scholarly journals Elevated Core Temperature in Florida Fernery Workers: Results of a Pilot Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
pp. 470-480
Author(s):  
Valerie Vi Thien Mac ◽  
Jose Antonio Tovar-Aguilar ◽  
Lisa Elon ◽  
Vicki Hertzberg ◽  
Eugenia Economos ◽  
...  

With expected increases in extreme weather, there may be a greater risk of injury from extreme heat in outdoor worker populations. To plan for future adaptation measures, studies are needed that can characterize workers’ physiologic responses to heat in outdoor settings such as agriculture. The objective of this study was to characterize occupational heat exposure, key vulnerability factors (e.g., gender, energy expenditure), and physiologic heat stress response in a sample of fernery workers. Forty-three fernery workers over 86 workdays were examined regarding heat-related illness (HRI) during the summer months of 2012 and 2013. The key outcome measure was whether a participant’s body core temperature (Tc) reached or exceeded 38.0°C (100.4ºF; Tc38). Participants’ Tc exceeded 38.0°C on 49 (57%) of the workdays, with 30 of 40 participants reaching or exceeding Tc38 on at least one workday. Adjusting for sex, there was a 12% increase in the odds of Tc38 for every 100 kilocalories of energy expended (OR: 1.12; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: [1.03, 1.21]). Adjusting for energy expenditure, females had 5 times greater odds of Tc38 compared with males (OR: 5.38; 95% CI: [1.03, 18.30]). These findings provide evidence of elevated Tc in Florida fernery workers, indicating an increased risk of occupational HRI, and the need for policy and interventions to address this health risk.

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 703-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dallon T. Lamarche ◽  
Robert D. Meade ◽  
Andrew W. D'Souza ◽  
Andreas D. Flouris ◽  
Stephen G. Hardcastle ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Canini ◽  
Nadine Simler ◽  
Lionel Bourdon

The effects of MK801 (dizocilpine), a glutamate NMDA receptor antagonist, on thermoregulation in the heat were studied in awake rats exposed to 40°C ambient temperature until their body core temperature reached 43°C. Under these conditions, MK801-treated rats exhibited enhanced locomotor activity and a steady rise in body core temperature, which reduced the heat exposure duration required to reach 43°C. Since MK801-treated rats also showed increased striatal dopaminergic metabolism at thermoneutrality, the role of dopamine in the MK801-induced impairment of thermoregulation in the heat was determined using co-treatment with SCH23390, a dopamine D1 receptor antagonist. SCH23390 normalized the locomotor activity in the heat without any effect on the heat exposure duration. These results suggest that the MK801-induced impairment of thermoregulation in the heat is related to neither a dopamine metabolism alteration nor a locomotor activity enhancement.Key words: heatstroke, NMDA receptor, thermoregulation, dopamine, locomotion.


1995 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 1720-1724 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sugimoto ◽  
O. Shido ◽  
S. Sakurada

Body core temperature of rats acclimated to heat given daily at a fixed time falls during the previous heat exposure time. In the present study, thermoregulatory responses of heat-acclimated rats were examined during the specific period. Heat-acclimated rats were subjected to an ambient temperature of 32 degrees C for approximately 5 h in the first half or last half of the dark phase for 14 days while control rats were kept at 24 degrees C. Then the rats were placed in a direct calorimeter and were warmed for 30 min with an intraperitoneal electric heater. Measurements were made twice in the first and last halves of the dark phase. Body warming significantly increased body core temperature in all rats. In the heat-acclimated rats, heat production (M) was significantly depressed during the previous heat exposure time but not during the other period. Body warming had little effect on M in the control rats during either period. The results suggest that rats acclimated to heat given at a fixed time daily respond to an acute heat load with a pronounced reduction of M. However, such a response was observed only during the period when the rats had been previously exposed to heat.


2021 ◽  
Vol 224 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Fuller ◽  
Duncan Mitchell ◽  
Shane K. Maloney ◽  
Robyn S. Hetem ◽  
Vinicius F. C. Fonsêca ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mammals in drylands are facing not only increasing heat loads but also reduced water and food availability as a result of climate change. Insufficient water results in suppression of evaporative cooling and therefore increases in body core temperature on hot days, while lack of food reduces the capacity to maintain body core temperature on cold nights. Both food and water shortage will narrow the prescriptive zone, the ambient temperature range over which body core temperature is held relatively constant, which will lead to increased risk of physiological malfunction and death. Behavioural modifications, such as shifting activity between night and day or seeking thermally buffered microclimates, may allow individuals to remain within the prescriptive zone, but can incur costs, such as reduced foraging or increased competition or predation, with consequences for fitness. Body size will play a major role in predicting response patterns, but identifying all the factors that will contribute to how well dryland mammals facing water and food shortage will cope with increasing heat loads requires a better understanding of the sensitivities and responses of mammals exposed to the direct and indirect effects of climate change.


2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (2) ◽  
pp. F309-F315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joo Lee Cham ◽  
Emilio Badoer

Redistribution of blood from the viscera to the peripheral vasculature is the major cardiovascular response designed to restore thermoregulatory homeostasis after an elevation in body core temperature. In this study, we investigated the role of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in the reflex decrease in renal blood flow that is induced by hyperthermia, as this brain region is known to play a key role in renal function and may contribute to the central pathways underlying thermoregulatory responses. In anesthetized rats, blood pressure, heart rate, renal blood flow, and tail skin temperature were recorded in response to elevating body core temperature. In the control group, saline was microinjected bilaterally into the PVN; in the second group, muscimol (1 nmol in 100 nl per side) was microinjected to inhibit neuronal activity in the PVN; and in a third group, muscimol was microinjected outside the PVN. Compared with control, microinjection of muscimol into the PVN did not significantly affect the blood pressure or heart rate responses. However, the normal reflex reduction in renal blood flow observed in response to hyperthermia in the control group (∼70% from a resting level of 11.5 ml/min) was abolished by the microinjection of muscimol into the PVN (maximum reduction of 8% from a resting of 9.1 ml/min). This effect was specific to the PVN since microinjection of muscimol outside the PVN did not prevent the normal renal blood flow response. The data suggest that the PVN plays an essential role in the reflex decrease in renal blood flow elicited by hyperthermia.


2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (11) ◽  
pp. 1153-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayme D. Limbaugh ◽  
Gregory S. Wimer ◽  
Lynn H. Long ◽  
William H. Baird

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoram Epstein ◽  
Savyon Mazgaoker ◽  
Doron Gruber ◽  
Daniel S Moran ◽  
Ran Yanovich ◽  
...  

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