A Framework for In-Network Management in Heterogeneous Future Communication Networks

Future communication networks will be composed of a diversity of highly heterogeneous network variants, ranging from energy constrained wireless sensor networks to large-scale wide area networks. The fact that the size and complexity of such networks will experience tremendous growth will eventually render existing traditional network management paradigms unfeasible. We propose the radically new paradigm of in-network management, which targets the embedding of self-management capabilities deep inside the network nodes. In this paper, we focus on our framework for in-network management, which allows management logic to be embedded and executed within network nodes. Based on a specific use-case of bio-inspired network management, we demonstrate how our framework can be exploited in a network failure scenario using quorum sensing and chemotaxis

A System of Integral Quality Indicators as a Tool for Beach Management

Esta tesis parte de la concepción de la playa como un sistema integral en el que se desarrollan procesos interrelacionados. El análisis de estos procesos y del marco físico y administrativo donde se producen, es el hilo conductor del proyecto. Para realizar el estudio, se han analizado los procesos de las playas de la Selva Marítima, en el Sur de la Costa Brava (al Nordeste del Mediterráneo). La zona constituye un buen ejemplo de un área litoral altamente afectada por el turismo. El análisis del marco legal y administrativo ha revelado algunas carencias importantes. No existe una política específica de playas que contemple la gestión de los aspectos básicos de gestión. La consecuencia de ello es que la información que se dispone sobre las playas españolas es bastante parcial. Actualmente, en el marco de la Gestión Integrada de Zonas Costeras (GIZC), se están desarrollando estrategias (nacional/regional) que incluyen indicadores de procesos que hasta la fecha actual no han sido objeto de programas de monitoreo y que pueden corregir esta tendencia.La revisión de las herramientas de gestión de playas utilizadas o potencialmente utilizadas en la gestión de la zona de estudio (Bandera Azul, Índice del CEDEX, Índice de CANTABRIA, Índices del ACA) ha revelado algunas deficiencias que son importantes para la gestión de estas playas: el uso, la seguridad y el socorrismo, el paisaje, la comunidad natural o algunos servicios, son los más importantes. Además, dichas herramientas no integran el análisis de las funciones que debe asumir una playa de acuerdo con sus características. Por otro lado, desde hace unos años se están utilizando los Sistemas de Gestión Medioambiental (SGMA) para la gestión de playas. Los SGMA son una buena herramienta de gestión de playas porque permiten una gestión proactiva y ordenada, pero necesitan ser complementados con herramientas de monitoreo adecuadas. En este trabajo también se han analizado el enfoque y los problemas que tienen los gestores locales. El conocimiento de la información disponible y las características de la zona de estudio ha llevado a analizar los procesos más importantes en la gestión de playas: la frecuentación y la producción de residuos. La información obtenida en el desarrollo de este proyecto ha permitido elaborar un índice de calidad de playas para la zona de estudio. Este Índice incorpora los aspectos importantes, ausentes en otras herramientas de gestión. En la asignación de importancias, para la agregación de índices parciales se ha tenido en cuenta la opinión de los usuarios y expertos. El Índice ha sido diseñado para ser incluido en el marco de los SGMA e incluye el análisis de las Funciones. Puede ser usado en distintas fases del SGMA. Las más importantes son el Diagnóstico Medioambiental Inicial, la definición de los Aspectos Medioambientales Significativos, el Control Operacional y la evaluación de la Mejora Continua. Los resultados del Indicador, de los sub-indices y los índices parciales obtenidos para la zona de estudio, indican distintas situaciones. Los valores agregados son altos: para el BQI (0,63-0,85) y para los indicadores de las funciones, RF (0,53-0,73), NF (0,80-0,92) y PF (0,50-1). En el caso de los valores de los indicadores parciales, mientras algunos procesos como la calidad del agua, la calidad ambiental, las instalaciones y los servicios, las actividades, la confortabilidad, la ausencia de contaminación en el agua y en la arena, y la calidad física, se encuentran en buen estado, otros como el uso de la playa, la calidad del entorno, la seguridad y la componente natural, tienen valores bastante bajos. La futura gestión de las playas debe dirigirse al control del uso, de la transformación del entorno de la playa y a la preservación de la comunidad natural de las playas. Además, la dotación de recursos que garanticen la seguridad y asistencia de los usuarios, la protección de las infraestructuras y la limpieza de las playas debe ser también prioritaria.This thesis stemmed from the idea that the beach is an integrated system where different and interconnected processes occur. The analyses of these processes and of the physical and administrative framework in which they occur, was the thread of the project. In the development of the study, the processes for the beaches of La Selva Marítima, located in the south of the Costa Brava (northwestern Mediterranean) were analysed. This area is a good example of a coastal area highly affected by tourism dynamics. The analysis of the legal and administrative framework uncovered some important shortcomings. No specific beach policy exists that accounts for the management of all basic aspects. As a consequence, the information available is partial. Strategies (national/regional) are currently being developed in the framework of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) strategy, including indicators of processes that, until now, have been excluded from monitoring programs. This may change the current situation of a lack of information. A review of beach assessment measurements (Blue Flag and CEDEX, ACA and CANTABRIA Index) used or potentially used for management of the studied area, revealed important deficiencies in the management of beaches, of which the most important were use, safety and rescue services, landscape, the natural community and certain services. Furthermore, these tools do not take analyses of beach functions into account. In recent years, Environmental Management Systems for Beaches (EMSBs) have begun to be used for beach management. EMSBs allow for the application of proactive and clear management practices, although they need to be complemented with adequate monitoring tools. This research also analysed the work, focus and problems of local managers. Varied management goals are not usual (many processes remain unmanaged) and management is sometimes exclusively service-oriented. Tools that evaluate beach quality do not cover problematic aspects for local managers, such as sediment management, coordination between responsible authorities, or emergency situations. The information available and the characteristics of the studied area demonstrated the need to analyse two particularly important beach management processes: beach use and waste/litter production. Information obtained in the development of this project led to the creation of a Beach Quality Index (BQI) for the studied beaches. This index took into account important issues not represented in other management tools. In the process of allocating weights for the purpose of aggregating partial indexes, user and expert opinions were taken into account. The BQI, which also took account of function analysis, was designed to be used with EMSBs, and can be included at different EMSB stages. The most important index factors are initial environmental diagnosis, the definition of environmentally significant aspects, operational control, and the assessment of steady improvement. Results obtained for beaches for the BQI, its subindices and partial indices, indicated arrange of situations. Aggregated values were high for the BQI (0.63-0.85), and also for the subindices (RF (0.53-0.73), NF (0.80-0.92) and PF (0.50-1)). High scores were typically obtained for partial indices such as water quality, environmental quality, services and facilities, activities, comfort, absence of water and sand pollution, and physical quality. Scores for beach use, surrounding quality, safety, and naturality were low. Future management of studied beaches should focus on the weakest aspects, such as controls over use, transformation of beach environs, and preservation of natural beach communities. Other priorities should be the allocation of resources that guarantee user safety, protection of human facilities, and beach cleaning.Postprint (published version

Developing a distributed electronic health-record store for India

The DIGHT project is addressing the problem of building a scalable and highly available information store for the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the over one billion citizens of India

A formal architecture-centric and model driven approach for the engineering of science gateways

From n-Tier client/server applications, to more complex academic Grids, or even the most recent and promising industrial Clouds, the last decade has witnessed significant developments in distributed computing. In spite of this conceptual heterogeneity, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) seems to have emerged as the common and underlying abstraction paradigm, even though different standards and technologies are applied across application domains. Suitable access to data and algorithms resident in SOAs via so-called ‘Science Gateways’ has thus become a pressing need in order to realize the benefits of distributed computing infrastructures.In an attempt to inform service-oriented systems design and developments in Grid-based biomedical research infrastructures, the applicant has consolidated work from three complementary experiences in European projects, which have developed and deployed large-scale production quality infrastructures and more recently Science Gateways to support research in breast cancer, pediatric diseases and neurodegenerative pathologies respectively. In analyzing the requirements from these biomedical applications the applicant was able to elaborate on commonly faced issues in Grid development and deployment, while proposing an adapted and extensible engineering framework. Grids implement a number of protocols, applications, standards and attempt to virtualize and harmonize accesses to them. Most Grid implementations therefore are instantiated as superposed software layers, often resulting in a low quality of services and quality of applications, thus making design and development increasingly complex, and rendering classical software engineering approaches unsuitable for Grid developments.The applicant proposes the application of a formal Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) approach to service-oriented developments, making it possible to define Grid-based architectures and Science Gateways that satisfy quality of service requirements, execution platform and distribution criteria at design time. An novel investigation is thus presented on the applicability of the resulting grid MDE (gMDE) to specific examples and conclusions are drawn on the benefits of this approach and its possible application to other areas, in particular that of Distributed Computing Infrastructures (DCI) interoperability, Science Gateways and Cloud architectures developments

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation provides an overview of the current Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, ranging from research, innovation and development priorities to enabling technologies in a global context. It is intended as a standalone book in a series that covers the Internet of Things activities of the IERC-Internet of Things European Research Cluster, including both research and technological innovation, validation and deployment. The book builds on the ideas put forward by the European Research Cluster, the IoT European Platform Initiative (IoT-EPI) and the IoT European Large-Scale Pilots Programme, presenting global views and state-of-the-art results regarding the challenges facing IoT research, innovation, development and deployment in the next years. Hyperconnected environments integrating industrial/business/consumer IoT technologies and applications require new IoT open systems architectures integrated with network architecture (a knowledge-centric network for IoT), IoT system design and open, horizontal and interoperable platforms managing things that are digital, automated and connected and that function in real-time with remote access and control based on Internet-enabled tools. The IoT is bridging the physical world with the virtual world by combining augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to support the physical-digital integrations in the Internet of mobile things based on sensors/actuators, communication, analytics technologies, cyber-physical systems, software, cognitive systems and IoT platforms with multiple functionalities. These IoT systems have the potential to understand, learn, predict, adapt and operate autonomously. They can change future behaviour, while the combination of extensive parallel processing power, advanced algorithms and data sets feed the cognitive algorithms that allow the IoT systems to develop new services and propose new solutions. IoT technologies are moving into the industrial space and enhancing traditional industrial platforms with solutions that break free of device-, operating system- and protocol-dependency. Secure edge computing solutions replace local networks, web services replace software, and devices with networked programmable logic controllers (NPLCs) based on Internet protocols replace devices that use proprietary protocols. Information captured by edge devices on the factory floor is secure and accessible from any location in real time, opening the communication gateway both vertically (connecting machines across the factory and enabling the instant availability of data to stakeholders within operational silos) and horizontally (with one framework for the entire supply chain, across departments, business units, global factory locations and other markets). End-to-end security and privacy solutions in IoT space require agile, context-aware and scalable components with mechanisms that are both fluid and adaptive. The convergence of IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) makes security and privacy by default a new important element where security is addressed at the architecture level, across applications and domains, using multi-layered distributed security measures. Blockchain is transforming industry operating models by adding trust to untrusted environments, providing distributed security mechanisms and transparent access to the information in the chain. Digital technology platforms are evolving, with IoT platforms integrating complex information systems, customer experience, analytics and intelligence to enable new capabilities and business models for digital business

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation provides an overview of the current Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, ranging from research, innovation and development priorities to enabling technologies in a global context. It is intended as a standalone book in a series that covers the Internet of Things activities of the IERC-Internet of Things European Research Cluster, including both research and technological innovation, validation and deployment. The book builds on the ideas put forward by the European Research Cluster, the IoT European Platform Initiative (IoT-EPI) and the IoT European Large-Scale Pilots Programme, presenting global views and state-of-the-art results regarding the challenges facing IoT research, innovation, development and deployment in the next years. Hyperconnected environments integrating industrial/business/consumer IoT technologies and applications require new IoT open systems architectures integrated with network architecture (a knowledge-centric network for IoT), IoT system design and open, horizontal and interoperable platforms managing things that are digital, automated and connected and that function in real-time with remote access and control based on Internet-enabled tools. The IoT is bridging the physical world with the virtual world by combining augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to support the physical-digital integrations in the Internet of mobile things based on sensors/actuators, communication, analytics technologies, cyber-physical systems, software, cognitive systems and IoT platforms with multiple functionalities. These IoT systems have the potential to understand, learn, predict, adapt and operate autonomously. They can change future behaviour, while the combination of extensive parallel processing power, advanced algorithms and data sets feed the cognitive algorithms that allow the IoT systems to develop new services and propose new solutions. IoT technologies are moving into the industrial space and enhancing traditional industrial platforms with solutions that break free of device-, operating system- and protocol-dependency. Secure edge computing solutions replace local networks, web services replace software, and devices with networked programmable logic controllers (NPLCs) based on Internet protocols replace devices that use proprietary protocols. Information captured by edge devices on the factory floor is secure and accessible from any location in real time, opening the communication gateway both vertically (connecting machines across the factory and enabling the instant availability of data to stakeholders within operational silos) and horizontally (with one framework for the entire supply chain, across departments, business units, global factory locations and other markets). End-to-end security and privacy solutions in IoT space require agile, context-aware and scalable components with mechanisms that are both fluid and adaptive. The convergence of IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) makes security and privacy by default a new important element where security is addressed at the architecture level, across applications and domains, using multi-layered distributed security measures. Blockchain is transforming industry operating models by adding trust to untrusted environments, providing distributed security mechanisms and transparent access to the information in the chain. Digital technology platforms are evolving, with IoT platforms integrating complex information systems, customer experience, analytics and intelligence to enable new capabilities and business models for digital business

Theacher Training In ICT-Based Learning Settings: Desing And Implementation Of An On-Line Instructional Model For English Language Teachers.

Inmersos de lleno en la Sociedad del conocimiento, la incorporación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje suponen un gran reto a alcanzar por parte tanto de instituciones educativas, como de un profesorado todavía poco formado y menos consciente de los cambios metodológicos a los que se enfrenta.En el marco de la formación del profesorado,la formación a lo largo de la vida se establece como prioridad en los programas educativos y de formación de la agenda europea (2007-2013) y a nuestro entender, ésta puede ser claramente ejemplificada por la creación de comunidades virtuales de aprendizaje en las que individuos con objetivos similares se unen para alcanzar retos en común. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas y de modalidades de formación basadas en entornos virtuales ayudan a la comunidad a generar e intercambiar conocimiento en un entorno en el que se participa de forma colaborativa, se comparten experiencias y se solucionan problemas, produciendo procesos de formación y aprendizaje continuos y en constante evolución.Tomando estas y otras reflexiones como punto de partida se originó la tesis doctoral que presentamos. Así pues, nos propusimos, en primer lugar, realizar un análisis de la situación actual de dicho profesorado en el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación. El primer gran bloque de esta tesis -o marco teórico y referencial- lo constituyen apartados tales como los grandes cambios metodológicos surgidos a raíz de la incorporación de las TIC y su impacto en la enseñanza y aprendizaje de la lengua inglesa. Seguidamente se realiza un exhaustivo y detallado análisis de los órganos que ofrecen formación al profesorado y a la oferta formativa en TIC dirigida específicamente al colectivo mencionado. Posteriormente se lleva a cabo una compilación de herramientas, recursos y actividades electrónicas dirigidas específicamente al profesorado de inglés teniendo muy en cuenta el ámbito pedagógico y su implantación en el aula, proponiendo pautas didácticas de fácil integración.El segundo gran bloque de la tesis lo constituye una investigación llevada a cabo durante tres años para obtener datos fehacientes respecto del conocimiento en TIC que posee dicho profesorado, la detección de sus demandas formativas reales, la situación actual de este colectivo en relación al acceso e infraestructuras tecnológicas y posibles barreras tanto metodológicas como actitudinales. Así pues se desarrolló una investigación tomando como muestra profesores tanto de educación primaria como de secundaria de todo Catalunya. Dicha investigación fue llevada a a cabo entre los participantes de ocho cursos de formación TIC para profesorado de inglés y para ello se utilizó la modalidad formativa semi-presencial. Para dar soporte a la formación a distancia se utilizaron dos plataformas diferentes: BSCW y Moodle que fomentaron la comunicación y la colaboración entre los participantes hasta límites insospechados.Los resultados obtenidos permitieron observar una realidad muy alejada de los parámetros que deberían ser considerados normales por lo que respecta al grado de formación TIC que tienen el profesorado de inglés. Por otra parte, el feedback recibido tras la realización de los diferentes cursos de formación también nos permitió realizar una propuesta de Plan de Acción formativo con el principal objetivo de capacitar al profesorado de inglés en el uso de las TIC. Así pues, se ofrece una propuesta formativa con los diferentes módulos y contenidos que, a nuestro entender, debería conocer y gestionar dicho profesorado. Finalmente, una de las revelaciones de todo el proceso fue la gestación y consolidación de una comunidad virtual de aprendizaje formada por los profesores participantes en el proceso de formación.Deeply immersed in the Society of knowledge, the integration of ICT in teaching and learning processes suppose a great challenge to be achieved both by competent institutions and by a collective of teachers, which is still far from being well-trained and not conscious of the methodological trenes and changes to which they are confronted.Within the framework of teacher training, life-long training is established as a priority in the European agenda (2007-2013) and, according to our opinión this can be exempolified by the creation of virtual learning communities in which individuals with similar objectives unite in order to achieve common goals. The use of technological tools and training modalities help the community to generate and exchange knowledge in an environment in which oparticipation is done collaborately, experiences are shared and problems are solved, producing, thus, continuous processes of learning and training, which are in constant evolution.Taking these and other reflexions as departing point this thesis was originated. We carried in the first place a detailed analysis of the present situation of English as a foreign language teachers in the use of ICT. This first great section of this thesis orreferential and theoretical basis- is conformed by chapters which deal with the great methodological changes emerged out of the integartion of ICT and their impact in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Followingly, there is an exhaustive analysis of the different organizations which offer teacher training in ICT , especially regarding the collective mentioned. Secondly there is a compilation of tools, resources and e.activities especifically addressed to the English as a foreign language teachers, taking into account the pedagogical field as well as its integration into the classrooms.The second main section of this thesis is conformed by an investigation which was carried out during three years in order to obtain relevant data regarding the knowledge of ICT that teachers have, the detection of their training needs and the real situation of this collective regarding their access to technology and the barriers that prevent them form using ICT.Tus, we Developer an investigation which took as sample teachers belonging to both Primary and Secondary Education from the whole of the catalan territory. The research was carried out with participants of eight courses of teacher training in ICT and used the blended modality. In order to support the virtual teaching we used two different platforms: BSCW and Moodle, which encouraged communication among participants and enhanced collaboration as well.The obtained results allowed us to observe that there are many challenges to be overcome. Otherwise, the feedback obtained after the courses were delivered allowed us to account for a Training Action Plan whose main aim is that of providing training and capacitation to teachers of English as foreign language teachers