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Denna studie ämnar att undersöka studenters attityder till utvecklingen av personalisering inom webbaserade tjänster och utforska skillnader och likheter mellan studenternas attityder. Studiens empiriska material är insamlat genom fem kvalitativa intervjuer och en webbenkät med 72 respondenter. Studien behandlar fördelar och nackdelar med personalisering, möjligheter att förhindra personalisering och möjliga konsekvenser av personalisering. Majoriteten av studenterna har en positiv attityd till personalisering av webbaserade tjänster. Resultatet visar att studenterna var mest positivt inställda till personalisering av streamingtjänster och minst positiva till personalisering av nyhetstjänster. Jag fann att användare i stor utsträckning inte anser att nyhetstjänster bör vara personaliserade. Det visade sig finnas en tydlig skillnad mellan studenternas kännedom om olika verktyg som kan användas för att förhindra personalisering. Ju mer teknisk utbildning som studenterna läser, desto bättre kännedom hade studenterna om verktygen. Resultatet visade även att en stor del av studenterna önskade att de kunde stänga av personaliseringsfunktionen på tjänster. Personalisering har blivit en naturlig del av användarnas vardag och att majoriteten av användarna inte har tillräcklig kunskap om fenomenet och därför intar de en passiv attityd och undviker att reflektera närmare över personaliseringen och dess möjliga konsekvenser. / This essay aims to study student’s attitudes towards web personalization and explore where the student’s attitudes differ and converge. The empirical materials of the study where assembled by the usage of five qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey with 72 respondents. The study discusses the pros and cons, the ability to constrain web personalization and possible effects and outcomes of web personalization. The majority of the students have a positive attitude towards web personalization. The students were most positive towards personalization of streaming services and least positive towards personalization of media channels that output news. There was an explicit difference between the students’ knowledge of the possibilities to constrain web personalization through the usage of different extensions and tools. Those students who studied a more technical program showed more knowledge of extensions and tools that can be used to prevent or constrain web personalization. The results also showed that the over all students desire more control over web personalization and demand a function where the personalization of web services could be turned off. The study resulted in the findings that web personalization has become a part of the users every-day life and that the students do not have enough knowledge of web personalization which have led to a passive attitude towards it.

La Computaci'on Ubicua plantea proveer de inteligencia a nuestros entornos ofreciendo servicios a los usuarios que permitan ayudarlos en su vida cotidiana. Con la inclusi'on de dispositivos ubicuos en nuestra vida (por ejemplo los dispositivos m'oviles), los usuarios hemos pasado a estar siempre conectados al entorno, pudiendo interactuar con el. Sin embargo, a diferencia de las interacciones de escritorio tradicionales donde los usuarios eran quienes ped'¿an informaci'on o introduc'¿an datos, las interacciones ubicuas tienen que lidiar con un entorno de los usuarios variable, demandando uno de los recursos mas valiosos para los usuarios: la atenci'on humana. De esta forma, un reto en el paradigma de computaci'on ubicua es regular las peticiones de atenci'on del usuario. Esto implica que las interacciones de los servicios deber'¿an comportarse de una manera ¿considerada¿ teniendo en cuenta el grado en que cada servicio se inmiscuye en la mente del usuario (el nivel de molestia). Partiendo de las bases de la Ingenier'¿a Dirigida por Modelos (MDE) y de los principios de la Computaci'on Considerada, esta tesis se orienta a dise¿nar y desarrollar servicios que sean capaces de adaptar sus interacciones de acuerdo a la atenci'on del usuario en cada momento. El principal objetivo de esta tesis es introducir capacidades de adaptaci'on considerada en los servicios ubicuos para proporcionar interacciones que no perturben al usuario. Esto lo conseguimos mediante un proceso de desarrollo que cubre desde el dise¿no de los servicios hasta su implementaci'on, centr'andose en los requisitos de adaptaci'on de la interacci'on particulares para cada usuario. Para el dise¿no del comportamiento de la interacci'on en base al nivel de molestia se han de¿nido unos modelos de intromisi'on e interacci'on independientes de la tecnolog'¿a. Estos modelos son los que posteriormente conducen la adaptaci'on de la interacci'on din'amicamente, por medio de una infraestructura aut'onoma que los usa en tiempo de ejecuci'on. Esta infraestructura es capaz de detectar cambios en la situaci'on del usuario (por ejemplo cambios en su localizaci'on, su actividad, etc.) y planear y ejecutar modi¿caciones en la interacci'on de los servicios. Cuando se detecta un cambio del contexto del usuario, los servicios se auto-adaptan para usar los componentes de interacci'on m'as apropiados de acuerdo a la nueva situaci'on y no molestar al usuario. Adem'as, como las necesidades y preferencias de los usuarios pueden cambiar con el tiempo, nuestra aproximaci'on utiliza la estrategia del aprendizaje por refuerzo para ajustar los modelos de dise¿no iniciales de forma que maximicemos la experiencia del usuario. El dise¿no inicial de la interacci'on basado en el nivel de molestia nos asegura un comportamiento inicial consistente con las necesidades de los usuarios en ese momento. Luego, este dise¿no se va re¿nando de acuerdo al comportamiento y preferencias de cada usuario por medio de su retroalimentaci'on a trav'es de la experiencia de uso. Adem'as, tambi'en proporcionamos una interfaz m'ovil que permite a los usuarios ¿nales personalizarse de forma manual los modelos en base a sus propias preferencias. El trabajo presentado en esta tesis se ha llevado a la pr'actica para su evaluaci'on desde el punto de vista de los dise¿nadores y de los usuarios ¿nales. Por una parte, el m'etodo de dise¿no se ha validado para comprobar que ayuda a los dise¿nadores a especi¿car este tipo de servicios. Pese a que el proceso de desarrollo no ofrece una automatizaci'on completa, las gu'¿as ofrecidas y la formalizaci'on de los conceptos implicados ha demostrado ser 'util a la hora de desarrollar servicios cuya interacci'on es no molesta. Por otra parte, la adaptaci'on de la interacci'on en base al nivel de molestia se ha puesto en pr'actica con usuarios para evaluar su satisfacci'on con el sistema y su experiencia de usuario. Esta validaci'on ha desvelado la importancia de considerar los aspectos de molestia en el proceso de adaptaci'on de la interacci'on para ayudar a mejorar la experiencia de usuario. / In Ubiquitous Computing environments, people are surrounded by a lot of embedded services. Since ubiquitous devices, such as mobile phones, have become a key part of our everyday life, they enable users to be always connected to the environment and interact with it. However, unlike traditional desktop interactions where users are used to request for information or input data, ubiquitous interactions have to face with variable user¿s environment, making demands on one of the most valuable resources of users: human attention. A challenge in the Ubiquitous Computing paradigm is regulating the request for user¿s attention. That is, service interactions should behave in a considerate manner by taking into account the degree in which each service intrudes the user¿s mind (i.e., the obtrusiveness degree). In order to prevent service behavior from becoming overwhelming, this work, based on Model Driven Engineering foundations and the Considerate Computing principles, is devoted to design and develop services that adapt their interactions according to user¿s attention. The main goal of the present thesis is to introduce considerate adaptation capabilities in ubiquitous services to provide non-disturbing interactions. We achieve this by means of a systematic method that covers from the services¿ design to their implementation and later adaptation of interaction at runtime / Gil Pascual, M. (2013). Adapting Interaction Obtrusiveness: Making Ubiquitous Interactions Less Obnoxious. A Model Driven Engineering approach [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/31660

In the era of e-Learning, educational materials are considered a crucial point for all the stakeholders. On the one hand, instructors aim at creating learning materials that meet the needs and expectations of learners easily and effec-tively; On the other hand, learners want to acquire knowledge in a way that suits their characteristics and preferences. Consequently, the provision and customization of educational materials to meet the needs of learners is a constant challenge and is currently synonymous with technological devel-opment. Promoting the personalization of learning materials, especially dur-ing their development, will help to produce customized learning materials for specific learners' needs. The main objective of this thesis is to reinforce and strengthen Reuse, Cus-tomization and Ease of Production issues in e-Learning materials during the development process. The thesis deals with the design of a framework based on ontologies and product lines to develop customized Learning Objects (LOs). With this framework, the development of learning materials has the following advantages: (i) large-scale production, (ii) faster development time, (iii) greater (re) use of resources. The proposed framework is the main contribution of this thesis, and is char-acterized by the combination of three models: the Content Model, which addresses important points related to the structure of learning materials, their granularity and levels of aggregation; the Customization Model, which con-siders specific learner characteristics and preferences to customize the learn-ing materials; and the LO Product Line (LOPL) model, which handles the subject of variability and creates matter-them in an easy and flexible way. With these models, instructors can not only develop learning materials, but also reuse and customize them during development. An additional contribution is the Customization Model, which is based on the Learning Style Model (LSM) concept. Based on the study of seven of them, a Global Learning Style Model Ontology (GLSMO) has been con-structed to help instructors with information on the apprentice's characteris-tics and to recommend appropriate LOs for customization. The results of our work have been reflected in the design of an authoring tool for learning materials called LOAT. They have described their require-ments, the elements of their architecture, and some details of their user inter-face. As an example of its use, it includes a case study that shows how its use in the development of some learning components. / En la era del e¿Learning, los materiales educativos se consideran un punto crucial para todos los participantes. Por un lado, los instructores tienen como objetivo crear materiales de aprendizaje que satisfagan las necesidades y ex-pectativas de los alumnos de manera fácil y efectiva; por otro lado, los alumnos quieren adquirir conocimientos de una manera que se adapte a sus características y preferencias. En consecuencia, la provisión y personaliza-ción de materiales educativos para satisfacer las necesidades de los estudian-tes es un desafío constante y es actualmente sinónimo de desarrollo tecnoló-gico. El fomento de la personalización de los materiales de aprendizaje, es-pecialmente durante su desarrollo, ayudará a producir materiales de aprendi-zaje específicos para las necesidades específicas de los alumnos. El objetivo fundamental de esta tesis es reforzar y fortalecer los temas de Reutilización, Personalización y Facilidad de Producción en materiales de e-Learning durante el proceso de desarrollo. La tesis se ocupa del diseño de un marco basado en ontologías y líneas de productos para desarrollar objetos de aprendizaje personalizados. Con este marco, el desarrollo de materiales de aprendizaje tiene las siguientes ventajas: (i) producción a gran escala, (ii) tiempo de desarrollo más rápido, (iii) mayor (re)uso de recursos. El marco propuesto es la principal aportación de esta tesis, y se caracteriza por la combinación de tres modelos: el Modelo de Contenido, que aborda puntos importantes relacionados con la estructura de los materiales de aprendizaje, su granularidad y niveles de agregación, el Modelo de Persona-lización, que considera las características y preferencias específicas del alumno para personalizar los materiales de aprendizaje, y el modelo de Línea de productos LO (LOPL), que maneja el tema de la variabilidad y crea ma-teriales de manera fácil y flexible. Con estos modelos, los instructores no sólo pueden desarrollar materiales de aprendizaje, sino también reutilizarlos y personalizarlos durante el desarrollo. Una contribución adicional es el modelo de personalización, que se basa en el concepto de modelo de estilo de aprendizaje. A partir del estudio de siete de ellos, se ha construido una Ontología de Modelo de Estilo de Aprendiza-je Global para ayudar a los instructores con información sobre las caracterís-ticas del aprendiz y recomendarlos apropiados para personalización. Los resultados de nuestro trabajo se han plasmado en el diseño de una he-rramienta de autor de materiales de aprendizaje llamada LOAT. Se han des-crito sus requisitos, los elementos de su arquitectura, y algunos detalles de su interfaz de usuario. Como ejemplo de su uso, se incluye un caso de estudio que muestra cómo su empleo en el desarrollo de algunos componentes de aprendizaje. / En l'era de l'e¿Learning, els materials educatius es consideren un punt crucial per a tots els participants. D'una banda, els instructors tenen com a objectiu crear materials d'aprenentatge que satisfacen les necessitats i expectatives dels alumnes de manera fàcil i efectiva; d'altra banda, els alumnes volen ad-quirir coneixements d'una manera que s'adapte a les seues característiques i preferències. En conseqüència, la provisio' i personalitzacio' de materials edu-catius per a satisfer les necessitats dels estudiants és un desafiament constant i és actualment sinònim de desenvolupament tecnològic. El foment de la personalitzacio' dels materials d'aprenentatge, especialment durant el seu desenvolupament, ajudarà a produir materials d'aprenentatge específics per a les necessitats concretes dels alumnes. L'objectiu fonamental d'aquesta tesi és reforçar i enfortir els temes de Reutilització, Personalització i Facilitat de Producció en materials d'e-Learning durant el procés de desenvolupament. La tesi s'ocupa del disseny d'un marc basat en ontologies i línia de productes per a desenvolupar objec-tes d'aprenentatge personalitzats. Amb aquest marc, el desenvolupament de materials d'aprenentatge té els següents avantatges: (i) produccio' a gran esca-la, (ii) temps de desenvolupament mes ràpid, (iii) major (re)ús de recursos. El marc proposat és la principal aportacio' d'aquesta tesi, i es caracteritza per la combinacio' de tres models: el Model de Contingut, que aborda punts im-portants relacionats amb l'estructura dels materials d'aprenentatge, la se-ua granularitat i nivells d'agregació, el Model de Línia de Producte, que ges-tiona el tema de la variabilitat i crea materials d'aprenentatge de manera fàcil i flexible. Amb aquests models, els instructors no solament poden desenvolu-par materials d'aprenentatge, sinó que també poden reutilitzar-los i personalit-zar-los durant el desenvolupament. Una contribucio' addicional és el Model de Personalitzacio', que es basa en el concepte de model d'estil d'aprenentatge. A partir de l'estudi de set d'ells, s'ha construït una Ontologia de Model d'Estil d'Aprenentatge Global per a ajudar als instructors amb informacio' sobre les característiques de l'aprenent i recomanar els apropiats per a personalitzacio'. Els resultats del nostre treball s'han plasmat en el disseny d'una eina d'autor de materials d'aprenentatge anomenada LOAT. S'han descrit els seus requi-sits, els elements de la seua arquitectura, i alguns detalls de la seua interfície d'usuari. Com a exemple del seu ús, s'inclou un cas d'estudi que mostra com és el desenvolupament d'alguns components d'aprenentatge. / Ezzat Labib Awad, A. (2017). Enforcing Customization in e-Learning Systems: an ontology and product line-based approach [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90515

[pt] Hoje em dia e-learning está se tornando mais importante por possibilitar a disseminação de conhecimento e informação através da internet de uma forma mais rápida e menos dispendiosa. Consequentemente, de modo a filtrar o que é mais relevante e/ou de interesse do usuário, arquiteturas e técnicas de personalização vêm sendo abordadas. Dentre as muitas possibilidades de personalização existentes, a que lida com acessibilidade está se tornando essencial, pois garante que uma grande variedade de usuários possa ter acesso à informação conforme suas necessidades e características. Acessibilidade não é apenas garantir que pessoas com alguma deficiência, ou dificuldade, possam ter acesso à informação, apesar de ser importante e eventualmente ser uma exigência legal. Acessibilidade é também garantir que uma larga variedade de usuários e interfaces possam obter acesso à informação, maximizando assim a audiência potencial. Esta dissertação apresenta uma extensão do LORIS, um sistema de integração de repositórios de objetos de aprendizagem, descrevendo as alterações na sua arquitetura para ser capaz de lidar com acessibilidade e reconhecer diferentes versões de um mesmo objeto de aprendizagem, permitindo assim que um usuário execute uma consulta considerando seu perfil e preferências. Foi desenvolvido um protótipo dos serviços descritos na arquitetura utilizando serviços Web e navegação facetada, bem como padrões web, de e-learning e de acessibilidade. O uso de serviços Web e de padrões visa promover flexibilidade e interoperabilidade, enquanto a navegação facetada, como implementada, permite que o usuário aplique múltiplos filtros aos resultados da consulta sem a necessidade de re-submetê-la. / [en] Nowadays e-learning is becoming more important as it makes possible the dissemination of knowledge and information through the internet in a faster and costless way. Consequently, in order to filter what is more relevant and/or of users interest, architectures and personalization techniques have been raised. Among the many existing possibilities of personalization, the one that deals with accessibility is becoming essential because it guarantees that a wide variety of users may have access to the information according to their preferences and needs. Accessibility is not just about ensuring that disabled people can access information, although this is important and may be a legal requirement. It is also about ensuring that the wide variety of users and devices can all gain access to information, thereby maximizing the potential audience. This dissertation presents an extension of LORIS, an integration system of learning object repositories, describing the changes on its architecture to make it able to deal with accessibility and to recognize different versions of the same learning object, thus allowing a user to execute a query considering his/her preferences and needs. A prototype of the services that are described in the architecture was developed using web services and faceted navigation, as well as e-learning and accessibility standards. The use of web services and standards aims at providing flexibility and interoperability, while the faceted navigation, as implemented, allows the user to apply multiple filters to the query results without the need to resubmit it.

Radiotherapy treatment-response of cancer patients can vary considerably, even in patients sharing the same diagnosis. Enhancing the degree of treatment personalization might offer a way towards improving curation rates. The recent advancements in the field of deep neural networks provide new directions for the non-invasive extraction of patient-individual biomarkers when applied on diagnostic imaging data. Within this thesis, we explored the potential of image-based deep learning as an enabler for individualized therapy. In a cohort of head and neck cancer patients, we first assessed the suitability of applying convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on pre-treatment computed tomography imaging data for the prediction of loco-regional tumor control in the presence of censored outcomes. We further investigated whether the predictive performance can be improved through the adoption of multitask learning strategies that combine multiple outcome prediction models and a tumor segmentation task, both for CNNs and the recently emerged vision transformer-based network architectures. Subsequently, we applied neural networks on multimodal and longitudinal imaging data collected during the course of radiotherapy and evaluated their potential to further improve outcome models. Finally, in the context of proton-beam radiotherapy of primary brain tumor patients, we applied CNNs for the prediction of the linear energy transfer and examined the feasibility of this approach for estimating treatment-related side-effects considering a variable biological effectiveness of protons.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical background 3. Convolutional neural networks for outcome prediction 4. Multitask learning and attention-based models for outcome prediction 5. Longitudinal and multimodal models for outcome prediction 6. Prediction of the linear energy transfer in proton-beam radiotherapy / Das Ansprechverhalten von Krebspatienten auf eine Strahlentherapie kann selbst zwischen Patienten mit gleicher Diagnose deutlich variieren. Eine erweiterte Personalisierung der Behandlung stellt einen möglichen Weg dar, um die Heilungschancen zu verbessern. Durch die kürzlich erzielten Fortschritte im Bereich neuronaler Netzwerke bieten sich neue Möglichkeiten zur nicht-invasiven Extraktion patientenspezifischer Merkmale aus diagnostischen Bildgebungsdaten. In dieser Arbeit wurde das Potential tiefer, bildbasierter neuronaler Netzwerke für eine individualisierte Strahlentherapie analysiert. In einer Kohorte von Patienten mit Kopf- und Halstumoren wurde zunächst die Eignung faltender neuronaler Netzwerke (CNNs) zur Vorhersage der lokoregionären Kontrolle im Beisein zensierter Beobachtungen basierend auf prätherapeutischer Computertomographie (CT) evaluiert. Außerdem wurde untersucht, ob sich die Vorhersagequalität von CNNs und den kürzlich vorgestellten vision transformer Architekturen unter Verwendung von Multitask-Lernstrategien, welche mehrere Vorhersagemodelle und eine Segmentierung des Tumors kombinieren, verbessern lässt. Anschließend wurde die Anwendbarkeit neuronaler Netzwerke zur Analyse multimodaler und longitudinaler, während des Behandlungsverlaufes aufgenommener, Bildgebungsdaten aufgezeigt und ihr Potential zur weiteren Verbesserung der Vorhersagen analysiert. Abschließend wurden CNNs im Rahmen der Protonentherapie genutzt, um den linearen Energietransfer bei Patienten mit primären Hirntumoren vorherzusagen. Die Plausibilität dieser Vorhersagen zur Risikoabschätzung behandlungsbedingter Nebenwirkungen wurde unter Berücksichtigung einer variablen relativen biologischen Wirksamkeit von Protonen untersucht.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical background 3. Convolutional neural networks for outcome prediction 4. Multitask learning and attention-based models for outcome prediction 5. Longitudinal and multimodal models for outcome prediction 6. Prediction of the linear energy transfer in proton-beam radiotherapy

Personalisierung ist ein aktuelles Thema im Bereich der Online-Lehre. Lernende sind divers, sie haben unterschiedliche Vorkenntnisse, adressieren verschiedene Lernziele und variieren in ihren (Lern-)Präferenzen. Aufgrund dieser Diversität besteht die Notwendigkeit, Onlinekurse an die Bedürfnisse der Lernenden anzupassen. Dabei wird das Ziel verfolgt, Lernende so zu motivieren, dass sie ein bestmögliches Lernergebnis erzielen können. Im Rahmen der Dissertation wurde die Domäne des Sprachenlernens gewählt, auf welche Methoden zur Personalisierung angewandt wurden. Eine initiale Analyse kommerzieller Sprachlern-Apps hat gezeigt, dass Personalisierung bislang nur rudimentär als Sequenzierungsstrategie umgesetzt wurde. Dabei beschränkt sich die Anwendung hauptsächlich auf das Lernen mit Karteikarten. Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der übergeordneten Forschungsfrage wie Personalisierung in automatisch generierten Online-Sprachlernkursen angewandt und mit fundamentalen und experimentellen Sequenzierungsstrategien kombiniert werden kann. Hierzu setzt die vorliegende Arbeit eine modifizierte Version der "Meshing-Hypothese" exemplarisch als Sequenzierungsstrategie um. Die Idee dieser Strategie besteht darin, dass Lernende besser lernen, wenn die Lehrmethoden mit den Präferenzen der Lernenden übereinstimmen. Diese Strategie wird in der Forschung seit Jahrzehnten kontrovers diskutiert. In mehreren Schritten wurden verschiedene Perspektiven zur Anwendung der Personalisierung mit dieser Strategie untersucht. Zunächst wurde ein Instrument zur Erfassung von Präferenzen entwickelt. Die exemplarische Auswahl beschränkt sich auf jene Präferenzen, welche durch konkrete Lehrmethoden abgebildet werden können. Anschließend wurde ein Experiment durchgeführt, um Leistungsunterschiede zwischen Lernenden mit unterschiedlichen Präferenzen zu ermitteln. Dazu wurden Lehrmethoden in einen konkreten Sprachlernkurs mit einer vordefinierten Lernprogression imitiert. Im nächsten Schritt wurde die technische Basis für adaptive Kurse vorbereitet. Zu diesem Zweck wurde die Lernplattform Moodle funktional so angepasst, dass sie für Experimente zur Personalisierung von Onlinekursen genutzt werden kann. Danach wurde die inhaltliche Basis vorbereitet, welche die Generierung von Sprachlerneinheiten unter Verwendung modernster generativer Modelle ermöglicht. Die dabei entstehenden interaktiven Lernmaterialien wurden um Imitationen zu einer Auswahl von Lehrmethoden ergänzt. Das so generierte Lernmaterial musste anschließend in eine optimale Reihenfolge gebracht werden. Ein neuer Ansatz zur Kombination verschiedener Sequenzierungsstrategien wird unter der Verwendung generativer neuronaler Netze eingeführt. Darauffolgend wird ein Konzept vorgestellt, das es ermöglicht, Sequenzierungsstrategien zu verstärken, wenn sie einen positiven Effekt auf das Lernergebnis haben oder sie zu vergessen, wenn der Effekt zu gering ist oder nicht existiert. Das Konzept wurde zunächst simuliert. Anschließend wurden die generierten Lernmaterialien, die technische Basis, die Sequenzierungsstrategien und die Präferenzen der Lernenden in einem finalen Experiment kombiniert, um die modifizierte Meshing-Hypothese als Fallbeispiel umzusetzen. Hierzu wurde das vorweg simulierte Konzept des Verstärkens oder Vergessens von Sequenzierungsstrategien in einem realen Online-Sprachlernkurs praktisch angewandt. Die im Rahmen der Dissertation durchgeführten Experimente erlauben Schlussfolgerungen für die Generierung und Personalisierung von Sprachlernkursen. Darüber hinaus geben mehrere Machbarkeitsstudien (Proof-of-Concepts) Einblicke in die praktische Anwendbarkeit der Ansätze. / Recently, personalization has become a topic of some interest in the field of education. Learners possess different levels of prior knowledge, along with various learning goals and preferences. This diversity underscores the necessity of adapting online courses to suit learners’ needs, with the ultimate goal of engaging learners for optimal learning outcomes. As a representative domain, the field of language learning was chosen, to which personalization has been applied. An initial analysis of commercial language learning apps revealed the scarce realization of personalization, mainly limited to flashcard learning as an item sequencing strategy. Subsequently, the dissertation focused on the overall research question: How can personalization in auto-generated online language learning courses be utilized and combined with fundamental and experimental item sequencing strategies? Therefore, the dissertation employed a modified version of the “Meshing Hypothesis” as an example, proposing that students learn more effectively when instructional teaching methods align with their preference levels. Its original strategy has been controversially discussed in research for decades. The research unfolded in several stages to utilize personalization, commencing with the development of an instrument to collect preferences linked to instructional teaching methods. An experiment was conducted to discern performance differences among learners with varying preference levels. This involved imitating scenarios for some instructional teaching methods within an online language learning course that follows a fixed learning progression. The subsequent phase concentrated on preparing the technical groundwork for personalized courses. To this end, the Moodle learning platform was functionally adapted to facilitate experiments in personalizing online courses. Simultaneously, a contextual foundation was established, enabling the generation of template-based language learning units through cutting-edge generative models. Applied imitations of a selection of instructional methods enhanced the resulting interactive learning materials. In order to optimize the arrangement of the generated learning materials, a novel approach was introduced, combining multiple item sequencing strategies using generative neural networks. A conceptual framework was introduced, allowing for the amplification of sequencing strategies that positively impact learning outcomes or their removal if the effect is negligible. First, the concept was simulated. Then, the technical foundation, generated learning materials, item sequencing strategies, and learner preferences were combined in a final experiment to employ the modified Meshing Hypothesis and to utilize the idea of “unlearning” item sequencing strategies in a real online language learning course. The experiments conducted in this dissertation allow conclusions for generating and personalizing online language learning courses. Furthermore, several proof-of-concepts provide insights into the applicability of the approaches to be drawn for practice.

隨著數位多媒體技術的進步，越來越多的音樂以數位化的方式來儲存，數位音樂的檢索成為重要的研究領域之一。以內容為主的音樂檢索(Content-Based Music Retrieval, CBMR)能讓使用者直接利用音樂的內容做檢索，而非傳統以音樂的metadata查詢的方法。目前有關CBMR的研究，常見的查詢方式包括哼歌、唱歌或打拍子等。但是，這些方法都會因為查詢者缺乏音樂訓練而無法正確表達出想查詢的音樂，影響查詢效果。 人們常常會根據曲風將音樂分類，音樂曲風的探勘將有助於CBMR的研究。本篇論文主要目的在結合多媒體與資料探勘的技術，從大量MIDI音樂中，作音樂曲風的探勘及分類，並將曲風探勘的技術應用在個人化音樂推薦、音樂風格檢索及音樂風格瀏覽上。 在本論文的第一部份，音樂曲風探勘分類的研究，包括了三個研究議題：音樂特徵的粹取、頻繁樣式的探勘及曲風的分類。我們利用和絃作為音樂的特徵，根據和聲學的原理，從MIDI音樂中找出主旋律搭配的和絃。粹取出和絃後，我們研究不同的和絃特徵表示法與其頻繁樣式探勘演算法。針對所探勘出的頻繁樣式，我們修改associated classification演算法，以應用在音樂曲風的分類上。此外，不同的曲風，其風格的多樣性也不同。因此，為了提高分類的效果，我們提出Single-Type Variant-Support (STVS) 與Multi-Type Variant-Support (MTVS) classification演算法，使得分類規則中允許多種特徵表示與不同的最小支持度。 在本篇論文的第二部分，我們應用曲風探勘的技術，提出了個人化音樂推薦的機制。針對使用者對音樂風格的喜好，將新的音樂推薦給使用者。系統根據使用者對資料庫中音樂的存取行為，學習使用者在音樂曲風上的偏好，產生個人化的2-way preference classifier，以推薦符合使用者喜好的音樂。 第三部分為音樂曲風的檢索。目前大部分的CBMR系統中，使用者僅能尋找已經聽過的音樂。然而，使用者想查詢的很可能是沒聽過，但曲風感覺類似的音樂。針對上述的問題，我們提出了以音樂曲風作檢索的新方法。同時，我們提出四種曲風查詢的描述方式，並且利用音樂風格探勘與分類的技術產生的分類規則計算曲風的相似度，最後依照曲風的相似程度產生檢索結果。 本篇論文的最後一部分為音樂風格的分群。音樂風格的分群有助於瀏覽大量的音樂資料。我們利用和絃為特徵，針對不同的特徵表示方法，提出相似度的計算方式。我們將數種分群演算法應用於音樂風格的分群上，並比較各種分類演算法與不同的音樂特徵與表示法的分群效果。 / With the development of multimedia technology, digital music is now in widespread use. Content-based music retrieval (CBMR) has attracted much interest in recent years. CBMR allows users query by music content rather than metadata. However, even with the capability of query by humming, the effectiveness of CBMR system suffers from the ability of query content expression for people without music training. Music style is one of the features that people used to classify music. Discovery of music style is helpful for the design of content-based music retrieval systems. In this thesis, we investigate the mining techniques of music style by melody from a collection of MIDI music and apply the mining techniques to three applications, personalized music filtering, music retrieval by melody style and music style browsing. In the first part, the design issues of melody style mining and classification consist of the feature extraction, frequent pattern mining and melody style classification. We extracted the chord from the melody based on the harmony and investigated the representation of extracted features. For each extracted feature, the corresponding frequent pattern mining techniques are developed. For the melody style classification algorithm, we propose the Single-Type Uniform-Support classification (STUS) algorithm which is modified from the associated classification algorithm. To improve the performance of classification, we propose two new classification algorithms - Single-Type Variant-Support Classification (STVS) and Multi-Type Variant- Support classification (MTVS) algorithm. STVS learns the appropriate minimum supports of every category’s frequent patterns automatically. MTVS algorithm considers all types of frequent patterns for every category further and can decide the appropriate combination of frequent patterns and the corresponding minimum supports. In the second part, we present a personalized content-based music filtering system to support music recommendation based on user’s preference of melody style. The system learns the user preference by mining the melody patterns from the music access behavior of the user. A two-way melody preference classifier is therefore constructed for each user. Music recommendation is made through this melody preference classifier. Performance evaluation showed that the filtering effect of the proposed approach meets user’s preference. A new approach for CBMR by the semantic property of music – melody style is proposed in the third part of this thesis. Most CBMR systems provide users the capability to look for music that has been heard. However, sometimes, listeners are looking, not for something they already know, but for something new. Moreover, people sometimes wish to retrieve music that “feels like” another music object or a music style. We propose four types of query specification for melody style query. The output of the melody style query is a music list ranked by the degree of relevance to the query. We adopted melody style mining and classification rule learning algorithm to obtain style classification rules. The style ranking is determined by the style classification rules. In this thesis, we also investigate music clustering techniques which are useful to browse large music archives. We propose the similarity measures for the representation of the extracted chord-sets and compared the performance of different clustering algorithms with various extracted features.

Le présent texte porte sur l’état de la démocratie au Sénégal depuis l’alternance politique survenue en 2000. Adoptant une définition minimale de la démocratie – respect des libertés civiles et politiques, et tenue d’élections libres et justes – à laquelle il ajoute le principe de séparation des pouvoirs, son principal objectif est de répondre à la question suivante : pourquoi le fonctionnement de la démocratie est-il entravé au Sénégal? L’hypothèse avancée pour répondre à cette interrogation est la présence du néo-patrimonialisme. Celui-ci, par l’intermédiaire de la personnalisation du pouvoir et le clientélisme, sape le respect des règles démocratiques dans ce pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Pour analyser l’impact du néo-patrimonialisme sur la démocratie au Sénégal, ce mémoire privilégie le néo-institutionnalisme sociologique comme cadre théorique. Cette approche définit les institutions de façon large : celles-ci peuvent englober non seulement des normes formelles mais également des règles informelles. En vertu de cette approche, le néo-patrimonialisme et la démocratie représentent des institutions puisque le premier englobe un ensemble de règles informelles et le second un ensemble de normes et procédures formelles. Ces deux institutions structurent et façonnent le comportement des individus. Dans cette confrontation institutionnelle, les règles néo-patrimoniales influencent davantage l’action des élites politiques sénégalaises – notamment le chef de l’État – que les normes démocratiques. La vérification de l’hypothèse s’appuie sur des études sur la démocratie et le néo-patrimonialisme aussi bien au Sénégal qu’en Afrique. Elle se base également sur l’actualité et les faits politiques saillants depuis l’alternance. L’analyse est essentiellement qualitative et se divise en deux chapitres empiriques. Le premier de ceux-ci (chapitre II dans le texte) concerne la séparation des pouvoirs. Le but de ce chapitre est d’observer la manière dont l’actuel président de la République, Abdoulaye Wade, contrôle le parlement et la justice. Le second chapitre empirique (chapitre III dans le texte) se divise en deux sections. La première s’intéresse aux libertés civiles et politiques qui subissent des restrictions dues au penchant autoritaire de Wade. La seconde section porte sur les élections dont le déroulement est entaché par de nombreuses irrégularités : violence électorale, manque de ressources de l’autorité électorale, instabilité du calendrier électoral, partialité de la justice. L’étude confirme l’hypothèse, ce qui est très problématique pour la plupart des États africains. En effet, le néo-patrimonialisme est une caractéristique fondamentale de la gouvernance en Afrique. Ainsi, beaucoup de régimes du continent noir qui enclenchent ou enclencheront un processus de démocratisation comme le Sénégal, risquent de connaître les mêmes difficultés liées à la persistance des pratiques néo-patrimoniales. / This text is about state of democracy in Senegal since the political changeover in 2000. Using a minimal definition of democracy – respect of political and civil liberties, free and fair elections – completed by the separation of state powers, it aims to answer to the following question : why is the functioning of democracy hampered in Senegal? The hypothesis is that neopatrimonialism, through personalization of power and clientelism, hinders the respect of democratic rules in this West African country. To analyze the impact of neopatrimonialism on democracy in Senegal, this text draws from the sociological institutionalism as theory. This approach provides a broad definition of institutions which includes formal norms as well as informal rules. In this perspective, neopatrimonialism and democracy embody institutions because the former has a set of informal rules and the later a set of formal norms and procedures. These two institutions structure and shape the individual behaviour. In this institutional confrontation, the neopatrimonial rules have a deeper impact on the action of Senegalese elites, particularly the president. To verify the hypothesis, one refers to studies that analyze the link between democracy and neopatrimonialism in Senegal and in Africa. This text also takes into account current events and striking political facts since 2000. The analysis is essentially qualitative and divided in two empirical chapters. The first one (chapter II in the text) studies the separation of powers and how the Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, control the parliement and courts. The second empirical chapter (chapter III in the text) is subdivided in two sections. The first section examines how civil and political liberties are restricted by Wade’s inclination to authoritarianism. The second section analyses the numerous irregular situations that characterize senegalese elections : violence, lack of ressources for the electoral authority, frequent change of electoral timetable, partiality of the justice. On the whole, the hypothesis is confirmed, which is problematic to most of subsaharian African states. Neopatrimonialism is a fundamental feature of African politics. Its persistence could constitute a source of difficulty for African regimes that begin or will begin democratization like Senegal did.

L'avancement des communications sans-fil permet l'obtention de nouveaux services bases sur l'habileté des fournisseurs de services sans-fil à déterminer avec précision, et avec l'utilisation de technologies de pistage, la localisation et position géographiquement d'appareils sans-fil Cette habileté permet d'offrir aux utilisateurs de sans-fil de nouveaux services bases sur la localisation et la position géographique de leur appareil. Le développement des services basés sur la localisation des utilisateurs de sans-fil soulevé certains problèmes relatifs à la protection de la vie privée qui doivent être considérés. En effet, l'appareil sans-fil qui suit et enregistre les mouvements de I 'utilisateur permet un système qui enregistre et entrepose tous les mouvements et activités d'un tel utilisateur ou encore qui permet l'envoi de messages non anticipes à ce dernier. Pour ce motif et afin de protéger la vie privée des utilisateurs de sans-fil, une compagnie désirant développer ou déployer une technologie permettant d'offrir ce genre de services personnalisés devra analyser l'encadrement légal touchant la protection des données personnelles--lequel est dans certains cas vague et non approprié à ce nouveau contexte--ainsi que la position de l'industrie dans ce domaine, et ce, afin d'être en mesure de traduire cet encadrement en pratiques commerciales. Cette analyse permettra d'éclairer le fournisseur de ces services sur la façon d'établir son modèle d'affaires et sur le type de technologie à développer afin d'être en mesure de remédier aux nouveaux problèmes touchant la vie privée tout en offrant ces nouveaux services aux utilisateurs de sans-fil. / The proliferation of mobile communications is leading to new services based on the ability of service providers to determine, with increasing precision and through the use of location determination technologies, the geographic location of wireless devices and allow their users to receive services based on such location. The development of location-based services introduces new privacy risks for consumers that must be addressed. The portability of wireless devices coupled with their ability to pinpoint the location of wireless users and reveal it to others could produce a system where the everyday activities and movements of these users are tracked and recorded, and where wireless users receive unanticipated messages on their device. For this reason and in order to preserve the privacy of wireless users, a company looking to deploy a technology related to the providing of personalized location-based services ("LBS Provider") will have to analyze the privacy legal framework, coming either from legal sources--that may be in some case vague and not specific to this new context--or from the industry, and translate such framework into business practices. Such analysis may help in establishing what kind of business model and technology should be adopted and developed by LBS Providers in order to ensure the privacy of wireless users while providing this new type of service.