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)

TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING LEARNING PATHWAYS: A TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

Research-practice partnerships in education are pioneering new ways in which researchers and teacher-practitioners work together on the basis of a mutually beneficial collaboration, a view of research as a core activity involving participants as co-researchers in their joint work, and where questions focus on practice for the betterment of learners. Transdisciplinary research and development extends such inquiry-driven, participatory approaches through integrating both non-academic participants (including industry, public and private sector partners, community members, policy makers, to name a few) and academic researchers from unrelated disciplines (including social sciences, natural sciences, arts, design and humanities, amongst others) to achieve a common goal – involving the creation of new knowledge, practices and theory – and transform insights into initiatives for the good of society. This paper arises from a university-school sector collaboration that set out to tackle the challenge of preparing young people cognitively and socially to choose the living of meaningful and productive lives, alongside the broader agendas of educating them to develop dynamic careers that can adapt to and create tomorrow’s workforce and supporting their career-life aspirations. Growing out of previous collaborations and early conversations, this preliminary paper reports on a two-year project that we co-designed to implement novel transdisciplinary techniques and practices, test a proof of concept and discern its feasibility for career education, prototype and pilot initiatives centred on industry- and student-led challenge projects and co-designing virtual workspaces. These transdisciplinary developments would enable the university-school team to investigate questions such as how to grow and renew school-based capability for working with teachers, community, industry and families as they partner with students, working together for sound life choices, and to what extent such co-designed environments improve students’ engagement with career pathways and development of future-oriented capabilities. As the project itself is dedicated to developing new valid, reliable and nuanced ways of measuring success in career advice provision, we lay out how participants might distil (research) quality and identify criteria that count toward developing a strong evidence base to inform practice and policy. We discuss the need for the next transdisciplinary phase of collective research and development if the project is to achieve its first milestone

Calculation of Breath-by-Breath Oxygen Uptake in Asthmatic Patients by the \u201cIndependent Breath\u201d Algorithm. Comparison with a Classical Approach

Several computation algorithms are available to determine gas exchange on a breath-by-breath basis, each designed on the basis of different theoretical backgrounds, including the newly proposed \u201cIndependent breath\u201d algorithm. The new algorithm was tested on the respiratory signals acquired from 11 asthmatic patients and 20 well-matched healthy controls, comparing results also with those provided by a \u201cclassical\u201d algorithm commonly applied by other laboratories. Oxygen, carbon dioxide fractions, and ventilatory flow were recorded at the mouth continuously over 26 min in all the volunteers at rest, during unloaded and moderate intensity cycling and subsequent recovery. Average oxygen uptake values calculated for the 4 steady-state conditions (over 3 min), as well as the corresponding standard deviations, were not significantly different between the two groups of subjects (MANOVA, Group effect, p\u2009=\u2009ns). Almost all the average oxygen uptake values provided by the two algorithms were overlapping, the large majority lying within 5% from the identity line. The corresponding standard deviations obtained for the \u201cIndependent breath\u201d algorithm were lower than those obtained for the \u201cclassical\u201d algorithm (MANOVA, Algorithm effect, p\u2009<\u20090.001), the slope of the regression line between them amounting to 0.672. In conclusion, because of its better precision, with similar accuracy, compared to the \u201cclassical\u201d real-time breath-by-breath algorithm, the use of the \u201cIndependent breath\u201d algorithm should be recommended, also in asthmatic patients

Effect of 21 days of horizontal bed rest on behavioural thermoregulation

The present study investigated the effect of 21 days of horizontal bed rest on cutaneous cold and warm sensitivity, and on behavioural temperature regulation. Healthy male subjects (N = 10) were accommodated in a hospital ward for the duration of the study and were under 24-h medical care. All activities (eating, drinking, hygiene, etc.) were conducted in the horizontal position. On the 1st and 22nd day of bed rest, cutaneous temperature sensitivity was tested by applying cold and warm stimuli of different magnitudes to the volar region of the forearm via a Peltier element thermode. Behavioural thermoregulation was assessed by having the subjects regulate the temperature of the water within a water-perfused suit (T wps) they were wearing. A control unit established a sinusoidal change in T wps, such that it varied from 27 to 42°C. The subjects could alter the direction of the change of T wps, when they perceived it as thermally uncomfortable. The magnitude of the oscillations towards the end of the trial was assumed to represent the upper and lower boundaries of the thermal comfort zone. The cutaneous threshold for detecting cold stimulus decreased (P < 0.05) from 1.6 (1.0)°C on day 1 to 1.0 (0.3)°C on day 22. No effect was observed on the ability to detect warm stimuli or on the regulated T wps. We conclude that although cold sensitivity increased after bed rest, it was not of sufficient magnitude to cause any alteration in behavioural thermoregulatory responses