Tracking Formation of a Lava Lake From Ground and Space: Masaya Volcano (Nicaragua), 2014–2017

A vigorously degassing lava lake appeared inside the Santiago pit crater of Masaya volcano (Nicaragua) in December 2015, after years of degassing with no (or minor) incandescence. Here we present an unprecedented-long (3 years) and continuous volcanic gas record that instrumentally characterizes the (re)activation of the lava lake. Our results show that, before appearance of the lake, the volcanic gas plume composition became unusually CO2 rich, as testified by high CO2/SO2 ratios (mean: 12.2 ± 6.3) and low H2O/CO2 ratios (mean: 2.3 ± 1.3). The volcanic CO2 flux also peaked in November 2015 (mean: 81.3 ± 40.6 kg/s; maximum: 247 kg/s). Using results of magma degassing models and budgets, we interpret this elevated CO2 degassing as sourced by degassing of a volatile-rich fast-overturning (3.6–5.2 m3 s−1) magma, supplying CO2-rich gas bubbles from minimum equivalent depths of 0.36–1.4 km. We propose this elevated gas bubble supply destabilized the shallow (<1 km) Masaya magma reservoir, leading to upward migration of vesicular (buoyant) resident magma, and ultimately to (re)formation of the lava lake. At onset of lava lake activity on 11 December 2015 (constrained by satellite-based MODIS thermal observations), the gas emissions transitioned to more SO2-rich composition, and the SO2 flux increased by a factor ∼40% (11.4 ± 5.2 kg/s) relative to background degassing (8.0 kg/s), confirming faster than normal (4.4 versus ∼3 m3 s−1) shallow magma convection. Based on thermal energy records, we estimate that only ∼0.8 of the 4.4 m3 s−1 of magma actually reached the surface to manifest into a convecting lava lake, suggesting inefficient transport of magma in the near-surface plumbing system

Practical and clinical utility of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) for the acute treatment of migraine. A post hoc analysis of the randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind PRESTO trial

Background: The PRESTO study of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS; gammaCore®) featured key primary and secondary end points recommended by the International Headache Society to provide Class I evidence that for patients with an episodic migraine, nVNS significantly increases the probability of having mild pain or being pain-free 2 h post stimulation. Here, we examined additional data from PRESTO to provide further insights into the practical utility of nVNS by evaluating its ability to consistently deliver clinically meaningful improvements in pain intensity while reducing the need for rescue medication. Methods: Patients recorded pain intensity for treated migraine attacks on a 4-point scale. Data were examined to compare nVNS and sham with regard to the percentage of patients who benefited by at least 1 point in pain intensity. We also assessed the percentage of attacks that required rescue medication and pain-free rates stratified by pain intensity at treatment initiation. Results: A significantly higher percentage of patients who used acute nVNS treatment (n = 120) vs sham (n = 123) reported a ≥ 1-point decrease in pain intensity at 30 min (nVNS, 32.2%; sham, 18.5%; P = 0.020), 60 min (nVNS, 38.8%; sham, 24.0%; P = 0.017), and 120 min (nVNS, 46.8%; sham, 26.2%; P = 0.002) after the first attack. Similar significant results were seen when assessing the benefit in all attacks. The proportion of patients who did not require rescue medication was significantly higher with nVNS than with sham for the first attack (nVNS, 59.3%; sham, 41.9%; P = 0.013) and all attacks (nVNS, 52.3%; sham, 37.3%; P = 0.008). When initial pain intensity was mild, the percentage of patients with no pain after treatment was significantly higher with nVNS than with sham at 60 min (all attacks: nVNS, 37.0%; sham, 21.2%; P = 0.025) and 120 min (first attack: nVNS, 50.0%; sham, 25.0%; P = 0.018; all attacks: nVNS, 46.7%; sham, 30.1%; P = 0.037). Conclusions: This post hoc analysis demonstrated that acute nVNS treatment quickly and consistently reduced pain intensity while decreasing rescue medication use. These clinical benefits provide guidance in the optimal use of nVNS in everyday practice, which can potentially reduce use of acute pharmacologic medications and their associated adverse events. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02686034

Exceptional eruptive CO2 emissions from intra-plate alkaline magmatism in the Canary volcanic archipelago

Alkaline mafic magmas forming intra-plate oceanic islands are believed to be strongly enriched in CO2 due to low-degree partial melting of enriched mantle sources. However, until now, such CO2 enhancement has not been verified by measuring CO2 degassing during a subaerial eruption. Here, we provide evidence of highly CO2-rich gas emissions during the 86-day 2021 Tajogaite eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma Island, in the Canary archipelago. Our results reveal sustained high plume CO2/SO2 ratios, which, when combined with SO2 fluxes, melt inclusion volatile contents and magma production rates at explosive and effusive vents, imply a magmatic CO2 content of 4.5 ± 1.5 wt%. The amount of CO2 released during the 2021 eruptive activity was 28 ± 14 Mt CO2. Extrapolating to the volume of alkaline mafic magmas forming La Palma alone (estimated as 4000 km3 erupted over 11 Ma), we infer a maximum CO2 emission into the ocean and atmosphere of 1016 moles of CO2, equivalent to 20% of the eruptive CO2 emissions from a large igneous province eruption, suggesting that the formation of the Canary volcanic archipelago produced a CO2 emission of similar magnitude as a large igneous province

Large-Scale Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Mediterranean Cephalopod Diversity

Species diversity is widely recognized as an important trait of ecosystems’ functioning and resilience. Understanding the causes of diversity patterns and their interaction with the environmental conditions is essential in order to effectively assess and preserve existing diversity. While diversity patterns of most recurrent groups such as fish are commonly studied, other important taxa such as cephalopods have received less attention. In this work we present spatio-temporal trends of cephalopod diversity across the entire Mediterranean Sea during the last 19 years, analysing data from the annual bottom trawl survey MEDITS conducted by 5 different Mediterranean countries using standardized gears and sampling protocols. The influence of local and regional environmental variability in different Mediterranean regions is analysed applying generalized additive models, using species richness and the Shannon Wiener index as diversity descriptors. While the western basin showed a high diversity, our analyses do not support a steady eastward decrease of diversity as proposed in some previous studies. Instead, high Shannon diversity was also found in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, and high species richness in the eastern Ionian Sea. Overall diversity did not show any consistent trend over the last two decades. Except in the Adriatic Sea, diversity showed a hump-shaped trend with depth in all regions, being highest between 200–400 m depth. Our results indicate that high Chlorophyll a concentrations and warmer temperatures seem to enhance species diversity, and the influence of these parameters is stronger for richness than for Shannon diversityVersión del editor4,411

Lasmiditan: an additional therapeutic option for the acute treatment of migraine

Introduction: Migraine is currently listed as the second cause of ‘years lived with disability’ and the sixth cause of global disability. Despite the burden associated to the disease, availability of specific drugs is still limited. Areas covered: The authors have evaluated lasmiditan, the first ‘ditan’ approved by the Food and Drugs Administration in 2019, from a global perspective: basic chemistry, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles, efficacy in migraine as a 5-HT1F receptor selective agonist, tolerability and clinical safety, and impact on migraine-related disability. Our evaluation considered original papers and review articles published from 2010 to 2020. Expert opinion: Available data point to the efficacy of lasmiditan in reducing migraine pain and the most bothersome symptoms within 2 hours from oral administration. Moreover, lasmiditan has a positive effect on migraine-related disability. Its side effects mostly reflect an involvement of the central nervous system or the vestibular system, while cardiovascular side effects are rare and mild. Lasmiditan can be safely prescribed in patients who have failed non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs or triptans or with cardiovascular risk factors. Caution is advised in frequent users, due to lack of reliable data on its abuse potential. Further data are necessary to determine the usability of lasmiditan in particular populations, e.g. children and adolescents, pregnancy

Effects of N fertilizers and rates on yield, safety and nutrients in processing spinach genotypes

Two field experiments were carried out at the Experimental Field, Department of Food Science (TE, Italy) in 2004 and 2005 to evaluate the effects of genotypes, different N forms and N rates on yield, safety and nutritional features of processing spinach. Experiment 1, as treatments, included spinach genotypes and N forms (CO(NH2)2; Agricote; NH4NO3); experiment 2 included three N forms (Ca(NO3)2; (NH4)2SO4; NH4NO3) applied at rates of 0, 75, 150, 200 kg N ha1. This research work confirmed differences among spinach genotypes in terms of efficiency in N use and oxalate and nitrate accumulation. Spinach accumulated much more nitrate in petioles and much more oxalate in blades indicating that nitrate and oxalate might play a counterrole to each other. Fertilizers containing N under forms not readily available to the crop, i.e. Agricote, CO(NH2)2 and (NH4)2SO4, increased nitrate and oxalate accumulations less than fast N-release fertilizers, but their effect on yield was limited. Highest yield with contents of nitrate and oxalate lower than the limits imposed to avoid health problems, were achieved with Ca(NO3)2, at rates of 130 and 150 kg N ha1 NH4NO3. A good accumulation in some important macronutrients for the human diet such as Ca, K and P were allowed by application of Ca(NO3)2, at rates of 130 and 150 kg N ha1 NH4NO3. The glucose, fructose, sucrose as well as Mg accumulation were not alterable in spinach with nitrogen fertilization or with genotype choice

DEVELOPMENT OF NEUROMORPHIC SIFT OPERATOR WITH APPLICATION TO HIGH SPEED IMAGE MATCHING

There was always a speed/accuracy challenge in photogrammetric mapping process, including feature detection and matching. Most of the researches have improved algorithm's speed with simplifications or software modifications which increase the accuracy of the image matching process. This research tries to improve speed without enhancing the accuracy of the same algorithm using Neuromorphic techniques. In this research we have developed a general design of a Neuromorphic ASIC to handle algorithms such as SIFT. We also have investigated neural assignment in each step of the SIFT algorithm. With a rough estimation based on delay of the used elements including MAC and comparator, we have estimated the resulting chip's performance for 3 scenarios, Full HD movie (Videogrammetry), 24 MP (UAV photogrammetry), and 88 MP image sequence. Our estimations led to approximate 3000 fps for Full HD movie, 250 fps for 24 MP image sequence and 68 fps for 88MP Ultracam image sequence which can be a huge improvement for current photogrammetric processing systems. We also estimated the power consumption of less than10 watts which is not comparable to current workflows