Thermal indices in relation to crop phenology and fruit yield of apple

Field experiments were conducted on gravel sandy soil of research farm of Horticultural Research Station, Seobag in Kullu valley with ten varieties of apple for three seasons (2008-2010). In the first crop season all the varieties matured within 157-188 days, while in the second and third seasons the crop matured with 159-179 and 156-187 days, respectively. The mean GDD accumulation from bud burst to fruit set was from 382 to 419° D and to maturity 2310 to 2957° D. The varieties, Mollice and Starkrimson consumed the lowest and highest GDD for attaining physiological maturity in different seasons among all varieties. But Commercial and Tydeman consumed the lowest and highest GDD for fruit setting. The photo thermal index (PTI) in all the varieties and seasons varied from 7.2 to 16.8 and 13.2 to 18.4° D/day at flowering and reproductive stages respectively.

Indikator zur Quantifizierung der Wirksamkeit von Anpassungsmaßnahmen an Hitze im Freiraum

<p>Der grundsätzliche Zusammenhang zwischen dem mikroskaligen Klima einer Stadt, ihrer Struktur und Grünraumausstattung ist vielfach belegt. In Hinblick auf den Klimawandel stellt urbanes Grün eine wichtige Anpassungsmaßnahme (AM) an Hitze dar, dessen Bewahrung und Förderung bei gleichzeitiger baulicher Verdichtung eine stete Herausforderung ist. Vor dem Hintergrund der begrenzten personellen und finanziellen Ressourcen vieler Städte ist es daher wichtig, die Wirksamkeit verschiedener AM zu quantifizieren und zu bewerten, um passgenaue AM in Stadtquartieren priorisieren zu können. Hierzu ist es notwendig, den verantwortlichen Akteuren angepasste Methoden, z.B. Indikatorensets, für die Entscheidungsfindung bereitzustellen. Diese Voraussetzung ist bisher unzureichend erfüllt (z.B. Barthesaghi Koc et al. 2018).</p> <p>Im Verbundprojekt ‚HeatResilientCity-II‘ (HRC-II) wurde daher ein Indikatorset basierend auf Stadtklimasimulationen (ENVI-met, Bruse 1999) entwickelt, welches eine erste, vereinfachte Quantifizierung der Wirksamkeit von AM an Hitze erlaubt. Zur Beurteilung der Wirksamkeit der AM wird dabei ein bioklimatischer Index verwandt (UTCI; Universal Thermal Climate Index, Jendritzky et al. 2012), sodass direkt Aussagen zur Änderung der thermischen Belastung des Menschen ermöglicht werden. Hierbei werden sowohl Bedingungen am Tag als auch in der Nacht adressiert und so dem Umstand Rechnung getragen, dass nicht alle AM für alle Tageszeiten gleich wirksam sind. In einer ersten Version werden zwei verschiedene Kategorien umgesetzt, zum einen die Quantifizierung der Wirkung von AM für Einzelflächen begrenzter Ausdehnung und zum anderen für Straßenbegleitgrün. </p> <p>Dem Nutzer wird eine Auswahl von Flächen bereitgestellt, welche unterschiedliche Anpassungsmaßnahmen repräsentieren und die jeweils mittels eines Steckbriefes kurz beschrieben werden. Derzeit stehen für die Kategorie Einzelmaßnahmen begrenzter Ausdehnung 39 Flächen zur Verfügung und für die Beurteilung von Straßenbegleitgrün 25 Flächen. Die zugehörigen UTCI-Werte sind entsprechend in einer Datenbank hinterlegt und ermöglichen somit einen Vergleich der thermischen Belastung verschiedener Beispielflächen.</p> <p>Die Entwicklung des Indikatorsets erfolgt in Zusammenarbeit mit Praxispartnern aus zwei Städten (Erfurt und Dresden) mit dem Ziel das Indikatorset nutzerfreundlich zu gestalten.</p> <p> </p> <p>Literatur</p> <p>Bartesaghi Koc, C., Osmond, P., and Peters, A.: Evaluating the cooling effects of green infrastructure: A systematic review of methods, indicators and data sources, Solar Energy, 166, 486–508, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.03.008, 2018.</p> <p>Bruse, M.: Die Auswirkungen kleinskaliger Umweltgestaltung auf das Mikroklima. Entwicklung des prognostischen numerischen Models ENVI-Met zur Simulation der Wind-, Temperatur- und Feuchterverteilung in städtischen Strukturen, Universität Bochum, Bochum, 1999, https://doi.org/10.23689/fidgeo-440.</p> <p>Jendritzky, G., Dear, R. de, and Havenith, G.: UTCI—Why another thermal index?, Int J Biometeorol, 56, 421–428, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-011-0513-7, 2012.</p>

Thermal Comfort Study Based on PMV-PPD in the Building of a Screening Center for COVID-19

Background: One way to achieve a standard heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system with maximum satisfaction is to use a thermal index to identify and determine the thermal comfort of people. In this study we intend to evaluate thermal comfort based on PMV-PPD (Predicted Mean Vote/Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied) model in workers of screening center for COVID-19. Methods: The study period was from March 1 to October 31, 2020. In this study, we used the ISO 7730 model to determinate PMV-PPD index. PMV index was used to determine thermal comfort at different scales in Birjand city with arid and hot climate. All data were analyzed using R software (version 3.3.0) and IBM SPSS statistics softwares. Results: The maximum and minimum recorded physical PMV values in the study period were observed in June as (2.09 ± 0.03) and March as (-1.27 ± 0.14), respectively. The amplitude of the thermal sense in the study period was varied between slightly cool (-1.5) and warm (+2.5). The PPD in spring was 40% which indicated slightly warm to hot condition. Conclusions: The October was the only month during the study in which thermal stress was in comfort or neutral thermal condition. Our results suggest that thermal comfort has dimensions and indices which are helpful in managing energy consumption.

Nor’wester over West Bengal and comfortability

During the pre-monsoon months of March, April and May the weather over Kolkata is generally very uncomfortable due to high temperature and relative humidity. During this season Kolkata is affected by the nor’wester activity. Generally the nor’wester activity is defined as a disastrous weather activity and is locally called as ‘Kaalbaisakhi’ as it is ‘kaal’ or destruction during Bengali Baishakh (April-May) month over Bengal. However the downdraft associated with the nor’wester brings cool air and temperature sometimes drops by as much as 8 to 9 degree Celsius and the atmosphere becomes comfortable for some period. This is an entirely different and positive aspect of nor’wester.The human comfortability depends upon many weather parameters apart from human physiological parameters. However the primary weather factors are air temperature and relative humidity especially for tropical areas. Many authors have worked on this and the well accepted formula for thermal index THI or Discomfort Index DI is taken from Thom (1957,1958) which is a function of dry bulb and wet bulb temperature i.e., THI or DI = 0.4 (Ta + Tw) + 15 where temperature is in ºF and is 0.72 (Ta + Tw) + 40.6 where temperature is in ºC. Various stages of comfortability are classified viz., (i) Discomfortable (ii) Partial discomfortable and (iii) Comfortable. Neglecting the effect of wind and further simplifying the equation for DI as a function of (Ta + Tw) the range varies from 27 to 55 in increasing order of temperature.During the pre-monsoon months when the climate over Kolkata is very sultry and uncomfortable, people generally desire the onset of nor’wester for some temporary relief although it results into destruction. The nor’wester makes the weather comfortable after its occurrence and remains comfortable for 10 to 12 hours and some time even for a day. The present study is made taking six years data over Kolkata, both Alipore and Dum Dum. It is seen that except early morning of March the remaining period of pre-monsoon season is found to be uncomfortable climatologically. In the present study there were 91 occasions of squalls and it is found that most of the squalls occurred during the month of April and May and on most of the occasions nor’wester made the weather comfortable for a large part of the day in the month of April. By the end of May nor’wester activity also brought relief but not to that extent as in March and April to the people of Kolkata and neighbourhood.

Modeling and Assessing Heat Transfer of Piglet Microclimates

High piglet pre-weaning mortality rates can be attributed to poor creep area microclimate resulting in negative productivity, welfare, and economic consequences. A piglet mechanistic steady-state thermal balance model was developed using previous models and expanded to assess (a) thermal interactions of multiple pigs and (b) conduction heat transfer. The piglet Effective Environment Temperature (EET) equation was also modified to incorporate piglet age (day 0 to 30) and a conduction heat transfer term. Model parameters were validated with empirical data consisting of the thermal component (dry-bulb temperature, Tdb; mean radiant temperature, TMR; airspeed, U; mat underside temperature, Tm) of the microclimate and dimension data of the piglets (i.e., body weight, length, height, width, and calculated surface area). Model results demonstrate that the common microclimate supplemental heat sources (heat mats and heat lamps; HL) can meet the needs of the piglets. The new EET was more consistent for a novel semi-enclosed heated microclimate (SEHM) in comparison to the HL. This demonstrates the benefit of precision technologies over manually adjusted supplemental heat sources. The experimental data and model results suggest further development of an ideal thermal index for piglet microclimates needs to account for variations of piglet health and body condition to be more applicable in industry.

Novel Drill Bit Analysis to Delay and Mitigate Fixed Cutter Thermal Damage

As oil and gas wells become deeper, drilling longer intervals is becoming a major milestone for drill bit companies, as the process comes with a variety of challenges affecting the durability of drill bits. Among the major challenges are thermal and impact damage in polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutters, which can significantly affect the performance and longevity of a drill bit. While cutter technology development remains an important arena to address said challenges, there exists a need to also address these through the design process. This paper presents the development and deployment of a new drill bit analysis method that addresses thermal damage by optimizing the design, which has been field validated across the globe. The analysis involves estimating the thermal input load and the available cooling rate for every cutter on a drill bit during drilling conditions. The data is then used to optimize and apply changes to the design. The analysis considers all the critical and relevant operational parameters to calculate these indices. The outcome of the so-called thermal index analysis enables the design team to make informed decisions to improve the design of the drill bit and to minimize the extent of thermal damage in cutters. The improvements made in the design include changes in cutting structure to affect cutting forces and, eventually, the thermal input load during the drilling process. This stage in practice can bring down the temperature of the cutting edge by 20%, as calculated analytically. Another major change that can affect the results is hydraulic design of the bit, which includes the location of the nozzles as well as their orientation and size. In test cases, the cooling rate improved by 50% while keeping the same flow rate though the bit. Several field trials have validated the correlation of thermal index analysis to drill bit dulls. This analysis is now in the field evaluation and testing phase, where it is being used during the design process to improve bits with thermal damage. The field-testing phase has been primarily conducted in thermally challenging applications across the Middle East, North Africa region, and in West Texas.

Predicting lipoabdominoplasty complications with infrared thermography: a delta-R analysis

The diagnosis of the main complications resulting from lipoabdominoplasty has not yet been standardized. Infrared thermal imaging has been used to assess possible complications, such as necrosis and changes in micro- and macro-circulation, based on perforator mapping techniques, among others. The objective of this study was to present two clinical cases involving thermal imaging monitoring of the healing process of lipoabdominoplasty in the immediate postoperative evaluation and its preliminary results. Infrared thermography was performed 24 hours after the operation and on postoperative days 5, 25, and 27. In clinical case 1, it was found that the delta-R (∆TR)–defined as the difference in minimum temperature between the highest and lowest points in the SA3 region (caution suction area) following the classification established by Matarasso–was 0.4°C at 24 hours after surgery and decreased to 0.1°C on a postoperative day 5. There were no complications in this case. In contrast, in clinical case 2, the ∆TR was 1.7°C at 24 hours after surgery (upon hospital discharge) and remained high, at 2.2°C, on postoperative day 5. A higher ∆TR was found in the second patient, who developed necrosis of the surgical wound. The ∆TR thermal index may be a new tool for predicting possible complications, complementing the clinical evaluation and therapeutic decision-making.

Thermal Index for early non-invasive assessment of brain injury in newborns treated with therapeutic hypothermia: preliminary report

Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is the 3rd most common cause of neonatal death and one of the most common causes of severe neurological impairments in children. Current tools and measurements mainly based on the analysis of clinical evaluation and laboratory and electrophysiological tests do not give consistent data allowing to predict the severity of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) until a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) score is performed. The aim of this work is to evaluate the usefulness of the new index, called Thermal Index (TI) in the assessment of the degree of brain damage in newborns in the course of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) due to PA. This was a prospective, observational, pilot study which did not require any changes in the applicable procedures. Analysis has been applied to six newborn babies treated with TH in Neonatal/Paediatric ICU in University Hospital in Opole in 2018 due to PA. They all met criteria for TH according to the current recommendations. Brain MRI was performed after the end of TH when the children were brought back to normal temperature, with the use of a 1.5 T scanner, using T1-, T2-weighted images, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), inversion recovery (IR), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). The images were assessed using MRI score according to the scoring system proposed by Weeke et al. The Thermal Index assessing endogenous heat production was calculated according to the formula proposed in this paper. A high, statistically significant positive correlation was found between MRI scores and TI values (0.98; p = 0.0003) in the 1st hour of therapy. High correlation with MRI assessment, the non-invasiveness of measurements and the availability of results within the first few hours of treatment, allow authors to propose the Thermal Index as a tool for early evaluating of the brain injury in newborns treated with TH. Further research is required to confirm the usefulness of the proposed method.

WATER STATUS EVALUATION OF MAIZE CULTIVARS USING AERIAL IMAGES

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the water status of maize cultivars through thermal and vegetation indexes generated from multispectral aerial images obtained from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and correlate them with physiological indicators and soil water contents. The application of three water regimes based on the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) (30%, 90%, and 150% ETo) was evaluated for two maize cultivars (AG-1051 and BRS-Caatingueiro). An UAV was used to acquire thermal and multispectral images. The indexes evaluated were CWSI, CI-G, CI-RE, CIV, NDVI and OSAVI, which were correlated with gas exchange and soil moisture measures. The CWSI present correlation with physiological indicators (stomatal conductance, transpiration, and net CO2 assimilation rate) that can be used to evaluate water status of maize plants. The multispectral vegetation indexes NDVI and OSAVI can replace the CWSI thermal index in water status evaluations for maize plants.