Areas Of High Humidity Research Articles

Deep Learning‐Based Precipitation Simulation for Tropical Cyclones, Mesoscale Convective Systems, and Atmospheric Rivers in East Asia

AbstractDifferent types of weather events, including tropical cyclones (TCs), mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), and atmospheric rivers (ARs), significantly impact precipitation patterns in East Asia. This study pioneers the application of deep learning (DL) methods, including convolutional neural network, U‐Net, and Attention U‐Net models, to simulate precipitation associated with these weather events. The spatial permutation method is also used to identify key meteorological variables for accurately generating precipitation in DL models. The DL models trained on all timeslots consistently surpass the performance of state‐of‐the‐art numerical simulations, although their efficacy slightly diminishes during extreme weather events. This outperformance is attributed to the appropriate emphasis on key variables that capture precipitation processes, such as low‐level moisture and mid‐level pressure fields. However, new DL models trained separately for TCs, MCSs, and ARs using clipped precipitation as the output does not exceed the performance of the previous DL models. Among all input features, moisture variables contribute the most to precipitation at low intensity, while the importance of other variables increases for more intense precipitation, although some discrepancies vary across models and event types. The spatial results further reveal the detailed locations of variables that are essential for accurately simulating precipitation related to weather events, such as areas of high specific humidity and strong winds. DL models could also acquire useful information from region remote to the events to improve the simulation. Overall, DL models serve as promising tools for simulating and enhancing our understanding of precipitation patterns associated with various weather events in East Asia.

Controlling Biomedical Devices Using Pneumatic Logic.

Many biomedical devices are powered and controlled by electrical components. These electronics add to the cost of a device (possibly making the device too expensive for use in resource-limited or point-of-care settings) and can also render the device unsuitable for use in some environments (for example, high-humidity areas such as incubators where condensation could cause electrical short circuits, ovens where electronic components may overheat, or explosive or flammable environments where electric sparks could cause serious accidents). In this work, we show that pneumatic logic can be used to power and control biomedical devices without the need for electricity or electric components. Originally developed for controlling microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" devices, these circuits use microfluidic valves like transistors in air-powered logic "circuits." We show that a modification to the basic valve design-adding additional air channels in parallel through the valve-creates a "high-flow" valve that is suitable for controlling a broad range of bioinstruments, not just microfluidics. As a proof-of-concept, we developed a high-flow pneumatic oscillator that uses five high-flow Boolean NOT gates arranged in a loop. Powered by a single constant vacuum source, the oscillator provides five out-of-phase pneumatic outputs that switch between vacuum and atmospheric pressure every 1.3s. Additionally, a user can adjust the frequency of the oscillator by squeezing a bellows attached to one of the pneumatic outputs. We then used the pneumatic oscillator to power a low-cost 3D-printed laboratory rocker/shaker commonly used to keep blood products, cell cultures, and other heterogeneous samples in suspension. Our air-powered rocker costs around $12 USD to build and performs as well as conventional electronic rockers that cost $1000 USD or more. This is the first of many biomedical devices that can be made cheaper and safer using pneumatic logic.

Experimental analysis of an innovative internally cooled dehumidifier

To address the absence of balance in existing heat and mass transfer structures and enhance their adaptability in high-temperature and humid environments, a new internally cooled dehumidifier has been developed. This innovative dehumidifier incorporates corrugated fins to increase disturbance and contact area, along with a multichannel flat tube to improve cooling efficiency and compatibility. Experimental research was conducted to investigate mass transfer characteristics under different air, solution, and cooling water conditions in a high-temperature and humidy climate, and the Sh number correlation was derived. The findings indicated that compared to previous designs, the new dehumidifier's performance is less influenced by air temperature due to the corrugated fins' disturbance and cooling efficiency of the multi-channel flat tube. Additionally, its dehumidification capacity is positively correlated with air humidity, making it well-suited for high-temperature, high-humidity regions; The presence of corrugated fins enhances the disturbance on the solution surface, leading to a non-linear improvement in dehumidification performance when increasing solution flow; Lowering solution and water temperatures is more effective in improving dehumidification performance than increasing the flow rate, resulting in maximum increases of 60 % and 18.3 %, respectively, in mass transfer coefficients. Therefore, temperature adjustments are recommended for operational optimization; The Sh number correlation demonstrates high accuracy, within ±25 %, ensuring reliability. This study provides technical support and a foundational dataset for the dehumidifier's application in buildings located in high-temperature and high-humidity areas.

Numerical and experimental investigation of thermosyphon-driven liquid desiccant loop performance for sustainable indoor humidity removal

Indoor humidity management is one of the most challenging aspects of the control of indoor environment and is energy intensive, especially in hot and humid climates. A promising approach is the removal of the water vapor from the room using hygroscopic materials, otherwise known as desiccants. Desiccant cycles are thermally driven but require a heat sink and electricity-driven mechanical parts for desiccant circulation. Accordingly, this work proposes a thermosyphon-driven membrane-based liquid desiccant loop for sustainable humidity pumping between two areas at different humidity conditions. Mathematical models were developed for the different system subcomponents, which were validated with published data and in-house experiments. The models were used in a parametric study to determine the influence of the design and operation parameters on the system performance under different air conditions surrounding its various sections.It was found that the system was able to pump the air moisture from high to low and low to high humidity areas. Four cases were considered with outdoor conditions raging from moderate and hot and humid to semi-arid climates. The latent load removal density per unit area of the exposed membrane varied between 4 W/m2 to 35 W/m2 over the entire range of considered cases at required heat inputs varying between 150 W and 570 W respectively. The heat input increased with the channel height and the air humidity surrounding both system sides. The added sensible load depended on the heat sink temperature and was more than 65 % lower than removed latent load in most considered cases.

Desiccant wheel air-conditioning system driven by gas engine cogeneration of heat and power: simulation and analysis by Dymola

Based on the combination of gas engine cogeneration of heat and power (GECHP) technology and temperature and humidity independent control air-conditioning technology, an air-conditioning system combined with desiccant wheel driven by GECHP was proposed to decrease cooling energy consumption and utilize the waste heat of gas engine. In this study, Dymola software was adopted to model the hybrid system and conduct hourly simulation throughout the cooling and heating season for two types of large public buildings: the supermarket building and the office building. Results show that the hybrid system applied to target buildings can meet the requirements of each index of air-conditioning energy supply. Comparing two types of application scenarios, the system primary energy conversion ratio of the supermarket building reaches 112%, 19% higher than that of the office building. And the system CO2 emission reduction rate per unit of capacity of the supermarket building is 0.18 kg/kWh, lower than the 0.22 kg/kWh of the office building. Therefore, the hybrid system has superior energy-saving and environmental performance and is especially suitable for high-temperature and high-humidity areas in summer as well as building application scenarios with high indoor moisture gain and fresh air demand.

Effect of different soluble salt ions on deformation of desulfurization gypsum in high humidity environment: a statistically designed experimental analysis method

In response to the green energy-saving goal of carbon neutralization and carbon peak, the research and development of green building materials have become a key research direction. Desulfurization gypsum is widely used in building materials because of its good energy saving, but it cannot be used in high humidity areas because of its highly soluble salt. Based on this reason, this paper uses statistically designed experiments (SDE) to design the experiments on the influence of four common soluble salt ions and on the sagging deformation of desulfurization gypsum, and studies the significance of their influence by SDE experimental analysis method. The results show that: (1) in the environment of a single salt solution, ion, ion, ion, and ion will cause sagging deformation of desulfurization gypsum, and their values are 0.432 mm, 1.933 mm, 0.942 mm, and 0.940 mm respectively. It can be seen that the effect of the ion is the most significant. (2) In the environment of composite salt solution, ions will inhibit the sagging deformation of desulfurization gypsum. Specifically, in the compound salt solution environment of and the deformation values are 0.605 mm and 0.596 mm respectively.

“A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF CLINICO-MYCOLOGICAL PROFILE OF DERMATOPHYTES AND ANTIFUNGAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING DERMATOLOGY OPD AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN TELANGANA”

Background: Dermatophytosis is the most common supercial fungal infection worldwide, caused by dermatophytes that cause infections of the skin, hair, and nails due to their ability to invade keratin. Belong to three closely related genera: Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton. It is common in the tropics & subtropical regions and in areas of high humidity. Recent years have seen an alarming increase in chronic, recurrent, and recalcitrant dermatophytosis in India. Despite the availability of a wide range of antifungals, treatment failure is often observed. This is often attributed to the probable emergence of drug-resistant strains. To identify t Objectives: he dermatophyte species causing Dermatophytosis and to determine antifungal susceptibility patterns to Fluconazole and Griseofulvin by Broth microdilution. A cross-sectional study was conducte Method: d over a period of 18 months duration i.e., from June 2021 to November 2022. Skin scrapings, hair plucking, and nail clippings were collected from 200 clinically diagnosed cases of dermatophytosis who attended the outpatient department of Dermatology (DVL) and samples were processed at the upgraded Department of Microbiology at Osmania General Hospital, Afzalgunj, Hyderabad. A total of 2 Results: 00 clinically diagnosed dermatophytosis patients were included in our study following inclusion and exclusion criteria. Their demographic details and clinical examination of cutaneous lesions were recorded. In our study, most patients affected were males 57% and the most common age group was 21-30 years seen in 25.5% of patients. Tinea corporis (40%) was the most common dermatophyte lesion followed by Tinea cruris (19.5%) seen in our study. KOH positivity was seen in 42% and culture was positive in 69.5% of cases. Dermatophytes isolated are 42% and non-dermatophytes isolated are 27.5% of cases in our study. The most common dermatophyte isolated in culture was Trichophyton rubrum (45%), followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes 28 (33.3%). Among isolates of dermatophytes, Fluconazole is sensitive to 33.3% of isolates, whereas Griseofulvin is sensitive to 52.3% of isolates. Therapeutic failure is alarmingly common in t Conclusion: he current scenario of dermatophytosis in India. Failure is probably seen with all common isolates, younger patients, high contagious nature. This study will help to standardize care, provide guidance on management, and assist in clinical decision-making for healthcare professionals

ОБОСНОВАНИЕ И ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЕ ПАРАМЕТРОВ БОРОЗДООБРАЗОВАТЕЛЯ КАРТОФЕЛЕСАЖАЛКИ

Furrow formation is one of the most labor-intensive operations in potato cultivation technology. The article discusses the justification and determination of furrower parameters of the potato planter. Analytical dependences of the height of the junction point of the disks and the width of the furrow bottom are obtained, taking into account the technological parameters, its design features and the physical and mechanical properties of the soil. Potatoes are planted in the usual way. The main row spacing in our country is 70 cm. However, in areas of high humidity and in irrigated areas, wide-row planting with a row spacing of 90 cm is used. In some areas of the European part, in arid areas, potatoes are planted with a row spacing of 60 cm. By the time of harvesting, the potato field has a ridged appearance, obtained as a result of hilling, where the height of the ridges is 11…20 cm. The angle of the row seed drills is that the vanishing point of the coulter rises above the bottom of the furrow by 6.3 cm. With an increase in the angle of entry of the coulter into the soil from 2° to 11°, the depth of the coulter travel increases. At angle values from 3° to 8°, the stroke depth approaches the optimum (12…18 cm).

The Effect of Relative Humidity Dependent Thermal Conductivity on Building Insulation Layer Thickness Optimization

Optimization of insulation layer thickness is a significant factor in energy-efficient building design. Accurate determination of the thickness of the insulation layer will contribute to building energy conservation. In this study, ten typical cities in five thermal zones were selected, and the external thermal insulation of a typical residential building was taken as the research object. Using the degree day method and the economic model of full life cycle cost analysis, the optimal thickness of seven kinds of building insulation materials under absolute dry conditions, the lowest humidity and the highest humidity of the monthly average of the annual daily average were obtained. In addition, the carbon emission, energy saving and recovery period of materials under different working conditions were further obtained through numerical calculation. The results show that the optimum thickness of seven building insulation materials in ten typical cities under three working conditions is 18.21–346.05 mm. Their carbon emission change rate is between −2.7% and 38.6%, energy saving change rate is between −0.4% and 18.4%, and the payback period growth is within 1.5 years. Among them, polystyrene foam is the material least affected by humidity. It is recommended to be the main building insulation material in high humidity areas.

Experimental investigation on the dehumidification performance of a parabolic trough solar air collector assisted rotary desiccant system

In areas of high humidity, moisture is a major problem for human comfort and air-conditioning systems. As a green solution to this prevalent problem, a solar assisted rotary desiccant dehumidification system has been proposed for air dehumidification. Through an experimental study conducted, performance evaluation of a parabolic trough solar collector assisted rotary desiccant dehumidification system has been performed based on the parameters including air flow rate, regeneration air temperature, inlet-outlet air temperature, and humidity ratios. Findings indicated that the highest regeneration air temperature supplied by the parabolic trough solar air collector to the dehumidifier was 45.8 °C at a flow rate of 60 m³/h. It was also found that the highest dehumidification efficiency was achieved at a regeneration air flow rate of 80 m³/h. The experimental study clearly proves that parabolic trough solar collectors can successfully provide low-medium temperature thermal energy required during the regeneration process in the desiccant wheel. The findings confirm the potential and explain specific conclusions for the practice of solar thermal driven rotary desiccant wheel system.

Icing diagnosis model for wind turbine blade based on feature optimization and 1D-convolutional neural network

Wind turbines located in high humidity and high altitude areas are often accompanied by blade icing, which adverses the operating efficiency and even causes safety accidents. Early identification of blade icing will help improve the operating efficiency of the wind turbine. This paper proposes an icing diagnosis method for wind turbine blades based on feature optimization and the one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN). First, feature optimization is achieved by feature selection and feature reconstruction. The XGBoost algorithm is used to calculate the importance of each feature and select the features comprehensively that reflect blade icing. Second, the important features related to blade icing are reconstructed by using the deviation principle to extract the deviation information of features accurately when blades ice. Finally, the features screened by XGBoost and the reconstructed features are combined into the final feature set as the input of the 1D-CNN, which takes the temporal and spatial characteristics of data into account, to diagnose the icing state of blades. The method is validated on the data set collected from a real wind farm. The experimental results show that the proposed icing diagnosis method for wind turbine blades is superior to the traditional deep learning methods. It is favorable to improve the efficiency of wind turbine operation and maintenance.

Adsorption-based atmospheric water harvesting: A review of adsorbents and systems

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has been an appealing prospect for decades to overcome water scarcity in remote areas. Adsorption-based AWH technologies have gained popularity due to their adaptability, and applicability using low-grade heat sources. This study presents up-to-date and future possibilities of adsorbents and systems for adsorption-based AWH. In this review, in-depth advancements in adsorbent materials are compartmentalized into adsorption equilibrium/isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and thermal conductivity. Various systems designs and modifications have been reviewed and classified accordingly. Liquid desiccants i.e., CaCl2 and LiCl-based AWH systems produced in between 0.63 to 1.0 kg/m/d of water. Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are realized as effective adsorbents for AWH. Their excellent hydrophilicity, structural integrity, and tailorable structures can provide water in high and low relative humidity (RH) areas. MOF-841 and MOF-801 yielded maximum adsorption uptakes at 25 °C i.e., 0.5 and 0.3 g/g, respectively. MOF-801 showed an excellent water production of 0.2-0.3 L/kg/d at 5%-40% RH and 20-40°C. MOF-303 delivered ~0.7 L/kg/d at 10% RH and 27oC. Cr-soc-MOF-1 and MIL-101(Cr) resulted in maximum adsorption uptakes i.e., 1.9 g/g and 1.4 g/g, respectively. Future possibilities regarding these captivating and emerging adsorption technologies are discussed as concluding remarks.

Roman brick production technologies in Padua (Northern Italy) along the Late Antiquity and Medieval Times: Durable bricks on high humid environs

Production technologies of Roman to Medieval times bricks on the city of Padua were addressed by means of a multi-analytical approach, consisting in Spectrophotometry, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), Polarized Optical Microscopy (POM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDS). The Early-Christian (5-6th centuries) and Romanesque (12-13th centuries) areas of the Basilica of Saint Justine of Padua (5/6-16th centuries), and the remains of the Roman necropolis (1-3/4th centuries) still preserved under the basilica, were selected to collect the bricks in order to define possible differences between the materials used for the various building phases. The walls are mainly shaped by yellow (with pale and dark hue) and beige colored bricks with an overall good conservation state. The ceramic bodies of this type of bricks showed the development of high-temperature phases but a low sintering degree was achieved. Moreover, secondary phases such as zeolites and calcite were formed, within almost the pale-yellow bodies and intensively precipitated through the groundmass of the beige bricks, respectively. Mg-rich calcareous clays and chloritic-illitic clays were used, firing temperatures of or over 900°C were reached and more porous ceramic bodies were produced when higher was the carbonate content on the raw clays. A lesser carbonate content of the base clays and/or the decrease in the firing temperatures were the main technological modifications progressively accomplished, leading to color changes on the ceramic bodies from yellow to beige hue. The Roman production technologies might be largely inherited by the brick makers during the Late Antiquity and Medieval times in the city and the reuse of more ancient bricks during the Medieval Times was confirmed. Such reuse operations have allowed to observe that under high humid conditions the yellow hue bricks have been rather good preserved, while when exposed to insolation and fluctuations of the environmental conditions a significant granular disaggregation -with the concomitance darkening of the color pastes- is developed. The color of bricks may entail an identifier of a specific construction period of the city and durable bricks from local clays, especially suitable for high humidity areas and that may preserve the aesthetical values of the city of Padua, may be currently produced.

Efficacy of Indigenous Knowledge and Selected Modified Storage Structures to Insect Pests of Maize during Home Storage: A Review

Maize (Zea mays L) is an important food crop in Ethiopia and is produced in a number of agro ecologies in the region. Despite the favorable environmental conditions for its production, maize is infected by several insect pests before and after harvest, due to poor pre- and post-harvest practices/handling. Farmers store the produce for two reasons; for home consumption and marketing. They may not accept improvements which incur costs when storing primarily for home consumption. Thus, this review will assess the use of indigenous knowledge and modified storage structures to store maize by controlling postharvest insect pests. The use of indigenous knowledge has been seen by many as an alternative way of promoting development in poor rural communities in many parts of the world. Most developing countries are in the tropics, often in areas of high rainfall and humidity. These conditions are ideal for the development of micro-organisms and insects which cause high levels of deterioration of crops in store. Food losses during storage are the result of biological, chemical or physical damage. In earlier times various indigenous items and methods were used for storage of household items including food items, clothing and bedding etc. The shelf life or storage span of items was increased using readily available and low cost items like mineral substances (ash, sand, table salt, camphor, and inert dust) and other different plant materials and they are the common methods adopted by majority of the rural farmers for storing the grains although majority of them are not aware of the reasons or qualities of these materials and are using them as age old wisdom. Modified storage structures such as hermetic storage, bamboo mat with mud plastering, jute bag with inner plastic lining, metal bins and others are another technique adopted by farmers for maize storage. So it can be concluded that many of the indigenous practices find credibility even in today’s period. Moreover, their user-friendly approach, local availability associated with scientific reasoning provides enjoyment and satisfaction to the users. It must therefore be encouraged to use only those eco-friendly practices that are known to be both safe and effective. These practices must be modified to make them more efficient for further transfer to the end users in the future.

Experimental analysis of the effects of climate conditions on heat pump system performance

In this study, it was aimed to reveal the energy and exergy losses caused by air temperature and water vapor in the air, which are the most important elements of climatic conditions, in heating-cooling processes and in the operation of the heat pump system. Two water source heat pumps were used in the system established for the experimental analysis. The relative humidity and temperature of the atmospheric air were reduced with the first heat pump. Relative humidity levels of 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, respectively, were provided to the air brought to 20 °C, 23 °C, 26 °C, 29 °C, 32 °C temperature levels in the system. The effects of the air reaching the desired humidity and temperature on the 2nd heat pump were determined with temperature, humidity, pressure, flow and ampermeters for air, water and refrigerant. The results were subjected to thermodynamic calculations and presented graphically. This experimental studies done revealed that water vapor (relative humidity) in the air increases the exergy destruction on heating and cooling works. It was revealed that the heat pump components, especially the evaporator, suffer high exergy losses. With the increase of relative humidity, exergy and energy losses in heat pumps and each of their components also increase. In this study, it was revealed that the heating and cooling works became more difficult with the increase of water vapor in the air. Accordingly, it was observed that the heat pump system elements can be operated in different styles and capacities in high humidity areas.

On-site measurement and simulation investigation on condensation dehumidification and desiccant dehumidification in Hong Kong

Desiccant dehumidification is an alternative solution for independently processing air humidity, which can simultaneously accommodate the sensible and latent heat loads even in high-humidity areas (e.g., Hong Kong). However, there is still a lack of comparative investigation in practical applications between the traditional condensation dehumidification and desiccant dehumidification, which is of great significance for revealing the effectiveness of desiccant dehumidifiers. Therefore, this study conducted on-site measurements in four different types of buildings. Moreover, the annual performance of different dehumidification solutions based on the set values of real buildings were simulated to further compare the dehumidification capacity, energy consumption, and cost performance. Results showed that the indoor humidity control of the measured buildings was substandard when using condensation dehumidification, and it was significantly improved after installing desiccant dehumidifiers. Compared with overcooling & reheating condensation dehumidification that achieved a similar humidity level, the annual energy savings of the desiccant dehumidification were respectively up to 4.9% and 7.7% for an office and a hotel based on the simulation results. The economic analysis indicated that desiccant dehumidification was more cost-effective than condensation dehumidification with overcooling & reheating. Finally, comprehensive evaluations were presented to facilitate the selection of dehumidification solutions.

Study on the Characteristics of Spray Defrosting of Air Source Heat Pump Solution in High Humidity Areas

When an air source heat pump is used in a low temperature and high humidity area, frost on the surface of an outdoor heat exchanger will lead to the decrease of the heating performance of a whole unit. So periodically defrosting is very necessary. However, when the commonly used reverse cycle defrosting method is applied, the unit stop heating indoor and the temperature will drop. In this paper, the method of spraying solution with low freezing point is used to defrost in order to ensure the normal operation of the unit and provide continuous heat supply. The results show that the continuous heat supply can be provided during the defrosting process and the working unit doesn’t need to be stopped. Moreover, exhaust pressure of the prototype compressor is more than 3.0 MPa, while air outlet temperature of the indoor unit is more than 40°C. And the heat capacity of the unit is over 2000W, which enhances indoor thermal comfort. In addition, the influence of different outdoor ambient temperature on the performance of the air source heat pump is studied when the spray defrosting is in progress. It is found that the lower the outdoor ambient temperature is, the lower the heat capacity and COP of the unit will be.

A study of antifungal susceptibility pattern of dermatophytes at tertiary care center

Dermatophytes are fungi that can cause infections of the skin, hair & nails due to their ability to invade keratin. Dermatophytosis is the most common superficial fungal infection worldwide; it is common in tropics and subtropical regions. It may present in epidemic proportions in areas of high humidity: The present study aimed to identify various species causing dermatophytosis & to determine the invitro susceptibility pattern against commonly used systemic antifungal agents in our tertiary care center.A total of 149 samples were collected of infected skin, hair and nails in a period of 1 year from January 2020 to December 2020. Samples were collected under aseptic condition by skin scrapping, nail and hair clipping by using scalpel or forceps. Identification of the causative pathogen was done by performing slide culture, lacto-phenol cotton blue mount, hair perforation tests and urease tests. We adopted a newly developed agar based disk diffusion assay to test susceptibility of clinically isolated dermatophytes for antifungal susceptibility testing.Microbiological investigations revealed the presence of dermatophytic fungi in 71.8% of the samples. Trichophyton rubrum was the predominant pathogen isolated. The study showed Itraconazole to be most effective antifungal drugs against dermatophytes followed by terbinafine and fluconazole.Further intensive epidemiological and invitro antifungal susceptibility studies of dermatophytes are required which will have more public health significance.

Long-Term Effects of Ambient PM2∙5 Exposure on Chronic Kidney Disease in Chinese Adults:A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Background: While increasing evidence have linked fine particulate matter (PM2∙5) to chronic kidney disease (CKD), it has not yet been fully elucidated, especially in developing countries with higher level of PM2∙5. We tested the association between ambient PM2∙5 and risk of CKD in a large Chinese cohort study. Methods: We included 72,425 participants (≥ 18 years) without baseline CKD between 2005 to 2018. Annual mean PM2∙5 levels at individuals’ residential addresses were obtained from a long-term, full-coverage, and high-resolution dataset at 1×1 km resolution. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the effects of long-term PM2∙5 exposure with distinct windows and the joint effects of PM2∙5 with temperature or humidity on incident CKD, controlling for major confounders. Restricted cubic splines were used to model exposure-response relationships. Results: Over a median follow-up of 3∙79 years (range = 2∙03-5∙48), participants were exposed to a median PM2∙5 concentration of 72∙27 μg/m 3 (range = 61∙21-74∙88). Compared with the lowest quartile, the fully adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of long-term PM2∙5 exposure were 3∙07 (2∙60-3∙62) for incident CKD ( p < 0∙001). Evidence of overall additive interaction for joint effect analysis was only found in humidity (RERI, 6∙28; 95% CI, 2∙09-10∙47).Interpretation Long-term higher ambient PM2∙5 exposure associated with an increased risk of CKD in mainland China, especially in high humidity areas. Funding: The National Natural Science Foundation of China, The Outstanding Young Investigator of Hunan province, The Hunan Youth Talent Project, and The National key research and development program. Declaration of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval: Ethics approval of our study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (No. R18030).

The effect of moisture transfer on the inner surface thermal performance and the thermal transmittance of the roof-wall corner building node in high-temperature and high-humidity areas

Most of the previous references regarding the influence of thermal bridges on building energy consumption were based on the theory of heat transfer. Due to the multi-dimensional effects of heat and moisture on the corners, the heat transfer as well as the moisture accumulation can increase drastically. Therefore, ignoring the moisture transfer process will lead to deviations in the thermal calculation of the roof-wall corner. In this study, the multi-dimensional analysis is performed for the heat and moisture transfer at the roof-wall corner in high-temperature and high-humidity areas. Specifically, the influences of material thermal conductivity setting methods, the change of beam height and the change of column cross-sectional area on the inner surface temperature and heat flux are studied in this paper. Finally, the linear and point thermal transmittance of the building node are corrected. The results demonstrate that setting the thermal conductivity to a constant value will cause the maximum total heat flow through the inner surface to be underestimated by 10.4%. After considering the moisture transfer, the influenced zone of the thermal bridge increases by 52.4%, and the overall thermal transmittance of the building node increases by about 55%–77%.