A Mechanism for Fair Distribution of Resources without Payments

We design a mechanism for Fair and Efficient Distribution of Resources (FEDoR) in the presence of strategic agents. We consider a multiple-instances, Bayesian setting, where in each round the preference of an agent over the set of resources is a private information. We assume that in each of r rounds n agents are competing for k non-identical indivisible goods, (n > k). In each round the strategic agents declare how much they value receiving any of the goods in the specific round. The agent declaring the highest valuation receives the good with the highest value, the agent with the second highest valuation receives the second highest valued good, etc. Hence we assume a decision function that assigns goods to agents based on their valuations. The novelty of the mechanism is that no payment scheme is required to achieve truthfulness in a setting with rational/strategic agents. The FEDoR mechanism takes advantage of the repeated nature of the framework, and through a statistical test is able to punish the misreporting agents and be fair, truthful, and socially efficient. FEDoR is fair in the sense that, in expectation over the course of the rounds, all agents will receive the same good the same amount of times. FEDoR is an eligible candidate for applications that require fair distribution of resources over time. For example, equal share of bandwidth for nodes through the same point of access. But further on, FEDoR can be applied in less trivial settings like sponsored search, where payment is necessary and can be given in the form of a flat participation fee. To this extent we perform a comparison with traditional mechanisms applied to sponsored search, presenting the advantage of FEDoR

Quid Pro Quo: A Mechanism for Fair Collaboration in Networked Systems

Collaboration may be understood as the execution of coordinated tasks (in the most general sense) by groups of users, who cooperate for achieving a common goal. Collaboration is a fundamental assumption and requirement for the correct operation of many communication systems. The main challenge when creating collaborative systems in a decentralized manner is dealing with the fact that users may behave in selfish ways, trying to obtain the benefits of the tasks but without participating in their execution. In this context, Game Theory has been instrumental to model collaborative systems and the task allocation problem, and to design mechanisms for optimal allocation of tasks. In this paper, we revise the classical assumptions and propose a new approach to this problem. First, we establish a system model based on heterogenous nodes (users, players), and propose a basic distributed mechanism so that, when a new task appears, it is assigned to the most suitable node. The classical technique for compensating a node that executes a task is the use of payments (which in most networks are hard or impossible to implement). Instead, we propose a distributed mechanism for the optimal allocation of tasks without payments. We prove this mechanism to be robust event in the presence of independent selfish or rationally limited players. Additionally, our model is based on very weak assumptions, which makes the proposed mechanisms susceptible to be implemented in networked systems (e.g., the Internet).Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 3 algorithm

La pistola y el corazón. Conversaciones con Agustín Díaz Yanes

Sociedad de Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales (DAMA). Proyecto I+D+i “El cine y la televisión en la España de la post-Transición (1979-1992)”. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España, Gobierno de España, CSO2012-31895

Influence of irrigation conditions in the germination of plasma treated Nasturtium seeds

Plasma treatments had emerged as a useful technique to improve seed germination. In this work we investigate the influence of different irrigation conditions and plasma treatments on the germination of nasturtium seeds. During plasma treatment, seeds experience a progressive weight loss as a function of treatment time that has been associated to water release, a process that is more pronounced after longer plasma treatment times. Seeds treated for short times (<30 s) are able to germinate more efficiently than untreated specimen under hydric stress (drought conditions), while plasma treatments for longer times (up to 300 s) impaired germination independently on irrigation conditions. Characterization analysis of plasma treated seeds by FTIR-ATR, SEM/EDX and XPS showed that plasma treatment affected the chemical state of pericarp while, simultaneously, induced a considerable increase in the seeds water uptake capacity. The decrease in germination efficiency found after plasma treatment for long times, or for short times under optimum irrigation conditions, has been attributed to that the excess of water accumulated in the pericarp hampers the diffusion up to the embryo of other agents like oxygen which are deemed essential for germination.España FEDER y MINECO MINECO (projects MAT2013-40852-R, MAT2016-79866-R, MINECOCSIC 201560E055)España, RECUPERA 2020 y Junta de Andalucía project P12-2265 M

Juventud proactiva: cómo crear unas actitudes fuertes y positivas hacia el emprendimiento

Desde que comenzó la crisis económica en 2007, la tasa de desempleo ha sido una de las preocupaciones principales de la población española. De esta situación nacen alternativas como el emprendimiento y la esperanza de que dichas alternativas sirvan para mejorar la tasa de desempleo. Esta preocupación ha llevado a que el gobierno intente fomentar las iniciativas emprendedoras con programas para la juventud y la inclusión de asignaturas sobre emprendimiento en el currículum escolar. Sin embargo, el impacto que tienen estos mensajes proemprendimiento en los y las jóvenes depende en buena medida de la efectividad de los mismos en cambiar las actitudes para que perduren en el tiempo. En el presente trabajo se propone un marco teórico que sirve para entender cómo se forman, se mantienen o cambian las actitudes de los y las jóvenes hacia el emprendimiento. Para cumplir con este objetivo se revisan los mecanismos psicológicos que producen o bien un cambio superficial en las actitudes o un cambio duradero, resistente, y predictor de la conducta futura (actitudes fuertes). Asimismo, se ofrece una guía con los elementos que debe contener un mensaje proemprendimiento para maximizar la probabilidad de crear unas actitudes fuertes y positivas en la juventu

Determinación del potencial de Biometanización de la Codigestión Anaerobia Termofílica de vertido y residuos de sector agroalimentario

La generación de residuos se considera una de las grandes problemáticas actuales, no solo desde el punto de vista ambiental, sino también social y económico. La tendencia actual hacia una economía circular promueve que los residuos pasen de verse como algo a eliminar, a considerarse recursos aprovechables por la misma industria o por otras, para su reciclaje, reutilización o aprovechamiento (Morales. C, 2019). La preocupación por el cuidado del medio ambiente y el aumento en los costos de la energía obliga a las industrias a realizar prácticas de prevención de residuos, tratamiento de aguas residuales y reutilización de los residuos tratados (González, 2020).El Trabajo de Fin de Grado se desarrolla con el objetivo de determinar la biodegradabilidad y el potencial de producción de metano en el proceso de codigestión anaerobia (Co-A) de los residuos bagazo y agua residual de la de la industria Cerveza La Piñonera en condiciones termofílicas. Para realizar este estudio, se han llevado a cabo ensayo de potencial bioquímico de metano (BMP) de la monodigestión de agua residual con inóculo (M1T), y la codigestión de agua residual, bagazo e inóculo (M2T). Mediante la caracterización fisicoquímica de las mezclas al inicio y al final del ensayo, se obtiene una valorización de los resultados, que muestra una eficiente monodigestión del agua residual donde se alcanza un porcentaje de eliminación de DQO de un 60% y un rendimiento medio de 171,82mlCH4/gSVinicial. Sin embargo, la codigestión de agua residual con bagazo muestra una eficiencia de eliminación de DQO inferior al 20%, la cual se ha visto influenciada considerablemente por el residuo bagazo

Meter data management for smart monitoring power networks

The electrical power distribution and commercialization scenario is evolving worldwide, and electricity companies, faced with the challenge of new information requirements, are demanding IT solutions to deal with the smart monitoring of power networks. Two main challenges arise from data management and smart monitoring of power networks: real-time data acquisition and big data processing over short time periods. We present a solution in the form of a system architecture that conveys real time issues and has the capacity for big data management