La Ciberseguridad como factor crítico en la Seguridad de la Unión Europea

El ciberespacio es un escenario de conflicto altamente complejo al estar en constante evolución. Ni la Unión Europea ni ningún otro actor del sistema internacional se encuentra a salvo de las amenazas procedentes del ciberespacio. Pero los pasos dados desde la UE en el mundo de la ciberseguridad no son en absoluto suficientes. Europa necesita que su Estrategia de ciberseguridad sea realmente capaz de integrar a las diferentes Estrategias nacionales. Es urgente una mayor determinación, unos mayores recursos y unos mejores instrumentos que permitan a la Unión implementar una gestión de crisis y una prevención de ciberconflictos verdaderamente eficaz.

Transiting Exoplanet Studies and Community Targets for JWST's Early Release Science Program

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will likely revolutionize transiting exoplanet atmospheric science, due to a combination of its capability for continuous, long duration observations and its larger collecting area, spectral coverage, and spectral resolution compared to existing space-based facilities. However, it is unclear precisely how well JWST will perform and which of its myriad instruments and observing modes will be best suited for transiting exoplanet studies. In this article, we describe a prefatory JWST Early Release Science (ERS) Cycle 1 program that focuses on testing specific observing modes to quickly give the community the data and experience it needs to plan more efficient and successful transiting exoplanet characterization programs in later cycles. We propose a multi-pronged approach wherein one aspect of the program focuses on observing transits of a single target with all of the recommended observing modes to identify and understand potential systematics, compare transmission spectra at overlapping and neighboring wavelength regions, confirm throughputs, and determine overall performances. In our search for transiting exoplanets that are well suited to achieving these goals, we identify 12 objects (dubbed “community targets”) that meet our defined criteria. Currently, the most favorable target is WASP-62b because of its large predicted signal size, relatively bright host star, and location in JWST's continuous viewing zone. Since most of the community targets do not have well-characterized atmospheres, we recommend initiating preparatory observing programs to determine the presence of obscuring clouds/hazes within their atmospheres. Measurable spectroscopic features are needed to establish the optimal resolution and wavelength regions for exoplanet characterization. Other initiatives from our proposed ERS program include testing the instrument brightness limits and performing phase-curve observations. The latter are a unique challenge compared to transit observations because of their significantly longer durations. Using only a single mode, we propose to observe a full-orbit phase curve of one of the previously characterized, short-orbital-period planets to evaluate the facility-level aspects of long, uninterrupted time-series observations.

Radium-223 and concomitant therapies in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: an international, early access, open-label, single-arm phase 3b trial

BACKGROUND: In the previously reported ALSYMPCA trial in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and symptomatic bone metastases, overall survival was significantly longer in patients treated with radium-223 dichloride (radium-223) than in patients treated with placebo. In this study, we investigated safety and overall survival in radium-223 treated patients in an early access programme done after the ALSYMPCA study and before regulatory approval of radium-223.

METHODS: We did an international, prospective, interventional, open-label, single-arm, phase 3b study. Enrolled patients were aged 18 years or older with histologically or cytologically confirmed progressive bone-predominant metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with two or more skeletal metastases on imaging (with no restriction as to whether they were symptomatic or asymptomatic; without visceral disease but lymph node metastases were allowed). Patients received intravenous injections of radium-223, 50 kBq/kg (current recommendation 55 kBq/kg after implementation of National Institute of Standards and Technology update on April 18, 2016) every 4 weeks for up to six injections. Other concomitant anticancer therapies were allowed. Primary endpoints were safety and overall survival. The safety and efficacy analyses were done on all patients who received at least one dose of the study drug. The study has been completed, and we report the final analysis here. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01618370, and the European Union Clinical Trials Register, EudraCT number 2012-000075-16.

FINDINGS: Between July 22, 2012, and Dec 19, 2013, 839 patients were enrolled from 113 sites in 14 countries. 696 patients received one or more doses of radium-223; 403 (58%) of these patients had all six planned injections. Any-grade treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 523 (75%) of 696 patients; any-grade treatment-emergent adverse events deemed to be related to treatment were reported in 281 (40%) patients. The most common grade 3 or worse treatment-related treatment-emergent adverse events were anaemia in 32 (5%) patients, thrombocytopenia in 15 (2%) patients, neutropenia in ten (1%) patients, and leucopenia in nine (1%) patients. Any grade of serious adverse events were reported in 243 (35%) patients. Median follow-up was 7·5 months (IQR 5-11) and 210 deaths were reported; median overall survival was 16 months (95% CI 13-not available [NA]). In an exploratory analysis of overall survival with predefined factors, median overall survival was longer for: patients with baseline alkaline phosphatase concentration less than the upper limit of normal (ULN; median NA, 95% CI 16 months-NA) than for patients with an alkaline phosphatase concentration equal to or greater than the ULN (median 12 months, 11-15); patients with baseline haemoglobin levels 10 g/dL or greater (median 17 months, 14-NA) than for patients with haemoglobin levels less than 10 g/dL (median 10 months, 8-14); patients with a baseline Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0 (median NA, 17 months-NA) than for patients with an ECOG PS of 1 (median 13 months, 11-NA) or an ECOG PS of 2 or more (median 7 months, 5-11); and for patients with no reported baseline pain (median NA, 16 months-NA) than for those with mild pain (median 14 months, 13-NA) or moderate-severe pain (median 11 months, 9-13). Median overall survival was also longer in patients who received radium-223 plus abiraterone, enzalutamide, or both (median NA, 95% CI 16 months-NA) than in those who did not receive these agents (median 13 months, 12-16), and in patients who received radium-223 plus denosumab (median NA, 15 months-NA) than in patients who received radium-223 without denosumab (median 13 months, 12-NA).

INTERPRETATION: Our findings show that radium-223 can be safely combined with abiraterone or enzalutamide, which are now both part of the standard of care for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Furthermore, our findings extend to patients who were asymptomatic at baseline, unlike those enrolled in the pivotal ALSYMPCA study. The findings of prolonged survival in patients treated with concomitant abiraterone, enzalutamide, or denosumab require confirmation in prospective randomised trials.

FUNDING: Pharmaceutical Division of Bayer.

Physical characterization of TNOs with the James Webb Space Telescope

Studies of the physical properties of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are a powerful probe into the processes of planetesimal formation and solar system evolution. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will provide unique new capabilities for such studies. Here, we outline where the capabilities of JWST open new avenues of investigation, potentially valuable observations and surveys, and conclude with a discussion of community actions that may serve to enhance the eventual science return of JWST's TNO observations.

Repositories for open education and improving discoverability of OERs

Presentation given at 2016 Association for Learning Technology conference at University of Warwick (ALT2016). This presentation shares key findings from my MSc thesis on discoverability strategies for OERs after a small scale study into Jisc UKOER projects. The origins, key features and recent improvements to EdShare, the OER repository solution which is available through EPrints Services at the University of Southampton, is highlighted. Repositories provide an excellent way of archiving, preserving and managing content, but is this enough for OERs. OERs are about more than simply sharing, and this presentation highlighted a number of development areas under consideration for EdShare, to become a more open digital space.

Baker Program's Inaugural Domestic Trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley

[Excerpt] In late January, first-year students in the Baker Program in Real Estate attended the first annual domestic real estate trek as part of the program’s newly revised curriculum. For this inaugural trip, students visited San Francisco and Silicon Valley, two of the nation’s most active real estate markets.

Adaptive Crowd Algorithms for Open-Ended Problems

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Easy preoperative planning of deeply located brain lesions using external skin reference and 3-Dimensional surface MRI

Open skull surgery of deeply located intracerebral lesions requires precise determination of the treatment area in 3-dimensional (3-D) space. 3-D MRI can give important additional information in presurgical determination of the surgical approach to the target, taking into account highly functional brain areas and important vascular structures. The day before surgery, a grid composed of 9 tubings intersecting at 90° at 1 cm intervals and filled with a Q1SO4 solution is firmly attached to the skin of the patient’s head in the presumed region of the craniotomy. A 3-D turbo-FLASH sequence is then performed in the sagittal plane after intravenous Gd-DOTA injection on a IT Magnetom. 3-D surface reconstruction of the cortical gyri and sulci is performed. Once the gyri are identified, the 3-D program is then implemented in order to perform a color display of the cortical veins and of the tumor boundaries. The surgical access is then chosen by the surgeon, taking into account highly functional areas. Finally, the boundaries of the tumor are projected on the cortex reconstruction and on the external reference placed on the skin. The entry place for surgery as well as the size of craniotomy are drawn on the skin and the tubed grid is removed. The accuracy of this method tested in 9 patients with deeply located brain tumors or arteriovenous malformations was very satisfactory. In daily practice, this method is a valuable technique providing important clinical information in determining the shortest and safest way through the brain tissue, decreasing possible functional deficit and reducing craniotomy size in cases of difficult to access deep brain areas. Our method does not require a stereotactic frame permanently fixed to the head of the patient during surgery. © 1994 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Efficient daylighting approach by means of light-shelve device adequate for habitat program in Aarhus City

The concepts of light shelves consist of windows that have face towards the sun, which receive a vast quantity of energy that could be used for healthy day lighting. This paper debates a main assessment, investigates the optimization of daylight requirement by means of light shelves system. An experimental test was carried out assessing the measurements and lighting simulations of a model of a building in order to elucidate the characteristics of indoor lighting. Light shelf is an architectural element that permits daylight to enter deep into a building. It constitutes an optimal solution for an incorrect building orientation and less sunny days. The essential objective of this study is to highlight the vital role of light shelves in residential buildings in northern Europa where the requirement is to improve the daylight in the interior functional spaces. The main objects of this paper are to investigate the effect of daylight in the interior functional spaces using light shelves, the effect of natural light diffusion in interior space in the period of low daylight season, and glare effect in this field. This paper investigates a procedure for analysing the daylight performance using software habitat function

Entre o comentário e a entrevista: “A Opinião de José Sócrates” (RTP1), “A Opinião de Luís Marques Mendes” (SIC) e “Os Comentários de Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa” (TVI)

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Jornalismo.

Redes de conversação como possibilidade de formação do professor tutor virtual na mediação pedagógica da educação profissional a distância

A educação a distância apoiada pelos meios de comunicação digital ampliou as possibilidades de interação, flexibilizando o processo de mediação pedagógica no tempo e no espaço. Nessa perspectiva, a educação profissional democratizou seu acesso, na qual os conhecimentos de nível técnico são customizados em um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem (AVA) para serem mediados a distância. Esta tese, apresentada na forma de artigos, problematiza o processo de mediação pedagógica realizado pelo professor tutor virtual na Rede e-Tec Brasil do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Sul-rio-grandense (IFSul) Campus Visconde da Graça (CAVG). Nesse modelo de ensino, o professor tutor virtual é contratado para atuar, pelo período de dois anos, em todas as disciplinas curriculares de um curso técnico. Se, por um lado, isso permite-lhe conhecer a realidade de seus alunos; por outro, exige-lhe um esforço pedagógico de apropriação e mediação dos conteúdos específicos nas diversas disciplinas que integram os currículos de cada curso. A pesquisa buscou conhecer como o professor tutor virtual apropria-se dos conhecimentos específicos nos cursos técnicos para mediá-los pedagogicamente com os alunos. Apresentamos, como hipótese explicativa neste estudo, que é na convivência com o professor pesquisador que o professor tutor virtual encontra a possibilidade de se apropriar dos conhecimentos curriculares para poder mediá-los pedagogicamente com os alunos. Para sustentar teoricamente nossas proposições na experiência vivida, estabelecemos uma rede de conversação com os autores Humberto Maturana, Pierre Lévy, Lee Shulman e Maurice Tardif, por meio dos conceitos: cultura em redes de conversação; inteligência coletiva; conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo; e formação profissional docente. Como procedimento metodológico, encontramos na técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC), de Lefèvre e Lefèvre, uma estratégia de abordagem qualitativa para analisar as recorrências encontradas nos discursos dos professores tutores virtuais. O estudo aponta que uma rede de conversação recursiva entre o professor pesquisador e o professor tutor virtual possibilita a apropriação de conhecimentos técnicos e específicos necessários ao processo de mediação pedagógica com os estudantes. Essa convivência, no caminho da constituição de um coletivo inteligente, favorece o trabalho colaborativo no ambiente da tutoria, contribuindo para profissionalizar o processo de mediação pedagógica na educação profissional a distância do IFSul CAVG. Supported by digital media, distance learning has increased the possibilities of interaction, easing the process of pedagogical mediation in time and space. From this perspective, the access to professional education has been democratized: technical knowledge is customized in a Learning Managing System and later delivered by means of mediated distance education courses. Structured in a sequence of articles, this dissertation addresses the problem of the pedagogical mediation process performed by on-line tutor teachers at Rede e-Tec Brasil of the Instituto Federal Sul- rio-grandense (IF-Sul), Campus Visconde da Graça (CAVG). This model of education establishes that on-line tutor teachers are hired to work with all the curriculum courses of a technical program for two years. If, on the hand, it allows these teachers to know the reality of their students well, on the other hand it demands them a pedagogical effort of appropriation and mediation of the specific contents guiding the various courses that comprise the curriculum of each program. This research aimed to find out how on-line tutor teachers appropriate expertise from technical programs to mediate it with their students in a pedagogical way. The explanatory hypothesis given is that by working together and sharing experience with the teacher/researcher, on-line tutor teachers will be able to appropriate of curricular knowledge and pedagogically mediate it with their students afterwards. To support our theoretical propositions, a network of conversation was established with authors like Humberto Maturana, Pierre Lévy, Lee Shulman, and Maurice Tardif through the concepts of culture in networks of conversation, collective intelligence, pedagogical content knowledge, and teacher training. As a methodological procedure, the technique of the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD), by Lefèvre and Lefèvre, was found to offer a strategy of qualitative approach to analyze the recurrences seen in the speech of on-line tutor teachers. The study shows that a recursive network of conversation between the teacher/researcher and the on-line tutor teacher enables the appropriation of specific and technical knowledge required for the process of pedagogical mediation with students. The experience of sharing a consensual professional relationship, in which one respects and accepts the other as a way of establishing a collective intelligence, encourages collaborative work in the tutoring environment, helping professionalize the process of pedagogical mediation in distance professional education at IFSul CAVG.

On imbedding differentiable manifolds in Euclidean space

Assume n,k,m,q are positive integers. Let M^n denote a smooth differentiable n-manifold and R^k Euclidean k-space. (a) If M^n is open it imbeds smoothly in R^k, k=2n-1 (b) If M^n is open and parallelizable it immerses in R^n (c) Assume M^n is closed and (m-1)-connected, 1< 2m-n < n+1. If a neighborhood of the (n-m)-skeleton immerses in R^q, a>2n-2m, then the complement of a point of M^n imbeds smoothly in R^q.

Ferramentas Web, Web 2.0 e software livre em EVT: estudo sobre a integração de ferramentas digitais no currículo da disciplina de educação visual e tecnológica

A utilização das TIC ocupam um lugar cada vez mais importante nas nossas escolas, marcado sobretudo pela evolução das tecnologias e pela utilização em contexto educativo de muitas ferramentas da Web 2.0. Esse facto é muito notório na disciplina de Educação Visual e Tecnológica, de carácter eminentemente prático, onde é permitido explorar várias ferramentas digitais para abordagem de conteúdos da disciplina e para a criação de produtos gráficos e plásticos. Com o aparecimento da Web 2.0 e a disponibilização de milhares de novas ferramentas digitais aos utilizadores da Internet, estimula-se um interesse cada vez maior na adoção de metodologias e estratégias com recurso a estes media e que suportem uma aprendizagem mais eficaz e motivadora para os alunos, articulando-se os suportes tradicionais de EVT com os novos media digitais. Neste contexto, o presente estudo é o resultado duma investigação-ação realizada no âmbito do Programa Doutoral em Multimédia em Educação da Universidade de Aveiro onde se implementou a integração de ferramentas da Web, Web 2.0 e Software Livre em contexto educativo na disciplina de EVT, na qual poderiam ser utilizadas tanto as técnicas tradicionais de realização mais usuais na disciplina como a integração e articulação com as ferramentas digitais, suportadas por software livre (e outros de utilização gratuita), a Web e a Web 2.0 para suporte ao ensino e aprendizagem dos diversos conteúdos e áreas de exploração da disciplina. Este estudo, desenhado em três ciclos, envolveu num primeiro momento a constituição de uma comunidade de prática de professores alargada, sendo criadas seis turmas de formação que reuniram um total de 112 professores que pretendiam integrar as ferramentas digitais em EVT. Para além da pesquisa, análise, seleção e catalogação destas 430 ferramentas digitais recenseadas, produziram-se 371 manuais de apoio à utilização das mesmas, sendo estes recursos disponibilizados no espaço do EVTdigital. Num segundo ciclo, decorrente da avaliação realizada, foi criada a distribuição EVTux para simplificar o acesso e utilização das ferramentas digitais em contexto de EVT. Finalmente, o terceiro ciclo, decorre da eliminação da disciplina de EVT do currículo do 2º ciclo do ensino básico e a sua substituição por duas novas disciplinas, tendo-se realizada a respetiva análise de conteúdo das metas curriculares e produzido a aplicação As ferramentas digitais do Mundo Visual, concebida para contextualizar e indexar as ferramentas digitais selecionadas para a nova disciplina de Educação Visual.Os resultados deste estudo apontam claramente para a possibilidade de integrar na disciplina de Educação Visual e Tecnológica (ou no presente momento, em Educação Visual) ferramentas digitais para abordagem aos conteúdos e áreas de exploração, bem como a possibilidade de se constituírem facilmente comunidades de prática (como foi o caso) que possam colaborar na catalogação destas ferramentas no contexto específico da disciplina e para a necessidade sentida pelos professores em obter informação e formação que os possa atualizar quanto à integração das TIC no currículo. Apresentam-se, ainda, as limitações deste estudo que passaram sobretudo pelo impacto negativo que a eliminação da disciplina provocou na motivação dos docentes e a sua consequente participação no decorrer de algumas fases do trabalho, e ainda da dificuldade de gestão de uma equipa de professores colaboradores tão numerosa e diversificada. Nesse sentido, são também apresentadas sugestões para estudos futuros.

Event-Code Interaction Directed Test Cases

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is an integral component of contemporary computer software. A stable and reliable GUI is necessary for correct functioning of software applications. Comprehensive verification of the GUI is a routine part of most software development life-cycles. The input space of a GUI is typically large, making exhaustive verification difficult. GUI defects are often revealed by exercising parts of the GUI that interact with each other. It is challenging for a verification method to drive the GUI into states that might contain defects. In recent years, model-based methods, that target specific GUI interactions, have been developed. These methods create a formal model of the GUI’s input space from specification of the GUI, visible GUI behaviors and static analysis of the GUI’s program-code. GUIs are typically dynamic in nature, whose user-visible state is guided by underlying program-code and dynamic program-state. This research extends existing model-based GUI testing techniques by modelling interactions between the visible GUI of a GUI-based software and its underlying program-code. The new model is able to, efficiently and effectively, test the GUI in ways that were not possible using existing methods. The thesis is this: Long, useful GUI testcases can be created by examining the interactions between the GUI, of a GUI-based application, and its program-code. To explore this thesis, a model-based GUI testing approach is formulated and evaluated. In this approach, program-code level interactions between GUI event handlers will be examined, modelled and deployed for constructing long GUI testcases. These testcases are able to drive the GUI into states that were not possible using existing models. Implementation and evaluation has been conducted using GUITAR, a fully-automated, open-source GUI testing framework.

Implementing The KiVa Antibullying Program: What Does It Take?

There is variation in how teachers and schools implement bullying prevention programs. Although this variation has been discussed, there has been little empirical research concerning the relationship between implementation fidelity and program outcomes. This thesis contains three studies, each of them in the context of implementing the KiVa antibullying program, and examines teachers’ actions in preventing and intervening in school bullying. The first aim of this thesis is to examine implementation degree of the KiVa curriculum and its’ association with reductions in victimization and bullying perpetration (Study I). The second aim is to clarify why teachers displayed different degrees of adherence to the KiVa curriculum during a school year (Study II). Thirdly, it is investigated whether recognizing victimization can be difficult for school staff (Study III). In addition to these peer-reviewed studies, the thesis includes a qualitative analysis (unpublished) of the teachers’ open answers concerning their implementation experiences. The data were collected from elementary school teachers (Studies I–II; the unpublished study), elementary school students (Study I), and students on the elementary and middle school levels (Study III) during the evaluation of the effectiveness of KiVa antibullying program between 2007 and 2009. The findings demonstrate that a larger reduction in victimization can be achieved in classrooms where teachers display higher levels of adherence to the KiVa curriculum and invest more time for preparing the lessons. Bullying perpetration, however, was not equally affected by the level of curriculum implementation. With respect to the implementation process over one year, there was significant variation between individual teachers’ activity—ranging from systematic and high implementation to declining delivery from lesson to lesson. The sustained actions (high and moderate levels of implementation) were premised on principal support for antibullying work. Lesson preparation was associated with keeping implementation high throughout the school year. The findings also implied that the belief in the effectiveness of the program is important for a higher implementation degree at starting point of the process. Finally, there are severe flaws in teachers’ ability to identify students who are victimized. As it turns out, it is possible that only one-fourth of chronically victimized students are helped by the school staff. Especially when the victims are middle-school-aged girls, when they bully others themselves, or when they do not tell adults about bullying, reaching out for them is difficult. Implementation and dissemination of research-based interventions will take a good deal of time and effort. The findings demonstrate that active implementation is important for improving program outcomes. They also show how implementation can be sustained—there are both individual and interpersonal factors that facilitate or inhibit high-quality implementation. Thus, implications for future research regarding the implementation of school-based programs are suggested.