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Shading with nets of 2 m and 3 m width respectively, which reduce the photosynthetic active radiation by 74%, lead to successful fruit thinning of apple trees. In field trials, three days of shading reduced fruits per 100 flower clusters to a satisfactory extent for Golden Delicious (if shading occurred after 19, 26 and 33 days after full bloom (DAFB)) and Topaz (if shading occurred after 19 and 26 DAFB). For Elstar, seven days shading at 25 DAFB resulted in a good thinning effect. However, practicability of the method in commercial orchards has to be improved

A Machine Learning-based Framework for Optimizing the Operation of Future Networks

5G and beyond are not only sophisticated and difficult to manage, but must also satisfy a wide range of stringent performance requirements and adapt quickly to changes in traffic and network state. Advances in machine learning and parallel computing underpin new powerful tools that have the potential to tackle these complex challenges. In this article, we develop a general machinelearning- based framework that leverages artificial intelligence to forecast future traffic demands and characterize traffic features. This makes it possible to exploit such traffic insights to improve the performance of critical network control mechanisms, such as load balancing, routing, and scheduling. In contrast to prior works that design problem-specific machine learning algorithms, our generic approach can be applied to different network functions, allowing reuse of existing control mechanisms with minimal modifications. We explain how our framework can orchestrate ML to improve two different network mechanisms. Further, we undertake validation by implementing one of these, mobile backhaul routing, using data collected by a major European operator and demonstrating a 3×reduction of the packet delay compared to traditional approaches.This work is partially supported by the Madrid Regional Government through the TAPIR-CM program (S2018/TCS-4496) and the Juan de la Cierva grant (FJCI-2017-32309). Paul Patras acknowledges the support received from the Cisco University Research Program Fund (2019-197006)

Adaptive mechanism for distributed opportunistic scheduling

Distributed opportunistic scheduling (DOS) techniques have been recently proposed for improving the throughput performance of wireless networks. With DOS, each station contends for the channel with a certain access probability. If a contention is successful, the station measures the channel conditions and transmits in case the channel quality is above a certain threshold. Otherwise, the station does not use the transmission opportunity, allowing all stations to recontend. A key challenge with DOS is to design a distributed algorithm that optimally adjusts the access probability and the threshold of each station. To address this challenge, in this paper, we first compute the configuration of these two parameters that jointly optimizes throughput performance in terms of proportional fairness. Then, we propose an adaptive algorithm based on control theory that converges to the desired point of operation. Finally, we conduct a control theoretic analysis of the algorithm to find a setting for its parameters that provides a good tradeoff between stability and speed of convergence. Simulation results validate the design of our mechanism and confirm its advantages over previous works.This work was funded by the European Community's 7th Framework Program FP7/2007-2013 under Grant 317941 (iJOIN) and by the Madrid Regional Government’s TIGRE5-CM program (S2013/ICE-2919)Publicad

A data management e-infrastructure for the OBSEA cabled observatory

Underwater cabled observatories are a key assets to monitor the oceans, providing high-resolution multi-parametric data from a wide variety of sensor systems. Their outstanding observational capabilities lead to significant amounts of data that need to be properly acquired, archived, curated and distributed. This paper presents the OBSEA e-Infrastructure, a modular data infrastructure to manage and distribute data from the OBSEA underwater observatory in a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable manner

OBSEA, a marine sensor testing site for metrology

Marine sensors needs to be tested in real and controlled environments in order to assure, both, proper functionality of the sensor and good enough measurements. Most of the times is not enough testing on the lab, field tests and an inter-comparison with similar sensors (if exists) can help instruments manufactures, platform operators and scientist to validate the instrument. This abstracts introduce OBSEA, a permanent underwater cabled seabed observatory located in front of the Catalan’s coast near Barcelona, at 20 m depth, and some of the current activities where the observatory is used as a test site for different experiments related with marine sensors metrology.Postprint (published version

A Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems: Computational Creativity Evaluation Based on What it is to be Creative

Computational creativity is a flourishing research area, with a variety of creative systems being produced and developed. Creativity evaluation has not kept pace with system development with an evident lack of systematic evaluation of the creativity of these systems in the literature. This is partially due to difficulties in defining what it means for a computer to be creative; indeed, there is no consensus on this for human creativity, let alone its computational equivalent. This paper proposes a Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems (SPECS). SPECS is a three-step process: stating what it means for a particular computational system to be creative, deriving and performing tests based on these statements. To assist this process, the paper offers a collection of key components of creativity, identified empirically from discussions of human and computational creativity. Using this approach, the SPECS methodology is demonstrated through a comparative case study evaluating computational creativity systems that improvise music

The Efficacy of Short-Term Supplemental Nutrition Education on Nutrition Knowledge and Dietary Behaviors of Urban Middle School Children

Background: Children and adolescents are not meeting the dietary guidelines and overweight and obesity related diseases are on the rise among youth in the United States. However, research is inconsistent with regard to the most effective method of educating urban youth. Purpose: To determine the effect of a supplemental nutrition education on the knowledge and behaviors of urban school students. Methods: Six nutrition lessons were provided to students attending the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA) in Atlanta, GA. A pre- and posttest was administered to assess differences in students’ nutrition knowledge and behaviors. Chi-square analysis compared the number of correct answers for the entire intervention population and after stratification by gender and number of classes missed. The Wilcoxon signed rank test compared the median number of correct answers in pre- vs. posttest responses for all participants and by the number of classes missed. Results: 15 students enrolled in the study. 2 students did not complete the study. A significant but negative change in knowledge was found in 1 of 15 nutrition questions. A significant negative change in the median number of total answers correct on the pre- vs. posttest was also observed (p=0.049). Approximately 60% of the participants reported that they were more likely to make positive, nutrition-related behavior changes after the intervention. Conclusion: We found a negative association between the nutrition education intervention and knowledge gain. This study suggests that nutrition education alone does not have a significant effect on nutrition knowledge of urban youth

Obsea: a decadal balance for a cabled observatory deployment

The study of the effects of climate change on the marine environment requires the existence of sufficiently long time series of key parameters. The study of these series allows both to characterize the range of variability in each particular region and to detect trends or changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic causes. For this reason, networks of permanent cabled observation systems are being deployed in the ocean. This paper presents a balance of a decade of activity at the OBSEA cabled observatory, as an example of ocean monitoring success and drawbacks. It is not the objective of this article to analyze the scientific and technical aspects already presented by the authors in different publications (Table 4). We will evaluate the overall experience by retracing the different steps of infrastructure deployment and maintenance, focusing on routines for in situ control, damages experienced, breakdowns and administrative constraints by local administrations. We will conclude by providing a set of guidelines to improve cabled observatories scientific outreach, societal projection, and economic efficiency. As a result of this work, a 10-years dataset has been published in Pangaea that is available for the community.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

On becoming a Collaborative Professional: From Paradigm Shifting to Transformative Learning through Critical Reflection and Dialogue

In Part II, I provide a brief overview of CL and its underlying assumptions. A description of CL training and learning objectives follows in Parts III and IV. In Parts V and VI, I review the paradigm shifting and transformative learning literature. I provide an overview of the study in Part VII, followed by my analysis of the data in Parts VIII and IX. In Part X, I conclude with a discussion of critical reflection and dialogue in a CL training context