Automated Reconstruction of Neuronal Morphology Based on Local Geometrical and Global Structural Models

Digital reconstruction of neurons from microscope images is an important and challenging problem in neuroscience. In this paper, we propose a model-based method to tackle this problem. We first formulate a model structure, then develop an algorithm for computing it by carefully taking into account morphological characteristics of neurons, as well as the image properties under typical imaging protocols. The method has been tested on the data sets used in the DIADEM competition and produced promising results for four out of the five data sets

Cellular automata approach to hybrid surface and diffusion controlled reactions

\u3cp\u3eCellular automata are frequently used to model chemical reactions and processes. In this paper, a direct relation is established between chemical kinetic models for surface and diffusion controlled reactions and cellular automata parameters. The considered particles are allowed to have growing/shrinking sizes, caused by the difference in the volume of the consumed reactant and the formed reaction product. From the moment a minimum diffusion layer thickness is obtained, the cellular automata approach can be applied to study the diffusion (ash layer) controlled model for both cases. In order to be able to also describe the reaction before this minimum diffusion layer thickness is formed, chemical reaction controlled and diffusion controlled models are combined here. Applying this hybrid model, a closed-form relation is found between the cellular automata parameters (particle size, reaction probability) and the fundamental kinetics of surface (β\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e) and diffusion (β\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e) controlled reactions.\u3c/p\u3

Quantification of Electroporative Uptake Kinetics and Electric Field Heterogeneity Effects in Cells

We have conducted experiments quantitatively investigating electroporative uptake kinetics of a fluorescent plasma membrane integrity indicator, propidium iodide (PI), in HL60 human leukemia cells resulting from exposure to 40 μs pulsed electric fields (PEFs). These experiments were possible through the use of calibrated, real-time fluorescence microscopy and the development of a microcuvette: a specialized device designed for exposing cell cultures to intense PEFs while carrying out real-time microscopy. A finite-element electrostatic simulation was carried out to assess the degree of electric field heterogeneity between the microcuvette's electrodes allowing us to correlate trends in electroporative response to electric field distribution. Analysis of experimental data identified two distinctive electroporative uptake signatures: one characterized by low-level, decelerating uptake beginning immediately after PEF exposure and the other by high-level, accelerating fluorescence that is manifested sometimes hundreds of seconds after PEF exposure. The qualitative nature of these fluorescence signatures was used to isolate the conditions required to induce exclusively transient electroporation and to discuss electropore stability and persistence. A range of electric field strengths resulting in transient electroporation was identified for HL60s under our experimental conditions existing between 1.6 and 2 kV/cm. Quantitative analysis was used to determine that HL60s experiencing transient electroporation internalized between 50 and 125 million nucleic acid-bound PI molecules per cell. Finally, we show that electric field heterogeneity may be used to elicit asymmetric electroporative PI uptake within cell cultures and within individual cells