Swimming is one of the most popular aquatic activities. Just like natural water, public pool water may contain microbiological and chemical contaminants. The purpose of this study was to study the presence of chemical contaminants in swimming pools, in particular the presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) such as trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) and inorganic chloramines (CA...

This paper describes the development of a modular system of interactive tiles to support therapists’ in performing therapeutic activities together with impaired children in a swimming pool. This work is based upon a deep understanding of therapist work practice and it has been integrated with a creative approach along iterative design cycles. These activities created the foundation on which the...

Random samples of the weekly entry of bathers to a swimming pool were examined for tinea pedis and verruca before and at intervals after the supply of individual sachets of foot powder to all bathers.Over three and a half years the overall incidence of tinea pedis decreased from 8.5% to 2.1%, and in adult males it decreased from 21.5% to 6.9%. The incidence of infection with Trichophyton mentag...

Several epidemiologic studies have suggested an association between childhood asthma and exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs) in the swimming pool environment. In August 2007 a group of clinicians, epidemiologists, exposure scientists, pool operations experts, and analytical chemists met to discuss the literature on childhood asthma and swimming pools, and to develop recommendations for ...

Public session access to diving boards is one of the stepping stones for those wishing to develop their skills in the sport of diving. The extent to which certain dive forms are considered risky (forward/backward/rotations) and therefore not permitted is a matter for local pool managers. In Study 1, 20 public pools with diving facilities responded to a U.K. survey concerning their diving regula...

Attention allows us to monitor objects or regions of visual space and select information from them for report or storage. Classical theories of attention assumed a single focus of selection but many everyday activities, such as video games, navigating busy intersections, or watching over children at a swimming pool, require attention to multiple regions of interest. Laboratory tracking tasks ha...

The idea behind the Clarke Tax Algorithm is that a tax will be assessed to each individual. The amount of this tax depends on how the individual’s utilities affect the rest of the group. Since people do not want to pay taxes, a big assessment will decrease an individual’s overall utility. To get a better understanding of this statement, it is helpful to restrict the problem a bit. Formally, the...

Nonhuman animals in zoos are exposed to a continuous human presence, which affects their behaviors and welfare. However, little is known about what role the "visitor effect" has on penguins in captivity. The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is an endangered species commonly housed in zoos worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the abundance of human bathers could reduce t...

When cephalopod eggs were incubated in artificial sea water it was found that they sometimes resulted in hatchlings with defects of the statocyst suprastructure, leading to the severe behavioural defect of uncontrolled swimming. Experiments in defined media (seven basic salts mixed in deionized water) with seven species of cephalopods demonstrated clearly that there is 100% normal development o...

An aquarium ecosystem is home to many animal species providing conditions similar to native aquatic habitats but under highly controlled management. With a growing interest in understanding the interaction of microbiomes and resident animal health within aquarium environments, we undertook a metagenomic survey of viromes in seven aquarium systems with differing physicochemical and resident anim...