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Drivers of the spatiotemporal distribution of dissolved nitrous oxide and air–sea exchange in a coastal Mediterranean area
No full text18 pages, 2 tables, 6 figuresAmong the well-known greenhouse gases (GHGs), nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third most impactful, possessing a global warming potential approximately 300 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a century. The distribution of N2O in aquatic environments exhibits notable spatial and temporal variations, and emissions remain inadequately constrained and underrepresented in global N2O emission inventories, particularly for coastal zones. This study focuses on N2O levels and air–sea fluxes in the coastal waters of the Balearic Islands Archipelago in the Western Mediterranean basin. Data were gathered between 2018 and 2023 at three coastal monitoring stations: two on the densely populated island of Mallorca and the third in the well-preserved National Park of the Cabrera Archipelago. Seawater N2O concentrations varied from 6.5 to 9.9 nmol L−1, with no significant differences being detected across the sites. When these sink–source strengths are integrated on an annual basis, the Balearic Sea is close to equilibrium with atmospheric N2O, resulting in a neutral atmosphere–ocean exchange (0.1 ± 0.2 μmol m⁻² d⁻¹). A consistent seasonal pattern was noted during the study period. Machine learning analysis indicated that seawater temperature was the primary factor influencing N2O concentrations, with lesser contributions from chlorophyll levels and salinityFunding for this work was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science (SumaEco, grant no. RTI2018–095441-B-C21; CYCLE, grant no. PID2021-123723OB-C21, the Government of the Balearic Islands through la Consellería d'Innovació, Recerca i Turisme (Projecte de recerca científica i tecnològica SEPPO, grant no. PRD2018/18), and the 2018 call of the BBVA Foundation “Ayudas a equipos de investigación científica” for the Posi-COIN project. Susana Flecha acknowledges the financial support of the “Margalida Comas-2017” and “Vicenç Munt Estabilitat-2022” postdoctoral contracts, as well as grant no. AAEE111/2017 from the Balearic Islands Government. Susana Flecha is staff hired under the Generation D initiative, promoted by Red.es, an organization attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, for the attraction and retention of talent through grants and training contracts financed by the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan through the European Union's Next Generation funds. Mercedes de la Paz acknowledges the financial support during the study period for the contracts financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science under grant nos. CTM2015–74510-JIN and PTA2019–017983-I. Fiz Fernández Pérez was supported by the FICARAM+ project (grant no. PID2023 – 148924OB – l00).
The article processing charges for this open-access publication were covered by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer reviewe
Historical eruptions in the canary islands
No full textBlog post on the scientific outreach website about volcanology: https://descubrelosvolcanes.esBefore we begin discussing the historical eruptions in the Canary Islands, let us briefly
review what this concept means. A historical eruption is one that has been documented
in writing. In the Canary Islands, the historical period began 500 years ago with the
conquest of the archipelago. From then on, written records were kept of all the events
that occurred in this region. Therefore, any eruption that has occurred in the Canary
Islands over the past 500 years is considered historical.Peer reviewe
Dark matter axion detection method using neural networks for ultralow signal-to-noise ratio
No full textWe present the first analysis of dark matter axion detection applying neural networks for the improvement of sensitivity. The main sources of thermal noise from a typical readout chain are simulated, constituted by resonant and amplifier noises. With this purpose, an advanced modal method employed in electromagnetic modal analysis for the design of complex microwave circuits is applied. A feedforward neural network is used for a Boolean decision (there is axion or only noise), and robust results are obtained: the neural network can improve by a factor of 5 ×103 the integration time needed to reach a given signal to noise ratio. This could either significantly reduce measurement times or achieve better sensitivities with the same exposure durations.Peer reviewe
Cosmogenic helium signatures at Deception Island volcano (Antarctica): geochronological implications for its eruptive history
No full textCosmogenic nuclei production for dating the Earth surface exposure of rock/mineral samples, especially 3He, is a robust technique in geochronology. We describe its application to constrain the ages of key eruptive episodes of the volcanic history of Deception Island (Antarctica): (i) the volcanic products of the island formed before the caldera collapse (pre-caldera material); and (ii) the caldera-forming event (syn-caldera material). High 3He/4He ratios (up to 910 RA; RA = 1.39 × 10–6) in the crystal structure of olivine phenocrysts measured through total fusion He release are much higher than the magmatic values previously obtained in the inclusions of the same olivines obtained by hydraulic crushing. Such high values indicate a cosmogenic origin and reveal an age of c. 4 Ma for the pre-caldera material, and c. 4.6 ka and 170 ka for the syn-caldera deposits. The result of c. 4.6 ka for the caldera collapse episode is consistent with previous age estimations based on tephrochronology, whereas the c. 170 ka result reveals the presence of pre-caldera olivines embedded in the syn-caldera deposits that experienced less exposure to cosmic rays compared to the samples with ages of 4 Ma. This oldest age estimate represents the first quantitative geochronological approach attempting to date Deception Island formation.This research was supported by the Spanish Government (MICINN projects) RECALDEC (CTM2009-05919-E/ANT), PEVOLDEC (CTM2011-13578-E/ANT), POSVOLDEC (CTM2016-79617-P) (AEI/FEDER, UE), VOLGASDEC (PGC2018-095693-B-I00) (AEI/FEDER, UE), HYDROCAL (PID2020-114876GB-I00), and EruptING (PID2021-127189OB-I00) (MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033). We also appreciate the assistance of the project: Playas Ricas en Olivino de Tenerife: Efectos sobre el ciclo del carbono e influencia sobre los organismos marinos (2022CLISA30) Caja Canarias Fundación y Fundación “La Caixa”. A.M.A-V also thanks the JSPS invitation fellowship (S18113) at the University of Tokyo, and the USAL-2019 project (Programa Propio—mod. 1B). This research is part of POLARCSIC activities. A.P.-S. is grateful for his PhD grant “Programa Propio III Universidad de Salamanca cofounded by Banco de Santander” and his joint 2022 COMNAP-IAATO Antarctic Fellowship. A. C acknowledges the grant RYC2021‐033270‐I funded by MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 and by the EU “Next Generation EU/PRTR". We also thank the Polar Rock Repository (http:// resea rch. bpcrc. osu. edu/ rr/) for loaning the rock sample PRR-10298 collected by C.H. Shultz in 1970.Peer reviewe
Assessment of fine-tuned large language models for real-world chemistry and material science applications
No full textThe datasets and Jupyter Notebooks used in this work are available at https://github.com/JorenBE/GPT-Challenge.The current generation of large language models (LLMs) has limited chemical knowledge. Recently, it has been shown that these LLMs can learn and predict chemical properties through fine-tuning. Using natural language to train machine learning models opens doors to a wider chemical audience, as field-specific featurization techniques can be omitted. In this work, we explore the potential and limitations of this approach. We studied the performance of fine-tuning three open-source LLMs (GPT-J-6B, Llama-3.1-8B, and Mistral-7B) for a range of different chemical questions. We benchmark their performances against "traditional" machine learning models and find that, in most cases, the fine-tuning approach is superior for a simple classification problem. Depending on the size of the dataset and the type of questions, we also successfully address more sophisticated problems. The most important conclusions of this work are that, for all datasets considered, their conversion into an LLM fine-tuning training set is straightforward and that fine-tuning with even relatively small datasets leads to predictive models. These results suggest that the systematic use of LLMs to guide experiments and simulations will be a powerful technique in any research study, significantly reducing unnecessary experiments or computations.The research of J. V. H., and B. S. is supported by the Swiss Science Foundation through a Project Funding (214872) and Advanced Grant (216165). M. V. G. and C. P. gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) through Grants TED2021-131693B-I00 (M. V. G. and C. P.) and CNS2022-135474 (M. V. G.), funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. M. V. G. acknowledges support from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) through Programme for internationalization i-LINK 2023 (Project ILINK23047). M. V. G. acknowledges the access granted by the Galician Supercomputing Center (CESGA) to the FinisTerrae III supercomputer, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Galician Government, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the access granted by the CSIC to the Drago supercomputer. Parts of the work of K. M. J. were supported by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. S. G., M. G., N. P., B. S., and J. V. H. are partly supported by the USorb-DAC Project through a grant from The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment to RMI's climate tech accelerator program, Third Derivative. The work of A. S. A. is supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation grant NNF23OC0081359. S. M. M. and M. R. K. work is partly supported by grant number DSI-CGY3R1P16 from the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. M. A. expresses gratitude to the European Research Council (ERC) for evaluating the project with the reference number 101106377 titled “CLARIFIER” and accepting it for funding under the HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships – European Fellowships. Furthermore, M. A. acknowledges the funding by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (EP/Y023447/1; organization reference:101106377). L. L. G., A. A., and T. P. J. K. gratefully acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the ERC grant DiProPhys (agreement ID 101001615) (L. L. G., A. A., T. P. J. K.). The National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program (L. L. G.), the Cambridge Trust's Cambridge International Scholarship (L. L. G.), the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (L. L. G.). The European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013; T. P. J. K.) and the Frances and Augustus Newman Foundation (T. P. J. K.). K. L. S. acknowledges funding from the Schmidt Science Fellowship in partnership with the Rhodes Trust and from St. John's College Research Fellowship programme. F. N. and M. T. thank the Italian MUR for provision of funding through the PRIN 2020 Project doMino (ref 2020P9KBKZ). The research of N. X. H. was supported by the NCCR MARVEL, a National Centre of Competence in Research, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number 205602). B. M. acknowledges the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 945363. E. S. acknowledges the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 949229, CryForm).Peer reviewe
Floating offshore wind farms in Mediterranean marine protected areas: a cautionary tale
Get PDF14 pages, 4 figures, 1 table.-- Data availability: Data underlying this article were provided by third parties (BirdLife International and IUCN) by permission (in this case, data can be shared on request to the corresponding author with permission of the third parties), or were derived from public repositories or sources in the public domain (https://www.eea.europa.eu/; https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en; http://keybiodiversityareas.org/kba-data/request; http://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/imma-eatlas/; https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2023-5704; https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000045381641; https://va.mite.gov.it/it-IT; https://www.guardiacostiera.gov.it/; https://www.mnhn.fr/fr; https://www.miteco.gob.es/)As offshore wind energy expands in Europe, maritime planners increasingly need to consider the potential effects of these activities on the different types of marine protected areas (MPAs), including Natura 2000 sites. The aim of this article is to critically review the initial development of offshore wind energy inside and/or in the vicinity of Mediterranean Natura 2000 sites and other types of MPAs. The western Mediterranean Sea is taken as an example as this is where most of the offshore wind developments have been proposed. In order to open up discussion of offshore wind energy policy and guide ecological research that supports holistic decisions regarding offshore wind farm (OWF) installation in the region, we (i) outline the context of Natura 2000 and other MPA policy in the Mediterranean for OWF development, (ii) summarize the potential impacts of OWF on EU-protected habitats and species, (iii) assess the interactions of OWFs, the Natura 2000 sites, and other MPAs, and (iv) propose recommendations to approach OWF development in the Mediterranean in order to safeguard the Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs. After documenting the potential overlaps between OWFs and MPAs in the western Mediterranean, we recommend OWFs be placed outside Natura 2000 and other MPA sites, including their buffer zones. We also advocate for rigorous and independent Appropriate Assessments to be carried out for OWF proposals that could affect protected areasThis research was carried out in the frame of the BIOPAIS project (www.oceanshealth.udg.edu/en/biopais.html), which has the support of the Fundación Biodiversidad of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR), financed by the European Union—NextGenerationEUWith the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewe
Double Deletion of EP402R and EP153R in the Attenuated Lv17/WB/Rie1 African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) Enhances Safety, Provides DIVA Compatibility, and Confers Complete Protection Against a Genotype II Virulent Strain
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a devastating disease affecting domestic and wild suids and causing significant economic losses in the global pig industry. Attenuated modified live virus (MLV) vaccines are the most promising approaches for vaccine development. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four recombinant ASFV genotype II strains, derived from the non-hemadsorbing (non-HAD) attenuated isolate Lv17/WB/Rie1, through the single or simultaneous deletion of virulence-associated genes. Methods: Recombinant viruses were engineered by deleting the UK, EP402R, and EP153R genes, either individually or in combination. Four recombinant strains were evaluated for safety and efficacy in domestic pigs vaccinated intramuscularly with 102 TCID₅₀. Clinical signs, viremia, virus shedding, and antibody responses were monitored. Protection efficacy was assessed by challenging vaccinated pigs with the virulent genotype II Armenia07 strain. Additionally, a reversion-to-virulence study involving an overdose of the vaccine candidate was conducted to evaluate its stability through serial immunizations. Results: Deletion of the UK gene alone increased virulence, whereas the double deletion of EP402R and EP153R (Lv17/WB/Rie1-ΔCD) significantly enhanced safety while maintaining full protective efficacy. Vaccinated pigs exhibited reduced viremia, no virus shedding, and robust virus-specific antibody responses, achieving complete protection against Armenia07. The reversion-to-virulence study revealed potential but limited pathogenicity after multiple passages, indicating areas for improvement in vaccine stability. Conclusions: The Lv17/WB/Rie1-ΔCD strain demonstrates excellent safety and efficacy, along with potential DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals) compatibility, positioning it as a strong candidate for an ASFV MLV vaccine. Further research is needed to refine the vaccine and address the potential risks of reversion to virulence.The research project “VACDIVA” was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement no. 862874.Peer reviewe
Modeling the Herbicide-Resistance Evolution in Lolium rigidum (Gaud.) Populations at the Landscape Scale
No full textThe repeated application of herbicides has led to the development of herbicide resistance. Models are useful for identifying key processes and understanding the evolution of resistance. This study developed a spatially explicit model at a landscape scale to examine the dynamics of Lolium rigidum populations in dryland cereal crops and the evolution of herbicide resistance under various management strategies. Resistance evolved rapidly under repeated herbicide use, driven by weed fecundity and herbicide efficacy. Although fitness costs associated with resistant plants reduced the resistance evolution, they did not affect the speed of its spread. The most effective strategies for slow resistance involved diversifying cropping sequences and herbicide applications. Pollen flow was the main dispersal vector, with seed dispersal also making a significant contribution. Strategies limiting seed dispersal effectively decreased resistance spread. However, the use of a seed-catching device at harvest could unintentionally enrich resistance in the area. It would be beneficial to optimize the movement of harvesters between fields. The model presented here is a useful tool that could assist in the exploration of novel management strategies within the context of site-specific weed management at landscape scale as well as in the advancement of our understanding of resistance dynamics.This research has been partially supported by the Junta de Andalucia, Qualifica Project (grant number QUAL21_023 IAS).Peer reviewe
Designing and Optimizing Electrode Materials for Energy Harvesting in CAPMIX Cells
No full textThe growing demand for clean, decentralized energy has increased interest in blue energy, which generates power from water with different salt concentrations. Despite its potential as a renewable, low-cost energy source, optimizing electrode materials remains a challenge. This work presents a nanomaterial developed via microwave-assisted sol-gel methodology for blue energy applications, where ion diffusion and charge storage are critical. AX-7 carbon, designed for this study, features wide pores, enhancing ion diffusion. Compared to commercial NORIT carbon, AX-7 has a higher mesopore volume and external surface area, improving its overall performance. The synthesis process has been optimized and scaled up for evaluation in CAPMIX electrochemical cell stacks. Moreover, the lower series resistance (Rs) significantly boosts energy recovery, with AX-7 demonstrating superior performance. This advantage is especially evident during fresh-water cycles, where this material achieves significantly lower Rs compared to the commercial one.This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, and the European Union NextGeneration EU/PRTR and the Science, Technology and Innovation Plan2018-2022 of the Principado de Asturias with the projects PID2019-110971RB-I00, and PID2020-113001RB-I00 MCIN/AEI-10.13039/501100011033 and GRUPIN2021 IDI/2021/50921. SLFL also thanks her PhD grant from Severo Ochoa Program of the Principado de Asturias.Peer reviewe
Prunus Movement Across the Silk Road: An Integrated Evolutionary and Breeding Analysis
No full textIn the past, the Silk Road was a vital trade route that spanned Eurasia, connecting East Asia to the Mediterranean Sea. The genus Prunus, belonging to the Rosaceae family and encompassing plums, peaches, apricots, cherries, and almonds, thrived as human travel along the Silk Road increased. The majority of fruits within this genus, whether wild or cultivated, are naturally sweet and easily preserved by drying for storage and transport. The interaction along the Silk Road between wild populations and diverse varieties of Prunus fruits led to the development of various hybrids. This article provides a summary of archaeological findings related to prominent Prunus fruits such as peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, and almonds, shedding light on their evolutionary history, genetic diversity, population structure, and historical dynamics crucial for species conservation. The origins of biodiversity may involve factors like migration of pre-adapted lineages, in situ variation, or the persistence of ancestral lineages. Furthermore, climate change is affecting spatial genetic patterns and potentially further threatening rare Prunus species. Evaluating the scope and composition of genetic diversity within germplasm collections is essential for enhancing plant breeding initiatives and preserving genetic resources in this changing context. From a molecular point of view, techniques such as genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes responsible for phenotypic changes in cultivars and germplasm collections should be of great interest in these breeding programs, while genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) derived from genome-wide DNA polymorphism information can facilitate the selection of superior genotypes.This study is part of the PID2021-123764OB-I00 project and the AGROALNEXT program and was supported by MCIN with funding from European Union NextGenerationEU (PRTR-C17.I1) and by Fundación Séneca with funding from Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia (CARM).Peer reviewe