Electrical Responses of Pinus halepensis Mill. as an Indicator of Wildfire Risk in Mediterranean Forests by Complementing Live Fuel Moisture

[EN] Pinus halepensis forests, as Mediterranean-type ecosystems, are subject to high levels of wildfire risk in times of drought, with meteorological conditions of water stress and very high temperatures, mainly in summer. Considering the difficulty of knowing the phenological state of this species, the objective of this research was to evaluate the possibility of implementing the electrical responses (voltage and short-circuit current) as a variable in fire risk management models, compared to live fuel moisture. On the one hand, the obtained results demonstrate non-significant differences between the moisture content of the different fractions of the living branches (base and half of the branch and live fuel), even in times of drought with hydric stress and very high temperatures. Live fuel moisture of Pinus halepensis does not show significant seasonal variations under the influence of extreme fire risk factors. For this reason, it should be complemented with other variables for fire risk management models. On the other hand, the differences registered in the electrical signal show oscillations with significant variations, which are strongly correlated with the periods of extremely favourable meteorological conditions for wildfires. So, the voltages measured show ranges that correspond with great accuracy to the FWI. Voltage variation is dependent on the hydraulic dynamic plant behaviour and a result of the physiological response of pine trees to abiotic stress of drought. It is an easy-to-measure electrical parameter as well as a very reliable indicator with a high correlation with wildfire risk. Thus, electrical responses could add more knowledge about the phenological state of the trees in dependence on stress climatic conditions, allowing integration of these variables in the preventive wildfire modelling and managementZapata, R.; Oliver Villanueva, JV.; Lemus Zúñiga, LG.; Mateo Pla, MÁ.; Luzuriaga, JE. (2022). Electrical Responses of Pinus halepensis Mill. as an Indicator of Wildfire Risk in Mediterranean Forests by Complementing Live Fuel Moisture. Forests. 13(8):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/f1308118911913

Seasonal variations of electrical signals of Pinus halepensis Mill. in Mediterranean forests in dependence on climatic conditions

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Plant Signaling & Behavior on 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15592324.2021.1948744[EN] The temporal evolution of the electrical signal generated by Pinus halepensis was measured in a sample of 15 trees. Weekly experiments were carried out during a long-term campaign lasting over a year, while trials with a high frequency of measurements were also performed during several days. In the latter case, day-night oscillations of the electrical magnitudes were observed. Additionally, punctual meteorological events such as rainfall and electrical storms affect the electrical signal as well. The measured electrical intensity grows exponentially with the voltage. In fact, no electrical intensity that exceeds the threshold of 0.01 ¿A is gathered when voltage values are lower than 0.6 V. In general, higher electrical signals were gathered during the rainy seasons with moderate temperatures; while very low signals, including few measures of zero intensity, were obtained during the most stressful periods over the year, mainly by mid-summer. There is a strong correlation between the rainfall and the electrical signal. The rain-intensity correlation, together with sustained intensity values during the reproductive period in spring, suggests that this electrical magnitude could be an indicator of the physiological state of the tree and thus used for in situ and minimally invasive forest monitoring.Zapata, R.; Oliver Villanueva, JV.; Lemus Zúñiga, LG.; Fuente, D.; Mateo Pla, MÁ.; Luzuriaga, JE.; Moreno, J. (2021). Seasonal variations of electrical signals of Pinus halepensis Mill. in Mediterranean forests in dependence on climatic conditions. Plant Signaling & Behavior. 16(10):1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2021.1948744113161

A comprehensive solution for electrical energy demand prediction based on auto-regressive models

Energy consumption and demand are two widely used terms necessary to understand the functioning of the different mechanisms used in electrical energy transactions. In this article, the design and construction of a comprehensive solution to forecast future trends in electricity transactions using the historical data and two auto-regressive models were considered. Simple linear regression and a complete model such as ARIMA. We compared these models to find which one best suits the type of data considering their strengths and weaknesses for this specific case. Finally, to complete the comprehensive solution, the results are presented to the final user. This solution is mainly aimed at professionals who carry out activities related to contracting and managing electricity supply in public institutions. This solution pretends to collaborate to reduce energy demand and therefore, consumption.Mant

Plan de negocios de la camaronera CREMSA

Para este documento el proyecto CREMSA detalla la factibilidad económica, del cultivo en cautiverio de cainarones peneidos en una finca de cuarenta hectáreas ubicada en la provincia de EL Oro, el mismo que incluye: los objetivos, las estrategias y la organización de la empresa, las alternativas de financiamiento y un análisis económico del proyecto

From traffic data to GHG emissions: a novel bottom-upmethodology and its application to Valencia city

[EN] Sustainable cities will only be possible with effective local measures tackling Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Transport and mobility represent the main sources of these emissions, particularly in urban settings. National and local public administrations need accurate and more responsive tools to quantify GHG emissions. Digitisation and ICTs are key elements in the development of such tools, which, additionally, have to be based on robust methodologies validated by the scientific community. This research presents a bottom-up methodology for the quantification of road traffic's GHG emissions with higher levels of immediacy and spatial resolution when compared to other already existing methods. The methodology uses data from the urban traffic control and monitoring systems as a baseline to calculate emissions. A pilot test has been conducted in Valencia city (Spain). Its results show a highly detailed picture of GHG emission in the city with high temporal (hour) and space (street) resolutions. The emission patterns reflect the dynamics of the city and its citizenship mobility. Since the tools developed for the pilot test can be adapted to other cities, public decision-makers could benefit from a precise diagnosis system based on traffic data to offer and evaluate solutions to reduce road transport GHG emissions.This project would not have been possible without the financial support of the Innovation Agency of the Region of Valencia (AVI) under grant TRUST 2030, which allowed to start this research line. In this context we are particularly thankful to ETRA I+D officials, Mr. Antonio Ortin (CEO) and General Research Manager Mr. Antonio Marques for their encouragement and active support during these first critical stages of this endeavour.Mateo Pla, MÁ.; Edgar Lorenzo-Sáez; Jorge E. Luzuriaga; Santiago Mira Prats; Juan-Antonio Moreno-Perez; Urchueguía Schölzel, JF.; Oliver Villanueva, JV.... (2021). From traffic data to GHG emissions: a novel bottom-upmethodology and its application to Valencia city. Sustainable Cities and Society (Online). 66:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.1026431126

Early initiation of lopinavir/ritonavir in infants less than 6 weeks of age: pharmacokinetics and 24-week safety and efficacy

BACKGROUND: With increasing recognition of the benefits of early antiretroviral therapy initiation in perinatally HIV-infected infants, data are needed regarding the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and efficacy of recommended first-line protease inhibitors such as lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r). METHODS: A prospective, phase I/II, open-label, dose-finding trial evaluated LPV/r at a dose of 300/75 mg/m twice daily plus 2 nucleoside analogs in HIV-1-infected infants \u3e or =14 days to /r therapy, and doses were modified to maintain LPV predose concentrations \u3e1 microg/mL and area under the curve (AUC) /mL. RESULTS: Ten infants enrolled [median age 5.7 (range, 3.6-5.9) weeks] with median HIV-1 RNA of 6.0 (range, 4.7-7.2) log10 copies/mL; all completed 24 weeks of follow-up. Nine completed the intensive PK evaluation at a median LPV dose of 267 (range, 246-305) mg/m q12 hours; median measures were AUC = 36.6 (range, 27.9-62.6) microg hr/mL; predose concentration = 2.2 (range, 0.99-4.9) microg/mL; maximum concentration = 4.76 (range, 2.84-7.28) microg/mL and apparent clearance (L/h/m) = 6.75 (range, 2.79-12.83). Adverse events were limited to transient grade 3 neutropenia in 3 subjects. By week 24, 2 of 10 subjects had experienced a protocol-defined virologic failure. CONCLUSIONS: Although the LPV AUC in this population was significantly lower than that observed in infants ages 6 weeks to 6 months, LPV/r-based antiretroviral therapy in doses of 300/75 mg/m BID was well tolerated and resulted in virologic control in 8 of 10 infants by 24 weeks. Additional investigation is needed to understand the long-term implications of the lower LPV exposure in this age group

RecruitNet: A global database of plant recruitment networks

Plant recruitment interactions (i.e., what recruits under what) shape the composition, diversity, and structure of plant communities. Despite the huge body of knowledge on the mechanisms underlying recruitment interactions among species, we still know little about the structure of the recruitment networks emerging in ecological communities. Modeling and analyzing the community-level structure of plant recruitment interactions as a complex network can provide relevant information on ecological and evolutionary processes acting both at the species and ecosystem levels. We report a data set containing 143 plant recruitment networks in 23 countries across five continents, including temperate and tropical ecosystems. Each network identifies the species under which another species recruits. All networks report the number of recruits (i.e., individuals) per species. The data set includes >850,000 recruiting individuals involved in 118,411 paired interactions among 3318 vascular plant species across the globe. The cover of canopy species and open ground is also provided. Three sampling protocols were used: (1) The Recruitment Network (RN) protocol (106 networks) focuses on interactions among established plants (“canopy species”) and plants in their early stages of recruitment (“recruit species”). A series of plots was delimited within a locality, and all the individuals recruiting and their canopy species were identified; (2) The paired Canopy-Open (pCO) protocol (26 networks) consists in locating a potential canopy plant and identifying recruiting individuals under the canopy and in a nearby open space of the same area; (3) The Georeferenced plot (GP) protocol (11 networks) consists in using information from georeferenced individual plants in large plots to infer canopy-recruit interactions. Some networks incorporate data for both herbs and woody species, whereas others focus exclusively on woody species. The location of each study site, geographical coordinates, country, locality, responsible author, sampling dates, sampling method, and life habits of both canopy and recruit species are provided. This database will allow researchers to test ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary hypotheses related to plant recruitment interactions. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set; please cite this data paper when using these data in publications