Quality of Fresh Cut Zucchini as Affected by Cultivar,Maturity at Processing and Packaging

Appropriate plant material at processing and film packaging selection has a strong influence on product quality preservation. This is the first report studying the feasibility for minimal processing of four zucchini cultivars at two maturity stages, immature (MS1) and mature, stored at 6 °C during 10 days under different packaging conditions. The treatments consisted a 4 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial combination of variety, maturity at processing, film packaging and storage time, including correlation studies between quality parameters. Negative effect on final quality after processing at MS1 was observed as a result of a higher respiration rate (between 15.91 and 20.12% than at mature), CO₂ production and soluble solid consumption contributing to loss of firmness, slice discolouration and less overall quality. After 10 days under 25 µm film, cv. ‘Cronos’ showed the highest values in total chlorophylls (9.03 mg/100 g FW), while slices at MS1 suffered a noticeable oxidative stress increasing the total phenolic content (cv. ‘Parador’ > ‘Amalthée’ > ‘Cronos’ > ‘Cassiope’). At the end of storage, the highest vitamin C content was observed in trays sealed with 25 µm film (more evident in cv. ‘Cronos’ at MS1). In conclusion, processing more mature zucchini and 25 µm film packaging were the most effective combination for preserving quality. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GraftFast Surface Engineering to Improve MOF Nanoparticles Furtiveness

Controlling the outer surface of nanometric metal–organic frameworks (nanoMOFs) and further understanding the in vivo effect of the coated material are crucial for the convenient biomedical applications of MOFs. However, in most studies, the surface modification protocol is often associated with significant toxicity and/or lack of selectivity. As an alternative, how the highly selective and general grafting GraftFast method leads, through a green and simple process, to the successful attachment of multifunctional biopolymers (polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hyaluronic acid) on the external surface of nanoMOFs is reported. In particular, effectively PEGylated iron trimesate MIL‐100(Fe) nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit suitable grafting stability and superior chemical and colloidal stability in different biofluids, while conserving full porosity and allowing the adsorption of bioactive molecules (cosmetic and antitumor agents). Furthermore, the nature of the MOF–PEG interaction is deeply investigated using high‐resolution soft X‐ray spectroscopy. Finally, a cell penetration study using the radio‐labeled antitumor agent gemcitabine monophosphate (³H‐GMP)‐loaded MIL‐100(Fe)@PEG NPs shows reduced macrophage phagocytosis, confirming a significant in vitro PEG furtiveness.     

A computer implementation of the partition of the unity procedure and its application to arthropod population dynamics. A case study on the European grape berry moth

This paper presents a new procedure to construct families of spatial approximation-prediction functions which depend on several parameters. The method is based on partitions of the unity. In order to find optimal functions in these families we introduce a Vietoris simplicial set associated to an influence radius. We consider error estimators induced by these Vietoris simplicial sets. A computational implementation of these mathematical models has been developed to be applied to any kind of finite discrete data. Our methods provide a useful tool for the analysis of the spatial distribution of species, which is imperative for developing accurate and efficient management of endangered and invasive species, biological conservation programs, etc. We demonstrate the application of our method to the analysis of the spatial distribution of the grape moth Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the vineyards of La Rioja obtaining useful results for the management of this pest.     

Large scale multiple robot visual mapping with heterogeneous landmarks in semi-structured terrain

This paper addresses the cooperative localization and visual mapping problem with multiple heterogeneous robots. The approach is designed to deal with the challenging large semi-structured outdoors environments in which aerial/ground ensembles are to evolve. We propose the use of heterogeneous visual landmarks, points and line segments, to achieve effective cooperation in such environments. A large-scale SLAM algorithm is generalized to handle multiple robots, in which a global graph maintains the relative relationships between a series of local sub-maps built by the different robots. The key issue when dealing with multiple robots is to find the link between them, and to integrate these relations to maintain the overall geometric consistency; the events that introduce these links on the global graph are described in detail. Monocular cameras are considered as the primary extereoceptive sensor. In order to achieve the undelayed initialization required by the bearing-only observations, the well-known inverse-depth parametrization is adopted to estimate 3D points. Similarly, to estimate 3D line segments, we present a novel parametrization based on anchored Plücker coordinates, to which extensible endpoints are added. Extensive simulations show the proposed developments, and the overall approach is illustrated using real-data taken with a helicopter and a ground rover.     

Application of the OBD method for optimization of neural state variable estimators of the two-mass drive system

This paper presents neural estimators of the mechanical state variables of the electrical drive system with elastic joints. The non-measurable state variables, as the torsional torque and the load machine speed are estimated using multilayer feed-forward neural networks. The main stages of the design methodology of these neural estimators are presented. The optimal brain damage method is implemented for the structure optimization of each neural network. Then signals estimated by neural estimators are tested in the electrical drive control structure with additional feedbacks from the estimated shaft torque and the difference between the motor and the load speeds. The simulation results show good accuracy of both presented neural estimators for the wide range of changes of the reference speed and the load torque. The simulation results are then verified by laboratory experiments.     

A socioeconomic model for managing water resources in Alicante,southeast Spain

The study analyzes variables that influence the water management model based on a simultaneous relationship between competing demands in the Marina Baja of Alicante, using a methodology that directly links together urban and irrigation demands, making them relevant to each other from a socioeconomic point of view. The paper identifies the relevant variables of this model and the agent behaviour in a closed and joint system. It also aims to demonstrate that by considering water demands for different yet simultaneous uses and regarding clean and reclaimed waters as integrated resources, the system could remain in equilibrium without external water supplies.     

A collaborative platform for cognitive decision making in the Knowledge Society

Two key aspects of the Knowledge Society are the interconnection between the actors involved in the decision making processes and the importance of the human factor, particularly the citizen’s continuous learning and education. This paper presents a new module devoted to knowledge extraction and diffusion that has been incorporated into a previously developed decision making tool concerning the Internet and related with the multicriteria selection of a discrete number of alternatives (PRIOR-Web). Quantitative and qualitative procedures using data and text mining methods have been employed in the extraction of knowledge. Graphical visualisation tools have been incorporated in the diffusion stage of the methodological approach suggested when dealing with decision making in the Knowledge Society. The resulting collaborative platform is being used as the methodological support for the cognitive democracy known as e-cognocracy.     

A platform for the development of patient applications in the domain of personalized health

Personalized health (p-health) systems can contribute significantly to the sustainability of healthcare systems, though their feasibility is yet to be proven. One of the problems related to their development is the lack of well-established development tools for this domain. As the p-health paradigm is focused on patient self-management, big challenges arise around the design and implementation of patient systems. This paper presents a reference platform created for the development of these applications, and shows the advantages of its adoption in a complex project dealing with cardio-vascular diseases.