Quantifying the Production of Fruit-Bearing Trees Using Image Processing Techniques

[EN] In recent years, the growth rate of world agricultural production and crop yields have decreased. Crop irrigation becomes essential in very dry areas and where rainfall is scarce, as in Egypt. Persimmon needs low humidity to obtain an optimal crop. This article proposes the monitoring of its performance, in order to regulate the amount of water needed for each tree at any time. In our work we present a technique that consists of obtaining images of some of the trees with fruit, which are subsequently treated, to obtain reliable harvest data. This technique allows us to have control and predictions of the harvest. Also, we present the results obtained in a first trial, through which we demonstrate the feasibility of using the system to meet the objectives set. We use 5 different trees in our experiment. Their fruit production is different (between 20 and 47kg of fruit). The correlation coefficient of the obtained regression model is 0.97.This work has been partially supported by European Union through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond) project ERANETMED3-227 SMARTWATIR by the Conselleria de Educación, Cultura y Deporte with the Subvenciones para la contratación de personal investigador en fase postdoctoral, grant number APOSTD/2019/04, and by the Cooperativa Agrícola Sant Bernat Coop.V.García, L.; Parra-Boronat, L.; Basterrechea-Chertudi, DA.; Jimenez, JM.; Rocher-Morant, J.; Parra-Boronat, M.; García-Navas, JL.... (2019). Quantifying the Production of Fruit-Bearing Trees Using Image Processing Techniques. IARIA XPS Press. 14-19. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/180619S141

Design of a WSN for smart irrigation in citrus plots with fault-tolerance and energy-saving algorithms

[EN] Wireless sensor networks are widely used for monitoring different processes, including agriculture, in order to reach sustainability. One of the keys to sustainable crops is water saving. In particular, saving water is extremely important in arid and semiarid regions. In those regions, citrus trees are cultivated, and drip irrigation is used to save water. In this paper, we propose a smart irrigation system for citrus trees using a WSN. We describe the employed sensors and nodes for this proposal. Next, we present the proposed architecture and the operational algorithms for the nodes. Moreover, we designed different algorithms for fault tolerance and energy saving functionalities. The energy saving algorithm is based on the relevance of the gathered data, which is analyzed in order to consider whether the information should be forwarded or not. A TPC-based protocol is proposed to perform the communication among the nodes of our system. In addition, we present different simulations of the proposed system. Particularly, we show the consumed bandwidth and the remaining energy in the different nodes. Finally, we test different energy configurations to evaluate the network lifetime and the remaining energy when the first node depletes its energy.This work has been partially supported by the “Conselleria d' Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport” through the “Subvenciones para la contratación de personal investigator de carácter predoctoral (Convocatoria 2017)” Grant number ACIF/2017/069, by the “Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte”, through the “Ayudas para contratacion predoctoral de Formación del Profesorado Universitario FPU (Convocatoria 2014)”. Grant number FPU14/02953 and finally, the research leading to these results has received funding from “la Caixa” Foundation and Triptolemos Foundation. This work has also been partially supported by European Union through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond) project ERANETMED3-227 SMARTWATIR.Parra-Boronat, L.; Rocher-Morant, J.; García-García, L.; Lloret, J.; Tomás Gironés, J.; Romero Martínez, JO.; Rodilla, M.... (2018). Design of a WSN for smart irrigation in citrus plots with fault-tolerance and energy-saving algorithms. Network Protocols and Algorithms. 10(2):95-115. https://doi.org/10.5296/npa.v10i2.13205S9511510

Cistus libanotis L. (Cistaceae) in the South of Portugal: ecology, phytosociology and phytochemistry

Cistus libanotis es un arbusto de hasta 1 m de altura, muy ramoso, con las hojas estrechas, verde-oscuras en las caras superiores y blanco-tomentosas en las inferiores, con los bordes revolutos. Presenta de 3 a 6 flores blanco-amarillentas con pedúnculos muy largos en inflorescencia terminal y los frutos son cápsulas subglobosas. Es un taxón que, según FRANCO (1971), se encuentra en las arenas litorales del Barlavento y Sotavento algarvio. Posteriormente RIVAS-MARTÍNEZ et al. (1990) lo han identificado próximo a Grândola. En los trabajos de campo hechos en las primaveras de 2003 hasta 2006, ha sido recolectada en suelos arenosos en las zonas cercanas de Torrão (Alcácer do Sal) y Cortiçadas de Lavre (Montemor-o-Novo), lejos de la influencia marítima. Las comunidades donde crece el Cistus libanotis están dominadas por otras Cistaceae:Cistus ladanifer, Cistus salviifolius, Halimium halimifolium subsp. multiflorum y Xolantha guttata, entre otras. Estudiamos la vegetación natural de las regiones alentejana y algarvia donde fue identificado el Cistus libanotis: Erico umbellatae-Ulicetum welwitschiani, Cistetum bourgaeani (libanotidis) y Thymo capitellati-Stauracanthetum genistoidis. De una muestra de planta recogida en la zona de Torrão se ha realizado el estudio de la composición química para ser comparada con un trabajo previo (GRANELL SÁNCHEZ, 1981; TERESA et al., 1979) del Cistus libanotis recogido en el Coto de Doñana en Huelva. En estos Cistus libanotis predominan los productos neutros sobre los ácidos, los productos neutros aislados son triterpenos tetracíclicos de esqueleto dammarano y un aldehído de esqueleto ent-labdano (diterpeno) que no se había aislado anteriormente. En la parte ácida, minoritaria, se aíslan dos compuestos de esqueleto dammarano producidos por la ruptura del anillo A del triterpeno; la ruptura de la unión 3-4, ya descrita anteriormente (GRANELL SÁNCHEZ, l. c.; TERESA et al., 1979; TERESA et al., 1982), y la ruptura de la unión 2-3 que corresponde a un nuevo derivado. El producto ácido que predomina en esta parte es el ácido anti-copálico, un diterpeno de esqueleto labdano, con otros derivados diterpénicos labdanos y ent-labdanos, ya descritos anteriormente.Cistus libanotis is a shrub up to 1 m of height, very branchy, with leaves linear, dark green above, white-tomentose beneath, with revolute margins. Flowers yellowish 3-6 on long pedicles, in terminals fascicles and the fruits they are subglobous capsules. FRANCO (1971) meets this taxon in coastal sands of Barlavento and Sotavento algarvio . Later RIVAS-MARTÍNEZ et al. (1990) had identified in the north, near the Grândola. In the herborizations effectuated in the springs of 2003 at 2006, it was collected in arenaceous soils in a region next to Torrão (Alcácer do Sal) and Cortiçadas do Lavre (Montemor-o-Novo), far of the maritime influence. The communities of plants here the Cistus libanotis are integrated, were dominated by other Cistaceae such as Cistus ladanifer, Cistus salviifolius, Halimium halimifolium subsp. multiflorum and Xolantha guttata, among others. We study the natural vegetation of the alentejana and algarvia regions where the Cistus libanotis was identified: Erico umbellatae-Ulicetum welwitschiani, Cistetum bourgaeani (libanotidis) and Thymo capitellati-Stauracanthetum genistoidis. With sample of plant, collected in the area of Torrão, has been carried out the study of the chemical composition to be compared with a previous work (GRANELL SÁNCHEZ, 1981; TERESA et al., 1979) of the Cistus libanotis, that was collected in the area of Coto de Doñana in Huelva. In these Cistus libanotis the neutral products prevail to the acids products. The isolated neutral products are tetracyclics triterpenes of a dammarane skeleton and an aldehyde with an ent-labdane skeleton (diterpene) that had not been isolated previously (GRANELL SÁNCHEZ, l. c.; TERESA et al., 1979; TERESA et al., 1982). In the acid part, two minor compounds are isolated with a ammarane skeleton, that could come from the rupture of the triterpene ring A; the rupture of the bond 3-4, described previously, and the rupture of the bond 2-3 that corresponds to a new one derived. The acid product that prevails in this part is the anti-copalic acid, a diterpene with a labdane skeleton, together with other known labdanes and ent-labdanes

New phenolic esters from the resinous exudate of Haplopappus taeda

Two new phenolic esters 9-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-α-terpineol (1) and 7-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-taedol (2), both endowed with free radical scavenger activity and cleroda-3,13 (E)-dien-15,18-diol (3) for which a cis stereochemistry at the decalin junction was found, were isolated from the resinous exudate from Haplopappus taeda upper parts. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Crystal structure of 9-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-alpha-terpineol, c19h24o4

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Laurus novocanariensis essential oil: Seasonal variation and valorization

9 pages, figures, and tables statistics.We investigated the qualitative and quantitative seasonal variation of the leaf and fruit oils of the Macaronesian endemism Laurus novocanariensis and their plant defensive potential. The monoterpene fraction dominated the leaf (74%) and berry essential oils (73e44%, ripeeunripe). The insect antifeedant effects of these oils were species- and season-dependent against the aphids (Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi). Overall, the biological effects of these oils correlated with the oxygenated terpene fraction. Among the pure components tested, b-caryophyllene and its oxide were strong antifeedants to Leptinotarsa decemlineata and Spodoptera littoralis. The aphids responded to b-ocimene, b-pinene, 1,8-cineole, linalool (antifeedants) and linalool oxide (attractive to M. persicae). The antifungal effects of the leaf oils on Fusarium spp. were season-dependent. b-Caryophyllene oxide proved to be a strong antifungal. L. novocanariensis oils inhibited Lactuca sativa germination and radicle elongation, the leaves being more effective. Linalool also inhibited seed germination.Peer reviewe

Using beta-lactam antibiotics in patients with a history of beta-lactam allergy: current concepts

[EN]β-lactams are the most widely used antibiotic family, but they are also the most common cause of drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions. The estimated prevalence of reported penicillin allergy ranges between 9% and 12%, although a high percentage of patients with a history of penicillin allergy have no subsequent reactions on reexposure to β-lactams. A self-reported penicillin allergy has been associated with antimicrobial resistance, increased cost, intensive care admission, and death, making it essential to establish an accurate diagnosis. In addition to a thorough clinical history, diagnostic methods include skin tests, in vitro tests, and drug-challenge tests. In this review, the diagnosis and management of patients with self-reported penicillin allergy is discussed, including the recently introduced antimicrobial stewardship strategy