Affordances human body

The helium supply seemed secure, but then scientists discovered a whole new application for the gas. Helium boils at the lowest temperature of any substance (-269°C) and it never solidifies. Liquid helium is therefore the ideal substance to cool electrical wires and reduce their resistance to the flow of the current. It has allowed us to manufacture superconducting magnets, which have diverse applications, but probably none more useful than in magnetic resonance imaging. This technology affords doctors a noninvasive look inside the human body, and it Is probably the most important medical diagnostic tool ever developed. The future of mri, however, hinges on the availability of helium. Think about that the next time you fill those birthday balloons with the gas. 

Squalene is a naturally occurring triterpene and the precursor of steroids [66]. Oxidation (via squalene monooxygenase) of one of the terminal double bonds of squalene yields 2,3-squalene oxide, which undergoes enzyme-catalyzed cyclization to afford lanosterol, which is then elaborated into cholesterol and other steroids. Humans cannot live without squalene, because squalene is regarded as an essential building block for the production of hormones and other important substances in the human body. Squalene in olive oil may contribute to the low cholesterol levels of individuals consuming Mediterranean-style diets [67]. 

The Fabric of the Joints in the Human Body is a subject so much the more entertaining, as it must strike every one that considers it attentively with an Idea of fine Mechanical Composition. Wherever the Motion of one Bone upon another is requisite, there we find an excellent Apparatus for rendering that Motion safe and free We see, for Instance, the Extremity of one Bone molded into an orbicular Cavity, to receive the Head of another, in order to afford it an extensive Play. Both are covered with a smooth elastic Crust, to prevent mutual Abrasion connected with strong Ligaments, to prevent Dislocation and inclosed in a Bag that contains a proper Fluid Deposited there, for lubricating the Two contiguous Surfaces. So much in general. 

This brings up an interesting question what else does the human body afford the consciousness According to Oxford philosopher Richard Swinburne (Swinburne, 2004, p. 169), in order to be able to interact and learn about the environment in which it is placed, and yet still be a humanly free intelfigence, the mind needs the human body to contain ... 

Life is a perfect equilibrium between mind and body. It is a whole of different variables that, during our life we have to set up. In this challenge the safe maintenance of the human body represents one of our most important goal. In this sense, science and technology play a key role in the extended life expectancy. In the last century and especially in the last years, the medical area, in order to afford the new challenge in health care, was subject to necessary and deep changes (improvements), thanks also to a cross-fertilization of several disciplines. 

PK studies in typical laboratory animals (typically mice, rats, dogs, or monkeys) are useful because they directly determine the various PK parameters discussed above, which affords an understanding of the whole-body characteristics of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. Because these translate with some fidelity to humans, animal PK commonly is used to assess the PK acceptability of discovery compounds. Unfortunately, these studies tend to be too slow to permit rapid evaluation of dozens or hundreds of discovery compounds. Therefore, two modifications have been introduced that provide whole-body relevance with rates of screening that are sufficient to keep pace with the production of favorable discovery drug candidates (16). 

Strain and pressure sensors and also biochemosensors for measuring characteristics of the human skin are particularly interesting for this kind of applications because they could measure a wide set of parameters such as posture, breathing activity body fluids composition, etc. in a totally nonintrusive way. This characteristic is in fact very interesting for practical applications. For instance, it would allow doctors to monitor the patient status in real time, 24 h a day additionally, it would afford a better quality of life to patients for whom they would be perceived as noninvasive monitoring systems. 

The animal to human extrapolation Involves an estimation of exposure equivalent to the body burden based on sig/food intake/— day, mg/kg of body weight/day, or sig/day interpolated from surface area. Traditionally species comparisons are made on a mg/kg dose basis, but this technique does not allow for differences in metabolism rate. Alternatively basing species extrapolations on body surface area affords such a correction. The use of ppm in the diet also reflects differences in metabolism rates. Dietary ppm may be converted to oig/kg/day by incorporation of food consumed per day and animal body weight. If compounds are metabolized (as most are) the use of ppm in the diet is probably superior. Furthermore its use will usually result in the most conservative estimates (13). 

We mentioned that protein enzymes are akin to human-made machines, albeit on a nano-scale. We cannot resist mentioning that some of these machines are correctly called motors, because what they do is they perform mechanical motion against friction on the expense of chemical energy. For instance, some of the neurons (neural cells) in your body have their cell soma (main body) somewhere in your back close to your waist, while their axons go as far as the tip of your toe — perhaps the distance of the order one meter. Some proteins are synthesized in the cell soma and have to be delivered to the cell end. How can they be transported The cell cannot afford waiting for this to happen via simple diffusion (with a diffusion coefficient around this would require about 10 s, or 30... 

---