External heating garments used post-warm-up improve upper body power and elite sprint swimming performance

This paper was accepted for publication in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1754337116650322The aim of this study was to determine the effects of using an electrical heating garment during a 30-minute recovery period after a standardized swimming warm-up on subsequent swimming performance and upper-body power output. On two occasions, eight male and four female elite competitive swimmers completed a standardized swimming warm-up, followed by a 30-minute passive recovery period before completing maximal plyometric press-ups and a 50m Freestyle swim. Plyometric press-ups determined starting strength (SS), peak force (PF) and peak concentric power (PCP). During the recovery period, participants wore tracksuit bottoms and (i) a standard tracksuit top (CON) or (ii) jacket with integrated electric heating elements (HEAT). The overall results demonstrated a trend of a relevant (>0.4%) improvement in the 50m Freestyle performance of 0.83% (P = 0.06) in HEAT vs. CON. In male participants, performance in the 50m Freestyle significantly improved by 1.01% (CON 25.18 ± 0.5s vs. HEAT 24.93 ± 0.4s; P < 0.05), whereas female participants only showed a trend for an improvement of 0.38% (29.18 ± 0.5s vs. 29.03 ± 1.0s; P = 0.09), in HEAT compared with CON, though statistical power for the latter test was low. Male participants’ starting strength, peak force and peak concentric power were 16.5 ± 13%, 18.1 ± 21% and 16.2 ± 21% greater, respectively, in HEAT compared with CON (all P<0.01). In conclusion, external heating of the upper body between completion of the warm-up and performance through the utilization of an electrically heated jacket improves plyometric press-up power output and force production, as well as sprint swimming performance in males. This provides justification for future enhancement opportunities in sporting performance through the utilization of external heating systems. Optimization of the heating system for specific sports is required

Airborne nanoparticle exposures associated with the manual handling of nanoalumina and nanosilver in fume hoods

Manual handling of nanoparticles is a fundamental task of most nanomaterial research; such handling may expose workers to ultrafine or nanoparticles. Recent studies confirm that exposures to ultrafine or nanoparticles produce adverse inflammatory responses in rodent lungs and such particles may translocate to other areas of the body, including the brain. An important method for protecting workers handling nanoparticles from exposure to airborne nanoparticles is the laboratory fume hood. Such hoods rely on the proper face velocity for optimum performance. In addition, several other hood design and operating factors can affect worker exposure. Handling experiments were performed to measure airborne particle concentration while handling nanoparticles in three fume hoods located in different buildings under a range of operating conditions. Nanoalumina and nanosilver were selected to perform handling experiments in the fume hoods. Air samples were also collected on polycarbonate membrane filters and particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Handling tasks included transferring particles from beaker to beaker by spatula and by pouring. Measurement locations were the room background, the researcher's breathing zone and upstream and downstream from the handling location. Variable factors studied included hood design, transfer method, face velocity/sash location and material types. Airborne particle concentrations measured at breathing zone locations were analyzed to characterize exposure level. Statistics were used to test the correlation between data. The test results found that the handling of dry powders consisting of nano-sized particles inside laboratory fume hoods can result in a significant release of airborne nanoparticles from the fume hood into the laboratory environment and the researcher's breathing zone. Many variables were found to affect the extent of particle release including hood design, hood operation (sash height, face velocity), work practices, type and quantity of the material being handled, room conditions, and the adequacy of the room exhaust

Efficient metering and surveying sampling designs in longitudinal Measurement and Verification for lighting retrofit

Measurement and Verification (M&V) is often required for energy efficiency or demand side management projects in buildings, to demonstrate that savings were in fact achieved. For projects where sampling has to be done, these costs can be the most significant driver of the overall M&V project cost, especially in multi-year (longitudinal) projects. This study presents a method for calculating efficient combined metering and survey sample designs for longitudinal M&V of retrofit projects. In this paper, a building lighting retrofit case study is considered. A Dynamic Linear Model (DLM) with Bayesian forecasting is used. The Bayesian component of the model determines the sample size-weighted uncertainty bounds on multi-year metering studies, with results from previous years incorporated into the overall calculation to reduce forecast uncertainty. The DLM is compared to previous meter sampling methods, and an investigation into the robustness of efficient sampling plans is also conducted. The Mellin Transform Moment Calculation method is then used to combine the DLM with a Dynamic Generalised Linear Model describing the uncertainty in survey results for the longitudinal monitoring of lamp population decay. A genetic algorithm is employed to optimise the combined sampling design. Besides the reliable uncertainty quantification features of the method, results show a reduction in sampling costs of 40% for simple random sampling, and approximately 26.6% for stratified sampling, as compared to realistic benchmark methods.The National Hub for the Postgraduate Programme in Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild2018-11-01hj2017Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineerin