Humid Weather Research Articles

Impact of weather on the behaviour of Alternaria spore and Alt a 1 concentration in the air of Ankara (Turkey)

Intact fungal spores and smaller fungal fragments such as hyphae are sources of airborne allergens. Information on the distribution of sub-spore allergenic particles in the atmosphere is however limited. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to explore the behaviour of Alternaria aeroallergens in the atmosphere of Ankara, central Turkey. Aerobiological monitoring was carried out in the 2020 season. A Burkard volumetric spore trap was used for fungal spore collection, and a high-volume cascade impactor for allergen collection. The Alt a 1 levels in two air fractions (particulate matter (PM) > 10 µm and 10 > PM > 2.5 µm) were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The seasonal spore integral (SSIn) was 1846 spore day/m3. In the same period, a total of 95.71 pg/m3 Alt a 1 concentration was recorded, of which 93% was recorded in PM>10 and 7% in PM10–2.5 air fraction. The amount of allergen per spore was 5.18 × 10−2 pg/spore/m3. The highest concentration for both spores and allergens was observed on 30 June, i.e. before the local crop harvest. Four days with highest spore levels occurred about one week after the rainfall (> 1 mm). Hot and humid weather probably contributed to the intensive development of fungi and an increase in the concentration of spores in the atmosphere. Our findings suggest that in areas with semi-arid climate, such as central Turkey, the weather conditions have a greater effect on behaviour of the distribution of Alternaria aeroallergens than agricultural practices.

Improving Typical Urban Land-Use Classification with Active-Passive Remote Sensing and Multi-Attention Modules Hybrid Network: A Case Study of Qibin District, Henan, China

The study of high-precision land-use classification is essential for the sustainable development of land resources. This study addresses the problem of classification errors in optical remote-sensing images under high surface humidity, cloud cover, and hazy weather. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are sensitive to soil moisture, and the microwave can penetrate clouds, haze, and smoke. By using both the active and passive remote-sensing data, the Sentinel-1A SAR and Sentinel-2B multispectral (MS) images are combined synergistically. The full-band data combining the SAR + MS + spectral indexes is thus constructed. Based on the high dimensionality and heterogeneity of this data set, a new framework (MAM-HybridNet) based on two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) hybrid convolutional neural networks combined with multi-attention modules (MAMs) is proposed for improving the accuracy of land-use classification in cities with high surface humidity. In addition, the same training samples supported by All bands data (SAR + MS + spectral index) are selected and compared with k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), 2D convolutional neural networks, 3D convolutional neural networks, and hybridSN classification models to verify the accuracy of the proposed classification model. The results show that (1) fusion classification based on Sentinel-2B MSI and Sentinel-1A SAR data produce an overall accuracy (OA) of 95.10%, a kappa coefficient (KC) of 0.93, and an average accuracy (AA) of 92.86%, which is better than the classification results using Sentinel-2B MSI and Sentinel-1A SAR images separately. (2) The classification accuracy improves upon adding the spectral index, and the OA, KC, and AA improve by 3.77%, 0.05, and 5.5%, respectively. (3) With the support of full-band data, the algorithm proposed herein produces better results than other classification algorithms, with an OA of 98.87%, a KC of 0.98, and an AA of 98.36%. These results indicate that the synergistic effect of active-passive remote-sensing data improves land-use classification. Additionally, the results verify the effectiveness of the proposed deep-learning classification model for land-use classification.

An Experimental and Modeling Study for a Novel Bank-Type Earth Air Heat Exchanger for the Summer Season Using Full Factorial Design

Abstract The current study reports the modeling and experimental study of a novel bank-type earth air heat exchanger for both hot and humid and hot and dry weather of Ferozepur. The air has been flown through the bank in the induced mode in which uniform flow is achieved through all parallel pipes. The experimental work was followed by systematically designing experiments using the reduced quartic model of the full factorial designing technique. The earth’s undisturbed temperature was 28 °C at a depth of 2 m below the earth’s surface at the place of study. The present study is better than the earlier reported shapes because the dry bulb temperature has moved down to 29.8 °C. The two-factor as well as three-factor interactions were studied. The desirability for hot and dry weather ranges from 0.813 to 1.00, and for hot and humid weather ranges from 0.603 to 0.736.

Less field-level insecticides, but not fungicides, in small perennial crop fields and landscapes with woodlands and organic farming

CONTEXTA large body of evidence suggests that landscape management may limit the use of pesticides in agricultural systems. However, this hypothesis is largely based on studies about biological pest control service, and the effects of landscape context on pesticide use remain poorly investigated. OBJECTIVEHere, we investigated how the proportion of host crops and semi-natural habitats affected the local use of fungicides and insecticides in the most treated crops in France, i.e., apple orchards and vineyards. METHODSUsing pesticide use information at the national level from 64 apple orchards and 138 vineyards monitored between 2014 and 2019, we investigated how local field size, several aspects of landscape context (proportion of host crops, share of organic host crop, proportion of woodlands and grasslands) as well as the weather context affect the frequency, timing and diversity of local fungicide and insecticide use. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur results highlight that landscape-scale management could reduce the use of insecticides in agricultural landscapes. In vineyards, a lower use of insecticides was observed in small fields or landscapes composed of a high proportion of woodlands, while in orchards a lower local use of insecticides was found in landscapes with a high share of organic orchards. Fungicide use was mainly affected by the weather context in both apple orchards and vineyards, with more fungicide use in humid and warm weather. However, effects of vineyard size and grassland proportion on the date of the first spray suggest that these two variables may impact pathogen spatial dynamics, a topic that needs further investigations. SIGNIFICANCELandscape-scale management options highlighted in our study may contribute to the design of functional agricultural landscapes minimising pesticide use.

Accuracies of field CO2–H2O data from open-path eddy-covariance flux systems: assessment based on atmospheric physics and biological environment

Abstract. Ecosystem CO2–H2O data measured by infrared gas analyzers in open-path eddy-covariance (OPEC) systems have numerous applications, such as estimations of CO2 and H2O fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layer. To assess the applicability of the data for these estimations, data uncertainties from analyzer measurements are needed. The uncertainties are sourced from the analyzers in zero drift, gain drift, cross-sensitivity, and precision variability. These four uncertainty sources are individually specified for analyzer performance, but so far no methodology exists yet to combine these individual sources into a composite uncertainty for the specification of an overall accuracy, which is ultimately needed. Using the methodology for closed-path eddy-covariance systems, this overall accuracy for OPEC systems is determined from all individual uncertainties via an accuracy model and further formulated into CO2 and H2O accuracy equations. Based on atmospheric physics and the biological environment, for EC150 infrared CO2–H2O analyzers, these equations are used to evaluate CO2 accuracy (±1.22 mgCO2 m−3, relatively ±0.19 %) and H2O accuracy (±0.10 gH2O m−3, relatively ±0.18 % in saturated air at 35 ∘C and 101.325 kPa). Both accuracies are applied to conceptual models addressing their roles in uncertainty analyses for CO2 and H2O fluxes. For the high-frequency air temperature derived from H2O density along with sonic temperature and atmospheric pressure, the role of H2O accuracy in its uncertainty is similarly addressed. Among the four uncertainty sources, cross-sensitivity and precision variability are minor, although unavoidable, uncertainties, whereas zero drift and gain drift are major uncertainties but are minimizable via corresponding zero and span procedures during field maintenance. The accuracy equations provide rationales to assess and guide the procedures. For the atmospheric background CO2 concentration, CO2 zero and CO2 span procedures can narrow the CO2 accuracy range by 40 %, from ±1.22 to ±0.72 mgCO2 m−3. In hot and humid weather, H2O gain drift potentially adds more to the H2O measurement uncertainty, which requires more attention. If H2O zero and H2O span procedures can be performed practically from 5 to 35 ∘C, the H2O accuracy can be improved by at least 30 %: from ±0.10 to ±0.07 gH2O m−3. Under freezing conditions, the H2O span procedure is impractical but can be neglected because of its trivial contributions to the overall uncertainty. However, the zero procedure for H2O, along with CO2, is imperative as an operational and efficient option under these conditions to minimize H2O measurement uncertainty.

Occurrence of Zearalenone and Enniatin B in Swiss Wheat Grains and Wheat Flours

Wheat is one of the world’s key staple foods, but it is often contaminated with mycotoxin-producing microorganisms, resulting in a large amount of food waste every year. The contamination of wheat grains harvested in 2020 and 2021 in Switzerland, as well as of wheat flours bought in local stores with the two mycotoxins zearalenone (ZEA) and enniatin B (ENB) was investigated. The quantification was performed using LC–MS/MS. ZEA, the level in different cereals and food products of which is regulated by law, was detected in half of the grain samples at levels below 100 µg/kg, except for one sample contaminated with 147 µg/kg. No ZEA was detected in the commercial wheat flours. The emerging mycotoxin ENB was detected in all samples of wheat grains and flours, at levels between 3 and 938 µg/kg. The harvest year was shown to affect the ENB content (p value < 0.01), and in particular the humid weather conditions encountered in 2021 during the month of harvest. The refining grade of the flours showed no influence on the contamination by ENB, indicating that the contamination with ENB can occur not only on the surface layers but also on the inner layers on the wheat grain. As chronic exposure to ENB can therefore not be excluded, decontamination solutions are needed to prevent food waste and further improve the food safety of wheat-based products.

Methane Biogas Production in Malaysia: Challenge and Future Plan

Biomethane is a sustainable energy that is produced from an organic and renewable resource. As the second-largest oil palm producer in the world, palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the primary source of biomethane generation in Malaysia. POME is the by-product of palm oil extraction and is extensively employed as a feedstock for the production of biomethane. Malaysia has an equatorial environment with humid and hot weather; this climate is conducive to the cultivation of numerous agricultural crops. A considerable number of agricultural wastes and residues are produced by agricultural crops, however, only 27% of them are used as fuel or to create useable products. Several publications have been published on the production of biomethane from POME; nevertheless, additional research is required on the use of other bioresources and technologies for biomethane production in Malaysia. In addition, there is a lack of comprehensive information on the future development of biomethane production in Malaysia; thus, to fill this gap, this review paper focuses on the challenges and future of Malaysia, which puts an emphasis on POME and also includes other alternative options of bioresources that can be the future feedstock for biomethane production in Malaysia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to provide a comprehensive overview of the biogas trend in Malaysia in terms of challenges and current biomethane development, as well as detailed information on a number of leading companies that are currently active in Malaysia biogas industry.

Продукционный процесс райграса пастбищного в зависимости от предпосевной обработки семян и нормы высева

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in modern fodder production is one of the valuable fodder plants for pasture and hay use. An important condition for the formation of herbage is to ensure the friendliness of seedlings and the safety of plants, which is achieved through the preparation of seeds before sowing and the optimal feeding area, by determining the seeding rate of crops. The aim of the research is the formation of perennial ryegrass agrocenosis, which ensures a high production process of plants in the conditions of the Middle Urals. Studies on the study of pre-sowing seed treatment and the seeding rate of perennial ryegrass were carried out in 2019-2022. in UNPK-Agrotechnopark FSBEIHE Izhevsk SAA on soddy medium podzolic medium loamy soil. According to the content of humus, soils of medium degree of cultivation with slightly acidic acidity. The content of mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium is very high. Growing seasons 2019-2020, 2022 were characterized by moderately humid warm weather with a hydrothermal coefficient (HTC) of 0.9-1.5, in 2021 the HTC was < 1, there was a lack of moisture for plants. Studies have found that on average for 2020-2022. The highest yield of green mass of perennial ryegrass of the 2nd life of 15.5-15.6 t/ha was formed during pre-sowing treatment with complex fertilizer Agree's Forsage. On average, according to the experiment, the highest productivity of 14.8 t/ha was obtained when sowing 6 million. Correlation analysis of the yield of green mass with photosynthetic potential and with net productivity of photosynthesis made it possible to establish a direct average relationship (r = 0.45 and r = 0.56, respectively). The highest index of leafiness of perennial ryegrass plants (65.6%) was noted in the variant with Agree's Forsage seed treatment and sowing at a rate of 6 million tons. Keywords: PASTURE RYEGRASS, PRE-SOWING SEED TREATMENT, SEEDING RATE, FOLIAGE, PHOTOSYNTHETIC POTENTIAL, NET PHOTOSYNTHETIC PRODUCTIVITY

A Review on Ficus Religiosa Moraceae: Distribution, Traditional Uses and Pharmacological Properties

Medicinal plants play a vital role in improving the health of people. Hundreds of medicinal plants have been used to cure various diseases since ancient times. Ficus religiosa (Peepal) has an important place among herbal plants. Almost every part of this tree i.e., leaves, bark, seeds, and fruits are used in the preparation of herbal medicines. Ficus religiosa is grown by specialty tree plant nurseries for use as an ornamental tree, in gardens and parks in tropical and subtropical climates. Peepul trees are native to Indian subcontinent and thrive in hot, humid weather. They prefer full sunlight and can grow in all soil types, though loam is the best. When planting, use soil with a pH of 7 or below. It is native to the Asia-Tropical (Bangladesh; India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Iraq) and it is cultivated in wide tropical areas. Peepal is a large, fast-growing deciduous tree. It has a heart-shaped leaf. It is a medium size tree and has a large crown with wonderful wide-spreading branches. The fruits of the Peepal are hidden with the figs. It has fast-growing nature, tolerance to various climate zones and soil types, reported lifespan of over 3,000 years, and its suffocating growth habit as it often begins life as an epiphyte. Different parts of plants have been used in the Indian traditional system of medicine such as: Anti-diabetic, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Analgesic, Anticonvulsant, Antimicrobial, Wound healing, Anti-amnesic, Anti-fertility, Anti-ulcer, Anti-Parkinson, Anti-asthmatic, Kidney-protective, Toothache and Eye ache.

Assessing heat index changes in the context of climate change: A case study of Hanoi (Vietnam)

Air temperature and humidity have a great impact on public health, leads to heat stress. The US National Weather Service uses temperature and relative humidity to build a heat index (HI) as a metric to identify the thresholds for heat stress as felt by the public. Under climate change conditions and especially in hot humid weather during summer, the number of hot days in Hanoi has increased in recent times. Subsequently, the heat index is rising in both number of occurrences and level of intensity leading to increasing temperature stress on people’s health. The daily heat index for the future was simulated using maximum daily temperature and minimum daily relative humidity based on climate change scenarios. Maximum daily temperature was provided by the climate change model, while minimum daily relative humidity was estimated from the following: maximum daily temperature, mean daily temperature and daily rainfall. Results show that in the future, the heat index will increase by 0.0777°C/year in the RCP 4.5 scenario and 0.08°C/year in the RCP 8.5 scenario. Number of weeks with heat at danger tends to increase to 5.5 weeks/5 year for scenario RCP 4.5, and it is 6 weeks/5 years under RCP 8.5 scenario. In particular, the number of days of heatstroke over a 30-year period (from 1991 to 2020) amounted to only 4, that is an average of 0.13 days of the year, which represents a very rare weather phenomenon in the past. In contrast, under an RCP 4.5 scenario in the future over a 30-year period, the average number of days per year will be 2, 57 days; while the average number of days per year under an RCP 8.5 scenario would be 3, 87 days. This phenomenon will be mainly concentrated in the months of June, July, and August. Projections of this type are a key tool for communities working out how they will adapt to heat stress in the context of climate change.

First Report ofPyricularia oryzae Causing Blast onWild Rice (Oryza rufipogon) in China.

Wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) is an excellent genetic resource for rice breeding programs. In June 2019, typical symptoms of blast on the leaves of wild rice cv. 'Haihong-12' were observed in a 3.3-ha field in Zhanjiang (20.93° N, 109.79° E), China. The symptoms included fusiform lesions with yellowish halo at the age of lesion, grayish-white color at the center, brown and elongated central veins at both ends of lesion, and grayish-white mold layer formed on the back of lesion under humid weather conditions. Disease incidence was more than 10%. Thirty diseased leaves were collected, and infected tissues were cut into 2 × 2 mm pieces, surface disinfected with 75% ethanol for 30 s and 2% sodium hypochlorite for 60 s and rinsed three times with sterile water. The tissues were plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and incubated at 28 °C in darkness for 3 days. Three single-spore isolates (Pos-1, Pos-2, and Pos-3) were obtained using the method described by Jia (Jia 2009) and were subjected to further morphological and molecular identification. Colonies on PDA were light grey, with cottony mycelium. Conidiophores were solitary, erect, straight or curved, septate, and pale brown and measured 68 to 125×3 to 4 µm. Conidiogenous cells were sympodial and denticulate. Conidia were pale brown, pyriform, and 18.2 to 42.4×5.1 to 8.5 µm (n=30) in size, with two septa. Appressoria were spherical and had the size ranging 4.3 to 6.5×4.7 to 6.5 µm (n = 20). These morphological features agreed with the previous description of Pyricularia oryzae Cavara (Klaubauf et al. 2014). For molecular identification, the colony PCR method with MightyAmp DNA Polymerase (Lu et al. 2012) was used to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), calmodulin (CAL), actin (ACT), -tubulin (TUB) loci of the isolates using primer pairs ITS1/ITS4, CL1C/CL2C, ACT-512F/ACT-783R, and T1/βt2b, respectively (O'Donnell et al. 1997; Weir et al. 2012; White et al. 1990). Analysis of ITS (acc. nos. MW042176 to MW042178), ACT (MW091444 to MW091446), CAL (MW091447 to MW091449), and TUB (MW091441 to MW091443) sequences revealed 100% identity with the corresponding ITS (MH859782), ACT (MH589787), CAL (MH589663), and TUB (MH589547) sequences of P. oryzae in GenBank. A phylogenetic tree was generated based on the ITS sequences using maximum likelihood method that clustered Isolates Pos-1, Pos-2, and Pos-3 with known P. oryzae. Thus, the isolates were identified asP. oryzae. Pathogenicity tests were performed using Isolate Pos-1 in a greenhouse at 24to 30°C with 80% relative humidity. Individual rice plants (cv. 'Haihong-12') with three leaves were grown in 10 pots, with 50 plants per pot (40 × 60 cm). Five pots were spray inoculated with a spore suspension (105 spores/ml) until runoff from leaves, and the remaining five pots were sprayed with sterile water to serve as the controls. The test was conducted three times. Disease symptoms were observed on 10% of leaves at 10 days after inoculation, but the control plants remained healthy. The fungus was re-isolated from the diseased plants and morphologically identified as P. oryzae. Thus, this is the first report of P. oryzae causing blast on O. rufipogon in China. The results provide the information that can be used by rice breeders and fungal geneticists for further studies.

Impacts on insulation resistance of thin film modules: A case study of a flooding of a photovoltaic power plant in Thailand.

Effects of high humid weather conditions on photovoltaic (PV) modules were examined in this study, particularly insulation resistance. Three types of tests were conducted which include leakage voltage test, leakage current test, and wet leakage current test. Due to the usual field constraints in the study of insulation resistance, which limited measurements of leakage current, assurance was made that representative sampling were conducted. The study found a high number of modules with low insulation resistance and high leakage voltage values, which can interrupt the PV plant operation. High leakage voltage creates safety hazards issues. About two third of the samples, which showed deep moisture ingress in the modules, could not pass the minimum criterion of IEC 61646 standard for wet insulation resistance testing. The leakage current results showed the same trend as of leakage voltage, proving that leakage voltage test, which is quite easy and economical, can be used to detect such type of problems in field tests. Prolonged humidity conditions of the PV power plant particularly from natural disaster, should be avoided. Efficient drainage system should be supported in and around installations and all other moisture sources should be regularly removed from the plant area to keep proper operation and minimize losses in energy production.

The effect of temperature, humidity, precipitation and cloud coverage on the risk of COVID-19 infection in temperate regions of the USA-A case-crossover study.

BackgroundObservations based on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 early into the COVID-19 pandemic have suggested a reduced burden in tropical regions leading to the assumption of a dichotomy between cold and dry and wet and warm climates.ObjectivesAnalyzing more than a whole year of COVID-19 infection data, this study intents to refine the understanding of meteorological variables (temperature, humidity, precipitation and cloud coverage) on COVID-19 transmission in settings that experience distinct seasonal changes.Methods and findingsA time stratified case-crossover design was adopted with a conditional Poisson model in combination with a distributed lag nonlinear model to assess the short-term impact of mentioned meteorological factors on COVID-19 infections in five US study sites (New York City (NYC); Marion County, Indiana (MCI); Baltimore and Baltimore County, Maryland (BCM); Franklin County, Ohio (FCO); King County, Washington (KCW)). Higher-than-average temperatures were consistently associated with a decreased relative risk (RR) of COVID-19 infection in four study sites. At 20 degrees Celsius COVID-19 infection was associated with a relative risk of 0.35 (95%CI: 0.20–0.60) in NYC, 1.03 (95%CI:0.57–1.84) in MCI, 0.34 (95%CI: 0.20–0.57) in BCM, 0.52 (95%CI: 0.31–0.87) in FCO and 0.21 (95%CI: 0.10–0.44) in KCW. Higher-than-average humidity levels were associated with an increased relative risk of COVID-19 infection in four study sites. Relative to their respective means, at a humidity level of 15 g/kg (specific humidity) the RR was 5.83 (95%CI: 2.05–16.58) in BCM, at a humidity level of 10 g/kg the RR was 3.44 (95%CI: 1.95–6.01) in KCW.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest opposed effects for higher-than-average temperature and humidity concerning the risk of COVID-19 infection. While a distinct seasonal pattern of COVID-19 has not yet emerged, warm and humid weather should not be generally regarded as a time of reduced risk of COVID-19 infections.

Enhancement of Composting Methods in Solid Waste Management

The most pressing problem faced by any city center in India nowadays is Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). Rapid urbanization and converting life have caused the era of massive amounts of garbage and waste within the city regions, so much so, over the last few years, just the managing this Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has assumed the share of a primary organizational, economic and environmental task. Despite MSWM being a chief task of the local governments, normally accounting for a massive part of the municipal budget - about 20% to 50%, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBS) are not able to offer effective services. Most of the ULBs do now not even have dependable MSW generation estimates. Unfortunate fallout of rapid urbanization without good enough infrastructure backup is that during all Indian cities/cities, disposal of waste is carried out indiscriminately, main to stray animal menace, clogged drains and unfold of diseases. The procedure of collection, transportation, and disposal of MSW is not complete in a maximum of the towns/cities with rubbish thousands final unattended till the severity reaches unmanageable proportions. Also, the high organic content material of Indian MSW, compounded through the recent, and humid tropical weather results in the rapid decomposition of the uncollected waste and is an ever-present health risk. Municipal waste that is improperly disposed of has a severe and dangerous effect on a wide range of areas. Along with waste discarded close to rivers, lakes, and streams, trash dumped in the street or in open areas poses a threat to public health. Delivers contaminated water. When the trash is burned outside instead of being properly disposed of, pollutants are produced and hazardous gases are released into the atmosphere. Throwing no biodegradable items down open drains causes them to enter the sewer system, blocking pipes and harming the infrastructure. The risks associated with the disposal of untreated medical and commercial waste are increased by the release of pathogens and poisonous substances, which represent a serious threat not only to human life but also to that of plants and animals. The effects of trash thrown in the area go beyond just being an eyesore; entire landscapes are destroyed, and certain habitats for flora and fauna are lost. All of these issues are commonplace in India, where tremendous portions of strong waste remain uncollected within the streets, along side primary roads, in empty plots of land, on downhill slopes, and in illegal dumps.

Rhizoctonia Aerial Blight of Soybean, its Prevalence and Epidemiology: A Review

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is high value oilseed crop grown throughout the world as well as in few soybean growing pockets in India. The hot and humid weather conditions during the soybean cropping season favours the attack by various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, thereby lowering the crop productivity. Rhizoctonia aerial blight or web blight disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani is considered one of the most economically important disease of soybean in India. It causes yields losses ranging from 35-60% which might reach a devastating level of 80% under favourable environmental conditions. In India, the disease has been reported from most of the soybean growing states of Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Assam. Epidemiological studies prove to be very important in managing the disease as the disease severity highly depends on the weather variables prevailing in the growing season. The present review has attempted to compile findings on this devastating disease of soybean crops, its prevalence in the country, epidemiological studies and strategies on integrated disease management.

Identifying joint impacts of sun radiation, temperature, humidity, and rain duration on triggering mental disorders using a high-resolution weather monitoring system.

Mental disorders (MDs) are behavioral or mental patterns that cause significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Previously, temperature has been linked to MDs, but most studies suffered from exposure misclassification due to limited monitoring sites. We aimed to assess whether multiple meteorological factors could jointly trigger MD-related emergency department (ED) visits in warm season, using a highly dense weather monitoring system. We conducted a time-stratified, case-crossover study. MDs-related ED visits (primary diagnosis) from May-October 2017-2018 were obtained from New York State (NYS) discharge database. We obtained solar radiation (SR), relative humidity (RH), temperature, heat index (HI), and rainfall from Mesonet, a real-time monitoring system spaced about 17 miles (126 stations) across NYS. We used conditional logistic regression to assess the weather-MD associations. For each interquartile range (IQR) increase, both SR (excess risk (ER): 4.9%, 95% CI: 3.2-6.7%) and RH (ER: 4.0%, 95% CI: 2.6-5.4%) showed the largest risk for MD-related ED visits at lag 0-9days. While temperature presented a short-term risk (highest ER at lag 0-2days: 3.7%, 95% CI: 2.5-4.9%), HI increased risk over a two-week period (ER range: 3.7-4.5%), and rainfall hours showed an inverse association with MDs (ER: -0.5%, 95% CI: 0.9-(-0.1)%). Additionally, we observed stronger association of SR, RH, temperature, and HI in September and October. Combination of high SR, RH, and temperature displayed the largest increase in MDs (ER: 7.49%, 95% CI: 3.95-11.15%). The weather-MD association was stronger for psychoactive substance usage, mood disorders, adult behavior disorders, males, Hispanics, African Americans, individuals aged 46-65, or Medicare patients. Hot and humid weather, especially the joint effect of high sun radiation, temperature and relative humidity showed the highest risk of MD diseases. We found stronger weather-MD associations in summer transitional months, males, and minority groups. These findings also need further confirmation.

Compound climate extreme events threaten migratory birds’ conservation in western U.S.

In a warming world, more intense and frequent compound climate extreme events pose serious challenges to biodiversity and conservation on Earth as one of the 2030 United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs): “Life On Land” (SDG 15). In summer 2020, concurrent swelling wildfires and a sudden cold snap in the western U.S. killed a massive number of migratory birds. In August 2020, the hot and humid weather in response to the wildfire radiation and the oceanic evaporation could result in killing heat stress for migratory birds along the coastal shoreline, particularly in California. The heat and smoke of wildfires forced the migratory birds to abandon such feeding grounds towards inland regions, where water and food are naturally scarce, before being physiologically ready for their long-distance flyways. Then, a cold snap during 8–11 September in the Rocky Mountain states in the western U.S. urged those already weak migratory birds to fly southward before effectively recovering their physical and mental capabilities. This durable extreme starvation finally brought the skinny migrants low in the southwestern U.S. However, such ecological cascade effects of compound climate risks have rarely been acknowledged as a serious threat to migratory birds’ conservation in both scientific literature and ecosystems’ management practice. To improve our chances of saving birds’ biodiversity on Earth, hence, conscious policies and sustained efforts must immediately be arranged through SDG 13 (“Climate Actions”) based on scientific evidence and knowledge.

Analysis of Air Changes per Hour on Ventilation of Laboratory in a Tropical Rain forests Area

Kalimantan is an island surrounded by tropical rain forests and has hot and humid weather because it is crossed by the equator. The hot and humid weather affects the human working climate in the exchange of air in the room, for example in the laboratory. This study objective was to know the amount of air exchange per hour at the Samarinda Occupational Safety and Health Center. The tools used were the TESTO 425 anemometer, a digital meter, a thermohygrometer, a manometer, and a laptop. The chambers where air changes per hour measured were the main laboratory, weighing chamber, UV-VIS spectrophotometer chamber, and atomic absorption and chromatography spectrophotometer chamber. Based on the results of measurements and data analysis, it can be concluded that the ventilation system of 3 out of 4 laboratory chambers has met the recommendation.

Effect of Dietary 4-Phenylbuthyric Acid Supplementation on Acute Heat-Stress-Induced Hyperthermia in Broiler Chickens.

Simple SummaryHeat stress (HS) induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and disrupts the ER and cellular homeostasis. A recent study showed that ER stress was induced in broiler chickens under severe and acute HS; however, it was unclear how the alleviation of ER stress affects the physiological state of broiler chickens. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the ameliorative effects of an ER stress alleviator, 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), which is a chemical chaperone that reduces ER stress, on the body temperature response, energy metabolic state, and cellular ER stress in HS-exposed birds. 4-PBA supplementation did not negatively affect the growth rate. In addition, 4-PBA suppressed the HS-induced ER stress response in skeletal muscle. Surprisingly, 4-PBA significantly decreased body temperature elevation in HS birds. The present study showed that the ER stress, alleviated by 4-PBA, might contribute to the induction of heat tolerance in broiler chickens.Hot, humid weather causes heat stress (HS) in broiler chickens, which can lead to high mortality. A recent study found that HS causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. However, the possible involvement of ER stress in HS-induced physiological alterations in broiler chickens is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the dietary supplementation of 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), an alleviator of ER stress, in acute HS-exposed young broiler chickens. Twenty-eight 14-day-old male broiler chickens (ROSS 308) were divided into two groups and fed either a control diet or a diet containing 4-PBA (5.25 g per kg of diet feed) for 10 days. At 24 days old, each group of chickens was kept in thermoneutral (24 ± 0.5 °C) or acute HS (36 ± 0.5 °C) conditions for 2 h. The results showed that thermoneutral birds supplemented with 4-PBA exhibited no negative effects in terms of broiler body weight gain and tissue weight compared to non-supplemental birds. HS increased body temperature in both the control and 4-PBA groups, but the elevation was significantly lower in the 4-PBA group than in the control group. The plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration was significantly increased by HS treatment in non-supplemental groups, while the increase was partially attenuated in the 4-PBA group. Moreover, 4-PBA prevented HS-induced gene elevation of the ER stress markers GRP78 and GRP94 in the skeletal muscle. These findings suggest that the 4-PBA effect may be specific to the skeletal muscle in HS-exposed birds and that 4-PBA supplementation attenuated HS-induced muscle ER stress, which could be associated with a supplementation of the body temperature elevation and lipolysis.

Impacts of Air Pollution and Dampness on Occupant Respiratory Health in Unplanned Houses: A Case Study of Bandung, Indonesia

This paper presents the results from field measurements and household surveys on the severity of indoor mold risk and its impact on respiratory health in a typical unplanned neighborhood of kampungs in Bandung, Indonesia. Mold risk was investigated using fungal risk detectors (n = 102), while air pollution levels were established with total suspended particulate (TSP) and particulate matter (PM2.5) (n = 38). The self-reported prevalence of respiratory diseases was obtained using a questionnaire form (ATS-DLD-78) (n = 599). The results showed that respiratory health problems were higher in the rainy season, particularly among children. Most houses suffered from severe mold risk, primarily due to extreme humid weather conditions, especially during rainy season (97%) where water leakage was prevalent (60%). In addition, the TSP and PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the WHO standards in most kampung houses, where around 58% of the houses recorded higher outdoor mean PM2.5 concentrations than indoors. Further, the path analysis showed that allergies followed by humidity rate and smell, which were affected by window-opening duration, directly impacted children’s respiratory health. Smoking behavior and building-related health problems, due to exposure to outdoor air pollution, affected the respiratory health of those aged 15 years old and over.