Early forest fire detection by vision-enabled wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks constitute a powerful technology particularly suitable for environmental monitoring. With regard to wildfires, they enable low-cost fine-grained surveillance of hazardous locations like wildland-urban interfaces. This paper presents work developed during the last 4 years targeting a vision-enabled wireless sensor network node for the reliable, early on-site detection of forest fires. The tasks carried out ranged from devising a robust vision algorithm for smoke detection to the design and physical implementation of a power-efficient smart imager tailored to the characteristics of such an algorithm. By integrating this smart imager with a commercial wireless platform, we endowed the resulting system with vision capabilities and radio communication. Numerous tests were arranged in different natural scenarios in order to progressively tune all the parameters involved in the autonomous operation of this prototype node. The last test carried out, involving the prescribed burning of a 95 x 20-m shrub plot, confirmed the high degree of reliability of our approach in terms of both successful early detection and a very low false-alarm rate. Journal compilationMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-11812, IPT-2011-1625-430000Office of Naval Research (USA) N000141110312Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico e Industrial IPC-2011100

On-site forest fire smoke detection by low-power autonomous vision sensor

Early detection plays a crucial role to prevent forest fires from spreading. Wireless vision sensor networks deployed throughout high-risk areas can perform fine-grained surveillance and thereby very early detection and precise location of forest fires. One of the fundamental requirements that need to be met at the network nodes is reliable low-power on-site image processing. It greatly simplifies the communication infrastructure of the network as only alarm signals instead of complete images are transmitted, anticipating thus a very competitive cost. As a first approximation to fulfill such a requirement, this paper reports the results achieved from field tests carried out in collaboration with the Andalusian Fire-Fighting Service (INFOCA). Two controlled burns of forest debris were realized (www.youtube.com/user/vmoteProject). Smoke was successfully detected on-site by the EyeRISTM v1.2, a general-purpose autonomous vision system, built by AnaFocus Ltd., in which a vision algorithm was programmed. No false alarm was triggered despite the significant motion other than smoke present in the scene. Finally, as a further step, we describe the preliminary laboratory results obtained from a prototype vision chip which implements, at very low energy cost, some image processing primitives oriented to environmental monitoring.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación 2006-TIC-2352, TEC2009-1181

On-site forest fire smoke detection by low-power autonomous vision sensor

Trabajo presentado a la VI International Conference on Forest Fire Research celebrada en Coimbra (Portugal) del 15 al 18 de noviembre de 2010.Early detection plays a crucial role to prevent forest fires from spreading. Wireless vision sensor networks deployed throughout high-risk areas can perform fine-grained surveillance and thereby very early detection and precise location of forest fires. One of the fundamental requirements that need to be met at the network nodes is reliable low-power on-site image processing. It greatly simplifies the communication infrastructure of the network as only alarm signals instead of complete images are transmitted, anticipating thus a very competitive cost. As a first approximation to fulfill such a requirement, this paper reports the results achieved from field tests carried out in collaboration with the Andalusian Fire-Fighting Service (INFOCA). Two controlled burns of forest debris were realized (www.youtube.com/user/vmoteProject). Smoke was successfully detected on-site by the EyeRISTM v1.2, a general-purpose autonomous vision system, built by AnaFocus Ltd., in which a vision algorithm was programmed. No false alarm was triggered despite the significant motion other than smoke present in the scene. Finally, as a further step, we describe the preliminary laboratory results obtained from a prototype vision chip which implements, at very low energy cost, some image processing primitives oriented to environmental monitoring.This work is funded by CICE/JA and MICINN (Spain) through projects 2006-TIC-2352 and TEC2009-11812 respectively.Peer Reviewe

Microencapsulation of TOMAC by suspension polymerisation: Process optimisation

The optimisation process for the synthesis of microcapsules containing trioctylmethylammonium chloride (TOMAC), a selective extractant agent for the removal of mercury from wastewaters, by the suspension copolymerisation of styrene (St) and divinylbenzene (DVB) was studied. The influence of the diluent, mass ratio of the suspending agents (arabic gum –AG– and polivinylalcohol –PVA–), TOMAC:diluent volume ratio and weight percentage of DVB respect to the monomers mixture (% DVB) on the encapsulation process and the physical properties of the resulting microcapsules were investigated. It was found that using heptane as diluent led to non-spherical microcapsules with poor reaction yield and conversion of the monomers. Nevertheless, when toluene was used these properties were improved. Furthermore, for a TOMAC:toluene ratio of 1:3 spherical beads were obtained. The combined use of the suspending agents was more appropriate than using them separately, due to the latex product and the low conversion of the monomers for AG and PVA, respectively. The increase of the % DVB from 18.8 to 50% enhanced the mechanical resistance of the polymeric shell, increasing the reaction yield up to an 84.7% and maintaining the TOMAC encapsulation (36.0%) and the sphericity of the microcapsules. The obtained particle size (40 μm) indicated that the main application of this material will be in fluidised beds or in perfectly mixed reactors. On the basis of the experimental results, a AG:PVA mass ratio of 1:1, a TOMAC:toluene volume ratio of 1:3 and 50% DVB were established as the best conditions to produce this kind of microcapsules, enabling its reproduction on a pilot scale plant. In addition, the high values of the distribution coefficient for mercury removal confirm the success of this optimisation process.Se estudió el proceso de optimización para la síntesis de microcápsulas que contienen cloruro de trioctilmetilamonio (TOMAC), un agente extractante selectivo para la eliminación de mercurio de aguas residuales, mediante la copolimerización en suspensión de estireno (St) y divinilbenceno (DVB). La influencia del diluyente, relación másica de los agentes de suspensión (goma arábiga –AG– y alcohol polivinílico –PVA–), relación volumétrica TOMAC:diluyente y porcentaje en peso de DVB respecto a la mezcla de monómeros (% DVB) sobre el proceso de encapsulación y el Se investigaron las propiedades físicas de las microcápsulas resultantes. Se encontró que el uso de heptano como diluyente conducía a microcápsulas no esféricas con un bajo rendimiento de reacción y conversión de los monómeros. Sin embargo, cuando se utilizó tolueno se mejoraron estas propiedades. Además, para una relación TOMAC:tolueno de 1:3 se obtuvieron perlas esféricas. El uso combinado de los agentes de suspensión fue más apropiado que usarlos por separado, debido al producto de látex y la baja conversión de los monómeros para AG y PVA, respectivamente. El aumento del % DVB de 18,8 a 50% mejoró la resistencia mecánica de la cubierta polimérica, aumentando el rendimiento de reacción hasta un 84,7% y manteniendo la encapsulación TOMAC (36,0%) y la esfericidad de las microcápsulas. El tamaño de partícula obtenido (40 μm) indicó que la principal aplicación de este material será en lechos fluidizados o en reactores perfectamente mezclados. En base a los resultados experimentales, una relación de masa AG:PVA de 1:1, una relación de volumen TOMAC:tolueno de 1:3 y un 50% de DVB se establecieron como las mejores condiciones para producir este tipo de microcápsulas, permitiendo su reproducción en una planta a escala piloto. Además, los altos valores del coeficiente de distribución para la remoción de mercurio confirman el éxito de este proceso de optimización

A new method to quantify and compare the multiple components of fitness-A study case with kelp niche partition by divergent microstage adaptations to Temperature

Point 1 Management of crops, commercialized or protected species, plagues or life-cycle evolution are subjects requiring comparisons among different demographic strategies. The simpler methods fail in relating changes in vital rates with changes in population viability whereas more complex methods lack accuracy by neglecting interactions among vital rates. Point 2 The difference between the fitness (evaluated by the population growth rate.) of two alternative demographies is decomposed into the contributions of the differences between the pair-wised vital rates and their interactions. This is achieved through a full Taylor expansion (i.e. remainder = 0) of the demographic model. The significance of each term is determined by permutation tests under the null hypothesis that all demographies come from the same pool. Point 3 An example is given with periodic demographic matrices of the microscopic haploid phase of two kelp cryptic species observed to partition their niche occupation along the Chilean coast. The method provided clear and synthetic results showing conditional differentiation of reproduction is an important driver for their differences in fitness along the latitudinal temperature gradient. But it also demonstrated that interactions among vital rates cannot be neglected as they compose a significant part of the differences between demographies. Point 4 This method allows researchers to access the effects of multiple effective changes in a life-cycle from only two experiments. Evolutionists can determine with confidence the effective causes for changes in fitness whereas population managers can determine best strategies from simpler experimental designs.CONICYT-FRENCH EMBASSADY Ph.D. gran

Household exposure to pesticides and bladder exstrophy in a newborn baby boy: a case report and review of the literature

© 2009 Martin et al; licensee Cases Network Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

A genome-wide association study suggests the HLA Class II region as the major susceptibility locus for IgA vasculitis.

The genetic component of Immunoglobulin-A (IgA) vasculitis is still far to be elucidated. To increase the current knowledge on the genetic component of this vasculitis we performed the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) on this condition. 308 IgA vasculitis patients and 1,018 healthy controls from Spain were genotyped by Illumina HumanCore BeadChips. Imputation of GWAS data was performed using the 1000 Genomes Project Phase III dataset as reference panel. After quality control filters and GWAS imputation, 285 patients and 1,006 controls remained in the datasets and were included in further analysis. Additionally, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region was comprehensively studied by imputing classical alleles and polymorphic amino acid positions. A linkage disequilibrium block of polymorphisms located in the HLA class II region surpassed the genome-wide level of significance (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.46-0.68). Although no polymorphic amino acid positions were associated at the genome-wide level of significance, P-values of potential relevance were observed for the positions 13 and 11 of HLA-DRB1 (P = 6.67E-05, P = 1.88E-05, respectively). Outside the HLA, potential associations were detected, but none of them were close to the statistical significance. In conclusion, our study suggests that IgA vasculitis is an archetypal HLA class II disease

Innovación y estrategias de intervención en acoso escolar

Los problemas de convivencia escolar, violencia escolar, bullying y cyberbullying, en los centros españoles son una realidad y, por tanto, es necesario que los futuros docentes cuenten con estrategias específicas para el abordaje de estas situaciones cuando se enfrenten a la realidad de las aulas. En este manual, profesionales del área de la convivencia escolar presentan las actuaciones, programas y herramientas disponibles que en estos momentos se están poniendo en práctica en los centros escolares con resultados positivos. Así, se pretende ampliar el conocimiento teórico-práctico en el ámbito de la convivencia, gestión de conflictos y violencia escolar.EducaciónPsicologí

Mediterranean Diet and its Effects on Silent Brain Infarcts in a Cohort of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

[Background and Aims] The benefits of Mediterranean Diet (MeDiet) in prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in general and ischemic stroke (IS) have been extensively studied and reported. We hypothesize that the consumption of nutrients typical of MeDiet would also reduce the rate of silent brain infarcts (SBI) among AF patients.[Methods and Results] Patients with a history of AF who scored 0 to 1 in the CHADS2 score, ⩾50 years and with absence of neurological symptoms were selected from Seville urban area using the Andalusian electronic healthcare database. A 3T brain MRI was performed to all participants. Demographic and clinical data and food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) were collected. Of the 443 scanned patients, 66 presented SBI. Of them 52 accepted to be scheduled for a clinical visit and were included in the diet sub study and 41 controls were matched per age and sex. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics. After logistic regression analysis, we found that a higher consumption of fiber from fruit was independently associated with a lower risk of SBI, while a higher consumption of high glycemic load (GL) foods was associated with a higher risk of SBI in a population with AF[Conclusion] Our findings support that MeDiet could be suggested as a prevention strategy for SBI in patients with AF.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (grant RTC-2016 5300-1), the Junta de Andalucía (grant PIN-0144-2016) and Neuroprotección Avanzada Reposicionando Drogas y Nutraceúticos para el Ictus en Andalucía: Proyecto NARDNIA (PE-0527-2019), the European Project ITRIBIS (registration number REGPOT-2013-1), and Cooperative Cerebrovascular Disease Research Network (INVICTUS+, RD16/0019/0015) supported the study. The Fundación Cajasol also contributed to the study.Peer reviewe