Human Physiology Experiments

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

Edward Muybridge (1830–1904) is known as the pioneer in motion capt- ing with his famous experiments in 1887 called “Animal Locomotion”. Since then, the ?eld of animal or human motion analysis has grown in many dir- tions. However, research and results that involve human-like animation and the recovery of motion is still far from being satisfactory.

The vitality of the cardiovascular system, which consists of the heart, vas­ culature, and blood, depends on its response to a host of complex stimuli, including biological, chemical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal. The focus of this book, however, is on the response of the heart and arteries to mechanical loads from the perspective of nonlinear solid mechanics. Through my own research in this field, I have come to realize that study­ ing the complex responses of cardiovascular cells, tissues, and organs nec­ essarily requires a combined theoretical, experimental, and computational approach. Theory is needed to guide the performance and interpretation of experiments as well as to synthesize the results; experiment is needed to study the responses of the system to well-controlled loads and to test can­ didate hypotheses and theories; and due to the geometric and material non­ linearities inherent to cardiovascular mechanics, computation is needed to analyze data as well as to solve boundary and initial value problems that correspond to either experimental or in vivo conditions. One of the primary goals of this book is to introduce together basic analytical, experimental, and computational methods and to illustrate how these methods can and must be integrated to gain a more complete understanding of the bio­ mechanics of the heart and vasculature. Despite the focus on cardiovascu­ lar mechanics, the fundamental methods, indeed many of the specific results, are generally applicable to many different soft tissues.

This book explains how researchers design, prepare, develop, test and fly their science experiments on microgravity platforms before sending them to space. All preparation phases are explained and presented, including aircraft parabolic flights as part of spaceflight preparation.

In this book, leading figures in the field of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease provide up-to-date information from human clinical trials, cohorts, and animal physiology experiments to reveal the interdependence between parental obesity and health of the offspring. Obesity of the mother and father produces obesity in their offspring,