Energy on demand: Efficient and versatile energy control system for home energy management

Abstract—We have been proposing the concept of “i-Energy ” as a new energy management scheme to realize efficient and versatile control of e-power flows among decentralized energy generation/storage devices and appliances in homes, offices, and neighboring communities. The i-Energy concept is best characterized by a novel energy control method named “Energy on Demand (EoD). ” The novelties of EoD rest in (1) the explicit demand-based power supply control, (2) the best-effort power distribution based on appliance priorities, and (3) the ceiling control of power consumption. With EoD, people can attain the guaranteed reduction of energy consumption without damaging their quality of lives. Moreover, when utility companies are allowed to set and modify ceiling values based on contracts with consumers, EoD systems work as smart demand response systems. This paper first describes the protocol for EoD: power request demands named "Quality of Energy (QoEn) " and appliance priority descriptions. Then, the demand mediation algorithm based on appliance priorities for a single power source is introduced. Experiments using real world everyday-life data in a smart apartment room demonstrated the effectiveness of EoD

The therapeutic effects of Rho-ROCK inhibitors on CNS disorders

Rho-kinase (ROCK) is a serine/threonine kinase and one of the major downstream effectors of the small GTPase Rho. The Rho-ROCK pathway is involved in many aspects of neuronal functions including neurite outgrowth and retraction. The Rho-ROCK pathway becomes an attractive target for the development of drugs for treating central nervous system (CNS) disorders, since it has been recently revealed that this pathway is closely related to the pathogenesis of several CNS disorders such as spinal cord injuries, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the adult CNS, injured axons regenerate poorly due to the presence of myelin-associated axonal growth inhibitors such as myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), Nogo, oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein (OMgp), and the recently identified repulsive guidance molecule (RGM). The effects of these inhibitors are reversed by blockade of the Rho-ROCK pathway in vitro, and the inhibition of this pathway promotes axonal regeneration and functional recovery in the injured CNS in vivo. In addition, the therapeutic effects of the Rho-ROCK inhibitors have been demonstrated in animal models of stroke. In this review, we summarize the involvement of the Rho-ROCK pathway in CNS disorders such as spinal cord injuries, stroke, and AD and also discuss the potential of Rho-ROCK inhibitors in the treatment of human CNS disorders