The present study investigates the thermal response of individuals whose forearms were subjected to severe cold stimulation and how it is influenced by the personal and physiological characteristics. So, the hands’ transient thermal responses of 89 individuals (male) was observed by thermography imaging technique. Then, statistical analysis was employed to establish an experimental relationships to estimate the thermal response time of the subjects with different individual and physiological conditions. The results showed that among the 9 individual and physiological parameters (age, vascular fat, muscle percentage, fat percentage, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and fasting time), only four independent parameters including internal fat, body mass index, systolic blood pressure and fasting time are significant related to the response time. Also, using multivariate linear regression, a relationship was developed to estimate the thermal response time of the subjects against cold stimulation. This relationship indicates that the response time of the obese can be up to 20% higher than that of the lean subjects. In addition, the results shows that for each one hour after the last meal, the thermal response of the body is slower about 1%.

Up to now، lots of thermal comfort models have been introduced to predict human being’s body thermal response to the changes in personal and environmental conditions. Among them، Gagge’s model because of its ability in estimating body physiological responses and thermal sensation in transient conditions has turned to one of the most used thermal comfort models. Although، this model uses transient mechanisms to determine body core and skin temperatures، but yet، simplified assumptions including steady heat and moisture transfer through clothing and disregarding thermal and mass inertia in the clothing is used in its structure. This study، by investigating various mechanisms of heat and moisture transfer in the clothing (steady heat and mass transfer، transient heat transfer-steady mass transfer، transient heat transfer-semi transient mass transfer) tries to compare upcoming results of these models with those of experiments. It was declared that considering transient heat transfer along with semi transient mass transfer in the clothing have positive effects on the results.

Densification of biomass materials such as briquette improves the management properties of materials for transportation, storage, and so on. This study aimed to determine the optimal conditions of the briquette production process using a hydraulic press from the combination of bagasse and walnut shell using response surface methodology. The effects of independent variables including bagasse particle size (PS), process temperature (PT), bagasse moisture content (MC), and the composition ratio percentage of the walnut shell to bagasse (CR) were evaluated at three levels on the response variables of the density and tensile strength. The calorific value of the briquette was determined through validated linear and nonlinear equations of the high heat value using the proximate analysis of volatiles, fixed carbon, and ash. The results showed that by decreasing the moisture content of bagasse particles, the density and tensile strength of the briquette increased. Adding walnut shell particles to the briquette produced with the size of fine particles reduces tensile strength. The briquette production significantly reduced the percentage of volatile materials relative to their biomass and increased the percentage of fixed carbon. The calorific value of the raw material sample relative to the briquette produced increased from 16 to 22 MJ/kg. The optimal values of the density and tensile strength of briquettes were equal to 867.847 kg/m3 and 1.356 MPa, respectively at the CR of 5%, PS less than 1.18 mm, MC content of 7%, and PT of 360 °C. At this condition, the calorific value of 22 MJ/kg was obtained.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer constitutes and 75% of all cancers in the world. Malignant melanoma is the most invasive and lethal form of skin cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate infrared thermography in differentiation of benign and malignant skin lesions. This study was conducted on 120 patients (60 female، 60 male) with a lesion suspicious for melanoma and identifying the type of lesion (benign or malignant) based on thermal model using Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering. In this imaging method، the difference on temperature responses between the normal and abnormal tissue was compared and data obtained was compared with biopsy results. In 120 cases studied، 3 cases of skin cancer (2 male، 1 female) were found which all could be detected based on analysis of thermal images. At present، new methods for the detection of skin cancer، especially non-invasive diagnostic tools، have been discovered in several laboratories. The method presented in this paper could be considered as a non-invasive and cost effective method for the detection of skin cancer.

In the present study, a new thermal comfort model based on cutaneous thermoreceptors has been developed by using non-Fourier heat transfer in biological tissue. The new model considers the concept of finite propagation speed of thermal disturbance by using non-Fourier equations. Since biological tissues consist of complicated and nonhomogeneous structure, the heat process is different from other materials. The dual phase lag (DPL) bioheat transfer model describes two time relaxations is a case of non-Fourier heat transfer application in biological tissue. In this study, the mentioned model has been utilized to evaluate the temperature distribution at the depth of skin thermoreceptors. The new thermal comfort model has been verified by comparisons with experimental data where a good agreement has found. As thermal response of the human cutaneous thermoreceptors depends on temperature and its change rate at the depth of thermoreceptors; therefore, it is very important to estimate these parameters with a good accuracy. In this paper, the previous models improved and effect of non-Fourier heat transfer on temperature derivative is investigated. It is found that the DPL model has a significant effect on change rate of temperature and thermal response of cutaneous thermoreceptors.

Thermal comfort is one of the comfort aspects in current architectural design and can be changed by various components. Researchers emphasize that early thermal comfort studies relying on climate and environmental aspects can only justify a  part of the results. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the effect of other components. Effective components could be found in physical, physiological, psychological, social, environmental, and economic aspects. So, thermal comfort can be influenced by inner and outer factors. Regarding the research literature and the variety of effective components in thermal comfort, there is a lack of research on this subject. In addition, researchers believe many relations between these components should be considered in thermal comfort studies. Therefore, as a part of a larger study, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of personal, environmental, and social components on thermal comfort. This study aims to clarify the individual and social components affecting the perception of thermal comfort to provide solutions to improve the design of office spaces. So, there are two questions: First, what are the personal and social factors affecting the perception of thermal comfort? And second, which scale is better for predicting thermal comfort based on these components?

In this regard, a field study (including questionnaire, observation, and on-site measurement for recording climatic data using thermal sensors) was conducted in winter in a main administrative office building of Shiraz University. Questionnaires were designed to gather some of the personal components (such as age, gender, height, weight, and adaptive behaviors); social components (including education and degree level, the field of study, and position); and thermal scales (thermal sensation, thermal comfort, thermal satisfaction, thermal preference, thermal acceptability, and overall thermal comfort). Blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature as the personal components were measured using a related standard device. Clothing and activity types were recorded and then changed into a quantitative scale. The data loggers also record the indoor air temperature and relative humidity. The field study was conducted in January 2019 for four consecutive days from 8 am to 12 pm. In total, there were 110 measurement subjects. Finally, 108 were identified as useful in the analysis by eliminating incomplete questionnaires. The main administrative building is located on the northern side of Shiraz, Iran (52.52°N, 29.63°E). The 138920 m2 building is oriented in the northwest and southeast in two blocks (with seven and ten stores). The two building blocks have some differences in constructional details and interior design. There was no compulsion to participate, and oral and short-form written consent was considered with no restrictions on participants to have freedom of their usual work day.

The collected data were imported into SPSS software. A total of 22 statistical analyses were performed, including descriptive and inferential statistics (linear and multiple linear regression, Univariate ANOVA). This study selected the correlation coefficients based on the variables scale. So, Spearman, Pearson, and Eta correlation have been used to show the strength of the relations. In this study, 108 subjects participated, including 41 women and 66 men (one person did not mention gender). The age group varies from 24 to 60 years. Most of the age group is in the 31-45 range. These individuals weigh between 50 and 120 kg and have a height of 1.55 to 1.86 meters. The average body temperature was 36°C, the mean blood pressure was 126 with a minimum of 87 and a maximum of 183, and the heart rate was also in the range of 49 to 98. The average indoor air temperature during the four days of study was 23.67°C, and the average relative humidity was 24.86%. The indoor globe temperature was very close to the air temperature (23.50°C). The average outdoor temperature was 15.2°C, and the average relative humidity was 34.9%. The thermal response was considered with nine different thermal scales on the 3,5, and 7-point Likert scale. The average of each response was as follows: Thermal sensation vote (TSV)= -0.4; Thermal comfort=6; Thermal pleasure= 4.78; Temperature preferences= 0.3’ Humidity preferences= -0.18; Velocity preferences= -0.35; Radiation preferences=-0.32; Thermal acceptance= 0.85; & overall thermal comfort= 4.94.

The results show that the impact of social components is negligible. However, participants in double and multiple office rooms had better thermal comfort status than in single office rooms. So, if these criteria are considered during the design process, it can help to improve the indoor environmental quality. Regarding the personal components, body mass index and clothing value are the two most influential factors. It is very important to make different thermal adaptation strategies for the occupants to have a right to choose any of them. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be considered for the components needed to provide comfortable conditions in both human resource management and architectural design. In this study, the thermal preference is an appropriate scale for predicting occupants’ thermal needs based on environmental and personal components. The thermal comfort range was calculated based on Griffith’s methods and was 21-26°C. It is very important to know that people feel neutral based on the thermal sensation vote in most office buildings. Still, they usually need temperature, humidity, air velocity, and radiation changes. So in architecture or mechanical engineering, we should not merely rely on thermal sensation vote to decide on heating or cooling setpoints. So, if the setpoint of the studied office building changes from 25°C to 23.6°C, we can anticipate at least a 10 percent reduction in energy consumption. People can adapt to different situations, making them flexible and resilient. But designers should be aware that this adaptation process needs more effort and, of course, more mental, psychological, and physical energy that can reduce occupant’s productivity.

design equipment and facilities to dry, preserve and process pomegranates, it is To necessary to know their specific heat and thermal conductivity. The objectives of this study were to determine the specific heat and thermal conductivity of pomegranates and -The effects of moisture content (15 mathematical estimation models for them. develop 75% w.b.) and temperature (5-20°C) on the thermal properties of pomegranates (Alak variety) were studied. Specific heat was measured using the mixtures method. The thermal conductivity was measured using a line heat source probe for pomegranate exocarps and The results showed that an mesocarps and the bare-wire transient method for the seeds. increase in moisture content and temperature produced a linear increase in the specific 0.931 to 3.066 kJ/kg°C for mesocarps, and heat from 1.127 to 2.789 kJ/kg°C for seeds, 1.516 to 3.411 kJ/kg°C for exocarps. Thermal conductivity increased from 0.1524 to 0.4218 W/m°C for seeds, 0.148 to 0.451 W/m°C for mesocarps and 0.131 to 0.4204 W/m°C for exocarps as moisture content and temperature increased. However, the effect of moisture content was greater than the effect of temperature on specific heat and thermal conductivity. The empirical equations for these thermal properties were subsequently expressed as a function of moisture content and temperature.

Generally, most of the human thermal response models are dependent upon a narrow range of personal/environmental parameters. In other words, the effects of other parameters such as eating foods are not considered in these models. On the other hand, previous studies have indicated that the overall thermal condition of the body can be significantly affected by eating cold or hot foods. In the present study, the time-dependent thermal response of the human body is simulated with considering the effect of eating hot/cold food. This simulation is performed by adding an extra term to Gagge’s transient model. In this study, three thermal conditions of the human body (hot, neutral and cold) are considered and the effects of eating hot/cold food are investigated under the mentioned conditions. Results indicate that the effects of eating hot or cold food are not negligible during the eating time and also in a period of time after that. At the neutral condition, the human thermal sensation is more sensitive to hot food than to cold ones. Eating hot food changes the body thermal sensation from neutral to hot. But, eating cold food would not make significant changes in the thermal sensation of the body. Results also show that cold food changes the body core temperature more than hot food. While hot food influences the skin temperature significantly.

Increasing exploitation of aquatic resources for optimal use of fisheries wastes like fish’s skin and production of by-products of its, has appropriated various activities to itself that can refer to supplying the leather from aquatics’ skin. In this research the effect of using Spirulina and Mimosa extracts on the process of leather production from Acipenser baerii’s skin was studied. Treatments included treatment A (tanning with methanolic extract of Spirulina), treatment B (tanning with watery extract of Spirulina) and treatment C (tanning with Mimosa).The experiments to investigate the quality of produced leather included tensile strength, stitching strength, abrasion stability, color stability,thermal resistance and adhesion stability. In treatment A, the skin became worn out after tanning process and by performing thermal test, the appearance of the skin wrinkled and had visible changes that indicated the lack of tanning power of the algae’s methanolic extract. In treatment B, due to the absence of the decay in appearance after tanning process, the sample was tasted under the thermal resistance test for more investigation of tanning power of the extract, which like the skin A, the appearance of the skin completely changed, and tissue shrinkage occurred in the heat. The best quality was observed in treatment C. Due to the great tanning power of Mimosa the skin got out of normal state and turned into leather. This treatment was first subjected to thermal test in order to ensure complete tanning and then the mentioned experiments were carried out to check the quality of produced leather.