Nitrogen determination on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedlings by color image analysis (RGB)

In order to investigate the effectiveness of a new method based on color image analysis and the Minolta SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter for the diagnosis of nitrogen deficiencies of tomato seedlings, a field experiment was conducted. In this study, five levels of nitrogen fertilization were established so as to induce nitrogen deficiencies in tomato seedlings. Thirty-five days after sowing, total nitrogen was evaluated by laboratory analysis. The chlorophyll index was determined using a SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter. Also, color images were taken with a digital camera; the color images were processed in MATLAB in order to determine the averages of the red color, green color and the blue color. The relationships between variables were analyzed by linear regressions and a one way analysis of variance (p < 0.01). Results showed that color image analysis correlated better with the status of plant nitrogen than the SPAD. From the color image analysis, the red and blue colors were more accurate predictors of nitrogen status on plants with R2 above 0.89. Color image analysis provides an accurate and quick way for nitrogen estimation and can contribute for early detection of nitrogen deficiency in tomato seedlings. The SPAD method is not a reliable way to estimate the nitrogen status on tomato seedlings.Keywords: Color image analysis (RGB), chlorophyll meter, nitrogen deficiencyAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(33), pp. 5326-5332, 16 August, 201

Motion Control with FPGA

The aim of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the field programmable gate array (FPGA)‐based digital control system design for motion control. It is intended as a reference for the undergraduate students in science and engineering, professionals, and enthusiastic people who have a basic knowledge in discrete control theory and digital systems using reconfigurable logic. The scope of this chapter includes the analysis, simulation, and implementation of classic control algorithms. The presented topics serve as a foundation for the implementation of more complex systems. An experimental section is provided, which validates the proposed digital design

Improved AFIS for Color and Gray Image based on Biometric Triangulation

This research presents a fingerprint image processing algorithm for personal automatic identification, which has been in development since 1998. It is principally based on the comparison of the fingerprint's biometric pattern between the fingerprint captured (original) in each session and the one stored in database. It is preferable to capture the image in color. The biometric pattern is formed by the Euclidean distances based on the triangulation of only three minutiae. This methodology locates the position and the type of each minutia to perform the triangulation. The applied metric is the statistic similarity obtained by the comparison of both biometric patterns. This technique enables one to solve translation and rotation problems. An original colored fingerprint is used in order to obtain more information about the fingerprint situation. The space color used is HCL, because it helps get a good skin color for an encrypt key, which is formed by each channel (HCL) in accordance with the skin color. This system has several applications due to its low cost and efficiency. Finally, the results obtained with this methodology were satisfactory since in all the experimental tests the system offered a rate of global success of 99 %.Facultad de Informátic

Reduction of the grain yield and stubble yield of landrace corn varieties to effect of edafic drought

En los años 2005 y 2006 se evaluaron, bajo condiciones de sequía (S) y sin sequía (SS), seis variedades criollas de maíz de temporal del estado de Zacatecas, una variedad mejorada y una experimental, con el fin de observar si algunas mostraban mayor peso de grano y rastrojo que otras bajo condiciones de cultivo con sequía; y además verificar si reducían poco por efecto de éste tratamiento, respecto al de sin sequía. Los experimentos se desarrollaron en la Unidad Académica de Agronomía de la Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas. Se usó un diseño experimental en parcelas divididas con cuatro repeticiones; las parcelas grandes fueron ocupadas por los tratamientos: sequía y sin sequía, en las que se distribuyeron al azar las variedades. La unidad experimental constó de tres surcos de 5 x 0.75 m con 16 plantas cada uno; en el surco central se tomaron datos de: peso de grano, peso de rastrojo y días a floración masculina media. Las variedades de 72 días a floración masculina media (DFM): C–5 y VS–201, tuvieron mayor peso de grano y fueron menos afectadas por la sequía que la variedad C–4, de la misma precocidad. Las variedades: C–7 y C–23, de 78 DFM, superaron a la variedad Exp, también de 78 DFM. En el peso de rastrojo sobresalió la variedad C–5, seguida de C–11 de 72 DFM, y la variedad C–23, también seguida de C–10, de 78 DFM. En el 2005, las variedades más afectadas por la sequía redujeron en promedio el peso de grano en un 35.5%, el de rastrojo en un 36.5%, y las variedades sobresalientes en 14 y 21.5 %, respectivamente. En el 2006 la reducción fue, en el mismo orden anterior, de: 69.0%, 52.5%, 46.5% y 32.0 %. El mayor efecto de la sequía, observado en el año 2006, se debe a que se dieron 14 días de sequía en la etapa de floración, contra cuatro del 2005. Los días a floración masculina sólo fueron afectados por la sequía en 2005 y 2006, en la variedad C–11

Long-Range Wireless Mesh Network for Weather Monitoring in Unfriendly Geographic Conditions

In this paper a long-range wireless mesh network system is presented. It consists of three main parts: Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), Base Terminal Units (BTUs) and a Central Server (CS). The RTUs share a wireless network transmitting in the industrial, scientific and medical applications ISM band, which reaches up to 64 Km in a single point-to-point communication. A BTU controls the traffic within the network and has as its main task interconnecting it to a Ku-band satellite link using an embedded microcontroller-based gateway. Collected data is stored in a CS and presented to the final user in a numerical and a graphical form in a web portal

FPGA-Based Fused Smart-Sensor for Tool-Wear Area Quantitative Estimation in CNC Machine Inserts

Manufacturing processes are of great relevance nowadays, when there is a constant claim for better productivity with high quality at low cost. The contribution of this work is the development of a fused smart-sensor, based on FPGA to improve the online quantitative estimation of flank-wear area in CNC machine inserts from the information provided by two primary sensors: the monitoring current output of a servoamplifier, and a 3-axis accelerometer. Results from experimentation show that the fusion of both parameters makes it possible to obtain three times better accuracy when compared with the accuracy obtained from current and vibration signals, individually used

FPGA-Based Fused Smart Sensor for Dynamic and Vibration Parameter Extraction in Industrial Robot Links

Intelligent robotics demands the integration of smart sensors that allow the controller to efficiently measure physical quantities. Industrial manipulator robots require a constant monitoring of several parameters such as motion dynamics, inclination, and vibration. This work presents a novel smart sensor to estimate motion dynamics, inclination, and vibration parameters on industrial manipulator robot links based on two primary sensors: an encoder and a triaxial accelerometer. The proposed smart sensor implements a new methodology based on an oversampling technique, averaging decimation filters, FIR filters, finite differences and linear interpolation to estimate the interest parameters, which are computed online utilizing digital hardware signal processing based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGA)

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049