Environmental data for the planning of off-shore wind parks from the EnerGEO Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA)

International audienceThe EU-sponsored EnerGEO project aims at providing decision makers with a modelling platform to assess the environmental impacts of different sources of renewable energy. One of the pillars of the project is the Wind Energy Pilot, addressing the effects of offshore wind parks on air pollution and energy use. The methods used in the pilot and the underlying environmental databases are integrated into a WebGIS client tool and made available to the public. This paper is dedicated to describing the environmental databases and supporting data incorporated in the client tool. A 27-km resolution, 11-year wind database is created using the WRF model. The wind database is used to assess the wind climate in the north-west Atlantic region and to derive the potential power output from offshore wind parks. Auxiliary data concerning water depth, distance to shore and distance to the nearest suitable port are created to aid the planning and maintenance phases. Seasonal workability conditions are assessed using a 20-year wave database. The distance at which future wind parks should be placed to exhibit different wind climates is investigated

COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune thrombocytopenia

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune disorder characterized by low platelet count and increased bleeding risk. COVID-19 vaccination has been described as risk factor for de novo ITP, but the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with ITP are unknown. Our aims were to investigate the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in ITP patients on platelet count, bleeding complications and ITP exacerbation (any of: ≥50% decline in platelet count; or nadir platelet count 20% decrease from baseline; or use of rescue therapy). Platelet counts of ITP patients and healthy controls were collected immediately before, 1 and 4 weeks after first and second vaccination. Linear mixed-effects modelling was applied to analyze platelet counts over time. We included 218 ITP patients (50.9% female, mean age 55 years and median platelet count of 106x109/L) and 200 healthy controls (60.0% female, mean age 58 years and median platelet count of 256x109/L). Platelet counts decreased by 6.3% after vaccination. We observed no difference in decrease between the groups. Thirty ITP patients (13.8%, 95%CI 9.5%-19.1%) had an exacerbation and 5 (2.2%, 95%CI 0.7%-5.3%) suffered from a bleeding event. Risk factors for ITP exacerbation were platelet count <50x109/L (OR 5.3, 95%CI 2.1-13.7), ITP treatment at time of vaccination (OR 3.4, 95%CI 1.5-8.0) and age (OR 0.96 per year, 95%CI 0.94-0.99). Our study highlights safety of COVID-19 vaccination in ITP patients and importance of close monitoring platelet counts in a subgroup of ITP patients. ITP patients with exacerbation responded well on therapy

Three‐terminal perovskite/integrated back contact silicon tandem solar cells under low light intensity conditions

International audienceThe current climate and energy crisis urgently needs solar cells with efficiencies above the 29% single junction efficiency bottleneck. Silicon/perovskite tandem solar cells are a solution, which is attracting much attention. While silicon/perovskite tandem cells in 2-terminal and 4-terminal configurations are well documented, the three-terminal concept is still in its infancy. It has significant advantages under low light intensities as opposed to concentrated sunlight, which is the critical factor in designing tandem solar cells for low-cost terrestrial applications. This study presents novel studies of the sub-cell performance of the first three-terminal perovskite/silicon selective band offset barrier tandem solar cells fabricated in an ongoing research project. This study focuses on short circuit current and operating voltages of the sub-cells under light intensities of one sun and below. Lifetime studies show that the perovskite bulk carrier lifetime is insensitive to illumination, while the silicon cell's lifetime decreases with decreasing light intensity. The combination of perovskite and silicon in the 3T perovskite-silicon tandem therefore reduces the sensitivity of V OC to light intensity and maintains a relatively higher V OC down to low light intensities, whereas silicon single-junction cells show a marked decrease. This technological advantage is proposed as a novel advantag

Differential effects of FcRn antagonists on the subcellular trafficking of FcRn and albumin

The homeostasis of IgG is maintained by the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn. Consequently, antagonism of FcRn to reduce endogenous IgG levels is an emerging strategy for treating antibody-mediated autoimmune disorders using either FcRn-specific antibodies or an engineered Fc fragment. For certain FcRn-specific antibodies, this approach has resulted in reductions in the levels of serum albumin, the other major ligand transported by FcRn. Cellular and molecular analyses of a panel of FcRn antagonists have been carried out to elucidate the mechanisms leading to their differential effects on albumin homeostasis. These analyses have identified 2 processes underlying decreases in albumin levels during FcRn blockade: increased degradation of FcRn and competition between antagonist and albumin for FcRn binding. These findings have potential implications for the design of drugs to modulate FcRn function.</p

COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune thrombocytopenia

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune disorder that is characterized by low platelet count and increased bleeding risk. COVID-19 vaccination has been described as a risk factor for de novo ITP, but the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with ITP are unknown. We aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with ITP on platelet count, bleeding complications, and ITP exacerbation (≥50% decline in platelet count, or nadir platelet count 20% decrease from baseline, or use of rescue therapy). Platelet counts in patients with ITP and healthy controls were collected immediately before and 1 and 4 weeks after the first and second vaccinations. Linear mixed-effects modeling was applied to analyze platelet counts over time. We included 218 patients with ITP (50.9% female; mean age, 55 years; and median platelet count, 106 × 109/L) and 200 healthy controls (60.0% female; mean age, 58 years; median platelet count, 256 × 109/L). Platelet counts decreased by 6.3% after vaccination. We did not observe any difference in decrease between the groups. Thirty patients with ITP (13.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.5-19.1) had an exacerbation and 5 (2.2%; 95% CI, 0.7-5.3) suffered from a bleeding event. Risk factors for ITP exacerbation were platelet count < 50 × 109/L (odds ratio [OR], 5.3; 95% CI, 2.1-13.7), ITP treatment at time of vaccination (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5-8.0), and age (OR, 0.96 per year; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99). Our study highlights the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with ITP and the importance of the close monitoring of platelet counts in a subgroup of patients with ITP. Patients with ITP with exacerbation responded well on therapy

Plasmonic silicon solar cells: Impact of material quality and geometry

We study n-i-p amorphous silicon solar cells with light-scattering nanoparticles in the back reflector. In one configuration, the particles are fully embedded in the zinc oxide buffer layer; In a second configuration, the particles are placed between the buffer layer and the flat back electrode. We use stencil lithography to produce the same periodic arrangement of the particles and we use the same solar cell structure on top, thus establishing a fair comparison between a novel plasmonic concept and its more traditional counterpart. Both approaches show strong resonances around 700 nm in the external quantum efficiency the position and intensity of which vary strongly with the nanoparticle shape. Moreover, disagreement between simulations and our experimental results suggests that the dielectric data of bulk silver do not correctly represent the reality. A better fit is obtained by introducing a porous interfacial layer between the silver and zinc oxide. Without the interfacial layer, e.g. by improved processing of the nanoparticles, our simulations show that the nanoparticles concept could outperform traditional back reflectors.Electrical Sustainable EnergyElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc