El presente trabajo de investigación analiza la viabilidad del uso del smartphone con tecnología NFC (comunicación de campo cercano) como medio de pago de pasajes como una propuesta de optimización del proceso de recaudo para el uso del servicio de transporte público brindado por el Metropolitano. Para el análisis de viabilidad de la propuesta se ha revisado el contrato vigente de la Concesión de Recaudo (Protransporte 2009), el Manual de Procesos de Instituto Metropolitano Protransporte de Lima (Protransporte), las estadísticas históricas de las transacciones de recarga y validación de pasajes del Metropolitano, además se han realizado encuestas a usuarios y entrevistas a expertos, que han permitido identificar el problema central, sus causas y efectos, y proponer alternativas de solución. La propuesta de la aplicación del smartphone como medio de pago de pasajes en el Metropolitano implicará una inversión para el desarrollo de software, actualización de equipos de validación y capacitación de recursos humanos en el marco de los procedimientos optimizados del proceso de recaudo. La inversión realizada será recuperada en un plazo no mayor a tres años, con los ahorros en costos operativos y reducción en gastos de capital, obteniéndose un Valor Actual Neto (VAN) positivo para un horizonte de evaluación de siete años a partir del 2018 hasta el 2024 en el que culmina el periodo de concesión. Por otro lado, esta propuesta reportará beneficios a todos los actores involucrados: los usuarios del Metropolitano reducirán el tiempo del proceso de recarga en un 80%, el concesionario del recaudo no incrementará puntos de recarga adicionales, y reducirá la adquisición de grandes volúmenes de tarjetas. Asimismo, se ha determinado que el uso del smartphone como medio alternativo de pago de pasajes en el Metropolitano tiene viabilidad legal, tecnológica y socioeconómica, por lo que los autores de la presente investigación recomiendan su implementación.

El presente plan de negocios tiene como objetivo evaluar la viabilidad de Tadán en el mercado, una aplicación móvil que funciona por geolocalización. En ella, las promociones publicadas por las empresas podrán ser vistas por los usuarios que estén interesados y se encuentren cerca de la tienda mediante el uso de la geolocalización. A diferencia de otros servicios de promociones, esta solo permitirá que las notificaciones que le lleguen al usuario sean de productos relacionados a la categoría que este está buscando en ese momento en particular. La idea del proyecto nace de una tendencia global en la cual las personas han incorporado los smartphones a su estilo de vida, resolviendo cada vez más necesidades a través de las aplicaciones móviles. Sin embargo, actualmente las personas usan mayormente la tecnología para informarse antes de realizar una compra o comprar vía e-commerce; aún no la incorporan en su proceso de compra cuando visitan alguna tienda. Por ello, se busca optimizar la experiencia de compra del consumidor, para que pueda visualizar las promociones que le interesan más cercanas a su ubicación. Se realizó un análisis del macroentorno en el Perú, donde se encontró un ambiente favorable para el desarrollo de la aplicación, principalmente debido al desarrollo del entorno cultural (crecimiento sostenido de ‘smartphoneros’ en el Perú) y al desarrollo de facilidades tecnológicas que se han incrementado al día de hoy.

El presente trabajo de investigación propone desarrollar un aplicativo móvil para el agente inmobiliario que le permita efectivizar su actividad, y al mismo tiempo generar bienestar (ahorro de tiempo) en los clientes que buscan alquiler o comprar una vivienda; para lo cual, se considerará que el aplicativo móvil contenga imágenes 360° de la vivienda que incluya los detalles esenciales, la decoración, el mobiliario (si existiese) y el entorno en menos de una hora y en la comodidad del lugar donde se encuentre el potencial comprador o arrendatario.

La comunidad de personas que escogen tener una mascota como parte de su familia se encuentra en crecimiento. Estas personas se caracterizan por brindarles una mejor calidad de vida a sus mascotas, a pesar del limitado tiempo con el que cuentan en su día a día debido a sus recargadas agendas. Paw Manager surge como una solución alternativa para las personas o familias que desean tener una mascota, darle todos los cuidados necesarios para prevenir futuros males y que, a la vez, quieren organizarse en el proceso.

BACKGROUND: While smartphone digital phenotyping smartphone apps today can collect vast amounts of information on participants, less is known about how this data can be shared back with participants. Effective data visualization is critical to ensuring applications of digital signals are more informed, ethical, and impactful. But little is known about how sharing of this data, especially at different levels from raw data to analyzed data, impacts patients’ perceptions. METHODS: We compared five different visualizations strategies, each a graph, generated from data created by the open source mindLAMP app, that reflected different ways to share data from simple amount of data captured to more complex clinical correlations. All graphs were shown to 28 participants during individual video interviews, and the graphs usability was measured via the System Usability Scale (SUS). Additionally, participants were asked about their comfort sharing different kinds of data, administered the Digital Working Alliance Inventory (D-WAI), and if they would want to use these visualizations with care providers. RESULTS: Of the five graphs shown to participants, the graph visualizing change in survey responses over the course of a week, received the highest usability score, with the graph showing multiple metrics changing over a week receiving the lowest usability score. Participants were significantly more likely to be willing to share geolocation data after viewing the graphs, and 25 of 28 participants agreed that they would like to use these graphs to communicate with their clinician. CONCLUSIONS: Data visualization can help participants and patients understand digitally-sourced data and increase trust in how they are sampled and used to create visualizations. As data sourced from digital technology becomes more complex, simple visualizations may fail to capture their multiple dimensions and new interactive data visualizations may be necessary to help realize their full value.

BACKGROUND: Despite the growing popularity and widespread adoption of mobile mental health apps, there is still insufficient high-quality evidence demonstrating their safety and efficacy. Aims: This exploratory analysis investigates the potential effect size of mindLAMP, a smartphone mental health app, on reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety by comparing the results of using mindLAMP in a control implementation and in a intervention implementation. METHODS: A total of 238 participants were eligible and finished the study in the control implementation, while 156 participants completed the study in the intervention implementation of the mindLAMP app. All participants (both groups) had access to the same in-app activities, including self-assessments and therapeutic interventions. RESULTS: After multiple imputation, analysis revealed significant minor effect sizes of Hedge’s g = 0.21 and Hedge’s g = 0.34 in the reduction of depression and anxiety symptoms respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MindLAMP demonstrates a promising potential in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Additionally, this study underscores the adaptability, reusability, and scalability of smartphone apps, as they can be implemented in diverse settings. These results serve as a basis for further research to examine the effectiveness of not only mindLAMP but also other mental health apps in addressing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Background: There are significant psychological challenges faced by people throughout their lives and many of these challenges can be readily understood from a contextual behavioural science perspective, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) shows promise as a theoretically and practically relevant intervention. Some problems faced in delivering such an intervention are volume and access to healthcare. A potential solution to this is to design theoretically driven interventions which can be delivered through technology. These need to be interactive, individually shaped and will combine mindfulness, acceptance and values. Such interventions need to be evaluated scientifically according to acceptability, quality, safety and effectiveness. Aims: This thesis has two sections. Firstly, a systematic review aiming to assess the acceptability and effectiveness of using technology to deliver ACT. Secondly, an empirical research study aiming to analyse the experiences of using an ACT based app for young people with type 1 diabetes (TD1). Methods: The review searched 11 databases, and a related website. Included studies were required to use a form of technology to deliver ACT, with no real-time therapist. Two independent researchers determined inclusion of articles into the review and rated the studies according to the quality criteria. Where there was uncertainty a third reviewer was used. For the empirical study, individual interviews of 9 young people aged 13-22 years with TD1 were asked about their experiences of using the ACT based app. Framework analysis was used to determine themes. Results: The review search yielded 18 studies which met inclusion criteria. Findings highlighted that generally these interventions were seen as acceptable and satisfactory. All of these interventions were conducted in an adult population, and qualitative data was not robustly accounted for. The empirical research found two main themes: ‘Desire for apps to represent my needs’ and ‘How diabetes impacts me and how this could potentially be addressed in an app’. Discussion: Both the review and empirical study found that participants were positive about the use of technology to deliver ACT. Developmental progress needs to be made in the app to truly represent the needs of young people with TD1. These interventions could enhance the availability of psychological therapies. This has been highlighted as a government objective in several countries. Methodological weaknesses limit conclusions, such as underpowered studies. As this is a fast growing body of research it is hoped that future studies could be more similar methodologically. It would still be interesting to determine whether asynchronous contact enhances the cost-effectiveness of this form treatment. This thesis has provided me with the opportunity to design an ACT protocol for young people with type 1 diabetes (TD1). It has helped me to fully understand the undertaking which goes into designing apps and the scope of how responsive apps can be. It has given me the chance to communicate with people from different professional backgrounds to create a shared language, an opportunity to lead and manage a project and much more. With the help of my supervisor in my first year of training, we established links with the informatics department to see if students would be able to help with the programming of such an app. We had to create a synopsis of the proposed study to entice students to undertake the project as part of their degree. An interested student was assigned the project and meetings were held to determine our expectations and to establish the scope of what could be created. A second student took on the project during my second year or training. During this time my supervisor and I created a protocol of the content for the app. This was based on previous ACT protocols and tools we were aware of, which we thought might be helpful. A lot of thought had to go into trying to keep the content concise, including different modes of delivery (MP3s, video, animation etc), making the content applicable to young people with TD1 based on previous literature, and thinking about how interactive the app could be. Friends were also relied on to create graphics for the app. I went to different health boards across Scotland to meet with Diabetes teams to inform them about the project and to gather advice on the appropriateness of the diabetes information within the content of the app, and to determine whether they were interested in taking part in the study. I tested the initial prototype and glitches were ironed out. The next stage was to test the app on professionals working in the field, and to gather their feedback through focus groups. Adaptations to the app were made based on this. The app was initially made for Android phone devices based on general market research indicating that there was little evidence that one platform was more popular in adolescents. The diabetes teams and I tried to recruit young people with TD1 from their usual diabetes clinics. Initial barriers to recruitment were that at least 50% of young people had iPhones so could not download the app, and others did not seem interested in downloading the app to take part in the study. Funding of 10 Android tablets was agreed by the University. I attended the usual diabetes clinics in NHS Lothian and young people with TD1 started to volunteer to take part in the study. Originally it was hoped a trial of the effectiveness of the app would be carried out, but the difficulties in recruitment meant that instead I decided to use a qualitative methodology to explore young people’s experiences of using the app.

A gestão das APPs urbanas consiste em um dos maiores desafios do planejamento das cidades contemporâneas, frente à tensão entre sua sensibilidade ambiental e a pressão causada pela ocupação de seu território. Trata-se de um tema atual, visto que a exponencial alteração de uso do solo, indicam que o Planeta tem se tornado mais urbano nos últimos anos. A pesquisa teve por objetivo a reflexão sobre as estruturas que sustentam as APPs urbanas - seus conflitos e potenciais - em uma abordagem biofísica e sociocultural com foco nas APPs fluviais, fazendo uso da mesma para o aprofundamento do tema na Sub-bacia do Córrego Taióca. Trata da deficiência da aplicação legal na efetiva proteção dessas áreas do meio urbano e aposta no planejamento, projeto e gestão compartilhados entre técnicos do poder públicos e sociedade civil como um caminho para a superação desses impasses. A metodologia consistiu no cruzamento entre a base empírica de dados, aspectos teóricos pertinentes ao tema, além da inclusão das opiniões e trabalhos dos atores sociais envolvidos, manifestadas tanto nas oficinas - por representantes da comunidade, do poder público local e Universidade - como nas entrevistas, concedidas por profissionais atuantes nas áreas de Planejamento, Paisagem e Ambiente. O resultado ampliou o conhecimento a respeito do tema e estudo de caso, possibilitando uma visão mais próxima da realidade, antevendo as transformações do processo. Desta forma, a pesquisa revelou que o assunto em torno da Área de Preservação urbana não pode ser tratado por uma única frente, ao contrário, há necessidade de ampliar e integrar os olhares sobre a questão e, ter abordado o tema no recorte da Bacia Hidrográfica foi um interessante exercício inicial para considerar outros fatores, que frequentemente, são negligenciados no planejamento urbano tradicional. Quanto ao enfrentamento da setorização das atuações, é indispensável uma revisão institucional que inclua a efetiva participação da sociedade civil junto ao Poder público, amparado pela Universidade, tendo em vista a construção coletiva de um novo conhecimento. / The management of urban Areas of Permanent Preservation (APPs) is one of the great challenges for the planning of contemporary cities, due to the tension between its environment sensitivity and the pressure caused by the occupation of its territory. It is a current issue, since the exponential change in land use indicates that the Planet has become more urban in recent years. The research aimed to reflect on the structures that sustain the urban APPs - their conflicts and potentialities - in a biophysical and socio-cultural approach focusing fluvial APPs and using them for the deepening of the subject in the Sub-basin of Taióca stream. It also deals with the implementation of a weak legislation in terms of the effective protection of these areas in the urban environment, betting on the planning, design and management shared between government and civil society as a way to overcome such an impasse. The methodology comprised the intersection of the empirical data base and theoretical aspects that were relevant to the theme, besides the opinions and works of social actors involved, expressed both in workshops with the participation of community representatives, local government and university and through interviews provided by professional working in the areas of Planning, Landscape and Environment. The result broadened the knowledge about the subject and case study, allowing a closer look at reality, foreseeing changes in the process. Therefore, the survey revealed that the subject of urban APPs cannot be handled by a single front , it rather requires a need to expand and integrate the glances on the issue; to have addressed the theme in the watershed approach was an important exercise to consider other factors that are often neglected by traditional city planning. In order to address the fragmentation of the roles and performances it is essential to comprise a review of institutional roles, including the participation of society with the government and with the cooperation of the university, towards the collective construction of a new kind of knowledge

Mobile payments is a topic that is gaining increased attention in both research and in the media. Trends have been identified that show an increase in the use of both smartphones and mobile applications. At the same time there has been a decrease in cash use, with a move towards alternative cashless means of payment in Sweden. Existing research has focused on this type of trend research and also looking at mobile payments in a general sense. There is a gap in the research where the acceptance of mobile payment applications are receiving very little to no attention. The purpose of this thesis is then to identify the determinants of the acceptance of mobile payment applications. Using existing Technology Acceptance Model research on mobile payments, 13 hypotheses were proposed that all related to various factors of acceptance of mobile payment applications. A questionnaire was constructed to test these hypotheses and distributed using convenience sampling. The hypotheses and questionnaire was used to construct a conceptual model in AMOS, where we subsequently used multiple regression analysis to analyze the gathered data. This resulted in 6 hypotheses being accepted and 7 hypotheses being rejected. The factors that was shown to have a significant effect on the acceptance of mobile payment applications, ranging from largest effect to the least are: attitude towards using mobile payment applications, perceived usefulness of mobile payment applications, the subjective norm of the individual, perceived ease of use of the mobile payment application, perceived credibility of the mobile payment application and perceived compatibility of the mobile payment application.

A gestão das APPs urbanas consiste em um dos maiores desafios do planejamento das cidades contemporâneas, frente à tensão entre sua sensibilidade ambiental e a pressão causada pela ocupação de seu território. Trata-se de um tema atual, visto que a exponencial alteração de uso do solo, indicam que o Planeta tem se tornado mais urbano nos últimos anos. A pesquisa teve por objetivo a reflexão sobre as estruturas que sustentam as APPs urbanas - seus conflitos e potenciais - em uma abordagem biofísica e sociocultural com foco nas APPs fluviais, fazendo uso da mesma para o aprofundamento do tema na Sub-bacia do Córrego Taióca. Trata da deficiência da aplicação legal na efetiva proteção dessas áreas do meio urbano e aposta no planejamento, projeto e gestão compartilhados entre técnicos do poder públicos e sociedade civil como um caminho para a superação desses impasses. A metodologia consistiu no cruzamento entre a base empírica de dados, aspectos teóricos pertinentes ao tema, além da inclusão das opiniões e trabalhos dos atores sociais envolvidos, manifestadas tanto nas oficinas - por representantes da comunidade, do poder público local e Universidade - como nas entrevistas, concedidas por profissionais atuantes nas áreas de Planejamento, Paisagem e Ambiente. O resultado ampliou o conhecimento a respeito do tema e estudo de caso, possibilitando uma visão mais próxima da realidade, antevendo as transformações do processo. Desta forma, a pesquisa revelou que o assunto em torno da Área de Preservação urbana não pode ser tratado por uma única frente, ao contrário, há necessidade de ampliar e integrar os olhares sobre a questão e, ter abordado o tema no recorte da Bacia Hidrográfica foi um interessante exercício inicial para considerar outros fatores, que frequentemente, são negligenciados no planejamento urbano tradicional. Quanto ao enfrentamento da setorização das atuações, é indispensável uma revisão institucional que inclua a efetiva participação da sociedade civil junto ao Poder público, amparado pela Universidade, tendo em vista a construção coletiva de um novo conhecimento. / The management of urban Areas of Permanent Preservation (APPs) is one of the great challenges for the planning of contemporary cities, due to the tension between its environment sensitivity and the pressure caused by the occupation of its territory. It is a current issue, since the exponential change in land use indicates that the Planet has become more urban in recent years. The research aimed to reflect on the structures that sustain the urban APPs - their conflicts and potentialities - in a biophysical and socio-cultural approach focusing fluvial APPs and using them for the deepening of the subject in the Sub-basin of Taióca stream. It also deals with the implementation of a weak legislation in terms of the effective protection of these areas in the urban environment, betting on the planning, design and management shared between government and civil society as a way to overcome such an impasse. The methodology comprised the intersection of the empirical data base and theoretical aspects that were relevant to the theme, besides the opinions and works of social actors involved, expressed both in workshops with the participation of community representatives, local government and university and through interviews provided by professional working in the areas of Planning, Landscape and Environment. The result broadened the knowledge about the subject and case study, allowing a closer look at reality, foreseeing changes in the process. Therefore, the survey revealed that the subject of urban APPs cannot be handled by a single front , it rather requires a need to expand and integrate the glances on the issue; to have addressed the theme in the watershed approach was an important exercise to consider other factors that are often neglected by traditional city planning. In order to address the fragmentation of the roles and performances it is essential to comprise a review of institutional roles, including the participation of society with the government and with the cooperation of the university, towards the collective construction of a new kind of knowledge