Aim:Previous studies have shown that the process of swallowing changes with aging, a phenomenon known as presbyphagia. These subtle and subclinical age-related changes make older adults more vulnerable to dysphagia during disease insults. However, there are limited studies of the swallowing process in older adults, because measurements are typically invasive or require exposure to X-rays. In the present study, we used integrated noninvasive measurements to determine aging-related changes of swallowing, and in the coordination of swallowing and respiration for a population of healthy participants. Methods:The non-invasive system provided measurements of larynx movement with piezoelectric sensors, submental muscle activity with surface electromyography and respiration-swallowing coordination by measurement of nasal airflow. We recruited 112 healthy participants from the community, 35 in a young-age group (age 20-30 years), 38 in a middle-age group (age 31-50 years) and 39 in an old-age group (age 51-70 years). Results:The oropharyngeal swallowing parameters of the old-age group had delayed onset latency and longer swallowing apnea duration relative to the other groups, and these differences were greater for larger boluses. The middle-and old-age groups had less expiratory-expiratory respiratory phase pattern than the young-age group. The probability of piecemeal deglutition was highest in the old-age group and lowest in the young-age group. These results show that the phases of oropharyngeal swallowing and the coordination of swallowing with respiration gradually change with aging. Conclusions:We used integrated non-invasive measurements to document age-related changes in swallowing, and in the coordination of swallowing and respiration in healthy adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 736-744.

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Objectives: Self-report is considered the gold standard of pain measurement. Physiological measures are valuable in situations where self-report measures are more difficult to administer. This investigation assesses pain intensity in patients with musculoskeletal pain before and after the first session of physical therapy by evaluating the visual analog scale [VAS] and verbal rating scale [VRS] and analyzing the heart rate variability [HRV], and examines their relationships.Methods: A short-term electrocardiogram signal, VAS, and VRS of patients experiencing musculoskeletal pain were gathered before and after physical therapy and HRV was analyzed. The normal-to-normal [NN] intervals were obtained from electrocardiogram via Tompkins algorithm, followed by time-domain analyses. Additionally, the power spectrum density was determined via Fast Fourier Transform and frequency-domain analyses were conducted. Differences in each parameter before and after physical therapy were studied with paired t-test or Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Furthermore, correlations between HRV and self-reported data were analyzed using Spearman [rank] correlation matrix.Results: According to the VAS and VRS, patients' perceptions of pain reduced significantly [P < 0.001] after treatment. The mean, standard deviation [SDNN], square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals [RMSSD], and high frequency [HF] also show significant differences [P < 0.01]. Moreover, the VAS correlated closely with SDNN, RMSSD, low frequency, and HF. The correlation with HF was the most significant [r = 0.624].Conclusions: This study observed that physical therapy is obviously beneficial for patients with musculoskeletal pain. Furthermore, HRV parameters could provide important information regarding pain assessment. These can be helpful in diagnosis of pain intensity.

In this paper, a simpler formulation for the nonlinear motion analysis of reticulated space truss structures is developed by applying a new concept of computational mechanics, named the vector form intrinsic finite element (VFIFE or V-5) method. The V-5 method models the analyzed domain to be composed by finite particles and the Newton's second law is applied to describe each particle's motion. By tracing the motions of all the mass particles in the space, it can simulate the large geometrical and material nonlinear changes during the motion of structure without using geometrical stiffness matrix and iterations. The analysis procedure is vastly simple, accurate, and versatile. The formulation of VFIFE type space truss element includes a new description of the kinematics that can handle large rotation and large deformation, and includes a set of deformation coordinates for each time increment used to describe the shape functions and internal nodal forces. A convected material frame and an explicit time integration scheme for the solution procedures are also adopted. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate capabilities and accuracy of the V-5 method on the nonlinear dynamic stability analysis of space truss structures.

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