A 3D Printed Power-Split Device for Testing Energy Management Strategies Applied to Hybrid Vehicles

This work presents a testbed emulating the hybrid electric vehicles powertrain with both teaching and research purposes. The core of this testbed is a 3D printed epicycloidal gearset actuating as a power split device. Its design and hardware equipment are explained as well as its working principle. From an educational point of view, this system states an interesting control problem and, at the same time, exemplifies the operation of this kind of machines with the scope of a motivating application. Consequently, a teaching methodology comprising this testbed is proposed. In addition, the challenging nature of the system encourage the development of optimization techniques aimed at reducing the overall system energy consumption. Results of a preliminary experiment are satisfactory addressed. As a consequence, the presented testbed is proposed as a remote lab for teaching and benchmarking new control strategies

Aportació al coneixement florístic de l’Espai Natural de les Guilleries-Savassona.

En aquesta memòria donem compte de la flora de l’Espai Natural de les Guilleries-Savassona. El projecte que empara aquesta tasca s’anomena “Contribució al coneixement florístic de la porció occidental i elaboració d’un catàleg florístic crític de l’Espai Natural de les Guilleries-Savassona.”. La informació aquí inclosa és una aproximació molt avançada al coneixement florístic d’aquest divers territori, de tal manera que creiem que es pot considerar com una primera versió de la flora de l’Espai Natural.Una part d’aquesta recerca ha estat recolzada per l’Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (ACOM-DGR; Generalitat de Catalunya) i per l’Espai Natural de Guilleries-Savassona (Diputació de Barcelona)

Catàleg florístic del DG54 (Guilleries – Collsacabra). Primera versió.

Aquest treball és una contribució significativa a l catàleg florístic de les valls de Sau i de Susqueda (Guilleries i Collsacabra). Més concretament, aportem una llista que inclou tots els tàxons observats pels autors a la quadrícula UTM DG54 (de 100 km2), tan espontanis com subespontanis o naturalitzats. Aportem una sola localitat per a cada tàxon i en donem la coordenada amb precisió d'un quilòmetre (en projecció ED50).Una part d’aquesta recerca ha estat recolzada per l’Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (ACOM-DGR; Generalitat de Catalunya) i per l’Espai Natural de Guilleries-Savassona (Diputació de Barcelona)

EFFECT OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES ON FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY AND ASSEMBLY OF WEED COMMUNITIES: A DATABASE OF FUNCTIONAL TRAITS

The incorporation of conservation agriculture techniques (e.g. reduced tillage and green manures) in organic farming systems brings many benefits to the environment and reduces energy use (Holland, 2004). One of the main drawbacks of the use of reduced tillage is the potential increase in weed infestation and shifts in the weed community composition, sometimes to the benefit of more difficult-to-control species (Bàrberi, 2002; Peigné et al., 2007; Sans et al., 2011). However, weeds have an important role in maintaining farmland functional biodiversity (Bàrberi et al, 2010; Caballero et al., 2010), and this should be balanced with their potential negative impact on crop yield and quality. Within the frame of the European project “Reduced tillage and green manures for sustainable cropping systems” (TILMAN-ORG), in 2012 we started a study with the aim of evaluating the effects of conservation agricultural methods on functional attributes of weed communities, taking into account both the potential detrimental effects of weeds on crop growth and yield and the potential ecological services or dis-services. Knowledge on the outcome of positive and negative effects will be useful in the context of evaluating soil conservation practices in organic farming. In this paper we highlight the approach used to build the weed functional traits database, the first step in this study

Architecture for Text Sign Localization and Recognition

This paper describes a low complexity strategy for detecting and recognizing text signs automatically. Traditional approaches use large image algorithms for detecting the text sign, followed by the application of an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) algorithm in the previously identified areas. This paper proposes a new architecture that applies the OCR to a whole lightly treated image and then carries out the text detection process of the OCR output. The strategy presented in this paper significantly reduces the processing time required for text localization in an image, while guaranteeing a high recognition rate. This strategy will facilitate the incorporation of video processing-based applications into the automatic detection of text sign similar to that of a smartphone. These applications will increase the autonomy of visually impaired people in their daily life

Laguna Seca sediments reveal environmental and climate change during the latest Pleistocene and Holocene in Sierra Nevada, southern Iberian Peninsula

This study was supported by the I + D + i projects CGL2013-47038- R, CGL2017-85415-R, PID2019-1049449GB-I00, and PID2021- 125619OB-C21/C22 funded by Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/ 10.13039/501100011033/ and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional “Una manera de hacer Europa”, I + D + i projects A-RNM-336-UGR20 and P20_00059 of the action “Proyectos I + D + i del Programa Operativo FEDER - Junta de Andalucía - UGR” and the research group RNM-190. This research is part of the project “Thematic Center on Mountain Ecosystem & Remote sensing, Deep learning- AI e-Services University of Granada-Sierra Nevada” (LifeWatch-2019- 10-UGR-01), which has been co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER funds from the Spanish Pluriregional Operational Program 2014-2020 (POPE), LifeWatch-ERIC action line. José Carrión was supported by the I + D + I project PID2019-1049449 GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033/ and FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa” and the fellowship 20788/PI/18 of Fundación Séneca. We thank Javier Jaimez for his help with the core drilling in Laguna Seca and Alejandro Navarro and Aurora Baquera for the sediment sampling. ALA acknowledges the predoctoral fellowship BES- 2018-084293 provide by the MCIN/ AEI/ 10.13039/5011000110 33/. CLB acknowledges the European Union for her Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 892487 under Horizon 2020 funds. JC acknowledges the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of the Spanish Government for the grant number FJC2020-044215-I of the Juan de la Cierva Formación postdoctoral program.Sedimentation in most glacial lakes and wetlands in the Sierra Nevada (southern Iberian Peninsula) began after the last deglaciation and since the Younger Dryas (YD)-Early Holocene (EH) transition. Therefore, until now, studies on older sedimentary records were lacking in this alpine area, which limits the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information to the Holocene. In this study, we studied palynomorphs from the alpine record from Laguna Seca (LS), the longest and oldest (∼18,000 cal yr BP = 18 kyr) sedimentary record in the Sierra Nevada to investigate the response of forests and lake environments in the western Mediterranean area to climate changes and human impact during the latest Pleistocene and Holocene. The deepest lake conditions occurred during the last deglaciation, indicated by the occurrence of Pediastrum algae, which showed highest abundances during the Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) and Bølling-Allerød (B-A) transition. Xerophyte herbs such as Artemisia, Ephedra, and Amaranthaceae were highest during the late B-A and YD indicating regional aridity. Poaceae (grasses) were maxima in the B-A and EH, probably indicating expansion in the barren areas after deglaciation. Maximum in temperature and humidity during the EH and cooling and aridification in the Middle (MH) and Late Holocene (LH) are indicated by the changes in the abundance of deciduous Quercus and Pinus forest species. Botryococcus algae increased during the Early Holocene, while the rest of the algae almost vanished, which could indicate that the lake became very productive but shallower until 8.2 kyr. The lake level lowered and became seasonal in the Middle-Late Holocene transition, coinciding with the regional climate aridification. Microcharcoal analysis done on the palynological preparations agrees with the vegetation changes, showing maxima in the EH and MH, related with the maximum in regional forest occurrence, and a decrease in the LH when the Mediterranean vegetation, and thus fuel availability, diminished. This record shows evidence of anthropogenic impact in the last centuries by cultivation, reforestation, cattle grazing, enhanced erosion and eutrophication.I + D + i projects CGL2013-47038- R, CGL2017-85415-R, PID2019-1049449GB-I00, and PID2021- 125619OB-C21/C22 funded by Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/ 10.13039/501100011033/ and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional “Una manera de hacer Europa”I + D + i projects A-RNM-336-UGR20 and P20_00059 of the action “Proyectos I + D + i del Programa Operativo FEDER - Junta de Andalucía - UGR” and the research group RNM-190Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER funds from the Spanish Pluriregional Operational Program 2014-2020 (POPE), LifeWatch-ERIC action lineI + D + I project PID2019-1049449 GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033/ and FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa” and the fellowship 20788/PI/18 of Fundación SénecaPredoctoral fellowship BES- 2018-084293 provide by the MCIN/ AEI/ 10.13039/5011000110 33/European Union for her Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 892487 under Horizon 2020 fundsMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación of the Spanish Government for the grant number FJC2020-044215-I of the Juan de la Cierva Formación postdoctoral progra

Herbivores, saprovores and natural enemies respond differently to within-field plant characteristics of wheat fields

Understanding ecosystem functioning in a farmland context by considering the variety of ecological strategies employed by arthropods is a core challenge in ecology and conservation science. We adopted a functional approach in an assessment of the relationship between three functional plant groups (grasses, broad-leaves and legumes) and the arthropod community in winter wheat fields in a Mediterranean dryland context. We sampled the arthropod community as thoroughly as possible with a combination of suction catching and flight-interception trapping. All specimens were identified to the appropriate taxonomic level (family, genus or species) and classified according to their form of feeding: chewing-herbivores, sucking-herbivores, flower-consumers, omnivores, saprovores, parasitoids or predators. We found, a richer plant community favoured a greater diversity of herbivores and, in turn, a richness of herbivores and saprovores enhanced the communities of their natural enemies, which supports the classical trophic structure hypothesis. Grass cover had a positive effect on sucking-herbivores, saprovores and their natural enemies and is probably due to grasses' ability provide, either directly or indirectly, alternative resources or simply by offering better environmental conditions. By including legumes in agroecosystems we can improve the conservation of beneficial arthropods like predators or parasitoids, and enhance the provision of ecosystem services such as natural pest control

Integrated Environmental and Exergoeconomic Analysis of Biomass-Derived Maleic Anhydride

Life cycle analysis and exergy analysis are applied to compare the production of maleic anhydride from different feedstock, both biomass- and petrochemical-derived raw materials, in order to evaluate the sustainability of alternative biorefinery processes to conventional routes. The considered processes involve two options: gas and aqueous phase furfural oxidation with oxygen (air) and hydrogen peroxide as oxidants, respectively, considered as sustainable technologies because of the use of renewable feedstock. Conventional routes, used as benchmarks, include the current production processes using benzene or butane as raw materials. The results show that the aqueous phase process is far from being viable from an energy and environmental point of view due to the high exergy destruction and the use of H2O7 as oxidant (whose production entails important environmental drawbacks). On the contrary, the gas phase oxidation of furfural shows competitive results with petrochemical technologies. Nevertheless, the major environmental drawback of the new furfural-to-maleic anhydride production processes is detected on the environmental profile of the starting raw material. The results suggest that a better environmental footprint for maleic anhydride production in gas phase can be obtained if environmentally friendly furfural production technologies are used at the commercial scale.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (projects RTI2018-094918-B-C41, RTI2018-094918-B-C42, and RTI2018-094918-B-C43)