A 3-D whole-body human thermoregulatory model to simulate cold-induced vasodilation in the hands and feet.

The cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) response of the human body to Arctic-like environments helps delay or prevent cold injuries to peripheral regions, such as the hands and feet. To more comprehensively predict the thermal responses of these body regions to cold stress, here we extended our previously developed and validated anatomically accurate three-dimensional whole-body thermoregulatory human model by incorporating a new phenomenological formulation of the CIVD mechanism. In this formulation, we modulated the cyclic vasodilation and vasoconstriction flow of warm blood from the body core to the peripheral regions solely by determining the heat-transfer exchange between the skin and the surrounding environment, and deactivated it when the core body temperature decreased to 36.

When to sleep and consume caffeine to boost alertness.

Study Objectives: Sleep loss can cause cognitive impairments that increase the risk of mistakes and accidents. However, existing guidelines to counteract the effects of sleep loss are generic and are not designed to address individual-specific conditions, leading to suboptimal alertness levels. Here, we developed an optimization algorithm that automatically identifies sleep schedules and caffeine-dosing strategies to minimize alertness impairment due to sleep loss for desired times of the day.

Region specific anisotropy and rate dependence of Göttingen minipig brain tissue.

Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of morbidity in civilian as well as military populations. Computational simulations of injurious events are an important tool to understanding the biomechanics of brain injury and evaluating injury criteria and safety measures. However, these computational models are highly dependent on the material parameters used to represent the brain tissue.