The effects of far-infrared emitting textiles on sleep quality, blood vessel function, and exercise performance

以下赠款申请是为了支持不列颠哥伦比亚省大学的Philip Ainslie教授与加拿大服装和鞋类零售商Mark's Work Wearhouse（MWW）之间的合作。我们的目的是评估远红外（FIR）发射纺织材料对人体的生理效应。最近的人类研究表明，FIR纺织品可以改善睡眠质量，血管功能和运动表现。我们的研究目标是进行一系列复杂的生理实验，以验证他们的新产品的设计，并确定MWW的新FIR服装线的生理效益。拟议项目的研究将在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省基洛纳的Ainslie教授实验室进行。在那里，他的高素质的研究团队（一名博士后研究员;两名博士生;一名硕士生和一名研究助理）将使用金标准设备和实验技术来测量睡眠质量，血管功能和运动表现在一组睡眠和非睡眠剥夺的个体中（每组n=20）。为了深入了解可能导致FIR相关生理益处的一些细胞机制，我们还将获得静脉血样，以评估炎症标志物和一氧化氮可用性。每组受试者将被要求以随机方式（假手术; 1% FIR技术;和2% FIR技术）穿三套衣服几个晚上。在穿上每一套衣服一周后，参与者将在安斯利教授的实验室进行一系列实验。所提出的一系列实验的结果将提高我们对睡眠质量、血管功能和运动表现相关机制的基本理解。这项研究合作将通过以下方式直接使MWW受益：1）评估两种浓度的FIR技术的性能（1%对2%），2）全面评估其产品在人体中的生理益处，3）通过与产品舒适度和贴合度相关的几份问卷验证其产品的设计，拟议的一系列研究对加拿大的科学和经济利益都有很大的潜力。

The following grant application is to support a collaboration between Prof. Philip Ainslie from the University of British Columbia and Mark's Work Wearhouse (MWW), a Canadian clothing and footwear retailer. Our aim is to evaluate the physiological effects of far-infrared (FIR) emitting textile material on the human body. Recent human studies suggest that FIR textiles may improve sleep quality, blood vessel function, and exercise performance. Our research objective is to conduct a series of sophisticated physiology experiments to verify the design of their new product, and to determine the physiological benefits of MWW's new FIR clothing line. The research for the proposed project will be conducted in Prof. Ainslie's laboratory in Kelowna, BC, Canada. There, his highly qualified research team (one post-doctoral fellow; two PhD students; one MSc student, and; one research assistant) will use gold-standard equipment and experimental techniques to measure sleep quality, blood vessel function, and exercise performance in a group of sleep and non-sleep deprived individuals (n=20 each group). In order to gain insight on some of the cellular mechanism(s) that may be responsible for FIR-related physiological benefits, we will also obtain venous blood samples to assess markers of inflammation and nitric oxide availability. Each group of participants will be required to wear three sets of clothing in a randomized fashion (sham; 1% FIR technology; and 2% FIR technology) for several nights. After wearing each set of clothing for one-week, participants will undergo a series of experiments in Prof. Ainslie's laboratory. The results from the proposed series of experiments will improve our fundamental understanding of the mechanism(s) associated with sleep quality, blood vessel function, and exercise performance. This research collaboration will directly benefit MWW by: 1) evaluating the performance of two concentrations of FIR technology (1% vs 2%), 2) comprehensively evaluating the physiological benefits of their product in humans, and 3) verifying the design of their product through several questionnaires related to product comfort and fit, The proposed series of studies has both high potential for scientific and economic benefits for Canada.