Heat stress as a physical harmful agent can increase the risk of health and safety problems in different workplaces such as mining. Although there are diff

Low power, low-cost, and high-speed photonic links are required in data centers. After significant research and development work over the last few years, silicon photonics has become a promising candidate to provide this technology. The receiver is one of the critical components for a photonic link. In this paper, we report recent progress in receiver technology on the silicon-on-insulator platform, particularly regarding its application to links that utilize wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). First, we discuss the key building blocks for WDM receivers: echelle grating demultiplexers and high-speed Ge photodetectors. We then report on the demonstration of a Terabit/s WDM receiver chip through monolithic integration of 40 high-speed Ge photodiodes with a 40-channel dense wavelength division multiplexing echelle grating. The device demonstrates that silicon photonics is a key technology to enable low-power and low-cost data center applications.

Background: The aim of this research was to assess the Humidex (HD) trends as a thermal discomfort index by analyzing meteorological data during a 30-year period of summertime in Iran. Methods: For this purpose, data regarding average temperature and relative humidity were collected daily from 40 different synoptic meteorological stations during a 30-year statistical period (1985-2014). The HD index was calculated based on temperature and relative humidity according to an equation introduced by Masterton and Richardson. The Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope tests were performed to analyze the changing trend of the HD. Results: Based on the findings, in 72% of the meteorological stations, the HD followed an upward trend, so that 40% of them was statistically significant. The changing trends in temperature during summertime throughout the studied years fluctuated greatly but generally, in many regions such as the arid, semi-arid, and humid regions, this trend was mostly incremental. Also, the changing trends in relative humidity in all regions was decremental throughout the years under study. Conclusion: The changing trend of the HD, which is based on temperature and humidity, was incremental in arid and semi-arid regions and decremental in the Mediterranean and humid regions.

The present study aims to assess seasonal trends in thermal comfort and heat stress indices for outdoor occupations over a 15‐year period using the Iranian Meteorological Organization's database for Sari, Iran. Hourly and daily meteorological data including temperature, wind speed, cloudiness, relative humidity and vapor pressure measurements for Sari city from 2000 to 2014 are used. The wet‐bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and universal thermal climate index (UTCI) are calculated, along with thermal comfort indices including physiological equivalent temperature (PET), standard effective temperature (SET) and predicted mean vote (PMV).The highest and lowest mean monthly air temperature values for the 15‐year period were recorded for August (27.55 ± 0.57°C) and January (7.9 ± 0.68°C), respectively. The highest and lowest mean monthly relative humidity values were observed for December (81.2 ± 2.6%) and August (73.7 ± 1.94%), respectively. The strongest correlations were found between all of the thermal comfort and heat stress indices under study and air temperature (r = 0.97–0.99; P < 0.001), as well as all indices and mean radiant temperature (r = 0.96–0.98; P < 0.001). Strong significant correlations were observed between all heat stress and thermal comfort indices (r > 0.93; P < 0.001). The use of meteorological data can enable the prediction of physiologically stressful conditions via knowledge of the strong positive correlation between heat stress and certain physiological indices, as highlighted in this study.