Photoinduced Degradation of the Herbicide Clomazone Model Reactions for Natural and Technical Systems

The photodegradation of the herbicide clomazone in the presence of S(2)O(8)(2-) or of humic substances of different origin was investigated. A value of (9.4 +/- 0.4) x 10(8) m(-1) s(-1) was measured for the bimolecular rate constant for the reaction of sulfate radicals with clomazone in flash-photolysis experiments. Steady state photolysis of peroxydisulfate, leading to the formation of the sulfate radicals, in the presence of clomazone was shown to be an efficient photodegradation method of the herbicide. This is a relevant result regarding the in situ chemical oxidation procedures involving peroxydisulfate as the oxidant. The main reaction products are 2-chlorobenzylalcohol and 2-chlorobenzaldehyde. The degradation kinetics of clomazone was also studied under steady state conditions induced by photolysis of Aldrich humic acid or a vermicompost extract (VCE). The results indicate that singlet oxygen is the main species responsible for clomazone degradation. The quantum yield of O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)) generation (lambda = 400 nm) for the VCE in D(2)O, Phi(Delta) = (1.3 +/- 0.1) x 10(-3), was determined by measuring the O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)) phosphorescence at 1270 nm. The value of the overall quenching constant of O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)) by clomazone was found to be (5.7 +/- 0.3) x 10(7) m(-1) s(-1) in D(2)O. The bimolecular rate constant for the reaction of clomazone with singlet oxygen was k(r) = (5.4 +/- 0.1) x 10(7) m(-1) s(-1), which means that the quenching process is mainly reactive.

Learning representations for graph-structured socio-technical systems

The recent widespread use of social media platforms and web services has led to a vast amount of behavioral data that can be used to model socio-technical systems. A significant part of this data can be represented as graphs or networks, which have become the prevalent mathematical framework for studying the structure and the dynamics of complex interacting systems. However, analyzing and understanding these data presents new challenges due to their increasing complexity and diversity. For instance, the characterization of real-world networks includes the need of accounting for their temporal dimension, together with incorporating higher-order interactions beyond the traditional pairwise formalism. The ongoing growth of AI has led to the integration of traditional graph mining techniques with representation learning and low-dimensional embeddings of networks to address current challenges. These methods capture the underlying similarities and geometry of graph-shaped data, generating latent representations that enable the resolution of various tasks, such as link prediction, node classification, and graph clustering. As these techniques gain popularity, there is even a growing concern about their responsible use. In particular, there has been an increased emphasis on addressing the limitations of interpretability in graph representation learning. This thesis contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field of graph representation learning and has potential applications in a wide range of complex systems domains. We initially focus on forecasting problems related to face-to-face contact networks with time-varying graph embeddings. Then, we study hyperedge prediction and reconstruction with simplicial complex embeddings. Finally, we analyze the problem of interpreting latent dimensions in node embeddings for graphs. The proposed models are extensively evaluated in multiple experimental settings and the results demonstrate their effectiveness and reliability, achieving state-of-the-art performances and providing valuable insights into the properties of the learned representations.

Robots and humans as co-workers? The human-centred perspective of work with autonomous systems

The design of work organisation systems with automated equipment is facing new challenges and the emergence of new concepts. The social aspects that are related with new concepts on the complex work environments (CWE) are becoming more relevant for that design. The work with autonomous systems implies options in the design of workplaces. Especially that happens in such complex environments. The concepts of “agents”, “co-working” or “human-centred technical systems” reveal new dimensions related to human-computer interaction (HCI). With an increase in the number and complexity of those human-technology interfaces, the capacities of human intervention can become limited, originating further problems. The case of robotics is used to exemplify the issues related with automation in working environments and the emergence of new HCI approaches that would include social implications. We conclude that studies on technology assessment of industrial robotics and autonomous agents on manufacturing environment should also focus on the human involvement strategies in organisations. A needed participatory strategy implies a new approach to workplaces design. This means that the research focus must be on the relation between technology and social dimensions not as separate entities, but integrated in the design of an interaction system.

Innovations of ageing and societal transition : Dynamics of change of the socio-technical regime of ageing

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the dynamics of the socio-technical system in the field of ageing. The study stems from the notion that the ageing of the population as a powerful megatrend has wide societal effects, and is not just a matter for the social and health sector. The central topic in the study is change: not only the age structures and structures of society are changing, but also at the same time there is constant development, for instance, in technologies, infrastructures and cultural perceptions. The changing concept of innovation has widened the understanding of innovations related to ageing from medical and assistive technological innovations to service and social innovations, as well as systemic innovations at different levels, which means the intertwined and co-evolutionary change in technologies, structures, services and thinking models. By the same token, the perceptions of older people and old age are becoming more multi-faceted: old age is no longer equated to illnesses and decline, but visions of active ageing and a third age have emerged, which are framed by choices, opportunities, resources and consumption in later life. The research task in this study is to open up the processes and mechanisms of change in the field of ageing, which are studied as a complex, multi-level and interrelated socio-technical system. The question is about co-effective elements consisting of macro-level landscape changes, the existing socio-technical regime (the rule system, practices and structures) and bottom-up niche-innovations. Societal transitions do not account for the things inside the regime alone, or for the long-term changes in the landscape, nor for the radical innovations, but for the interplay between all these levels. The research problem is studied through five research articles, which offer micro-level case studies to macro-level phenomenon. Each of the articles focus on different aspects related to ageing and change, and utilise various datasets. The framework of this study leans on the studies of socio-technical systems and multi-level perspective on transitions mainly developed by Frank Geels. Essential factors in transition from one socio-technological regime to another are the co-evolutionary processes between landscape changes, regime level and experimental niches. Landscape level changes, like the ageing of the population, destabilise the regime in the forms of coming pressures. This destabilization offers windows for opportunity to niche-innovations outside or at fringe of the regime, which, through their breakthrough, accelerate the transition process. However, the change is not easy because of various kinds of lock-ins and inertia, which tend to maintain the stability of the regime. In this dissertation, a constructionist approach of society is applied leaning mainly to the ideas of Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration, with the dual nature of structures. The change is taking place in the interplay between actors and structures: structures shape people’s practices, but at the same time these practices constitute and reproduce social systems. Technology and other material aspects, as part of socio-technical systems, and the use of them, also take part in the structuration process. The findings of the study point out that co-evolutionary and co-effective relationships between economic, cultural, technological and institutional fields, as well as relationships between landscape changes, changes in the local and regime-level practices and rule systems, are a very complex and multi-level dynamic socio-technical phenomenon. At the landscape level of ageing, which creates the pressures and triggers to the regime change, there are three remarkable megatrends: demographic change, changes in the global economy and the development of technologies. These exert pressures to the socio-technical regime, which as a rule system is experiencing changes in the form of new markets and consumer habits, new ways of perceiving ageing, new models of organising the health care and other services and as new ways of considering innovation and innovativeness. There are also inner dynamics in the relationships between these aspects within the regime. These are interrelated and coconstructed: the prevailing perceptions of ageing and innovation, for instance, reflect the ageing policies, innovation policies, societal structures, organising models, technology and scientific discussion, and vice versa. Technology is part of the inner dynamics of the sociotechnological regime. Physical properties of the artefacts set limitations and opportunities with regard to their functions and uses. The use of and discussion about technology, contributes producing and reproducing the perceptions of old age. For societal transition, micro-level changes are also needed, in form of niche-innovations, for instance new services, organisational models or new technologies, Regimes, as stabilitystriven systems, tend to generate incremental innovations, but radically new innovations are generated in experimental niches protected from ‘normal’ market selection. The windows of opportunity for radical novelties may be opened if the circumstances are favourable for instance by tensions in the socio-technical regime affected by landscape level changes. This dissertation indicates that a change is taking place, firstly, in the dynamic interactionbetween levels, as a result of purposive action and governance to some extent. Breaking the inertia and using the window of opportunity for change and innovation offered by dynamics between levels, presupposes the actors’ special capabilities and actions such as dynamic capabilities and distance management. Secondly, the change is taking place the socio-technological negotiations inside the regime: interaction between technological and social, which is embodied in the use of technology. The use of technology includes small-level contextual scripts that also participate in forming broader societal scripts (for instance defining old age at the society level), which in their turn affect the formation of policies for innovation and ageing. Thirdly, the change is taking place by the means of active formation of the multi-actor innovation networks, where the role of distance management is crucial to facilitate the communication between actors coming from different backgrounds as well as to help the niches born outside the regime to utilise the window of opportunity offered by regime destabilisation. This dissertation has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study participates in the discussion of action-oriented view on transition by opening up of the socio-technological, coevolutionary processes of the multi-faceted phenomenon of ageing, which has lacked systematic analyses. The focus of this study, however, is not on the large-scale coordination and governance, but rather on opening up the incremental elements and structuration processes, which contribute to the transition little by little, and which can be affected to. This increases the practical importance of this dissertation, by highlighting the importance of very tiny, everyday elements in the change processes in the long run.

Travel Report from the first field trip within the SIDA supported project "Mini-grids supplied by renewable energy - improving technical and social feasibility : Including visits to Ihushi Development Center, Tweyambe Secondary School and Mavuno Project in Tanzania. Conducted in April 2011

This report describes the outcome of the first visit to Tanzania, within the project "Mini-grids supplied by renewable energy - improving technical and social feasibility". The trip included visits to three different organizations; Ihushi Development Center (IDC) near Mwanza, TIDESO near Bukoba, and Mavuno Project in Karagwe. At IDC, a brief evaluation of the current power system was done and measuring equipment for long term measurements were installed. At all three locations investigations regarding the current and future electricity demand were conducted and connections to people relevant to the study were established. The report is including as well some technical specifications as some observations regarding organization and management of the technical systems. The trip was including only short visits and therefore only brief introductions to the different organizations, based on observations done by the author. The report is hence describing the author’s understanding of the technical system and social structures after only short visits to each of the organizations, and may differ from observations done at another point in time, over a different time period, or by some other person.This report describes the outcome of the first visit to Tanzania, within the project "Mini-grids supplied by renewable energy - improving technical and social feasibility". The trip included visits to three different organizations; Ihushi Development Center (IDC) near Mwanza, TIDESO near Bukoba, and Mavuno Project in Karagwe. At IDC, a brief evaluation of the current power system was done and measuring equipment for long term measurements were installed. At all three locations investigations regarding the current and future electricity demand were conducted and connections to people relevant to the study were established. The report is including as well some technical specifications as some observations regarding organization and management of the technical systems. The trip was including only short visits and therefore only brief introductions to the different organizations, based on observations done by the author. The report is hence describing the author’s understanding of the technical system and social structures after only short visits to each of the organizations, and may differ from observations done at another point in time, over a different time period, or by some other person.

Mental states monitoring through passive Brain-Computer Interface systems

The monitoring of cognitive functions aims at gaining information about the current cognitive state of the user by decoding brain signals. In recent years, this approach allowed to acquire valuable information about the cognitive aspects regarding the interaction of humans with external world. From this consideration, researchers started to consider passive application of brain–computer interface (BCI) in order to provide a novel input modality for technical systems solely based on brain activity. The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate how the passive Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) applications can be used to assess the mental states of the users, in order to improve the human machine interaction. Two main studies has been proposed. The first one allows to investigate whatever the Event Related Potentials (ERPs) morphological variations can be used to predict the users’ mental states (e.g. attentional resources, mental workload) during different reactive BCI tasks (e.g. P300-based BCIs), and if these information can predict the subjects’ performance in performing the tasks. In the second study, a passive BCI system able to online estimate the mental workload of the user by relying on the combination of the EEG and the ECG biosignals has been proposed. The latter study has been performed by simulating an operative scenario, in which the occurrence of errors or lack of performance could have significant consequences. The results showed that the proposed system is able to estimate online the mental workload of the subjects discriminating three different difficulty level of the tasks ensuring a high reliability.

Engineering Computational Emotion - A Reference Model for Emotion in Artificial Systems

Emotion is generally argued to be an influence on the behavior of life systems, largely concerning flexibility and adaptivity. The way in which life systems acts in response to a particular situations of the environment, has revealed the decisive and crucial importance of this feature in the success of behaviors. And this source of inspiration has influenced the way of thinking artificial systems. During the last decades, artificial systems have undergone such an evolution that each day more are integrated in our daily life. They have become greater in complexity, and the subsequent effects are related to an increased demand of systems that ensure resilience, robustness, availability, security or safety among others. All of them questions that raise quite a fundamental challenges in control design. This thesis has been developed under the framework of the Autonomous System project, a.k.a the ASys-Project. Short-term objectives of immediate application are focused on to design improved systems, and the approaching of intelligence in control strategies. Besides this, long-term objectives underlying ASys-Project concentrate on high order capabilities such as cognition, awareness and autonomy. This thesis is placed within the general fields of Engineery and Emotion science, and provides a theoretical foundation for engineering and designing computational emotion for artificial systems. The starting question that has grounded this thesis aims the problem of emotion--based autonomy. And how to feedback systems with valuable meaning has conformed the general objective. Both the starting question and the general objective, have underlaid the study of emotion, the influence on systems behavior, the key foundations that justify this feature in life systems, how emotion is integrated within the normal operation, and how this entire problem of emotion can be explained in artificial systems. By assuming essential differences concerning structure, purpose and operation between life and artificial systems, the essential motivation has been the exploration of what emotion solves in nature to afterwards analyze analogies for man--made systems. This work provides a reference model in which a collection of entities, relationships, models, functions and informational artifacts, are all interacting to provide the system with non-explicit knowledge under the form of emotion-like relevances. This solution aims to provide a reference model under which to design solutions for emotional operation, but related to the real needs of artificial systems. The proposal consists of a multi-purpose architecture that implement two broad modules in order to attend: (a) the range of processes related to the environment affectation, and (b) the range or processes related to the emotion perception-like and the higher levels of reasoning. This has required an intense and critical analysis beyond the state of the art around the most relevant theories of emotion and technical systems, in order to obtain the required support for those foundations that sustain each model. The problem has been interpreted and is described on the basis of AGSys, an agent assumed with the minimum rationality as to provide the capability to perform emotional assessment. AGSys is a conceptualization of a Model-based Cognitive agent that embodies an inner agent ESys, the responsible of performing the emotional operation inside of AGSys. The solution consists of multiple computational modules working federated, and aimed at conforming a mutual feedback loop between AGSys and ESys. Throughout this solution, the environment and the effects that might influence over the system are described as different problems. While AGSys operates as a common system within the external environment, ESys is designed to operate within a conceptualized inner environment. And this inner environment is built on the basis of those relevances that might occur inside of AGSys in the interaction with the external environment. This allows for a high-quality separate reasoning concerning mission goals defined in AGSys, and emotional goals defined in ESys. This way, it is provided a possible path for high-level reasoning under the influence of goals congruence. High-level reasoning model uses knowledge about emotional goals stability, letting this way new directions in which mission goals might be assessed under the situational state of this stability. This high-level reasoning is grounded by the work of MEP, a model of emotion perception that is thought as an analogy of a well-known theory in emotion science. The work of this model is described under the operation of a recursive-like process labeled as R-Loop, together with a system of emotional goals that are assumed as individual agents. This way, AGSys integrates knowledge that concerns the relation between a perceived object, and the effect which this perception induces on the situational state of the emotional goals. This knowledge enables a high-order system of information that provides the sustain for a high-level reasoning. The extent to which this reasoning might be approached is just delineated and assumed as future work. This thesis has been studied beyond a long range of fields of knowledge. This knowledge can be structured into two main objectives: (a) the fields of psychology, cognitive science, neurology and biological sciences in order to obtain understanding concerning the problem of the emotional phenomena, and (b) a large amount of computer science branches such as Autonomic Computing (AC), Self-adaptive software, Self-X systems, Model Integrated Computing (MIC) or the paradigm of models@runtime among others, in order to obtain knowledge about tools for designing each part of the solution. The final approach has been mainly performed on the basis of the entire acquired knowledge, and described under the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Model-Based Systems (MBS), and additional mathematical formalizations to provide punctual understanding in those cases that it has been required. This approach describes a reference model to feedback systems with valuable meaning, allowing for reasoning with regard to (a) the relationship between the environment and the relevance of the effects on the system, and (b) dynamical evaluations concerning the inner situational state of the system as a result of those effects. And this reasoning provides a framework of distinguishable states of AGSys derived from its own circumstances, that can be assumed as artificial emotion.

Socio-technical transitions and policy change - Advocacy coalitions in Swiss energy policy

Policies and politics are an integral part of socio-technical transitions but have not received much attention in the transitions literature so far. Drawing on the advocacy coalition framework, our paper addresses this gap with a study on actors and coalitions in Swiss energy policy. Our results show that advocacy coalitions in Switzerland have largely remained stable despite the Fukushima shock. However, heterogeneity of beliefs has increased and in 2013, even a majority of actors expressed their support for the energy transition – an indication that major policy change might be ahead. It seems that in socio-technical transitions, changes in the policy issue and in the actor base also work toward policy change, next to changes in core beliefs. We make suggestions how the advocacy coalition framework can inform analysis and theory building in transition studies. We also present first ideas about the interplay of socio-technical systems and policy systems.

Educational Systems for Maximizing Learning Online and in the Classroom

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

Maintaining human agency in the design on context-aware systems: Design games in a dental surgery

This paper describes a series of design games, specifically aimed at exploring shifts in human agency in order to inform the design of context-aware applications. The games focused on understanding information handling issues in dental practice with participants from a university dental school playing an active role in the activities. Participatory design activities help participants to reveal potential implicit technical resources that can be presented explicitly in technologies in order to assist humans in managing their interactions with and amidst technical systems gracefully.

The Experience Software-based Design of Virtual Medical Intrascopy Systems for Simulation Study

The questions of software-based design of “virtual” technical systems are considered as facility of imitation experiment for educational purposes. These virtual systems are usable for analysis of medical intrascopy systems functioning. The virtual educational technical systems allow guarantee the goodness technical training of bioengineers.

Acompanhamento da execução de instalações técnicas e acabamentos nos edifícios de habitação do "Condomínio Oriente"

Neste relatório descreve-se o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito do estágio curricular relativamente ao acompanhamento da execução de instalações técnicas e acabamentos na construção de um edifício, com a finalidade de conclusão do curso de Mestrado em Engenharia Civil. O estágio, com duração de quatro meses, desenrolou-se entre Fevereiro e Junho de 2011 na empresa Obriverca. Consistiu no acompanhamento da obra do “Condomínio Oriente” inserida no “Multiusos do Oriente”, em construção na freguesia de Moscavide, concelho de Loures, sendo o orientador do estágio na empresa, o Eng.º Luís Laborinho, Director da Obra em causa. Tendo como objectivos primordiais do estágio curricular a consolidação das matérias e temas abordados na vertente académica, assim como o contacto com a realidade do mundo laboral, estes foram obtidos realizando um acompanhamento regular das frentes de trabalho referentes à execução das instalações técnicas e acabamentos, focando a atenção em duas fases distintas: inicialmente na execução da rede de distribuição de águas; rede de drenagem predial; aquecimento, ventilação e ar condicionado; instalações eléctricas e rede de combate a incêndios; na execução dos acabamentos em paredes exteriores e interiores, pavimentos e tectos.

Acompanhamento de uma empreitada de remodelação e reconversão de um edifício em Lisboa

Este Trabalho Final de Mestrado consiste num estágio que se encontra reportado neste relatório e que traduz o acompanhamento por parte do discente de uma empreitada de remodelação e reconversão de um edifício em Lisboa. O estágio com duração de seis meses desenvolveu-se entre Fevereiro e Julho de 2012 na empresa Arlindo Correia e Filhos, SA. Consistiu no acompanhamento da obra das futuras instalações da ASAE (Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica) na freguesia de São Mamede, concelho de Lisboa, sendo o orientador do estágio por parte da empresa, o Eng.º Vítor Soares, Director de Produção em causa. Os objectivos do estágio curricular visam a consolidação das matérias e temas abordados na vertente académica, assim como o contacto com a realidade do mundo laboral. A integração na empresa Arlindo Correia e Filhos SA e o acompanhamento regular das frentes de trabalho e de questões relacionadas com a obra, contribuíram de forma decisiva para cumprir com sucesso esta missão.

Efficient computation of min and max sensor values in multihop networks

Consider a wireless sensor network (WSN) where a broadcast from a sensor node does not reach all sensor nodes in the network; such networks are often called multihop networks. Sensor nodes take individual sensor readings, however, in many cases, it is relevant to compute aggregated quantities of these readings. In fact, the minimum and maximum of all sensor readings at an instant are often interesting because they indicate abnormal behavior, for example if the maximum temperature is very high then it may be that a fire has broken out. In this context, we propose an algorithm for computing the min or max of sensor readings in a multihop network. This algorithm has the particularly interesting property of having a time complexity that does not depend on the number of sensor nodes; only the network diameter and the range of the value domain of sensor readings matter.

Sobre o (des)uso de exercícios na técnica pianística

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Música - Interpretação Artística. Especialidade: Piano