0000000000703845
AUTHOR
Pietro Pantano
Virtual Museum Net
A project named ”Virtual Museum Net of Magna Graecia” is presented, whose objective is to provide an unitary image of the archaeological heritage of Calabria (a Southern Italian region), through Computer Technology, Multimedia Designing and Virtual Reconstructions. The project aims to encourage the technological transfer of the most advanced researches in the exploitation and conservation sector of the Cultural Heritage. The ”Virtual Museum Net of Magna Graecia” project is included in the context of Knowledge Media Design for Museums. This project links the museum scenery and multimedia, in order to use technology as system of representation.
Eckhaus and zigzag instability in a chemotaxis model of multiple sclerosis
We present a theoretical and numerical study of the bifurcations of the stationary patterns supported by a chemotactic model of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We derive the normal forms of the dynamics which allows to predict the appearance and stabilization of the emerging branches describing the concentric patterns typical of Balo's sclerosis, a very aggressive variant of MS. Spatial modulation of the Turing-type structures through a zigzag instability is also addressed. The nonlinear stage of the Eckhaus and zigzag instability is investigated numerically: defect-mediated wavenumber adjustments are recovered and the time of occurrence of phase-slips is studied as the system parameters are varie…
Wavefront invasion for a chemotaxis model of Multiple Sclerosis
In this work we study wavefront propagation for a chemotaxis reaction-diffusion system describing the demyelination in Multiple Sclerosis. Through a weakly non linear analysis, we obtain the Ginzburg–Landau equation governing the evolution of the amplitude of the pattern. We validate the analytical findings through numerical simulations. We show the existence of traveling wavefronts connecting two different steady solutions of the equations. The proposed model reproduces the progression of the disease as a wave: for values of the chemotactic parameter below threshold, the wave leaves behind a homogeneous plaque of apoptotic oligodendrocytes. For values of the chemotactic coefficient above t…
Brain-like large scale cognitive networks and dynamics
A new approach to the study of the brain and its functions known as Human Connectomics has been recently established. Starting from magnetic resonance images (MRI) of brain scans, it is possible to identify the fibers that link brain areas and to build an adjacency matrix that connects these areas, thus creating the brain connectome. The topology of these networks provides a lot of information about the organizational structure of the brain (both structural and functional). Nevertheless this knowledge is rarely used to investigate the possible emerging brain dynamics linked to cognitive functions. In this work, we implement finite state models on neural networks to display the outcoming bra…
Axisymmetric solutions for a chemotaxis model of Multiple Sclerosis
In this paper we study radially symmetric solutions for our recently proposed reaction–diffusion–chemotaxis model of Multiple Sclerosis. Through a weakly nonlinear expansion we classify the bifurcation at the onset and derive the amplitude equations ruling the formation of concentric demyelinating patterns which reproduce the concentric layers observed in Balò sclerosis and in the early phase of Multiple Sclerosis. We present numerical simulations which illustrate and fit the analytical results.
Mid-sagittal plane detection for advanced physiological measurements in brain scans
Objective The process of diagnosing many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and progressive supranuclear palsy, involves the study of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in order to identify and locate morphological markers that can highlight the health status of the subject. A fundamental step in the pre-processing and analysis of MRI scans is the identification of the mid-sagittal plane, which corresponds to the mid-brain and allows a coordinate reference system for the whole MRI scan set. Approach To improve the identification of the mid-sagittal plane we have developed an algorithm in Matlab® based on the k-means clustering function. The results have been compared …
Demyelination patterns in a mathematical model of multiple sclerosis.
In this paper we derive a reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis model for the dynamics of multiple sclerosis. We focus on the early inflammatory phase of the disease characterized by activated local microglia, with the recruitment of a systemically activated immune response, and by oligodendrocyte apoptosis. The model consists of three equations describing the evolution of macrophages, cytokine and apoptotic oligodendrocytes. The main driving mechanism is the chemotactic motion of macrophages in response to a chemical gradient provided by the cytokines. Our model generalizes the system proposed by Calvez and Khonsari (Math Comput Model 47(7–8):726–742, 2008) and Khonsari and Calvez (PLos ONE 2(1):e…