Smaller,Stronger, More Stable: Peptide Variants of a SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Miniprotein

Based on the structure of a de novo designed miniprotein (LCB1) in complex with the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, we have generated and characterized truncated peptide variants of LCB1, which present only two of the three LCB1 helices, and which fully retained the virus neutralizing potency against different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). This antiviral activity was even 10-fold stronger for a cyclic variant of the two-helix peptides, as compared to the full-length peptide. Furthermore, the proteolytic stability of the cyclic peptide was substantially improved, rendering it a better potential candidate for SARS-CoV-2 therapy. In a more mechanistic approach, the peptides also served as tools to dissect the role of individual mutations in the RBD for the susceptibility of the resulting virus variants to neutralization by the peptides. As the peptides reported here were generated through chemical synthesis, rather than recombinant protein expression, they are amenable to further chemical modification, including the incorporation of a wide range of non-proteinogenic amino acids, with the aim to further stabilize the peptides against proteolytic degradation, as well as to improve the strength, as well the breadth, of their virus neutralizing capacity.     

Morphology Engineering of Porous Media for Enhanced Solar Fuel and Power Production

The favorable and adjustable transport properties of porous media make them suitable components in reactors used for solar energy conversion and storage processes. The directed engineering of the porous media’s morphology can significantly improve the performance of these reactors. We used a multiscale approach to characterize the changes in performance of exemplary solar fuel processing and solar power production reactors incorporating porous media as multifunctional components. The method applied uses imaging-based direct numerical simulations and digital image processing in combination with volume averaging theory to characterize the transport in porous media. Two samples with varying morphology (fibrous vs. foam) and varying size range (mm vs. μm scale), each with porosity between 0.46 and 0.84, were characterized. The obtained effective transport properties were used in continuum-scale models to quantify the performance of reactors incorporating multifunctional porous media for solar fuel processing by photoelectrochemical water splitting or power production by solar thermal processes.     

Interferometry at the physical limit: how to measure sub-parts-per-million optical homogeneity in fused silica

Inspection of the refractive-index distribution in fused silica is very sensitive to thermally induced measurement errors. A model is derived for the estimation and interpretation of thermal errors applicable to interferometric homogeneity investigations. The outlines of the model are supported by experimental investigations and numerical calculations. The results state a mandatory temperature stability of deltaT = 0.02 K for a required reproducibility of sigma(delta(n)) < or = 1 x 10(-7) and a lower sensitivity of higher-order Zernike terms. Requirements of the interferometer environment include spatial and temporal stability. Only a small part of the frequency spectrum of temporal instabilities contributes significantly to the measurement error and is therefore critical for the system. Experimental values are given for different environmental conditions.     

Encoding Material

Gramazio & Kohler's work in the faculty of Architecture and Digital Fabrication at ETH Zurich is renowned for its pioneering work with industrial robots. Here, Fabio Gramazio, Matthias Kohler and Silvan Oesterle describe how the integration of fabrication-relevant decisions into encoded designs enables the control of complex interactions between material elements and facilitates the direct generation of machine data, as epitomised by their West Fest Pavilion project. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wide range humidity sensors printed on biocomposite films of cellulose nanofibril and poly(ethylene glycol)

Cellulose nanofibril (CNF) films were prepared from side streams generated by the sugarcane industry, that is, bagasse. Two fractionation processes were utilized for comparison purposes: (1) soda and (2) hot water and soda pretreatments. 2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxyl-mediated oxidation was applied to facilitate the nanofibrillation of the bagasse fibers. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was chosen as plasticizer to improve the ductility of CNF films. The neat CNF and biocomposite films (CNF and 40% PEG) were used for fabrication of self-standing humidity sensors. CNF-based humidity sensors exhibited high change of impedance, within four orders of magnitude, in response to relative humidity (RH) from 20 to 90%. The use of plasticizer had an impact on sensor kinetics. While the biocomposite film sensors showed slightly longer response time, the recovery time of these plasticized sensors was two times shorter in comparison to sensors without PEG. This study demonstrated that agroindustrial side streams can form the basis for high-end applications such as humidity sensors, with potential for, for example, packaging and wound dressing applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47920.     

Spin-Printing of Liquid Crystal Polymer into Recyclable and Strong All-Fiber Materials

Fiber-reinforced polymers are widely used as lightweight materials in aircraft, automobiles, wind turbine blades, and sports products. Despite the beneficial weight reduction achieved in such applications, these composites often suffer from poor recyclability and limited geometries. 3D printing of liquid crystal polymers into complex-shaped all-fiber materials is a promising approach to tackle these issues and thus increase the sustainability of current lightweight structures. Here, we report a spin-printing technology for the manufacturing of recyclable and strong all-fiber lightweight materials. All-fiber architectures are created by combining thick print lines and thin spun fibers as reinforcing elements in bespoke orientations. Through controlled extrusion experiments and theoretical analyses, we systematically study the spinning process and establish criteria for the generation of thin fibers and laminates with unprecedented mechanical properties. The potential of the technology is further illustrated by creating complex structures with unique all-fiber architectures and mechanical performance.     

Evolution of ITS1 rDNA in the Digenea (Platyhelminthes: trematoda): 3' end sequence conservation and its phylogenetic utility

A comparison of ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) elements of digenetic trematodes (Platyhelminthes) including unidentified digeneans isolated from Cyathura carinata (Crustacea: Isopoda) revealed DNA sequence similarities at more than half of the spacer at its 3' end. Primary sequence similarity was shown to be associated with secondary structure conservation, which suggested that similarity is due to identity by descent and not chance. Using an analysis of apomorphies, the sequence data were shown to produce a distinct phylogenetic signal. This was confirmed by the consistency of results of different tree reconstruction methods such as distance approaches, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood. Morphological evidence additionally supported the phylogenetic tree based on ITS1 data and the inferred phylogenetic position of the unidentified digeneans of C. carinata met the expectations from known trematode life-cycle patterns. Although ribosomal ITS1 elements are generally believed to be too variable for phylogenetic analysis above the species or genus level, the overall consistency of the results of this study strongly suggests that this is not the case in digenetic trematodes. Here, 3' end ITS1 sequence data seem to provide a valuable tool for elucidating phylogenetic relationships of a broad range of phylogenetically distinct taxa.     

Structure of Co and Co oxide clusters in MCM-41

The structural properties of Co/MCM-41 with pore diameters between 2.9 and 3.6 nm prepared by direct synthesis and impregnation were investigated. For both preparation methods, the size of the metal particles decreased with the pore diameter. For Co/MCM-41 with the same pore diameter we observed that the direct synthesis method led to significantly smaller metal clusters compared to the impregnation method. For all Co/MCM-41 samples constraints of the metal cluster sizes were observed, which are speculated to result from influences of the micro structure during the formation of the catalyst precursor.     

Identification of control and management strategies for LV unbalanced microgrids with plugged-in electric vehicles

This paper addresses issues concerning the integration of single-phase charging devices for electric vehicles (EV) in low-voltage microgrids. Fast release energy storage is a key issue for microgrid islanding operation. EV batteries provide an additional storage capacity, which can now be exploited in order to improve MG islanding. Aiming to do so, different control strategies were developed and tested: (1) a local control approach where no communication link is required and (2) a centralized charging control solution. The local control approach is based on the measuring of EV terminal voltage and frequency in order to define the charging or discharging rates of the batteries. The centralized control strategy allows balancing single-phase loads connected to the microgrid by adapting the charging rates of the EV storage devices. Simulation results show that EV batteries can actively contribute for voltage balancing and frequency control during islanding operating conditions.