Microglia, major player in the brain inflammation: their roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

Inflammation, a self-defensive reaction against various pathogenic stimuli, may become harmful self-damaging process. Increasing evidence has linked chronic inflammation to a number of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis. In the central nervous system, microglia, the resident innate immune cells play major role in the inflammatory process. Although they form the first line of defense for the neural parenchyma, uncontrolled activation of microglia may directly toxic to neurons by releasing various substances such as inflammatory cytokines (IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6), NO, PGE(2), and superoxide. Moreover, our recent study demonstrated that activated microglia phagocytose not only damaged cell debris but also neighboring intact cells. It further supports their active participation in self-perpetuating neuronal damaging cycles. In the following review, we discuss microglial responses to damaging neurons, known activators released from injured neurons and how microglia cause neuronal degeneration. In the last part, microglial activation and their role in PD are discussed in depth.     

Symmetry-breaking lattice distortion in Sr₃Ru₂O₇

The electronic nematic phase of Sr?Ru?O? is investigated by high-resolution in-plane thermal expansion measurements in magnetic fields close to 8 T applied at various angles Θ off the c axis. At Θ < 10° we observe a very small (10??) lattice distortion which breaks the fourfold in-plane symmetry, resulting in nematic domains with interchanged a and b axis. At Θ ? 10° the domains are almost fully aligned and thermal expansion indicates an area-preserving lattice distortion of order 2 × 10?? which is likely related to orbital ordering. Since the system is located in the immediate vicinity of a metamagnetic quantum critical end point, the results represent the first observation of a structural relaxation driven by quantum criticality.     

Computation of physiological human vocal fold parameters by mathematical optimization of a biomechanical model

With the use of an endoscopic, high-speed camera, vocal fold dynamics may be observed clinically during phonation. However, observation and subjective judgment alone may be insufficient for clinical diagnosis and documentation of improved vocal function, especially when the laryngeal disease lacks any clear morphological presentation. In this study, biomechanical parameters of the vocal folds are computed by adjusting the corresponding parameters of a three-dimensional model until the dynamics of both systems are similar. First, a mathematical optimization method is presented. Next, model parameters (such as pressure, tension and masses) are adjusted to reproduce vocal fold dynamics, and the deduced parameters are physiologically interpreted. Various combinations of global and local optimization techniques are attempted. Evaluation of the optimization procedure is performed using 50 synthetically generated data sets. The results show sufficient reliability, including 0.07 normalized error, 96% correlation, and 91% accuracy. The technique is also demonstrated on data from human hemilarynx experiments, in which a low normalized error (0.16) and high correlation (84%) values were achieved. In the future, this technique may be applied to clinical high-speed images, yielding objective measures with which to document improved vocal function of patients with voice disorders.     

Generation of smooth, ultra-broadband spectra directly from a prism-less Ti:sapphire laser

Ultra-broad and smooth spectra are generated directly from a mirror-dispersion-controlled Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator. The full width at half maximum of the spectrum is 277 nm. The pulse width is evaluated as 6.5 fs by using both interferometric autocorrelation and spectral phase interferometry for electric-field reconstruction. This compact, user-friendly source opens the door to routine implementation of ultra-high-resolution as well as spectroscopic optical coherence tomography in a clinical environment. PACS 42.60.By; 42.65.Re     

Temperature dependence of luminescence from ZnS0.11Se0.89 random and ordered alloys

Temperature dependence of the luminescence spectra was investigated for a ZnS_0.11Se_0.89 random alloy and a (ZnSe)₁/(ZnS_0.22Se_0.78)₁ ordered alloy with equivalent mean sulfur compositions. The luminescence peak for the random alloy as a function of temperature shows anomalous behavior, while that for the ordered alloy exhibits normal behavior. From the temperature dependence of luminescence intensity for the random alloy, the quenching process can be understood with additional thermal activation energy besides exciton dissociation energy. Through the analysis of the temperature variation of the luminescence line width, the exciton-optical phonon coupling constant is found to be reduced in the random alloy. The results of this study demonstrate that exciton is localized by the potential fluctuation in the random alloy and that the potential fluctuation is significantly constrained in the ordered alloy.     

Shear strains in a graphite/PEEK beam by moiré interferometry with carrier fringes

A multispan quasi-isotropic graphite-PEEK beam exhibited dramatic shear strains in the interlaminar region between plies. Shear strains in the plies themselves varied in basic accord with fiber direction. The large anomalous shear strains were developed near the center of the beam height, where shear stresses were large. High-sensitivity moiré interferometry with 2400l/mm (60,960l/in.) was used. A new technique of data extraction was developed, using carrier fringes to transform the pattern to one in which fringe slopes are proportional to derivatives of displacement. This technique enhanced detection and measurement of highly localized shear-strain gradients. Paper was presented at the 1986 SEM Fall Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Keystone, CO on Nov. 2–5.     

Thermal residual stresses in thick graphite/epoxy composite laminates—Uniaxial approach

Thermal residual stresses have been known to be very large in laminates of continuous-fiber-reinforced polymer composites. When the thickness of the laminate is large, however, the measurement of the residual stresses raises questions on the accuracy of the conventional methods. A novel concept of layer separation is developed to measure quantitatively and precisely the tensile residual stresses in thick plates with layered distribution of residual stresses. It is applied to thick [O₂/9O₄]_13s, AS/3501-6 graphite/epoxy laminates. The test specimens were mechanically modeled into the thin strips for the application of the new concept of layer separation. The tensile residual stresses measured in the 90-deg layers of these laminates are nonuniform throughout the specimen, and vary from 55.6 MPa to 71.4 MPa. It is very interesting to compare these values with the transverse strengthF ₂ ^tu of AS/3501-6 unidirectional composites, which is 65.4 MPa.