Low power and high efficency energy acquisition systems for volcano monitoring

Peer Reviewe

Sensibilidade ao dessecamento de sementes de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum. - sterculiaceae

The response of seeds to reduction in moisture content will determine whether they can be stored by conventional methods. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of desiccation on the germination and vigor of cupuassu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum.) seeds, a tropical fruit species. The following seed moisture contents (SMC) were tested: 57.1%, 53.7%, 49.8%, 46.5%, 41.4%, 35.4%, 28.3%, 23.2%, 17.4%, 15.5% and 14.6%. Desiccation of seeds to as low as 41.4% (SMC) did not affect emergence, germination or vigor. However, reductions in speed of emergence were observed below 41.4%. When SMC was equal or lower than 35.4% a reduction in seed quality was observed. Loss of seed quality was increased when moisture content was equal or lower than 28.3%, and at 14.5% SMC all cupuassu seeds were dead. The observed sensitivity of cupuassu seeds to reductions in moisture content suggests that storage conditions maintaining SMC higher than 41% are necessary for good seed vigor of this species.A resposta das sementes à redução do grau de umidade determinará se as mesmas poderão ser armazenadas pelos métodos convencionais. Verificou-se o efeito do dessecamento na germinação e no vigor de sementes de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum.), uma espécie frutífera tropical. Os seguintes teores de água foram avaliados: 57,1%, 53,7%, 49,8%, 46,5%, 41,4%, 35,4%, 28,3%, 23,2%, 17,4%, 15,5% e 14,6%. A secagem das sementes até 41,4% de água não afeta a germinação e o vigor, porém, a velocidade de emergência foi reduzida quando o teor de água das sementes atinge 41,4%. Abaixo de 35,4% uma redução na qualidade das sementes foi detectada, a qual foi mais acentuada abaixo de 28,3%. Quando o teor de água das sementes foi de 14,6% a deterioração foi máxima. A sensibilidade de sementes de cupuaçu a redução do grau de umidade sugere que no armazenamento o teor de água das sementes deve ser mantido em valor superior a 41%

Data acquisition system for volcano monitoring with real-time transmission, low cost and low power consumption

Postprint (published version

Sensibilidade ao dessecamento de sementes de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum. - sterculiaceae

The response of seeds to reduction in moisture content will determine whether they can be stored by conventional methods. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of desiccation on the germination and vigor of cupuassu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum.) seeds, a tropical fruit species. The following seed moisture contents (SMC) were tested: 57.1%, 53.7%, 49.8%, 46.5%, 41.4%, 35.4%, 28.3%, 23.2%, 17.4%, 15.5% and 14.6%. Desiccation of seeds to as low as 41.4% (SMC) did not affect emergence, germination or vigor. However, reductions in speed of emergence were observed below 41.4%. When SMC was equal or lower than 35.4% a reduction in seed quality was observed. Loss of seed quality was increased when moisture content was equal or lower than 28.3%, and at 14.5% SMC all cupuassu seeds were dead. The observed sensitivity of cupuassu seeds to reductions in moisture content suggests that storage conditions maintaining SMC higher than 41% are necessary for good seed vigor of this species.A resposta das sementes à redução do grau de umidade determinará se as mesmas poderão ser armazenadas pelos métodos convencionais. Verificou-se o efeito do dessecamento na germinação e no vigor de sementes de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) K. Schum.), uma espécie frutífera tropical. Os seguintes teores de água foram avaliados: 57,1%, 53,7%, 49,8%, 46,5%, 41,4%, 35,4%, 28,3%, 23,2%, 17,4%, 15,5% e 14,6%. A secagem das sementes até 41,4% de água não afeta a germinação e o vigor, porém, a velocidade de emergência foi reduzida quando o teor de água das sementes atinge 41,4%. Abaixo de 35,4% uma redução na qualidade das sementes foi detectada, a qual foi mais acentuada abaixo de 28,3%. Quando o teor de água das sementes foi de 14,6% a deterioração foi máxima. A sensibilidade de sementes de cupuaçu a redução do grau de umidade sugere que no armazenamento o teor de água das sementes deve ser mantido em valor superior a 41%

Array sísmico inalámbrico y de parámetros ambientales para la caracterización de precursores de actividad volcánica

The global seismic activity is extensively studied and well characterized by seismic networks focused on the seismic hazards derived from earthquakes. However, a specific study on volcano seismicity is not widespread, due to the wide variety of volcanic signals as well as the long periods of quiescence of many volcanoes. Seismic array technology emerged as a method for nuclear tests monitoring, however, it soon became an important tool for the analysis and location of volcano seismic signals thanks to a wide variety of processing techniques. From the techniques applied in array processing, in this PhD Thesis the beamforming algorithm has been chosen. In classical seismic arrays, the analog signals from each sensor are wired transmitted to the central acquisition system, resulting in a decrease of quality of the processed signal. Central node must perform signal acquisition from all sensors, establish a time control through the use of a GPS, store data and transmit them. Moreover, the volcanic monitoring equipment could be destroyed, or have depleted its power source, thus, it becomes evident the need of very low cost and high autonomy equipments, which currently do not exist. In this way, a seismic array has been designed, consisting of a wireless seismic network that allows any array topology, removing the need of any wire connection. It is a significant step forward over existing devices, due to involved cost reduction and autonomy obtained, that allow fast deployment without the need of large investments. These equipments present high versatility, thanks to the use of the latest technologies in both hardware and software, using an open source operating system with embedded Linux where all software is free. This allows us to configure and display recorded data on real time, through a webpage and an instant messaging application, in order to be able to track the activity at any moment and from everywhere. Array localization techniques are based on the search for the maximum coherence of the recorded signals by each sensor of the array, improving the quality of the seismic signal by coherently adding the signal of each element. This implies that the most important part in the data acquisition is to obtain the time delay of each signal accurately. Synthetic tests show that a delay in the synchronism of one millisecond implies an error of less than one degree in determining the arrival angle. In order to increase the accuracy of time synchronization, it has been experimented in the laboratory with the IEEE 1588 PTP standard, using Xbee PRO commercial wireless modules, achieving synchronization of the order of microseconds, well above the data analysis requirements. The final result of this Thesis has allowed the development of a compact seismic acquisition system with low-power consumption (515,24 mW), low cost (at least 10% below average commercial systems), low-noise (2-bit A/D 24) and lightweight, making easier the possibility to develop a significant number of these devices. The equipment has been checked in the laboratory through automated measurement systems and calibration procedures. It has been also tested in different field campaigns where wireless seismic array was compared to a wired array of the IGN (as a reference), both using the MARK L4 seismic sensor (vertical component, and 1second natural period), being the signal-to-noise ratio of both equipment identical. Taking into account the tolerance of the A/D clock of the different stations in the array, it has been verified that in the worst case the synchronization error was 650 µs.La actividad sísmica a nivel global está ampliamente estudiada y queda bien caracterizada mediante las redes de sismómetros enfocadas al riesgo sísmico derivado de los terremotos. Sin embargo, el estudio específico de la sismicidad volcánica está poco extendido, debido a la gran variedad de señales volcánicas y a los largos periodos de inactividad que pueden presentar los volcanes. A pesar de que la tecnología de arrays sísmicos (antenas sísmicas) surgió para la vigilancia de explosiones nucleares, pronto se convirtió en una herramienta de gran utilidad en el análisis y localización de señales volcánicas gracias a su gran variedad de técnicas de procesado. La diferencia principal entre un array y una red de sismómetros, se encuentra en las diversas técnicas de análisis aplicadas a las señales sísmicas registradas por los sismómetros individualmente y en su conjunto. De las distintas técnicas que se utilizan en el procesado de arrays sísmicos se ha escogido la de formación del haz (beamforming). En los arrays sísmicos actuales, las señales analógicas procedentes de cada sensor son llevadas por cable hasta el sistema de adquisición central, con la consiguiente merma en la calidad de la señal procesada. El nodo central debe realizar la adquisición de la señal de todos los sensores, establecer un control del tiempo mediante el uso de un GPS, almacenar los datos, transmitirlos, etc. A esto hay que añadir la posibilidad de que los equipos de monitorización volcánica sean destruidos, o que se agote la fuente de energía, por tanto se hace evidente la necesidad de disponer de equipos de muy bajo coste y gran autonomía, que actualmente no existen. Siguiendo esta línea de trabajo se ha diseñado una antena sísmica formada por redes de sensores inalámbricos que permitirá establecer cualquier topología de array, eliminando la necesidad de interconexión mediante cables. Esto representará un avance significativo respecto a los dispositivos existentes, tanto por la reducción de costes que implica, como por la autonomía que se consigue, lo cual permite un despliegue rápido sin necesidad de realizar una gran inversión económica. Estos equipos presentan una gran versatilidad, gracias al uso de las últimas tecnologías tanto en hardware como en software, utilizando un sistema abierto de tipo Linux embebido donde todo el software utilizado es libre. Esto permite configurar y visualizar los datos que se están registrando en tiempo real, a través de una página web y de una aplicación de mensajería instantánea, con el fin de poder realizar un seguimiento de la actividad en cualquier parte e instante. Las técnicas de localización con array se basan en la búsqueda de la máxima coherencia de las señales registradas por los distintos sensores del array, mejorando la calidad de la señal sísmica mediante la suma de la señal de cada elemento de forma coherente. Esto implica que la parte más importante en la adquisición de datos sea obtener los retardos de cada señal de forma exacta. Pruebas sintéticas muestran que un milisegundo de retardo de sincronismo deriva en un error en la determinación del ángulo de llegada por debajo de un grado. Para aumentar la precisión de sincronización de tiempo, se ha experimentado en el laboratorio con el estándar IEEE1588 PTP empleando módulos comerciales inalámbricos Xbee PRO, consiguiendo sincronización del orden del microsegundo, superiores a los requisitos del análisis de datos de array. El resultado final del trabajo de tesis ha permitido la realización de un equipo de adquisición sísmica compacto de bajo consumo (515,24mW) y coste (inferior al 10% sistemas comerciales), inalámbrico, de bajo ruido (2 bits en A/D de 24) y ligero, facilitando la posibilidad de disponer de un número significativo de unidades. El equipo ha sido validado en el laboratorio mediante sistemas de medida automatizados y procedimientos de calibración. Además se ha probado en diferentes campañas comparando el array sísmico inalámbrico desarrollado con un array de referencia cableado del IGN, ambos utilizando sensores sísmicos MARK L4 de 1 componente (vertical) y 1 segundo, siendo la relación señal/ruido de ambos equipos idéntica. Atendiendo a la tolerancia del reloj de los A/D de las diferentes estaciones del array, se ha verificado que en el peor de los casos el error de sincronismo es de 650 μs.Postprint (published version

Optimization of field topography in surface irrigation

20 Pags.- 2 Tabls.- 8 Figs. The definitive version is available at: http://ascelibrary.org/journal/jidedhThis work presents and applies a new methodology to find the optimal topography of a surface irrigation field, achieving a theoretically uniform surface irrigation. For any variant on surface irrigation (basin, border or furrow, with open or blocked end), the method’s result is a particular curved topographical shape of a field. This shape distributes water evenly over the field so that distribution uniformity is theoretically 100% and deep percolation disappears. The methodology was applied to two theoretical cases: (1) a one-dimensional blocked-end field, and (2) a two-dimensional square field with corner inflow. For each case, the methodology reached a particular topography in which distribution uniformity was near 100%. To put this methodology into practice, the optimized topography (which has a curved shape) can be fitted with two or more different slopes. An example is shown in which a real field was laser-levelled with two consecutive slopes to fit the optimized topography; it previously was calculated with the methodology presented in this paper. The irrigation was evaluated before and after the optimization. The results indicated an increase of distribution uniformity from 82 to 96%. The topographic optimization methodology offers new information about topography influence on irrigation performance indicators. The main practical conclusion is that this method can be useful to determine the best slope, set of slopes or curved shape when levelling any field for surface irrigation.This work was supported by the Government of Arag ´on (Spain) and the European Social Fund (European Union).Peer reviewe

FPGA Acceleration of Pre-Alignment Filters for Short Read Mapping With HLS

Pre-alignment filters are useful for reducing the computational requirements of genomic sequence mappers. Most of them are based on estimating or computing the edit distance between sequences and their candidate locations in a reference genome using a subset of the dynamic programming table used to compute Levenshtein distance. Some of their FPGA implementations of use classic HDL toolchains, thus limiting their portability. Currently, most FPGA accelerators offered by heterogeneous cloud providers support C/C++ HLS. In this work, we implement and optimize several state-of-the-art pre-alignment filters using C/C++ based-HLS to expand their portability to a wide range of systems supporting the OpenCL runtime. Moreover, we perform a complete analysis of the performance and accuracy of the filters and analyze the implications of the results. The maximum throughput obtained by an exact filter is 95.1 MPairs/s including memory transfers using 100 bp sequences, which is the highest ever reported for a comparable system and more than two times faster than previous HDL-based results. The best energy efficiency obtained from the accelerator (not considering host CPU) is 2.1 MPairs/J, more than one order of magnitude higher than other accelerator-based comparable approaches from the state of the art.10.13039/501100008530-European Union Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the framework of the ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia 2014-2020 with a grant of 50% of the total cost eligible under the Designing RISC-V based Accelerators for next generation computers project (DRAC) (Grant Number: [001-P-001723]) 10.13039/501100002809-Catalan Government (Grant Number: 2017-SGR-313 and 2017-SGR-1624) 10.13039/501100004837-Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Grant Number: PID2020-113614RB-C21 and RTI2018-095209-B-C22)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Copper distribution and acid‐base mobilization in vineyard soils and sediments from Galicia (NW Spain)

In northern Spain and elsewhere in the world, many vineyards are located on steep slopes and are susceptible to accelerated soil erosion. Contaminants, notably Cu, originating from repeated application of copper‐based fungicides to the vines to prevent mildew, are transported and stored in the sediments deposited close to valley bottoms. In this study, the contents and distribution of Cu in 17 soil samples and 21 sediment samples collected from vineyard stands were determined. In addition, the effect of pH on Cu release from vineyard soils and sediments was quantified. The total Cu content (Cu T) in the soils varied between 96 and 583 mg kg−1, and was between 1.2 and 5.6 times greater in sediment samples. The mean concentration of potentially bioavailable Cu (Cu EDTA) in the sediments was 199 mg kg−1 (46% of Cu T), and was 80 mg kg −1 (36% of Cu T) in the soils. Copper bound to soil organic matter (Cu OM) was the dominant fraction in the soils (on average, 53% of the Cu T), while in sediment samples Cu OM values varied between 37 and 712 mg kg−1 and were significantly greater (P < 0.01) than in the soils. Copper associated with non‐crystalline inorganic components (Cu IA) was the second most important fraction in the sediments, in which it was 3.4 times greater than in the soils. Release of Cu due to changes in the pH followed a U‐shaped pattern in soils and sediments. The release of Cu increased when the pH decreased below 5.5 due to the increased solubility of the metal at this pH. When the pH increased above 7.5, Cu and organic matter were released simultaneously.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia | Ref. AGL2006-04231/AG

Biotehnološke mogućnosti tirozinaze gljiva

Over the last decade there has been a significant interest in developing biotechnological applications of tyrosinases. These applications include the production of L-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine) from L-tyrosine, the production of cross-linked protein networks for use as novel food additives and the detection of phenolic compounds in wastewater or their removal from it. Much of the research into these applications has involved mushroom tyrosinases. We review the potential biotechnological applications of mushroom tyrosinases and evaluate the state of knowledge about their production, recovery and immobilization. We conclude that much more research is necessary in these areas if mushroom tyrosinases are to fulfill their biotechnological potential.U posljednjem se desetljeću povećalo zanimanje za primjenu tirozinaze u biotehnologiji. Primjena obuhvaća proizvodnju L-DOPA (3,4-dihidroksifenil-L-alanin) iz L-tirozina, proizvodnju umreženih polimera za dodatak hrani te određivanje ili uklanjanje fenolnih spojeva iz otpadnih voda. Veći dio tih istraživanja odnosi se na tirozinazu gljiva. Prikazana je mogućnost primjene tirozinaze gljiva u biotehnologiji i ocijenjene dosadašnje spoznaje o njihovoj proizvodnji, izdvajanju i imobiliziranju. Zaključeno je da je potrebno provesti dodatna istraživanja kako bi se povećala mogućnost primjene tirozinaze gljiva u biotehnologiji

Inhibicija supstrata za proizvodnju tirozinaze s pomoću gljive Lentinula boryana (Berk. & Mont.) Pegler prekurzorom dopamina (L-DOPA)

We undertook a preliminary characterization of the tyrosinase produced by a strain of Lentinula boryana from Brazil, with a view to evaluate its potential for biotechnological applications. The enzyme was similar to other fungal tyrosinases in many respects. When the crude extract was characterized, the tyrosinase activity was optimal at pH=6 and was not particularly thermostable, with half-lives of about 10 min and 1 min at 50 and 60 °C, respectively. We purified the enzyme with ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by ion exchange chromatography on a DEAE Sepharose column, obtaining a yield of 33 % and a 5.3-fold enrichment. The purified preparation gave three bands on SDS-PAGE, with molecular masses of 20, 27 and 47 kDa. This preparation showed substrate inhibition kinetics with L-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine), with a KM of 1.9 mM and a KI of 72 mM. Under the same reaction conditions, a commercial mushroom tyrosinase followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with a KM of 0.51 mM. Although the present study did not identify properties that would make the tyrosinase of L. boryana more suitable in biotechnological applications than tyrosinases from other mushrooms, it has made a contribution by showing that the enzyme suffers substrate inhibition by L-DOPA, something that has not previously been reported for mushroom tyrosinases.Provedena je preliminarna karakterizacija tirozinaze proizvedene brazilskim sojem gljive Lentinula boryana, radi procjene moguće primjene u biotehnologiji. Enzim je po mnogo čemu sličan tirozinazama drugih gljiva. Nakon karakterizacije sirovog ekstrakta, aktivnost tirozinaze bila je optimalna pri pH=6 i ne osobito termostabilna, s poluvremenom raspada od 10 i 1 min pri 50 i 60 °C. Enzim je pročišćen taloženjem pomoću amonijeva sulfata i ionskom kromatografijom na koloni DEAE-sefaroze, s prinosom od 33 % i faktorom obogaćivanja od 5,3. Primjenom metode SDS-PAGE dobivene su 3 trake pročišćenoga proizvoda, molekularne mase od 20, 27 i 47 kDa. Pokazatelji kinetike inhibicije supstrata tog proizvoda s L-DOPA (3,4-dihidroksi-L-fenilalaninom) iznosili su KM=1.9 mM i KI=72 mM. U istim uvjetima reakcije tirozinaza iz komercijalnih gljiva ponašala se prema Michaelis-Mentenovom modelu s vrijednošću KM=0,51 mM. Iako ovim istraživanjem nije ustanovljeno da je tirozinaza iz gljive L. boryana najprikladnija za biotehnološku primjenu, ipak je pridonijelo spoznajom da L-DOPA utječe na inhibiciju supstrata enzima, što dosad nije bilo poznato