Visual grading of large cross section structural timber of Pinus sylvestris L. according to UNE 56544:2007 standard

Large cross section structural timber have been used in many structures over long periods of time and still make up an important part of the market due to its mechanical properties. Furthermore, it is frequent its employment in new construction site. It involves the need for a visual grading standard for timber used in construction according to the quality assessment. The material has to satisfy the requirements according to the currently regulations. UNE 56544 is the Spanish visual grading standard for coniferous structural timber. The 2007 version defined a new visual grade in the standard for large section termed Structural Large Timber (MEG). This research checks the new visual grading and consists of 116 structural size specimens of sawn coniferous timber of Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from Segovia, Spain. The pieces had a cross section of 150 by 200 mm. They were visually graded according to UNE 56544:2007. Also, mechanical properties have been obtained according to standard EN 408. The results show very low output with an excessive percentage of rejected pieces (33%). The main reasons for the rejection of pieces are fissures and twist

Models for the prediction of handling damage in citrus and peaches grading lines, related to their physical properties.

Fruit damage during harvesting and handling is a standing problem, particularly for susceptible fruits like peaches and apricots. The resulting mechanical damage is a combination of fruit properties and damage inflicting effects due to procedures and to the equipment. Nine packing lines in the region of Murcia (SE Spain) have been tested with the aid of two different-size electronic fruits IS-100. Probabilities of impacts above three preset thresholds (50 g's, 100 g's and 150 g's) were calculated for each transfer point. Interaction fruit-packing line tests have been also performed in order to study the real incidence of packing lines on natural produce: apricots (1 variety), peaches (3 v.), lemons (1 v.) and oranges (3 v.). Bruises of handled and not handled samples of fruits were compared.

Bruise Simulation in Peach Grading Lines as a tool for designing Improvement Strategies.

The Physical Properties Laboratory (LPF) has been working on the improvement of fruit and vegetable grading lines since 1992'. The experience shows that the improvement of grading lines for decreasing mechanical damages has to be approached from two viewpoints: 1) machinery aggressiveness, and 2) fruit susceptibility. Machinery aggressiveness can be characterized as impact probability for different impact intensities assessed by means of electronic fruits (IS-100) 2,5 . On the other hand, bruise susceptibility can be determined using different laboratory tests. A recent study from LPF4 shows that damage may arise differently in pome and in stone fruits, since: a) pome fruits are mainly stress-susceptible, while stone fruits appear to be more deformation-susceptible, and b) bruise size may be a good predictor for bruise susceptibility in pome fruits while for stone fruits bruise probability is the most relevant characteristic of bruise susceptibility. Also, this study indicates the feasibility of predicting bruise probability using several mechanical and load characterization parameters. Despite the efforts to establish damage thresholds in peachess, no simulation models are currently available for predicting bruise occurrence in grading lines.

Programming assignments automatic grading: review of tools and implementations

Automatic grading of programming assignments is an important topic in academic research. It aims at improving the level of feedback given to students and optimizing the professor time. Several researches have reported the development of software tools to support this process. Then, it is helpfulto get a quickly and good sight about their key features. This paper reviews an ample set of tools forautomatic grading of programming assignments. They are divided in those most important mature tools, which have remarkable features; and those built recently, with new features. The review includes the definition and description of key features e.g. supported languages, used technology, infrastructure, etc. The two kinds of tools allow making a temporal comparative analysis. This analysis infrastructure, etc. The two kinds of tools allow making a temporal comparative analysis. This analysis shows good improvements in this research field, these include security, more language support, plagiarism detection, etc. On the other hand, the lack of a grading model for assignments is identified as an important gap in the reviewed tools. Thus, a characterization of evaluation metrics to grade programming assignments is provided as first step to get a model. Finally new paths in this research field are proposed.

Quality grading of cork stoppers based on porosity, density and elasticity.

An objective control method for grading cork stoppers is presented using a cork stopper quality index based on porosity, density and elasticity, these being the properties which have the greatest influence on the closure capacity of the stopper. The elasticity of the cork stopper is measured through the relaxation ratio, which is defined by the relationship between the relaxation force exerted by the cork in the bottleneck and the compressive force exerted by a caliper to fit the stopper in the bottle. The relaxation ratio, defined in this way, represents the part of the compression force which is applied to the stopper on insertion and which is recovered in the form of the relaxation force to achieve closure. The calculation of the relaxation ratio involves the measurement of the relaxation force of the fitted stopper. This force has been measured rigorously and precisely using a device developed in the Cork Laboratory at the INIA-CIFOR and which is presented for the first time in this paper.

Architecture to Support Automatic Grading Processes in Programming Teaching

La calificación automática de tareas de programación es un tema importante dentro del campo de la innovación educativa que se enfoca en mejorar las habilidades de programación de los estudiantes y en optimizar el tiempo que el profesorado dedica a ello. Uno de los principales problemas vigentes está relacionado con la diversidad de criterios para calificar las tareas de programación. El presente trabajo propone e implementa una arquitectura, basada en el concepto de orquestación de servicios, para soportar varios procesos de calificación automática de tareas de programación. Esto es obtenido a través de las características de modularidad, extensibilidad y flexibilidad que la arquitectura provee al proceso de calificación. La arquitectura define como pieza clave un elemento llamado Grading-submodule, el mismo que provee un servicio de evaluación del código fuente considerando un criterio de calificación. La implementación se ha llevado a cabo sobre la herramienta Virtual Programming Lab; y los resultados demuestran la factibilidad de realización, y la utilidad tanto para el profesorado como para los estudiantes.