44 research outputs found
Inverse Diffusion Theory of Photoacoustics
This paper analyzes the reconstruction of diffusion and absorption parameters
in an elliptic equation from knowledge of internal data. In the application of
photo-acoustics, the internal data are the amount of thermal energy deposited
by high frequency radiation propagating inside a domain of interest. These data
are obtained by solving an inverse wave equation, which is well-studied in the
literature. We show that knowledge of two internal data based on well-chosen
boundary conditions uniquely determines two constitutive parameters in
diffusion and Schroedinger equations. Stability of the reconstruction is
guaranteed under additional geometric constraints of strict convexity. No
geometric constraints are necessary when internal data for well-chosen
boundary conditions are available, where is spatial dimension. The set of
well-chosen boundary conditions is characterized in terms of appropriate
complex geometrical optics (CGO) solutions.Comment: 24 page
Thermoacoustic tomography arising in brain imaging
We study the mathematical model of thermoacoustic and photoacoustic
tomography when the sound speed has a jump across a smooth surface. This models
the change of the sound speed in the skull when trying to image the human
brain. We derive an explicit inversion formula in the form of a convergent
Neumann series under the assumptions that all singularities from the support of
the source reach the boundary
Sparse Regularization with Penalty Term
We consider the stable approximation of sparse solutions to non-linear
operator equations by means of Tikhonov regularization with a subquadratic
penalty term. Imposing certain assumptions, which for a linear operator are
equivalent to the standard range condition, we derive the usual convergence
rate of the regularized solutions in dependence of the noise
level . Particular emphasis lies on the case, where the true solution
is known to have a sparse representation in a given basis. In this case, if the
differential of the operator satisfies a certain injectivity condition, we can
show that the actual convergence rate improves up to .Comment: 15 page
Inhibition of Src kinase activity attenuates amyloid associated microgliosis in a murine model of Alzheimerβs disease
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microglial activation is an important histologic characteristic of the pathology of Alzheimerβs disease (AD). One hypothesis is that amyloid beta (AΞ²) peptide serves as a specific stimulus for tyrosine kinase-based microglial activation leading to pro-inflammatory changes that contribute to disease. Therefore, inhibiting AΞ² stimulation of microglia may prove to be an important therapeutic strategy for AD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Primary murine microglia cultures and the murine microglia cell line, BV2, were used for stimulation with fibrillar AΞ²1-42. The non-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, dasatinib, was used to treat the cells to determine whether Src family kinase activity was required for the AΞ² stimulated signaling response and subsequent increase in TNFΞ± secretion using Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. A histologic longitudinal analysis was performed using an AD transgenic mouse model, APP/PS1, to determine an age at which microglial protein tyrosine kinase levels increased in order to administer dasatinib via mini osmotic pump diffusion. Effects of dasatinib administration on microglial and astroglial activation, protein phosphotyrosine levels, active Src kinase levels, AΞ² plaque deposition, and spatial working memory were assessed via immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and T maze analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>AΞ² fibrils stimulated primary murine microglia via a tyrosine kinase pathway involving Src kinase that was attenuated by dasatinib. Dasatinib administration to APP/PS1 mice decreased protein phosphotyrosine, active Src, reactive microglia, and TNFΞ± levels in the hippocampus and temporal cortex. The drug had no effect on GFAP levels, AΞ² plaque load, or the related tyrosine kinase, Lyn. These anti-inflammatory changes correlated with improved performance on the T maze test in dasatinib infused animals compared to control animals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that amyloid dependent microgliosis may be Src kinase dependent <it>in vitro</it> and <it>in vivo.</it> This study defines a role for Src kinase in the microgliosis characteristic of diseased brains and suggests that particular tyrosine kinase inhibition may be a valid anti-inflammatory approach to disease. Dasatinib is an FDA-approved drug for treating chronic myeloid leukemia cancer with a reported ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, this suggests a novel use for this drug as well as similar acting molecules.</p
Molecular Insights into Reprogramming-Initiation Events Mediated by the OSKM Gene Regulatory Network
Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells by over-expression of OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC (OSKM). With the aim of unveiling the early mechanisms underlying the induction of pluripotency, we have analyzed transcriptional profiles at 24, 48 and 72 hours post-transduction of OSKM into human foreskin fibroblasts. Experiments confirmed that upon viral transduction, the immediate response is innate immunity, which induces free radical generation, oxidative DNA damage, p53 activation, senescence, and apoptosis, ultimately leading to a reduction in the reprogramming efficiency. Conversely, nucleofection of OSKM plasmids does not elicit the same cellular stress, suggesting viral response as an early reprogramming roadblock. Additional initiation events include the activation of surface markers associated with pluripotency and the suppression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, reconstruction of an OSKM interaction network highlights intermediate path nodes as candidates for improvement intervention. Overall, the results suggest three strategies to improve reprogramming efficiency employing: 1) anti-inflammatory modulation of innate immune response, 2) pre-selection of cells expressing pluripotency-associated surface antigens, 3) activation of specific interaction paths that amplify the pluripotency signal