Structured transparent low emissivity coatings with high microwave transmission

Abstract In order to reduce the energy consumption of buildings, modern windows include metal-containing coatings. These coatings strongly attenuate the microwaves used for mobile communications. Here, we present a novel approach to improve radio signal transmission by structuring a low emissivity coating. Laser ablation is used to scribe a line pattern on the coating. The microwave attenuation of the initial coating ranges between -25 and -30 dB between 850 MHz and 3 GHz. The optimized patterning reduces it down to -1.2 ± 0.6 dB. The fraction of the ablated area is relatively low. Our experiment al results show that it is possible to reach a level of attenuation close to that of a glass substrate by removing less than 4% of the coating area. The ablated lines are thin enough to not be noticed in most common lighting situations. Therefore, we achieve a dual spectral selectivity: the coated glass is transparent in the visible range, reflective in the infrared and nearly as transparent as its glass substrate to microwaves. Additionally, numerical simul ations were performed and show that the attenuation at grazing incidences is dominated by the behaviour of the glass substrate

MoS2/VO2 vdW heterojunction devices: Tunable rectifiers, photodiodes and field effect transistors

In this work we report a new class of ultra-thin film devices based on n-n van der Waals (vdW) heteroj unctions of MoS2 and VO2, which show remarkable tunable characteristics. The favorable band alignment combined with the sharp and clean vdW interface determines a tunable diode-like characteristic with a rectification ratio larger than 103. Moreover, the heterojunction can be turned into a Schottky rectifier with higher on-current by triggering the VO2 insulator to metal transition (IMT), by either applying a sufficiently large voltage or increasing the temperature above 68 °C. The proposed devices are photosensitive with linear photoresponse and temperature tunable photoresponsivity values larger than 1 in the 500/650 nm wavelength range. We finally report the first ever field-effect transistor based on gated MoS2/VO2 heterojunctions, which is a true low power FET exploiting a phase change material where the electrostatic doping effect of the gate on the junction results in a subthreshold slope (SS) of 130 mV/dec at room temperature, ION/IOFF > 103 and IoFF <; 5 pA/μm at Vd = 1.5V

Van der Waals MoS2/VO2 heterostructure junction with tunable rectifier behavior and efficient photoresponse

Junctions between n-type semiconductors of different electron affinity show rectification if the junction is abrupt enough. With the advent of 2D materials, we are able to realize thin van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures based on a large diversity of materials. In parallel, strongly correlated functional oxides have emerged, having the ability to show reversible insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition by collapsing their electronic bandgap under a certain external stimulus. Here, we report for the first time the electronic and optoelectronic characterization of ultra-thin n-n heterojunctions fabricated using deterministic assembly of multilayer molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) on a phase transition material, vanadium dioxide (VO2). The vdW MoS2/VO2 heterojunction combines the excellent blocking capability of an n-n junction with a high conductivity in on-state, and it can be turned into a Schottky rectifier at high applied voltage or at temperatures higher than 68 °C, exploiting the metal state of VO2. We report tunable diode-like current rectification with a good diode ideality factor of 1.75 and excellent conductance swing of 120 mV/dec. Finally, we demonstrate unique tunable photosensitivity and excellent junction photoresponse in the 500/650 nm wavelength range

Remodeling the Proteostasis Network to Rescue Glucocerebrosidase Variants by Inhibiting ER-Associated Degradation and Enhancing ER Folding

Gaucher’s disease (GD) is characterized by loss of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GC) activity. Mutations in the gene encoding GC destabilize the protein’s native folding leading to ER-associated degradation (ERAD) of the misfolded enzyme. Enhancing the cellular folding capacity by remodeling the proteostasis network promotes native folding and lysosomal activity of mutated GC variants. However, proteostasis modulators reported so far, including ERAD inhibitors, trigger cellular stress and lead to induction of apoptosis. We show herein that lacidipine, an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker that also inhibits ryanodine receptors on the ER membrane, enhances folding, trafficking and lysosomal activity of the most severely destabilized GC variant achieved via ERAD inhibition in fibroblasts derived from patients with GD. Interestingly, reprogramming the proteostasis network by combining modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis and ERAD inhibition remodels the unfolded protein response and dramatically lowers apoptosis induction typically associated with ERAD inhibition

Hierarchical folding and reorganization of chromosomes are linked to transcriptional changes in cellular differentiation

Mammalian chromosomes fold into arrays of megabase‐sized topologically associating domains (TADs), which are arranged into compartments spanning multiple megabases of genomic DNA. TADs have internal substructures that are often cell type specific, but their higher‐order organization remains elusive. Here, we investigate TAD higher‐order interactions with Hi‐C through neuronal differentiation and show that they form a hierarchy of domains‐within‐domains (metaTADs) extending across genomic scales up to the range of entire chromosomes. We find that TAD interactions are well captured by tree‐like, hierarchical structures irrespective of cell type. metaTAD tree structures correlate with genetic, epigenomic and expression features, and structural tree rearrangements during differentiation are linked to transcriptional state changes. Using polymer modelling, we demonstrate that hierarchical folding promotes efficient chromatin packaging without the loss of contact specificity, highlighting a role far beyond the simple need for packing efficiency

The GenTree Dendroecological Collection, tree-ring and wood density data from seven tree species across Europe

The dataset presented here was collected by the GenTree project (EU-Horizon 2020), which aims to improve the use of forest genetic resources across Europe by better understanding how trees adapt to their local environment. This dataset of individual tree-core characteristics including ring-width series and whole-core wood density was collected for seven ecologically and economically important European tree species: silver birch (Betula pendula), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), European black poplar (Populus nigra), maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and sessile oak (Quercus petraea). Tree-ring width measurements were obtained from 3600 trees in 142 populations and whole-core wood density was measured for 3098 trees in 125 populations. This dataset covers most of the geographical and climatic range occupied by the selected species. The potential use of it will be highly valuable for assessing ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental conditions as well as for model development and parameterization, to predict adaptability under climate change scenarios

MASTREE+: Time-series of plant reproductive effort from six continents.

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics

The GenTree Platform: growth traits and tree-level environmental data in 12 European forest tree species

Background: Progress in the field of evolutionary forest ecology has been hampered by the huge challenge of phenotyping trees across their ranges in their natural environments, and the limitation in high-resolution environmental information. Findings: The GenTree Platform contains phenotypic and environmental data from 4,959 trees from 12 ecologically and economically important European forest tree species: Abies alba Mill. (silver fir), Betula pendula Roth. (silver birch), Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech), Picea abies (L.) H. Karst (Norway spruce), Pinus cembra L. (Swiss stone pine), Pinus halepensis Mill. (Aleppo pine), Pinus nigra Arnold (European black pine), Pinus pinaster Aiton (maritime pine), Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine), Populus nigra L. (European black poplar), Taxus baccata L. (English yew), and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. (sessile oak). Phenotypic (height, diameter at breast height, crown size, bark thickness, biomass, straightness, forking, branch angle, fructification), regeneration, environmental in situ measurements (soil depth, vegetation cover, competition indices), and environmental modeling data extracted by using bilinear interpolation accounting for surrounding conditions of each tree (precipitation, temperature, insolation, drought indices) were obtained from trees in 194 sites covering the species’ geographic ranges and reflecting local environmental gradients. Conclusion: The GenTree Platform is a new resource for investigating ecological and evolutionary processes in forest trees. The coherent phenotyping and environmental characterization across 12 species in their European ranges allow for a wide range of analyses from forest ecologists, conservationists, and macro-ecologists. Also, the data here presented can be linked to the GenTree Dendroecological collection, the GenTree Leaf Trait collection, and the GenTree Genomic collection presented elsewhere, which together build the largest evolutionary forest ecology data collection available

Between but not within species variation in the distribution of fitness effects

New mutations provide the raw material for evolution and adaptation. The distribution of fitness effects (DFE) describes the spectrum of effects of new mutations that can occur along a genome, and is therefore of vital interest in evolutionary biology. Recent work has uncovered striking similarities in the DFE between closely related species, prompting us to ask whether there is variation in the DFE among populations of the same species, or among species with different degrees of divergence, i.e., whether there is variation in the DFE at different levels of evolution. Using exome capture data from six tree species sampled across Europe we characterised the DFE for multiple species, and for each species, multiple populations, and investigated the factors potentially influencing the DFE, such as demography, population divergence and genetic background. We find statistical support for there being variation in the DFE at the species level, even among relatively closely related species. However, we find very little difference at the population level, suggesting that differences in the DFE are primarily driven by deep features of species biology, and that evolutionarily recent events, such as demographic changes and local adaptation, have little impact

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570