The profitability of precision spraying on specialty crops: a technical–economic analysis of protection equipment at increasing technological levels

A technical–economic analysis was conducted on three different technological levels of spraying equipment for specialty crops, based on the results on precision spraying technologies reported in scientific literature. The application scenarios referred to general protection protocols against fungal diseases adopted in vineyards and apple orchards in Central-Southern Europe. The analysis evaluated the total costs of protection treatments (equipment + pesticide costs), comparing the use of conventional air-blast sprayers (referred to as L0), of on–off switching sprayers (L1), and of canopy-optimised distribution sprayers (L2). Pesticide savings from 10 to 35% were associated with equipment L1 and L2, as compared to L0. Within the assumptions made, on grapevines, the conventional sprayer L0 resulted in the most profitable option for vineyard areas smaller than 10 ha; from 10 ha to approximately 100 ha, L1 was the best option, while above 100 ha, the more advanced equipment L2 resulted in the best choice. On apple orchards, L0 was the best option for areas smaller than 17 ha. Above this value, L1 was more profitable, while L2 never proved advantageous. Finally, in a speculation on possible prospectives of precision spraying on specialty crops, the introduction of an autonomous robotic platform able to selectively target the pesticide on diseased areas was hypothesised. The analysis indicated that the purchase price that would make the robotic platform profitable, thanks to the assumed pesticide and labour savings over conventional sprayers, was unrealistically lower than current industrial cost. This study showed that, in current conditions, profitability cannot be the only driver for possible adoption of intelligent robotic platforms for precision spraying on specialty crops, while on–off and canopy-optimised technologies can be profitable over conventional spraying in specific conditions

Analysis of electric energy consumption of automatic milking systems in different configurations and operative conditions.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) have been a revolutionary innovation in dairy cow farming. Currently, more than 10,000 dairy cow farms worldwide use AMS to milk their cows. Electric consumption is one of the most relevant and uncontrollable operational cost of AMS, ranging between 35 and 40% of their total annual operational costs. The aim of the present study was to measure and analyze the electric energy consumption of 4 AMS with different configurations: single box, central unit featuring a central vacuum system for 1 cow unit and for 2 cow units. The electrical consumption (daily consumption, daily consumption per cow milked, consumption per milking, and consumption per 100L of milk) of each AMS (milking unit + air compressor) was measured using 2 energy analyzers. The measurement period lasted 24h with a sampling frequency of 0.2Hz. The daily total energy consumption (milking unit + air compressor) ranged between 45.4 and 81.3 kWh; the consumption per cow milked ranged between 0.59 and 0.99 kWh; the consumption per milking ranged between 0.21 and 0.33 kWh; and the consumption per 100L of milk ranged between 1.80 to 2.44 kWh according to the different configurations and operational contexts considered. Results showed that AMS electric consumption was mainly conditioned by farm management rather than machine characteristics/architectures

Apuntes para una discusión sobre la memoria y la política de los años 60/70 a partir de algunas intervenciones recientes

Desde hace unos años se han multiplicado los cuestionamientos a los juicios de lesa humanidad que se desarrollan desde 2006 luego de la nulidad de las leyes de impunidad y los indultos presidenciales, y entre las voces objetoras no han faltado las de algunos académicos e investigadores. No pocas de dichas intervenciones, que analizamos en este trabajo, funcionan —en ciertos casos más allá de las intenciones de sus autores o autoras— reforzando las políticas gubernamentales y de organizaciones gestadas por los sectores alineados con los responsables directos de la masacre sistemática con el objeto de revertir las políticas de verdad y justicia impulsadas por las organizaciones de derechos humanos —y movimientos afines— desde los tiempos mismos de la dictadura. Las consideraciones que siguen esbozan muy sucintamente algunas reflexiones en torno a dichos cuestionamientos y a sus formas argumentales, deteniéndonos principalmente en las siguientes temáticas: la noción —y existencia—de una “memoria oficial”; la contraposición que se establece entre el juicio a las Juntas de 1985 y los actuales; la confrontación de la experiencia argentina con el recorrido sudafricano; y, finalmente, dado que casi todas esas intervenciones se presentan como críticas, el tipo de relación que establecen con el pasado reciente.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Temas para una agenda de debate en torno al pasado reciente

En este texto los autores se proponen plantear algunas de las cuestiones que podrían sumarse a la agenda del debate en curso en relación a las formas de representación y narración del pasado reciente de la Argentina. Los presupuestos de los que se parte son que la memoria y la historia no deberían volver sobre el pasado reciente de manera de violentarlo nuevamente desde las precupaciones de una actualidad omnipotente que le formula sus interrogaciones sin escuchar sus demandas. En segundo lugar, cualesquiera sean las vías de acceso y representación elegidas, se trata de no reproducir el daño acaecido, no duplicarlo, multiplicarlo, en su presentación actual. Finalmente, la intención es reconstruir ese pretérito sin extrañarlo de nosotros mismos, sin constituir lo en una ajenidad, sin fundar un extrañamiento que lo constituya en un “objeto frío”; pero al mismo tiempo sí se precisa construir una distancia: sólo que se trata de otra distancia, aquella que nos posibilite “pensarlo”

¿Lo personal es político?: repensar la historia de las organizaciones político militares

Este trabajo analiza la militancia en las organizaciones revolucionarias de Argentina, en los años 70 (PRT-ERP y Montoneros). El análisis se focaliza en las menciones que aparecen en la prensa y en documentos internos de ambas organizaciones al papel de los afectos, la vida cotidiana y la construcción de la subjetividad militante

Numerical simulations of MAORY MCAO module for the ELT

MAO (MAORY Adaptive Optics) is the a developed numerical simulation tool for adaptive optics. It was created especially to simulate the performance of the MAORY MCAO module of the Extremely Large Telescope. It is a full end-to-end Monte-Carlo code able to perform different flavors of adaptive optics simulation. We used it to investigate the performance of a the MAORY and some specific issue related to calibration, acquisition and operation strategies. As, MAORY, MAO will implement Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics combining Laser Guide Stars (LGS) and Natural Guide Stars (NGS) measurements. The implementation of the reference truth WFS completes the scheme. The simulation tool implements the various aspect of the MAORY in an end to end fashion. The code has been developed using IDL and use libraries in C++ and CUDA for efficiency improvements. Here we recall the code architecture, we describe the modeled instrument components and the control strategies implemented in the code

Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity in patients with haematological malignancies in Italy: a retrospective, multicentre, cohort study

Several small studies on patients with COVID-19 and haematological malignancies are available showing a high mortality in this population. The Italian Hematology Alliance on COVID-19 aimed to collect data from adult patients with haematological malignancies who required hospitalisation for COVID-19

The MAORY laser guide star wavefront sensor: design status

MAORY will be the multi-adaptive optics module feeding the high resolution camera and spectrograph MICADO at the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) first light. In order to ensure high and homogeneous image quality over the MICADO field of view and high sky coverage, the baseline is to operate wavefront sensing using six Sodium Laser Guide Stars. The Laser Guide Star Wavefront Sensor (LGS WFS) is the MAORY sub-system devoted to real-time measurement of the high order wavefront distortions. In this paper we describe the MAORY LGS WFS current design, including opto-mechanics, trade-offs and possible future improvements