Moisture Adsorption and Transport by Wood Due to a Thermal Gradient Caused by Air-to-Air Thermal Differences

An experiment was conducted in which a thermal gradient was established in wood by air-to-air temperature differences. A walnut board and a redwood board, each 3/4 inch thick and approximately 4 inches wide, were installed in a 1-inch-thick sheet of wood fiber insulation board employed as the lid of a chest-type freezer. The narrow edges of the boards were exposed to room air and freezer air, respectively. The MC profiles were periodically determined by removing cross sections from the boards and reducing them to thin slices. Moisture moved down the temperature gradient and against the concentration gradient. The average MC of the walnut and redwood boards increased 21% and 2%, respectively, during the 53-day test. The results showed that when wood is used as a thermal barrier, water vapor will enter the wood from the warm air and can be condensed in the wood if the necessary temperature profile exists. In certain applications of wood, this raises the possibility for free water accumulation in wood and the associated hazards. Moisture movement down a temperature gradient in wood is hypothesized to be a causative factor in the ceiling/partition separation problem with trusses in residential housing

Human and mouse essentiality screens as a resource for disease gene discovery

The identification of causal variants in sequencing studies remains a considerable challenge that can be partially addressed by new gene-specific knowledge. Here, we integrate measures of how essential a gene is to supporting life, as inferred from viability and phenotyping screens performed on knockout mice by the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium and essentiality screens carried out on human cell lines. We propose a cross-species gene classification across the Full Spectrum of Intolerance to Loss-of-function (FUSIL) and demonstrate that genes in five mutually exclusive FUSIL categories have differing biological properties. Most notably, Mendelian disease genes, particularly those associated with developmental disorders, are highly overrepresented among genes non-essential for cell survival but required for organism development. After screening developmental disorder cases from three independent disease sequencing consortia, we identify potentially pathogenic variants in genes not previously associated with rare diseases. We therefore propose FUSIL as an efficient approach for disease gene discovery. Discovery of causal variants for monogenic disorders has been facilitated by whole exome and genome sequencing, but does not provide a diagnosis for all patients. Here, the authors propose a Full Spectrum of Intolerance to Loss-of-Function (FUSIL) categorization that integrates gene essentiality information to aid disease gene discovery