Human aquaporins:regulators of transcellular water flow

Background - Emerging evidence supports the view that (AQP) aquaporin water channels are regulators of transcellular water flow. Consistent with their expression in most tissues, AQPs are associated with diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes. Scope of review - AQP knockout studies suggest that the regulatory role of AQPs, rather than their action as passive channels, is their critical function. Transport through all AQPs occurs by a common passive mechanism, but their regulation and cellular distribution varies significantly depending on cell and tissue type; the role of AQPs in cell volume regulation (CVR) is particularly notable. This review examines the regulatory role of AQPs in transcellular water flow, especially in CVR. We focus on key systems of the human body, encompassing processes as diverse as urine concentration in the kidney to clearance of brain oedema. Major conclusions - AQPs are crucial for the regulation of water homeostasis, providing selective pores for the rapid movement of water across diverse cell membranes and playing regulatory roles in CVR. Gating mechanisms have been proposed for human AQPs, but have only been reported for plant and microbial AQPs. Consequently, it is likely that the distribution and abundance of AQPs in a particular membrane is the determinant of membrane water permeability and a regulator of transcellular water flow. General significance - Elucidating the mechanisms that regulate transcellular water flow will improve our understanding of the human body in health and disease. The central role of specific AQPs in regulating water homeostasis will provide routes to a range of novel therapies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Aquaporins.

Effect of microstructure upon elastic behaviour of human tooth enamel

Tooth enamel is the stiffest tissue in the human body with a well-organized microstructure. Developmental diseases, such as enamel hypomineralisation, have been reported to cause marked reduction in the elastic modulus of enamel and consequently impair dental function. We produce evidence, using site-specific transmission electron microscopy (TEM), of difference in microstructure between sound and hypomineralised enamel. Built upon that, we develop a mechanical model to explore the relationship of the elastic modulus of the mineral-protein composite structure of enamel with the thickness of protein layers and the direction of mechanical loading. We conclude that when subject to complex mechanical loading conditions, sound enamel exhibits consistently high stiffness, which is essential for dental function. A marked decrease in stiffness of hypomineralised enamel is caused primarily by an increase in the thickness of protein layers between apatite crystals and to a lesser extent by an increase in the effective crystal orientation angle. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating the role of capacitive coupling between the operating table and the return electrode of an electrosurgery unit in the modification of the current density distribution within the patients’ body

Background: Electrosurgery units are widely employed in modern surgery. Advances in technology have enhanced the safety of these devices, nevertheless, accidental burns are still regularly reported. This study focuses on possible causes of sacral burns as complication of the use of electrosurgery. Burns are caused by local densifications of the current, but the actual pathway of current within patient's body is unknown. Numerical electromagnetic analysis can help in understanding the issue. Methods: To this aim, an accurate heterogeneous model of human body (including seventy-seven different tissues), electrosurgery electrodes, operating table and mattress was build to resemble a typical surgery condition. The patient lays supine on the mattress with the active electrode placed onto the thorax and the return electrode on his back. Common operating frequencies of electrosurgery units were considered. Finite Difference Time Domain electromagnetic analysis was carried out to compute the spatial distribution of current density within the patient's body. A differential analysis by changing the electrical properties of the operating table from a conductor to an insulator was also performed. Results: Results revealed that distributed capacitive coupling between patient body and the conductive operating table offers an alternative path to the electrosurgery current. The patient's anatomy, the positioning and the different electromagnetic properties of tissues promote a densification of the current at the head and sacral region. In particular, high values of current density were located behind the sacral bone and beneath the skin. This did not occur in the case of non-conductive operating table. Conclusion: Results of the simulation highlight the role played from capacitive couplings between the return electrode and the conductive operating table. The concentration of current density may result in an undesired rise in temperature, originating burns in body region far from the electrodes. This outcome is concordant with the type of surgery-related sacral burns reported in literature. Such burns cannot be immediately detected after surgery, but appear later and can be confused with bedsores. In addition, the dosimetric analysis suggests that reducing the capacity coupling between the return electrode and the operating table can decrease or avoid this problem. © 2013 Bifulco et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

A lumped parameter model for the analysis of the motion of the muscles of the lower limbs under whole-body vibration

Through a lumped parameter modelling approach, a dynamical model, which can reproduce the motion of the muscles of a human body standing in different postures during Whole Body Vibrations (WBVs) treatment, has been developed. The key parameters, associated to the dynamics of the motion of the muscles of the lower limbs, have been identified starting from accelerometer measurements. The developed model can be usefully applied to the optimization of WBVs treatments which can effectively enhance muscle activation. © 2013 IEEE.

Fibonacci Series, Golden Proportions, and the Human Biology

Pythagoras, Plato and Euclid’s paved the way for Classical Geometry. The idea of shapes that can be mathematically defined by equations led to the creation of great structures of modern and ancient civilizations, and milestones in mathematics and science. However, classical geometry fails to explain the complexity of non-linear shapes replete in nature such as the curvature of a flower or the wings of a Butterfly. Such non-linearity can be explained by fractal geometry which creates shapes that emulate those found in nature with remarkable accuracy. Such phenomenon begs the question of architectural origin for biological existence within the universe. While the concept of a unifying equation of life has yet to be discovered, the Fibonacci sequence may establish an origin for such a development. The observation of the Fibonacci sequence is existent in almost all aspects of life ranging from the leaves of a fern tree, architecture, and even paintings, makes it highly unlikely to be a stochastic phenomenon. Despite its wide-spread occurrence and existence, the Fibonacci series and the Rule of Golden Proportions has not been widely documented in the human body. This paper serves to review the observed documentation of the Fibonacci sequence in the human body.

O cinema como educação do olhar

The knowledge is only possible due to we exist bodily. However, during the educational experience, the epistemic potency of the body is neglected, declining the registers of the intelligibility. The current thesis approaches that problem obliquely: from a body and image philosophy which has revealed other ways of doing those registers in the modernity – understood not as period itself, but as a qualification for the negotiations between the real and the intelligible. The referred ways are explored through Merleau- Ponty’s and Michel Foucault’s works, which offer a spectrum about that new negotiation of the real. In order to approach the studied problem, the visibility and the human body motricity in the cinema are taken as analysis object. The mentioned objects have been analyzed through a corpus of movies of which plots are centered at the formal education and they require from the characters and the spectators engagement into a visual performance. Aiming to approach the object, it is questioned how the Education phenomenon is represented by the cinema; how the body is exposed and how spectators can see it. Analyzing the corpus and articulating Merleau- Ponty’s and Michel Foucault’s theories, it has been possible to state the following thesis: the cinema as an education of the gaze. The general objective of this study is to reveal the educational potency of the filmic experience, which provides a new path of intelligibility for Education. In that sense, the body as a visual operator widens the capacity of understanding the real. The current work is divided in three chapters. The first one brings the methodological approach: it is pointed how the theoretical articulation is properly arranged; it explains the method of using the images as indirect language as part of the reality description; the filmic corpus is presented, as well the criteria for the films choices and for the construction of instrument adopted during the object analysis are described. In the second chapter, it is problematized the incapacity of the western society of formulating the real discursively by debating Merleau-Ponty’s and Foucault’s theoretical contributions about the visual performance displayed on the images while the films are watched and analyzed. In the third chapter, the implications of the education of the gaze provided by the cinema are developed, mainly concerning about the place attributed to the visibility during the formulation of the real. Finally, paths are designed for the construction of another approach for the visibility in Education. Assuming the gaze as an experience of knowledge, this study aims to present other ways of being, seeing, thinking and feeling the world. Therefore, it is a proposal to reset the epistemic and subjectification patterns at the educational context.

Development of miniaturized antennas and adaptive tuning solutions for body sensor network applications

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are currently having a revolutionary impact in rapidly emerging wearable applications such as health and fitness monitoring amongst many others. These types of Body Sensor Network (BSN) applications require highly integrated wireless sensor devices for use in a wearable configuration, to monitor various physiological parameters of the user. These new requirements are currently posing significant design challenges from an antenna perspective. This work addresses several design challenges relating to antenna design for these types of applications. In this thesis, a review of current antenna solutions for WSN applications is first presented, investigating both commercial and academic solutions. Key design challenges are then identified relating to antenna size and performance. A detailed investigation of the effects of the human body on antenna impedance characteristics is then presented. A first-generation antenna tuning system is then developed. This system enables the antenna impedance to be tuned adaptively in the presence of the human body. Three new antenna designs are also presented. A compact, low-cost 433 MHz antenna design is first reported and the effects of the human body on the impedance of the antenna are investigated. A tunable version of this antenna is then developed, using a higher performance, second-generation tuner that is integrated within the antenna element itself, enabling autonomous tuning in the presence of the human body. Finally, a compact sized, dual-band antenna is reported that covers both the 433 MHz and 2.45 GHz bands to provide improved quality of service (QoS) in WSN applications. To date, state-of-the-art WSN devices are relatively simple in design with limited antenna options available, especially for the lower UHF bands. In addition, current devices have no capability to deal with changing antenna environments such as in wearable BSN applications. This thesis presents several contributions that advance the state-of-the-art in this area, relating to the design of miniaturized WSN antennas and the development of antenna tuning solutions for BSN applications.

On-body characterization of planar differential antennas for multiple, wide, and narrow bands

This paper reports the results of the on-body experimental tests of a set of four planar differential antennas, originated by design variations of radiating elements with the same shape and characterized by the potential for covering wide and narrow bands. All the antenna designs have been implemented on low-cost FR4 substrate and characterized experimentally through on-body measurements. The results show the impact of the proximity to the human body on antenna performance and the opportunities in terms of potential coverage of wide and narrow bands for future ad hoc designs and implementations through wearable substrates targeting on-body and off-body communication and sensing applications.

Towards an Ecological Pedagogy: Body Movement for Ecological Consciousness

This paper examines the moving body as a vehicle for raising ecological consciousness. Due to the modern over-preoccupation with the pursuit of rational aims, human interactions with the surrounding environment increasingly lack conscious awareness. Consequently, in the modern world people tend to lack an ecological consciousness. Nevertheless, the human body is a rich reservoir of ecological significance. From birth, humans are woven into tremendous interconnection with the world. However, humans thrive when their sensitivity to the physical world exists in harmony with their ability to pursue their rational aims. It is the combination of these characteristics that enables humans to survive in capricious surroundings and prosper in a wide array of contexts. Today, the human species faces an unprecedented crisis that threatens to collapse the reciprocality of the ecological bonds bolstering the prosperity of all worldly beings. This paper proposes that it is no longer a rational strategy for people to remain inattentive to their embodied ecological resonance, and that the moving body is an adequate pedagogical site for raising ecological consciousness. Ritualized body movements derived from Chinese traditional cultivation systems such as Taijiquan could orient practitioners to reestablish a perceptual intimacy with the larger cosmic world, thereby raising their ecological consciousness.

Concept maps as a tool to analyze the ideas of teacher training students regarding what to teach on human nutrition in Primary Education

Concept maps are a technique used to obtain a visual representation of a person's ideas about a concept or a set of related concepts. Specifically, in this paper, through a qualitative methodology, we analyze the concept maps proposed by 52 groups of teacher training students in order to find out the characteristics of the maps and the degree of adequacy of the contents with regard to the teaching of human nutrition in the 3rd cycle of primary education. The participants were enrolled in the Teacher Training Degree majoring in Primary Education, and the data collection was carried out through a training activity under the theme of what to teach about Science in Primary School? The results show that the maps are a useful tool for working in teacher education as they allow organizing, synthesizing, and communicating what students know. Moreover, through this work, it has been possible to see that future teachers have acceptable skills for representing the concepts/ideas in a concept map, although the level of adequacy of concepts/ideas about human nutrition and its relations is usually medium or low. These results are a wake-up call for teacher training, both initial and ongoing, because they shows the inability to change priorities as far as the selection of content is concerned.

Metaphysics of love in the religious philosophy of Pável Florensky

This article focuses on the analysis of the concept of love in the religious philosophy of Pavel Florensky, who shares the ontological approach to the consideration of love with other representatives of Russian religious philosophy (N. berdyaev and S. bulgakov). We pay more careful attention to the understanding of love-άγαπαν by Florensky. We have drawn the conclusion that, in the philosophy of P. Florensky, Love, closely connected with truth and beauty, is considered an ontological basis existence of personality. We develop the ideas of Pavel Florensky, and accordingly assume that it is possible to synthesise love-agape and love-eros around the idea of sacrificial love. Agapelogical and erotical ‘bezels’ of one jewel of love is aspects of united love, which is given by God. this gift of God, the gift of united love, is kept by humans through prayer and deeds of love.

X-ray vision: mental representation of the human body’s inner morphology

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Le Cœur est une permanence, suivi de Empathie et souffrance dans Tête première / Dos / Contre dos de Martine Audet

Ce mémoire en recherche création est divisé en deux principales sections : un recueil de poésie et un essai. Le recueil, intitulé Le Cœur est une permanence, explore différentes interprétations du phénomène d’empathie dans la création littéraire. Afin que l’empathie devienne l’objet du discours, ce dernier est centré sur la relation à l’autre. L’empathie prend vie à travers deux entités, un « je » et un « tu ». Alors que le « je » entre en contact avec ses propres zones d’ombres, il s’ouvre tranquillement aux souffrances du « tu ». Au fil des poèmes, le « je » et le « tu » apaisent leur douleur en la partageant, faisant de l’empathie une voie d’accès à l’intimité. Ce déploiement de l’intime prend forme en trois temps : les sections replis de voix, point archimédien et ensembles vides. Le recueil accorde une importance particulière à la figure du corps comme véhicule de la souffrance. Il propose une réflexion sur l’amour, balançant entre naufrage et terre promise, et fait de l’enfance une pierre de touche pour interroger la douleur. La deuxième partie de ce mémoire est un essai intitulé Empathie et souffrance dans Tête première / Dos / Contre dos de Martine Audet. Divisé en trois chapitres, cet essai étudie l’empathie à l’œuvre dans le recueil de Audet, selon une approche bioculturelle. Il allie interprétation littéraire, sciences cognitives de deuxième génération et philosophie de l’esprit. Dans le premier chapitre, le concept de « simulation incarné », développé par Vittorio Gallese, permet d’interpréter la figure du corps et de suggérer qu’elle véhicule la douleur tout en étant la manifestation d’un effacement identitaire. Le deuxième chapitre se penche sur l’intersubjectivité en lien avec l’empathie. Il intègre certaines notions clés de la phénoménologie husserlienne afin d’analyser les manifestations du lien empathique unissant les deux présences parcourant le recueil de Audet. Le dernier chapitre explique comment les représentations de l’environnement dans lequel évoluent ces présences peuvent refléter leur souffrance. Pour ce faire, certains concepts liés à l’environnement, particulièrement importants pour l’écocritique actuelle, sont analysés dans Tête première / Dos / Contre dos, comme ceux de place et de nature. Ces derniers, étant construits par les perceptions propres à la cognition humaine, sont envisagés d’un point de vue bioculturel. En interprétant ces trois principaux aspects du texte (figure du corps, intersubjectivité et environnement), l’hypothèse selon laquelle la perception de la souffrance dans Tête première / Dos / Contre dos repose essentiellement sur l’empathie comme effet et objet du discours s’en voit validée.