the effects of dietary supplementation of grape seed extract (gse) and vitamin c on carcass characteristics, gut morphology and ileal microflora in broiler chickens exposed to chronic heat stress were examined. experimental diets included a control diet (without additive), 3 levels of gse (150, 300, 450 mg/kg of diet), and vitamin c (300 mg/kg of diet). each of the five diets was fed to 5 repli...

Extreme heat is a leading cause of weather-related human mortality. The urban heat island (UHI) can magnify heat exposure in metropolitan areas. This study investigates the ability of a new MODIS-retrieved near-surface air temperature and humidity dataset to depict urban heat patterns over metropolitan Chicago, Illinois, during June–August 2003–13 under clear-sky conditions. A self-organizing m...

Improving energy efficiency in buildings and promoting renewables are key objectives of European energy policies. Several technological measures are being developed to enhance the energy performance of buildings. Among these, geothermal systems present a huge potential to reduce energy consumption for mechanical ventilation and cooling, but their behavior depending on varying parameters, bounda...

Phase-change materials (PCM) can be used to reduce thermal stress and improve thermal comfort for workers wearing protective clothing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PCM in protective clothing used in simulated work situations. We hypothesized that it would be possible to optimize cooling performance with a design that focuses on careful positioning of PCM, minimizing to...

The implementation of underground distribution lines has grown significantly over the last decades due to the rapid increase of electric energy demand. But, the life of underground lines is determined by strong single or multiple stresses, developed during manufacturing and operation. Establishing and predicting the end of life of a distribution underground line is a task for researchers, desig...

Humidity is one of important environmental parameters, which refers to the water vapor content in the air. As one of the fundamental abiotic factors, humidity determines an environment where animals and plants can thrive, also influences the human life. There are three items commonly used to describe humidity, which are absolute humidity (AH), relative humidity (RH) and specific humidity (SH) [...

Core temperature (Tc) output comparisons were analyzed from thermal models applicable to persons wearing protective clothing. The two models evaluated were the United States (US) Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) heat strain experimental model and the United Kingdom (UK) Loughborough (LUT25) model. Data were derived from collaborative heat-acclimation studies conducted...

Protein phosphorylation has pivotal roles in ABA and osmotic stress signaling in higher plants. Two protein phosphatase genes, ABI1 and ABI2, are known to regulate these signaling pathways in Arabidopsis: The identity of ABA-activated protein kinases required for the ABA signaling, however, remains to be elucidated. Here we demonstrate that two protein kinases, p44 and p42, were activated by AB...

The addition of silicon to hydrogenated amorphous carbon can have the advantageous effect of lowering the compressive stress, improving the thermal stability of its hydrogen, and maintaining a low friction coefficient up to high humidity. Most experiments to date have been on hydrogenated amorphous carbon–silicon alloys (a-C12xSix :H) deposited by rf plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. T...

Maintaining human thermal comfort (HTC) is essential for pedestrians because people outside can be more susceptible to heat stress and heat stroke. Modification of street microclimates using tree canopy cover can provide important benefits to pedestrians, but how beneficial and under what circumstances is not clear. On sunny summer days, microclimatic measures were made in residential streets w...