Effects of caffeine ingestion and thermotherapy on blood orexin circulation in humans

Food Science and Biotechnology - Caffeine and orexin can affect awakening, neuroendocrine, and sympathetic nerve function. Our previous study has reported that caffeine intake can increase human...     

Deep-sea water supplementation and swimming exercise improves bone metabolism in growing rats fed a high-fat diet

This study was examined the effects of deepsea water (DSW) supplementation and swimming exercise on bone metabolism in growing male rats. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley male rats, 6 weeks of age, were randomly divided into high-fat diet sedentary (HS, n=8) or exercised group (HE, n=8) and DSW supplemented sedentary (DS, n=8) or exercised group (DE, n=8), given a high fat diet to all groups for 8 weeks. In the results, serum osteocalcin level of the DS was significantly lower than that of the HS (p<0.01). In addition, femoral bone mineral density (BMD), tibial bone mineral content (BMC), and breaking force of the DS were significantly higher than that of the HS (p<0.05). Furthermore, femoral BMD and tibial weight of DE were significantly higher than that of the HE (p<0.05). These results suggest that drinking deep-sea water and exercise has a crucial role for prevent osteoporosis and increase peak bone mass in growing male rats.     

Effect of Phellinus linteus extract supplementation on cortisol and related cytokines in young male adults

This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Pellinus linteus (PL) extract supplementation in healthy young men. The subjects were 18 healthy young males 20 years of age that were given 1.5 L of 0.12% PL extract orally (n=8) or a placebo (control group, n=10) daily for 4 weeks. The body composition, the white blood cell (WBC) count and differential as well as the serum cortisol, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 concentrations were measured before and after the supplementation. Serum concentrations of cortisol and IL-1β at rest after oral supplementation were significantly decreased compared to before treatment (p<0.01, p<0.05, respectively). However, there was no change in the IL-6. And also, these factors in PL extract supplement group were significantly reduced after performing the exercise compared to control group. These results suggest that oral PL extract supplements for 4 weeks had a significant effect on inhibition of inflammatory markers in healthy young men.     

Effect of oligonol intake on cortisol and cytokines,and body temperature after leg immersion into hot water

This study investigated the effects of oligonol intake on cortisol, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 concentrations in the serum as well as body temperature after leg immersion into hot water. Thirteen healthy male volunteers participated in this study. Each subject received oligonol (100 mg) before leg immersion into hot water. Skin and tympanic temperatures were measured and mean body temperatures were calculated. Serum concentrations of cortisol, IL-1β, and IL-6 were measured during and after leg immersion. Individuals who received oligonol had significantly decreased cortisol concentrations and serum levels of IL-1β and IL-6 compared to ones who did not receive oligonol. In addition, skin, tympanic, and mean body temperatures of oligonol group were maintained at lower degree overall recovery period compared with placebo group. These results suggest that oral oligonol intake before hot water immersion had a significant effect on inhibition of pyrogenic cytokine response and thermal suppression in healthy young men.     

Effect of caffeine on the metabolic responses of lipolysis and activated sweat gland density in human during physical activity

This study measured caffeine-induced changes in activated sweat gland density (ASGD) and fat oxidation using a randomized crossover design with 10 healthy volunteers given caffeine (Caffe-I, 3 mg/kg ingested 30 min before experiment) and non-caffeine (No-Caff). Subjects were 173.0±3.2 cm in height, 72.5±4.3 kg in weight, and 21.5±2.5 years in age. All experiments were performed in an automated climate chamber (24.0±0.5°C, relative humidity 50±3%, air velocity less than 1 m/sec) between 2–5 p.m. The ASGD on the chest, upper arm, upper back, and lower back were measured (after 30 min running at 60% VO_2max), and blood samples were taken (at 40 min before, immediately before and after 30 min running). Activated sweat gland density levels were higher in Caffe-I (Chest p<0.05 and U-Back p<0.01) and free fatty acids (FFA) were higher in Caffe-I compared to No-Caff immediately before (p<0.05) and after running (p<0.01). In summary, caffeine increases ASGD and FFA by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and increasing of lipolysis.     

Simulation of droplet generation through electrostatic forces

This paper represents the multiphysics simulation of droplet generation of ink containing conductive nano-particles through electrostatic forces on substrate. The main focus is to investigate the phenomena by generating the drops through a nozzle with the help of electrostatic forces. The electrostatic based deposition system has vast application in printed electronics and biotechnology. In electrostatic deposition mechanism for droplet generation, a strong electric potential is applied at the tip of the nozzle; due this electric potential, the liquid containing the nano-particles experience strong electrostatic static forces at the interface with the air (at the tip of the nozzle). When these electrostatic forces exceed the internal (viscous forces) and external forces (surface tension), a deformation takes place which results in the flow of the liquid in the form of droplets. The size of the droplet is dependent on different parameters like applied voltage, properties of the ink, dimension of the nozzle. To have better understanding of this, a numerical simulation was performed based on multi-physics approach. Multiple simulations were performed by changing the position of electrode in nozzle and varying the applied voltage. Droplet size with respect to applied voltage was evaluated; electric field with respect to applied voltage and time for the droplet generation was also evaluated through these simulations. This study will help in better understanding the parameters of droplet generation phenomena and optimal design of the nozzle for the electrostatic inkjet system.     

Machine health management in smart factory: A review

In this paper, we present a review of machine health managements for the smart factory. As the Industry 4.0 leads current factory automation and intelligent machines, the machine health management for diagnostic and prognostic purposes are essential, and their importance is getting more significant for the realization of the smart factory in the Industry 4.0. After brief introductions to important concepts and definitions composing smart factory and Industry 4.0, the developments in maintenance strategies towards Prognostics and health management (PHM) of machines are summarized. The review of machine health managements is followed, classifying the references by the monitoring components, types of measurements, as well as PHM tools and algorithms. 94 existing articles are reviewed and summarized in this regard. The implementations of machine health managements within the smart factory are discussed in terms of data connectivity, communications, Cyber-physical system (CPS) and virtual factory, relating them to Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, and big data management.     

Stabilization of resveratrol immobilized in monodisperse cyano-functionalized porous polymeric microspheres

To preserve the high anti-oxidant activity of resveratrol for a long period of time, porous particles were utilized. The porosity of these substrate particles was controlled by DVB content and toluene/heptane ratios in the seeded polymerization. The influence of porosity on the anti-oxidant activity of the immobilized resveratrol was investigated. From SEM and CLSM analysis, it was confirmed that the resveratrol was stabilized in the porous particles after the immobilization process. The resveratrol has a crystalline structure, which was maintained even after immobilization; however, the resveratrol exhibited an amorphous form in the case of the smallest pore size and the highest specific surface area. Although the loading capacity of resveratrol was largely affected by the hydrophobicity and the specific surface area of porous particles, the anti-oxidant activity of immobilized resveratrol was preserved in over 93% in comparison to the raw resveratrol. In addition, the bioactivity of resveratrol immobilized in the porous particles was sustained for 5 weeks.     

Time evolution of electronegativity in a pulsed inductively coupled oxygen plasma

The electronegativity in a continuous wave (CW) and pulsed mode plasmas was calculated using the measured results of both the single Langmuir probe and the retarding field analyzer. For the pulsed mode measurement, both of the measurements were performed in a time-resolved method using a boxcar sampling technique. For the conversion of the retarding field analyzer measurement results into absolute positive ion densities, argon plasma was used as a reference. The pulsed oxygen plasma was generated using the inductively coupled antenna and modulated at a repetition rate of 5 kHz and the duty ratio of 50%. The gas pressure was changed from 5 to 30 mTorr. The time evolution of the electronegativity shows that there is a pressure regime where the electron attachment reaction during the RF on-time is very active, indicating that the negative ion density reaches its maximum value during the RF on-time. Compared to the CW oxygen plasma, the electronegativity of the pulsed oxygen plasma varies within a wider range of values.