Humidification in healthcare facilities - knowledge base and practice

Humidification is not a common procedure in many buildings in the Netherlands. An exception are buildings used for healthcare, especially hospitals. There, e.g. in operating theatres, relative humidity (RH) generally is controlled stringently at levels around 50%. From an energy point-of-view humidification is an energy-intensive activity....

Hyphal growth of Penicillium rubens in changing relative humidity

Penicillium rubens germination on desiccated and nutrient-depleted conditions depends on the water activity during sporogenesis

Fungal growth often appears in a surrounding where water and nutrients are scarce. The impact of this environment during sporogenesis on subsequent growth is often neglected.This study investigates the effect of water availability during sporogenesis on subsequent early growth. Therefore, a carbon-depleted substrate was constructed. Humidity is...

Quantifying discoloration caused by the indoor fungus Penicillium rubens on building material at controlled humidity

Fungal growth in the indoor environment can affect human health by causing allergic reactions and respiratory symptoms. In the search for a solution to prevent or limit fungal growth in the indoor environment it is important to know how parameters such as temperature, substrate, and humidity affect fungal growth. Up to now, no general accepted...

Enhancement of the aerosol direct radiative effect by semi-volatile aerosol components: Airborne measurements in North-Western Europe

A case study of atmospheric aerosol measurements exploring the impact of the vertical distribution of aerosol chemical composition upon the radiative budget in North-Western Europe is presented. Sub-micron aerosol chemical composition was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) on both an airborne platform and a ground-based site...

Optimizing the protection against the physiological burden of CBRN clothing

Soldiers can wear chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective clothing to be protected agaist warfare agents. The disadvantage of that clothing is that higher protection introduces higher physiological burden. Therefore an optimum between comfort and protection must be found. Models of all relevant processes were created to...

Concrete resistivity and reinforcement corrosion rate as a function of temperature and humidity of the environment

Aerosol light-scattering in the Netherlands

The relation between the (midday) aerosol light-scattering and the concentrations of nitrate and sulfate has been assessed at a site near the coast of the North Sea in The Netherlands. Midday was selected for the measurements because this is the time at which the aerosol is most effective in the scattering of solar radiation. Automated...

Profiling of aerosol concentrations, particle size distributions and relative humidity in the atmospheric surface layer over the North Sea

Results are presented from measurements in the lower 15 m of the marine atmospheric surface layer. The paper is focussed on the comparison of the profile data obtained with the Rotorod and the optical scatterometer. These instruments are based on different physical principles. Results show that fluctuations of particle total area concentrations...