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The past three decades have seen a significant upward trend in the intensity of the strongest hurricanes worldwide that is most pronounced over the North Atlantic. Questions remain about this trend especially its relevance to coastal communities in the United States and elsewhere. This chapter focuses on observed changes in the intensity of the strongest hurricanes over the North Atlantic basin and on the geographic pattern of these changes. Results show that the upward trend is significantly related to rising sea-surface temperature (SST) after accounting for El Niño. The trend peaks at 16 m s− 1 per °C at the 75th percentile with a 90% confidence interval of between 7 and 20 m s− 1 per °C. The consequences of increasing intensity of the strongest hurricanes is not confined to the open ocean as nearly 70% of all hurricanes that occur over the basin reach a lifetime maximum intensity west of 60°W longitude. The largest intensity increases are occurring over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, where ocean temperatures are warmest and hurricanes are strongest. Decreases in intensity are noted along most of the United States coastline consistent with a hypothesis that continental aerosols act to decrease hurricane intensity. This might help explain why, despite the increasing intensity of basin-wide hurricanes, there is no detectable upward tend in damage costs in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study presents an approach to generate percentile values for joint torque characteristics of digital human models. Detailed angle specific joint torque measurements of few subjects are set in relation to extensive measurements of external maximum forces including percentile values based on many subjects by using muti-body simulation. Results indicate the applicability of the approach but do not generate results of high validity due to some sources of errors along the process. More experiments solving these issues and generating valid results are being planned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]