Evaluation of Citriculture Mechanisation Level in Valencia Region (Spain): Poll Results

[EN] The increase of the technology level of citrus production operations is required to improve production profitability and reduce production costs. In the framework of the project CITRUSTECH ("Technological advances for modernisation and sustainability in citrus production"), three different poll questionnaires were developed and conducted in the Valencia region to assess the citriculture mechanisation level. In total, 142 questionaries for small and medium-size plantations, 32 for cooperative technicians and 16 for large-size plantations were conducted. From a socioeconomic point of view, clear age and sex inequalities were found. From the technological point of view, relevant differences were found between plantation sizes. The role of the cooperative mechanisation services (custom cost) and other customer services was revealed, with a higher percentage of the area under cultivation at the expense of the small-size plantations. The use of some manual tools was confirmed in pruning, even in large-size orchards. In small-size orchards, the use of backpack sprayers was verified. Regarding farm machinery, besides tractors, hydro-pneumatic sprayers and agricultural shredders were employed. No farm machinery was used during harvesting operations, apart from transport equipment, due to the reduced plantation frames.This research has been funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and cofounded by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacion (project GO "Avances tecnologicos para la modernizacion y la sostenibilidad en la produccion de citricos CITRUSTECH").Ortiz Sánchez, MC.; Torregrosa, A.; Martínez, JM. (2022). Evaluation of Citriculture Mechanisation Level in Valencia Region (Spain): Poll Results. Agronomy. 12(6):1-6. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy120613661612

Epistemología y política en el discurso pedagógico

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Comparison of a Lightweight Experimental Shaker and an Orchard Tractor Mounted Trunk Shaker for Fresh Market Citrus Harvesting

[EN] A designed lightweight experimental shaker successfully used to collect ornamental oranges has been tested to harvest fresh market citrus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the removal efficiency and operational times of this experimental device compared to an orchard trunk shaker. Three different collecting systems were studied. 'Caracara' citrus trees were tested. Removal efficiency, vibration parameters, fruit and tree damages, and fruit quality were measured. A high-speed camera was used to record operational times and determine cumulative removal percentage over vibration time. The canvases on the ground reduced the severe fruit damages but were not useful to protect against light damages. The experimental shaker produced a higher percentage of slightly damaged oranges. No significant differences in removal efficiency were found between the two harvesting systems. However, removal efficiency using the experimental device could be reduced by 40 percent and working time increase by more than 50 percent when access to the main branches was difficult. In agreement with previous results, the curve representing the branch cumulative removal percentage in time followed a sigmoidal pattern. A model was built showing that during the first 5 s more than 50 percent of the fruits were detachedThis research has been fund by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and cofounded by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacion (project GO "Avances tecnologicos para la modernizacion y la sostenibilidad en la produccion de citricos CITRUSTECH").Ortiz Sánchez, MC.; Torregrosa, A.; Castro-García, S. (2021). Comparison of a Lightweight Experimental Shaker and an Orchard Tractor Mounted Trunk Shaker for Fresh Market Citrus Harvesting. Agriculture. 11(11):1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11111092110111

Hybrid Architecture to Support Context‐Aware Systems

Any system that is said to be context‐aware is capable of monitoring continuously the surrounding environment, that is, capable of prompt reaction to events and changing conditions of the environment. The main objective of a context‐aware system is to be continuously recognizing the state of the environment and the users present, in order to adjust the environment to an ideal state and to provide personalized information and services to users considering the user profile. In this chapter, we describe an architecture that relies on the incorporation of intelligent multi‐agent systems (MAS), sensor networks, mobile sensors, actuators, Web services and ontologies. We describe the interaction of these technologies into the architecture aiming at facilitating the construction of context‐aware systems

Mechanical Thinning of Mandarins with a Branch Shaker

[EN] Thinning is the process of removing some flowers or fruit to increase fruit size at harvest. In the Valencia region of Spain, the thinning operation for citrus fruit (Citreae) is performed for some mandarin varieties. This is always performed manually; however, this method is very expensive. The goal of this research study was to assess the mechanical thinning of mandarin ( Citrus reticulata) using a hand-held branch shaker. Different thinning treatments were conducted over a 3-year period. The gasoline-powered branch shaker was capable of detaching fruit four- to five-times faster than manual thinning. Final fruit size was significantly higher using manual and mechanical thinning compared with a no thinning treatment. Similar final fruit size was obtained with manual and mechanical thinning. However, no significant differences were found in final fruit yield by weight among no thinning, mechanical thinning, and manual thinning treatments. The use of a branch shaker could be recommended for thinning operations to increase efficiency, reduce labor costs, and obtain larger and higher-quality fruit.This work was supported by funding from the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias (INIA) and European FEDER (Project RTA2014-00025-C05-02). Fontestat provided the experimental fields.Ortiz Sánchez, MC.; Torregrosa, A.; Ortí García, E.; Balasch Parisi, S. (2020). Mechanical Thinning of Mandarins with a Branch Shaker. HortTechnology. 30(6):745-750. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04451-20S74575030

Infecciones intrahospitalarias en el estudiante de medicina.: Intrahospital infections in the medical student

The diseases associated with care in the health sector is a problem that not only involves patients who enter the service, but also the staff and students who carry out their practices in the different institutions. In-hospital infections are defined as: "Localized or systemic diseases resulting from an adverse reaction resulting from exposure to an infectious agent or its toxins, with no evidence that the infection was present or in the incubation period at the time of care." The lack of knowledge on the part of the personnel and students of the health sciences that are in contact with the patients, in addition to the realization of sanitary practices without taking into account the pertinent biosecurity measures are the main reasons for contracting a nosocomial infection.Las enfermedades asociadas a la atención en el sector salud es una problemática que no solo implica a los pacientes que ingresan al servicio, si no al personal y a los estudiantes que llevan a cabo sus prácticas en las diferentes instituciones. Las infecciones intrahospitalarias están definidas como: “Enfermedades localizadas o sistémicas que resultan de una reacción adversa consecuente a la exposición a un agente infeccioso o a sus toxinas, sin evidencia que la infección estuviera presente o en periodo de incubación en el momento de la atención” . La falta de conocimientos por parte del personal y estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud que están en contacto con los pacientes, además de la realización de prácticas sanitarias sin tomar en cuenta las medidas de bioseguridad pertinentes son los principales motivos para contraer una infección nosocomial

Vibration Analysis of Pulse-Width-Modulated Nozzles in Vineyard Blast Sprayers

[EN] Spraying systems to protect crops against pests are still necessary to maintain food production at the rates demanded by the current population. However, today, it is crucial to use precision agriculture to reduce the negative effects of pesticides and other agrochemicals such as fungicides. In particular, pressure fluctuations related to transient states when using pulse-width-modulated nozzles (PMW) have been reported to decrease the accuracy of preset flow rates in air-assisted orchard sprayers. The objective of this paper is to analyze the vibrations induced in the spraying system of a vineyard blast sprayer controlled by pulse-width-modulated nozzles, considering the instantaneous duty cycle (DC) as the control variable. An air-assisted vineyard sprayer was modified to host 24 solenoid shutoff valves with hollow disc-cone nozzles. A triaxial accelerometer was mounted to track the effect of duty cycle (20%, 30%, 50%, and 70%). In addition to accelerations, high-speed images were recorded, and the pressure according to time and the flow were estimated. The hydraulic system of the sprayer, when controlled in real time by the PWM solenoids, created pulsating impacts at the nozzle level with the same frequency of 10 Hz of the PMW system. The impact effect was significantly higher for low duty cycles under 40% DC. In addition, to demonstrate the inaccuracy of opening and closing the valves at a precisely specified time, this study also confirmed the divergence between the theoretical duty cycles commanded by the sprayer's control unit and the actual ones measured in real time. The results of the analysis showed the difficulty of opening and closing the valves with precision to obtain accurate duty cycles in the practical implementation of smart sprayers and the importance of understanding the vibration effects of pulses in arrangements of multiple PWM nozzles working simultaneously.This research has been funded by the Government of Spain through the Project "Smart spraying for a sustainable vineyard and olive trees" PIVOS (PID2019-104289RB) and ADOPTA (PDC2022-133395).Ortiz Sánchez, MC.; Torregrosa, A.; Saiz-Rubio, V.; Rovira Más, F. (2023). Vibration Analysis of Pulse-Width-Modulated Nozzles in Vineyard Blast Sprayers. Horticulturae. 9(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae90607039

Conformationally-Locked C-Glycosides: Tuning Aglycone Interactions for Optimal Cheperone Behaviour in Gaucher Fibroblasts

A series of conformationally locked C-glycosides based on the 3-aminopyrano[3,2-b]pyrrol-2(1H)-one (APP) scaffold has been synthesized. The key step involved a totally stereocontrolled C-Michael addition of a serine-equivalent C-nucleophile to tri-O-benzyl-2-nitro-D-galactal, previously published by the authors. Stereoselective transformations of the Michael adduct allowed us the synthesis of compounds with mono- or diantennated aglycone moieties and different topologies. In vitro screening showed highly selective inhibition of bovine liver β-glucosidase/β-galactosidase and specific inhibition of human β-glucocerebrosidase among lysosomal glycosidases for compounds bearing palmitoyl chains in the aglycone, with a marked dependence of the inhibition potency upon their number and location. Molecular dynamics simulations highlighted the paramount importance of an optimal orientation of the hydrophobic substituent to warrant efficient non-glycone interactions, which are critical for the binding affinity. The results provide a rationale for the strong decrease of the inhibition potency of APP compounds on going from neutral to acidic pH. The best candidate was found to behave as pharmacological chaperone in Gaucher fibroblasts with homozygous N370S and F213I mutations, with enzyme activity enhancements similar to those encountered for the reference compound AmbroxolMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad CTQ2012-36365, SAF2013-44021-RJunta de Andalucía FQM-1467European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7-People-2012-CI