Bed climate of Korean using ondol heating system

1. 1. To examine the influence of different bed conditions (ondol sleep, bed sleep on ondol with same bedding) of the Korean ondol traditional heating system on human response during sleep, bed climates and physiological responses such as skin and rectal temperatures, weight loss, body movement and subjective sensation were measured with 4 grown-up females as subjects while they were sleeping for 7 h.

2. 2. Bed climate: Temperatures under the mattress and inside the quilt were higher on ondol while temperatures on the mattress and humidity inside the quilt were higher on the bed.

3. 3. Rectal temperature was significantly higher on ondol; skin temperature showed no major differences in relation to bed conditions. The frequency of body movements had the highest correlation with bed climate of the parameters measured.

4. 4. Mattress weight decreased on ondol and increased on the bed.

5. 5. The frequency of body movements was significantly higher in ondol sleep.

6. 6. The subjects sensation showed difference on cushion sensation between the two types of bed condition.

7. 7. To obtain the same level of comfort on both ondol and bed sleeping conditions less thermal insulating value is needed for ondol sleep.

Comparison of thermal responses with and without cold protective clothing in a warm environment after severe cold exposures

1. 1. Ten male students remained in a severely cold room (-25°C) for 20 min. thereafter, they transferred in a warm room (25°C) for 20 min.

2. 2. This pattern was repeated three times, total cold exposure time amounting to 60 min.

3. 3. In the warm room, the subjects removed their cold-protective jackets, or wore them continously.

4. 4. Rectal temperature, skin temperatures, manual performance and thermal comfort were measured during the experiment.

5. 5. Removing cold-protective jackets after severe cold exposure increased peripheral skin temperatures and reduced the discomfort in the warm room.

6. 6. However, these results were accompanied by a greater decrease in rectal temperature and manual performance.

7. 7. It is recommended that workers continue to wear cold-protective clothing in the warm areas outside of the cold storage to prevent decreases in deep body temperature and work efficiency caused by repated cold exposures.

Skin temperatures, thermosensory and pleasantness estimates in case of heterogeneity in the thermal environment

1. 1. Seven thermal conditions were imposed on male sitting subjects (slightly clothed: 0.6 clo).

2. 2. A thermal mannikin was also used to determine the exact operative temperature, T₀.

3. 3. Conditions were: uniform (UN: all parameters at 24.5°C, air velocity at 0.15 ms⁻¹), heated ceiling (HC at 45°C), heated floor (HF at 34°C), cold floor (CF at 14°C), two conditions of one cold wall at 6°C (CW1 and CW2 respectively with and without air temperature compensation) and increased air velocity (AV at 0.4 ms⁻¹).

4. 4. Local skin temperatures and answers to questionnaires were obtained.

5. 5. Skin temperature variations were affected by conditions and slight T₀ changes.

6. 6. Comfort judgments were fairly well related to T₀, especially when expressed as differences between actual non-uniform environment and the uniform one.

7. 7. It is concluded that, in case of non-uniform environments close to thermoneutral zone, thermal comfort or discomfort reflects the climate alterations better than the thermal sensation does.

Thermal gradients in the oesophagus of man during exercise and passive warming

1. 1.|Oesophageal temperature (T_es) has been recorded at four vertical levels in the oesophagus of human subjects during exercise and during passive body heating.

2. 2.|The temperature increased with depth.

3. 3.|The rate of increase in T_es during exercise was greatest at the level of the diaphragm.

4. 4.|During passive heating of the body T_es increased most rapidly, and with shortest latency time, at the level adjacent to the left atrium of the heart.

5. 5.|During exercise, when breathing is deeper than at rest, T_es should be measured at a deeper level than that which is used during passive heating.

Relationship between cerebrovascular disease and indoor thermal environment in two selected towns in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

1. 1. This paper describes the results of an investigation of the relationship between mortality from cerebrovascular disease (hereafter called stroke) and the indoor thermal environment in two selected towns with different socioeconomic compositions: Shiwahime, an agricultura town with relatively high stroke mortality, and Karakuwa, a fishing town with relatively low stroke mortality, using a case-control research design.

2. 2. The measurement of the indoor thermal environments were conducted and the surveyed with a questionnaire during the winter of 1986.

3. 3. The findings are summarized as detailed below.

4. 4. Room temperatures in the control households were generally higher than those in the case households by up to 1.3°C.

5. 5. The thermal conditions of the housing in the case households were a little inferior to those in the control households.

6. 6. Despite much lower room temperatures than the so-called comfort temperature, members of both the case and the control households did not express feelings of being cold in the rooms.

7. 7. It is concluded, including the survey results from other literature, that improvements in the indoor thermal environment should receive more attention with respect of the reduction in stroke mortality, particularly in areas of cold climates.

Diel thermoregulation of the crawfish Procambarus Clarkii (crustacea, cambaridae)

1. 1. In a diel cycle Procambarus clarkii has two preferred temperatures: 24.0 ± 0.15 SEM °C during the day and 26.7 ± 0.13 SEM °C at night.

2. 2. The preferred temperatures are independent from the weight of the organisms.

3. 3. In the photophase the animals are dispersed, in the scotophase they congregate.

4. 4. The crawfish seem to feed during the thermal interphases.

5. 5. Animals in a constantly dark condition maintain a diel preferendum of temperature.

Thermal resistance of the ciliary activity in the gills of the fresh water mussel Anodonta anatina

1. 1.|The thermal resistance of the activity of frontal cilia in the median gills of the fresh water mussel Anodonta anatina was studied.

2. 2.|The resistance acclimation appeared in 2 days in the gills of intact animals, but not in the isolated gills kept at 4, 14 and 24°C, for between 1 to 3 days.

3. 3.|Warm-acclimation increased the ACh sensitivity of the gills of intact mussels.

4. 4.|Isolation of the gills enhanced the thermal resistance.

5. 5.|ACh, choline and tetramethylammonium enhanced the thermal resistance in the isolated gills. whereas atropine and physostigmine diminished it.

6. 6.|It is concluded that in A. anatina the control if the thermal resistance is probably neural.

A theory of evaluation applied to human-environment systems

1. 1. The writers present the general theory of evaluation that is being developed by their group.

2. 2. The evaluation of a human environment is a complex mental process.

3. 3. In an effort to express numerically the quality of an environment, one tends to oversimplify the complex aspects of it and the entailing problems in relation to its inhabitants.

4. 4. In this paper, some examples are taken in the evaluation of thermal environments, wherein much has been said and done in setting up numerical scales to express human comfort, and yet neither clear-cut explanations nor convincing logic seem to exist to terminate the argument over the widely scattered and sometimes seemingly contradicting experimental data.

5. 5. The writers suggest that many of the reasons for this confusion may be traced back to the oversimplified notion of evaluation.

6. 6. It is shown that there are various possibilities when looking at the scales of evaluation.

7. 7.|The nominal scale, least studied of all the four traditional scales, may be given a prominent place in evaluating a thermal environment. The pseudo-interval order scale is another example.

A study on body temperature regulation and residential thermal environments of the elderly—II. residential thermal environments at the kansai district

1. 1. An investigation was carried out on 3 male and 4 female elderly people, from 65 to 78 years ol.d The first survey was made in August and September of 1990 (in summer) and the second in January and February of 1991 (in winter).

2. 2. Matters for investigation were human subjects and thermal environmental elements of houses which were recorded by a portable thermo-recorder and a vinyl resin globe thermometer. Dry bulb temperatures at a height of 0.1 and 1.2 m and wet bulb and globe temperatures at 1.2 m high were recorded in the living room, bedroom, toilet etc., the thermo-recorders which measured air and wet bulb temperatures were kept out of the sun.

3. 3. Data was recorded constantly for 7 days at 20 min intervals. Plans of houses and furniture arrangement which influence the thermal conditions were drawn from video recordings. Physical and psychological surveys of individuals were carried out over 2 days of daily life.

4. 4. Subjects carried the thermo-recorders (YM1, YM2) on their side. Rectal, back of hand, sole of foot and ambient temperatures were measured every 2 min and with thermistor sensors. At the same time, behaviour and clothes, assessment of thermal sensation, comfort sensation and sensation of estimated room temperature were reported.

5. 5. Thermal radiation was measured with thermographs during the winter. Human activity was recorded every minute for 33 h. This report is the result of surveys in summer and winter.

6. 6. The following results were obtained: (i) the air conditioning is used sometimes in the houses of the elderly; (ii) thermal sensation range reported is narrow; (iii) skin surface temperatures of the elderly are relatively high and their range of change is narrow, and the range of rectal temperature in a day is narrow; (iv) high activity and excessive heating cause a rise of rectal temperature and the rectal temperatures are lower at rest time.

The effect of temperature changes on the spontaneous activity in the neural ganglia of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana

1. 1.|The effect of localized heating or protocerebrum (bp), the prothoracic (t₁), metathoracic (t₃) and the sixth abdominal (a₆) ganglion on the spontaneous neuronal firing rate in these ganglia was investigated in Periplaneta americana.

2. 2.|In almost every case heating the ganglion increased the firing rate. The most heat sensitive were bp, t₃ and t₁, a₆ was much less so.

3. 3.|In bp and t₁ the firing rate stayed on an increased level even 90 s after the thermal stimulus was over.

4. 4.|The differentiated thermosensitivity of the tested ganglia is discussed in terms of thermoregulatory behaviour of the cockroach.

Transient response of the human-clothing system

1. 1. A transient clothing model which considers the effects of adsorption and thermal capacitance on the dynamic thermal response of clothing was developed.

2. 2. Moisture adsorption and desorption by the fabric are the major factors that affect the transient response of clothing.

3. 3. This moisture can come from evaporated sweat or from the environment.

4. 4. The clothing model was combined with a modified version of the two-node thermal model of the human body.

5. 5. The combined model shows that, during transients, the mix of latent and sensible heat flow from the skin may differ considerably from the corresponding heat flows from the clothing surface to the environment.

6. 6. The alteration of the heat flows can have a significant impact on the thermal response of the body by changing the sweat rate required to achieve the heat loss necessary to maintain thermal balance.

Responses of human skin temperature and thermal sensation to step change of air temperature

1. 1. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the non-linearity of the human physiological and psychological responses to step change of air temperature by impulse response analysis using Discrete Fourier Transformation.

2. 2. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of thermal transients on human responses.

3. 3. Experimental conditions were as follows: lowering air temperature from 30 to 20°C and raising air temperature from 20 to 30°C.

4. 4. The responses of local skin temperature on lowering air temperature from 30 to 20°C are not necessarily opposite to the responses found on raising air temperature from 20 to 30°C.

5. 5. From impulse response analysis using Discrete Fourier Transformation, skin temperature responses to the opposite air temperature change do not necessarily coincide with each other whenever the same temperature stimulus is occurred.

Criteria for a comfortable indoor environment in buildings

1. 1. The major purpose of buildings is to provide a healthy and comfortable environment for occupants.

2. 2. The indoor environment is a complex system including factors like thermal, visual and acoustic conditions, indoor air quality, electromagnetic fields, static electricity and vibration.

3. 3. To obtain an indoor environment that is acceptable in terms of health as well as comfort, criteria for these factors need to be established.

4. 4. The present paper gives an overview of the criteria recommended in current existing standards and guidelines.

5. 5. As most studies to date have focussed on thermal conditions and indoor air quality, these two factors are described in more detail.

Thermal denaturation of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton alters the morphological changes associated with osmotic swelling

1. 1. The shape changes during osmotic swelling of human erythrocytes in a hypotonic medium at room temperature, at 45°C and at the denaturation temperature (49.5°C) of the cytoskeletal protein, spectrin, have been monitored by video microscopy.

2. 2. At room temperature the great majority of cells (which were discoid prior to injection of hypotonic medium) swelled to a spherical shape through an intermediate ellipsoidal form.

3. 3.At 49.5°C (where cells had cupped shapes prior to injection) the transition to the spherical form often involved a stomatocytic rather than ellipsoidal intermediate shape.

4. 4. The cupped form of the cells prior to injection did not account for the high incidence of cells swelling through a stomatocytic intermediate shape at 49.5°C.

5. 5. A theoretical treatment by Svetina and Zeks (1983) attributes the nature of the osmotic swelling transition shape to the difference in area between the outer and inner faces of the membrane. Our results would be consistent with the theoretical predictions if it is assumed that an increase in the area of the inner face of the membrane follows thermal denaturation of the cytoskeleton of cells in hypotonic medium.

A study on thermal environment for physically handicapped persons. Results from Japanese-Hungarian joint experiment in 1990

1. 1. For the scientific evaluation of thermal environment in relatin to human health and comfort, a number of indices have been proposed in the recent 70 years.

2. 2. However, even the newest indices are still not sufficient to explain the general thermal environment for all people including infants, the aged, the disabled etc., because such indices are based more or less on experiments using college age persons.

3. 3. Series of studies to find required thermal conditions for the disabled and the aged have been carried out from 1976 in Japan and from 1988 in Hungary.

4. 4. In 1990, the Japanese and Hungarian research groups have collaborated in an international joint experiment on the thermal environment for the disabled.

5. 5. This paper reports on the results from the first step examinations of the data from above mentioned joint experiment.

Thermal acclimation and hardening in tadpoles of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana

1. 1.|Critical thermal maxima (CTMax) and minima (CTMin) were measured to evalute thermal hardening in Rana catesbeiana.

2. 2.|Tadpoles show heat hardening and CTMax acclimation, and both responses are influenced by developmental stage.

3. 3.|The first evidence of cold hardening in vertebrates is reported here.

4. 4.|Heat hardening significantly reduces cold tolerance, but there is otherwise no evidence of a cross-hardening effect.

A new device for measurement of the thermal conductivity of fur and blubber

1. 1. A new and simple device for measurements of thermal conductivity of fur and blubber is described.

2. 2. The device measures temperature differences across the sample and across a polyethylene plate with known conductivity which is placed in series with the sample.

3. 3. The conductivity of the polyethylene was determined from the steady state temperature difference and heat flux through the wall of a polyethylene pipe with a central heat source.

4. 4. The accuracy of the device is ±4.0%.

5. 5. The thermal conductivity of harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) and minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) blubber, as determined by use of this device, is very close to previously reported values.

Thermal parameters of four species of Gerbillurus

1. 1.Thermal parameter of the four Gerbillurus species measured in the laboratory were examined in relation to their micro-environments in a xeric habitat.

2. 2.Basal metabolic rates (BMR) were lower than predicted, while thermoneutral zonds (TNZ) were narrow and exceeded burrow temperatures.

3. 3.Body temperatures (T_b) were regulated over a range of ambient temperatures (T_a). Evaporative water loss was used as a short-term cooling mechanism to reduce hyperthermia above the TNZ.

4. 4.Conductance was low below the TNZ to reduce heat loss.

5. 5.Adaptation to low temperatures is important for gerbils when active at night.

6. 6.The adaptive significance of the thermal biology of Gerbillurus is discussed in relation to phylogeny, distribution, food availability and nocturnal activity.

Acute adjustment of thermal tolerance in vertebrate ectotherms following exposure to critical thermal maxima

1. 1.|Heat hardening in a transitory increase in heat tolerance following a sublethal exposure to lethal high temperatures.

2. 2.|Within 1–2 h of an initial exposure to the critical thermal maximum (CTM), the CTM of two species of amphibians and two species of fish had increased significantly above the initial level and then decreased to the initial level within 24 h.

3. 3.|Experiments with exposure to sub-CTM temperatures and multiple exposures to the CTM indicated that hardening requires exposure to the CTM and may be the maximum CTM attainable by the animal.

4. 4.|Diel and seasonal variation had significant effects on hardening ability.

5. 5.|Field evidence suggests that heat hardening is adaptive in that it provides an acute means of adjustment to extreme fluctuations in diurnal temperatures.

Hyperthermia-induced changes in the morphology of CHO-K1 and their refractile inclusions

1. 1.|Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1) were heated at temperatures of 42°C and above.

2. 2.|Cells were cultured in microcapillaries to eliminate handling stress, and morphological changes were observed by light microscopy.

3. 3.|Increased incidence of membrane blebbing was noted between 1 and 2 h and few cells were viable after 2 h at 43°C.

4. 4.|Morphological changes, including the appearance of potocytotic blebs, were recorded by cinemicroscopy of microcapillary cultures on a heated microscope stage.

5. 5.|Lipid-rich refractile cell inclusions changed shape before blebbing occurred.

6. 6.|Cell retraction and rearrangement of organelles seen at 1 h at 43°C are the reverse of those seen in spreading post-trypsinized cells and suggest a thermal effect on the cytoskeleton.