JAPANESE JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY
Online ISSN : 1347-7617
Print ISSN : 0389-1313
ISSN-L : 0389-1313
Volume 39, Issue 4
Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles from this issue
Original Article
  • N MATSUBARA, R UENO, Y KURAZUMI, Y YAMATO, S MATSUBARA
    Article type: Original Article
    2003Volume 39Issue 4 Pages 79-92
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: April 18, 2003
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A study of window usage in residential buildings in Kyoto Japan was conducted. The results of the field investigation showed that there is a strong tendency to live with the window open, and the difference of this tendency does not differ significantly between generations. The opening rate of the windows in the living rooms were 35.1% in summer and 4.6% in winter. The opening area of the windows per floor area in the living room were 387cm2/m 2 in summer and 39cm2/m2 in winter. The main reason for opening windows in summer was to enhance thermal comfort, and the main motive in winter was to ventilate indoor air. These findings indicate that building occupants' behaviour in warm climate zones such as Kyoto's differs significantly from the assumption of airtightness used in many building thermal performance studies and energy calculations.
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  • Shoji YAMAMOTO, Mitsuru ANDO, Katsunori SATO
    Article type: Original Article
    2003Volume 39Issue 4 Pages 93-99
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: April 18, 2003
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Global warming is assumed to increase air temperature and the concentration of photochemical oxidants such as ozone (O3) in atmosphere. Concurrent exposure to these factors during the summer may affect on human health. To determine the effects of high air temperature and O3 on pulmonary antibacterial mechanisms and lung damage, BALB/cA mice were exposed to high temperatures (32°C, 35.5°C) for seven days followed by 0-0.5 ppm O3 for 24 h in the inhalation chamber. Then bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Proteus mirabilis in the lung, as well as the number and profile of free pulmonary cells, total protein (TP) content and lactate dehydrogenase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were assessed. Pulmonary bactericidal activity against S. aureus was significantly suppressed after exposure to 35.5°C or O3 compared with the control (23°C and clean air). Bactericidal activity was suppressed more in the group exposed to O3 with 35.5°C than in the groups exposed to either of the conditions alone. These findings indicated a synergistic effect of O3 and 35.5 °C on pulmonary bactericidal activity. The synergistic effect was not evident in the group exposed to 32°C plus O3. The numbers of alveolar macrophages (AMs) decreased at 35.5°C alone and at 35.5°C plus O3 but the differences between these groups were not significant. Exposure to 0.5 ppm of O3 with 35.5 °C seemed to worsen the pulmonary antibacterial defense mechanism compared with those groups exposed to 35.5°C or O3 alone, but these findings did not always parallel the numbers of AMs in the BAL fluid.
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  • Y KURAZUMI, T TSUCHIKAWA, K KAKUTANI, T TORII, N MATSUBARA, T HORIKOSH ...
    Article type: Original Article
    2003Volume 39Issue 4 Pages 101-106
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: April 18, 2003
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Kurazumi et al.(1994) paid attention to the change in the Japanese physique and the figure and proposed the calculation formula for the body surface area of the human body that made body height and weight a component. Kurazumi et al. measured the total body surface area, and about ten years passed through more. Though the human body continues a change by the various factors, I did the examination that could conform to the present Japanese adult as well that the calculation formula for the body surface area of the human body of Kurazumi et al. passed through about ten years. I measured the body surface area of the human body as a subject by six healthy adult men and women, and compared the body surface area calculated values with the results of actual measurement. As a result, as for the calculation formula of DuBois and Fujimoto-Watanabe, a significant difference was shown between the calculation value and the result of actual measurement, and made clear that it was necessary to pay attention to the use. On the other hand, as for the calculation formula of Kurazumi et al., the man of Kurazumi et al. and the woman of Kurazumi et al., a significant difference was not recognized between the calculation value and the result of actual measurement value, and it confirmed that it conformed with the actual measurement value.
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  • N NISHIHARA, Y HASEBE
    Article type: Original Article
    2003Volume 39Issue 4 Pages 107-120
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: April 18, 2003
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of local cooling stimulation in the various parts of the human body. The experiments were carried out with eight healthy female volunteers. Skin temperature and heat flux from the human body were measured and thermal sensations were voted. The experimental clothing was a coverall type garment, which could be removed partially at each region of neck, breast, back, upper arm, forearm, thigh and leg. Each exposed area was 400 cm2. The thermal insulation of this clothing was 1.69 clo. By removing each part of the clothing, each subject was locally exposed to the room air environment that was conditioned at a globe temperature of 18.2°C, 50%RH and still air. During the experiment, skin temperatures and heat flux from the human body were measured every 1min. Local skin temperature and local thermal sensation during exposure at the neck were higher than other parts. The decrease rate of neck skin temperature during exposure was the smallest. However, local cooling stimulation of the neck was the most influential in lowering the unexposed skin temperature and thermal sensation of the whole body. At the neck, chest, and back, the increase rate of heat flux from human body during 1 min after starting exposure was about 70 W/m2 and it was higher than that at the extremities.
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Note
  • A NAEMURA, T YOSHIKAWA, K SATOH, Y DOKIYA
    Article type: Note
    2003Volume 39Issue 4 Pages 121-125
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: April 18, 2003
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Chemical species of bulk precipitation, throughfall and stemflow of Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) were studied at the Field Museum Chichibu (FM Chichibu) and the Field Museum Tama Hills (FM Tama Hills). The pH in throughfall at FM Chichibu was high presumably due to neutralization by cations such as K+. On the other hand, the pH of the stemflow was low at FM Tama Hills, and it was supposed due to the large presence of NO3- and nss-SO 42-. It is suggested that inorganic nitrogen levels in throughfall and stemflow are high because the dry deposition such as aerosols adding inorganic nitrogen to precipitation has been increasing over the last 25 years in the FM Tama Hills.
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