High-altitude work

Data on the intensity of lightning as well as on storm movement are of use for aviation, the power industry (for assessing the need of emergency power cut-off) as well as for high-altitude work management. 

Figure 5.6. A diagrammatic summary of adjusted hypoxia response systems (the AHRS) proposed as the ancestral physiological phenotype and as a phylogenetic adaptation to hypobaric hypoxia. Summary based largely upon studies of Quechuas and Sherpas. Essentially all of the characteristics summarized here are also expressed in individuals well adapted for endurance performance. In the latter, the main modification involves an upwards regulation of mitochondrial volume densities at the working tissues (altered expression of mitochondrial metabolic enzymes and metabolite transporters above), which is why this is referred to as a high-capacity version of the lower capacity high-altitude phenotype. See text for further details. (Modified from Hochachka et al., 1999.)...

There is evidence that tolerance to this lethal poison can develop. According to a physician, the arsenic eaters of the Styrian Alps in the seventeenth century thrived on a twice-weekly dose of arsenic. It was supposed to improve both their ability to work at high altitude and the women s complexions. The idea was initially ridiculed by scientists, until a peasant demonstrated at a conference that it was possible to eat 400 mg of arsenic trioxide and survive. 

Our knowledge of the workings of hemoglobin allows us to understand the effects of high altitudes on humans. The reaction between hemoglobin and oxygen can be represented by the following equilibrium ... 

Westinghouse has not abandoned the work. Now that the new ceramic superconductors have arrived on the scene, the company is trying to work them into a 20-megawatt generator which the air force would like to use in a proposed high-speed, high-altitude plane powered by liquid hydrogen. 

An exception for coffee drinkers came from work done by Swiss investigators, who found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee decreases blood flow to the heart during exercise, especially at high altitudes. On a practical level, it seems that we should keep coffee drinking to just one cup before exercise and avoid it entirely while climbing or hiking in the mountains. 

Vitamin C Impairment of work at high altitudes Gastrointestinal symptoms Oxalate stones in predisposed persons Possible teratogenesis and carcinogenesis in very high doses... 

After spending some time in the mountains, you probably noticed that your fatigue lessened. That s because your body adapted to the reduced oxygen concentration by producing more Hgb, which shifts the equihbrium back to the right and increases the amount of Hgb(02) in your blood. The Sherpas in Figure 18-11, who hve and work in the mountains, do not experience discomfort because the equilibrium systems in their blood are adapted to high-altitude conditions. 

Kuiper s list of astronomical accomplishments is impressive. In addition to his work on binary stars, the atmospheres of planets and satellites, and the formation of the solar system, he discovered the fifth moon of Uranus, Miranda, and Neptune s second moon, Nereid he was an early advocate of the use of jet airplanes for high-altitude astronomical observations and he accurately predicted the nature of the lunar surface before any human had walked on it. In recognition of these achievements, Kuiper was awarded the Janssen medal of the French astronomical society and the Order of Orange Nassau by the Dutch government. Kuiper died in Mexico City on December 24,1973, while examining a number of possible sites for a new observatory. 

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