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Recent Technological Upgrades to the SHYPROM IoT-Based System for Monitoring Soil Water Status
Get PDFHighlights: A cost-effective IoT device was developed to support hydrological monitoring tasks. The device performed consistently well across soils with varying textural compositions. Controlled laboratory tests confirmed the system’s precision in estimating key soil parameters. This system proves effective for continuous real-time monitoring in both precision agriculture and environmental research. What are the main findings? Development of a low-cost hydrological monitoring system. Consistent and reliable performance. What is the implication of the main finding? Possibility to build the device on one’s own. It makes the IoT monitoring system suitable for monitoring soil water status with acceptable accuracy. Effective water resource management plays a crucial role in achieving sustainability in agriculture, hydrology, and environmental protection, particularly under growing water scarcity and climate-related challenges. Soil moisture (θ), matric potential (h), and hydraulic conductivity (K) are critical parameters influencing water availability for crops and regulating hydrological, environmental, and ecological processes. To address the need for accurate, real-time soil monitoring in both laboratory and open-field conditions, we proposed an innovative IoT-based monitoring system called SHYPROM (Soil HYdraulic PROperties Meter), designed for the simultaneous estimation of parameters θ, h, and K at different soil depths. The system integrates capacitive soil moisture and matric potential sensors with wireless communication modules and a cloud-based data processing platform, providing continuous, high-resolution measurements. SHYPROM is intended for use in both environmental and agricultural contexts, where it can support precision irrigation management, optimize water resource allocation, and contribute to hydrological and environmental monitoring. This study presents recent technological upgrades to the proposed monitoring system. To improve the accuracy and robustness of θ estimates, the capacitive module was enhanced with an integrated oscillator circuit operating at 60 MHz, an upgrade from the previous version, which operated at 600 kHz. The new system was tested (i.e., calibrated and validated) through a series of laboratory experiments on soils with varying textures, demonstrating its improved ability to capture dynamic soil moisture changes with greater accuracy compared to the earlier SHYPROM version. During calibration and validation tests, soil water content data were collected across a θ range from 0 to 0.40 cm3/cm3. These measurements were compared to reference θ values obtained using the thermo-gravimetric method. The results show that the proposed monitoring system can be used to obtain predictions of θ values with acceptable accuracy (R2 values range between 0.91 and 0.96). To further validate the performance of the upgraded SHYPROM system, evaporation experiments were also conducted, and the θ(h) and K(θ) relationships were determined among soils. Retention and conductivity data were fitted using the van Genuchten and van Genuchten–Mualem models, respectively, confirming that the device accurately captures the temporal evolution of soil water status (R2 values range from 0.97 to 0.99)
Effect of waste-derived synthetic zeolite on soil hydraulic properties and soil water storage parameters in sandy-loam soils
Get PDFZeolites are used in agriculture to amend soil chemical and physical properties. They have complex internal frameworks that enable them to alter soil texture and structure, with a direct influence on the soil's hydrological behavior, enabling better control of groundwater contamination and more efficient irrigation management practices. This ability provides opportunities to optimize water and solute movement in coarse-textured soils while enhancing nutrient availability due to their high cation exchange capacity and water retention. In this study, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted on sandy-loam soils with different pedological characteristics, mixed with a synthetic zeolite derived from fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion. Repacked soil samples were amended with three different zeolite concentrations (2 %, 5 %, and 10 % by weight) and subsequently analyzed for their hydraulic properties and soil water storage parameters (SWSPs) of agronomic interest. Consistent with recent research findings, our results indicate that zeolite influences soil pore-size distribution. Specifically, total soil porosity increased, with mesoporosity and microporosity rising by approximately 11% and 13%, respectively. The effects induced by zeolite showed a direct correlation with the selected soil hydraulic properties and SWSPs. Our study shows that in coarse-textured soils, incorporating an appropriate dose of zeolite enhances water retention within the soil profile while preventing excessive saturation in the root zone
Applicazione della tecnica di HS-GC/MS per la caratterizzazione analitica del Tartufo Bianchetto di Acerenza
Get PDFUna valorizzazione dei campioni di tartufo Bianchetto provenienti dalla regione Basilicata è stata eseguita tramite la ricerca di VOCs caratteristici mediante analisi HS-GC/MS. La specie di tartufo presa in considerazione è Tuber borchii Vittadini campionata a completa maturazione nel territorio collinare della provincia di Potenza (Acerenza) nel mese di aprile 2025. è stata condotta un’ottimizzazione dei parametri per l’estrazione in spazio di testa. Il sistema cromatografico adoperato GC TRACE 1300 (Thermo) è equipaggiato con una colonna capillare Mega-5 MS (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d. x 0.25 μm FT). Un’analisi in full scan è stata eseguita con detector di massa a singolo quadrupolo (Thermo ISQ). L’identificazione è stata effettuata per comparazione con la libreria NIST e con una miscela di soluzioni standard (materiali di riferimento), verificando tempi di ritenzione e rapporto degli ioni caratteristici.
Una valutazione critica delle differenze specie-specifica è stata condotta in relazione a precedenti caratterizzazioni(1,2).
Un decadimento delle proprietà è stato minimizzato conservando opportunamente i campioni durante le fasi pre-analitiche e analitiche.
La caratterizzazione qualitativa è stata ripetuta al fine di confermare la perdita delle caratteristiche organolettiche in associazione alla variazione dei VOCs rilevati
Bioactive Compounds in Breast Meat of Broiler Chickens Fed with Black Soldier Fly Wholemeal
Get PDFThis study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Black Soldier Fly (BSF) wholemeal on the content of bioactive compounds in broiler chicken breast meat. The experiment involved 45 male Ross 308 broiler chickens randomly assigned to three dietary groups: control diet, control diet supplemented with 5% (HI5), or 10% (HI10) black soldier fly (BSF) wholemeal. The diets were administered for 35 days. The study found that higher levels of BSF wholemeal meal inclusion significantly improved creatine and carnosine levels, with increases of 22% and 26%, respectively, in the HI10 group compared to the control group. In addition, HI supplementation improved the fatty acid profile, significantly increasing the levels of EPA, DHA, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), while reducing the total PUFA and ALA levels. Antioxidant activity, measured using the FRAP and ABTS assays, was also significantly higher in the BSF-fed groups, particularly in the HI10 group. These results suggest that BSF wholemeal flour can improve the functional and nutritional qualities of chicken meat, thereby enhancing its potential as a sustainable ingredient in poultry diets
Artificial Intelligence and Educational Personalization:a first reflection between planning and educational experience
Get PDFThe education in the 21rst century must answer to the needs of society changing very fast, in which the requested competences are more and more complex and personalized. The AI offers powerful devices to face this challenge, creating adaptive and tailored routes for each student.AI is changing the teaching’s personalization, just because the potentiality of the devices to analyze big data, to fit to the individual needs, determines for the users very highly personalized. This paperexploresthe intersection between AI and personalization, highlighting how technology can be used to build experiences more satisfying in different contexts, especially linked to education and didactics.This paper examines the foundations of personalization through AI, the benefits for the users and the ethical challenges linked to these systems
A New Approach for Interferent-Free Amperometric Biosensor Production Based on All-Electrochemically Assisted Procedures
Get PDFA new approach in amperometric enzyme electrodes production based on all-electrochemically assisted procedures will be described. Enzyme (glucose oxidase) immobilization was performed by in situ co-crosslinking of enzyme molecules through electrophoretic protein deposition, assuring enzyme immobilization exclusively onto the transducer surface (Pt electrode). Analogously, the poor selectivity of the transducer was dramatically improved by the electrosynthesis of non-conducting polymers with built-in permselectivity, permitting the formation of a thin permselective film onto the transducer surface, able to reject common interferents usually found in real samples. Since both approaches required a proper and distinct electrochemical perturbation (a pulsed current sequence for electrophoretic protein deposition and cyclic voltammetry for the electrosynthesis of nonconducting polymers), an appropriate coupling of the two all-electrochemical approaches was assured by a thorough study of the likely combinations of the electrosynthesis of permselective polymers with enzyme immobilization by electrophoretic protein deposition and by the use of several electrosynthesized polymers. For each investigated combination and for each polymer, the analytical performances and the rejection capabilities of the resulting biosensor were acquired so to gain information about their sensing abilities eventually in real sample analysis. This study shows that the proper coupling of the two all-electrochemical approaches and the appropriate choice of the electrosynthesized, permselective polymer permits the easy fabrication of novel glucose oxidase biosensors with good analytical performance and low bias in glucose measurement from typical interferent in serum. This novel approach, resembling classical electroplating procedures, is expected to allow all the advantages expected from such procedures like an easy preparation biosensor, a bi-dimensional control of enzyme immobilization and thickness, interferent- and
fouling-free transduction of the electrodic sensor and, last but not the least, possibility of miniaturization of the biosensing device
Search for dark matter produced in association with a pair of bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV
No full textA search for dark matter (DM) particles produced in association with bottom quarks is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The search is performed in a final state with large missing transverse momentum and a pair of jets originating from bottom quarks. No significant excess of data is observed with respect to the standard model expectation. Results are interpreted in the context of a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional light pseudoscalar (2HDM+a). An upper limit is set on the mass of the lighter pseudoscalar, probing masses up to 260 GeV at 95% confidence level. Sensitivity to the parameter space with the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets, tan β, greater than 15 is achieved, capitalizing on the enhancement of couplings between pseudoscalars and bottom quarks with high tan β
Search for fractionally charged particles in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV
No full textA search is presented for fractionally charged particles with charges below 1e, using their small energy loss in the tracking detector as a key variable to observe a signal. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected at √s =13 TeV in 2016–2018 at the CERN LHC. This is the first search at the LHC for new particles with a charge between e/3 and 0.9e, including an extension of previous results at a charge of 2e/3. Masses up to 640 GeV and charges as low as e/3 are excluded at 95% confidence level. These are the most stringent limits to date for the considered Drell-Yan-like production mode