Thermal discomfort is one the major challenges during work in hot and/or humid environments like mines, foundries and arid/desert regions. Heat and moisture management is the key to prevent the workers from heat stress. Personnel protective garments alone are not sufficient to provide thermal neutrality. Auxiliary cooling garments are required to aid the process of human body cooling. This revi...

Some endemic shrubs in arid and semiarid ecosystems are in danger of extinction, and yet they can play useful roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems, thus practical efforts are needed to conserve them. The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., Amygdalus mongolica (Maxim.) Ricker and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. are endemic species in arid and semiarid regions of...

Contrary to wetlands or moderate climates, the understanding of carbon exchange between ecosystem and atmosphere in arid and semi-arid environments is more challenging due to the sensible feedback of terrestrial ecosystems to environmental variability. Especially in the savannah regions of South Africa the biomes are strongly affected on the one hand by low and sporadic precipitation and on the...

Iberus gualtieranus gualtieranus is an arid-dwelling land snail that needs to use karstic fissures as refuge in order to survive in arid environments. Karstic fissures are primarily on vertical rocky walls. Because displacement is costly to terrestrial gastropods, it is predictable that this snail will move on vertical substrates near its refuges. However, this species eats primarily phanerogam...

Treating perimeters of vegetation with residual insecticides for protection from mosquito vectors has potential for U.S. military force health protection. However, for current U.S. military operations in hot-arid environments with little or no vegetation, residual applications on portable artificial materials may be a viable alternative. We evaluated bifenthrin residual treatments of U.S. milit...

l. Standard metabolic rate of western plumed pigeons (Lophophups femginea) averages 088 ml 0, (g hr)-’ during summer. This rate and the rate of evaporative water loss by these birds at 25°C are well below levels anticipated for birds of comparable size (81 g). 2. Summer and late fall birds did not have significantly different minimal thermal conductances, the means for both approximating l-8 kc...

abstract this paper presents a robust approach using artificial neural networks in the form of a self organizing map (som) as a semi-automatic method for analysis and identification of morphometric features in two completely different environments, the man and biosphere reserve “eastern carpathians” (central europe) in a complex mountainous humid area and yardangs in lut desert, iran, a hyper a...

Available fresh water resources are subjected to an ever-increasing pressure due to extensive agricultural water demand for irrigated lands. A long-term perspective in shortage of fresh water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid area, highlights an urgent solution for innovative irrigation strategy and agricultural water management. This paper is a review on the wide applications of the ...

Some enchytraeid species of tropical, subtropical or Mediterranean origin can appear in artificial environments, e.g. green houses due to the worldwide commercial network. Since the used soil from green houses is often disposed outdoors, a question raised that these exotic enchytraeid species could survive under continental climate conditions. In this experiment two of the resettled green house...

Abstract This paper presents a robust approach using artificial neural networks in the form of a Self Organizing Map (SOM) as a semi-automatic method for analysis and identification of morphometric features in two completely different environments, the Man and Biosphere Reserve “Eastern Carpathians” (Central Europe) in a complex mountainous humid area and Yardangs in Lut Desert, Iran, a hyper...