As mentioned earlier, in mechanics we use many ordinary English words with special technical meanings, defined more precisely and less generally than in non-scientific use. Typical of such words are “force”, “work”, and “power”. Force has been discussed at length; we now take up the other two. We restrict work to mean that a force has been applied and a displacement has resulted, the situation in which a force produces no motion being one in which no work is done. This is, in effect, restricting ourselves to “useful” work. If you held a brick above your head for an hour, you would probably say you had been “working” hard. Our understanding of the scientific use of the word work can be confused by the fact that the human body is a very complicated mechanism, in which energy is used just to maintain muscular tension even if no “work” in the scientific sense is done. It simplifies thinking of the scientific meaning of the word “work” if it is thought of in terms of machines rather than people.

Energy and Power

Abstract Background Momordica charantia is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family and has traditionally been used for medical nutritional therapy to cure diabetes, and its various biological properties have been reported. However, several studies have demonstrated that M. charantia may exert toxic or adverse effects under different conditions. In this study, we prepared an M. charantia extract using ultrasound-assisted extraction, which is a green technology, and verified its anti-inflammatory effects. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of M. charantia extract using ultrasound-assisted extraction in LPS-induced Raw264.7 macrophages and explore the potential mechanism mediated by the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway. Results We found that the M. charantia extract was non-toxic up to a concentration of 500 μg/mL in Raw264.7 cells. We verified that treatment with M. charantia extract significantly reduced the production of nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2, and IL-6, in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was dramatically increased by treatment with the M. charantia extract. In addition, the phosphorylation of the transcription factor NF-κB, which modulates the production of inflammatory proteins, including JNK, ERK, and p38, was reduced by downregulation of the MAPK signaling pathway. Conclusion These results indicate that the M. charantia extract collected using an industrial ultrasonic system is non-toxic and has an anti-inflammatory effect through regulation of the NF-κB and MAPK pathways, suggesting that it can act as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. 

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Momordica charantia extracts obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction inhibit the inflammatory pathways

Dysphagia is the disorder related to difficulty in swallowing and is more frequently observed among patients with neurologic diseases such as stroke or people aged 65 and over. Undiagnosed or untreated dysphagia may lead to aspiration, pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition, or even asphyxiation and death; therefore, early identification and appropriate treatment of dysphagia are important. Dysphagia has been mainly diagnosed by videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES); but, both VFSS and FEES have limitations in terms of qualitative analysis and low safety (VFSS: radiation, FEES: invasion). The precedent study (Lee et al., 2012) developed a swallowing measurement device employing ultrasonic Doppler to measure a pharyngeal movement during swallowing. As a follow-up study, quantification, analysis, and interpretation of the measured pharyngeal swallowing signal and specialization for diagnosis of dysphagia are needed. 
The objective of the present study is to develop a quantitative assessment methodology of pharyngeal swallow. The specific objectives are as follows: (1) screening of swallowing out of pharyngeal movement signals, (2) establishment of a swallowing quantification protocol, (3) interpretation of pharyngeal movement signal by interoperating with VFSS video, (4) comparison of pharyngeal movement between healthy adults and dysphagic patients, and (5) development of a diagnostic model for discriminating the severity of dysphagia.
First, a swallowing screening algorithm was developed to extract swallowing movements only out of various pharyngeal movements such as cough and vocalization measured by ultrasonic Doppler. Utilizing a concept of swallowing apnea that vocalization is impossible during pharyngeal swallow, a microphone for measuring audio signals was interoperated with the ultrasonic Doppler sensor. Signal processing techniques (e.g., moving average) and statistical methods (e.g., maximum-likelihood function) were also incorporated into the swallowing screening algorithm. As a result, the swallowing movement was completely discriminated from cough and vocalization that are also involved with pharyngeal movement. 
Second, to represent the characteristics of the pharyngeal movement during swallowing, the present study proposed five quantitative measures such as peak amplitude, duration time, number of peaks, peak-to-peak interval, and impulse by applying the four-step swallowing signal processing technique (S1. rectification, S2. smoothing, S3. peak detection, and S4. starting/ending points detection). A program that automatically calculates aforementioned five measures for a given swallowing signal was also developed.
Third, pharyngeal movement signals were interpreted by interoperating with the corresponding VFSS video. The majority of pharyngeal movement signals showed two peaks, and 1st and 2nd peaks indicates ascending and descending movements of the laryngopharynx during swallowing, respectively. Based on VFSS video analysis, five…

A Quantitative Assessment Methodology of Pharyngeal Swallow

A novel piezoelectric fiber sensor based on polyvinylidene fluoride piezoelectric (PVDF) doped with graphene is presented. The near-field electrospinning technology was used for developing the sensor. The uniform experimental design method was introduced to determine the ranges of experimental parameters, including the applied voltage, the drum speed range, the graphene doping ratios from 0% to 11 wt% in PVDF solution, and the electrode gap. By experimental results, the conductivities of PVDF solutions with different doping ratios of graphene increased from 19.6 μS/cm to 115.8 μS/cm. Tapping tests were performed to measure the voltages and currents produced by the piezoelectric fibers. The maximum output voltage was 4.56 V at 5 wt% graphene doping ratio in PVDF fibers, which was 11.54 times that of the pure PVDF sensors. Moreover, mechanical properties of the proposed sensor were measured. Motion intention and swallowing test, such as saliva-swallowing and eating, were carried out. When the subject spoke normally, the output voltage of the sensor was between 0.2 and 0.4 V, approximately. Furthermore, when the subject drank water and ate food, the output voltage of the sensor was between 0.5 and 1 V, approximately. The proposed sensor could be used to detect signals of the human body and serve as a wearable device, allowing for more diagnosis and medical treatment.

/pdf/development-of-piezoelectric-silk-sensors-doped-with-3h5iu1oj.pdf

Development of Piezoelectric Silk Sensors Doped with Graphene for Biosensing by Near-Field Electrospinning

Existing swallowing evaluation methods using X-ray or endoscopy are qualitative. The present study develops a swallowing monitoring and assessment system (SMAS) that is nonintrusive and quantitative. The SMAS comprises an ultrasonic Doppler sensor array, a microphone, and an inertial measurement unit to measure ultrasound signals originating only from swallowing activities. Ultrasound measurements were collected for combinations of two viscosity conditions (water and yogurt) and two volume conditions (3 mL and 9 mL) from 24 healthy participants (14 males and 10 females; age = 30.5 ± 7.6 years) with no history of swallowing disorders and were quantified for 1st peak amplitude, 2nd peak amplitude, peak-to-peak (PP) time interval, duration, energy, and proportion of two or more peaks. The peak amplitudes and energy significantly decreased by viscosity and the PP time interval and duration increased by volume. The correlation between the time measures were higher (r = 0.78) than that of the amplitude measures (r = 0.30), and the energy highly correlated with the 1st peak amplitude (r = 0.86). The proportion of two or more peaks varied from 76.8% to 87.9% by viscosity and volume. Further research is needed to examine the concurrent validity and generalizability of the ultrasonic Doppler sensor-based SMAS.

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/16/4529/pdf

Development of an Ultrasonic Doppler Sensor-Based Swallowing Monitoring and Assessment System.

Purpose: Chewing problems are a major and prevalent issue in populations with neurological pathologies including cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). We measured habitual solid chewing performance in patients with CVA or PD and compared it to that of normal older adults to identify differences in chewing ability between groups.Methods: Measures of habitual solid chewing in 32 patients with CVA, in 35 patients with PD, and in 217 normal older adults were compared. Data on the chewing duration, frequency, and rate were collected using a solid chewing task (SCT). We also analyzed the relationships between dentures, number of teeth, and SCT outcomes.Results: The chewing duration in the PD group was significantly longer than the normal group (p<0.05). Chewing frequency and rate were not significantly different among the three groups. Results can be explained by rigidity and bradykinesia in orofacial structures in the PD group. No significant differences between the PD and CVA groups may be partly explained by the diverse location and size of the CVA lesion compared to the PD. Dentures and the number of teeth were not significantly correlated with SCT outcomes.Conclusions: Chewing impairment remains the area of development for research and rehabilitation, and SCT may help to assess oropharyngeal dysphagia and to identify therapeutic interventions.

Sang Eok Lee

Papers

Development of an Ultrasonic Doppler Sensor-Based Swallowing Monitoring and Assessment System.

Evaluation of chewing ability in cerebrovascular accident and Parkinson’s disease