Identification of damping in a bridge using a moving instrumented vehicle

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of bridges which are being instrumented and monitored on an ongoing basis. This is in part due to the introduction of bridge management systems designed to provide a high level of protection to the public and early warning if the bridge becomes unsafe. This paper investigates a novel alternative; a low-cost method consisting of the use of a vehicle fitted with accelerometers on its axles to monitor the dynamic behaviour of bridges. A simplified half-car vehicle-bridge interaction model is used in theoretical simulations to test the effectiveness of the approach in identifying the damping ratio of the bridge. The method is tested for a range of bridge spans and vehicle velocities using theoretical simulations and the influences of road roughness, initial vibratory condition of the vehicle, signal noise, modelling errors and frequency matching on the accuracy of the results are investigated

Sustainable Soil Management: Its perception and the need for policy Intervention in the European context

As stated in the strategic objectives of the Global Soil Partnership “healthy soils and sustainable soil management are the precondition for human well-being and economic welfare and therefore play the key role for sustainable development”. Although the functional properties of a healthy soil are well understood, in practice it is easily overlooked what is necessary to achieve and sustain healthy agricultural soils. This contribution intends: to discuss the concept of sustainable soil management in agricultural production with regard to soil health, and to highlight its importance in the achievement of both Sustainable Development Goals and the 4 per mille objectives, as well as for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In Europe, soil and the need for its conservation and stewardship gained visibility at the beginning of this century during the discussions related to the Soil Thematic Strategy. This higher level of awareness concerning the status of Europe’s soils led to the introduction of soil conservation standards into the cross-compliance and recently into the greening mechanisms within the 1st Pillar of CAP. However, the business-as-usual model of tillage based agriculture continues and soil degradation through erosion, soil organic matter and soil biodiversity decline and compaction together with general yields’ stagnation continues. In light of the above, urgent action is needed to extend the timid European efforts of agricultural soil conservation and to include measures that would cover and apply directly to a much larger area under agricultural production while preserving and enhancing the production potential and capacity of the farmland. Crop production and agricultural land management based on the principles of Conservation Agriculture (no-till seeding and weeding, maintaining soil mulch cover, crop diversification) has proven to improve decisively the delivery of all soil-mediated productivity and ecosystem services, including soil carbon sequestration (4 per mille), the efficient use of natural resources and external inputs, and thus improved cost efficiency and profit, while maintaining or increasing productivity. However, especially in Europe, institutional and policy support is needed to mainstream this truly agro-ecological approach of Conservation Agriculture to sustainable farming and land management

Opportunities for Conservation Agriculture in the EU Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020

In the past, many relevant European Union (EU) documents made reference to the environmental problems caused by agriculture. In those papers, the concept of Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a possible solution was either omitted or timidly named, although sustainable agriculture was proclaimed as an objective of the EU in the Amsterdam treaty in 1999. EU’s position regarding several worldwide environmental problems, i.e. climate change, water and soil threats, is well known. However, to which extent these positions will be reflected in EU agricultural and environmental policies and concrete and binding measures in all member states for the period of 2014-2020 is still an open question. Through its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) EU claims to address the main concerns of its agriculture and rural development. In this context, EU launched a Communication (COM (2010) 672 final) named “The CAP towards 2020. Meeting the food, natural resources and territorial challenges of the future”. Based on this paper we analyse the deliverables that CA could provide to achieve the overall objectives established for the CAP in the horizon 2014-2020

Physical and Excess Properties for Binary Systems Containing an Alcohol and Ionic Liquid at T = 298.15K

AbstractIn this paper, density, speed of sound and refractive index of six binary systems (alcohol + ionic liquid) were measured, along the whole composition range, at T = 298.15K and atmospheric pressure. The ionic liquids used in this work are constituted by different cations (pyridinium and pyrrolidinium), anions (trifluoromethanesulfonate and dicyanamide) and alkyl-side chain (propyl- and butyl-). From the experimental data, excess molar volumes, excess molar isentropic compressions and excess refractive index were calculated and satisfactorily fitted using the Redlich-Kister equation. The obtained results show that the physical and excess properties studied in this work are dependent on the structure of the ILs, especially on the anion

Genetic differentiation between insular and continental populations of migratory and resident warblers, the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus and the Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti Journal of Ornithology

[EN] Island populations are frequently smaller than continental populations, have lower genetic diversity, are more inbred and show genetic differentiation from the mainland ones. However, sufficient numbers of immigrants may reduce the differentiation of insular populations and moderate the effects of genetic drift. In this study, we compared insular and continental populations of Cetti¿s Warbler Cettia cetti and Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We assessed the degree of genetic differentiation between insular and continental birds, their demographic history and genetic diversity. We compared the results, taking into account the differences in migration strategy and morphology of the two warblers. We found slightly lower genetic diversity in the insular populations than in the continental birds, possibly because of the lower population size or reduced immigration. The genetic differentiation between island and mainland birds was low, but higher in Cetti¿s Warbler than in the Great Reed Warbler, suggesting differences in the species¿ capability of crossing the sea. We found evidence for a past bottleneck in both the insular and continental populations of Cetti¿s Warbler, while for the Great Reed Warbler we found no signs of past population reductions. A high dispersal capability of the Great Reed Warbler may have allowed high gene flow, which may explain the observed interspecific differences in the demographic history of the Great Reed Warbler and Cetti¿s Warbler.We acknowledge M. Rebassa, H. Rguibi-Idrissi, M. Marin, J. Gomez, Santi, Luis, Kames and family and many others, who have helped us with the fieldwork. We would also like to thank the authorities of the Marjal de Pego-Oliva Natural Park, the S'Albufera de Mallorca Natural Park, the Consejeria de medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de Castilla-La Mancha, the Servei de Conservacio de la Biodiversitat de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forets et a la lutte contre la desertification de Rabat, Morocco for providing the facilities to work in protected areas and for the relevant permits. We are grateful to M. Serra and the researchers and Ph.D. students of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology (Institute Cavanilles of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology University of Valencia), for providing a laboratory for DNA extraction. This study has been partly financed by projects CGL2005-02041/BOS and CGL201021933-0O2-02 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the University of Oulu. F. Ceresa was supported by an Atraent talent grant from the University of Valencia.Ceresa, F.; Belda, E.; Kvist, L.; Kajanus, M.; Monrós González, JS. (2018). Genetic differentiation between insular and continental populations of migratory and resident warblers, the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus and the Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti Journal of Ornithology. Journal of Ornithology (Online). 159(3):703-712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1543-2S703712159

Does fragmentation of wetlands affect gene flow in sympatric Acrocephalus warblers with different migration strategies?

Wetlands are naturally patchy habitats, but patchiness has been accentuated by the extensive wetlands loss due to human activities. In such a fragmented habitat, dispersal ability is especially important to maintain gene flow between populations. Here we studied population structure, genetic diversity and demographic history of Iberian and North African populations of two wetland passerines, the Eurasian reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus and the moustached warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon. These species are closely related and sympatric in our study sites, but the reed warbler is a long-distance migrant and widespread bird while the moustached warbler is resident or migrates over short distances, and breeds across a more discontinuous range. Using microsatellites and mtDNA data, we found higher population differentiation in moustached than in reed warbler, indicating higher dispersal capability of the latter species. Our results also suggest that the sea limits dispersal in the moustached warbler. For both species, we found evidence of gene flow between study sites, indicating the capability of compensating for habitat fragmentation. However, in most cases gene flow was restricted, possibly because of the large distances between study sites (from c. 290 to 960 km) or breeding site fidelity. Haplotype diversity was higher for the reed warbler, possibly because of a more important contribution of dispersal from different populations and the higher population size. Studying demographic history, we obtained signs of postglacial population growth for both species, and evidences of a recent colonization or re-colonization of the Mallorca Island by the moustached warblerWe acknowledge M. Rebassa, M. Marin, J. Gomez, Santi, Luis, Kames and family and many others, who have helped us with the field work. We would also like to thank the authorities of the Marjal de Pego-Oliva Natural Park, the S'Albufera de Mallorca Natural Park, 'Consejeria de medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de Castilla-La Mancha', the 'Servei de Conservacio de la Biodiversitat de la Generalitat Valenciana' and the 'Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forets et a la lutte contre la desertification de Rabat, Morocco' for providing the facilities to work in protected areas and for the relevant permits. The people in these areas were always kind and have greatly helped us in sampling reed and moustached warblers. We are grateful to M. Serra and the researchers and PhD students of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology (Inst. Cavanilles of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology - Univ. of Valencia), for providing the laboratory and useful advices for DNA extraction. This study has been funded by Projects CGL2005-02041/BOS and CGL2010-21933-C02-02 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. FC was supported by an 'Atraent talent' grant from the Univ. of Valencia.Ceresa, F.; Belda, E.; Kvist, L.; Rguibi-Idrissi, H.; Monrós González, JS. (2015). Does fragmentation of wetlands affect gene flow in sympatric Acrocephalus warblers with different migration strategies?. Journal of Avian Biology. 46(6):577-588. doi:10.1111/jav.00589S57758846

Amputación Pirogoff modificada aplicada a la cirugía oncológica del pie

Los sarcomas óseos y de tejidos blandos del pie son infrecuentes, representando menos del 10% de todos los sarcomas de la extremidad inferior. El tratamiento más frecuente de los sarcomas del pie es la amputación por debajo de la rodilla, debido a la imposibilidad de conseguir márgenes amplios, pero en determinados casos de tumores del antepié se puede optar por una amputación parcial del pie con margen amplio. Se presenta una serie de tres casos de amputación de Pirogoff modificada aplicada a la resección oncológica tumoral. La amputación de Pirogoff consiste en una artrodesis calcaneotibial con resección del astrágalo, rotando el calcáneo 90°. La modificación de la técnica de amputación del Pirogoff, en la que se conservan ambos maléolos con escisión de la carilla articular favorece la estabilidad en el plano lateral y ayuda a una más rápida artrodesis. Es muy importante mantener los principios oncológicos de la resección tumoral.Bone and soft-tissue sarcomata of the foot are infrequent neoplasms, representing less than 10% of all lower limb sarcomata. The most frequent therapeutic measure for foot sarcomata is amputation below the knee, due to the difficulty to achieve ample (onco-)-surgical margins, yet in a number of cases of forefoottumours there is an option for partial foot amputation with ample surgical margins. We report a series of three cases of modified Pirogoff's amputation as applied to oncosurgical tumour resection. Pirogoff's amputation is a calcaneo-tibial arthrodesis with resection of the talus and 90° rotation of the calcaneus. The here reported modification of the Pirogoff amputation, in which both malleoli are preserved yet with excision of the articular surface, favours lateral-plane stability and promotes a quicker arthrodesis. It is highly important to observe and maintain the oncologic surgery principles for tumour resection

Frequency response of Valencia oranges to selective harvesting by vibration

Citrus mechanical harvesting has been investigated since the 1960’s. Even though mechanical harvesting could significantly lower production costs, the implementation by the private sector has been slow. The current harvesting technologies detach the fruits with trunk, canopy or branch vibration. For late-season sweet orange varieties which simultaneously bear mature fruit, immature fruitlets and flowers shaker harvesting decreases the subsequent year’s yield. This study, investigated the frequency response of mature fruits and immature fruitlets to determine the optimum frequency range for an efficient and selective harvest. Laboratory vibration transmission tests were conducted with 14 branches bearing 76 mature fruits and 151 immature ‘Valencia’ fruitlets. The fruit and branch response to the forced vibration was measured by several sets of five triaxial accelerometers with a dynamic signal analyser. Three frequency ranges with the highest vibration transmission values were identified for mechanical harvesting lower than 10 Hz. The first frequency range (1.5-2.5 Hz) corresponded best with the most efficient vibration transmission, involving more than 90% of fruit. The second frequency range (4.5-5 Hz) successfully discriminated between mature fruit and immature fruitlets. In this frequency range, 53.4% of mature fruit amplified the acceleration a mean value of 2.2 times, while only 7.3% of immature fruitlets amplified the acceleration with a mean value of 4.4 times. The lowest third frequency range had a vibration transmission value of 7-8 Hz. The frequency response of mature citrus fruits, and their markedly higher fruit mass, were significant factors in efficient selective mechanical harvesting

Changes in Number and Weight of Wheat and Triticale Grains to Manipulation in Source-Sink Relationship

The source-sink ratio experimental manipulation has helped to define whether a crop is limited by source or sink or co-limited by both. There is no evidence in triticale of source-sink manipulations effects on yield and yield components. Two experiments were accomplished during 2008 and 2009 growing seasons at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, México, and one in 2010 at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in Pergamino, Argentina. Two triticale cultivars (line 4 and 7) and one wheat cultivar (Tollocan) were used. Source-sink relations were modified at anthesis by thinning, degraining, shading, and total defoliation procedures. Changes in the source-sink relation affected yields in both species differentially. The changes in yield due to cultivars and treatments were explained mainly by the number of grains rather than by their individual grain weight. The number of grains was affected by all treatments in both species, while the individual grain weight was increased by thinning and degraining mainly in triticale. A greater number of fertile florets in triticale were associated with their higher rate of abortion compared to wheat. These results could help to better understand crop management and genetic improvement.Fil: Ballesteros Rodriguez, E.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Martinez Rueda, C.G.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Morales Rosales, E.J.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Estrada Campuzano, G.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: González, Fernanda Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

SIMDE: Un Simulador para el Apoyo Docente en la Enseñanza de las Arquitecturas ILP con Planificación Dinámica y Estática

En este trabajo se presenta una herramienta de simulación de arquitecturas ILP en sus dos vertientes más significativas: superescalar (con planificación dinámica) y VLIW (con planificación estática), con el objetivo de incorporarse como herramienta docente en una asignatura de Arquitectura de Computadoras