On-the-go yield and sugar sensing in grape harvester

This paper summarises the results of a joint R+D project between university and industry. The study was developed at the Alt Penedès region, in Barcelona, during the 2006 and 2007 (on 3, 22, 69 fields respectively). The quality sensors set-up in year 2007, mounted on a New Holland SB55 grape harvester, were: two load cells, one refractometer, an ambient temperature prove and a GPS antenna, while in 2006 only the load cells and the GPS performed properly. The method used for this study is as follows: 1. Data recording from GPS and Logger (the latter is use for according and digitalising the sensor signal); 2. Wireless download of data to a PC; 3. Automatic data integration in a single file; 4. Lane automatic identification based on trajectory angles, machine forward speed determination, effective time calculation, masic flow, kg/m, and total amount harvested, kg/hopper, computation of characteristic soluble solid content and temperature during harvest; 5. Data broadcasting through GPRS to the winery; 6. Comparison of transmitted data with the invoice of the winery containers. After the season was finished, a data post processing was performed in order to a assess the causes of isolated incidences that were registered in 10 fields. Also a recalibration of the sensors for future seasons was performed. At current stage R 2 of 0.9547 is found between winery and in field yield data. Beside georeference data were gathered and compare to the remote photos in “Instituto Cartográfico de Cataluña”. Site-specific yield maps and speed maps have been computed while broad soluble solid information is not available due to slight dysfunctions of the grape juice pumping system towards to the refractometer

Spectral information to get beyond color in the analysis of water‑soluble varnish degradation

Spectral images were captured of paper samples varnished with two water-soluble materials: gum arabic and egg white. The samples were submitted to degradation processes that partially or totally eliminated the varnish from the substrate (water immersion and ageing). The spectral information was used to obtain average color data and to characterize the spatial and color inhomogeneity across pixels, showing that the pixel spectral data are critical for an accurate characterization of the degradation process of the varnishes. Since the varnishes typically become yellower with ageing, this study introduces two novel and simple-to-compute yellowness indices based on the spectral information, which are validated against a standard colorimetric index (ASTM-E313 2015). The potential uses of spectral information are demonstrated with several pieces of a real antique map sample by comparing the spectral information measured before and after cleaning the sample. To sum up, the main contributions of this study are the characterization of the spatial homogeneity through pixel-based spectral and color information and the proposal of spectral-based yellowing indices for two critical applications (ageing process follow-up and effect of cleaning), as demonstrated with synthetic and historical samples of varnished paper respectively.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under research Grant DPI2015-64571-R. Spanish State Agency of Research (AEI) and the Ministry for Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MIMECO) by means of the Grant Number FIS2017-89258-P with European Union FEDER (European Regional Development Funds) support

High plasticity of axonal pathology in Alzheimer's disease mouse models

Axonal dystrophies (AxDs) are swollen and tortuous neuronal processes that are associated with extracellular depositions of amyloid beta (Abeta) and have been observed to contribute to synaptic alterations occurring in Alzheimer's disease. Understanding the temporal course of this axonal pathology is of high relevance to comprehend the progression of the disease over time. We performed a long-term in vivo study (up to 210 days of two-photon imaging) with two transgenic mouse models (dE9xGFP-M and APP-PS1xGFP-M). Interestingly, AxDs were formed only in a quarter of GFP-expressing axons near Abeta-plaques, which indicates a selective vulnerability. AxDs, especially those reaching larger sizes, had long lifetimes and appeared as highly plastic structures with large variations in size and shape and axonal sprouting over time. In the case of the APP-PS1 mouse only, the formation of new long axonal segments in dystrophic axons (re-growth phenomenon) was observed. Moreover, new AxDs could appear at the same point of the axon where a previous AxD had been located before disappearance (re-formation phenomenon). In addition, we observed that most AxDs were formed and developed during the imaging period, and numerous AxDs had already disappeared by the end of this time. This work is the first in vivo study analyzing quantitatively the high plasticity of the axonal pathology around Abeta plaques. We hypothesized that a therapeutically early prevention of Abeta plaque formation or their growth might halt disease progression and promote functional axon regeneration and the recovery of neural circuits

High plasticity of axonal pathology in Alzheimer's disease mouse models

Axonal dystrophies (AxDs) are swollen and tortuous neuronal processes that are associated with extracellular depositions of amyloid beta (Abeta) and have been observed to contribute to synaptic alterations occurring in Alzheimer's disease. Understanding the temporal course of this axonal pathology is of high relevance to comprehend the progression of the disease over time. We performed a long-term in vivo study (up to 210 days of two-photon imaging) with two transgenic mouse models (dE9xGFP-M and APP-PS1xGFP-M). Interestingly, AxDs were formed only in a quarter of GFP-expressing axons near Abeta-plaques, which indicates a selective vulnerability. AxDs, especially those reaching larger sizes, had long lifetimes and appeared as highly plastic structures with large variations in size and shape and axonal sprouting over time. In the case of the APP-PS1 mouse only, the formation of new long axonal segments in dystrophic axons (re-growth phenomenon) was observed. Moreover, new AxDs could appear at the same point of the axon where a previous AxD had been located before disappearance (re-formation phenomenon). In addition, we observed that most AxDs were formed and developed during the imaging period, and numerous AxDs had already disappeared by the end of this time. This work is the first in vivo study analyzing quantitatively the high plasticity of the axonal pathology around Abeta plaques. We hypothesized that a therapeutically early prevention of Abeta plaque formation or their growth might halt disease progression and promote functional axon regeneration and the recovery of neural circuits

Development of a Roadmap for the Implementation of a Sustainable Mobility Action Plan in University Campuses of Emerging Countries

Universities are centers of knowledge and their Campuses are like small cities, thus making them the ideal place to develop, apply and evaluate policies and tools for innovative mobility solutions that can subsequently be extended to other contexts. A review of mobility measures in different European Universities has revealed that many of them apply policies to promote sustainable mobility, but there is a significant lack of standardized mobility plans and roadmaps for their successful implementation. The objective of the present work is to develop a successful roadmap, which is necessary for the smooth implementation of a mobility plan, as it has been found through a thorough review of good practices in Universities. Within this framework, a customizable standardized Roadmap design is proposed, which consists of two documents: a tactical document that provides a global and sequential vision of the entire plan, and an operational document that details the actions for each strategic line. This roadmap is accompanied by a catalog of objectives, measures, and cost and impact indicators. We consider this design instructive for universities because of its universal characteristics in Emerging Countries. To ensure this, it is necessary to apply this roadmap and carry out the corresponding evaluation

Extracción de características de la cubierta vegetal del viñedo mediante imágenes RGB y RGIR obtenidas de forma dinámica

Diversas investigaciones han intentado resolver el problema de identificación de frutos u hojas mediante imágenes digitales, pero sólo lo han logrado parcialmente. Por esto, el objetivo de este trabajo es explorar una metodología de identificación que permita estimar áreas de hojas y racimos en viñedos, empleando imágenes en el espectro visible (RGB) y en el infrarrojo cercano (RGIR). El problema de la identificación fue abordando por dos vías, forma y color. En el caso de la identificación por forma se empleó la transformada circular de Hough y en el de la identificación por color se emplearon las técnicas de clasificación no supervisada denominadas kmeans y Fuzzy c-means. Se determinó que la clasificación mediante k-means sobre el espacio L*a*b*, para imágenes RGB y sobre el índice SAVI en las imágenes RGIR, son las técnicas más adecuadas. En cuanto a la identificación por forma, ésta resultó aplicable sólo en condiciones muy particulare

Comparison of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine circovirus 2 commercial vaccines efficacy when applied separate or combined under experimental conditions

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhyo) and Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) are two of the most significant infectious agents causing economic losses in the weaning to slaughter period. Due to their similar vaccination age, the objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of two already existing Mhyo (Hyogen®) and PCV-2 (Circovac®) vaccines when administered separately or combined (RTM) by means of Mhyo or PCV-2 experimental challenges. Seven groups of animals were included in the study, being three of them challenged with PCV-2, three with Mhyo and one composed of non-challenged, non-vaccinated pigs. Within each experimental challenge, non-vaccinated (NV) groups were compared with double vaccinated groups using the commercial products separated (VS) or combined (VC). Both vaccinated groups showed significant differences for most parameters measured regarding PCV-2 (serology, percentage of infected animals and viral load in tissues) and Mhyo (serology and gross lesions) when compared to NV groups. VS and VC offered similar results, being only significantly different the PCV-2 antibody values at different time points (higher in the VS group) of the study, although not at the termination day (21 days post-PCV-2 inoculation). The present study expands the knowledge on the possibility of using two separate Mhyo and PCV-2 commercial vaccines as a RTM product, which offered equivalent virological, immunological and pathological outcomes as compared to these vaccines when used by separate

Occurrence of melatonin and indolic compounds derived from L-tryptophan yeast metabolism in fermented wort and commercial beers

Melatonin and serotonin are bioactive compounds present in foods and beverages and related to neuroprotection and anti-angiogenesis, among other activities. They have been described in wines and the role of yeast in their formation is clear. Thus, this study evaluates the content of these bioactives and other related indolic compounds in beer. For this purpose, commercial beers were analyzed by a validated UHPLC-HRMS method and sample treatment optimized due to the low concentrations expected. Moreover, a wort was fermented with different commercial beer yeast (Abbaye, Diamond, SafAle, SafLager) in order to monitor the formation of these bioactives during the elaboration process. Results show that indolic compounds such as N-acetylserotonin and 3-indoleacetic acid are produced during the alcoholic fermentation of wort. Moreover, the occurrence of four indolic compounds (5-hydroxytryptophan, N-acetylserotonin, 3-indoleacetic acid, L-tryptophan ethyl ester) in commercial beers is reported for the first time.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2013-47300-C3-2-R, AGL2016-77505-C3-2-

Lathraea squamaria L. novedad para la flora palentina (España)

P. 216-218Lathraea squamaria L. hallazgo de notable interés corológico, constituye novedad para la flora palentinaS

El género Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae) en la Cordillera Cantábrica (España)

P. 383-395The revision of the taxa belonging to the genus Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae) in the Cantabrian Cordillera (NW Spain) is presented: Fritillaria nervosa Willd. subsp. nervosa, Fritillaria nervosa subsp. falcata (Caball.) Fern.-Arias & Devesa, Fritillaria lusitanica Wikstr. subsp. lusitanica and Fritillaria legionensis Llamas & J. Andrés. New sites with notable chorological interest for the Iberian endemics are given for Fritillaria legionenis and Fritillaria nervosa subsp. falcata. Morphometric, ecological, biogeographic, conservation status and phytosociological data, as well as an identification key, are given for all studied taxa.S