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The application of innovative systems using low-cost microcontrollers in human biometeorology studies is a promising alternative to conventional monitoring devices, which are usually cost-intensive and provide measurements at specific points, as in stationary meteorological stations. A Portable Low-cost Environmental Monitoring System (PLEMS) aimed at the pedestrian scale is introduced. The backpack-type equipment consists of a microcontroller with attached sensors that assess environmental conditions in a broad sense, integrating measurements of air quality, lighting and noise levels alongside variables typically measured at meteorological stations. The application of the system took place in altogether 12 environmental walks carried out with questionnaire-surveys with concurrent environmental monitoring with the PLEMS in Curitiba, Brazil, a subtropical location characterized by a Cfb climate type. Results allowed us to test the equipment and method of data gathering within a limited period (approximately 50 min) and for a short walking circuit of 800 m. The equipment was successfully able to capture even slightest differences in environmental conditions among points of interest, whereas subjective responses (n= 3843 responses to a total of 11 questions) showed consistency with measured data. From a multi-domain perspective, relevant insights could be obtained for the measured variables.

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The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between air temperature data against hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases of children (under five years of age) and the elderly (over 65) in subtropical Porto Alegre, Brazil, comparing outcomes for 3 sequential years, 2018-2020, pre- and post-COVID 19 pandemic. Meteorological and hospital admission (HA) data for Porto Alegre, marked by a Koeppen-Geiger's Cfa climate type with well-defined seasons, were used in the analyses. HA was obtained for respiratory diseases (J00-99, according to the International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10) from the Brazilian DATASUS (Unified Health System database). We performed correlation analysis between variables (HA versus air temperature and heat stress) in order to identify existing relationships and lag effects (between meteorological condition and morbidity). Relative risk (RR) was also obtained for the two age groups during the three years. Results showed that the pandemic year disrupted observed patterns of association between analyzed variables, with either very low or non-existent correlations.

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Urban development creates several inadvertent impacts related to urban climate and human biometeorology. Monitoring systems based on microcontrollers are slowly emerging as an alternative to conventional devices for monitoring outdoor thermal comfort (OTC), thus overcoming limitations imposed by the high costs of commercially available equipment. This review was conducted using the Scopus database, searching for articles and conference papers according to a pre-defined search string, which included the terms "microcontrollers" and "human thermal comfort" up to 2022. From a total sample of 113 articles, 52 papers met the desired criteria (written in English, published in peer-reviewed journals, and within the given time frame). Results show a growing, yet timid trend of published material on low-cost, open-source technologies for diverse applications in human biometeorology.

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This brief background highlights Brazil as a 'climate-health hotspot', i.e. a country where climate affects local populations negatively through multiple pathways (Di Napoli et al. BMC Public Health 22(1):1-8, 2022). Knowledge gaps still need to be filled concerning the various climaterelated dimensions of tourism, vector-borne diseases, mortality and morbidity in urban centers in the country (Krüger et al. Int J Biometeorol 66(7):1297-1315, 2022). Motivated by this, the first Brazilian Symposium on Human Biometeorology (Simpósio Brasileiro de Biometeorologia Humana 2022) was organized and held at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Natal, northeastern Brazil, between July 4 and 8, 2022. The symposium was organized as a hybrid event by a committee composed of researchers acting in different regions of the country, and who had an ongoing research collaboration on matters related to human biometeorology. The event was partly sponsored by the ISB and partly self-supported by the organizers and institutions involved. The symposium aimed to promote the development of the research area on human biometeorology in Brazil in facing challenges imposed by a globally and locally changing climate. To achieve this, the symposium focused on five main topics of discussion: a) climate-driven diseases; b) thermal comfort, urban and architectural biometeorology; c) atmospheric pollution and health; d) climate change; e) climate, health and climate change. This summary highlights the main findings, future research directions, and policy implications in each topic from the presentations and panel discussions.

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Outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) surveys require synchronous monitoring of meteorological variables for direct comparisons against subjective thermal perception. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) is a feasible index as it integrates meteorological conditions as a single value irrespective of urban morphological attributes or biological sex, age and body mass. ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT) is a downloadable reanalysis dataset providing hourly grids of UTCI climate records at 0.25° × 0.25° spatial resolution from 1979 to present. We here evaluate for the first time whether it is possible to use ERA5-HEAT data as a proxy for the UTCI measured onsite during OTC surveys. A dataset comprising 1640 survey responses gathered over 14 OTC campaigns in Curitiba, Brazil (25°26'S, 49°16'W) was analysed. We assessed the bias obtained between the Dynamic Thermal Sensation, an index derived from the UTCI, and the thermal sensation reported by survey participants by considering locally measured meteorological variables and ERA5-HEAT reanalysis data. As ERA5-HEAT data are given on an hourly basis, prediction bias can be greatly reduced when accounting for survey responses close to the hour. In terms of seasons, the fall and winter seasons have diminished mean bias, though with larger spread than in summer. In terms of UTCI stress categories, prediction bias is lower for the thermal comfort range. When comparing reanalysis data against WMO station data as proxy candidates for survey field data, the former presented lower bias, less spread in terms of standard deviation and higher correlation to in situ data.

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Courtyards have been used over many centuries as an interesting architectural feature that extends the living area, with good opportunities for relaxation, contemplation, and also for social interactions in such interface with the outdoor environment. Those areas can also act as climate modifiers and have tempering effects in hot regions. Depending on their geometrical features, courtyards can promote excellent shading and natural ventilation opportunities in tropical regions. This study is focused on the evaluation of two historic courtyards with very distinct solar exposure in a city located in a tropical savannah climate. Field monitoring was carried out alongside surveys with visitors to the courtyards. Results showed the potential of both courtyards in reducing the level of heat stress during peak daytime hours with their climate tempering function. The deeper courtyard yielded steadier cooling effect during daytime than the shallower one. Heat stress, here interpreted in terms of the universal thermal climate index (UTCI) was also more reduced in the deep courtyard. For the subjective part, there was a larger fluctuation of thermal sensation votes for a low level of heat stress in the shallower courtyard but less so and even an opposite pattern for higher heat stress. In essence, the geometric shape of the evaluated courtyards was considered to be paramount to provide thermal attenuation to their visitors due to the interplay between shading and solar access, even though the effect was not observed in their TS votes for increasing heat stress.

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This systematic review aims to give an overview of the diversity of research areas related to human biometeorology in Brazil. The main focus of this paper addresses research trends, represented by published papers with national and international authorship, main contributions and shortcomings, as well as challenges and prospects of research in this area of study. An extensive literature search was conducted in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct databases so as to identify relevant publication output up to July 2021 related to the research area. The screening resulted in 96 studies chosen for full-text reading. Overall, results indicated a reduced amount of articles on the subject matter published internationally, with noticeable gaps in research in some regions of the country, such as the Amazon region and in the Brazilian Midwest region. Research gaps in relevant areas have been identified with limited output in the climate dimensions of tourism, vector-borne diseases, mortality and morbidity in urban centers. Such gaps should further encourage researchers to engage in research focused on those areas.

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Both global climate change and urbanization trends will demand adaptation measures in cities. Large agglomerations and impacts on landscape and natural environments due to city growth will require guided densification schemes in urban areas, particularly in developing countries. Human biometeorological indices such as the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) could guide this process, as they provide a clear account of expected effects on thermal sensation from a given change in outdoor settings. However, an earlier step should optimally include an adequacy test of suggested comfort and thermal stress ranges with calibration procedures based on surveys with the target population. This paper compares obtained thermal comfort ranges for three different locations in Brazil: Belo Horizonte, 20° S, Aw climate type; Curitiba, 25.5° S, Cfb subtropical climate, both locations in elevation (above 900 m a.s.l.); and Pelotas, at sea level, latitude 32° S, with a Cfa climate type. In each city, a set of outdoor comfort field campaigns has been carried out according to similar procedures, covering a wide range of climatic conditions over different seasons of the year. Obtained results indicate a variation of neutral temperatures up to 3 °C (UTCI units) as a possible latitude and local climate effect between the southern locations relative to the northernmost location. Low UTCI values were found in the two subtropical locations for the lower threshold of the thermal comfort band as compared with the original threshold. A possible explanation for that is a longer exposure to cold conditions as buildings are seldom provided with heating systems.

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In March 2010, a massive outbreak of gastroenteritis started in the region of Antofagasta (northern Chile). The outbreak was mainly attributed to Norovirus genogroup II although ETEC strains were also isolated with high frequency from clinical samples. We review this outbreak and determined that ETEC was an underestimated etiologic agent.

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RESUMO: O crescimento urbano e o decorrente surgimento de ilhas de calor são fatores responsáveis não apenas por mudanças nos padrões de conforto e desconforto térmico urbanos mas também por possíveis impactos no aumento da demanda de energia (em climatização artificial) das edificações urbanas. Países em desenvolvimento, a maior parte deles localizada em regiões tropicais, apresentam taxas de crescimento urbano mais elevadas relativamente aos países desenvolvidos; segundo dados da ONU, no período de 2005 - 2010, a taxa de urbanização dos primeiros foi cerca de cinco vezes mais alta que a dos últimos. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar a atual ilha de calor urbana de Curitiba, decorrente de seu considerável crescimento urbano nas últimas décadas, a partir de um monitoramento climático contínuo entre dezembro de 2011 e fevereiro de 2013 por meio de estações meteorológicas localizadas na mancha urbana. Adicionalmente à análise de diferenças na temperatura local, quantificaram-se níveis de conforto/desconforto térmico a fim de se verificar o efeito integrado das diversas variáveis meteorológicas em termos de percentuais de horas em frio, conforto e calor, e suas variações dentro e fora da área urbana. Complementarmente são analisadas implicações da ilha de calor urbana em níveis de conforto em ambientes internos. Verificou-se que a presença de uma ilha de calor na área urbana para combater o frio no inverno acarreta aumento desproporcional do calor em situação de verão, não havendo benefício térmico de maneira geral.

ABSTRACT: Urban growth and the resulting urban heat island effect are not only responsible for variations in thermal comfort and discomfort levels within the city but also for increases in building energy demand for air conditioning. In tropical regions, urbanization rates tend to be the highest: the average annual rate of change of the urban population for the five-year period 2005 - 2010 was just over five times higher in the less developed regions than in the more developed part of the world, following a rising trend. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the urban heat island of Curitiba, which results from its considerable urban growth over the last decades, by means of a long-term climate monitoring between December 2011 and February 2013 with a pair of weather stations within the urban area. Additionally, an analysis was performed with regard to outdoor comfort, so that the combined effect of relevant meteorological variables could be assessed in terms of percentages of cold, comfortable and hot hours and variations in and outside the urban area. Finally, implications of the urban heat island effect on indoor conditions are analyzed. It is concluded that the heat island effect with reductions of cold stress in winter does not offset the occurrence of excess heat in summer, with an overall not advantageous effect.

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To understand thermal preferences and to define a preliminary outdoor comfort range for the local population of Glasgow, UK, an extensive series of measurements and surveys was carried out during 19 monitoring campaigns from winter through summer 2011 at six different monitoring points in pedestrian areas of downtown Glasgow. For data collection, a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, cup anemometer with wind vane, silicon pyranometer and globe thermometer was employed. Predictions of the outdoor thermal index PET (physiologically equivalent temperature) correlated closely to the actual thermal votes of respondents. Using concurrent measurements from a second Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station placed in a rural setting approximately 15 km from the urban area, comparisons were drawn with regard to daytime thermal comfort levels and urban-rural temperature differences (∆T(u-r)) for the various sites. The urban sites exhibited a consistent lower level of thermal discomfort during daytime. No discernible effect of urban form attributes in terms of the sky-view factor were observed on ∆Tu-r or on the relative difference of the adjusted predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD*).

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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 the impact of temperature, humidity, and wind, as well as long-wave and short-wave radiant heat fluxes as summarised by the recently developed Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) on the choice of clothing insulation by fitting LOESS smoothers to observations from 944 males and 710 females aged from 13 to 91 years. We further analysed votes of thermal sensation compared to predictions of UTCI. The results showed that females chose less insulating clothing in warm conditions compared to males and that observed values of clothing insulation depended on temperature, but also on season and potentially on solar radiation. The overall pattern of clothing choice was well reflected by UTCI, which also provided for good predictions of thermal sensation votes depending on the meteorological conditions. Analysing subgroups indicated that the goodness-of-fit of the UTCI was independent of gender and age, and with only limited influence of season and body composition as assessed by body mass index. This suggests that UTCI can serve as a suitable planning tool for urban thermal comfort in sub-tropical regions.

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