Brodeur Nicolas, Notley Sean R, Kenny Glen P, Longtin André, Seely Andrew J E
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
Entropy (Basel). 2023 Sep 3;25(9):1290. doi: 10.3390/e25091290.
Complex living systems, such as the human organism, are characterized by their self-organized and dissipative behaviors, where irreversible processes continuously produce entropy internally and export it to the environment; however, a means by which to measure human entropy production and entropy flow over time is not well-studied. In this article, we leverage prior experimental data to introduce an experimental approach for the continuous measurement of external entropy flow (released to the environment) and internal entropy production (within the body), using direct and indirect calorimetry, respectively, for humans exercising under heat stress. Direct calorimetry, performed with a whole-body modified Snellen calorimeter, was used to measure the external heat dissipation from the change in temperature and relative humidity between the air outflow and inflow, from which was derived the rates of entropy flow of the body. Indirect calorimetry, which measures oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production from inspired and expired gases, was used to monitor internal entropy production. A two-compartment entropy flow model was used to calculate the rates of internal entropy production and external entropy flow for 11 middle-aged men during a schedule of alternating exercise and resting bouts at a fixed metabolic heat production rate. We measured a resting internal entropy production rate of (0.18 ± 0.01) W/(K·m) during heat stress only, which is in agreement with published measurements. This research introduces an approach for the real-time monitoring of entropy production and entropy flow in humans, and aims for an improved understanding of human health and illness based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
复杂的生命系统,如人体,具有自我组织和耗散行为的特征,其中不可逆过程在内部不断产生熵并将其输出到环境中;然而,一种随着时间测量人体熵产生和熵流的方法尚未得到充分研究。在本文中,我们利用先前的实验数据,介绍一种实验方法,用于连续测量外部熵流(释放到环境中)和内部熵产生(在体内),分别使用直接量热法和间接量热法,对在热应激下运动的人体进行测量。使用全身改良斯内伦量热计进行的直接量热法,用于通过测量空气流出和流入之间的温度和相对湿度变化来测量外部散热,由此得出人体的熵流速率。间接量热法,用于测量吸入和呼出气体中的氧气消耗和二氧化碳产生,用于监测内部熵产生。使用两室熵流模型,以固定的代谢产热率,计算11名中年男性在交替运动和休息期间的内部熵产生率和外部熵流速率。我们仅在热应激期间测量到静息内部熵产生率为(0.18±0.01)W/(K·m),这与已发表的测量结果一致。本研究介绍了一种实时监测人体熵产生和熵流的方法,旨在基于非平衡热力学更好地理解人类健康和疾病。