Natural ventilation as a passive strategy in buildings has been increasingly studied in recent years for its potential advantages to reduce building energy use and improve indoor environmental ...quality (IEQ), especially during shoulder seasons (i.e., transition months or colder summer days). This study investigates the energy impacts of natural ventilation in a mid-rise multifamily building in Chicago, IL, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and building energy modeling. Considering weather conditions in Chicago, natural ventilation is assumed to be applied only for the shoulder seasons (i.e., spring and fall). To this end, this study used (1) a coupled modeling method to simulate the exterior environment to investigate the overall behavior of outdoor airflow around the building, (2) a decoupled modeling method to simulate the detailed interior environment with various opening scenarios to demonstrate natural ventilation effectiveness, (3) applied building energy models to evaluate the impact of natural ventilation on energy use compared to mechanical ventilation, and (4) performed a parametric analysis to explore various natural ventilation scenarios with different environmental control set points, including minimum and maximum outdoor temperatures and wind speeds. The CFD simulations showed that the rates of wind-driven natural ventilation were estimated to be about 8430 L/s (25.4 ACH) in the gym space and 1270 to 2050 L/s (4.8 to 7.8 ACH) in the residential space at average shoulder season climate conditions, depending on different ventilation scenarios, which satisfied the required ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019 minimum ventilation rates. The parametric study of building energy simulations indicated that natural ventilation can reduce seasonal building energy consumption by up to 30% (21,610 kWh) and save about $1550 during the shoulder seasons compared to the mechanical ventilation system.
Poor outcomes have been reported in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); thus, it is mandatory to explore novel therapeutic approaches for this population.
In a ...multicenter, case-control, retrospective, observational study, sitagliptin, an oral and highly selective dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, was added to standard of care (e.g., insulin administration) at the time of hospitalization in patients with type 2 diabetes who were hospitalized with COVID-19. Every center also recruited at a 1:1 ratio untreated control subjects matched for age and sex. All patients had pneumonia and exhibited oxygen saturation <95% when breathing ambient air or when receiving oxygen support. The primary end points were discharge from the hospital/death and improvement of clinical outcomes, defined as an increase in at least two points on a seven-category modified ordinal scale. Data were collected retrospectively from patients receiving sitagliptin from 1 March through 30 April 2020.
Of the 338 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 admitted in Northern Italy hospitals included in this study, 169 were on sitagliptin, while 169 were on standard of care. Treatment with sitagliptin at the time of hospitalization was associated with reduced mortality (18% vs. 37% of deceased patients; hazard ratio 0.44 95% CI 0.29-0.66;
= 0.0001), with an improvement in clinical outcomes (60% vs. 38% of improved patients;
= 0.0001) and with a greater number of hospital discharges (120 vs. 89 of discharged patients;
= 0.0008) compared with patients receiving standard of care, respectively.
In this multicenter, case-control, retrospective, observational study of patients with type 2 diabetes admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, sitagliptin treatment at the time of hospitalization was associated with reduced mortality and improved clinical outcomes as compared with standard-of-care treatment. The effects of sitagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 should be confirmed in an ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Samaria, renamed Sebaste after the annexation to Herod's kingdom, was mostly excavated in the first half of the 20th century. Despite its relevant archaeological heritage, the history of the city is ...scarcely known. During the Middle Imperial period, Samaria-Sebaste flourished, as is suggested by the renovation of several buildings. Under Septimius Severus the city was granted the status of colonia from which is benefited greatly. This paper intends to reappraise data from old excavations, with the aim to frame the local urban renovation of the 2nd and the 3rd centuries ce in a broader regional context. With regard to this objective, marble/stone trade and architectural decoration will be analysed.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease predominantly affecting the white matter of the CNS, causing—among functional sequelae—cortico-cortical partial or total disconnection. Since functional ...connectivity linking cerebral regions is reliably reflected by synchronization of their neuronal firing, in this study an electrophysiological parameter measured by magnetoencephalography was used to quantify an intra-cortical connectivity (ICC) index focused on the primary somatosensory cortical areas (S1). Twenty-one patients affected by mild (Extended Disability Scale Score, median 1,5) relapsing-remitting (RR) multiple sclerosis in the remitting phase without clinically evident sensory impairment were evaluated. Three dimensional MRI was used to quantify the lesion load, discriminating black hole and non-black hole portions, normalized by individual brain volumes. When matched with a control population, multiple sclerosis patients showed a reduced ICC combined with the complete loss of the finger-dependent functional specialization in S1 cortex of the dominant hemisphere. No association was found between ICC impairment and disease duration, or prolongation of the central sensory conduction time, presence of spinal cord lesions and ongoing disease modifying therapy. The ICC index slightly correlated with the lesion load. A local index of ICC in a circumscribed brain primary area was altered in mildly disabled RR-multiple sclerosis patients, also in absence of any impairment of central sensory conduction. In conclusion, the diffuse damage influencing the multi-nodal network subtending complex cerebral functions also affects intrinsic cortical connectivity. The S1 ICC index is proposed as a highly sensitive and simple-to-test functional measure for the evaluation of intra-cortical synchronization mechanisms in RR-multiple sclerosis.
•Modeling runway friction decay using an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system;•Model for APMSs that does not need to measure current friction by field surveys;•Model based on the friction value ...after the previous de-rubberizing maintenance operation and the traffic loads level;•Evolutionary behavior of the runway pavement friction without recourse to explicit analytical relationships.
The study describes a method of modelling runway friction decay using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Using a given input/output data set a fuzzy inference system (FIS) whose membership function parameters are tuned using an optimization algorithm was obtained. This allows the fuzzy inference system to learn from the data it is modelling, i.e., the ANFIS is used to train a FIS model to emulate the data presented to it, by modifying the membership function parameters according to a chosen error criterion. The input variables are the friction measured immediately after each maintenance operation of surface degumming, and a parameter on current traffic; the output is the current or future friction, between one maintenance operation and the next. The model thus provides effective and efficient forecasting, representing the evolutionary behavior of pavement friction on the specific runways. Testing the model performance in terms of errors and dimension of the rule base indicates satisfactory effectiveness, sufficient for its application as a decision-making tool in airport maintenance management systems (APMS), also considering the efficiency of the model, since it does not require the operator to carry out on-site measurements or carry out difficult calculations for prediction of current or future levels of friction. The prediction of current or even future levels of friction becomes much more readily possible for airport managers.
Maize (Zea mays) is a globally produced crop with broad genetic and phenotypic variation. New tools that improve our understanding of the genetic basis of quantitative traits are needed to guide ...predictive crop breeding. We have produced the first balanced multi-parental population in maize, a tool that provides high diversity and dense recombination events to allow routine quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in maize.
We produced 1,636 MAGIC maize recombinant inbred lines derived from eight genetically diverse founder lines. The characterization of 529 MAGIC maize lines shows that the population is a balanced, evenly differentiated mosaic of the eight founders, with mapping power and resolution strengthened by high minor allele frequencies and a fast decay of linkage disequilibrium. We show how MAGIC maize may find strong candidate genes by incorporating genome sequencing and transcriptomics data. We discuss three QTL for grain yield and three for flowering time, reporting candidate genes. Power simulations show that subsets of MAGIC maize might achieve high-power and high-definition QTL mapping.
We demonstrate MAGIC maize's value in identifying the genetic bases of complex traits of agronomic relevance. The design of MAGIC maize allows the accumulation of sequencing and transcriptomics layers to guide the identification of candidate genes for a number of maize traits at different developmental stages. The characterization of the full MAGIC maize population will lead to higher power and definition in QTL mapping, and lay the basis for improved understanding of maize phenotypes, heterosis included. MAGIC maize is available to researchers.
In hippocampal neurons, the scaffold protein AKAP79 recruits the phosphatase calcineurin to L-type Ca(2+) channels and couples Ca(2+) influx to activation of calcineurin and of its substrate, the ...transcription factor NFAT. Here we show that an IAIIIT anchoring site in human AKAP79 binds the same surface of calcineurin as the PxIxIT recognition peptide of NFAT, albeit more strongly. A modest decrease in calcineurin-AKAP affinity due to an altered anchoring sequence is compatible with NFAT activation, whereas a further decrease impairs activation. Counterintuitively, increasing calcineurin-AKAP affinity increases recruitment of calcineurin to the scaffold but impairs NFAT activation; this is probably due to both slower release of active calcineurin from the scaffold and sequestration of active calcineurin by 'decoy' AKAP sites. We propose that calcineurin-AKAP79 scaffolding promotes NFAT signaling by balancing strong recruitment of calcineurin with its efficient release to communicate with NFAT.
Genetic alterations in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) frequently disrupt balance between synaptic excitation and inhibition and alter plasticity in the hippocampal CA1 region. Individuals with ...Timothy Syndrome (TS), a genetic disorder caused by CaV1.2 L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC) gain-of function mutations, such as G406R, exhibit social deficits, repetitive behaviors, and cognitive impairments characteristic of ASD that are phenocopied in TS2-neo mice expressing G406R. Here, we characterized hippocampal CA1 synaptic function in male TS2-neo mice and found basal excitatory transmission was slightly increased and inhibitory transmission strongly decreased. We also found distinct impacts on two LTCC-dependent forms of long-term potentiation (LTP) synaptic plasticity that were not readily consistent with LTCC gain-of-function. LTP induced by high-frequency stimulation (HFS) was strongly impaired in TS2-neo mice, suggesting decreased LTCC function. Yet, CaV1.2 expression, basal phosphorylation, and current density were similar for WT and TS2-neo. However, this HFS-LTP also required GABAA receptor activity, and thus may be impaired in TS2-neo due to decreased inhibitory transmission. In contrast, LTP induced in WT mice by prolonged theta-train (PTT) stimulation in the presence of a β-adrenergic receptor agonist to increase CaV1.2 phosphorylation was partially induced in TS2-neo mice by PTT stimulation alone, consistent with increased LTCC function. Overall, our findings provide insights regarding how altered CaV1.2 channel function disrupts basal transmission and plasticity that could be relevant for neurobehavioral alterations in ASD.
This article is part of the Special Issue on ‘L-type calcium channel mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders’.
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•CaV1.2 G406R mutation in Timothy Syndrome decreases CA1 synaptic inhibition.•G406R inhibits L-type Ca2+ channel dependent, high-frequency stimulation/HFS-LTP.•G406R sensitizes synapses to potentiation by prolonged theta train/PTT stimulation.•G406R partially occludes β-adrenergic promotion of CaV1.2-dependent PTT-LTP.
In a dual-task paradigm, a visual display (T1) containing characters (letters or symbols) was presented first, followed by an auditory signal (T2) at various stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs). A ...speeded response to T2was required. When the information in T1had to be recalled later, response times to T2(RT2) were elevated at short SOAs and decreased as SOA was increased. The effects on RT2were larger when there were more items to be remembered. We interpreted the results as evidence that encoding information into short-term memory (STM) involves a distinct process, which we call short-term consolidation (STC). The results suggested that STC has limited capacity and that it requires central processing mechanisms. Additional evidence suggested that no memory for T1was formed in STM when STC was not engaged.
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