Uchinaa-Yamatoguchi : Yet another endangered variety on Okinawa?

This thesis concerns the variety known as Uchinaa-Yamatoguchi, spoken on the island of Okinawa and smaller surrounding islands. By discussing mainly historical, political, and social factors, the aim is to elicit the processes which affect its vitality and consequently are instrumental in the formation of its future. As complements to the already existing material relevant to the subject, a survey was conducted, and an interview carried out with an Okinawan informant. The survey was aimed mainly at investigating the degree of usage of, and attitudes held towards Uchinaa-Yamatoguchi among young Okinawans. The vitality of Uchinaa-Yamatoguchi is finally problematized from the three discourses identity, ideology and outside influences, concluding that passive influences from standard Japanese are still affecting the lexical stability of it, but the existence of a distinct Okinawan variety is not threatened

Climate change and occupational heat stress: methods for assessment

Background: Presumed effects of global warming on occupational heat stress aggravate conditions in many parts of the world, in particular in developing countries. In order to assess and evaluate conditions, heat stress must be described and measured correctly. Objective: Assessment of heat stress using internationally recognized methods. Design: Two such methods are wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT; ISO 7243) and predicted heat strain (PHS; ISO 7933). Both methods measure relevant climatic factors and provide recommendations for limit values in terms of time when heat stress becomes imminent. The WBGT as a heat stress index is empirical and widely recognized. It requires, however, special sensors for the climatic factors that can introduce significant measurement errors if prescriptions in ISO 7243 are not followed. The PHS (ISO 7933) is based on climatic factors that can easily be measured with traditional instruments. It evaluates the conditions for heat balance in a more rational way and it applies equally to all combinations of climates. Results: Analyzing similar climatic conditions with WBGT and PHS indicates that WBGT provides a more conservative assessment philosophy that allows much shorter working time than predicted with PHS. Conclusions: PHS prediction of physiological strain appears to fit better with published data from warm countries. Both methods should be used and validated more extensively worldwide in order to give reliable and accurate information about the actual heat stress

Thermoregulatory manikins are desirable for evaluations of intelligent clothing and smart textiles

Thermal manikins have been used to measure thermal properties of clothing. The use of thermal manikins has made a step forward in terms of quantifying thermal properties of clothing in a 3-D manner compared with the use of hotplates for material testing. The effects of clothing properties measured on the thermal manikins under steady state (constant manikin surface temperature and constant environmental condition) have usually to be validated by human subject tests. The thermal insulation and evaporative resistance values measured in the constant conditions are also used in modeling to calculate heat balance, predict human thermal physiological responses, and thermal comfort. However, in many real life situations, clothing properties (e.g. moisture transfer), in particular the clothing properties with smart materials, e.g. phase change materials (PCMs), environmental conditions, sweating rate, skin temperatures are neither constant nor uniform. These make mathematical modeling complicated to take into account various transient, non-uniform conditions, and changeable properties of smart clothing which is becoming increasingly popular (Tang and Stylios 2006). Moreover, skin and core temperatures rather than heat loss or storage are commonly used to evaluate thermal comfort, define hypothermia and hyperthermia and evaluate heat strain. Therefore, the direct prediction of thermophysiological responses (skin and core temperatures) based on manikin measurements are valid (Psikuta and Rossi 2009), and could be considered another step forward towards direct evaluation of human-clothing-thermal environment interactions. In the case of measuring a personal cooling system, current standard specifies the measurement of the average heat removal rate from a sweating heated manikin (ASTM F2371-10). This heat removal rate is not constant for the PCMs. The objective of this study was to investigate the gap between the measured heat removal rate of smart clothing with PCMs obtained on a thermal manikin in a stable state, and clothing effects on local human skin and on core temperature, to compare the difference of the results obtained from both methods, and to highlight the need for developing intelligent thermoregulatory manikins

Effects of natural solar radiation on manikin heat exchange

The main objective was to compare short wave radiation from Thorn lamp to solar radiation. In sun all manikin front zones get more or less evenly radiated but in the lab the radiated power reaches some zones more than others. Tests were carried out on the thermal manikin Tore under clear sky in a building corner facing the sun. The manikin was turned so that in the end of each trial the sun faced manikin front. Basic tests without radiation were carried out in homogenous conditions in the climatic chamber. 4 sets of clothing were tested: black Nomex (BN), orange Nomex (ON), white cotton (WC) and reflective Nomex (RN). Helly-Hansen underwear (super stretch, polypropylene) was used under all coveralls. Thermocouples were fixed at chest on underwear inner and outer surfaces and outer layer inner and outer surfaces for textile surface temperature measurements. From basic tests there were estimated the heat losses for particular outdoor conditions. The insulation values were corrected for air velocity according to EN 342 (2004). The difference between the calculated heat losses and actual measured heat losses outdoors gave heat gain from sun for those particular conditions. There was a clear difference between BN and the other suits and RN and the other suits, however, ON and WC were quite similar. The highest textile temperatures were recorded for BN and lowest for RN. A difference between ON and WC was present, too. The curves followed the same pattern as observed from the manikin tests with solar lamps in the climatic chambers: underwear had often the highest temperatures

The effect of agricultural land-use on bush-cricket and grasshopper diversity

The amount of habitat suitable for grasshoppers and crickets has decreased due to the human expansion and use of the Swedish agricultural landscape. This literature study covers the effect on grasshopper – and cricket diversity from different features on grassy field islands and the surrounding agricultural landscape. Knowledge about species’ requirements of their habitats is important for conservation management and to keep the species from going extinct. This study tries to get an insight in eleven species of orthopterans presence and abundance on field islands in Sweden according to eleven variables based on facts about the species ecology. This could give us an indication on how to manage agricultural land to protect the species and their habitats. The result of this study shows the importance of keeping various kinds of habitats since different species have different habitat requirements. Also the result suggests that closely related species prefers similar habitats, an experience that might affect future conservation and protection. To protect species from going extinct humans must use land with consciousness to avoid fragmentation.Mängden lämpligt habitat för gräshoppor och vårtbitare har minskat på grund av människans utbredning och utnyttjande av det svenska landskapet för spannmåls- och foderproduktion. Denna litteraturstudie behandlar hur mångfalden hos vårtbitare och gräshoppor i jordbrukslandskapet kan påverkas av olika faktorer på åkerholmar och i det omgivande landskapet. Vad arterna har för krav på sitt habitat är viktigt att veta för att kunna vårda naturen på rätt sätt för att skydda arter från utdöende. Studiens mål är att få inblick i elva arter av rätvingars förekomst och mängd på åkerholmar utifrån sju variabler valda utifrån information om arternas ekologi. I förlängningen kan det ge en fingervisning om hur man ska vårda jordbrukslandskapet för att bevara arterna och deras habitat. Resultatet pekar på vikten av att bevara olika slags habitat, dels för att olika arter föredrar habitat med olika egenskaper men också för att olika individer troligtvis behöver habitat med olika egenskaper under de olika stadierna i sin livscykel. Resultaten pekar samtidigt på att närbesläktade arter har liknande krav på sitt habitat, vilket är en erfarenhet som kan ha betydelse för framtida naturvård. För att skydda arter från utrotning måste vi människor använda landet hållbart för att undvika fragmenterade landskap

Thermal stress on firefighters in extreme heat exposure

Five students of a rescue training school cycled at 50 W for 20 minutes at 20 °C before walking up to 30 minutes in a climatic chamber at 55 °C and 30 % relative humidity. Four different types of clothing ensembles were used differing in terms of thickness and thermal insulation value were tested on separate days. All subjects completed 28-30 minutes in light clothing, but quitted after 20-27 minutes in three firefighter ensembles due to a rectal temperature of 39.0 °C or subjective fatigue. No difference in the evolution of mean skin or rectal temperature was seen for the three turnout ensembles. Sweat production amounted to about 1000 g in the turnout gears of which less than 20 % evaporated. It was concluded that the small differences between the turnout gears in terms of design, thickness and insulation value had no effect on the resulting physiological strain for the given experimental conditions