Graphene is a material suitable for electronic applications including sensors and biosensors operating in atmospheric conditions and at varying relative humidities. This work concerns the charge diffusion in Hall bar shaped graphene based field effect transistor that is simultaneously investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and macroscopic transport measurement. Furthemore it studies the possibilities of graphene Hall bar modification by local anodic oxidation, local cathodic hydrogenation and mechanical lithography.

The diploma thesis deals with automated measurement of humidity and CO2 concentration inside buildings. Results of this measurement form the input parameters for the effective management of technologies reducing the energy performance of buildings. In the introduction, the issue of indoor air quality of buildings and indicators characterizing this quality are approached. The technical part of the thesis consists of making a measuring device which contains two prototype sensors provided by Teco Inc. with online access to measured data. The measurement of relative humidity, CO2 concentration and temperature in the interior of the building with the made device is compared with commercially available devices for measuring selected parameters. For unambiguous interpretation of online data, the virtual machine with an online database is configured for the created measuring device. The possibilities of using the prepared measuring device to achieve a reduction in the energy performance of buildings are discussed in the final part.

We present recent results on a binary threshold sensor based on the binary zero-power sensor (BIZEPS) platform which is able to use the energy provided directly from the measured relative humidity of the ambient air to mechanically switch an electrical micro contact. This zero-power switch behavior is realized by using the humidity-sensitive volume swelling of a polymer layer as the detection element deflecting a mechanically deformable silicon boss structure, thus closing the electrical contacts of the switch. For the humidity-sensitive sensor switch considered here, a humidity-sensitive hydrogel blend of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acryl acid) was used. The sensitive part affected by the measurand is completely separated from the electrical part, thus providing long-term stability. By using an inverse silicone stamping technique the polymer layer with a thickness of about 15 μm was patterned on test structures possessing a thin silicon flexure plate of 5 mm x 5 mm in size and 20 μm in thickness. Reproducible deformations of up to 15 … 24 μm has been measured. Investigations of the swelling kinetics showed for several discrete relative humidity values a saturation of the water load. The time to reach this saturation state is reduced from 5 hours down to approx. 20 min by increasing the relative humidity beyond the threshold value of 70% r.H. A significant influence of the temperature to the humidity load could not be observed.

La pollution atmosphérique et les évènements météorologiques sont reconnus pour avoir des graves conséquences sur la santé telles que la mortalité cardiovasculaire et respiratoire, et par conséquent représentent un enjeu majeur de santé publique. Des travaux plus récents ont suggéré un effet des expositions à ces facteurs environnementaux durant la période intra-utérine. La vie fœtale est déterminante pour le bon développement de l’enfant. L’exposition maternelle aux facteurs environnementaux pendant la grossesse pourrait avoir des conséquences sur les issues de grossesse et la santé à court ou long terme. Par ailleurs, les mécanismes biologiques qui pourraient expliquer l’effet des expositions environnementales sur les issues de grossesse indésirables sont à l’heure actuelle très peu connus. Les objectifs de la thèse étaient : 1) d’étudier les associations entre d’une part la température et l’humidité relative pendant la grossesse et d’autre part le poids de naissance, la durée de gestation et la prématurité ; 2) d’étudier les associations entre l’exposition maternelle aux polluant de l’air et aux évènements météorologiques pendant la grossesse et la méthylation de l’ADN placentaire en utilisant A) une approche agnostique et B) une approche avec a priori basée sur l’intégration de connaissances biologiques. Le premier objectif s’est appuyé les données issues de deux cohortes mère-enfant, EDEN (avec un recrutement à Poitiers et Nancy en 2003-2006) et PELAGIE (Bretagne, 2002-2006) soit au total 5185 couples mère-enfant ; le deuxième objectif s’est appuyé sur un échantillon de 668 femmes de la cohorte EDEN chez qui le placenta a été prélevé et le niveau de méthylation de son ADN caractérisé. Les données quotidiennes de température et d’humidité ont été obtenues de Météo-France et l’exposition à la pollution atmosphérique a été estimée par un modèle de dispersion atmosphérique. Différentes fenêtres d’exposition au cours de la grossesse ont été considérées. Des échantillons de placenta centraux ont été collectés à l’accouchement et la méthylation de l’ADN a été analysée en utilisant la puce Illumina 450K. Pour répondre au premier objectif, des modèles de régression linéaire et des modèles de Cox ont été réalisés. Pour répondre au second objectif, des modèles de régression linéaire robuste, notamment à l’échelle du génome entier, ont été réalisés en appliquant des méthodes de correction de tests multiples telles que Bonferroni et Benjamini-Hochberg. Nos résultats suggèrent un effet délétère de la température et l’humidité sur le poids de naissance et ne mettent pas en évidence d’association entre pollution atmosphérique et issues de grossesse. L’exposition aux polluants atmosphériques (NO2 et PM10) pendant la grossesse était associée à une diminution de la méthylation de l’ADN placentaire pour les gènes ADORA2B et ADARB2 ; le premier gène étant connu pour être potentiellement impliqué dans la pré-éclampsie et l’hypoxie de la femme enceinte et le deuxième étant potentiellement impliqué dans les troubles métaboliques chez l'adulte tels que la circonférence abdominale et l'IMC. Les résultats des approches agnostique et avec a priori étaient cohérents pour le gène ADORA2B. Nous n’avons pas identifié d’association entre les conditions météorologiques et la méthylation de l’ADN placentaire. A notre connaissance, nous sommes les premiers à avoir étudié l’association entre la méthylation de l’ADN dans le tissu placentaire et l’exposition prénatale aux polluants de l’air et aux conditions météorologiques en utilisant des données de l’épigénome entier. Ce travail de thèse ouvre de nouvelles voies possibles concernant les mécanismes d’actions des polluants environnementaux et fournit des pistes quant aux effets à long terme possibles de ces expositions. / Nowadays, air pollution and weather conditions represent a major public health issue. It is recognized that they may have serious consequences for health especially in the most sensitive populations such as pregnant women. More recent studies have suggested an effect of exposure to these environmental factors during the fetal period. Fetal life is a critical period for the healthy development of the child. Maternal exposure to environmental exposures during pregnancy could have serious consequences on pregnancy outcomes and short- and long- term health. Furthermore, the biological mechanisms that could explain the effect of environmental exposures on adverse pregnancy outcomes are largely unknown up to now. The objectives of the thesis were: 1) to study the association between maternal exposure to temperature and relative humidity during pregnancy and birth weight, gestational duration and preterm birth; 2) to study the association between maternal exposure to air pollutants and meteorological conditions during pregnancy and placental DNA methylation using A) an agnostic approach and B) a priori approach based on integration of biological knowledge. The first part of this work relied on data from two mother-child cohorts EDEN (Poitiers and Nancy, 2003-2006) and PELAGIE (Britain, 2002-2006) corresponding to 5185 mother-infant pairs analyzed; and the second part relied on a sample of the EDEN cohort for which methylation data were available (n = 668). Daily data of temperature and humidity were obtained from Météo-France and pollution data were obtained using a dispersion model. Their exposure was averaged over different periods during pregnancy. Central placenta samples were collected at delivery and DNA methylation was analyzed using Illumina 450K chip. For the first objective, linear regression models and Cox models were used. For the second objective, robust linear regression models, especially across the genome-wide, were used and correction methods for multiple testing such as Bonferroni and Benjamini-Hochberg were applied. Our results suggest a deleterious effect of temperature and relative humidity on birth weight and did not show an association between air pollution and pregnancy outcomes. Exposure to air pollutants (NO2 and PM10) during pregnancy was associated with a decrease in placental DNA methylation for ADORA2B and ADARB2 genes; the first gene is known to be potentially involved in preeclampsia and hypoxia of the pregnant woman and the second being potentially involved in metabolic disorders in adults such as abdominal circumference and BMI. The results of agnostic and a priori approaches were consistent for ADORA2B gene. We did not found association between weather conditions and placental DNA methylation. To our knowledge, we are the first to study the association between DNA methylation in the placental tissue and prenatal exposure to air pollutants and weather conditions using data from the entire epigenome. This work opens up new possible pathways regarding mechanisms of action of environmental pollutants and provides pointers as to the possible long-term effects of these exposures.

The thesis deals with preparation of graphene nanostructures and their applications in the measurement of transport properties of graphene. The contacts for measurement of resistance are fabricated by electron beam lithography on graphene exfoliated flakes, CVD graphene layers and grains. Graphene is also shaped using the same method. Resistivity of the layer, concentration and mobility of charge carriers are determined by different approaches. Hysteresis appearing in dependence of resistivity on the gate voltage is discussed as well. A significant part of the work is dedicated to monitoring the response of graphene resistance to relative humidity changes and potential use of graphene as a sensor of relative humidity.

This Doctoral thesis is focused on optimizing the design of modern wooden structures. Because this theme is very comprehensive, the work analyzes the distribution of moisture through the building envelope in detail. In the introduction are summarizes the knowledge of the physical processes in the constructions, there are also the properties of wood as a material and basic information about system of timber structures. The next section describes used methodology and experimental measurements realized on an experimental timber house EXDR1. There is specified the principle of measurement based on the SWOT analysis, the use measuring devices or possible solutions in the field of numerical modeling too. Main results and conclusions of the dissertation for technical practice including possibilities of further research are summarized in the final section.

Previous simulations have shown that wind farms have an impact on the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) as turbulent wakes generated by the turbines enhance vertical mixing of momentum, heat and moisture. These changes alter downstream atmospheric properties. With the exception of a few observational data sets that focus on the impact to near-surface temperature within wind farms, little to no observational evidence exists with respect to vertical mixing. These few experimental studies also lack high spatial resolution due to their use of a limited number of meteorological sensors or remote sensing techniques. This study utilizes an instrumented small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) to gather high resolution in-situ field measurements from two state-of-the-art Midwest wind farms in order to differentially map downstream changes to relative humidity. These measurements are complemented by numerical experiments conducted using large eddy simulation (LES). Observations and numerical predictions are in good general agreement around a single wind turbine and show that downstream relative humidity is altered in the vertical, lateral, and downstream directions. A suite of LES is then performed to determine the effect of a turbine array on the relative humidity distribution in compounding wakes. In stable and neutral conditions, and in the presence of a positive relative humidity lapse rate, it is found that the humidity decreases below the turbine hub height and increases above the hub height. As the array is transitioned, the magnitude of change increases, differentially grows on the left-hand and right-hand side of the wake, and move slightly upward with downstream distance. In unstable conditions, the magnitude of near-surface decrease in relative humidity is a full order of magnitude smaller than that observed in a stable atmospheric regime.

Personal på Högskolan i Gävle tycks periodvis uppleva dålig komfort ikontorsrummen på södersidan i skolans gamla kasernbyggnader. En undersökninggjordes därför på högskolan i april månad i tre kontor, ett med fönsterhuvudsakligen i norrläge och två med fönster huvudsakligen i söderläge. Syftet varatt kartlägga den termiska komforten och luftkvaliteten i de olika väderstrecken ochjämföra med gällande rekommendationer, bland annat genom att beräkna PMV vidolika tillfällen. Vidare undersöktes potentiella samband mellan ute- och inneklimatsamt tunna gardiners inverkan på termostat, värmeflöde och komfort. Den undersökta byggnaden är en äldre stenbyggnad med ovanligt välisoleradefönster och termostatstyrda, vätskeburna radiatorer. Byggnaden har FTX-ventilationmed ett till- och ett överluftsdon i varje kontorsrum. Mätningarna utfördes meddataloggrar som mätte lufttemperatur, relativ luftfuktighet och koldioxidhalt. I tvåav rummen mättes även globtemperatur. Utöver det mättes lufthastighet på tre olikahöjder i två av rummen samt ventilationsflödet i samtliga rum. Resultatet visade att inomhus- och utomhustemperatur har en relativt högkorrelation. Relativa luftfuktigheten var nästan alltid högst i norrläge, men i samtligarum var den låg – lägre än vad som rekommenderas i riktlinjerna. Soligt väderpåverkade temperatur och relativ luftfuktighet inomhus mest av alla vädervariabler,men personnärvaro och ventilation påverkade mer än utomhusklimatet. Kontor isöderläge hade som förväntat högre temperatur än i norrläge, och översteg deriktlinjer som finns för temperatur i kontor. Som följd av detta blev PMV högre isöderläge, tillfälligt högre än komfortgränsen 0,5, med ett högsta värde på 1,41. Kontoret i norrläge höll sig vid de undersökta tillfällena inom intervallet föraccepterat PMV med ett lägsta värde på -0,35. Detta tyder på att värme i söderlägeär ett större problem än kyla i norrläge. Lufthastigheterna blev låga i bådaväderstrecken. Ventilationsflödena visade sig vara 2/3 av det projekterade värdet,men ändå låg koldioxidhalten på en acceptabel nivå enligt riktlinjer. Gardiner påverkade komforten mer i söderläge än norrläge, men påverkade intetillräckligt mycket för att komma ner i en acceptabel komfortnivå vilket kan bero påatt de var av mycket tunt material. Det var svårt att se tydlig gardinpåverkan påtermostaten, men fråndragna gardiner kan leda till att termostaten reagerar påtemperaturökningar i ett rum snabbare. Däremot påverkades värmeflödet tydligaregenom fönstret av gardinerna. Skillnaden i värmeflödet vid för- och fråndragnagardiner blev 4,1 W. / Employees at University of Gävle seem to periodically experience suboptimalcomfort in south facing offices in the school’s old barrack buildings. Therefore, acase study was conducted in April in three offices, one facing north and two facingsouth. The aim of the study was to map the thermal comfort and air quality in thedifferent directions and compare these to the existing recommendations, includingcalculating PMV at different times. A potential correlation between out- and indoorclimate was also examined, as well as the effect of thin curtains on the thermostat, heat flux and comfort. The University of Gävle is an old brick building with unusually well insulatingwindows and thermostatically regulated, waterborne radiators. The building hasmechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and each office has one supply and oneover-air diffuser. The measurements were made with data loggers that measured airtemperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide. The globe temperature was alsomeasured in two of the rooms. The air velocity on three heights was measured aswell in two of the offices and the ventilation flow was measured in all the rooms. The result showed that indoor- and outdoor temperature have a relatively highcorrelation. The relative humidity was almost always higher in the north facingoffice, but in all the rooms it was low – lower than the recommended guidelines.Sunny weather affected the indoor temperature and relative humidity the most of allthe weather variables, but presence of people and ventilation affected more than theoutdoor climate. South facing offices had as expected a higher temperature thannorth facing ones, and exceeded the guidelines concerning temperatures in offices.Due to that the PMV was higher in the south facing office, temporarily exceedingthe comfort limit of 0,5, with a maximum value of 1,41. The north facing office waswithin the limits during the measurements and had a minimum value of -0,35. Thisindicates that heat in the south facing office is more of a problem than coldness inthe north facing office. The air velocities were low in both directions of thebuilding. The ventilation flow turned out to be 2/3 of the intended value, but thecarbon dioxide content was still acceptable according to guidelines. Curtains influenced the comfort more in the south facing office than in the northfacing office, but they didn’t influence enough to get to an acceptable comfort level,which may be because of the very thin material. It was difficult to see a distinctinfluence from the curtains on the thermostat, but using no curtains could lead tothe thermostat responding faster to increases in temperature in a room. However,the heat flow through the window was influenced more distinctly by the curtains.The difference in heat flow when using curtains compared to no curtains was 4,1 W.

Studien gick ut på att undersöka och ta fram relativa luftfuktighetsgivare som ger godkända mätvärden mellan [5%, 95%] relativ luftfuktighet med klimatkammare som referens. Med syftet att ersätta företagets givare i deras NDIR koldioxidsensor. Den skulle ersättas då deras nuvarande luftfuktighetsgivare gav felaktiga värden när klimatet gick mot antingen väldigt torrt eller fuktigt. Det är väsentligt att luftfuktighetsgivaren fungerar eftersom företaget använder värdena från givaren för att ge korrekta koldioxidmätningar i deras NDIR sensor. Detta är möjligt eftersom koldioxidhalter har visats sig påverkas av den relativa luftfuktigheten. Givarna införskaffades och monterades på PCB’s. Kod utvecklades för insamling av data genom I2C och SPI kommunikation. Givarna kördes sedan i en klimatkammare som svepte luftfuktigheten mellan [5%, 95%]. Värdena illustrerades i Matlab genom grafer. Givare 2 visade sig ge bäst värden på hela spannet jämfört med resterande givare. Den hade absolut minst avvikelse vid extrempunkterna, samt låg nära referensvärdet vid resterande luftfuktigheter i svepet [5%, 95%]. / The purpose of the study was to examine and bring forth a relative humidity sensor which gives approved values for the span between [5%, 95%] relative humidity with the climate chamber as the reference point. The goal was to replace the companies relative humdity sensor in their NDIR carbon dioxide sensor. It was to be replaced because their current sensor gave incorrect values when the climate was really humid or dry. It’s of value that the sensor gives correct values because the company uses relative humdity readings to correct their carbon dioxide reading in their NDIR sensor. The reason this works is because the carbon dioxide levels has been showed to correlate with the relative humidity. The sensors were studied and bought. They were mounted on top of PCB’s. Code was developed to gather data from I2C and SPI communication. The sensors was then put into an climate chamber and got swept between [5%,95%] relative humidity. The values were illustrated in Matlab through graphs. Sensor 2 proved to give the best values on the entire span [5%, 95%] relative humidity in comparison to the other sensors in the study. It had the least added error of all the sensors at dry/humid climates and was really close to the reference value at the other points of span [5%, 95%] relative humidity.

No description available.