Attitudes of Spanish LGBTI+ Adolescents and Emerging Adults. : Cultural and Political Practices Among 16 to 29-year-old Non-cis-hetero People

Never in Spain’s history have sexual minorities enjoyed the current rights. However, LGBTIphobic rhetoric displayed by extreme-right activism threats the gains made. An online survey among LGBTI+ people between 16 and 29 years was conducted. 152 people answered. Results show that Spanish LGBTI+ youth is mostly prone to activism, they were quite informed about legal initiatives and they mostly think that LGBTI+ people continue to suffer discrimination, the group of friends and peers appears to be the safest context and teachers seem to fail on the duty of help LGBTI+ young people. Additionally, LGBTI+ young people often use inclusive language, especially in casual context, and they seek referents in social media, where they follow influencers who openly declared themselves part of the LGBTI+ collective. The study serves as an example of the changing cultural and political practices of non-cis-hetero youth in a society moving fast towards equality but attending the raising of regressive movements

Above-ground biomass estimation of arable crops using UAV-based SfM photogrammetry

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Geocarto International on 3 dec 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10106049.2018.1552322Methods of estimating the total amount of above-ground biomass (AGB) in crop fields are generally based on labourious, random, and destructive in situ sampling. This study proposes a methodology for estimating herbaceous crop biomass using conventional optical cameras and structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry. The proposed method is based on the determination of volumes according to the difference between a digital terrain model (DTM) and digital surface model (DSM) of vegetative cover. A density factor was calibrated based on a subset of destructive random samples to relate the volume and biomass and efficiently quantify the total AGB. In all cases, RMSE Z values less than 0.23 m were obtained for the DTMDSM coupling. Biomass field data confirmed the goodness of fit of the yieldbiomass estimation (R2=0,88 and 1,12 kg/ha) mainly in plots with uniform vegetation coverage. Furthermore, the method was demonstrated to be scalable to multiple platform types and sensorsThis work was supported by the life project “Operation CO2: Integrated Agroforestry Practices and Nature Conservation Against Climate Change - LIFE+ 11 ENV/ES/535” and by Xunta de Galicia under the grant “Financial aid for the consolidation and structure of competitive units of investigation in the universities of the University Galician System (2016-18)” Ref. ED431B 2016/030 and Ref. ED341D R2016/023.S

Plant survival monitoring with UAVs and multispectral data in difficult access afforested areas

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Geocarto International on 02 Oct 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10106049.2018.1508312Water supply devices enable afforestation in dry climates and on poor lands with generally high success rates. Previous survival analyses have been based on the direct observation of each individual plant in the field, which entails considerable effort and costs. This study provides a low-cost method to discriminate between live and dead plants in afforestations that can efficiently replace traditional field inspections through the use of UAVs equipped with RGB and NIR sensors. The method combines the use of a conventional camera with an identical camera modified to record the NIR channel. Survival analysis was performed with digital image processing techniques based on calculated indices associated with plant vigour and PCA-based decorrelation. The method yielded results with high global accuracy rates (~96.2%) with a minimum percentage of doubtful plants, even in young plantations (seedlings < 30 cm tall). The procedure could be particularly useful in hazardous areasThis work was supported by the Xunta de Galicia under the Grant “Financial aid for the consolidation and structure of competitive units of investigation in the universities of the University Galician System (2016-18)” [ED431B 2016/030, ED341D R2016/023] and the European Program Life+ [LIFE/ENV/ES/000447] “The Green Deserts: New planting techniques for tree cultivation in desertified environments to face Climate Change”.S

Valorization of Cistus ladanifer and Erica arborea shrubs for fuel: Wood and bark thermal characterization

As a form of upgraded biomass characterized by its high energy density, low production costs, and low process energy requirements, wood pellets are an environmentally friendly fuel allowing for carbon neutral heating with high energy efficiency. In this work, the suitability of a valorization of the woods from the two most representative shrub species from the Iberian Peninsula (namely Cistus ladanifer and Erica arborea) for heating has been assessed. Whereas Erica arborea met the requirements of ISO 17225-2:2014 for ENplus-B class (the calorific content for both wood and bark was high and not significantly different, and the ash content was permissible for specimens with branch diameter =2, 8 cm), Cistus ladanifer was in the limit of the normative and only met the requirements in terms of acceptable ash percentage (1, 9%) and heating value (19 kJ·g-1) for old specimens with branch diameters &gt; 3, 4 cm. Consequently, while the harvest of E. arborea for its use as fuel does not need to be selective, that of C. ladanifer should be limited to the most robust specimens and foliage should be avoided

Furfural, 5-HMF, acid-soluble lignin and sugar contents in C. ladanifer and E. arborea lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates obtained from microwave-assisted treatments in different solvents

Cistus ladanifer L. and Erica arborea L. are the two most representative shrub species from the Iberian Peninsula. With a view to their valorization, their biomass hydrolysate components, obtained from microwave-assisted treatments with choline chloride/urea - HNO3 10%, N,N-dimethylacetamide/NaHCO3 and N,N-dimethylacetamide/CH3OK as solvents, have been measured using a spectrophotometric method. Concentrations of furfural and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (5-HMF) in the filtrate have been determined after reduction with NaBH4. The production of total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars has also been assessed. The obtained results support the choice of microwave-assisted choline chloride/urea deep eutectic solvent in acid media as the preferred method (over the polar aprotic solvent-based alternatives) for the extraction of lignin, furfural, 5-HMF and sugars from C. ladanifer and E. arborea biomass, attaining the best production yields for 60¿min exposure times. Another is the case if the aim of the treatments is to recovery sugars from both shrubs for subsequent enzymatic saccharification: the very low 5-HMF contents resulting from the dimetylacetamide systems (especially is association with CH3OK) make them highly advantageous as compared to the traditional method using NaOH