Paul D. Reneau

Bio: Paul D. Reneau is an academic researcher from Tennessee Wesleyan College. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 8 citations.

A comparison of physiological responses to two types of particle barrier, vapor permeable clothing ensembles

Abstract: Chemical protective clothing (PC) use while working results in elevated rectal temperatures (Tre) that limit work time. Particle barrier, vapor permeable (PBVP) PCs allow workers to cool themselves by evaporating some sweat. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects on worker productivity of two types of PBVP suits, a Kleenguard® (PPPC) (Kimberly Clark), and a Tyvek® (PEPC) (DuPont) suit. Fifteen males in a repeated measures design performed four work tests consisting of a walk/arm curl combination at a time-weighted work rate of 1.0 L/min (300 kcal/hr), two in a wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 26°C and two in a WBGT of 18°C, with subjects wearing each suit once in each environment. No significant difference (p>.05) was observed between the suits at 18°C WBGT, but a significant difference was found (p<.05) between the suits, with the PPPC having a lower Tre in the WBGT=26°C at the 80th, 100th, and 120th min. A significant difference (p<.05) was also seen in the 26°C WBGT with the PPPC resu...

Validation of a Questionnaire for Heat Strain Evaluation in Women Workers

Abstract: Introduction: Physiological, anthropometrical and thermal perceptual are the most important factors affecting thermoregulation of men and women in workplaces. The purpose of this study was determining the validity of a questionnaire method for assessing women’s heat strain in workplaces. Methods: This cross‑sectional study was carried out on 96 healthy women. Data were continuously collected over a period of 3 months (July-September) in 2012. Mean ± (SD) of age was found to be 31.5 ± 7.48 years, of height 1.61 ± 0.05 m, of weight 61.55 ± 10.35 kg, and of body mass index 23.52 ± 3.75 kg/m2 in different workplaces. Heart rate and oral temperature were measured by heart rate monitoring and a medical digital thermometer, respectively. Subjects completed a draft questionnaire about the effective factors in the onset of heat strain. After collecting the questionnaires, the data were analyzed by applying Cronbach’s a calculation, factor analysis method, Pearson correlation and receiver operator characteristic curves using the SPSS 18 software. Results: The value for Cronbach’s a was found to be 0.68. The factor analysis method on items of draft questionnaire extracted three subscale (16 variables) which they explained 63.6% of the variance. According to the results of receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, the cut‑off questionnaire score for separating people with heat strain from people with no heat strain was obtained to be 17. Conclusions: The results of this research indicated that this quantitative questionnaire has an acceptable reliability and validity, and a cut‑off point. Therefore it could be used in the preliminary screening of heat strain in women in warm workplaces, when other heat stress evaluation methods are not available. Keywords: Heat strain, questionnaire, women

Interactions between protection and thermal comfort

Abstract: Over a period of several decades, the development of protective clothing aimed at improving the barrier effect of the garment. The clothing was supposed ideally to shield the body from external influences. In the last years, ergonomics and physiological considerations have become more and more important, as it was realized that the acceptance of uncomfortable clothing by the users was sometimes very low and the protective clothing was therefore not worn in many cases. Working with uncomfortable and bulky clothing increases the heat stress of the wearer; apart from heat-related diseases like cardiovascular problems, it may cause a reduction in cognitive and physical performance. Therefore, the demands of protection and comfort are often contradictory and the goal of protective clothing is to offer the highest level of protection and the best possible comfort. This chapter discusses the contradictory requirements of thermal comfort and protection of protective clothing. It presents the methods to measure the interactions between thermal and moisture transport and evaluates the thermo-physiological impact of the clothing on the human body. The development of new test methods for the assessment of thermo-physiological parameters will proceed in several directions; industry needs very simple, inexpensive test methods for quality control and marketing purposes. However, these methods should be able to rank different products regarding their thermal comfort performance and therefore, one of the main tasks in the development of such tests will be their link to practice.

Optimal Experimental Design for Human Thermoregulatory System Identification

Abstract: Rollins et al . (2006) proposed a block-oriented modelling (BOM) approach for obtaining human thermoregulatory models for individual subjects. The objective of this approach is to obtain a library of model structures that map input changes such as humidity, ambient temperature, exercise, and so on, to dynamic thermoregulatory responses such the core temperature, skin temperature, muscle temperature, sweat rate and so on. These model structures will be categorized by human attributes and environmental conditions. To obtain this library of model structures a huge amount of experimentation in environmental chambers will be required to determine how the structures vary over the enormous input space. Thus, it is critical that experimental time is minimized. Using a D-optimality criterion, this article presents an experimental design approach that reduced the experimental time by 70% in comparison to the design in (Rollins et al ., 2006).