. In addition, a survey of 654 Atlanta residents was conducted to evaluate unwanted medicine disposal habits, awareness of pharmaceutical compounds being detected in drinking water, surface, and ground waters, and willingness to participate in a household pharmaceutical waste collection program. Survey responses were tabulated to provide overall results and by age group, gender, and race. A household pharmaceutical waste collection plan was developed for the city and included as an appendix.

Restaurant Health and Hygiene: A Model Program with Theory-Based Guidelines for Implementation

Poor hygienic practices and illness of restaurant employees are major contributors to the contamination of food and the occurrence of food-borne illness in the United States, costing the food industry and society billions of dollars each year. Risk factors associated with this problem include lack of proper handwashing; food handlers reporting to work sick; poor personal hygiene; and bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. However, traditional efforts to control these causes of food-borne illness by public health authorities have had limited impact, and have revealed the need for comprehensive and innovative programs that provide active managerial control over employee health and hygiene in restaurant establishments. Further, the introduction and eventual adoption by the food industry of such programs can be facilitated through the use of behavior-change theory. This Capstone Project develops a model program to assist restaurant owners and operators in exerting active control over health and hygiene in their establishments and provides theory-based recommendations for the introduction of the program to the food industry.

A Human Resource Training Program for Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have increased in the twenty-first century; however, the majority of cross-border mergers fail to achieve their financial objectives. Nonetheless, the number of merger failures has not stopped organizations from undertaking mergers. There are multiple sources and types of conflict associated with merger failure, which can all be traced back to the facts that human resource departments have not been utilized effectively and that there has been a lack of planning during the M&A process. Thus, this capstone proposes a training program as a reference for human resource departments to apply best practices for planning, training, and evaluating during the process of M&As, which will help potentially alleviate conflicts during the merger period.

How do primary health care teams learn to integrate intimate partner violence (IPV) management? A realist evaluation protocol

Background: Despite the existence of ample literature dealing, on the one hand, with the integration of innovations within health systems and team learning, and, on the other hand, with different aspects of the detection and management of intimate partner violence (IPV) within healthcare facilities, research that explores how health innovations that go beyond biomedical issues—such as IPV management—get integrated into health systems, and that focuses on healthcare teams’ learning processes is, to the best of our knowledge, very scarce if not absent. This realist evaluation protocol aims to ascertain: why, how, and under what circumstances primary healthcare teams engage (if at all) in a learning process to integrate IPV management in their practices; and why, how, and under what circumstances team learning processes lead to the development of organizational culture and values regarding IPV management, and the delivery of IPV management services. Methods: This study will be conducted in Spain using a multiple-case study design. Data will be collected from selected cases (primary healthcare teams) through different methods: individual and group interviews, routinely collected statistical data, documentary review, and observation. Cases will be purposively selected in order to enable testing the initial middle-range theory (MRT). After in-depth exploration of a limited number of cases, additional cases will be chosen for their ability to contribute to refining the emerging MRT to explain how primary healthcare learn to integrate intimate partner violence management. Discussion: Evaluations of health sector responses to IPV are scarce, and even fewer focus on why, how, and when the healthcare services integrate IPV management. There is a consensus that healthcare professionals and healthcare teams play a key role in this integration, and that training is important in order to realize changes. However, little is known about team learning of IPV management, both in terms of how to trigger such learning and how team learning is connected with changes in organizational culture and values, and in service delivery. This realist evaluation protocol aims to contribute to this knowledge by conducting this project in a country, Spain, where great endeavours have been made towards the integration of IPV management within the health system.