The aim of this study is to find the optimal water pressure and percentage of supply vapour in the feed water heaters (fwhs) of steam power plants, such that they maximize the thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle within pre-specified values of minimum and maximum pressures of the thermodynamic cycle. Thermal efficiency is defined as a function of unknown variables (fluid pressure and vap...

Direct eddy-covariance measurements of aerosol number fluxes obtained during the 2007 CHATS field experiment in Dixon, California, USA are compared with relaxed eddy accumulation simulations using temperature and water vapour concentration as proxy scalars. After a brief discussion of the limited time response of the aerosol measurement, the applicability of temperature and water vapour concent...

This paper tests various propositions underlying claims that observed global temperature change is mostly attributable to anthropogenic noncondensing greenhouse gases, and that although water vapour is recognized to be a dominant contributor to the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) effect, that effect is merely a "feedback" from rising temperatures initially resulting only from "non-condensing" GHGs...

The aim of this study is to find the optimal water pressure and percentage of supply vapour in the feed water heaters (fwhs) of steam power plants, such that they maximize the thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle within pre-specified values of minimum and maximum pressures of the thermodynamic cycle. Thermal efficiency is defined as a function of unknown variables (fluid pressure and vap...

Rapid wound-healing is crucial in protecting potato tubers from infection and dehydration. Wound-induced suberization and the accumulation of hydrophobic barriers to reduce water vapour conductance/loss are principal protective wound-healing processes. However, little is known about the cognate mechanisms that effect or regulate these processes. The objective of this research was to determine t...

The nasal cavity volume and the temperature of the nasal mucosa are considered to be the most important predictors of nasal conditioning. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the intranasal degree of water vapour saturation of inhaled air and nasal patency. Intranasal humidity values at different locations within the nasal cavity of 15 healthy subjects were compared to n...

It is important to establish that climate models can accurately simulate the observed present-day  uctuations of water vapour. In particular, water-vapour and cloud-radiative feedbacks are intrinsically linked to processes governing relative-humidity distribution and variability. To explore these issues, clear-sky radiances, sensitive to upper-tropospheric relative humidity, are simulated with...

HadISDH.2.0.0 is the first gridded, multi-variable humidity and temperature in situ observations-only climatedata product that is homogenised and annually updated. It provides physically consistent estimates for specific humidity, vapour pressure, relative humidity, dew point temperature, wet bulb temperature, dew point depression and temperature. It is a monthly mean gridded (5 by 5) product w...

The most direct approach for measuring the exchange of biogenic volatile organic compounds between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere is the eddy covari-ance technique. It has been applied several times in the last few years using fast response proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). We present an inde-5 pendent validation of this technique by applying it to measure the wate...

This review brings together the available literature that examines the effect of variations in pigmentation on the water vapour conductance of avian eggshells. Pheasant and Houbara bustard eggs provide some evidence that shell abnormalities can impact upon colour and water vapour conductance. By contrast, data from wild birds suggest that neither the degree of maculation or intensity of backgro...