Analysing Human Mobility Patterns of Hiking Activities through Complex Network Theory

The exploitation of high volume of geolocalized data from social sport tracking applications of outdoor activities can be useful for natural resource planning and to understand the human mobility patterns during leisure activities. This geolocalized data represents the selection of hike activities according to subjective and objective factors such as personal goals, personal abilities, trail conditions or weather conditions. In our approach, human mobility patterns are analysed from trajectories which are generated by hikers. We propose the generation of the trail network identifying special points in the overlap of trajectories. Trail crossings and trailheads define our network and shape topological features. We analyse the trail network of Balearic Islands, as a case of study, using complex weighted network theory. The analysis is divided into the four seasons of the year to observe the impact of weather conditions on the network topology. The number of visited places does not decrease despite the large difference in the number of samples of the two seasons with larger and lower activity. It is in summer season where it is produced the most significant variation in the frequency and localization of activities from inland regions to coastal areas. Finally, we compare our model with other related studies where the network possesses a different purpose. One finding of our approach is the detection of regions with relevant importance where landscape interventions can be applied in function of the communities.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepte

Performance-related ontologies and semantic web applications for on-line performance assessment of intelligent systems

AbstractSeveral techniques and applications have been proposed to aid the decision taking process in the system performance domain. Most of these techniques have depicted the performance model of systems through annotations of performance measurements coming from specific software descriptive syntactical languages. However, the semantic representation of performance information provides the possibility of its ulterior machine-processable logical interpretation and therefore the applicability of inference rules about a particular domain. Moreover, ontologies ease the interchange and reuse of knowledge of particular domains, e.g. system performance. In this work, we propose a performance ontology together with the system performance analysis technique as an example of framework building for intelligent applications based on semantic web. The paper also shows the construction of performance rules through OWL to automatically infer new performance constraints and QoS knowledge about the system on execution

How to Place Your Apps in the Fog -- State of the Art and Open Challenges

Fog computing aims at extending the Cloud towards the IoT so to achieve improved QoS and to empower latency-sensitive and bandwidth-hungry applications. The Fog calls for novel models and algorithms to distribute multi-service applications in such a way that data processing occurs wherever it is best-placed, based on both functional and non-functional requirements. This survey reviews the existing methodologies to solve the application placement problem in the Fog, while pursuing three main objectives. First, it offers a comprehensive overview on the currently employed algorithms, on the availability of open-source prototypes, and on the size of test use cases. Second, it classifies the literature based on the application and Fog infrastructure characteristics that are captured by available models, with a focus on the considered constraints and the optimised metrics. Finally, it identifies some open challenges in application placement in the Fog

Experiencias de utilización de aplicaciones móviles para la mejora de la participación del alumnado

La utilización de clickers en el entorno educativo universitario no es novedosa aunque las versiones antiguas de clickers llevaban consigo toda una serie de inconvenientes como era la infraestructura, recogida de la información, utilización, etc. Con la generalización del uso de los móviles inteligentes, han aparecido aplicaciones que simulan el comportamiento de los clickers tradicionales. Estas aplicaciones resuelven muchos de los problemas de las experiencias anteriores. Pero además, por las características propias de los dispositivos móviles, la utilización de estos clickers puede aplicarse en nuevos ámbitos, como por ejemplo, el de intentar buscar una mayor participación de los alumnos durante el desarrollo de las clases. En este artículo se presentan y analizan una serie de experiencias que se han llevado a cabo para utilizar estos dispositivos, ya no solo para la evaluación de los alumnos, si no también para mejorar la interacción entre el profesor y el alumno. Igualmente, se han realizado estudios estadísticos que muestran indicios de mejoría en la participación del alumnado en las clases con estos dispositivos.SUMMARY -- Clickers for e-learning at Universities is not a novelty and past drawbacks, e.g., the necessary IT infrastructure and information process, have been overpassed due to the explosion of the smart phone market. There are smart phone applications that simulate the traditional behavior of clickers. These applications not only solve the above mentioned drawbacks but also improve the participation of university students at classroom. In this paper, we present and analyze a set of experiments that have been carried out using these applications. Additionally, we have observed that these applications improve the interaction among professors and students. The paper includes a statistical study showing trends about these improvements

Socioeconomic inequality in the use of long-term care among European older adults: an empirical approach using the SHARE survey

The increase in the proportion of elderly people in developed societies has several consequences, such as the rise in demand for long-term care (LTC). Due to cost, inequalities may arise and punish low-income households. Our objective is to examine socioeconomic inequalities in LTC utilization in Europe. We use the last wave from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe SHARE (Munich Center for the Economics of Ageing, Munich, Germany), dated 2017, to analyze the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on LTC. For this purpose, we construct logistic models and control for socioeconomic/household characteristics, health status, and region. Then, concentration indices are calculated to assess the distribution of LTC. Moreover, we also analyze horizontal inequity by using the indirect need-standardization process. We use two measures of SES (household net total income and household net wealth) to obtain robust results. Our findings demonstrate that informal care is concentrated among low-SES households, whereas formal care is concentrated in high-SES households. The results for horizontal concentration indices show a pro-rich distribution in both formal and informal LTC. We add new empirical evidence by showing the dawning of deep social inequalities in LTC utilization. Policymakers should implement policies focused on people who need care to tackle socioeconomic inequalities in LTC.Acknowledgments: This paper used data from SHARE Wave 7 (DOIs: 10.6103/SHARE.w7.700); see [50] for methodological details. The SHARE data collection was primarily funded by the European Commission through FP5 (QLK6-CT\u1000002001\u10000000360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812), and FP7 (SHARE-PREP: no. 211909, SHARE-LEAP: no. 227822, SHARE M4: no. 261982). Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C), and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org)

Un recorrido actualizado por la docencia de Sistemas Digitales en el Grado en Ingeniería Informática

Este artículo presenta un recorrido por la docencia de los contenidos de sistemas digitales en el Grado de Ingeniería en Informática en las universidades españolas pertenecientes a la Conferencia de Directores y Decanos de Ingeniería Informática. Para ello se han analizado las competencias, los contenidos, la planificación y los recursos utilizados para las asignaturas directamente relacionadas con la docencia de este campo de conocimiento. Finalmente se presenta un análisis de los resultados obtenidos, dando una visión global de la situación nacional, y llevando a cabo una agrupación de universidades en función de los contenidos de las asignaturas utilizadas. Estos resultados son de interés para los docentes involucrados en estas asignaturas y para conocer la estandarización de los conocimientos sobre la materia, es decir, si el diseño curricular es o no homogéneo.This article presents a review of the contents related to Digital Systems in the Degree in Computer Engineering in the Spanish universities that belong to the Conferencia de Directores y Decanos de Ingeniería Informática. For this, the competences, contents, planning and resources used for the subjects, directly related to the teaching of this field, have been analyzed. Finally, an analysis of the results obtained is presented, giving a global vision, and carrying out a clustering of universities based on the contents of the subjects. These results are of interest to teachers involved in these subjects and to know the standardization ofthe knowledge area, i.e., whether or not the curricular design is homogeneous

Experiencia piloto sobre el uso de la gamificación en estudios de grado de ingeniería en informática

Un número importante de alumnos no llevan las asignaturas al día. En los últimos años se han llevado a cabo diferentes experiencias con videojuegos en el ámbito de la educación (gamificación), con el objetivo de fidelizar e involucrar a los estudiantes. En esta experiencia piloto hemos estudiado las herramientas de gamificación existentes para contextos educativos, hemos hecho una propuesta para la realidad de los estudios universitarios y hemos llevado a cabo una primera experiencia piloto dentro del aula. Observamos que hubo un cambio en cuanto a la constancia de llevar la asignatura al día, además la participación del alumnado en el aula fue más activa, al igual que su atención.A significant number of students do not take the subjects up-to-date. In recent years different gaming experiences have been conducted in the field of education (gamification), in order to retain and implicate the students. In this pilot project we have studied the existing gamification tools for the different existing educational contexts. We have carried out a first pilot experience in the classroom. We have observed that there has been a change regarding the constancy of bringing the subject up-to-date, besides the participation of students in the classroom was more active, as well as their attention

Un simulador de arquitectura MIPS para el estudio del procesamiento paralelo de instrucciones

Presentamos una herramienta docente para la explicación del conjunto de técnicas de paralelismo a nivel de instrucción, conocido con el acrónimo en inglés de ILP. Hemos programado un diseño modular de la arquitectura MIPS que permite la ejecución segmentada de una instrucción, con el objetivo de ofrecer la posibilidad de comparar diferentes escenarios según los parámetros y elementos deseados. La herramienta ofrece un volcado de métricas de rendimiento para estudios comparativos y su programación orientada a objetos, relativamente sencilla, permite implementar nuevos módulos como algoritmos de especulación de salto o planificación de código. Además, adjuntamos unos recursos didácticos para mostrar su funcionalidad y potencial, junto con una valoración de experiencia docente en el uso de dicha herramienta por parte de los alumnos.We present a teaching tool for explaining the set of techniques for instruction level parallelism (ILP). We have designed a simulator of the MIPS architecture that allows the pipeline execution of instructions. The aim is to be able to compare different scenarios depending on input parameters and the inclusion of desired elements. The tool provides a set of performance metrics for comparative studies. Its object-oriented programming is also relatively simple, which allows implementing new modules as branch speculation algorithms or scheduling code. In addition, we include a set of teaching activities to show its functionality and potential. Finally, we describe the teaching experience of using this tool in a couple of courses

Un simulador de arquitectura MIPS para el estudio del procesamiento paralelo de instrucciones

Presentamos una herramienta docente para la explicación del conjunto de técnicas de paralelismo a nivel de instrucción, conocido con el acrónimo en inglés de ILP. Hemos programado un diseño modular de la arquitectura MIPS que permite la ejecución segmentada de una instrucción, con el objetivo de ofrecer la posibilidad de comparar diferentes escenarios según los parámetros y elementos deseados. La herramienta ofrece un volcado de métricas de rendimiento para estudios comparativos y su programación orientada a objetos, relativamente sencilla, permite implementar nuevos módulos como algoritmos de especulación de salto o planificación de código. Además, adjuntamos unos recursos didácticos para mostrar su funcionalidad y potencial, junto con una valoración de experiencia docente en el uso de dicha herramienta por parte de los alumnos.We present a teaching tool for explaining the set of techniques for instruction level parallelism (ILP). We have designed a simulator of the MIPS architecture that allows the pipeline execution of instructions. The aim is to be able to compare different scenarios depending on input parameters and the inclusion of desired elements. The tool provides a set of performance metrics for comparative studies. Its object-oriented programming is also relatively simple, which allows implementing new modules as branch speculation algorithms or scheduling code. In addition, we include a set of teaching activities to show its functionality and potential. Finally, we describe the teaching experience of using this tool in a couple of courses.Trabajo cofinanciado por el Departamento de Matemáticas y por el proyecto ”Anàlisis i estudi de les eines de gamificació per a la seva utilització en estudis universitaris” del Vicerrectorado de Docencia y Calidad de la Universitat de les Illes Balears