The water content of human stratum corneum has been measured gravimetrically in vitro in relation to relative humidity (RH) and temperature. Water content increased with increasing RH. Stratum corneum water content increased 50% when the temperature was raised from 20 to 35 degrees C at RH below 60%. Temperature dependence decreased with increasing RH until there was essentially no temperature ...

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most important viral agent causing severe respiratory disease in infants and children. In temperate climates, RSV activity typically peaks during winter. We have described the seasonal variation in RSV activity and investigated which meteorological variables are related to RSV outbreaks for different time lags. METHODS Eleven laboratories in...

We present an 800-year δO chronology from the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The chronology dates back to AD 1193 and was sampled in AD 1996 from living Juniperus tibetica trees. This first long-term tree-ringbased δO chronology for eastern Tibet provides a reliable archive for hydroclimatic reconstructions. Highly significant correlations were obtained with hydroclimatic variables (...

A simulation of the earth’s clear-sky long-wave radiation budget is used to examine the dependence of clearsky outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) on surface temperature and relative humidity. The simulation uses the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts global reanalysed fields to calculate clear-sky OLR over the period from January 1979 to December 1993, thus allowing the seasonal...

BACKGROUND This study estimated the effects of ambient temperature and relative humidity on hospital admissions for ischemic stroke during 1990-2009 in Jinan, China. METHODS To account for possible delayed effects and harvesting effect, we examined the impact of meteorological factors up to 30 days before each admission using a distributed lag non-linear model; we controlled for season, long-...

The use of proteins and peptides as human therapeutics has been increased in recent years. Lipase is a relatively homogeneous proteinaceous enzyme indicated in maldigestion. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of humidity along with compactional pressure on the enzymatic activity of wheat germ lipase. Samples of lipase powder were kept at different relative humidity (RH)...

Despite the many attractive potential uses of ceramic materials as humidity sensors, some unavoidable drawbacks, including toxicity, poor biocompatibility, long response and recovery times, low sensitivity and high hysteresis have stymied the use of these materials in advanced applications. Therefore, in present investigation, we developed a capacitive humidity sensor using lead-free Ca,Mg,Fe,T...

BACKGROUND To date little conclusive evidence exists on the seasonality of rotavirus incidence in the tropics. We present a systematic review and meta-analysis on the seasonal epidemiology of rotavirus in the tropics, including 26 studies reporting continuous monthly rotavirus incidence for which corresponding climatological data was available. METHODS Using linear regression models that acco...

Bio-nanocomposite films based on sago starch containing 2% cinnamon essential oil and 3% titanium dioxide nanoparticles were used in the packaging of fresh pistachios and stored at different temperatures (4, 25, and 35 ˚C) and relative humidity (30, 50, and 70%) for 20 days, and pistachio properties were evaluated in five-day intervals. Using these films in packaging improved the physicochemica...