Oral application of L-menthol in the heat: From pleasure to performance

When menthol is applied to the oral cavity it presents with a familiar refreshing sensation and cooling mint flavour. This may be deemed hedonic in some individuals, but may cause irritation in others. This variation in response is likely dependent upon trigeminal sensitivity toward cold stimuli, suggesting a need for a menthol solution that can be easily personalised. Menthol’s characteristics can also be enhanced by matching colour to qualitative outcomes; a factor which can easily be manipulated by practitioners working in athletic or occupational settings to potentially enhance intervention efficacy. This presentation will outline the efficacy of oral menthol application for improving time trial performance to date, either via swilling or via co-ingestion with other cooling strategies, with an emphasis upon how menthol can be applied in ecologically valid scenarios. Situations in which performance is not expected to be enhanced will also be discussed. An updated model by which menthol may prove hedonic, satiate thirst and affect ventilation will also be presented, with the potential performance implications of these findings discussed and modelled. Qualitative reflections from athletes that have implemented menthol mouth swilling in competition, training and maximal exercise will also be included

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 129, June 1974

This special bibliography lists 280 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in May 1974

A study of QCD at finite density using complex Langevin dynamics.

Numerical simulations are a standard tool to investigate field theories innon-perturbative regimes. Typical algorithms used to evaluate path integralsin Euclidean space rely on importance sampling methods; i.e., aprobabilistic interpretation of the Boltzmann weight eS. However, manytheories of interest suffer from the infamous sign problem: the action iscomplex and the Boltzmann weight cannot be used as a probability distribution.Complex Langevin simulations allow numerical studies of theoriesthat exhibit the sign problem, such as QCD at finite density.In this thesis, we study methods to investigate the phase diagram of QCDin the temperature{chemical potential plane, using the complex Langevinmethod. We provide results on the phase diagram for the heavy-denseapproximation of QCD (HDQCD) for three spatial volumes, using complexLangevin and the gauge cooling technique. We also present polynomialfits of the critical temperature as function of the chemical potential foreach volume. Subsequently, we discuss instabilities encountered during thisstudy, which motivated a novel technique, named Dynamic Stabilisation,which will be introduced and the theoretical ideas behind it, explained.Dynamic stabilisation was, then, used in an investigation of the dependencyof the critical chemical potential on the hopping parameter. The two previousstudies were used to guide a second examination of the HDQCD phasediagram, focussed around the phase boundary.Lastly, we present preliminary results on the phase diagram of QCD withfully dynamical quarks at high temperatures. This shows that complexLangevin, augmented with gauge cooling and dynamic stabilisation, is suitedfor investigating QCD at finite chemical potential

Thermal Imagery in Plant Phenotyping: Assessing Stomatal Conductance through Energy Balance Modelling

The importance of temperature data in plant phenotyping applications is well known as is the difficulty of correlating temperature to plant behaviours. This work investigates the emission of thermal radiation from plant leaves to validate non-contact temperature measurements as well as modelling approaches to extend the use of temperature data obtained continuously from outdoor field crops. Temperature data and weather data are combined to calculate a stomatal resistance to water loss to satisfy an energy balance. Several approaches to modelling an energy balance and their results are compared and contrasted

Dusty tails of evaporating exoplanets. II. Physical modelling of the KIC 12557548b light curve

Evaporating rocky exoplanets, such as KIC 12557548b, eject large amounts of dust grains, which can trail the planet in a comet-like tail. When such objects occult their host star, the resulting transit signal contains information about the dust in the tail. We aim to use the detailed shape of the Kepler light curve of KIC 12557548b to constrain the size and composition of the dust grains that make up the tail, as well as the mass loss rate of the planet. Using a self-consistent numerical model of the dust dynamics and sublimation, we calculate the shape of the tail by following dust grains from their ejection from the planet to their destruction due to sublimation. From this dust cloud shape, we generate synthetic light curves (incorporating the effects of extinction and angle-dependent scattering), which are then compared with the phase-folded Kepler light curve. We explore the free-parameter space thoroughly using a Markov chain Monte Carlo method. Our physics-based model is capable of reproducing the observed light curve in detail. Good fits are found for initial grain sizes between 0.2 and 5.6 micron and dust mass loss rates of 0.6 to 15.6 M_earth/Gyr (2-sigma ranges). We find that only certain combinations of material parameters yield the correct tail length. These constraints are consistent with dust made of corundum (Al2O3), but do not agree with a range of carbonaceous, silicate, or iron compositions. Using a detailed, physically motivated model, it is possible to constrain the composition of the dust in the tails of evaporating rocky exoplanets. This provides a unique opportunity to probe to interior composition of the smallest known exoplanets.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, A&A accepte

A bottom-up interdisciplinary research approach for thermal sensitive urban design in an era of climate change - the case of Lisbon

Tese de Doutoramento em Urbanismo, com a especialização em Urbanismo apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Doutor.Na cidade contemporânea, factores como as elevadas temperaturas e a intensidade dos efeitos da ilha de calor em meio urbano, têm vindo a revelar proeminente desconforto térmico e importantes preocupações com a saúde durante os períodos anuais de maior estímulo térmico. Para além destes riscos já existentes e inerentes ao clima urbano, as projecções das alterações climáticas apontam para uma exacerbação destes factores de risco ao longo do Séc. XXI. Muito embora as avaliações e outputs top-down tenham revelado informação de carácter imperativo relativamente a tais fenómenos, a emergência da agenda de adaptação às alterações climáticas veio também incentivar a comunidade científica internacional a maturar e a desenvolver abordagens bottom-up mais incisivas, com vista a fazer frente aos factores de risco locais. Assim sendo, a perspectiva de "localidade" tem vindo a ganhar um novo significado para disciplinas como o urbanismo e o design urbano, quando confrontados com aspectos como a segurança, o conforto térmico humano e a prosperidade do meio urbano contemporâneo. Todavia e, atendendo ao seu carácter emergente, as abordagens bottom-up ainda se encontram numa fase inicial e, consequentemente, relativamente limitadas, tendo em conta a distância existente entre a teoria e a aplicação prática. Como resposta, esta tese efectua uma abordagem bottom-up e uma reflexão acerca do modo como a união entre a climatologia urbana e o design do espaço público urbano, enquanto campos distintos, pode ser fortalecida. Tal fortalecimento visa investigar de forma directa sobre a possibilidade de "localmente", o conforto térmico humano em meio urbano exterior, ser melhorado através de práticas interdisciplinares apoiadas no conhecimento científico. Tendo em consideração o caso de Lisboa, esta investigação analisa a forma como esta abordagem pode suplantar questões como a incerteza climática/aplicacional e, consequentemente: (i) traduzir-se em linhas de orientação para o urbanismo e para o design urbano local, que poderão ser aplicadas/implementadas em múltiplas circunstâncias e contextos urbanos; visando ainda, (ii) auxiliar especialistas "não-climatólogos" a realizar levantamentos bioclimáticos (baseados em dados locais e/ou na informação obtida a partir da estação meteorológica) com o intuito de determinar/atenuar os factores de risco de stress associados ao calor e ao frio num determinado contexto exterior. Consequentemente e, focado numa abordagem bottom-up que para além disso considera outputs relevantes a partir de avaliações top-down, o design do espaço público é retratado como sendo uma ferramenta indispensável, com vista a assegurar "localmente" um meio urbano activo, confortável e seguro, tanto no presente, quanto num futuro que se afigura incerto.ABSTRACT: Within the existing city, factors such as elevated urban temperatures and intensities of urban heat island effects are already revealing prominent thermal discomfort and health concerns during annual periods of more accentuated climatic stimuli. In addition to these exiting risks upon the urban microclimate, climate change projections indicate further exacerbations of such risks factors throughout the course of the twenty-first century. Although top-down assessments and disseminations have revealed imperative information with regards to such phenomena, the emergence of the climate change adaptation agenda has also arguably propelled the scientific international community to further mature bottom-up approaches to address local risk factors. As such, the perspective of ‘locality’ has been one which has gained new meaning for disciplines such as urban planning and design when considering the climatic safety, human thermal comfort, and prosperity of the contemporary public realm. Nevertheless, and resultant of its emerging nature, bottom-up approaches are still somewhat limited in terms of its existing breadth between theory and application and practice. As a response, this thesis undertakes a bottom-up approach and discusses how the union between the individual fields of urban climatology and public space design can be fortified. Such a fortification is directly aimed at investigating how local outdoor human thermal comfort can be improved through an interdisciplinary practice which is backed by scientific know-how and practice. Considering the case of Lisbon, this research deliberates upon how such an approach can overcome issues of climatic and applicative uncertainty, and can: (i) be translated into local design and planning guidelines which can be applied within numerous different urban circumstances; and (ii) aid non-climatological experts to undertake bioclimatic surveys (based both upon site and/or meteorological station data) to determine, and attenuate, local heat and cold stress risk factors within a particular outdoor context. Accordingly, and centred upon a bottom-up approach, which moreover considers important disseminations from top-down assessments, public space design is portrayed as an imperative tool to locally ensure an active, comfortable and safe public realm, both presently, and in an uncertain future.N/