Software Design Guidelines for Usability

For years, the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community has crafted usability guidelines that clearly define what
characteristics a software system should have in order to be easy to use. However, in the Software Engineering (SE)
community keep falling short of successfully incorporating these recommendations into software projects. From a SE
perspective, the process of incorporating usability features into software is not always straightforward, as a large number
of these features have heavy implications in the underlying software architecture. For example, successfully including an
“undo” feature in an application requires the design and implementation of many complex interrelated data structures and
functionalities. Our work is focused upon providing developers with a set of software design patterns to assist them in the
process of designing more usable software. This would contribute to the proper inclusion of specific usability features
with high impact on the software design. Preliminary validation data show that usage of the guidelines also has positive
effects on development time and overall software design quality

2 + 1 Highways: Overview and Future Directions

Most of the rural transportation system is composed of two-lane highways, and many of them serve as the primary means for rural access to urban areas and freeways. In some highways, traffic volumes can be not high enough to justify a four-lane highway but higher than can be served by isolated passing lanes, or can present high number of head-on collisions. In those conditions, 2 + 1 highways are potentially applicable. This type of highway is used to provide high-performance highways as intermediate solution between the common two-lane highway and the freeway. Successful experiences reported in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, or Texas (US) may suggest that they are potentially applicable in other countries. The objective of this white paper is to provide an overview of the past practice in 2 + 1 highways and discuss the research directions and challenges in this field, specially focusing on, but not limited to, operational research in association with the activities of the Subcommittee on Two-Lane Highways (AHB40 2.2) of the Transportation Research Board. The significance of this paper is twofold: (1) it provides wider coverage of past 2 + 1 highways design and evaluation, and (2) it discusses future directions of this field.The authors wish to thank the Fundación Agustín de Betancourt from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena for funding the research

Environmental drivers on the life cycle strategies and distribution of cephalopods in the portuguese coast

The common squid Loligo vulgaris has a long spawning season within the upwelling system off NW Portugal. The meroplanktonic paralarvae develop under very different environmental conditions, which are the key to define the recruitment success of the new cohorts. Among these environmental variables, temperature is determinant in modulating the population dynamics and distribution. The common squid is studied as a model to understand the influence of environmental variables, on the life history strategies of cephalopods based on data from wild populations. The age-at-maturity, size-at-maturity, growth rates and growth curves, paralarvae growth and planktonic stage duration are analysed through countings and measurements of daily increments in statoliths of two groups of squid, the cold and the warm cohorts, hatched under distinct environmental conditions, namely the temperature during the first 3 months of life. These seasonal strategies are discussed in relation to global warming scenarios. The identification of essential habitats for each marine species has recently been recognized as an important component of the fisheries management. In particular, the distribution and abundance of planktonic paralarvae of several cephalopod species is analysed in relation to oceanographic mesoscale features, including currents, thermal fronts and coastal upwelling along-shore and cross-shelf transport, prevailing in the western Iberia or the Gulf of Cadiz systems. Additionally, the seasonal nursery grounds of the common octopus along the Portuguese coast are identified using georeferenced fishery independent data, to analyse the relationships between juvenile abundance and several environmental variables, as indicators of possible juvenile essential habitats, and suggest areas to be protected in future marine management options.A lula Loligo vulgaris apresenta um período de desova alargado no sistema de afloramento da costa ocidental portuguesa, pelo que as suas paralarvas meroplanctónicas se desenvolvem sob condições ambientais diversas que são a chave para a definição do sucesso do recrutamento das novas coortes. Dentro destas variáveis ambientais, a temperatura revela-se como determinante na modelação da dinâmica populacional e da distribuição. A lula vulgar é usada como modelo para a compreensão da influência de variáveis ambientais nas estratégias do ciclo de vida dos cefalópodes com base em dados das populações naturais. A idade e tamanho de maturação, taxas e modelos de crescimento, e duração da fase planctónica são analisados com base em contagens e medições de incrementos diários nos estatólitos de dois grupos de lulas (coorte fria e coorte quente) eclodidas sob diferentes condições ambientais, nomeadamente a temperatura durante os primeiros três meses de vida. As estratégias de crescimento destas coortes são discutidas no contexto de cenários de aquecimento global. A importância da identificação dos habitats essenciais das espécies marinhas tem sido reconhecida recentemente como uma componente importante da gestão das pescas. Em particular, é analisada a distribuição e abundância das paralarvas planctónicas de várias espécies de cefalópodes relativamente às principais características dos sistemas de oceanográficos da Ibéria ocidental e do golfo de Cádis, incluindo correntes, frentes térmicas e transporte relacionado com o afloramento costeiro. Por outro lado, são identificadas as áreas de viveiro do polvo Octopus vulgaris ao longo da costa portuguesa através de dados georreferenciados independentes da pesca e analisadas as relações entre variáveis ambientais e a abundância de juvenis, como indicadoras de habitats essenciais dos juvenis desta espécie e de áreas sensíveis a serem protegidas no âmbito de estratégias futuras de gestão marinha

Madrid, 1912. El reto del turismo

The Palace Hotel in Madrid was inaugurated in the autumn of 1912, consolidating the luxury hotel offerings in the capital. In parallel, the city, through the Asociación de Propaganda, was organizing an important tourism conference that for a week brought together all the syndicates in the country. That same month, the general director of the Ritz Hotel had an interesting international journey through Europe and America to promote his hotel and the city. The coincidence of the different factors was not accidental, and reveals the growing importance that tourism was starting to have for the city of Madrid. This article will also try to relate these first steps of Madrid tourism with other aspects in the development of national tourism.El otoño de 1912 se inauguró el Hotel Palace en Madrid consolidando así la oferta de lujo en la capital. Al mismo tiempo, la ciudad, a través de la Asociación de Propaganda, organizaba un importante congreso de turismo que reunió durante una semana a todos los sindicatos del país. Ese mismo otoño, el director del Hotel Ritz hizo un interesante viaje internacional por Europa y América para promocionar su hotel y la ciudad. La coincidencia de factores no es casual y revela la importancia creciente que el turismo empezaba a tener para Madrid. Este artículo pretende, además, relacionar estos primeros pasos del Madrid turístico con otros aspectos del desarrollo del turismo nacional

Teaching innovation applied to practical classes

En esta comunicación se comentan algunos aspectos sobre la innovación educativa aplicada a las clases prácticas. Se describen algunos recursos electrónicos educativos libres y gratuitos desarrollados para materias relacionadas con la Biología y la Geología. Todos ellos se basan en la enorme potencialidad de las imágenes y en las posibilidades que ofrece Internet.Some aspects about educational innovation applied to practical classes are discussed in this presentation. Some free and open electronic educational resources related materials developed for Biology and Geology are described. They are all based on the huge potential of the images and the possibilities offered by the Internet

Proyecto “Visión sin Fronteras”, salud visual como propuesta de cooperación en el ámbito social

En el mundo hay alrededor de 7500 millones de personas, de las cuales se calcula que 1300 padecen de algún tipo de discapacidad visual. Según informes publicados por la OMS el 80% de estas discapacidades visuales son evitables, procediendo, el 90% de las mismas de países en vías de desarrollo. La falta de recursos y acceso al sistema sanitario en los países de renta baja alimenta el grado de pobreza y exclusión al que se encuentran sometidos sus habitantes. Es de vital importancia analizar el papel del óptico-optometrista en situaciones de vulnerabilidad y emergencia y cómo puede participar en la mejora de la situación. El proyecto “Visión sin Fronteras”, que da origen a este Trabajo Fin de Grado, nace con el objetivo de apoyar la labor llevada a cabo en el campo de refugiados “Moria” en Mitilene, Lesbos, por la organización Light Without Borders, la cual ofrece asistencia optométrica a las personas que se han visto obligadas a migrar huyendo de la guerra y otras catástrofes buscando asilo y refugio en Europa. Se trata de una iniciativa con la que se consigue demostrar que con el compromiso de la comunidad universitaria, se pueden conseguir avances en la lucha contra las desigualdades sociales. Basado en la puesta en marcha de una campaña de recogida de gafas graduadas, gafas de sol, monturas y fundas en diversas localidades españolas, se ha contribuido a la sostenibilidad de la actividad optométrica y cuidado de la salud visual en el campo de refugiados de Mitilene. Son muchos los beneficios conseguidos tras la creación de dicho proyecto, tales como la facilitación del proceso de escolarización de niños con errores refractivos, como la posibilidad de entrar al mercado laborar de un adulto con problemas visuales, ayudando a mejorar notablemente las sórdidas condiciones en las que se encuentran en dicho campamento.The world population consists of 7500 million people, 1300 of whom have some kind of visual impairment. According to studies published by the World Health Organization, 80% of these visual impairments are preventable and of those 80%, 90% come from developing countries. The lack of resources and access to healthcare in impoverished countries adds to the poverty and exclusion that the population already suffers. It is of vital importance to analise the role of the optometrist in si tuations of vulnerability and emergency and how they can improve the situation. The project “Visión sin Fronteras” from which this thesis originates, was created with the ob jective of supporting the organisation Light Without Borders — an organisation which provides optic aide to refugees fleeing war and catastrophe, who are seeking asylum in Europe. The organisation works primarily in the refugee camp “Moria” in Mitilene, Lesbos. This initia tive shows that with university involvement, advancements can be achieved in the struggle against social inequality. The project consists of collecting donations of glasses with graduated lenses, frames and cases from various regions of Spain. These donations have contributed to sustainable p ractices in optometry in Mor ia. There are many benefits achieved due to this project such as the facilitation of schooling for children with refractive issues and for adults with visual impairments, the ability to enter the job market and notably improving the sordid conditions there are found in current refugee campsUniversidad de Sevilla. Grado en Óptica y Optometrí