Application of an acoustic doppler velocimeter to analyse the performance of the hydraulic agitation system of an agricultural sprayer

An acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) was used to analyse the impact of an agricultural sprayer’s agitation system settings on fluid velocities inside the tank. A 3000 L capacity sprayer equipped with a 4-nozzle hydraulic agitation system was usedPostprint (published version

X Congreso Ibérico de Agroingeniería = X Congresso Ibérico de Agroengenharia : Libro de actas = Livro de atas

In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a report on the challenges that Agriculture is facing and will face into the 21st century, which can be summarized in one question: will we be able to sustainably and effectively feed everyone by 2050 and beyond, while meeting the additional demand for agricultural commodities due to non- food uses? Agricultural engineers can contribute in this process by releasing the biological and technical constraints on crop and animal productivity, reducing the contribution of the agricultural sector to environmental degradation, and enabling agricultural practices to adapt to environmental changes. To achieve optimal results for agribusiness and the society, the expertise of agricultural engineers must be integrated with expertise from other sciences: breakthrough technologies are needed for agricultural enterprises to meet the increasing list of standards and norms in the areas of energy, animal welfare, product quality, water, and volatile emissions. Recognition of trends in society and networking and participation in debates have thus become important activities for agricultural engineers. The Iberian Agroengineering Congress series brings together Spanish and Portuguese engineers, researchers, educators and practitioners to present and discuss innovations, trends, and solutions to the aforementioned challenges in the interdisciplinary field of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. This biennial congress, jointly organized by the Spanish Society of Agroengineering and the Specialized Section of Rural Engineering of the Sociedade de Ciências Agrárias de Portugal, has proven to be an excellent opportunity to network and discuss future developments. In its 10th edition, the Congress has been held from 3-6 September in Huesca (Spain), at the Escuela Politécnica Superior, located on the Huesca Campus of the University of Zaragoza. The topics of the Congress have included the main areas of Agricultural Engineering: mechanization; soils and water; animal production technology and aquaculture; rural constructions; energy; information technologies and process control; projects, environment, and territory; postharvest technology; and educational innovation in agroengineering. The Congress has received 123 participants, who have submitted 144 papers, 86 oral communications and 58 poster. 22 universities, 4 research centers and 8 companies/professional associations have been represented. The quality of the papers presented to the congress is endorsed not only by the long trajectory of the Iberian Agroengineering Congress, but also by the edition of a Special Issue of Agronomy journal (ISSN 2073-4395) entitled “Selected Papers form 10th Iberian Agroengineering Congress”

CFD models as a tool to analyze the performance of the hydraulic agitation system of an air-assisted sprayer

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the fluid velocities generated by the agitation system of an air-assisted sprayer was developed and validated by practical experiments in a laboratory. The model was developed considering different settings of the agitation system: Three water levels in the tank (1000, 2000, and 3000 L); two different numbers of active nozzles (2 or 4); and three working pressures of the agitation circuit (8, 10, or 12 bar). Actual measurements of the fluid velocity into the tank were taken using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV). CFD simulations made it possible to estimate fluid velocities at 38% of the measuring points with relative errors of less than 30%. Additionally, the CFD models have allowed the correct prediction of the general behavior of the fluid in the tank considering mean velocities depending on the setting parameters of the agitation system (water level in the tank, hydraulic circuit pressure, and number of active nozzles)

The Flavonol-Anthocyanin Pathway in Blackberry and Arabidopsis: State of the Art

Flavonols and anthocyanins are plant secondary metabolites with an increasing interest due to their beneficial effects on human health. They are present in all plants, participating in plant protection against biotic and abiotic stresses. However, only some plant species accumulate them in relevant amounts, as is the case for berries. Among the health benefits reported is prevention of metabolic syndrome, s, including prevention of insulin resistance associated to type 2 diabetes. Therefore, there is a big interest to improve contents on plant foods to benefit health through the diet, as well as to obtain them for functional ingredients for food supplements. In fulfillment of this objective, a deep study about their biosynthetic pathway has been carried out in model plants, where the genome is available. However, not all species that accumulate them in high amounts have their genome sequenced, as is the case for blackberry. Transcriptomic approaches have been undertaken to gain knowledge of its specific biosynthetic pathway and regulatory elements, aiming to improve bioactive contents in the edible parts. Furthermore, determining the regulatory pathways will help to improve yields and in vitro production. For this purpose, a review on elicitors used to trigger this pathway is presented

Non-destructive means and methods for structural diagnosis of masonry arch bridges

Within the precepts defended by the International Charter of Kraków, this paper aims at presenting a fully non-destructive multidisciplinary approach able to characterize masonry bridges at three different levels: i) geometrical level; ii) material level and; iii) structural level. To this end, this approach integrates the terrestrial laser scanner, the sonic and impact-echo methods, the ground penetrating radar and the multichannel analysis of surface waves. All these data are combined with reverse engineering procedures, allowing the creation of suitable as-built CAD models for advanced numerical simulations. Then, these numerical models are contrasted and updated through the data provided by the ambient vibration tests. To validate the methodology proposed in this paper, the Roman bridge of Avila was used as study case. This bridge shows a complex mixture of constructive techniques (masonry, cohesive material, Opus Caementicium and reinforced concrete). Thus, the numerical model was considered for performing predictive structural analysis.Junta of Castilla y León | Ref. SA075P1

A multidisciplinary approach to calibrating advanced numerical simulations of masonry arch bridges

This paper proposes a robust multidisciplinary method that combines geomatic procedures (terrestrial laser scanning and reverse engineering), geophysical methods (ground-penetrating radar and multichannel analysis of surface waves), sonic and impact echo tests, and ambient vibration approaches to generate accurate numerical simulations of masonry arch bridges. These methods are complemented by a robust finite element model updating method based on metamodeling global sensitivity analysis and a robust calibration strategy. The results obtained corroborate the feasibility of the proposed methodology with an average relative error in frequencies of 1.21% and an average modal assurance criterion of 0.93

Biotic elicitation as a tool to improve strawberry and raspberry extract potential on metabolic syndromeâ related enzymes in vitro

BackgroundRaspberry and strawberry are high valueâ added food products that can contribute to human health due to the abundance of polyphenols that they contain. Polyphenols are secondary metabolites and therefore devoted to improve plant adaptation, these polyphenol profile can be induced applying different stimuli, such as certain bacteria. The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to evaluate the ability of two bacterial strains to modulate secondary metabolisms in strawberry and raspberry, and (ii) to explore the ability of plant extracts to modify enzyme activities related to metabolic syndrome.ResultsTotal phenolic and anthocyanin content was higher in strawberries than in raspberries, despite similar antioxidant capacities. Strawberry extracts performed better on the tested enzymes, except on αâ glucosidase inhibition capacity. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens stabilized the effects of extracts at different points in time, and Pseudomonas fluorescens modified plant metabolism after more inoculations (spring) in both species, improving the effects of raspberry extracts on αâ glucosidase, COX1, and COX2, and of strawberry on αâ amylase and COX1.ConclusionIt is good to include these two fruits in the diet because they improve the activity of metabolic syndromeâ related enzymes. Applying either strain during plant growth modifies the bioactive profile of the plants, improving the effects of the fruit extracts on human health. © 2018 Society of Chemical IndustryPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148422/1/jsfa9507_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148422/2/jsfa9507.pd

A counterfactual impact evaluation of a bilingual program on students’ grade point average at a spanish university

This observational study intends to estimate the causal effects of an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) program (as predictor) on students Grade Point Average (GPA) (as outcome) at a particular University in Spain by using a Counterfactual Impact Evaluation (CIE). The need to address the crucial question of causal inferences in EMI programs to produce credible evidences of successful interventions contrasts, however, with the absence of experimental or quasi-experimental research and evaluation designs in the field. CIE approach is emerging as a methodologically viable solution to bridge that gap. The program evaluated here consisted in delivering an EMI program in a Primary Education Teacher Training Degree group. After achieving balance on the observed covariates and recreating a situation that would have been expected in a randomized experiment, three matching approaches such as genetic matching, nearest neighbor matching and Coarsened Exact Matching were used to analyze observational data from a total of 1288 undergraduate students, including both treatment and control group. Results show unfavorable effects of the bilingual group treatment condition. Potential interpretations and recommendations are provided in order to strengthen future causal evidences of bilingual education programs’ effectiveness in Higher Education.This work was supported by the Junta de Andalucía-funded Proyecto de Excelencia: “Análisis y Garantía de Calidad de la Educación Superior Plurilingüe en la Educación Superior de Andalucía [Junta de Andalusia-funded Project of Excelence: Analysis and Warrantee of the Quality of Plurilingual Higher Education in Andalucia] (AGCEPESA; Grant Agreement No. P12-SEJ − 1588)

Análisis del sistema implantado en España para el control de equipos de aplicación de productos fitosanitarios: entidades inspectoras, control de la calidad de la inspección y gestión de datos

El Real Decreto 1702/2011, de 18 de noviembre, de inspecciones periódicas de los equipos de aplicación de productos fitosanitarios, establece que las CCAA son las encargadas del “control y aplicación del programa de inspecciones que se lleven a cabo en su ámbito territorial”, para dar cumplimiento a la obligación que la Directiva 2009/128/CE de uso sostenible de plaguicidas impuso a todos los países miembros de la UE. Para poder llevar a cabo dicha encomienda la mayoría de las CCAA (trece) promulgaron decretos u órdenes autonómicos, donde se regula lo relativo al establecimiento y funcionamiento del sistema necesario para poder realizar la inspección periódica de los equipos de aplicación de fitosanitarios (EAF), desde el proceso de autorización de las entidades inspectoras (ITEAF) hasta los mecanismos de control de la calidad de la propia actividad inspectora y de los procesos relativos a la gestión de los resultados de las inspecciones realizadas en su ámbito territorial. El resto de las autonomías, cuyo número de equipos a inspeccionar es muy reducido, decidieron que fuesen los servicios del Departamento competente los que se encargaran de realizar la inspección de las máquinas y las instalaciones. En este artículo se analiza la configuración actual del sistema completo, en el que están implicadas las ITEAF autorizadas, los Órganos Competentes de las CCAA y la Dirección General de Medios de Producción del MAPA. Se describe el modelo establecido y las herramientas con las que se ha dotado a los agentes implicados. Asimismo se determinan las fortalezas y debilidades del sistema de gestión, una vez que se encuentra en la fase final del proceso de implantación del Plan Nacional de inspección obligatoria de todos los equipos de aplicación de productos fitosanitarios, independientemente de que la aplicación se realice con equipos móviles o aeronaves a cultivos en campo abierto, con equipos fijos y semimóviles en el interior de instalaciones para cultivos bajo cubierta o mediante equipos fijos