Farmers require accurate yield estimates, since they are key to predicting the volume of stock needed at supermarkets and to organizing harvesting operations. In many cases, the yield is visually ...estimated by the crop producer, but this approach is not accurate or time efficient. This study presents a rapid sensing and yield estimation scheme using off-the-shelf aerial imagery and deep learning. A Region-Convolutional Neural Network was trained to detect and count the number of apple fruit on individual trees located on the orthomosaic built from images taken by the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The results obtained with the proposed approach were compared with apple counts made
in situ
by an agrotechnician, and an
R
2
value of 0.86 was acquired (MAE: 10.35 and RMSE: 13.56). As only parts of the tree fruits were visible in the top-view images, linear regression was used to estimate the number of total apples on each tree. An
R
2
value of 0.80 (MAE: 128.56 and RMSE: 130.56) was obtained. With the number of fruits detected and tree coordinates two shapefile using Python script in Google Colab were generated. With the previous information two yield maps were displayed: one with information per tree and another with information per tree row. We are confident that these results will help to maximize the crop producers' outputs
via
optimized orchard management.
Near-field optics can overcome the diffraction limit by creating strong optical gradients to enable the trapping of nanoparticles. However, it remains challenging to achieve efficient, stable ...trapping without heating and thermal effects. Dielectric structures have been used to address this issue but usually offer weak trap stiffness. In this work, we exploit the Fano resonance effect in an all-dielectric quadrupole nanostructure to realize a 20-fold enhancement of trap stiffness, compared to the off-resonance case. This enables a high effective trap stiffness of 1.19 fN/nm for 100 nm diameter polystyrene nanoparticles with 4.2 mW/μm2 illumination. Furthermore, we demonstrate the capability of the structure to simultaneously trap two particles at distinct locations within the nanostructure array.
Environmental Impact Assessment is the process of evaluating the effects caused by a project on the environment. The outcomes generated by this assessment can lead to a reduction of the negative ...effects and an increase in the positive effects caused by mine projects. The present study was conducted to evaluate the environmental impact assessment of the Goliran Coal Mine in northern Iran. In the descriptive-analytical study, to achieve the objectives, observatory surveys were conducted around the coal mine using a checklist, which was about the positive and negative effects of a coal mine. Then the data were entered into the RIAM and the positive and negative effects were ranked and the most important effects were determined. In RIAM, one point is assigned to each component. 17 important activities for environmental impacts were identified using a checklist. Among the activities carried out at the coal mine site, the major ones included tunnel excavation, construction of the rail line collection and disposal of coal mine effluent, coal transportation, collection and disposal of mine tailings, and technical defects and leakage. The scores of each environmental factor were based on the four environmental components: physical/chemical, biological/ecological, social/cultural, and economic/operational. The results of the present study showed that the most negatively affected environmental components are the physical/chemical components derived from three activities; the construction of the underground tunnel; the construction of a coal transport rail line; and the actual transportation of coal extracts. The scores of each environmental factor based on the four components at the Goliran coal mine in northern Iran indicate that the highest negative score was -64, corresponding to the physical/chemical component, and was assigned to air pollution. On the other hand, the highest positive score corresponds to the economic/operational component with +54, assigned to the income that employees earn from the mine. Overall results showed that the coal mine in northern Iran had negative effects on the environment but the effects were not severe. It is suggested that for future research, corrective measures should be taken in the form of an environmental management plan to reduce the negative effects caused by coal mining, and then prospective research should be done to check the extent of reducing the negative effects.
•An empirical CWSI determined from mini RPAS is assessed in a SHD olive orchard.•The Non-Water-Stressed Baselines were not constant along the irrigation season.•CWSI derived from aerial thermal ...imagery was sensitive to tree water status.•Stomatal conductance exhibited the tightest relationship with CWSI.
Characterization of the spatio-temporal variability of tree water status is a prerequisite to conducting precise irrigation management in fruit tree orchards. This study assessed the suitability of a crop water stress index (CWSI) derived from high-resolution aerial thermal imagery for estimating tree water status variability in super high density (SHD) olive orchards. The experiment was conducted at a commercial SHD olive orchard near Seville (southwestern Spain), with drip irrigated trees under three irrigation treatments (four plots per treatment in a randomized block design): a full irrigation treatment to replace the crop water needs (ETc) and two regulated deficit irrigation treatments to replace ca. 45% of ETc. Meteorological variables, soil moisture content, leaf water potential, stem water potential and leaf gas exchange measurements were performed along the irrigation season. Infrared temperature sensors (IRTs) installed approximately 1m above the canopies were used to derive the required Non-Water-Stressed Baselines (NWSBs) for CWSI calculation. NWSBs were not common during the growing season, although the seasonal effect could be partly explained with solar angle variations. A thermal camera installed on a mini Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) allowed for the recording of high-resolution thermal images on 5 representative dates during the irrigation season. The CWSI values derived from aerial thermal imagery were sensitive to the imposed variations in tree water status within the SHD olive orchard. Among the recorded variables, maximum stomatal conductance showed the tightest correlation with CWSI. We concluded that high-resolution thermal imagery captured from a mini RPAS is a suitable tool for defining tree water status variability within SHD olive orchards.
Microalgae are complex photosynthetic organisms found in marine and freshwater environments that produce valuable metabolites. Microalgae-derived metabolites have gained remarkable attention in ...different industrial biotechnological processes and pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries due to their multiple properties, including antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-cancer, phycoimmunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities. These properties are recognized as promising components for state-of-the-art cosmetics and cosmeceutical formulations. Efforts are being made to develop natural, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly products that replace synthetic products. This review summarizes some potential cosmeceutical applications of microalgae-derived biomolecules, their mechanisms of action, and extraction methods.
Sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) is a strategy that seeks to combine both financial return and social good. The need to create and preserve SRI represents a key argument in investment ...decision-making, which leads other firms and investors to make strategic decisions beyond financial logic, based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Within this framework, this paper aims to further clarify the understanding of potentially profitable strategies for firms during a global crisis such as a pandemic. Both primary and secondary data were gathered, and descriptive analyses were conducted. In Spain, several IBEX-35 companies announced donations amid the COVID-19 crisis. First, companies were classified into two groups based on donations made. For this, we searched for ESG online news. Then, profitability records amongst companies were identified and compared. In the trading session after the announcements, we found 12 of the 35 companies that made donations had a higher performance index of more than 2 and 3 points over the companies that did not make donations. With a weekly perspective, the difference was 91 and 60 basis points, respectively. These results suggest that in times of upheaval, investors base their strategy on ESG factors, contributing to the emerging literature on individual motives of SRI. Second, by conducting a survey and collecting data from 575 Spanish citizens, we conclude that after this crisis, people's perceptions towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) will change, affecting consumption preferences in those companies that exhibited socially irresponsible or unsupportive behaviour. Hence, the reputation of firms, their social image, and social trust will play an important role in the near future.
Due to the constant growth of the human population and anthropological activity, it has become necessary to use sustainable and affordable technologies that satisfy the current and future demand for ...agricultural products. Since the nutrients available to plants in the soil are limited and the need to increase the yields of the crops is desirable, the use of chemical (inorganic or NPK) fertilizers has been widespread over the last decades, causing a nutrient shortage due to their misuse and exploitation, and because of the uncontrolled use of these products, there has been a latent environmental and health problem globally. For this reason, green biotechnology based on the use of microalgae biomass is proposed as a sustainable alternative for development and use as soil improvers for crop cultivation and phytoremediation. This review explores the long-term risks of using chemical fertilizers for both human health (cancer and hypoxia) and the environment (eutrophication and erosion), as well as the potential of microalgae biomass to substitute current fertilizer using different treatments on the biomass and their application methods for the implementation on the soil; additionally, the biomass can be a source of carbon mitigation and wastewater treatment in agro-industrial processes.
Since its appearance, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), represents a global problem for human health that ...involves the host lipid homeostasis. Regarding, lipid rafts are functional membrane microdomains with highly and tightly packed lipid molecules. These regions enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol recruit and concentrate several receptors and molecules involved in pathogen recognition and cellular signaling. Cholesterol-rich lipid rafts have multiple functions for viral replication; however, their role in SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. In this review, we discussed the novel evidence on the cholesterol-rich lipid rafts as a platform for SARS-CoV-2 entry, where receptors such as the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs), human Toll-like receptors (TLRs), transmembrane serine proteases (TMPRSS), CD-147 and HDL-scavenger receptor B type 1 (SR-B1) are recruited for their interaction with the viral spike protein. FDA-approved drugs such as statins, metformin, hydroxychloroquine, and cyclodextrins (methyl-β-cyclodextrin) can disrupt cholesterol-rich lipid rafts to regulate key molecules in the immune signaling pathways triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Taken together, better knowledge on cholesterol-rich lipid rafts in the SARS-CoV-2-host interactions will provide valuable insights into pathogenesis and the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
The increasing demand for optimizing the use of agricultural resources will require the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and precision farming management. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sprayers ...seem promising due to their potential to perform precision or spot spraying, particularly in woody crop environments where total surface spraying is unnecessary. However, incorporating this technology is limited by the lack of scientific knowledge about the environmental risks associated with UAV sprayers and the strict legal framework. Nonetheless, these spraying systems' characteristic downwash airflow and the limited swath width can potentially mitigate drift in hedgerow crops. During our study we performed comparative studies aimed to compare the airborne drift, soil, and crop depositions between a conventional orchard sprayer and a UAV sprayer in a commercial superhigh-density orchard in the South Iberian Peninsula in 2022. Our findings reveal that, in superhigh-density olive orchards, the UAV sprayer presents a substantial reduction in airborne drift, while soil depositions showed no significant differences compared to those of a conventional terrestrial orchard sprayer. Crop depositions were significantly lower when utilizing the UAV sprayer. These results suggest that introducing UAV spraying technology in Mediterranean agricultural systems, under specific scenarios, can effectively reduce the environmental impact of crop spraying and encourage the responsible use of plant protection products (PPPs).
Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) is a novel community-wide monitoring tool that provides comprehensive real-time data of the public and environmental health status and can contribute to public ...health interventions, including those related to infectious disease outbreaks (e.g., the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic). Nonetheless, municipalities without centralized laboratories are likely still not able to process WBE samples. Biosensors are a potentially cost-effective solution to monitor the development of diseases through WBE to prevent local outbreaks. This review discusses the economic and technical feasibility of eighteen recently developed biosensors for the detection and monitoring of infectious disease agents in wastewater, prospecting the prevention of future pandemics.
An evidence-based Decision-Making process for the monitoring of viral pathogens in wastewater through biosensing techniques is proposed with the aim of tracing, mitigating, and preventing disease outbreaks in resource-constrained regions. Created with BioRender.com. Display omitted
•Important challenges remain for the implementation of WBE in LMICs.•Sampling methods, sample pretreatment and quantification should be more attainable.•Implementing biosensing techniques in WBE is a promising surveillance alternative.•Paper-based and nano-based biosensing devices are promising alternatives for WBE.•Further studies should focus on the design and validation of biosensors in sewage.
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