75,356 research outputs found
Classification of red blood cell shapes in flow using outlier tolerant machine learning
The manual evaluation, classification and counting of biological objects
demands for an enormous expenditure of time and subjective human input may be a
source of error. Investigating the shape of red blood cells (RBCs) in
microcapillary Poiseuille flow, we overcome this drawback by introducing a
convolutional neural regression network for an automatic, outlier tolerant
shape classification. From our experiments we expect two stable geometries: the
so-called `slipper' and `croissant' shapes depending on the prevailing flow
conditions and the cell-intrinsic parameters. Whereas croissants mostly occur
at low shear rates, slippers evolve at higher flow velocities. With our method,
we are able to find the transition point between both `phases' of stable shapes
which is of high interest to ensuing theoretical studies and numerical
simulations. Using statistically based thresholds, from our data, we obtain
so-called phase diagrams which are compared to manual evaluations.
Prospectively, our concept allows us to perform objective analyses of
measurements for a variety of flow conditions and to receive comparable
results. Moreover, the proposed procedure enables unbiased studies on the
influence of drugs on flow properties of single RBCs and the resulting
macroscopic change of the flow behavior of whole blood.Comment: 15 pages, published in PLoS Comput Biol, open acces
Recommended from our members
Hybrid process modelling within business process management projects
Business Process Management (BPM) is still an important research topic amongst both academics
and businesses. The recent recession has forced businesses to focus on cost control and efficiency
in order to better cope with the economic downturn. Many companies in this situation turn to BPM
software as a means of improving their efficiency and costs by reducing aspects of the business
such as process lead-times and material costs. In order to identify areas of the business and its
processes which require changing the business will most likely adopt a method of modelling their
business processes. Because of the large number of available techniques decision makers usually
struggle to decide the best approach. Recent literature has also pointed out that prevalent
modelling techniques are designed to serve one specific purpose and may not be capable of
modelling the whole picture. The key relationship between the information systems and the human
behaviour is one example of where existing techniques are biased towards opposite ends of the
scale. This paper proposes the use of a hybrid modelling notation composed of multiple existing
notations in order to bridge this. The hybrid notation was applied to a BPM project at a company
in the construction industry and a case study conducted with its users
Operations planning and analysis handbook for NASA/MSFC phase B development projects
Current operations planning and analysis practices on NASA/MSFC Phase B projects were investigated with the objectives of (1) formalizing these practices into a handbook and (2) suggesting improvements. The study focused on how Science and Engineering (S&E) Operational Personnel support Program Development (PD) Task Teams. The intimate relationship between systems engineering and operations analysis was examined. Methods identified for use by operations analysts during Phase B include functional analysis, interface analysis methods to calculate/allocate such criteria as reliability, Maintainability, and operations and support cost
A review of information flow diagrammatic models for product-service systems
A product-service system (PSS) is a combination of products and services to
create value for both customers and manufacturers. Modelling a PSS based on
function orientation offers a useful way to distinguish system inputs and
outputs with regards to how data are consumed and information is used, i.e.
information flow. This article presents a review of diagrammatic information
flow tools, which are designed to describe a system through its functions. The
origin, concept and applications of these tools are investigated, followed by an
analysis of information flow modelling with regards to key PSS properties. A
case study of selection laser melting technology implemented as PSS will then be
used to show the application of information flow modelling for PSS design. A
discussion based on the usefulness of the tools in modelling the key elements of
PSS and possible future research directions are also presented
- âŠ