Retrieval of vegetation height in rice fields using polarimetric SAR interferometry with TanDEM-X data

This work presents for the first time a demonstration with satellite data of polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR) applied to the retrieval of vegetation height in rice fields. Three series of dual-pol interferometric SAR data acquired with large baselines (2–3 km) by the TanDEM-X system during its science phase (April–September 2015) are exploited. A novel inversion algorithm especially suited for rice fields cultivated in flooded soil is proposed and evaluated. The validation is carried out over three test sites located in geographically different areas: Sevilla (SW Spain), Valencia (E Spain), and Ipsala (W Turkey), in which different rice types are present. Results are obtained during the whole growth cycle and demonstrate that PolInSAR is useful to produce accurate height estimates (RMSE 10–20 cm) when plants are tall enough (taller than 25–40 cm), without relying on external reference information.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and EU FEDER under project TIN2014-55413-C2-2-P. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement 606983, and the Land-SAF (the EUMETSAT Network of Satellite Application Facilities) project. The in-situ measurements in the Ipsala site were conducted with the funding of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK, Project No.: 113Y446)

The first time on the other side: PhD candidates experience in digital electronics practical sessions and final project

[EN] The university Lecturer Training Fellowship granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education implies the participation of the PhD candidates in the practical lessons of subjects related to their specialty. For the first time, two students were assigned to the high performance group in Digital Electronics in the Industrial Electronics and Automation degree, taught in the School of Design Engineering (ETSID) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Taking advantage of the PhD candidates¿ easiness for comprehending the student¿s point of view, they were allowed to suggest and implement methodological modifications with the aim of improving the knowledge and skill transfer in the subject field. The main result was the development of a methodology which relates the practical and theoretical parts so they are interleaved, making it easier to comprehend, assimilate the concepts, and participate actively in the practical part gaining experience in the field. The subject is divided in three main parts: VHDL, microcontrollers and a final project. One of the PhD students was assigned to the VHDL part, the other one to the microcontroller part, and the final project was collaborative, with both participating in the organization and evaluation. This final project evaluates the innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship transversal skills of the students by entrusting them to develop a microcontroller code and to write the documentation about it, while participating in a car-like robot competition. This year, the competition was presented as a list of requirements the robots must meet before the deadline to access the ¿final test¿, in a way that was first implemented by the successful aerospace company SpaceX for the international Hyperloop Pod Competition series. This makes the deadlines and evaluation items very clear for both students and evaluators while leaving the door open to different ways of implementation using the knowledge acquired through the semester. This paper presents the thought process behind the methodology used during the subject and final project and the results obtained, alongside with the experience reported by both students and PhD intraining candidates.Terrés-Haro, JM.; Monreal-Trigo, J.; Ibáñez Civera, FJ.; Gil Sánchez, L.; Garcia-Breijo, E.; Laguarda-Miro, N. (2020). The first time on the other side: PhD candidates experience in digital electronics practical sessions and final project. IATED. 3845-3850. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2020.1284S3845385

Redesigning seminars in the subject sustainable development and environmental ethics for the new on-line higher education scenario due to COVID-19

[EN] Covid-19 has changed the global agenda this year 2020 and particularly since March when the disease disseminated and affected the whole world. Then, confinement strategies started in most of the countries affecting important humankind aspects such as economy, society, and many others. In an educational point of view, higher education has been suddenly forced to change from a traditional presential education structure to a non-presential learning-teaching framework based on virtual/on-line educational strategies. Particular efforts have been done at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and in its Design Engineering School (ETSID) to adapt their educational model to this unexpected situation. This paper shows the work conducted to redesign seminars in the subject Sustainable Development and Environmental Ethics according to the requirements of this new scenario. A preliminary SWOT analysis allowed to focus our redesigning efforts in specific aspects of the seminar: assuming the nonpresential scenario and adapting to this new reality, an appropriate and more effective information sharing, some visual aspects associated to the specific teamworking dynamics in the classroom, structure and seminar schedule were some of the aspects to be on in the redesigning process. Students¿ opinions and point of view were particularly considered in redesigning as they are intensively experiencing on-line education since confinement started. Finally, structure, tasks, schedule, attendance, results compilation and sharing, and assessment were completely reconsidered and adapted. After this season¿s experience, development, results and students¿ feedback have been studied in depth. As a conclusion, the new redesigned seminar rises as a successful improved version of the activity being more dynamic, participative, and educationally functional. Although, there are important aspects that have been lost because they are linked to presential attendance and real teamworking in the classroom. Further efforts will be focused in diminishing these disadvantages.Laguarda-Miro, N.; Ibáñez Civera, FJ.; Gil Sánchez, L.; Garcia-Breijo, E.; Monreal-Trigo, J.; Terrés-Haro, JM. (2021). Redesigning seminars in the subject sustainable development and environmental ethics for the new on-line higher education scenario due to COVID-19. IATED. 5455-5460. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.1107S5455546

Linking academic and labor training in finalist graduacte subjects: a strategy to improve students transversal competences

[EN] In the current presentation we propose the integration of training for employment in the last subjects of university degrees. Specifically, for this case, contents and activities of the elective subject ¿Organic Electronic and Processes in Electronic Design¿ are reformulated. This subject is included in the Degree in Industrial Electronics and Automation at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). The aim of this proposal is to include training for employment (or external practices) and how to deal with the initial contacts with the destination work centre.Ibáñez Civera, FJ.; Laguarda-Miro, N.; Gil Sánchez, L.; Garcia-Breijo, E.; Olguín Pinatti, CA.; Monreal-Trigo, J.; Terrés-Haro, JM. (2019). Linking academic and labor training in finalist graduacte subjects: a strategy to improve students transversal competences. IATED. 3809-3812. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2019.0966S3809381

Global Estimation of Biophysical Variables from Google Earth Engine Platform

This paper proposes a processing chain for the derivation of global Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR), Fraction Vegetation Cover (FVC), and Canopy water content (CWC) maps from 15-years of MODIS data exploiting the capabilities of the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform. The retrieval chain is based on a hybrid method inverting the PROSAIL radiative transfer model (RTM) with Random forests (RF) regression. A major feature of this work is the implementation of a retrieval chain exploiting the GEE capabilities using global and climate data records (CDR) of both MODIS surface reflectance and LAI/FAPAR datasets allowing the global estimation of biophysical variables at unprecedented timeliness. We combine a massive global compilation of leaf trait measurements (TRY), which is the baseline for more realistic leaf parametrization for the considered RTM, with large amounts of remote sensing data ingested by GEE. Moreover, the proposed retrieval chain includes the estimation of both FVC and CWC, which are not operationally produced for the MODIS sensor. The derived global estimates are validated over the BELMANIP2.1 sites network by means of an inter-comparison with the MODIS LAI/FAPAR product available in GEE. Overall, the retrieval chain exhibits great consistency with the reference MODIS product (R2 role= presentation \u3e2 = 0.87, RMSE = 0.54 m2 role= presentation \u3e2/m2 role= presentation \u3e2 and ME = 0.03 m2 role= presentation \u3e2/m2 role= presentation \u3e2 in the case of LAI, and R2 role= presentation \u3e2 = 0.92, RMSE = 0.09 and ME = 0.05 in the case of FAPAR). The analysis of the results by land cover type shows the lowest correlations between our retrievals and the MODIS reference estimates (R2 role= presentation \u3e2 = 0.42 and R2 role= presentation \u3e2 = 0.41 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively) for evergreen broadleaf forests. These discrepancies could be attributed mainly to different product definitions according to the literature. The provided results proof that GEE is a suitable high performance processing tool for global biophysical variable retrieval for a wide range of applications

Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Monitoring Wildlife Passages

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are being deployed in very diverse application scenarios, including rural and forest environments. In these particular contexts, specimen protection and conservation is a challenge, especially in natural reserves, dangerous locations or hot spots of these reserves (i.e., roads, railways, and other civil infrastructures). This paper proposes and studies a WSN based system for generic target (animal) tracking in the surrounding area of wildlife passages built to establish safe ways for animals to cross transportation infrastructures. In addition, it allows target identification through the use of video sensors connected to strategically deployed nodes. This deployment is designed on the basis of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, but it increases the lifetime of the nodes through an appropriate scheduling. The system has been evaluated for the particular scenario of wildlife monitoring in passages across roads. For this purpose, different schemes have been simulated in order to find the most appropriate network operational parameters. Moreover, a novel prototype, provided with motion detector sensors, has also been developed and its design feasibility demonstrated. Original software modules providing new functionalities have been implemented and included in this prototype. Finally, main performance evaluation results of the whole system are presented and discussed in depth

A unified vegetation index for quantifying the terrestrial biosphere

Empirical vegetation indices derived from spectral reflectance data are widely used in remote sensing of the biosphere, as they represent robust proxies for canopy structure, leaf pigment content, and, subsequently, plant photosynthetic potential. Here, we generalize the broad family of commonly used vegetation indices by exploiting all higher-order relations between the spectral channels involved. This results in a higher sensitivity to vegetation biophysical and physiological parameters. The presented nonlinear generalization of the celebrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) consistently improves accuracy in monitoring key parameters, such as leaf area index, gross primary productivity, and sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Results suggest that the statistical approach maximally exploits the spectral information and addresses long-standing problems in satellite Earth Observation of the terrestrial biosphere. The nonlinear NDVI will allow more accurate measures of terrestrial carbon source/sink dynamics and potentials for stabilizing atmospheric CO2 and mitigating global climate change

Tratamientos Psicológicos Empíricamente Apoyados Para Adultos: Una Revisión Selectiva [Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review]

Antecedentes: los tratamientos psicológicos han mostrado su efi cacia, efectividad y efi ciencia para el abordaje de los trastornos mentales; no obstante, considerando el conocimiento científi co generado en los últimos años, no se dispone de trabajos de actualización en español sobre cuáles son los tratamientos psicológicos con respaldo empírico. El objetivo fue realizar una revisión selectiva de los principales tratamientos psicológicos empíricamente apoyados para el abordaje de trastornos mentales en personas adultas. Método: se recogen niveles de evidencia y grados de recomendación en función de los criterios propuestos por el Sistema Nacional de Salud de España (en las Guías de Práctica Clínica) para diferentes trastornos psicológicos. Resultados: los resultados sugieren que los tratamientos psicológicos disponen de apoyo empírico para el abordaje de un amplio elenco de trastornos psicológicos. El grado de apoyo empírico oscila de bajo a alto en función del trastorno psicológico analizado. La revisión sugiere que ciertos campos de intervención necesitan una mayor investigación. Conclusiones: a partir de esta revisión selectiva, los profesionales de la psicología podrán disponer de información rigurosa y actualizada que les permita tomar decisiones informadas a la hora de implementar aquellos procedimientos psicoterapéuticos empíricamente fundamentados en función de las características de las personas que demandan ayuda. // Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review. Background: Psychological treatments have shown their effi cacy, effectiveness, and effi ciency in dealing with mental disorders. However, considering the scientifi c knowledge generated in recent years, in the Spanish context, there are no updating studies about empirically supported psychological treatments. The main goal was to carry out a selective review of the main empirically supported psychological treatments for mental disorders in adults. Method: Levels of evidence and degrees of recommendation were collected based on the criteria proposed by the Spanish National Health System (Clinical Practice Guidelines) for different psychological disorders. Results: The results indicate that psychological treatments have empirical support for the approach to a wide range of psychological disorders. These levels of empirical evidence gathered range from low to high depending on the psychological disorder analysed. The review indicates the existence of certain fi elds of intervention that need further investigation. Conclusions: Based on this selective review, psychology professionals will be able to have rigorous, up-to-date information that allows them to make informed decisions when implementing empirically based psychotherapeutic procedures based on the characteristics of the people who require help

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe