A Mixed Data-Based Deep Neural Network to Estimate Leaf Area Index in Wheat Breeding Trials

Remote and non-destructive estimation of leaf area index (LAI) has been a challenge in the last few decades as the direct and indirect methods available are laborious and time-consuming. The recent emergence of high-throughput plant phenotyping platforms has increased the need to develop new phenotyping tools for better decision-making by breeders. In this paper, a novel model based on artificial intelligence algorithms and nadir-view red green blue (RGB) images taken from a terrestrial high throughput phenotyping platform is presented. The model mixes numerical data collected in a wheat breeding field and visual features extracted from the images to make rapid and accurate LAI estimations. Model-based LAI estimations were validated against LAI measurements determined non-destructively using an allometric relationship obtained in this study. The model performance was also compared with LAI estimates obtained by other classical indirect methods based on bottom-up hemispherical images and gaps fraction theory. Model-based LAI estimations were highly correlated with ground-truth LAI. The model performance was slightly better than that of the hemispherical image-based method, which tended to underestimate LAI. These results show the great potential of the developed model for near real-time LAI estimation, which can be further improved in the future by increasing the dataset used to train the model

Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system

This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 Primary Education Degrees, 2 Pedagogy Degrees and 1 Social Education Degree. The results obtained suggest that sustainability is present in all Degrees, but not uniformly so. A great disparity is observed in the number of subjects that develop sustainability, with an average of 22.63 subjects per Degree. The competency most present is the ‘ Application of ethical principles related to the values of sustainability in personal and professional behaviors, ’ while the least present is ‘ Sustainable use of resources and prevention of negative impacts on the natural and social environment. ’Sustainability is not developed uniformly in the different universities either. Three universities (UAM, UCA and UIC) develop sustainability competencies at 100%, while others such as the USAL do so at only 50

Evaluación desde el enfoque de ciclo adaptativo del manejo de quelonios acuáticos en la cuenca del río Cuchabatay, Loreto

Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina. Escuela de Posgrado. Maestría en Ecología AplicadaSe han evaluado las acciones de manejo de quelonios acuáticos en la cuenca del río Cushabatay utilizando el enfoque del ciclo adaptativo con el objetivo de identificar acciones que permitan su sostenibilidad. Bajo este enfoque, dicho manejo puede entenderse como un sistema socio-ecológico (SSE) que ha experimentado diferentes etapas: a) uso de recursos sin control, b) limitación de acceso a recursos naturales, c) apoyo externo por acceso a recursos naturales y d) incumplimiento de acuerdos comunales. A partir de esta evaluación y en búsqueda de brindar sostenibilidad el SSE, se han identificado las siguientes acciones a desarrollar: a) fortalecimiento organizacional y de gestión de centros poblados y sus autoridades para que lideren todos sus procesos orientados a mejorar su calidad de vida, b) generación de mecanismos de autoregulación, estableciendo sanciones para quienes incumplen acuerdos comunales, c) implementación de incentivos a los centros poblados que participan del manejo de quelonios acuáticos, y promoción de alternativas productiva d) evaluación del uso de traslocación de nidos, ya que podría a futuro resultar en la feminización de crías, provocando la disminución de la población, y e) establecimiento de mecanismos de monitoreo de variables identificadas que permitirían generar alertas ante futuras etapas de colapso del SSE.The present study assessed the management of aquatic chelonians at Cushabatay basin (Loreto) as a socio-ecological system (SES), using the adaptive cycle approach in order to identify actions that conduct to management sustainability. Under this approach, SES passes through several stages: a) uncontrolled use of natural resources, b) limited access to natural resources, c) access to natural resources with external support, y d) breach of community agreements. In order to provide sustainability to the SES, this study identified the next actions: a) organizational strengthening of local authorities and communities to lead their processes to boost their quality of life, b) generate community norms and sanctions for non-compliance with the agreements, c) develop incentives for those who participate in the sustainable management and d) implementation of a monitoring program that helps to generate alerts to prevent future collapse stages.Tesi

Nonlinear model predictive control for thermal management in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

© 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.A nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for the thermal management (TM) of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) is presented. TM in PHEVs is crucial to ensure good components performance and durability in all possible climate scenarios. A drawback of accurate TM solutions is the higher electrical consumption due to the increasing number of low voltage (LV) actuators used in the cooling circuits. Hence, more complex control strategies are needed for minimizing components thermal stress and at the same time electrical consumption. In this context, NMPC arises as a powerful method for achieving multiple objectives in Multiple input- Multiple output systems. This paper proposes an NMPC for the TM of the High Voltage (HV) battery and the power electronics (PE) cooling circuit in a PHEV. It distinguishes itself from the previously NMPC reported methods in the automotive sector by the complexity of its controlled plant which is highly nonlinear and controlled by numerous variables. The implemented model of the plant, which is based on experimental data and multi- domain physical equations, has been validated using six different driving cycles logged in a real vehicle, obtaining a maximum error, in comparison with the real temperatures, of 2C. For one of the six cycles, an NMPC software-in-the loop (SIL) is presented, where the models inside the controller and for the controlled plant are the same. This simulation is compared to the finite-state machine-based strategy performed in the real vehicle. The results show that NMPC keeps the battery at healthier temperatures and in addition reduces the cooling electrical consumption by more than 5%. In terms of the objective function, an accumulated and weighted sum of the two goals, this improvement amounts 30%. Finally, the online SIL presented in this paper, suggests that the used optimizer is fast enough for a future implementation in the vehicle.Accepted versio

Digitalizing a New Higher Education Degree Course to Best Satisfy Students: A Proposal of Best Practices

Digitalization is a complex challenge for many higher education institutions worldwide given that the new trend for best performance is to draw on ICTs to provide quality, interactive teaching to promote the highest student satisfaction. In this sense, most universities, in their digitalization processes, have opted for the Moodle learning platform, as it allows them to manage different digitized content (text, videos, evaluations, etc.), thus providing staff with a powerful tool to successfully implement the teaching-learning process. The purpose of this study is to determine, from the student perspective, the aspects universities should focus on when making the decision to digitalize a new degree course. To this end, qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys were administered to a representative sample of students to gather information on the current state of digitalization of the degree course they were studying (a Degree in Tourism recently included among the courses offered by a Spanish University)

Aiming at understanding consumers´ behavior in fast food restaurants: a food values approach

A partir de la clasificación de los valores alimenticios propuesta pertinente por Lusk y Briggeman (2009), este trabajo buscaba comprender el comportamiento de los consumidores en los restaurantes de comida rápida. Con este objetivo, se analiza una muestra de 400 consumidores de dos cadenas de comida rápida líderes en España. El análisis empírico de estos datos nos permitió observar no sólo la presencia de tres grupos de consumidores distintos de acuerdo con sus evaluaciones de los valores alimentarios, sino también varias diferencias entre estos grupos con respecto a hábitos diversos, así como resultados de satisfacción, confianza y lealtad. A partir de estos resultados, se proponen diversas recomendaciones estratégicas para mejorar el diseño y desarrollo de estrategias diferenciadas en la industria.Beginning with the classification of food values proposed in the relevant literature by Lusk and Briggeman (2009), this paper aimed at understanding consumers´ behaviour at fast-food restaurants. With this research goal in mind, a sample of 400 consumers was gathered in two different leading fast-food chains operating in Spain. The empirical analysis of these data enabled us to observe not only the presence of three different consumers’ clusters in accordance with their food values ‘assessments, but also several differences between these groups with regard to diverse habits as well as satisfaction, trust and loyalty outcomes. From these results, several managerial recommendations have been proposed in order to improve the design and development of differentiated strategies in the industry.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ECO2014-59688-

Familia y educación [Recurso electrónico] ] : guía práctica para escuelas de padres y madres eficaces

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Versican accumulation drives Nos2 induction and aortic disease in Marfan syndrome via Akt activation

Aortic aneurysm; Marfan syndrome; VersicanAneurisma aòrtic; Síndrome de Marfan; VersicanAneurisma aortico; Síndrome de Marfan; VersicanThoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is a life-threatening condition associated with Marfan syndrome (MFS), a disease caused by fibrillin-1 gene mutations. While various conditions causing TAAD exhibit aortic accumulation of the proteoglycans versican (Vcan) and aggrecan (Acan), it is unclear whether these ECM proteins are involved in aortic disease. Here, we find that Vcan, but not Acan, accumulated in Fbn1C1041G/+ aortas, a mouse model of MFS. Vcan haploinsufficiency protected MFS mice against aortic dilation, and its silencing reverted aortic disease by reducing Nos2 protein expression. Our results suggest that Acan is not an essential contributor to MFS aortopathy. We further demonstrate that Vcan triggers Akt activation and that pharmacological Akt pathway inhibition rapidly regresses aortic dilation and Nos2 expression in MFS mice. Analysis of aortic tissue from MFS human patients revealed accumulation of VCAN and elevated pAKT-S473 staining. Together, these findings reveal that Vcan plays a causative role in MFS aortic disease in vivo by inducing Nos2 via Akt activation and identify Akt signaling pathway components as candidate therapeutic targets.The CNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation), the CBMSO is supported by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. CBMSO and CNIC are Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence (grants CEX2021-001154-S and CEX2020-001041-S, respectively) funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The project leading to these results has received funding from “La Caixa” Banking Foundation under project codes HR18-00068 (to MRC and JMR); Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grant RTI2018-099246-B-I00 (MICIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) to JMR, and grants PID2020-115217RB-100 and PID2021-122388OB-100 to MRC and JMR, respectively, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER-CV CB16/11/00264 and CB16/11/00479; and grants PI17/00381 to GT-T and PI21/00084 (co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)) to JFN); Fundacio La Marato TV3 (20151330 to JMR); Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Marqués de Valdecilla (IDIVAL) (INNVAL 21/24) to JFN; The Marfan Foundation USA Faculty grant 2017 MRF/1701 (to JMR); Fundación MERCK-Fundación Española de Enfermedades Raras 2022 and V-Ayudas “Muévete por los que no pueden 2021” (to JO); and Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación contracts FPI (BES-2016-077649) to MJR-R; Sara Borrell (CD18/00028) and Juan de la Cierva (IJC2020-044581-I) to MT; Ramón y Cajal (RYC2021-033343-I) to JO; and FPU (20/04814) to IA-R