Search

In addition to the weather conditions, agronomic practices can have a major influence on maize crop yield and contamination with mycotoxins. In this work, the effect of different irrigation systems (flood vs. sprinkler irrigation), sprinkler irrigation management (low vs. high frequency, daytime vs. nighttime irrigation) and tillage practices (conventional tillage, no tillage with or without crop stover) on crop yield and the contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), fumonisins (FUM) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were evaluated in the maize grain from two experimental maize fields. No aflatoxins were detected in any of the samples analyzed. DON and FUM levels were significantly higher when the sprinkler irrigation was performed at nighttime (0.54 and 1.21 mg kg−1, respectively) as compared to daytime (0.38 and 0.45 mg kg−1). Likewise, DON and FUM were greater when irrigation frequency was low (0.61 and 1.09 mg kg−1, respectively) in comparison with high frequency (0.30 and 0.57 mg kg−1). DON concentrations were significantly higher in fields with sprinkler irrigation (0.53 mg kg−1) as compared to flood irrigation (0.19 mg kg−1), while the levels of FUM were very similar regardless of the maize irrigation system. Mycotoxin concentrations were not affected by the different soil tillage practices. This highlights the importance of implementing crop management practices to minimize the risk of mycotoxin contamination in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La capacidad de los laboratorios para detectar el SARS-CoV-2 ha sido clave para la contención de la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). El 15 de marzo de 2020, se declaró en el Perú el estado de emergencia nacional, contando el Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) con la capacidad para realizar el diagnóstico molecular de 41 pruebas diarias. En 10 meses, el INS incrementó su capacidad a 6,000 pruebas diarias, procesando 575,493 muestras equivalentes al 36.2% de las pruebas a nivel nacional durante la primera ola pandémica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clasificar a los microorganismos en grupos de riesgo biológico en seguridad y custodia permite desarrollar medidas de protección en aquellos de riesgo alto y, moderado, asi como crear códigos de conducta en el personal para su uso legal y fines autorizados. Por ello, se elaboró un inventario para clasificar a los microorganismos del Centro Nacional de Salud Pública (CNSP) del Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) en grupos de riesgo biológico. Se identificaron 121 microorganismos; según el criterio de bioseguridad, el 84% se clasifican en el grupo de riesgo 2 (102) y el 16% en el riesgo 3 (19). En biocustodia, se registraron 53 microorganismos en el grupo de riesgo bajo (44%), 56 en riesgo moderado (46%) y 12 en riesgo alto (10%); siendo necesario adoptar y mantener medidas especiales de protección. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnitude and duration of corn transpiration reduction during center-pivot sprinkler irrigation was analyzed on a commercial plot. The irrigation event was defined as the period during which the pivot arm was passing over the transect AC and water droplets were moistening the plants (moist treatment). Corn transpiration rates were measured at three spots of that transect and simultaneously at another spot (dry treatment) located approximately 270 m east from the transect AC. Corn transpiration rates for the moist treatment location were reduced by 30-36% compared to the dry treatment location during the irrigation event. After irrigation, the transpiration reduction lasted for 1.8-2.6 h, and ranged from 22-29%. The gross wind drift and evaporation losses ranged from 10-13% of the applied water, whereas the net interception losses were 2% of the applied water. Considering the observed corn transpiration reduction during and after the irrigation, the net sprinkler evaporation losses ranged from 11-13% of the applied water, with no relevant differences along the pivot arm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The microclimatic (air temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD)) and physiological (canopy temperature and plant transpiration) changes due to center pivot sprinkler irrigation were monitored at a commercial plot of maize (Zea mays L.). Two treatments were considered: (a) moist, measurements taken at three spots on a transect when the pivot was running over it; (b) dry, measurements taken simultaneously at a fourth spot D, 270m apart. A total of 34 irrigation events were monitored, seven of which included plant transpiration measurements. For the transpiration-measured irrigation events, significant (P =0.05) reductions in the monitored variables for the moist treatment were observed for 0.6–2.1h before, during and 0.5–2.4h after the irrigation. The average decreases for the phase during were 1.8–2.1°C for air temperature, 0.53–0.61kPa for VPD, 3.1–3.8°C for canopy temperature, and 0.22–0.28mmh−1 (30–36%) for transpiration. Lower reductions were found for the phases before and after. The duration of the microclimatic changes decreased as the distance from the center of the pivot increased (from 3.9 to 2.2h), but the duration of the physiological changes was similar in the different pivot arm portions (≈4h). Microclimatic and physiological changes were higher in drier and warmer days. Transpiration reduction due to irrigation was higher as closer to the center of the pivot and represented 5–7% of the applied water. The estimated reduction of ET represented 1.5–1.8% of the applied water. The reduction of transpiration and ET is positive because it represents a reduction in irrigation requirements. The decrease in maize canopy temperature could be positive or negative depending on its effect on photosynthesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Soil tillage and irrigation system affected soil CO 2 emissions. • A threshold value at 60 % WFPS was found for soil CO 2 fluxes under flood irrigation. • No-tillage systems reduced cumulative CO 2 emissions by 30 %. • Sprinkler irrigation increased cumulative CO 2 emissions and total aboveground biomass. • Soil acted as a sink of CH 4 throughout the measurement period. Irrigation as well as soil tillage management are considered two possible strategies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4) emissions from the soil in Mediterranean agroecosystems. The objective of this work was to assess the impact of the irrigation system (i.e. flood, F; and sprinkler, S) and the soil tillage system (i.e. conventional tillage, CT; no-tillage maintaining the maize stover, NTr; and no-tillage removing the maize stover, NT) on CO 2 and CH 4 emissions from the soil during three growing seasons (2015, 2016 and 2017) and two fallow periods between growing seasons (15–16 fallow and 16–17 fallow) in a maize (Zea mays L.) monoculture system. Soil temperature and water-filled pore space (WFPS) had a great influence on daily soil CO 2 fluxes but not on daily soil CH 4 fluxes. In all tillage-irrigation treatments, daily soil CO 2 fluxes showed an increase with soil temperature, being this increment greater when soil temperature was above 15 °C in coincidence with the maize plant growth. In contrast, soil WFPS differently affected daily soil CO 2 fluxes depending on the irrigation system. Under S irrigation, daily soil CO 2 fluxes increased with soil WFPS, whereas under F irrigation a threshold value of 60% WFPS was found, with a positive or negative effect on CO 2 fluxes for values below or above this threshold value, respectively. Over the three maize growing seasons, CT-S presented the greatest cumulative soil CO 2 emissions with a seasonal average value of 3.28 Mg CO 2 -C ha−1. In contrast, for the same period, NTr-S cumulative soil CO 2 emissions were up to 42% lower than the CT-S cumulative soil CO 2 emissions. Cumulative CH 4 emissions were only affected by soil tillage during the 16–17 fallow period, resulting both NTr and NT in greater net CH 4 uptake compared with CT. This work highlights the importance of irrigation and soil tillage systems as key agricultural practices to minimize soil CO 2 and CH 4 emissions under Mediterranean conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy flows of the double skin, glass-glass façades have been analysed, establishing a mathematical model to determine the energy savings provided by this construction solution in 10 cities in Spain. It has been found that the two climatological variables that most influence energy savings are outdoor temperature, as it is directly related to the demand for heating, and solar irradiation, as it is the source of energy from which savings are extracted. Energy savings in winter vary between 11.1% and 20.5%, depending on the weather. A linear relationship between the annual average outdoor temperature and the useful energy provided by the double-skin façade has been determined. It was verified that the maximum energy saving occurs when the façade is offset a few degrees to the east from the pure south orientation. It deviates further east, the higher the annual average temperature. A linear relationship has been established between the outside temperature and the azimuth of the façade with which the maximum energy saving occurs. To obtain savings percentages greater than 20%, the ratio between the double-skin façade surface and the total heated surface of the building must be less than 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last five decades have seen strong developments in irrigation modeling. In solid-set sprinkler irrigation, models have generally been applied to a few sprinklers in a regular arrangement, making them representative of a sector or a field. In this research, the Ador-Solid-Set model for whole-field solid-set sprinkler irrigation is presented, validated and applied to simulate an irrigation event in two fields: CA (10.2 ha) and ZA (24.5 ha), equipped with 12 and 26 sectors, respectively. The model couples pipeline hydraulics (EPANET), sprinkler ballistics and irrigation scheduling at execution time. Field experiments were used to validate the ballistic model in a solid-set combining full- and partial-circle sprinklers. Observed and simulated irrigation depths and coefficients of uniformity showed determination coefficients of 0.73*** and 0.89***, respectively. Optimization was used to estimate pipeline roughness based on pairs of pressure measurements (at the inlet and specific sprinklers): 26 pairs in CA and 58 pairs in ZA. Roughness parameters were estimated for the main pipeline, each sector and the sprinkler risers: 14 parameters in CA and 28 in ZA. More than a million hydraulic simulations were required to estimate roughness in each field. Maps were produced for applied water in CA and ZA following a sequential irrigation of their sectors lasting for 24 hours. The model produced whole-field coefficients of uniformity of 80.2 in CA and 80.9 in ZA. Finally, Ador-Solid-Set quantified the volume of drift outside the field (2.4 and 1.5% of the applied water in CA and ZA, respectively). This additional drift can be added to the wind drift and evaporation losses obtained from empirical equations, in a process that requires further analysis. Research efforts are also needed to enhance the current model capabilities and address the challenges related to water quantity and quality in sprinkler solid-sets. • A solid-set irrigation model has been presented, calibrated and validated. • The model has been applied to two solid-sets of 10.2 and 24.5 ha. • New thresholds may be required for whole-field Irrigation uniformity. • The model quantified drift outside the computational domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human mobility is one of the most important concerns in smart city initiatives and is especially relevant when combined with accessibility issues. This paper describes work in the context of the Access@City Research Project, which seeks to improve the accessibility in the public transport system by using available information (open data, semantic-aware knowledge) provided by transport organisations. However, these organisations provide partial data, and a lot of information is still available only on their websites, or simply does not exist. This absence can be tackled using a playful approach – the use of gaming apps to obtain and update accessibility information. In this paper, we describe the use of a hybrid reality game (HRG) to enrich information regarding the accessibility of subway stations. In turn, the player improves her score, which is included as part of the game. The correlation between these observations is able to provide, in a relatively short time, an accurate description of the accessibility of these stations. In summary, this playful approach makes it possible to recover a set of accessibility data that ultimately provide these smart capabilities, which are the core of this 'accessible city' endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Soil GHG emissions were measured during two years in irrigated maize. • Irrigation frequency had a minor impact on GHG emissions. • Nighttime irrigation increased soil N 2 O emissions. • Nighttime irrigation enhanced maize grain yield by 13%. • N 2 O scaled emissions was not affected by the irrigation management. Irrigation management may influence soil greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Solid-set sprinkler irrigation systems allow to modify the irrigation time and frequency. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of two irrigation times (daytime, D; nighttime, N) and two irrigation frequencies (low, L; high, H) on soil carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH 4), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions in a solid-set sprinkler-irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) field located in NE Spain during 2015 and 2016 growing seasons and the fallow period between growing seasons. Compared with D irrigation, N irrigation increased soil water content (0–5 cm) in both growing seasons. Irrigation management did not affect CH 4 emissions and the soil acted as a sink of CH 4. Cumulative CO 2 emissions were affected by the measurement period (growing season vs fallow) with the greatest values in 2015 growing season, being 81 and 32% higher over the fallow period and over the 2016 growing season, respectively, due to the effect of the preceding crop, alfalfa, and a better soil moisture conditions for the microorganism activity. Similarly, cumulative N 2 O emissions showed the highest values in 2015, reporting values 90 and 51% greater than the fallow period and the 2016 growing season, respectively. Moreover, N irrigation increased cumulative N 2 O emissions by 29% compared with D irrigation, but irrigation frequency did not affect cumulative N 2 O emissions. Irrigation time did not affect cumulative N 2 O emissions scaled per grain yield or per N uptake because N irrigation increased maize yield by 11% compared with D irrigation. Due to the lack of differences in the scaled N 2 O emissions, N irrigation should be consider as an appropriate strategy to optimize grain yield without compromising soil GHG emissions per unit of grain yield in Mediterranean agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we evaluated the leaf surface properties of maize populations native to different water availability environments. Leaf surface topography, wettability and gas exchange performance of five maize populations from the Sahara desert, dry (south) and humid (north-western) areas of Spain were analysed. Differences in wettability, stomatal and trichome densities, surface free energy and solubility parameter values were recorded between populations and leaf sides. Leaves from the humid Spanish population with special regard to the abaxial side, were less wettable and less susceptible to polar interactions. The higher wettability and hydrophilicity of Sahara populations with emphasis on the abaxial leaf surfaces, may favour dew deposition and foliar water absorption, hence improving water use efficiency under extremely dry conditions. Compared to the other Saharan populations, the dwarf one had a higher photosynthesis rate suggesting that dwarfism may be a strategy for improving plant tolerance to arid conditions. The results obtained for different maize populations suggest that leaf surfaces may vary in response to drought, but further studies will be required to examine the potential relationship between leaf surface properties and plant stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objetive: To describe immunophenotypic features of acute leukemia cases diagnosed in the Department of Pathology Clinic in a level III Hospital in Chiclayo, Peru during the period 2010 - 2013. Materials and Methods: A secondary cross-sectional study in 116 patients diagnosed with acute leukemia in Department of Clinical Pathology in a level III Hospital in Chiclayo, Peru during the period 2010 - 2013. Information was obtained by applying a data collection sheet, based on the results of flow cytometry in patients. Results: In our study, 116 patients (62 men and 54 women) diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) and myeloblastic (AML) were evaluated. The mean age was 27 years (SD ± 23). ALL was the most frequent with 58.62%, with predominance of LLA-B with 54.31%, and LLA-T with 4.31%. The AML represents 41.38%, with predominance of non promyelocytic AML with 33.62% and promyelocytic AML with 7.76%. The main aberrant phenotypes that corresponded to acute lymphoblastic leukemia B were: lineage infidelity (76.2%) followed by overexpression (47.6%), rare phenotypes (36.5%) and asynchronisms (7.9%). Conclusions: In the acute lymphoid leukemia T rare phenotype corresponded to 100% of cases and in promyelocytic acute myeloid leukemias 50% showed overexpression and 50% showed asynchronisms; in non promyelocytic acute leukemia the mayority of cases presented asynchronisms (51.3%), followed by overexpression (48.7%) and lineage infidelity (7.7%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MEDIMAN (Medical Image MANagement) is a web information system (WIS) for medical image management and processing currently used by neuroscientists and clinicians at several medical and research centres in Spain for research and clinical trials. While developing the MEDIMAN database (DB) we encountered several design challenges unlike those arising in traditional DBs. This paper describes the development of MEDIMAN focusing on the database and the use of the database development process proposed in Midas, a model-driven framework for WIS development. Special attention is given to the design decisions made at each stage to address the challenges encountered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effects of years of extreme rainfall events on maize water-use under traditional flooding irrigation in a Mediterranean landplane were estimated through a simulation assessment; combining a weather generator with an agrohydrological simulation model. Two options: “Fully Irrigation” and “Deficit Irrigation” were considered in the simulations as the extreme water-management situations. Besides, a 2m depth shallow water table and Free Drainage were considered as the typical extreme situations that can be found at the bottom of the simulated soil layer. Thirty “Dry” (DY) and “Wet” (WY) years were randomly selected from the weather generator output. The model SWAP was used to simulate the relative transpiration (RT), i.e. ratio between actual and maximum maize transpiration, actual maize evapotranspiration (ETC), percolated water and capillary rising during wet and dry years and for each of the irrigation and bottom condition options. According to the modelling results, average mean RT is about 80% and 90% in dry and wet years, respectively. RT and ETC variability are very high under dry conditions although such variability is notably reduced if a suitable irrigation option is considered. Capillary rising can play a very important role during dry years in those places where irrigation is not enough, but water table is relatively shallower. On the other hand, a shallower water table can carry out RT reductions during wet years, due to water excess, although these negative effects are comparatively lower than those produced by rain scarcity. Besides, percolated water during wet years is very high, particularly in well-irrigated farms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A comparison between experimental and simulated data, considering the Priestley–Taylor (PT) and Penman–Monteith (PM) reference-evapotranspiration (ET0) approaches was carried out. Experimental data, obtained from an irrigation assessment, conducted during the 1995 and 1996 maize growth-seasons at Zaragoza, Spain, was compared to the mechanistic-model SWAP simulation-results, considering each of the ET0 calculation approaches in the model input. Soil hydraulic properties, meteorological data, seeding and harvest dates, crop water management and other experimental data were used as SWAP input. As corresponding to the windy and dry conditions found in many Mediterranean landplanes, PT-ET0 values were significantly lower than PM-ET0 calculations. Furthermore, simulated actual evapotranspirations considering the PT approach (PT-ETc) were lower than those found in the simulations that consider the PM approach (PM-ETc). Correspondingly, simulated drainage flux and soil water contents were higher when the PT-ET0 approach was used. The correlation coefficients between simulated and measured actual maize evapotranspirations and soil water contents were statistically significant, but the same for both ET0 calculation approaches. Mean and median differences between actual and simulated maize water-use were not statistically different from zero for both considered ET0 calculation approaches. Experimental data variability was significantly higher than simulated variability. The comparisons among the evaluated irrigation options, made with the experimental water-use data, lead almost to the same conclusions than those achieved from the simulated maize water-use. Considering PM-ETc rather than PT-ETc yields no statistical difference in the modeling-based conclusions. According to the obtained results, the PT approach could be used under Mediterranean conditions for comparative assessments aimed to support irrigation decision-making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]