A Comparison of Skin Temperatures and Clothing Microclimate During Moderate Intermittent Exercise in the Cold Between One and Two Layers of Cotton and Polypropylene Underwear

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of 2 kinds of underwear made from hydrophobic and hydrophilic fabrics on the mean skin temperatures and clothing microclimate (temperature, humidity) in participants performing intermittent exercise in cold environmental conditions.

One or 2 layers of cotton underwear (C1, C2) with a 2-piece long-sleeved shirt and long-legged trousers, and 1 or 2 layers of polypropylene underwear (P1, P2) with a 2-piece long-sleeved shirt and long-legged trousers were used as experimental underwear. In addition, the participants wore a 2-piece ski suit as 100% polyester clothing including 100% polyester padding. Ten young adult females volunteered as participants. The experiments were performed in a climatic chamber at an ambient temperature (T_a) of 0°C and an air velocity of 0.26 m s^?1.

The major findings are summarized as follows: (a) Although the clothing microclimate humidity was not different within the ski suit of outer clothing between C1 and P1, it was significantly higher in P2 than in C2; (b) Clothing microclimate temperature inside the ski suit did not differ between C1 and P1, whereas it was significantly higher in P2 than in C2; (c) The thermal gradient between innermost and outermost of clothing microclimate at back level did not show any difference between C1 and P1, but it was significantly higher in C2 than in P2. These results are discussed in terms of thermal physiology and clothing sciences.     

Calculation of Clothing Insulation by Serial and Parallel Methods: Effects on Clothing Choice by IREQ and Thermal Responses in the Cold

Cold protective clothing was studied in 2 European Union projects. The objectives were (a) to examine different insulation calculation methods as measured on a manikin (serial or parallel), for the prediction of cold stress (IREQ); (b) to consider the effects of cold protective clothing on metabolic rate; (c) to evaluate the movement and wind correction of clothing insulation values.

Tests were carried out on 8 subjects. The results showed the possibility of incorporating the effect of increases in metabolic rate values due to thick cold protective clothing into the IREQ model. Using the higher thermal insulation value from the serial method in the IREQ prediction, would lead to unacceptable cooling of the users. Thus, only the parallel insulation calculation method in EN 342:2004 should be used. The wind and motion correction equation (No. 2) gave realistic values for total resultant insulation; dynamic testing according to EN 342:2004 may be omitted.     

Influence of nutrient levels on uptake and effects of mercury, cadmium, and lead in water spinach

In Southeast Asia the aquatic macrophyte water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.) is a popular vegetable that is cultivated in freshwater courses. These often serve as recipients for domestic and other sorts of wastewater that often contain a variety of pollutants, such as heavy metals. In addition, fertilizers are frequently used where water spinach is cultivated commercially for the food market. To estimate the importance of ambient nutrient concentrations for accumulation of mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in water spinach, plants were exposed to nutrient solutions of different strength and with varying metal concentrations. Metal-induced toxic effects, which might possibly affect the yield of the plants, were also studied. The lower the nutrient strength in the medium was, the higher the metal concentrations that accumulated in the different plant parts and the lower the metal concentration in the medium at which metal-induced toxic effects occurred. Accordingly, internal metal concentrations in the plants were correlated to toxic effects. Plants exposed to metals retained a major proportion of the metals in the roots, which had a higher tolerance than shoots for high internal metal concentrations.     

Chemie und Technik altkretischer Vasenmalerei vom Kamares-Typ

Fragments of the Kamares-type ware were investigated by means of the scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, and the Debye-Scherrer process. The black “Firnis” or “Urfirnis” of the decoration proved to be a silicate-type glaze which had a high content of iron and contained potassium as a flux. The body was given a high calcium content, so that its coefficient of expansion was increased and approximated to that of the glaze. The white was produced by means of talc. Firing must have taken place at a temperature of at least about 1000 °C. The red painting contains as its pigment iron oxides or hydroxides and may have been applied with an organic binding medium after the firing operation.[/p][/ab]     

A distance dependent contagion function for vector-based data

Landscape pattern is of primary interest to landscape ecologists and landscape metrics are used to quantify landscape pattern. Metrics are commonly defined and calculated on raster-based land cover maps. One metric is the contagion, existing in several versions, e.g., unconditional and conditional, used as a measure of fragmentation. However, mapped data is sometimes in vector-based format or there may be no mapped data but only a point sample. In this study a definition of contagion for such cases is investigated. The metric is an extension of the usual contagion, based on pairs of points at varying distances and gives a function of the distance. In this study the extended contagion is calculated for vector-based delineated real landscapes and for simulated ones. Both unconditional and conditional contagions are studied using two classification systems. The unconditional contagion function was decreasing and convex, with upper and lower limits highly correlated to the Shannon diversity index, thus carrying only area proportion information. The spatial information lies in the speed by which the function converges to the lower limit; using a proxy function this can be expressed by a single parameter b, with high values for fragmented landscapes. No proxy function was found for the conditional contagion, for which only qualitative information was found. The extended contagion is applicable both in patch mosaic models of landscapes and in gradient-based models, where landscape characteristics change continuously without distinct borders between patches. The extended contagion can be useful in sample based surveys where there no map of the entire landscape is available.     

Bacteriological quality of fresh produce and link to water and sanitation service access from informal markets in Mzuzu,Malawi

In 2010, the global burden of foodborne diseases was 33 million Disability-adjusted life years, and 40 % of this burden was for children under 5 years old (Havelaar et al. 2015). Our study site was informal public markets within Mzuzu, Malawi, visited between September and December 2015, during the dry season. From these markets, fresh vegetables, leafy greens (n = 85), tomato (n = 85), and green pepper (n = 35) were analyzed for Escherichia coli. The prevalence of E. coli was highest on leafy greens; it was found in 74 (87 %) of the 85 samples. The prevalence of E. coli in green peppers was found in 2 (6 %) of the 35 samples. The prevalence of E. coli was lowest on tomatoes; it was found in only 1 (1 %) of the 85 samples. The lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure in market areas may be contributing to the bacteriological contamination of fresh produce. Providing venders with free access to market area toilets containing hand-washing facilities with soap and wash water with a chlorine solution may reduce bacterial contamination of fresh produce. Universal and sustainable access to water and sanitation services must include informal public market areas to reduce diarrheal diseases transmitted through food within Sub-Saharan Africa countries.     

Cost‐Effectiveness of Using Small Vertebrates as Indicators of Disturbance

In species‐rich tropical forests, effective biodiversity management demands measures of progress, yet budgetary limitations typically constrain capacity of decision makers to assess response of biological communities to habitat change. One approach is to identify ecological‐disturbance indicator species (EDIS) whose monitoring is also monetarily cost‐effective. These species can be identified by determining individual species’ responses to disturbance across a gradient; however, such responses may be confounded by factors other than disturbance. For example, in mountain environments the effects of anthropogenic habitat alteration are commonly confounded by elevation. EDIS have been identified with the indicator value (IndVal) metric, but there are weaknesses in the application of this approach in complex montane systems. We surveyed birds, small mammals, bats, and leaf‐litter lizards in differentially disturbed cloud forest of the Ecuadorian Andes. We then incorporated elevation in generalized linear (mixed) models (GL(M)M) to screen for EDIS in the data set. Finally, we used rarefaction of species accumulation data to compare relative monetary costs of identifying and monitoring EDIS at equal sampling effort, based on species richness. Our GL(M)M generated greater numbers of EDIS but fewer characteristic species relative to IndVal. In absolute terms birds were the most cost‐effective of the 4 taxa surveyed. We found one low‐cost bird EDIS. In terms of the number of indicators generated as a proportion of species richness, EDIS of small mammals were the most cost‐effective. Our approach has the potential to be a useful tool for facilitating more sustainable management of Andean forest systems. Rentabilidad del Uso de Pequeños Vertebrados como Indicadores de Perturbaciones     

Levels and transfer of Po and Pb in Nordic terrestrial ecosystems

Recent developments regarding environmental impact assessment methodologies for radioactivity have precipitated the need for information on levels of naturally occurring radionuclides within and transfer to wild flora and fauna. The objectives of this study were therefore to determine activity concentrations of the main dose forming radionuclides ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in biota from terrestrial ecosystems thus providing insight into the behaviour of these radioisotopes. Samples of soil, plants and animals were collected at Dovrefjell, Central Norway and Olkiluoto, Finland. Soil profiles from Dovrefjell exhibited an approximately exponential fall in ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations from elevated levels in humus/surface soils to “supported” levels at depth. Activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po in fauna (invertebrates, mammals, birds) ranged between 2 and 123 Bq kg⁻¹ d.w. and in plants and lichens between 20 and 138 Bq kg⁻¹ d.w. The results showed that soil humus is an important reservoir for ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb and that fauna in close contact with this media may also exhibit elevated levels of ²¹⁰Po. Concentration ratios appear to have limited applicability with regards to prediction of activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po in invertebrates and vertebrates. Biokinetic models may provide a tool to explore in a more mechanistic way the behaviour of ²¹⁰Po in this system.