No abstract

A personal comfort model is a new approach to thermal comfort modeling that predicts an individual's thermal comfort response, instead of the average response of a large population. It leverages the Internet of Things and machine learning to learn individuals' comfort requirements directly from the data collected in their everyday environment. Its results could be aggregated to predict comfort of a population. To provide guidance on future efforts in this emerging research area, this paper presents a unified framework for personal comfort models. We first define the problem by providing a brief discussion of existing thermal comfort models and their limitations for real-world applications, and then review the current state of research on personal comfort models including a summary of key advances and gaps. We then describe a modeling framework to establish fundamental concepts and methodologies for developing and evaluating personal comfort models, followed by a discussion of how such models can be integrated into indoor environmental controls. Lastly, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for applications of personal comfort models for building design, control, standards, and future research.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-linked presenilin mutations result in pronounced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium disruptions that occur prior to detectable histopathology and cognitive deficits. More subtly, these early AD-linked calcium alterations also reset neurophysiological homeostasis, such that calcium-dependent pre- and postsynaptic signaling appear functionally normal yet are actually operating under aberrant calcium signaling systems. In these 3xTg-AD mouse brains, upregulated RyR activity is associated with a shift towards synaptic depression, likely through a reduction in presynaptic vesicle stores and increased postsynaptic outward currents through SK2 channels. The deviant RyR-calcium involvement in the 3xTg-AD mice also compensates for an intrinsic predisposition for hippocampal LTD and reduced LTP. In this study we detail the impact of disrupted ryanodine receptor (RyR)-mediated calcium stores on synaptic transmission properties, long term depression (LTD) and calcium-activated membrane channels of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in presymptomatic 3xTg-AD mice. Using electrophysiological recordings in young 3xTg-AD and NonTg hippocampal slices, we show that increased RyR-evoked calcium release in 3xTg-AD mice ‘normalizes’ an altered synaptic transmission system operating under a shifted homeostatic state that is not present in NonTg mice. In the process, we uncover compensatory signaling mechanisms recruited early in the disease process which counterbalance the disrupted RyR-calcium dynamics, namely increases in presynaptic spontaneous vesicle release, altered probability of vesicle release, and upregulated postsynaptic SK channel activity. As AD is increasingly recognized as a ‘synaptic disease’, calcium-mediated signaling alterations may serve as a proximal trigger for the synaptic degradation driving the cognitive loss in AD.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative condition with no known cure. While current therapies target late-stage amyloid formation and cholinergic tone, to date, these strategies have proven ineffective at preventing disease progression. The reasons for this may be varied, and could reflect late intervention, or, that earlier pathogenic mechanisms have been overlooked and permitted to accelerate the disease process. One such example would include synaptic pathology, the disease component strongly associated with cognitive impairment. Dysregulated Ca2+ homeostasis may be one of the critical factors driving synaptic dysfunction. One of the earliest pathophysiological indicators in mutant presenilin (PS) AD mice is increased intracellular Ca2+ signaling, predominantly through the ER-localized inositol triphosphate (IP3) and ryanodine receptors (RyR). In particular, the RyR-mediated Ca2+ upregulation within synaptic compartments is associated with altered synaptic homeostasis and network depression at early (presymptomatic) AD stages. Here, we offer an alternative approach to AD therapeutics by stabilizing early pathogenic mechanisms associated with synaptic abnormalities. We targeted the RyR as a means to prevent disease progression, and sub-chronically treated AD mouse models (4-weeks) with a novel formulation of the RyR inhibitor, dantrolene. Using 2-photon Ca2+ imaging and patch clamp recordings, we demonstrate that dantrolene treatment fully normalizes ER Ca2+ signaling within somatic and dendritic compartments in early and later-stage AD mice in hippocampal slices. Additionally, the elevated RyR2 levels in AD mice are restored to control levels with dantrolene treatment, as are synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity. Aβ deposition within the cortex and hippocampus is also reduced in dantrolene-treated AD mice. In this study, we highlight the pivotal role of Ca2+ aberrations in AD, and propose a novel strategy to preserve synaptic function, and thereby cognitive function, in early AD patients.

No abstract

Key pointsr Mechanical and metabolic stimuli from contracting muscles evoke reflex increases in blood pressure, heart rate and sympathetic nerve activity. Little is known, however, about the nature of the mechano-gated channels on the thin fibre muscle afferents that contribute to evoke this reflex, termed the exercise pressor reflex.r We determined the effect of GsMTx4, an inhibitor of mechano-gated Piezo channels, on the exercise pressor reflex evoked by intermittent contraction of the triceps surae muscles in decerebrated, unanaesthetized rats.r GsMTx4 reduced the pressor, cardioaccelerator and renal sympathetic nerve responses to intermittent contraction but did not reduce the pressor responses to femoral arterial injection of compounds that stimulate the metabolically-sensitive thin fibre muscle afferents.r Expression levels of Piezo2 channels were greater than Piezo1 channels in rat dorsal root ganglia.r Our findings suggest that mechanically-sensitive Piezo proteins contribute to the generation of the mechanical component of the exercise pressor reflex in rats.Abstract Mechanical and metabolic stimuli within contracting skeletal muscles evoke reflex autonomic and cardiovascular adjustments. In cats and rats, gadolinium has been used to investigate the role played by the mechanical component of this reflex, termed the exercise pressor reflex. Gadolinium, however, has poor selectivity for mechano-gated channels and exerts multiple off-target effects. We tested the hypothesis that GsMTX4, a more selective mechano-gated channel inhibitor than gadolinium and a particularly potent inhibitor of mechano-gated Piezo channels, reduced the exercise pressor reflex in decerebrate rats. Injection of 10 μg of GsMTx4 into the arterial supply of the hindlimb reduced the peak pressor (control: 24 ± 5, GsMTx4: 12 ± 5 mmHg, P < 0.01), cardioaccelerator and renal sympathetic nerve responses to tendon stretch, a purely mechanical stimulus, but had no effect on the pressor responses to intra-arterial injection of α,β-methylene ATP or lactic acid. Moreover, injection of 10 μg of GsMTx4 into the arterial supply of the hindlimb reduced the peak pressor (control: 24 ± 2, GsMTx4: 14 ± 3 mmHg, P < 0.01), cardioaccelerator and renal sympathetic nerve responses to electrically-induced intermittent hindlimb muscle contractions. By contrast, injection of 10 μg of GsMTx4 into the jugular vein had no effect on the pressor, cardioaccelerator, or renal sympathetic nerve responses to contraction. Quantitative RT-PCR and western blot analyses indicated that both Piezo1 and Piezo2 channel isoforms were natively expressed in rat dorsal root ganglia tissue. We conclude that GsMTx4 reduced the exercise pressor reflex in decerebrate rats and that the reduction was attributable, at least in part, to its effect on mechano-gated Piezo channels.

Synaptic plasticity deficits are increasingly recognized as causing the memory impairments which define Alzheimer's disease (AD). In AD mouse models, evidence of abnormal synaptic function is present before the onset of cognitive deficits, and presents as increased synaptic depression revealed only when synaptic homeostasis is challenged, such as with suppression of ryanodine receptor (RyR)-evoked calcium signaling. Otherwise, at early disease stages, the synaptic physiology phenotype appears normal. This suggests compensatory mechanisms are recruited to maintain a functionally normal net output of the hippocampal circuit. A candidate calcium-regulated synaptic modulator is nitric oxide (NO), which acts presynaptically to boost vesicle release and glutamatergic transmission. Here we tested whether there is a feedforward cycle between the increased RyR calcium release seen in presymptomatic AD mice and aberrant NO signaling which augments synaptic plasticity. Using a combination of electrophysiological approaches, two-photon calcium imaging, and protein biochemistry in hippocampal tissue from presymptomatic 3xTg-AD and NonTg mice, we show that blocking NO synthesis results in markedly augmented synaptic depression mediated through presynaptic mechanisms in 3xTg-AD mice. Additionally, blocking NO reduces the augmented synaptically evoked dendritic calcium release mediated by enhanced RyR calcium release. This is accompanied by increased nNOS levels in the AD mice and is reversed upon normalization of RyR-evoked calcium release with chronic dantrolene treatment. Thus, recruitment of NO is serving a compensatory role to boost synaptic transmission and plasticity during early AD stages. However, NO's dual role in neuroprotection and neurodegeneration may convert to maladaptive functions as the disease progresses.

The predictive accuracy of hospital admission or transfer for patients who presented to ED triage overall was good, and was improved with the inclusion of free text data from a patient's reason for visit regardless of modeling approach. Natural language processing and neural networks that incorporate patient-reported outcome free text may increase predictive accuracy for hospital admission.