Analysing the systematics of search engine autocompletion functions by means of data mining methods

In the internet era, the information that can be found about politicians online can influence events such as the results of elections. Research has shown that biased search rankings can shift the voting preferences of undecided voters. This shows the importance of studying online search behaviour, especially in the pre-elections phase, when search results can have a particular influence on the future political scene of a country. This master thesis aimed to study the behaviour of online search engines in a period before the German federal election in 2017. The aim was to ascertain if there is any pattern to be found in the auto-suggestions for searches related to politicians. In order to gather data for this experiment, a crawler browsed search engine web pages, input a name and a surname of a politician, and saved that together with all autosuggestions from the search engine. The autosuggestions were prepared for the analysis and divided into semantic groups with the help of clustering algorithms. Different statistical methods, such as correlation analysis, regression analysis, and clustering were used to identify patterns in the data. The research showed that there are no particularly strong patterns in the autosuggestions for searches related to politician’s names. Only moderate dependence was found between gender and personal topics, and showed that a higher amount of personal information autosuggestions correspond more to female politicians

Reframing dementia: Artistic investigation into the process of co-creating traditional and digital sculpture

Sculpture generally brings out in its form not just the self-expression of the artist but also the transformative qualities through which it influences our senses and communicates meanings to others. The physical experience of sculpture is as significant as its process of making, irrespective of the fact that the artwork may be recognised as an art object or just as an experience. As an artist-researcher, I explored the imaginative thinking and creative potential of people with dementia by engaging them in viewing, handling and making sculptures using both traditional and digital methods. In the shared space of a group setting, sculpture became their source of communication, reflection and stimulation despite the cognitive, visual and perceptual difficulties commonly experienced in this condition. My involvement in co-creating sculptures with the participants gave them direction to release self-initiated ideas while simultaneously motivating me to visualise my creations with a new emotional and empathic awareness. The interplay between academic research and the artistic co-creative activity involved in sculpture making processes formed the basis of my artistic and conceptual enquiry engaging with people with mild dementia. My sculptures no longer remained a result of a conscious goal to achieve by following a particular process of sculpture-making; they are now entirely intuitive and reflective of what I felt in the company of my participants with dementia. Shared moments and conversational exchanges became a metaphor for my creations using a combination of traditional and digital methods. This research presents the spatial and perceptual enquiry of sculptures displayed in two public exhibitions which had different approaches. Depending on the receptivity of the viewers the exhibitions helped to gain a better understanding of perception of dementia and their reactions to the sculptures created by people with dementia and by me. Viewers' personal involvement with people with dementia and their previous knowledge of dementia showed significant influence on their preference for the forms, materials and process used regardless of the use of traditional or digital methods. Their experiences oscillated between empathic attitude towards the participants' growing incapability and appreciation of their creative strength, which they found to be unique, meaningful and expressive

A novel methodology for the assessment or wave energy opions at early stages

276 p.El aumento de la proporción de generación de electricidad a partir de fuentes renovables es clave para garantizar un sistema energético totalmente descarbonizado y luchar contra el cambio climático. La energía undimotriz es un recurso abundante pero, al mismo tiempo, es la menos desarrollada de todas las tecnologías renovables. El marco de evaluación común desarrollado en la tesis se basa en principios sólidos de ingeniería de sistemas y abarca el contexto externo, los requisitos del sistema y los criterios de evaluación. Se puede aplicar a diferentes niveles de madurez tecnológica y capta los aspectos cualitativos relacionados con las expectativas de las partes interesadas. El enfoque novedoso guía las decisiones de diseño a lo largo del proceso de desarrollo para la gestión adecuada del riesgo y la incertidumbre, y facilita la selección y evaluación comparativa de la tecnología undimotriz a diferentes niveles de madurez de manera controlada. Los métodos propuestos en esta investigación brindan información valiosa para enfocar los esfuerzos de innovación en aquellas áreas que tienen la mayor influencia en el desempeño de la tecnología. La incorporación de estrategias de innovación eficaces en el desarrollo de la energía undimotriz ayuda a gestionar la complejidad del sistema y canalizar la innovación hacia mejoras útiles.Tecnali