Enduring Lagrangian coherence of a Loop Current ring assessed using independent observations

Ocean flows are routinely inferred from low-resolution satellite altimetry measurements of sea surface height assuming a geostrophic balance. Recent nonlinear dynamical systems techniques have revealed that surface currents derived from altimetry can support mesoscale eddies with material boundaries that do not filament for many months, thereby representing effective transport mechanisms. However, the long-range Lagrangian coherence assessed for mesoscale eddy boundaries detected from altimetry is constrained by the impossibility of current altimeters to resolve ageostrophic submesoscale motions. These may act to prevent Lagrangian coherence from manifesting in the rigorous form described by the nonlinear dynamical systems theories. Here we use a combination of satellite ocean color and surface drifter trajectory data, rarely available simultaneously over an extended period of time, to provide observational evidence for the enduring Lagrangian coherence of a Loop Current ring detected from altimetry. We also seek indications of this behavior in the flow produced by a data-assimilative system which demonstrated ability to reproduce observed relative dispersion statistics down into the marginally submesoscale range. However, the simulated flow, total surface and subsurface or subsampled emulating altimetry, is not found to support the long-lasting Lagrangian coherence that characterizes the observed ring. This highlights the importance of the Lagrangian metrics produced by the nonlinear dynamical systems tools employed here in assessing model performance.Comment: In press in nature.com/Scientific Report

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain in Spain: a scoping review

The COVID-19 outbreak has been a great challenge in the management of chronic pain patients. We have conducted a rapid scoping review to assess the impact of the pandemic (and the associated public health measures) on the health status and management practices of chronic pain patients in Spain. To this end, we performed a bibliographic search in LitCOVID and PubMed, and reviewed official websites and documents, and expert reports. The review showed that (1) the studies consistently indicate that the pandemic has had a very negative impact on the physical and psychological health of chronic pain patients; (2) there are scarce data on how the pandemic affected pain unit consultations and a lack of protocols to organize health care in the face of future waves of contagion, with little implementation of telehealth. We make proposals to improve management of chronic pain patients in pandemic situations, which should pivot around 3 axes: (1) a coordinated response of all the relevant stakeholders to define a future roadmap and research priorities, (2) a biopsychosocial approach in pain management, and (3) development and implementation of novel telemedicine solutions.The authors thank Beatriz Casal, information specialist, for advice on the bibliographic search, and to Dr. Carina Fernandes, Dr. López-País and to Dr. Mónica Moldes who provided input to a first draft of the article. Funding: this study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (reference PID2019-107986RB-100)

Effects of intensity, attention and medication on auditory-evoked potentials in patients with fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) has been associated to an increased processing of somatosensory stimuli, but its generalization to other sensory modalities is under discussion. To clarify this, we studied auditory event-related potentials (AEPs) to stimuli of different intensity in patients with FM and healthy controls (HCs), considering the effects of attention mechanisms and medication. We performed two experiments: In study 1 (n = 50 FM, 60 HCs), the stimuli were presented randomly within the sequence; in study 2 (n = 28 FM, 30 HCs), they were presented in blocks of the same intensity. We analyzed intensity and group effects on N1-P2 amplitude and, only for the FM group, the effect of medication and the correlation between AEPs and clinical variables. Contrary to the expectation, the patients showed a trend of reduced AEPs to the loudest tones (study 1) or no significant differences with the HCs (study 2). Medication with central effects significantly reduced AEPs, while no significant relationships between the N1-P2 amplitude/intensity function and patients' symptoms were observed. The findings do not provide evidence of augmented auditory processing in FM. Nevertheless, given the observed effect of medication, the role of sensory amplification as an underlying pathophysiological mechanism in fibromyalgia cannot be discarded.Spanish Government (Ministerio de ciencia e Innovación; ref PSI2009-14555 and, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; ref PSI2013-45818-R) and from the Galician Government (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; axudas para a consolidación e Estruturación de unidades de investigación competitivas do Sistema universitario de Galicia; grant number GPC 2014/047). A.G.V. was supported by a grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus 2017. N.S.V. was supported by a grant from Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; grant number BES-2017-082684

Simulating transport pathways of pelagic Sargassum from the Equatorial Atlantic into the Caribbean Sea

Since 2011, beach inundation of massive amounts of pelagic Sargassum algae has occurred around the Caribbean nations and islands. Previous studies have applied satellite ocean color to determine the origins of this phenomenon. These techniques, combined with complementary approaches, suggest that, rather than blooms originating in the Caribbean, they arrive from the Equatorial Atlantic. However, oceanographic context for these occurrences remains limited. Here, we present results from synthetic particle tracking experiments that characterize the interannual and seasonal dynamics of ocean currents and winds likely to influence the transport of Sargassum from the Equatorial Atlantic into the Caribbean Sea. Our findings suggest that Sargassum present in the western Equatorial Atlantic (west of longitude 50°W) has a high probability of entering the Caribbean Sea within a year’s time. Transport routes include the Guiana Current, North Brazil Current Rings, and the North Equatorial Current north of the North Brazil Current Retroflection. The amount of Sargassum following each route varies seasonally. This has important implications for the amount of time it takes Sargassum to reach the Caribbean Sea. By weighting particle transport predictions with Sargassum concentrations at release sites in the western Equatorial Atlantic, our simulations explain close to 90% of the annual variation in observed Sargassum abundance entering the Caribbean Sea. Additionally, results from our numerical experiments are in good agreement with observations of variability in the timing of Sargassum movement from the Equatorial Atlantic to the Caribbean, and observations of the spatial extent of Sargassum occurrence throughout the Caribbean. However, this work also highlights some areas of uncertainty that should be examined, in particular the effect of “windage” and other surface transport processes on the movement of Sargassum. Our results provide a useful launching point to predict Sargassum beaching events along the Caribbean islands well in advance of their occurrence and, more generally, to understand the movement ecology of a floating ecosystem that is essential habitat to numerous marine speciesNFP, GJG, LJG, EJ and JT acknowledge support from the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. JT was also supported by NOAA/OceanWatch. CH and MW acknowledge support from NASA (NNX14AL98G, NNX16AR74G, and NNX17AE57G) and the William and Elsie Knight Endowed Fellowship. Funding for the development of HYCOM has been provided by the National Ocean Partnership Program and the Office of Naval ResearchS

Particle Attrition Mechanisms, their characterisation, and application to horizontal lean phase pneumatic conveying systems: A review

Understanding particle attrition is vital to the optimisation of a wide range of industrial processes. Lean phase pneumatic conveying is one such process, whereby the high energy particle impacts can cause undesirable loss in product quality or change in bulk behaviour. The attrition process is resolved into a material function and a process function; the combination of these functions dictates the attrition mechanism present, and the magnitude of failure observed. Subsequently, the forces applied to the particles are examined within the context of lean phase pneumatic conveying. Finally, empirical and numerical models are reviewed along with comments on experimental method. To summarise some of the findings of this review: the requirement of standardised test equipment is recognised in order to compare the wide variety of particulate materials under comparable loading conditions; stronger correlation between the results obtained from different particle attrition test methods is required; and finally, seldom are the manufacturing conditions (where applicable) linked to the particulate attrition behaviour

Intercambiador de calor con aporte de energía solar para aplicaciones educativas en Ingeniería Química

Este proyecto pretende realizar un sistema intercambiador de calor didáctico para su aplicación a las materias de 3º y 4 º año de Ingeniería Química de la Universidad, que a su vez muestre procesos relativos al aprovechamiento solar térmico para la materia optativa Energías Renovables de dicha carrera. Se busca que el conocimiento generado redunde en la mejora de las prácticas docentes para los alumnos de las carreras de Ingeniería Química e Ingeniería en Recursos Naturales Renovables. Se pretende de esta manera implementar una estación portátil diseñada a los efectos de que los alumnos puedan llevar adelante actividades prácticas que tiendan a optimizar sus aprendizajes en conceptos relacionados a intercambio de calor en procesos y a la energía solar térmica.This work seeks the construction of an educational heat exchanger to be applied in 3º and 4º year courses of Chemical Engineering from the University, applying aspects of solar thermal energy which are in turn related to courses of optional Renewable Energy courses of the same career. It is hoped that the acquired knowledge will allow for better practical activities for students of both Chemical and Renewable Natural Resources Engineering. The heat exchanger is designed to be portable, so as to allow for different configurations and activities relating to heat exchange in chemical process and solar thermal engineering.Tema´10: Educación y capacitación en energías renovables y uso racional de la energía.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

DNA methylation changes in genes involved in inflammation and depression in fibromyalgia: a pilot study

Objectives: The present pilot study aims to investigate DNA methylation changes of genes related to fibromyalgia (FM) development and its main comorbid symptoms, including sleep impairment, inflammation, depression and other psychiatric disorders. Epigenetic modifications might trigger or perpetuate complex interplay between pain transduction/transmission, central pain processing and experienced stressors in vulnerable individuals. Methods: We conducted DNA methylation analysis by targeted bisulfite NGS sequencing testing differential methylation in 112 genomic regions from leukocytes of eight women with FM and their eight healthy sisters as controls. Results: Tests for differentially methylated regions and cytosines brought focus on the GRM2 gene, encoding the metabotropic glutamate receptor2. The slightly increased DNA methylation observed in the GRM2 region of FM patients may confirm the involvement of the glutamate pathway in this pathological condition. Logistic regression highlighted the simultaneous association of methylation levels of depression and inflammation-related genes with FM. Conclusions: Altogether, the results evidence the glutamate pathway involvement in FM and support the idea that a combination of methylated and unmethylated genes could represent a risk factor to FM or its consequence, more than single genes. Further studies on the identified biomarkers could contribute to unravel the causative underlying FM mechanisms, giving reliable directions to research, improving the diagnosis and effective therapiesThis study was supported by Spanish Government Funding (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad: grant PSI2013-45818-R). The genotyping service was carried out at CEGEN-PRB3-ISCIII; it is supported by grant PT17/0019, of the PE I + D + i 2013–2016, funded by ISCIII and ERDF. MCG and LAN are part of the Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain (CNAP) which is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF121)S

Intercambiador de calor con aporte de energía solar para aplicaciones educativas en Ingeniería Química

Este proyecto pretende realizar un sistema intercambiador de calor didáctico para su aplicación a las materias de 3º y 4 º año de Ingeniería Química de la Universidad, que a su vez muestre procesos relativos al aprovechamiento solar térmico para la materia optativa Energías Renovables de dicha carrera. Se busca que el conocimiento generado redunde en la mejora de las prácticas docentes para los alumnos de las carreras de Ingeniería Química e Ingeniería en Recursos Naturales Renovables. Se pretende de esta manera implementar una estación portátil diseñada a los efectos de que los alumnos puedan llevar adelante actividades prácticas que tiendan a optimizar sus aprendizajes en conceptos relacionados a intercambio de calor en procesos y a la energía solar térmica.This work seeks the construction of an educational heat exchanger to be applied in 3º and 4º year courses of Chemical Engineering from the University, applying aspects of solar thermal energy which are in turn related to courses of optional Renewable Energy courses of the same career. It is hoped that the acquired knowledge will allow for better practical activities for students of both Chemical and Renewable Natural Resources Engineering. The heat exchanger is designed to be portable, so as to allow for different configurations and activities relating to heat exchange in chemical process and solar thermal engineering.Tema´10: Educación y capacitación en energías renovables y uso racional de la energía.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Patients with fibromyalgia show increased beta connectivity across distant networks and microstates alterations in resting-state electroencephalogram

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain of unknown etiology associated with alterations in the central nervous system. Although previous studies demonstrated altered patterns of brain activity during pain processing in patients with FM, alterations in spontaneous brain oscillations, in terms of functional connectivity or microstates, have been barely explored so far. Here we recorded the EEG from 43 patients with FM and 51 healthy controls during open-eyes resting-state. We analyzed the functional connectivity between different brain networks computing the phase lag index after group Independent Component Analysis, and also performed an EEG microstates analysis. Patients with FM showed increased beta band connectivity between different brain networks and alterations in some microstates parameters (specifically lower occurrence and coverage of microstate class C). We speculate that the observed alterations in spontaneous EEG may suggest the dominance of endogenous top-down influences; this could be related to limited processing of novel external events and the deterioration of flexible behavior and cognitive control frequently reported for FM. These findings provide the first evidence of alterations in long-distance phase connectivity and microstate indices at rest, and represent progress towards the understanding of the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia and the identification of novel biomarkers for its diagnosis.Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; grant number PSI2016-75313-R) and from the Galician Government (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; axudas para a consolidación e Estruturación de unidades de investigación competitivas do Sistema universitario de Galicia; grant number GRC GI-1807-USC; REF: ED431-2017/27). A.G.V. was partially supported by a grant from Xunta de Galicia (Axudas de apoio á etapa de formación posdoutoral 2018) and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus 201