Energy Self-Sufficiency Urban Module (ESSUM): GIS-LCA-based multi-criteria methodology to analyze the urban potential of solar energy generation and its environmental implications

The concentration of the population in cities has turned them into sources of environmental pollution, however, cities have a great potential for generating clean energy through renewable sources such as a responsible use of solar energy that reaches its rooftops. This work proposes a methodology to estimate the level of energy self-sufficiency in urban areas, particularly in a district of the city of Zaragoza (Spain). First, the Energy Self-Sufficiency Urban Module concept (ESSUM) is defined, then the self-sufficiency capacity of the city or district is determined using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds and cadastral data. Secondly, the environmental implications of the implementation of these modules in the rooftops of the city using the LCA methodology are calculated. The results obtained show that total self-sufficiency of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) can be achieved using 21 % of available rooftop area, meanwhile the rest of rooftop area, dedicated to photovoltaic (PV), can reach 20 % of electricity self-sufficiency, supposing a final balance of a reduction in CO2 emissions of 12,695.4 t CO2eq/y and energy savings of 372,468.5 GJ/y. This corresponds to a scenario where full self-sufficiency of DHW was prioritized, with the remaining roof area dedicated to PV installation. In addition, other scenarios have been analyzed, such as the implementation of the energy systems separately

Heating energy consumption and environmental implications due to the change in daily habits in residential buildings derived from COVID-19 crisis: The case of Barcelona, Spain

The COVID-19 crisis has changed daily habits and the time that people spend at home. It is expected that this change may have environmental implications because of buildings’ heating energy demand. This paper studies the energy and environmental implications, from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, due to these new daily habits in residential buildings at their current level of thermal insulation, and in different scenarios of thermal retrofit of their envelope. This study has a building-to-building approach by using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the residential housing stock in the case of Barcelona, Spain. The results show that a change in daily habits derived from the pandemic can increase the heating energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission in residential buildings by 182%. Retrofitting all buildings of Barcelona, according to conventional energy renovation instead of nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB), will produce between 2.25 × 107 and 2.57 × 107 tons of carbon dioxide. Retrofitting the building stock using energy recovery is the option with better energy and emission savings, but also is the option with higher payback time for buildings built until 2007. The methodology presented can be applied in any city with sufficient cadastral data, and is considered optimal in the European context, as it goes for calculating the heating energy consumption

Small-amplitude normal modes of a vortex in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider a cylindrically symmetric trap containing a small Bose-Einstein condensate with a singly quantized vortex on the axis of symmetry. A time-dependent variational Lagrangian analysis yields the small-amplitude dynamics of the vortex and the condensate, directly determining the equations of motion of the coupled normal modes. As found previously from the Bogoliubov equations, there are two rigid dipole modes and one anomalous mode with a negative frequency when seen in the laboratory frame.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, Revte

Oscillations of a rapidly rotating annular Bose-Einstein condensate

A time-dependent variational Lagrangian analysis based on the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional serves to study the dynamics of a metastable giant vortex in a rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensate. The resulting oscillation frequencies of the core radius reproduce the trends seen in recent experiments [Engels et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 170405 (2003)], but the theoretical values are smaller by a factor approximately 0.6-0.8.Comment: 7 pages, revtex

Anomalous rotational properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in asymmetric traps

We study the rotational properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a rotating harmonic trap for different trap anisotropies. Using simple arguments, we derive expressions for the velocity field of the quantum fluid for condensates with or without vortices. While the condensed gas describes open spiraling trajectories, on the frame of reference of the rotating trap the motion of the fluid is against the trap rotation. We also find explicit formulae for the angular momentum and a linear and Thomas-Fermi solutions for the state without vortices. In these two limits we also find an analytic relation between the shape of the cloud and the rotation speed. The predictions are supported by numerical simulations of the mean field Gross-Pitaevskii model.Comment: 4 RevTeX pages, 2 EPS figures; typos fixed, reference adde

Limited risk of Zika virus transmission by five Aedes albopictus populations from Spain

Background: Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is an exotic invasive species in Europe. It has substantial public health relevance due to its potential role in transmitting several human pathogens. Out of the European countries, Spain has one of the highest risk levels of autochthonous arbovirus transmission due to both the high density of Ae. albopictus and the extensive tourist influx from vector-endemic areas. This study aims to investigate the susceptibility of five Ae. albopictus populations from mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands to a Brazilian Zika virus (ZIKV) strain. Methods: The F1 generation of each Ae. albopictus population was orally challenged with a ZIKV-infected blood meal (1.8 × 10 PFU/ml). At 7 and 14 days post-infection (dpi), mosquito bodies (thorax and abdomen) and heads were individually analysed through RT-qPCR to determine the infection rate (IR) and dissemination rate (DR), respectively. The saliva of infected mosquitoes was inoculated in Vero cells and the transmission rate was assessed by plaque assay or RT-qPCR on ∼33 individuals per population. Results: The IR and DR ranged between 12-88%, and 0-60%, respectively, suggesting that ZIKV is capable of crossing the midgut barrier. Remarkably, no infectious viral particle was found in saliva samples, indicating a low ability of ZIKV to overcome the salivary gland barrier. A subsequent assay revealed that a second non-infective blood meal 48 h after ZIKV exposure did not influence Ae. albopictus vector competence. Conclusions: The oral experimental ZIKV infections performed here indicate that Ae. albopictus from Spain become infected and disseminate the virus through the body but has a limited ability to transmit the Brazilian ZIKV strain through biting. Therefore, the results suggest a limited risk of autochthonous ZIKV transmission in Spain by Ae. albopictus

At the tip of an iceberg: citizen science and active surveillance collaborating to broaden the known distribution of Aedes japonicus in Spain

Background: Active surveillance aimed at the early detection of invasive mosquito species is usually focused on seaports and airports as points of entry, and along road networks as dispersion paths. In a number of cases, however, the first detections of colonizing populations are made by citizens, either because the species has already moved beyond the implemented active surveillance sites or because there is no surveillance in place. This was the case of the first detection in 2018 of the Asian bush mosquito, Aedes japonicus, in Asturias (northern Spain) by the citizen science platform Mosquito Alert. Methods: The collaboration between Mosquito Alert, the Ministry of Health, local authorities and academic researchers resulted in a multi-source surveillance combining active field sampling with broader temporal and spatial citizen-sourced data, resulting in a more flexible and efficient surveillance strategy. Results: Between 2018 and 2020, the joint efforts of administrative bodies, academic teams and citizen-sourced data led to the discovery of this species in northern regions of Spain such as Cantabria and the Basque Country. This raised the estimated area of occurrence of Ae. japonicus from < 900 km2 in 2018 to > 7000 km2 in 2020. Conclusions: This population cluster is geographically isolated from any other population in Europe, which raises questions about its origin, path of introduction and dispersal means, while also highlighting the need to enhance surveillance systems by closely combining crowd-sourced surveillance with public health and mosquito control agencies’ efforts, from local to continental scales. This multi-actor approach for surveillance (either passive and active) shows high potential efficiency in the surveillance of other invasive mosquito species, and specifically the major vector Aedes aegypti which is already present in some parts of Europe. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s)

Solutions of Gross-Pitaevskii equations beyond the hydrodynamic approximation: Application to the vortex problem

We develop the multiscale technique to describe excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) whose characteristic scales are comparable with the healing length, thus going beyond the conventional hydrodynamical approximation. As an application of the theory we derive approximate explicit vortex and other solutions. The dynamical stability of the vortex is discussed on the basis of the mathematical framework developed here, the result being that its stability is granted at least up to times of the order of seconds, which is the condensate lifetime. Our analytical results are confirmed by the numerical simulations.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

First findings and molecular data of phlebotomus mascittii (diptera: Psychodidae) in the cantabrian cornice (northern spain)

Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) mascittii Grassi, 1908 (Diptera: Psychodidae) has been found in several European countries. In Spain, sporadic records were reported in the early ''80s in Catalonia (Northeast Spain), and it was never detected again. Recent entomological surveys carried out between 2004 and 2020 revealed the presence of several specimens of P. mascittii in Spain. The species identification was confirmed by both morphological and molecular analyses. The analyzed specimens belonged to the haplotype (COI_2) defined by one polymorphic site compared to other European specimens. Phlebotomus mascittii was found in low population densities in rural areas associated with livestock farms and in an urban cemetery during the summer season. This study provides the first records of this species in various localities along the Cantabrian cornice (Northern Spain) and represents its westernmost observation in the Palearctic region. The implications of the finding of this uncommon species are discussed at different levels, with emphasis on its suspected role in the transmission of leishmaniosis. © The Author(s) 2021

Evaluation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown in the Clinical Course of Migraine

Objective: Previous studies have demonstrated that emotional stress, changes in lifestyle habits and infections can worsen the clinical course of migraine. We hypothesize that changes in habits and medical care during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown might have worsened the clinical course of migraine. Design: Retrospective survey study collecting online responses from migraine patients followed-up by neurologists at three tertiary hospitals between June and July 2020. Methods: We used a web-based survey that included demographic data, clinical variables related with any headache (frequency) and migraine (subjective worsening, frequency, and intensity), lockdown, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Results: The response rate of the survey was 239/324 (73.8%). The final analysis included 222 subjects. Among them, 201/222 (90.5%) were women, aged 42.5 ± 12.0 (mean±SD). Subjective improvement of migraine during lockdown was reported in 31/222 participants (14.0%), while worsening in 105/222 (47.3%) and was associated with changes in migraine triggers such as stress related to going outdoors and intake of specific foods or drinks. Intensity of attacks increased in 67/222 patients (30.2%), and it was associated with the subjective worsening, female sex, recent insomnia, and use of acute medication during a headache. An increase in monthly days with any headache was observed in 105/222 patients (47.3%) and was related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress, older age and living with five or more people. Conclusions: Approximately half the migraine patients reported worsening of their usual pain during the lockdown. Worse clinical course in migraine patients was related to changes in triggers and the emotional impact of the lockdown. © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine