Peter Bröde

Leibniz Research Center for Working Enviroment and Human Factors | IFADO

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is essential for sustained work ability in good health, but declines with aging, as does the functionality of the immune system, the latter process commonly referred to as immunosenescence. This study aimed to compare the capacity of immunosenescence biomarkers with chronological age for predicting low CRF in a cross...

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is essential for sustained work ability in good health, but declines with aging as does the functionality of the immune system, the latter process commonly referred to as immunosenescence. This study aimed to compare the capacity of immunosenescence biomarkers with chronological age for predicting low CRF in a cross-...

In a series of three companion papers published in this Journal, we identify and validate the available thermal stress indicators (TSIs). In this first paper of the series, we conducted a systematic review (registration: INPLASY202090088) to identify all TSIs and provide reliable information regarding their use (funded by EU Horizon 2020; HEAT-SHIE...

BACKGROUND As employees age, their physical and mental abilities decline and work ability (WA) decreases, enhancing the risk for long-term sick leave or even premature retirement. However, the relative impact of biological and environmental determinants on WA with increasing age is still poorly understood in their complexity. OBJECTIVE Previous re...

For time- and cost-efficient heat stress assessment procedures at workplaces or in experimental studies, short-time measurement periods (e.g. 1 h) are sometimes employed in lieu of whole shift observations assuming that the short time period will provide valid figures of equilibrium physiological responses. We studied the influence of exposure dura...

Neutralizing antibodies against SARS‐CoV‐2 are important to protect against infection and/or disease. Using an assay to detect antibodies directed against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike, we identified individuals with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection after an outbreak at a local health institution. All but one COVID‐19 patient developed...

In a series of three companion papers published in this Journal, we identify and validate the available thermal stress indicators (TSIs). In this second paper of the series, we identified the criteria to consider when adopting a TSI to protect individuals who work in the heat, and we weighed their relative importance using a Delphi exercise with 20...

Purpose Over the last few decades, a global increase in both cold and heat extremes has been observed with significant impacts on human mortality. Although it is well-identified that older individuals (> 65 years) are most prone to temperature-related mortality, there is no consensus on the effect of sex. The current study investigated if sex diffe...

BACKGROUND Previous research revealed a number of biological and environmental factors modulating cognitive functioning over a human’s lifespan. However, the relationships and interactions between biological factors, such as genetic polymorphisms, immunological parameters, metabolic products or infectious diseases, and environmental factors, like l...

Background: Previous research revealed several biological and environmental factors modulating cognitive functioning over a human's lifespan. However, the relationships and interactions between biological factors (eg, genetic polymorphisms, immunological parameters, metabolic products, or infectious diseases) and environmental factors (eg, lifesty...

Introduction After the acute treatment phase, breast cancer patients often experience low quality of life and impaired mental health, which could potentially be improved by offering cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and addressing exercise and dietary habits. However, CBT and other behavioural interventions are rarely available beyond the acute t...

Despite the high stress levels, paramedics seem to ignore or even negate the stress. This can be detrimental and lead to stress-related diseases. Therefore, we investigated the divergence between physiological and psychological stress responses of paramedics. Participants were 16 paramedics and 17 white-collar workers. We assessed psychological str...

This study examines the impacts of climate change on future mortality in the Netherlands and the related economic costs. Our methods account for changes in both cold- and heat-related mortality for different age classes, the time dynamics associated with temperature-related mortality, demographic change and the urban heat island effect. Results sho...

Natural Killer (NK) cell responses are regulated by a variety of different surface receptors. While we can determine the overall positive or negative effect of a given receptor on NK cell functions, investigating NK cell regulation in a quantitative way is challenging. To quantitatively investigate individual receptors for their effect on NK cell a...

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an autosomal-recessive disorder of the iron metabolism. Patients are typically affected by dysregulated iron levels, which can lead to iron accumulation within essential organs, such as liver, heart and pancreas. Furthermore, many HH patients are also afflicted by several immune defects and increased occurrence of...

It is essentially unknown how humans adapt or will adapt to heat stress caused by climate change over a long-term interval. A possible indicator of adaptation may be the minimum mortality temperature (MMT), which is defined as the mean daily temperature at which the lowest mortality occurs. Another possible indicator may be the heat sensitivity, i....

Heat acclimation (HA) is an essential modifier of physiological strain when working or exercising in the heat. It is unknown whether HA influences the increase of energy expenditure (Q10 effect) or heart rate (thermal cardiac reactivity TCR) due to increased body temperature. Therefore, we studied these effects using a heat strain database of clima...

The standard ISO 8996 provides methods for the determination of metabolic rate from measured oxygen consumption (MVO2), as well as simplified estimation algorithms based on heart rate (MHR). We quantified the accuracy of these methods by comparing MHR with MVO2 measured in 373 climatic chamber experiments under different workloads and widely varyin...

The (r)evolution in modern sensing and computing technologies (price, compact size, flexibility and stretchability) is making it possible to continuously measure signals in real-time from human body using wearable technologies and smart clothing. Many advanced and accurate mechanistic thermoregulation models, such as the ‘Fiala thermal Physiology a...

Burnout is a syndrome occurring mainly in individuals with long-term stressful work. The main complaints are emotional exhaustion and reduced performance. Burnout also largely overlaps with depression. Both are characterized by increased incidence of infections due to dysregulation of the immune system, overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines...

With a view to occupational effects of climate change, we performed a simulation study on the influence of different heat stress assessment metrics on estimated workability (WA) of labour in warm outdoor environments. Whole-day shifts with varying workloads were simulated using as input meteorological records for the hottest month from four cities...

We investigate acclimatization effects on outdoor thermal perception. Steady-state conditions were ensured by a prolonged stay of participants (N = 16) in a test chamber prior to the subjects' exposure to outdoors, i.e. after five consecutive hours under thermal comfort conditions indoors. After that, subjects walked in a controlled pace around the...

Aimed at climate-responsive urban design for tropical areas, the paper attempts to answer the question whether the site-related context affects in some way the perceptual assessment of the microclimate by users of outdoor spaces. Our hypothesis was that visual cues resulting from urban design are important components of the outdoor thermal percepti...

The thermal effects related to wearing headgear are complex and different studies have investigated single parts of this topic. This review aims at summarizing the different findings to give a complete overview on this topic as well as to suggest new perspectives. Headgear increases head insulation and therefore is mainly problematic under warm con...

The interference of thermal history in a person's thermal perception has been explored by several authors and this has been one of the pillars of the concept of adaptive comfort. Given that a general trend towards a more frequent usage and ownership of air-conditioning (AC) units or central systems is taking place worldwide, and considering the fac...

The thermal effects related to wearing headgear are complex and different studies have investigated single parts of this topic. This review aims at summarizing the different findings to give a complete overview on this topic as well as to suggest new perspectives. Headgear increases head insulation and therefore is mainly problematic under warm con...

This paper presents an application of the Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI to studies of regional variability in human-biometeorological conditions. The variability in question was assessed by reference to selected meteorological stations representing Central and Southern Europe, i.e. Kołobrzeg, Warsaw and Świeradów (in Poland), Prague, Budapes...

Urban landscapes can mitigate impacts from global warming, improving outdoor comfort conditions, when well designed and planned, according to principles from Bioclimatic Architecture and from a climate-responsive urban planning perspective. Methodologies for the assessment of indoor thermal environments through field studies are described in inter...

The growing need for valid assessment procedures of the outdoor thermal environment in the fields of public weather services, public health systems, urban planning, tourism & recreation and climate impact research raised the idea to develop the Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI based on the most recent scientific progress both in thermo-physiolo...

Calculation of evaporative heat loss is essential to heat balance calculations. Despite recognition that the value for latent heat of evaporation, used in these calculations, may not always reflect the real cooling benefit to the body, only limited quantitative data on this is available which has found little use in recent literature. In this exper...

The assessment of the thermal environment is one of the main issues in bioclimatic research, and more than 100 simple bio-climatic indices have thus far been developed to facilitate it. However, most of these indices have proved to be of limited ap-plicability, and do not portray the actual impacts of thermal conditions on human beings. Indices der...

We introduce here the structure and elements to the recently-developed Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), as well as operational procedure relating to it. This is then followed by a demonstration of how the UTCI can be applied to bioclimatic surveys, using data from a study carried out in the sub-tropical urban area of Curitiba, Brazil. The em...

The effect of exposure time on the percentage of people dissatisfied with draft was studied by exposing subjects to the airflow for 1 h. The results showed that the percentage of subjects dissatisfied with draft increased dramatically in the first 20 min of the exposure, then changed slowly in the last 40 min of the exposure. Based on the experimen...

We present a comparative analysis of outdoor human thermal sensation against predictions with the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) for two sets of data collected in Curitiba, Brazil (subtropical climate in elevation) and in Glasgow, UK (maritime temperate climate). Surveys took place during daytime in pedestrian areas with microclimate measur...

Under the assumption that urban planning and alterations in open spaces are able to promote the improvement of outdoor thermal conditions and thus positively influence the use of open spaces, a survey was conducted to analyse the thermal comfort of passers-by in pedestrian streets in Curitiba, Paraná. This article aims to define ranges of thermal c...

In this study we examine the determination accuracy of both the mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) within the scope of numerical weather prediction (NWP), and global (GCM) and regional (RCM) climate model simulations. First, Tmrt is determined and the so-called UTCI-Fiala model is then used for the calcul...

The aim of this paper was to build a model to predict human's responses to draft by considering the effect of metabolic rate and activity level. Human's responses to draft were judged by percentage of subjects who were dissatisfied due to draft (PD). A regression model was built from data of two experiments. This model was compared with the other t...

RESUMO Reconhecendo que o planejamento e/ou a readequação urbana de espaços abertos são capazes de promover a melhoria das condições térmicas exteriores, e assim, influenciar positivamente o uso de espaços abertos, foi realizada uma pesquisa para analisar o conforto térmico de transeuntes em ruas pedestres em Curitiba, Paraná. Este artigo tem como...

The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) aimed for a one-dimensional quantity adequately reflecting the human physiological reaction to the multi-dimensionally defined actual outdoor thermal environment. The human reaction was simulated by the UTCI-Fiala multi-node model of human thermoregulation, which was integrated with an adaptive clothing mo...

The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was conceived as a thermal index covering the whole climate range from heat to cold. This would be impossible without considering clothing as the interface between the person (here, the physiological model of thermoregulation) and the environment. It was decided to develop a clothing model for this applica...

Recognising that modifications to the physical attributes of urban space are able to promote improved thermal outdoor conditions and thus positively influence the use of open spaces, a survey to define optimal thermal comfort ranges for passers-by in pedestrian streets was conducted in Curitiba, Brazil. We applied general additive models to study t...

The UTCI-Fiala mathematical model of human temperature regulation forms the basis of the new Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTC). Following extensive validation tests, adaptations and extensions, such as the inclusion of an adaptive clothing model, the model was used to predict human temperature and regulatory responses for combinations of the pr...

In COST Action 730, a multi-segmental thermophysiological model was used to describe physiological strain reactions for different climatic conditions in order to develop a 'Universal Thermal Climate Index' (UTCI). UTCI predictions for warm climates were compared with empirical data from the laboratory tests. The comparison was performed by means of...

The aim of this paper was to build a model to predict human's responses to draft by considering the effect of metabolic rate and activity level. Human's responses to draft were judged by percentage of subjects who were dissatisfied due to draft (PD). A regression model was built from data of two experiments. This model was compared with the other t...

Within the recently completed European COST Action 730, the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was made available as operational procedure for assessing the outdoor thermal environment in the core fields of human biometeorology (Bröde et al. 2010). The aim of UTCI was to characterize the thermal stress defined by the combined influence of air t...

During the last century about 100 indices were developed to assess influences of the atmosphere on human being. However, most of them have not close relationships with physiological reactions in man. In 1999 International Society of Biometeorology established special study group do develop new Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Since 2005 thes...

Kurzfassung: Die Reliabilität der Bekleidungsisolationsmessung mit Thermopuppen (TP) wurde in einem Ringversuch und ihre Validität, insbesondere hinsichtlich der Einwirkung von Wärmestrahlung, durch den Vergleich mit Wärmebilanzrechnungen bei Probanden-Versuchen geprüft. Die Messungen wiesen mit einer relativen intra-individuellen Standardabweichun...

Starting from 1999, in the frame of International Society of Biometeorology special study group is working do develop new Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Since 2005 these efforts have been reinforced by the COST Action 730 of the European Science Foundation (ESF) in order to achieve significant progress in deriving such an index. The new UT...

Zarys treści. W ciągu ostatnich stu lat opracowano kilkadziesiąt różnych wskaźników oce-niających oddziaływanie środowiska atmosferycznego na człowieka. Większość z nich nie ma bezpośredniego odniesienia do reakcji fizjologicznych zachodzących w organizmie pod wpływem zmieniających się warunków termicznych otoczenia. W latach 1990. powstały tzw. wi...

The heat transferred through protective clothing under long wave radiation compared to a reference condition without radiant stress was determined in thermal manikin experiments. The influence of clothing insulation and reflectivity, and the interaction with wind and wet underclothing were considered. Garments with different outer materials and col...

Acclimation as an adaptive response of the human body to repeatedly occurring heat stress causes a reduction of core temperature ( co) and heart rate (HR) at the end of heat exposure. The analysis of three acclimation series (WBGT =33.5°C) showed that the lowering of Tco and HR occurred already in the resting period preceding heat stress. The lower...

Noise-induced alterations of autonomic functions during sleep are suspected to bear a pathogenetic potential. If so, this is highly relevant for people living near airports, along major roads or railway tracks. This paper concerns heart rate (HR) responses to transportation noise and the impact of acoustic parameters, situational and individual inf...

Heart rate (HR) response to traffic noise during sleep and the influence of traffic mode, acoustic parameters, time of night, and momentary sleep stage on these responses were analyzed. Twelve women and 12 men (19-28 yrs) slept in three consecutive weeks four nights each in the laboratory. The four nights of each week consisted of a random sequence...

The growing need for valid assessment procedures of the outdoor thermal environment in the fields of public weather services, public health systems, urban planning, tourism & recreation and climate impact research raised the idea to develop the Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI based on the most recent scientific progress both in thermo-physiolo...

In order to assess the non-evaporative components of the reduced thermal insulation of wet clothing, experiments were performed with a manikin and with human subjects in which two layers of underwear separated by an impermeable barrier were worn under an impermeable overgarment at 20 degrees C, 80% RH and 0.5 ms(-1) air velocity. By comparing manik...

SUMMARY Sleep disturbances caused by noise and other environmental influences are usually rather moderate but have a rather typical pattern with reduced times in slow-wave- sleep (SWS) and in REM-sleep, with delays of sleep onset and of the first occurrence of SWS, with prolonged wakefulness after sleep onset and sleep stage S1 as well as an increa...

This analysis was aimed at the development of a sleep disturbance index (SDI) which allows a reliable estimate of physiological sleep disturbances due to environmental influences such as noise. Seven variables, repeatedly reported to change during noise exposure, were derived from polysomnograms of a reference sample of 38 men and 28 women (19–34 y...

To analyze the heart rate (HR) response to traffic noise during sleep and the influence of acoustic parameters, time of night, and momentary sleep stage on these responses. Twelve women and 12 men (19-28 years). The participants slept in the laboratory for 4 consecutive nights in each of 3 consecutive weeks and were exposed to aircraft, road, or ra...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moisture on the heat transfer through clothing in relation to the water vapour resistance, type of underwear, location of the moisture and climate. This forms part of the work performed for work package 2 of the European Union THERMPROTECT project. Thermal manikin results of dry and wet hea...

The decrease in resting core temperature (T co) and its relation to the reduced physiological strain during heat acclimation was analysed with rectal temperature data measured in three groups of eight semi-nude persons (6 males, 2 females) who were acclimated for 15 consecutive days to dry, humid and radiant heat, respectively, with equivalent WBGT...

Investigating claims that a clothed person's mass loss does not always represent their evaporative heat loss (EVAP), a thermal manikin study was performed measuring heat balance components in more detail than human studies would permit. Using clothing with different levels of vapor permeability and measuring heat losses from skin controlled at 34 d...