second indoor sample (collected at a spectator's area) was 221 ppb, with a range of 1-3,175 ppb. The ratio of the indoor to outdoor NO 2 concentrations was above 1 for 95% of the rinks sampled, indicating the presence of an indoor NO 2 source (mean indoor:outdoor ratio = 20). Estimates of short-term NO 2 concentrations indicated that as many as 40% of the sampled rinks would have exceeded the World Health Organization 1-hour guideline value of 213 ppb NO 2 for indoor air.Statistically significant associations were observed between NO 2 levels and the type of fuel used to power the resurfacer, ABSTRACTAn international survey of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) levels inside indoor ice skating facilities was conducted. One-week average NO 2 concentrations were measured inside and outside of 332 ice rinks located in nine countries. Each rink manager also completed a questionnaire describing the building, the resurfacing machines, and their use patterns. The (arithmetic) mean NO 2 level for all rinks in the study was 228 ppb, with a range of 1-2,680 ppb, based on a sample collected at breathing height and adjacent to the ice surface. The mean of the Brauer, Lee, Spengler, Salonen, Pennanen, Braathen, Mihalikova, Miskovic, Nozaki, Tsuzuki, Rui-Jin, Xu, Qing-Xiang, Drahonovska, and Kjaergaard Journal of the Air & Waste Management AssociationVolume 47 October 1997 the absence of a catalytic converter on a resurfacer, and the use of an ice edger. There were also indications that decreased use of mechanical ventilation, increased number of resurfacing operations per day, and smaller rink volumes were associated with increased NO 2 levels. In rinks where the main resurfacer was powered by propane, the NO 2 concentrations were higher than in those with gasoline-powered resurfacers, while the latter had NO 2 concentrations higher than in those using diesel. Rinks where the main resurfacer was electric had the lowest indoor NO 2 concentrations, similar to the levels measured outdoors.

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In chemical and biological assays, the synchronized control of multiple valves is very important. Currently there is no control scheme for the use of a large number of valves without adopting bulky peripheral control devices such as pumps or electrical equipment. Therefore, we propose a simple pH-responsive microvalve array system and a new multiplexing technology that, through its reliance on multiphase laminar flow, facilitates the operation of arrayed multiple microvalves. For the fabrication of the microvalve arrays, we have used pH-responsive hydrogel microspheres produced by a microfluidic chip. By incorporating these microspheres inside an arrayed microvalve polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) platform, we produced pH-responsive arrayed microvalves with ‘open’ and ‘close’ operations carried out by the multiphase laminar streams of pH solutions. The constructed arrayed microvalves were adequately controlled by the multiphase pH buffer; the pressure of the pH-buffer solutions controlled the widths of the sample flow. Based on the simplicity and reliability of the operating principles, this new arrayed-valve system will decrease the need for complicated peripheral lines and will remove the need for many solenoid valves, which are currently used for the individual control of arrayed valves.

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