On the added value of quad-pol data in a multi-temporal crop classification framework based on RADARSAT-2 imagery

Polarimetric SAR images are a rich data source for crop mapping. However, quad-pol sensors have some limitations due to their complexity, increased data rate, and reduced coverage and revisit time. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the added value of quad-pol data in a multi-temporal crop classification framework based on SAR imagery. With this aim, three RADARSAT-2 scenes were acquired between May and June 2010. Once we analyzed the separability and the descriptive analysis of the features, an object-based supervised classification was performed using the Random Forests classification algorithm. Classification results obtained with dual-pol (VV-VH) data as input were compared to those using quad-pol data in different polarization bases (linear H-V, circular, and linear 45º), and also to configurations where several polarimetric features (Pauli and Cloude–Pottier decomposition features and co-pol coherence and phase difference) were added. Dual-pol data obtained satisfactory results, equal to those obtained with quad-pol data (in H-V basis) in terms of overall accuracy (0.79) and Kappa values (0.69). Quad-pol data in circular and linear 45º bases resulted in lower accuracies. The inclusion of polarimetric features, particularly co-pol coherence and phase difference, resulted in enhanced classification accuracies with an overall accuracy of 0.86 and Kappa of 0.79 in the best case, when all the polarimetric features were added. Improvements were also observed in the identification of some particular crops, but major crops like cereals, rapeseed, and sunflower already achieved a satisfactory accuracy with the VV-VH dual-pol configuration and obtained only minor improvements. Therefore, it can be concluded that C-band VV-VH dual-pol data is almost ready to be used operationally for crop mapping as long as at least three acquisitions in dates reflecting key growth stages representing typical phenology differences of the present crops are available. In the near future, issues regarding the classification of crops with small field sizes and heterogeneous cover (i.e., fallow and grasslands) need to be tackled to make this application fully operational

Resource preference of two stream detritivores in the laboratory largely differs from the supply of detritus below eucalypt plantations

Detritivores are pivotal in forest streams as they process detritus and promote secondary production. Many studies have addressed the preference of freshwater detritivores towards materials of differing quality. Nevertheless, few studies compare the resource preferences in the laboratory with the availability in the field. In the present study, feeding preferences of two stream detritivores (the caddisfly Sericostoma pyrenaicum and the amphipod Echinogammarus tarragonensis), over three native leaf species (alder, chestnut and oak) and an exotic species (eucalypt) were quantified in the laboratory. Preference for eucalypt leaves conditioned for 1, 2 and 3 weeks was also described. We then contrasted the preference patterns in the laboratory feeding experiments with a 15-month-long benthic standing stock time series of a stream below a native deciduous forest and another below a eucalypt plantation. Both detritivores preferred consuming alder leaves and more conditioned eucalypt leaves, although the amphipod was more selective than the caddisfly. The consumption preference in the laboratory was unmatched by the availability in the field, especially under eucalypt plantations and for the amphipod. Our results show that the strength of the preference for high-quality resources can differ among different taxa, which can modulate their response to land use changes.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This study was funded by the Spanish Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científica (Project DGESIC PB98-0151) and finanacial support in terms of a predoctoral Grant to A. Otermin from Basque Government

The effect of sieve mesh size on the description of macroinvertebrate communities

Considerable time and effort is required to estimate the abundance and biomass of benthic macroinvertebrates, and often variable mesh size sieves are used to clean collected samples. We test whether the use of a mesh with a 1 mm pore size is adequate to obtain a valid description of a benthic macroinvertebrate community. Stream benthic surber samples were collected from 24 headwater streams. The densities, biotic indices and biological traits ofmacroinvertebrates retained in al mm mesh ('> 1 mm' fraction) were compared to the same descriptors for the of macroinvertebrates retained in a 0.5 mm mesh sieve ('total'). We found that, if only the large fraction (> 1 rnm) is examined, the cornmunity descriptors are affected. Nevertheless, the observed changes were proportional and predictable for all of the variables describing invertebrate communities. Statistical differenti­ation of the tested metrics between sites was similar for both mesh sizes. Depending on the aim of the study (e.g., environmental impact assessments), the use of a 1 mm mesh sieve would be sufficient in describing macroinvertebrate communities.Para las estimas de abundancia y biomasa, el procesado de las muestras en laboratorio de invertebrados bentónicos requiere un tiempo y esfuerzo considerable y generalmente implica el uso de tamices de diferente luz de malla para lavar la muestra. Nuestro trabajo trata de comprobar si es suficiente para una descripción válida de la comunidad el uso de un tamiz de malla de 1 mm de poro en el procesado de muestras. Con tal propósito se recogieron muestras bentónicas de río en 24 tramos de cabecera y se compararon densidades, índices bióticos y rasgos biológicos de los invertebrados que eran retenidos en un tamiz de luz de malla de 1 mm (fracción '>1 mm') con los obtenidos usando una de 0.5 mm ('total'). Nuestro estudio revela que el análisis exclusivo de la malla gruesa afecta a los descriptores de la comunidad. Sin embargo, los cambios observados son proporcionales para todas las variables y se pueden predecir bien con ecuaciones lineales. Por otro lado, la diferenciación estadística entre estaciones es similar usando ambos tipos de malla, lo que en definitiva sugiere que, dependiendo del objetivo del estudio (por ejemplo, evaluación de impacto ambiental), el examen de la fauna retenida en un tamiz de 1 mm de poro puede ser suficiente para la descripción de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados

Land use drives detritivore size structure and decomposition through shifts in resource quality and quantity

Land use change and nutrient pollution are two pervasive stressors that can modify carbon cycling, as they influence the inputs and the transformation of detritus. Understanding their impact on stream food webs and on diversity is particularly pressing, as streams are largely fuelled by detrital material received from the adjacent riparian environment. Here we assess how a switch from native deciduous forest to Eucalyptus plantations and nutrient enrichment alter the size distribution of stream detritivore communities and decomposition rates of detritus. As expected, more detritus resulted in higher size-independent, or overall, abundance (i.e. higher intercept of size spectra). This change in overall abundance was mainly driven by a change of the relative contribution of large taxa (Amphipoda and Trichoptera), which changed from an average relative abundance of 55.5 to 77.2 % between the sites compared for resource quantity differences in our study. In contrast, detritus quality modified the relative abundance of large vs small individuals (i.e. size spectra slopes), with shallow slopes of size spectra (proportionately more large individuals) associated with sites with nutrient-richer waters and steeper slopes (proportionately fewer large individuals) associated with sites draining Eucalyptus plantations. Decomposition rates of alder leaves due to macroinvertebrates increased from 0.0003 to 0.0142 when relative contribution of large organisms increased (modelled slopes of size spectra: −1.00 and − 0.33, respectively), highlighting the importance of large sized individuals for ecosystem functioning. Our study reveals that land use change and nutrient pollution can greatly impair the transfer of energy through the detrital or ‘brown’ food web by means of intra- and inter-specific responses to quality and quantity of the detritus. These responses enable linking land use change and nutrient pollution to ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling.This work was carried out with financial support from the EU Commission within the RivFunction project (contract EVK1-CT-2001-00088). AL acknowledges the financial support by the mobility program Ikermugikortasuna-2019 of the Basque Government

ISO 9001: 2008 y la investigación de la satisfacción del cliente

La norma ISO 9001:2008 requiere en su claúsula "8.2.1. Satisfacción del cliente" que la empresa para poder certificarse debe realizar el seguimiento de la información relativa a la percepción del cliente. Además permite que ese seguimiento pueda realizarse no sólo con encuestas sino con diferentes métodos. A priori aparenta ser un campo donde las empresas de investigación comercial podrían ser contratadas por su especialización. Sin embargo los autores de este artículo hemos auditado un total de 123 Pymes en el País Vasco y Navarra a lo largo del pasado año 2009 y sorprendemente ninguna empresa externalizaba esta investigación. ¿Por qué

Modeling the environmental sustainability of timber structures: a case study

A revival in timber buildings and the appreciation of their positive physical and mechanical properties can be explained by the unique environmental credentials of timber products and their versatility. Heightened public awareness of sustainability in the construction sector places timber among the most preferential sustainable materials. There is plenty of previous research on sustainability assessments for complete buildings, although far less on the sustainability assessment of specific parts of the buildings, such as the case of timber structures. The objective of this study is to present an evaluation model, based on MIVES methodology, specifically designed for timber structures, which can be used to enhance the environmental sustainability and to reduce the impacts that are generated, in those areas where it has been awarded a lower score. The application of the model to the largest multi-storey residential timber building in south-western Europe clearly shows that changes to the material, such as its background and environmental certification, generate significant changes to the overall results of the assessment. A sensitivity analysis is then used to verify the analysis of the results and both the validity and the stability of the proposed model.The authors of the paper gratefully acknowledge funding from the Basque Regional Government through the consolidated Research Groups Nr. IT781-13 and Nr. IT1314-19

Sustainability Improvement in the Design of Lightweight Roofs: A New Prototype of Hybrid Steel and Wood Purlins

A new structural typology of a hybrid purlin, made of type C cold steel and rectangular laminated wood (SWP), is presented in this paper. As a result, improvements on the most commonly used steel purlins are achieved, by substituting some of the steel sections for wooden sections. Although the wooden section is weaker and has a lower elastic modulus than the steel, the overall dimensions of the SWP are no larger than the type C steel purlin. In comparison with the steel ones, SWP purlins achieve a far better performance in terms of sustainability and are of lower weight, so less material will be needed for the main structure of the building. The behavior of each material in its position and the improvements in terms of sustainability and lower weight are analyzed as a function of span length, slope, and design load. To do so, the influence of both tensile stress and deformation design criteria in each section and the influence of those criteria on the choice of material and the lengths of each section are all examined. Finally, a design guide for the SWPs is presented that applies the proposed technical specifications.This research was funded through the Basque Regional Government under the following grant numbers: IT781-13 and IT1314-19

Variation in the Climate Sensitivity Dependent on Neighbourhood Composition in a Secondary Mixed Forest

Understanding the vulnerability of individual trees to climate requires moving from population to individual level. This study evaluates individual tree response in a mixed forest by assessing how size and neighbourhood density modulated growth responses to climate among coexisting tree species. To understand the complete variation in growth responses to climate, it is necessary to consider intrapopulation variability. Trees respond as individual entities, and their response is modulated by their characteristics and neighbourhood context. To assess the individual climate sensitivity, all living Iberian birches, European beeches, and pedunculate oaks trees located in a temperate mixed forest were cored in four 40 m × 40 m plots. Standard ring-width chronologies were built at tree and species level for the 1977–2007 period. Chronologies were related to climatic variables (monthly precipitation, hailstorm and mean temperature, and summer (June–August) precipitation). Growth response to climate varied among species and individual trees. Differences in climate–growth relationship among species could be partially attributed to the different xylem anatomy, since secondary growth of ring-porous pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) was mainly dependent on the previous-winter climatic conditions (January temperature), while for the diffuse-porous Iberian birch (Betula celtiberica Rothm. and Vasc.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), spring temperature and summer precipitation were the major constraining factors of growth. Tree features and identity of neighbourhood modulated climatic response, especially for Iberian birch and pedunculate oak. Dominant trees in less crowded neighbourhoods responded more intensely to climate factors. Understanding the individual variability of growth responses to climate will provide more realistic predictions of forests response to climate change.Special thanks to Silvia Martinez de Olcoz for assistance with the fieldwork and the measurements of the tree-rings. Urkiola Natural Park provided the facilities for field work. Urkiola Natural Park provided the facilities for field work and financial support. Additional financial support was provided by a Basque Government (Grupo de Investigacion Consolidado: Grupo Estudio en Flora, Vegetacion y Ecosistemas Terrestres). Furthermore, this work has been supported by the projects CGL2012-34209 and CGL2015-69186-C2-1-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity) and by the Excellence Network "Ecometas" (CGL2014-53840-REDT)

Randomized phase II clinical trial of chemo-immunotherapy in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer

The purpose of this study was to compare chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IV nonsmall cell lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. We tested doxetacel plus cisplatinum as chemotherapy protocol. An immunomodulatory adjuvant system was added as chemoimmunotherapy to the previously mentioned protocol. This system contains three well-known and complementary conditioners of protective immune-responses: cyclophosphamide low-dose, granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulant factor and magnesium silicate granuloma. Eighty-eight patients were randomly assigned to receive every 3-weeks one of the treatments under comparison. Patients received four cycles of treatment unless disease progression or unacceptable toxicity was documented. The maximum follow-up was one year. In each arm, tumor response (rate,duration), median survival time, 1-year overall survival, safety, and immunity modifications were assessed. Immunity was evaluated by submitting peripheral blood mononuclear cells to laboratory tests for nonspecific immunity: a) phytohemaglutinin-induced lymphocyte proliferation, b) prevalence of T-Regulatory (CD4+CD25+) cells and for specific immunity: a) lymphocyte proliferation induced by tumor-associated antigens (TAA) contained in a previously described autologous thermostable hemoderivative. The difference (chemotherapy vs. chemoimmunotherapy) in response rate induced by the two treatments (39.0% and 35.0%) was not statistically significant. However, the response duration (22 and 31 weeks), the median survival time (32 and 44 weeks) and 1-year survival (33.3% and 39.1%) were statistically higher with chemoimmunotherapy. No difference in toxicity between both arms was demonstrated. A switch in the laboratory immunity profile, nonspecific and specific, was associated with the chemoimmunotherapy treatment: increase of proliferative lymphocyte response, decrease of tolerogenic T-regulatory cells and eliciting TAA-sensitization