The effect of hot days on occupational heat stress in the manufacturing industry: implications for workers' well-being and productivity

Climate change is expected to exacerbate heat stress at the workplace in temperate regions, such as Slovenia. It is therefore of paramount importance to study present and future summer heat conditions and analyze the impact of heat on workers. A set of climate indices based on summer mean (Tmean) and maximum (Tmax) air temperatures, such as the number of hot days (HD: Tmax above 30 °C), and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) were used to account for heat conditions in Slovenia at six locations in the period 1981–2010. Observed trends (1961–2011) of Tmean and Tmax in July were positive, being larger in the eastern part of the country. Climate change projections showed an increase up to 4.5 °C for mean temperature and 35 days for HD by the end of the twenty-first century under the high emission scenario. The increase in WBGT was smaller, although sufficiently high to increase the frequency of days with a high risk of heat stress up to an average of a third of the summer days. A case study performed at a Slovenian automobile parts manufacturing plant revealed non-optimal working conditions during summer 2016 (WBGT mainly between 20 and 25 °C). A survey conducted on 400 workers revealed that 96% perceived the temperature conditions as unsuitable, and 56% experienced headaches and fatigue. Given these conditions and climate change projections, the escalating problem of heat is worrisome. The European Commission initiated a program of research within the Horizon 2020 program to develop a heat warning system for European workers and employers, which will incorporate case-specific solutions to mitigate heat stress.The work was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action (Project number 668786: HEATSHIELD)

Effects of farming system and simulated drought on biodiversity, food webs and ecosystem functions in the DOK trial

Organic agriculture promotes overall biodiversity in arable fields, with well-documented positive effects on plant and pollinator diversity and abundance. Responses of soil-living decomposers, aboveground herbivores and predators to organic farming are less uniform and not equally well understood. The DOK trial offers ideal conditions to assess the long-term effects of organic compared to conventional farming practices on these above- and belowground invertebrate communities. Organic treatments in the DOK trial have a pronounced effect on abundances, diversity and species composition across taxonomic borders. Application of farmyard manure promotes nematode and earthworm numbers, whereas mineral fertilizers detrimentally affected potworm and fly larvae numbers. Aboveground predators are more abundant under organic agriculture and herbivores show an opposite response. However, effects go beyond simple numeric responses as organic agriculture alters the species composition of local communities significantly

Long-term agricultural management impacts arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi more than short-term experimental drought

Agricultural management practices and extreme weather events associated with climate change can influence the diversity and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) with potential consequences for crop production. However, the importance of the interactive effects of long-term agricultural management and extreme weather events on AMF communities in agricultural soils is not yet fully explored. A short-term drought experiment with rainout-shelters was performed in winter wheat fields in a long-term agricultural trial with organic (biodynamic) and conventional management practices. During four months of the winter wheat growing period (March–June 2017), the rainout-shelters reduced the ambient precipitation by 65% on average. At two sampling dates, the AMF diversity and community composition were assessed using a single-molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing. A total of 955 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), belonging to twelve genera were identified. The long-term farming systems and the short-term experimental drought did not affect AMF ASV diversity levels. The AMF community composition at the genus level differed between the organic and the conventional farming systems, but no distinctive communities were found in response to the experimental drought. The three most abundant genera Acaulospora, Paraglomus and Funneliformis were correlated to the two farming practices. Our study demonstrates that AMF communities in agricultural soils are responsive to long-term farming systems, and are resistant to one short-term summer drought event

Development Of New Equations To Quantify Muscle Mass And Prognosis In Intensive Care Unit (Icu) Patients: An Ancillary Study Of The Phase Angle Project

International audienc

The Paradigm of Pit - Stop Manufacturing

The context in which manufacturing companies are operating is more and more dynamic. Technological and digital innovations are continuously pushing manufacturing systems to change and adapt to new conditions. Therefore, traditional planning strategies tend to be inadequate because both the context and short - term targets are continuously changing. Indeed, one of the goals of manufacturing companies is to keep manufacturing systems efficiently running, and reduce and control the impact of disruptive events, that may originate from different sources, not always known or well defined. In order to do so, manufacturing systems should be kept relatively close to the current optimal condition, while, at the same time, taking into account information about future possible events, which may require new optimal conditions. In fact, the reaction time to the change must be short, in order to remain competitive in the market. In addition companies to be competitive should lead the introduction of changes therefore they have to be both reactive and proactive. From this analysis, the new paradigm of ‘pit - stop manufacturing’ is introduced, in which the overall goal is to dynamically keep the manufacturing system close to an improvement trajectory, instead of statically optimizing the system. It is shown how the ‘pit - stop manufacturing’ deals with various aspects of current manufacturing systems, therefore providing novel research questions and challenges