In this paper, a new technique is being proposed to estimate the PMV by using an array of sensors for the automatic control of thermal sensation scale of the air conditioning system. The predicted mean vote (PMV) is a well recognized thermal comfort index and is used for measuring comfort level inside the conditioned space. It is a mathematical function dependent on air temperature, relative hu...

Fresh peaches and nectarines are very popular for their high nutritional and therapeutic value. Unfortunately, they are prone to rapid deterioration after harvest, especially if the cold chain is not well maintained. The objective of this work is to study the environmental fluctuation and the quality change of fresh peaches and nectarines in cold chain. The temperature, relative humidity, and C...

In contrast to studies of the effects of atmospheric temperature and pressure on the occurrence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the interaction of these two factors has rarely been studied. We analyzed ambulance data (1993-2002) due to AMI in Hiroshima City using the poisson regression model to examine the main effects and the interaction of atmospheric temperature and pressure on AMI (n=...

Scarce evidence suggests that ambient air pollution and temperature might play a role in incidence and severity of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). We investigated the association of short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm (PM10)), ozone and temperature with SDB in the general population. Between 2006 and 2008, 1773 participant...

BACKGROUND Although future climate is predicted to have more extreme heat conditions, the available evidence on the impact of these conditions on pregnancy length is very scarce and inconclusive. OBJECTIVES We investigated the impact of maternal short-term exposure to extreme ambient heat on the length of pregnancy. METHODS This study was based on a cohort of births that occurred in a major...

Scattering of electromagnetic waves by turbulence is considered. It is shown that Doppler velocity (the ratio of Doppler shift and Bragg wave number) includes two terms: The first is the mean radial velocity in the scattering volume, and the second is what we call the “correlation velocity,” caused by a correlation between the fluctuations of velocity and those of refractive index. The correlat...

BACKGROUND Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is Latin America's most prevalent systemic mycosis, carrying an important social burden. Its agent, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, has rarely been identified in nature. Studies characterizing acute/subacute PCM incidence and their relationship with climate variables are not available. This work analysed a series of acute/subacute cases that occurred in th...

This study examines the relative roles of climatic variables in altering annual runoff in the conterminous United States (CONUS) in the 21st century, using a monthly ecohydrological model (the Water Supply Stress Index model, WaSSI) driven with historical records and future scenarios constructed from 20 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models. The results suggest th...

The wet bulb globe temperature index (WBGT) is a common method to assess the environmental contribution to heat stress as part of an occupational exposure assessment. The two purposes of this study were (1) to compare empirical relationships of some meteorological conditions to WBGT, and (2) to evaluate a smaller globe and alternative method to assess natural wet bulb using a relative humidity ...

Environmental cues influence the development of stomata on the leaf epidermis, and allow plants to exert plasticity in leaf stomatal abundance in response to the prevailing growing conditions. It is reported that Arabidopsis thaliana 'Landsberg erecta' plants grown under low relative humidity have a reduced stomatal index and that two genes in the stomatal development pathway, SPEECHLESS and FA...