Soil moisture impacts on precipitation have been strongly debated. Recent observational evidence of afternoon rain falling preferentially over land parcels that are drier than the surrounding areas (negative spatial effect), contrasts with previous reports of a predominant positive temporal effect. However, whether spatial effects relating to soil moisture heterogeneity translate into similar t...

Rotaviruses were detected by counterimmunoelectro-osmophoresis in the feces of 16 (13.8%) of 116 infants and young children with gastroenteritis during a 5-month period (September 1979 through January 1980) in Ife, Nigeria. The rate of rotavirus detection varied inversely with relative humidity and was highest in December (38.5% positive) when the humidity was lower. There was not such a distin...

This study investigates the amenity value of climate to British households. By using the hedonic price approach, the marginal willingness to pay for small changes in climate variables, specified as averages and ranges, is derived. The estimates suggest that British people would typically prefer a greater distribution of precipitation across the seasons (i.e. holding annual precipitation constan...

Pan-tropically, liana density increases with decreasing rainfall and increasing seasonality. This pattern has led to the hypothesis that lianas display a growth advantage over trees under dry conditions. However, the physiological mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis remain elusive. A key trait influencing leaf and plant drought tolerance is the leaf water potential at turgor loss point (πtl...

Land-use change and climate change are driving a global biodiversity crisis. Yet, how species' responses to climate change are correlated with their responses to land-use change is poorly understood. Here, we assess the linkages between climate and land-use change on birds in Neotropical forest and agriculture. Across > 300 species, we show that affiliation with drier climates is associated wit...

this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of combined microwave-ultrasonic pasteurization system on escherichia coli and vitamin c content in sour cherry juice (scj). based on the findings, microwave output power, ultrasound power, and ultrasonic exposure time as well as the microwave-induced temperature were the most effective factors in reducing e. coli and vitamin c content. in addition,...

15 Numerical and theoretical studies have shown that mesoscale gradients in land surface properties can induce circulations in the atmosphere. This study provides the first well-resolved observations of such flows induced by soil moisture from recent rainfall, and is based on aircraft data in the Sahel. Satellite imagery was used to identify fine scale soil moisture features within a wet zone s...

We examine the relationship between hydrologic variability and the incidence of human disease associated with West Nile virus (WNV; family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) infection (hereafter termed "human WN cases") in Colorado from 2002 to 2007. We find that local hydrologic conditions, as simulated by the Mosaic hydrology model, are associated with differences in human WN cases. In Colorado'...

in the present study, aminoazines were prepared from the reaction of amidrazone hydroiodide with various aromatic aldehydes in the presence of a solid base under microwave irradiation with power level of 850 w for 2-7 min in high yields. the amidrazone hydroiodide can also be prepared by the reaction of s-methyl isothiobenzamide hydroiodide and hydrazine in methanol under nitrogen gas. all synt...

in this pepper fe2o3 nanoparticles were synthesized via a fast microwave method. then fe2o3-tio2 nanocomposites were synthesized by a sonochemical-assisted method. the prepared products were characterized by x-ray diffraction pattern, scanning electron microscopy and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. the photocatalytic behaviour of fe2o3-tio2 nanocomposites was evaluated using the degrad...