Study of the development and verification of an integrated code for UAV design

L'objectiu d'aquest estudi és desenvolupar una eina de disseny d'aeronaus utilitzant algoritmes d'optimització per a facilitar el procés. Es pretén incorporar el codi d'estudi i simulació de les actuacions d'un UAV desenvolupat per l'equip Trencalòs Team en un software de disseny aerodinàmic ja existent, ja sigui XFLR5 o AVL. Les funcions objectiu incorporades seran les que l'equip considera per a la participació en el concurs internacional Air Cargo Challenge, amb la intenció de desenvolupar una eina de treball per a Trencalòs que permeti fer un disseny òptim dins del marc de la competició. El treball es dividirà en tres etapes: 1. Incorporació del codi desenvolupat per Trencalòs al software de disseny aerodinàmic2. Fer ús dels algoritmes d'optimització de funcions objectiu per a facilitar el procés de disseny3. Verificació els resultats obtinguts.

Insights into the spatiotemporal component of feeding ecology: an isotopic approach for conservation management sciences

Aim:Bringing new approaches to trace spatiotemporal variations in animals' feeding ecology, which is fundamental for wildlife management and conservation since the accessibility of animals to trophic resources plays a key role in the dynamics of populations and metapopulations. Location:Western Mediterranean coast. Methods:The analysis of naturally occurring stable isotopes constitutes an exceptional approach to assess variations in the trophic ecology of species within the spatiotemporal dimensions. Here, we examined the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in resource exploitation of a nuisance and overpopulated gull species with a great feeding plasticity, the Yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, by measuring the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C, delta 13C), nitrogen (15N/14N, delta 15N) and sulphur (34S/33S, delta 34S) in different wing feathers.Results:Tracing isotopic changes among feathers in relation to moulting sequence, we showed that isotopic analyses on first primary feathers were good indicators of breeding trophic ecology, while others, such as eighth secondary feathers, reflected the feeding behaviour during the non-breeding period. This knowledge was then used to report on estimations of seasonal feeding patterns throughout the year for seven gull populations along the Western Mediterranean coast. Main conclusions: The high diversity in the exploitation patterns of the foraging habitats found in the study area both at spatial and at temporal scale indicated the opportunistic feeding behaviour of Yellow-legged gulls. Proposed isotopic approach has revealed as a useful tool to evaluate spatiotemporal variations in the feeding ecology of populations which may become clue for dealing with the management of wild species, not only nuisance populations but also endangered species. We finally pointed out the relevance of the isotopic variability among individuals to infer diet diversity and food availability of a given population, thereby allowing demographic forecasts when trophic resources vary in abundance

Jardins per a la salut

Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmàcia. Assignatura: Botànica farmacèutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, Cèsar Blanché i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquí es presenten són el recull de les fitxes botàniques de 128 espècies presents en el Jardí Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici Històric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura Botànica Farmacèutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’Innovació Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a través de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autònom i col·laboratiu en Botànica farmacèutica. També s’ha pretès motivar els estudiants a través del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a través d’una experiència d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a través d’una Web pública amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardí mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

Study of the development and verification of an integrated code for UAV design

L'objectiu d'aquest estudi és desenvolupar una eina de disseny d'aeronaus utilitzant algoritmes d'optimització per a facilitar el procés. Es pretén incorporar el codi d'estudi i simulació de les actuacions d'un UAV desenvolupat per l'equip Trencalòs Team en un software de disseny aerodinàmic ja existent, ja sigui XFLR5 o AVL. Les funcions objectiu incorporades seran les que l'equip considera per a la participació en el concurs internacional Air Cargo Challenge, amb la intenció de desenvolupar una eina de treball per a Trencalòs que permeti fer un disseny òptim dins del marc de la competició. El treball es dividirà en tres etapes: 1. Incorporació del codi desenvolupat per Trencalòs al software de disseny aerodinàmic2. Fer ús dels algoritmes d'optimització de funcions objectiu per a facilitar el procés de disseny3. Verificació els resultats obtinguts.

Feeding ecology of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) in the Western Mediterranean: a comparative assessment using conventional and isotopic methods

Accurate determination of feeding habits using only conventional dietary analysis is usually difficult, due to both biases caused by prey digestibility differences and to the discrete aspect of the sampling. However, combining conventional methods with stable isotope analysis provides an integrated view of the assimilated diet. Here, we measured stable isotope ratios of carbon (delta(13)C), nitrogen (delta(15)N) and sulphur (delta(34)S) in feathers of yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis nestlings from 4 colonies along the western Mediterranean coast, where the gulls consume different proportions of marine, terrestrial and garbage resources. We collected and analysed chicks' regurgitates in each colony, thereby determining the isotopic signatures in a significant sample of prey. By applying a mixing model to our isotopic values, we compared the information provided by the 2 methodologies. According to direct prey sampling and the particular conditions of the breeding areas, populations with more enriched PS values consumed a diet richer in marine prey, with lower delta(15)N signatures indicating garbage consumption. The main pattern resulting from the mixing model agreed with direct diet sampling. However, estimated proportions for small-sized prey were controversial, which indicates that small, soft prey items might be underestimated by regurgitate analysis. We conclude that stable isotope signatures and the use of mixing models are useful tools for the rapid assessment of feeding ecology in certain populations. Solving analytical biases should be considered in future feeding studies, thereby saving time and minimising bird disturbance by using an isotopic methodolog

Insights into the spatiotemporal component of feeding ecology: an isotopic approach for conservation management sciences

Aim:Bringing new approaches to trace spatiotemporal variations in animals' feeding ecology, which is fundamental for wildlife management and conservation since the accessibility of animals to trophic resources plays a key role in the dynamics of populations and metapopulations. Location:Western Mediterranean coast. Methods:The analysis of naturally occurring stable isotopes constitutes an exceptional approach to assess variations in the trophic ecology of species within the spatiotemporal dimensions. Here, we examined the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in resource exploitation of a nuisance and overpopulated gull species with a great feeding plasticity, the Yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, by measuring the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C, delta 13C), nitrogen (15N/14N, delta 15N) and sulphur (34S/33S, delta 34S) in different wing feathers.Results:Tracing isotopic changes among feathers in relation to moulting sequence, we showed that isotopic analyses on first primary feathers were good indicators of breeding trophic ecology, while others, such as eighth secondary feathers, reflected the feeding behaviour during the non-breeding period. This knowledge was then used to report on estimations of seasonal feeding patterns throughout the year for seven gull populations along the Western Mediterranean coast. Main conclusions: The high diversity in the exploitation patterns of the foraging habitats found in the study area both at spatial and at temporal scale indicated the opportunistic feeding behaviour of Yellow-legged gulls. Proposed isotopic approach has revealed as a useful tool to evaluate spatiotemporal variations in the feeding ecology of populations which may become clue for dealing with the management of wild species, not only nuisance populations but also endangered species. We finally pointed out the relevance of the isotopic variability among individuals to infer diet diversity and food availability of a given population, thereby allowing demographic forecasts when trophic resources vary in abundance

Insights into the spatiotemporal component of feeding ecology: an isotopic approach for conservation management sciences

Aim:Bringing new approaches to trace spatiotemporal variations in animals' feeding ecology, which is fundamental for wildlife management and conservation since the accessibility of animals to trophic resources plays a key role in the dynamics of populations and metapopulations. Location:Western Mediterranean coast. Methods:The analysis of naturally occurring stable isotopes constitutes an exceptional approach to assess variations in the trophic ecology of species within the spatiotemporal dimensions. Here, we examined the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in resource exploitation of a nuisance and overpopulated gull species with a great feeding plasticity, the Yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, by measuring the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C, delta 13C), nitrogen (15N/14N, delta 15N) and sulphur (34S/33S, delta 34S) in different wing feathers.Results:Tracing isotopic changes among feathers in relation to moulting sequence, we showed that isotopic analyses on first primary feathers were good indicators of breeding trophic ecology, while others, such as eighth secondary feathers, reflected the feeding behaviour during the non-breeding period. This knowledge was then used to report on estimations of seasonal feeding patterns throughout the year for seven gull populations along the Western Mediterranean coast. Main conclusions: The high diversity in the exploitation patterns of the foraging habitats found in the study area both at spatial and at temporal scale indicated the opportunistic feeding behaviour of Yellow-legged gulls. Proposed isotopic approach has revealed as a useful tool to evaluate spatiotemporal variations in the feeding ecology of populations which may become clue for dealing with the management of wild species, not only nuisance populations but also endangered species. We finally pointed out the relevance of the isotopic variability among individuals to infer diet diversity and food availability of a given population, thereby allowing demographic forecasts when trophic resources vary in abundance

Feeding ecology of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) in the Western Mediterranean: a comparative assessment using conventional and isotopic methods

Accurate determination of feeding habits using only conventional dietary analysis is usually difficult, due to both biases caused by prey digestibility differences and to the discrete aspect of the sampling. However, combining conventional methods with stable isotope analysis provides an integrated view of the assimilated diet. Here, we measured stable isotope ratios of carbon (delta(13)C), nitrogen (delta(15)N) and sulphur (delta(34)S) in feathers of yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis nestlings from 4 colonies along the western Mediterranean coast, where the gulls consume different proportions of marine, terrestrial and garbage resources. We collected and analysed chicks' regurgitates in each colony, thereby determining the isotopic signatures in a significant sample of prey. By applying a mixing model to our isotopic values, we compared the information provided by the 2 methodologies. According to direct prey sampling and the particular conditions of the breeding areas, populations with more enriched PS values consumed a diet richer in marine prey, with lower delta(15)N signatures indicating garbage consumption. The main pattern resulting from the mixing model agreed with direct diet sampling. However, estimated proportions for small-sized prey were controversial, which indicates that small, soft prey items might be underestimated by regurgitate analysis. We conclude that stable isotope signatures and the use of mixing models are useful tools for the rapid assessment of feeding ecology in certain populations. Solving analytical biases should be considered in future feeding studies, thereby saving time and minimising bird disturbance by using an isotopic methodolog