Research on office environment evaluation and worker fatigue

1. 1. The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between indoor environment and fatigue by analyzing office workers' fatigue and evaluation of indoor environment according to occupation.

2. 2. This study concerned office workers' fatigue (before and after work), questionnaires on indoor environment, and measurement of the physical environment. The subject (562 people) were businessmen, interior designers, and salesmen.

3. 3. The result of this study showed that there was a high correlation between the office workers' feeling of fatigue and the office environment.

4. 4. This research demonstrated that the workers of each type of occupation responde differently to similar office environments.

Investigations on the surveys of office environments and the total evaluation method—IAQ-Index

1. 1. A comprehensive study was made to establish evaluation methods for better office environments.

2. 2. In our study, measurements of thermal, acoustic, lighting, airflow and air quality conditions in indoor environments were made as well as questionnaire to the occupants on the evaluations of indoor environments and the feeling of fatigue.

3. 3. We also made an attempt to rate the evaluation value based on concepts and standards to evaluate totally office environments in a view point of “the office environments where people can work healthy and vigorously”. The evaluation values were called IAQ-index.

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.

Direct heat injury of roots of woody swamp species

1. 1.Three month-old seedlings of Taxodium distichum, Nyssa aquatica, Cephalanthus occidentalis and cuttings of Salix nigra were acclimated to simulated natural swamp conditions (ambient temperature, saturated soil) and then used to assess direct high temperature injury of root tissue.

2. 2.Electrolyte leakage from excised root tissue exposed for 30 min to temperatures ranging from 30 to 66°C was used to assess cellular injury.

3. 3.The relationship between leakage and temperature was sigmoidal for each species.

4. 4.Inflection point temperatures on the response curves, ranged from 45.4 to 51.0°C, were species-specific, and indicated differences in thermal tolerance of root membranes.

5. 5.Root of C. occidentalis and N. aquatica were more heat tolerant than roots of T. distichum and S. nigra.

Effect of temperature on growth and bioenergetics of a tropical moth

1. 1.|Larval development and metamorphosis of Achaea junta were prolonged at 22°C, compared to 27, 32 and 35°C.

2. 2.|Overall rates of consumption, assimilation, production and metabolism of the larvae increased with temperature.

3. 3.|Efficiencies of assimilation and conversion of the digested food were significantly altered by life stage and temperature.

4. 4.|About 60% of the pupal energy was transferred to the imago at the tested temperatures.

Latent infection: a low temperature survival strategy in steinernematid nematodes

1. Entomopathogenic nematodes penetrate and kill Galleria mellonella within 48 h at optimal temperatures.

2. Low temperature induces infection latency, preventing host death until optimal conditions resume.

3. Infected Galleria survived 25 days at 5°C. On transfer to 25°C, 100% and 12.5% of Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema riobravis infected larvae died within 72 h.

4. Infective juvenile penetration decreased with decreasing temperature; declining from 49.7 and 49.3 nematodes/host at 25°C to 6.3 and 0.25 nematodes/host at 5°C for S. carpocapsae and S. riobravis, respectively.

5. Latent infection occurs, albeit infrequently, due to low host penetration at low temperature.

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.

Tolerances of Nauplii of Balanus balanoides (L.) and Elminius modestus (Darwin) exposed to cyclical temperature fluctuations

1. 1.|Newly-released larvae of both E. modestus and B. balanoides show similar tolerances to steady temperature levels.

2. 2.|Both species show an ability to withstand a wider range of temperatures when subjected to cyclic thermal shocks.

3. 3.|E. modestus shows a greater tolerance to short-term thermal shocks than B. balanoides.

How are neuronal thermosensitivity and lack of thermoreception related in the duck's hypothalamus? A tentative answer

1. 1.|In 15 conscious Pekin ducks, 40 “warm sensitive” hypothalamic neurons were identified according to their discharge rates at 40°C T_hy (F₄₀), local temperature coefficients (Δ/ΔT) and Q₁₀.

2. 2.|Q₁₀ and either F₄₀ or ΔF/ΔT were little or not related.

3. 3.|A positive correlation between F₄₀ and ΔF/ΔT was observed which was particularly close (r = 0.94 and 0.96) when the neurons were classified according to their Q₁₀ of <2 and >2.

4. 4.|The results suggest that neurons with positive temperature coefficients in the duck's hypothalamus mostly exhibit linear to exponential temperature-discharge relationships.

5. 5.|This is an contrast to observations on mammalian hypothalamic thermosensitive neurons and may relate to the absence of the thermosensory function in the duck's rostral brainstem.

Behavioral thermoregulation and neuroamines in fish (Chromus chromus)

1. 1. A method for assessing the set temperature regulating behavioural thermoregulation in the fish Chromus chromus is described.

2. 2. Cholinergic stimulation of the brain, both muscarinic and nicotinic, lowered the thermoregulatory set point.

3. 3. Histamine raised the set temperature by an action on H₁-receptors.

4. 4. Increasing brain catecholamines, with -Dopa, also raised the set temperature but it was not possible to distinguish between dopaminergic or noradrenergic components of this response.

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.

Thermal avoidance and preference in Daphnia magna

1. Water fleas (Daphnia magna) bred at 23°C were non-responsive to temperatures between 13 and 25°C.

2. At the lower (11°C) and upper limits (30°C) their klinokinetic avoidance behaviour showed a larger intraindividual than interindividual variation.

3. Thermal sensitivity for avoidance responses in D. magna was about 1.5°C.

4. For D. magna bred for one parthenogenetic generation at 14°C heat avoidance temperature was about 8°C lower, and cold avoidance temperature was about 1°C higher than in D. magna from 23°C.

5. In group experiments the animals showed some preference for the acclimation temperature.

6. Cold induced stenothermy and warm induced eurythermy in D. magna were related to the mode of reproduction.

Cold-hardiness in several species of land snails

1. 1.|Mean supercooling points (SCP) of Anguispira alternata (Say) gradually declined in autumn and increased in spring. SCP also declined in autumn in Discus conrkhitei (Newcomb) and Gastrocopta armifera (Say).

2. 2.|Supercooling ability varied among the species, being the greatest in G. armifera.

3. 3.|Prolonged exposure of winter animals to high temperatures resulted in only a modest increase in SCP.

4. 4.|Low temperature survival of D. cronkhitei and G. armifera was slightly poorer than predicted by the mean SCP.

Thermal responses and temperature tolerance of a dessert ant-lion larva

1. 1.Cueta trivirgata larvae construct pits in the dry Kuiseb River bed in the Namib Desert.

2. 2.An art, Ocymyrmex robustior comprises 65.4% of the biomass of prey consumed by the ant-lions.

3. 3.O. robustior is active between surface temperatures of 27–68°C.

4. 4.Ant-lions tolerate high body temperatures (LD₅₀ = 53.4°C).

5. 5.By exploiting the pit microclimate and by digging below the surface during extreme thermal loads, ant-lions can capture prey at surface temperatures of 13–63°C.

6. 6.These behavioural and physiological adaptations enable ant-lions to maximize the duration of vigilance and hence prey capture success.

Behavioural thermoregulation in two species of robber flies occupying different grassland microhabitats

1. 1.|The robber flies Machimus occidentalis and Machimus formosus are ambush predators that occur sympatrically in grassland habitats of southwestern Montana, U.S.A., although the former occurs earlier in the season.

2. 2.|Early in daily foraging periods, when ambient temperatures are relatively low, the two species exhibited similar behaviours. They perched in a crouched posture on fully insolated bare soil surfaces and oriented their longitudinal and dorsoventral axes to maximize the incident solar radiation intercepted by the broad lateral surface of the thorax. Measurements of operative body temperature of flies in different locations, orientations, and postures indicate that such basking can significantly raise body temperature.

3. 3.|Their thermoregulatory tactics diverged as daily temperatures and solar radiation loads rise.

4. 4.|Like previous grassland species studied, M. occidentalis moved upward onto vegetation, where crouched postures and orientation to the sun disappeared.

5. 5.|Machimus formosus, on the other hand, took refuge in the shaded portions of ground squirrel (Citellus sp.) and badger (Taxidea taxus) burrows.

6. 6.|In both cases, the vertical movements resulted in lower body temperatures than would occur if flies remained on the fully insolated soil surfaces.

7. 7.|We compare the tactics of these two species with those of previous grassland species studied.

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.

Influence of acclimation and determination temperature on the oxygen consumption of the brain in two species of anurans

1. 1. The effects of sudden changes by increasing or decreasing the measurement temperature on the oxygen consumption of the brains of Bufo arenarum and Leptodactylus ocellatus were determined.

2. 2. The experiments were carried at in vitro at temperatures which range from 4 to 37°C. The brain was oxygenated and stabilized for 20 min at each of the temperatures to which it was subjected before oxygen consumption measurements were made.

3. 3. A theoretical curve representing the variation of oxygen consumption with temperature was calculated according to the following exponential relationship; for Leptodactylus ocellatus y = 0.408 × 1.07^x and for Bufo arenarum y = 0.389 × 1.065^x.

4. 4. These results were compared with the brain oxygen consumption of animals acclimated to different temperatures, whose oxygen consumption was measured at a fixed temperature. Only Leptodactylus ocellatus had a significantly lower oxygen consumption in a high range of temperatures, indicating thermal compensation, probably to save metabolic reserves.

5. 5. No deterioration of the brain tissue was observed, as several passages from high to low temperatures in the range of 20°–30°C, showed a reversible oxygen consumption in acclimated and non-acclimated Bufo arenarum and Leptodactylus ocellatus.

Daphnia development and reproduction: Responses to temperature

1. 1.|The development times and reproduction were measured for Daphnia pulex and Daphnia magna from 5 to 30°C at 5°C increments.

2. 2.|The general trends for D. pulex and D. magna were for the duration of all juvenile instars to be less than that of adults and for the last juvenile (or adolescent) instar to be longer than all previous juvenile instars.

3. 3.|The number of juvenile instars both species pass through before adulthood is influenced by temperature with increasing numbers occurring at temperature extremes.

4. 4.|Duration of development time decreased over the entire range of increasing temperatures measured for D. pulex but increased for D. magna at 30°C in relation to 25°C.

5. 5.|Quadratic models were less desirable than simple linear logarithmic transformations of the form ln Y = ln a + b ln X for describing the temperature/development relationship.

6. 6.|The greatest young production occurs at 15 and 20°C with significant decreases occurring at temperatures above and below these.

7. 7.|The observed temperature-dependent phenomena an the ecological relationships for the two species are discussed.

The actual conditions of practising traditional methods of environmental control and utilization of air conditioners by the residents of detached houses in kyoto during summer

1. 1. Reducing the carbon dioxide generated by human activity is necessary for the protection of the global environment.

2. 2. Traditional methods of environmental control, e.g. watering, called uchimizu in Japan, is interesting from this point of view. Traditional methods, other than watering, still continue to be practised in Japan.

3. 3. More than 300 residents of detached houses in Kyoto city were investigated for the methods of environmental control used in summer. Investigated areas were Kitashirakawa, Nishijin and Rakusai N.T.

4. 4. Residents' who conduct traditional methods of environmental control use air conditioner (ACs) less than those who don't. Residents' attitude toward ACs have a greater effect on total time of use rather than on frequency.

5. 5. In the centre of the city, there is a tendency for residents to use ACs against their will or only as a necessity, which leads to anxiety regarding their health.

6. 6. The use of traditional methods of protection from heat have been decreasing with social change.