The aim of this study was to determine whether meteorological factors are associated with the timing of either onset of labor with intact membranes or rupture of membranes prior to labor-together referred to as 'the initiating event' of parturition. All patients delivering at Evanston Hospital after spontaneous labor or rupture of membranes at ≥20 weeks of gestation over a 6-month period were s...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between meteorological factors and occurrence of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) according to age. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the records of 735 ICH patients in a metropolitan hospital-based population. Observed and expected numbers of ICH patients were obtained at 5℃ intervals of ambient temp...

The goal of this study was to apply artificial neural networks to predict rain-fed wheat yield using meteorological data a few days to few months before harvesting. The climatic observation data used; were mean of daily minimum and maximum temperature, extreme of daily minimum and maximum temperature, sum of daily rainfall, number of rainy days, sum of daily sun hours, mean of daily wind speed,...

BACKGROUND Keelung City has the highest suicide rate in Taiwan. This study aimed to determine whether meteorological and socio-economic factors are associated with suicide mortality in Keelung City, by gender and by means of suicide. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Data on suicides between January 2006 and December 2010 were provided by the Department of Health, Keelung City Government. The suicide vict...

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is caused by severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), which has had a serious impact on public health in parts of Asia. There is no specific antiviral drug or vaccine for SFTSV and, therefore, it is important to determine the factors that influence the occurrence of SFTSV infections. This study aimed to explore the spatial ass...

Maize is one of the major crops in China and its yield potential has been changedsignificantly by climate change induction during last five decades. The national policy of maizeproduction sufficiency emphasizes the necessity for a more accurate estimation of yieldpotential of maize at a national level. In this paper yield potential of maize was calculated usingthe Global Agro-Ecological Zones (...