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In the last 20 years, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of athletes in different sport disciplines has increased, and the world records in endurance sports have improved markedly. One of the factors that has influenced the increase in endurance performance has been perceived to be altitude training. In this paper we describe the advantages and disadvantages of a "regular" altitude training (live high/train high) aiming to improve sea level performance and compare it with a new method, the so called "live high/train low" method. This method uses the advantages and avoids the side effects of altitude exposure. Several papers have shown that altitude training is able to improve VO2max but the individual response may be substantially different. In most cases it is not possible to prove statistical significance and therefore we have no data about differences between both altitude training methods. However, it is suspected that the risk of overtraining is reduced in the high/low method. Although not statistically significant it is suggested that the "high/low" method can more efficiently improve endurance performance at sea level. A monitoring of submaximal variables of exercise performance is recommended to avoid overtraining and to control the development of performance. From the current knowledge the "live high/train low" method is suggested to be the more effective altitude training method for athletes.

In situ measurements of cloud droplet number concentration N are limited by the sampled cloud volume. Satellite retrievals of N suffer from inherent uncertainties, spatial averaging, and retrieval problems arising from the commonly assumed strictly adiabatic vertical profiles of cloud properties. To improve retrievals of N it is suggested in this paper to use a synergetic combination of passive and active airborne remote sensing measurement, to reduce the uncertainty of N retrievals, and to bridge the gap between in situ cloud sampling and global averaging. For this purpose, spectral solar radiation measurements above shallow trade wind cumulus were combined with passive microwave and active radar and lidar observations carried out during the second Next Generation Remote Sensing for Validation Studies (NARVAL-II) campaign with the High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) in August 2016. The common technique to retrieve N is refined by including combined measurements and retrievals of cloud optical thickness τ, liquid water path (LWP), cloud droplet effective radius reff, and cloud base and top altitude. Three approaches are tested and applied to synthetic measurements and two cloud scenarios observed during NARVAL-II. Using the new combined retrieval technique, errors in N due to the adiabatic assumption have been reduced significantly.

Aircraft at cruise levels can cause two kinds of contrails, the well known exhaust contrails and the less well-known aerodynamic contrails. While the possible climate impact of exhaust contrails has been studied for many years, research on aerodynamic contrails began only a few years ago and nothing is known about a possible contribution of these ice clouds to climate impact. In order to make progress in this respect, we first need a climatology of their formation conditions and this is given in the present paper. Aerodynamic contrails are defined here as line shaped ice clouds caused by aerodynamically triggered cooling over the wings of an aircraft in cruise which become visible immediately at the trailing edge of the wing or close to it. Effects at low altitudes like condensation to liquid droplets and their potential heterogeneous freezing are excluded from our definition. We study atmospheric conditions that allow formation of aerodynamic contrails. These conditions are stated and then applied to atmospheric data: first to a special case where an aerodynamic contrail was actually observed and then to a full year of global reanalysis data. We show where, when (seasonal variation), and how frequently (probability) aerodynamic contrails can form, and how this relates to actual patterns of air traffic. We study the formation of persistent aerodynamic contrails as well. Furthermore, we check whether aerodynamic and exhaust contrails can coexist in the atmosphere. We show that visible aerodynamic contrails are possible only in an altitude range between roughly 540 and 250 hPa, and that the ambient temperature is the most important parameter, not the relative humidity. Finally, we argue that currently aerodynamic contrails have a much smaller climate effect than exhaust contrails, which may however change in future with more air traffic in the tropics.

The dual bell is a nozzle concept for altitude adaption. The flow separates at the contour inflection in sea level mode in a mainly controlled and symmetrical way, reducing the side load generation and increasing the thrust. The transition to altitude mode is reached when the flow suddenly attaches to the extension for an improved altitude thrust. The conditions of this transition and its evolution are the key for the study of dual bell nozzles. For a better understanding of the flow behavior, a 2D subscale dual bell model has been designed and tested at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The tests were divided into two campaigns and performed under cold and warm flow conditions. The evolution of the shock system at the inflection during the transition was observed using schlieren optics. The planar nozzle was tested under various conditions in pressure and temperature. Both test campaigns have been recalculated in cooperation with Astrium. Numerical and experimental results are presented in this paper.

This paper begins by outlining the aims which our study into the acute effects of low-altitude flight noise set out to achieve. The key question here concerns the relationship between noise parameters (maximum sound level and sound level rise rate) and specific reactions by the individuals affected. The subjects, healthy volunteers, were exposed via earphones to digitally recorded MLAF noise, using sophisticated recording technology. Their reactions were studied on various levels ranging from the subjective experience of negative effects through startle reactions to changes in the cardiovascular and endocrine systems. It emerged that a high sound level rise rate is a physical parameter which leads not only to more physical symptoms being cited by the subjects, but also to more pronounced myokinetic effects of an objectively measurable nature. Studies of circulation physiology were also conducted to throw light on the haemodynamic mechanism of the startle reaction. The findings suggest that increases in cardiac output per minute in a startled subject with a healthy circulation need not necessarily lead to protracted increases in blood pressure. A counter-regulation occurs by means of vasculomotory responses in the muscle. Should this regulatory system be impaired, as may be the case with elderly people, for example, blood pressure increases of up to 45 mm Hg over the initial value may ensure. A sensitization is observed after repeated exposure, with the startle reaction intensifying or else being triggered off by lower sound levels. The sensitization of startle reactions is neuro-physiologically associated with unpleasant or fear-inducing environmental stimuli. Together with the observed increases in plasma hydrocortisone and changes in magnesium metabolism of a type characteristic of stress, this phenomenon of sensitization enables us to establish the hypothetical link between specific acute reactions to MLAF noise and long-term health effects.

The primary structures of the alpha- and beta-chains from greylag goose (Anser anser) hemoglobin are given. The sequence was deduced automatically in the sequenator. They differ from chicken alpha-chains in the exchange of 30, from beta-chains in the exchange of only 8 amino acid residues, respectively. The contact points of inositol pentaphosphate with the beta-chains are identical in chicken and greylag goose. Unequal evolution of the beta-chains was found, which is published here for the first time. By comparing the sequences of chicken and greylag goose and considering paleontological data, we found the mutation rate of the alpha-chains to be normal, i.e. 6 million years/mutation. This corresponds to the values for other species. The mutation rate of beta-chains is reduced and was calculated at 25 million years/mutation. This is possibly due to a specific function of beta-chains. This paper is the basis of our attempt to explain on a molecular basis the ability of bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) to fly and breathe at high altitudes.