6,705 research outputs found
Visual Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Event Predictions: Investigating the Spread Dynamics of Invasive Species
Invasive species are a major cause of ecological damage and commercial
losses. A current problem spreading in North America and Europe is the vinegar
fly Drosophila suzukii. Unlike other Drosophila, it infests non-rotting and
healthy fruits and is therefore of concern to fruit growers, such as vintners.
Consequently, large amounts of data about infestations have been collected in
recent years. However, there is a lack of interactive methods to investigate
this data. We employ ensemble-based classification to predict areas susceptible
to infestation by D. suzukii and bring them into a spatio-temporal context
using maps and glyph-based visualizations. Following the information-seeking
mantra, we provide a visual analysis system Drosophigator for spatio-temporal
event prediction, enabling the investigation of the spread dynamics of invasive
species. We demonstrate the usefulness of this approach in two use cases
Building an Aerial-Ground Robotics System for Precision Farming: An Adaptable Solution
[No abstract available
Polarized cortical tension drives zebrafish epiboly movements
The principles underlying the biomechanics of morphogenesis are
largely unknown. Epiboly is an essential embryonic event in which
three tissues coordinate to direct the expansion of the blastoderm.
How and where forces are generated during epiboly, and how
these are globally coupled remains elusive. Here we developed a
method, hydrodynamic regression (HR), to infer 3D pressure fields,
mechanical power, and cortical surface tension profiles. HR is
based on velocity measurements retrieved from 2D+T microscopy
and their hydrodynamic modeling. We applied HR to identify
biomechanically active structures and changes in cortex local
tension during epiboly in zebrafish. Based on our results, we
propose a novel physical description for epiboly, where tissue
movements are directed by a polarized gradient of cortical tension.
We found that this gradient relies on local contractile forces at the
cortex, differences in elastic properties between cortex components
and the passive transmission of forces within the yolk cell.
All in all, our work identifies a novel way to physically regulate
concerted cellular movements that might be instrumental for the
mechanical control of many morphogenetic processes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Event-based Vision: A Survey
Event cameras are bio-inspired sensors that differ from conventional frame
cameras: Instead of capturing images at a fixed rate, they asynchronously
measure per-pixel brightness changes, and output a stream of events that encode
the time, location and sign of the brightness changes. Event cameras offer
attractive properties compared to traditional cameras: high temporal resolution
(in the order of microseconds), very high dynamic range (140 dB vs. 60 dB), low
power consumption, and high pixel bandwidth (on the order of kHz) resulting in
reduced motion blur. Hence, event cameras have a large potential for robotics
and computer vision in challenging scenarios for traditional cameras, such as
low-latency, high speed, and high dynamic range. However, novel methods are
required to process the unconventional output of these sensors in order to
unlock their potential. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the
emerging field of event-based vision, with a focus on the applications and the
algorithms developed to unlock the outstanding properties of event cameras. We
present event cameras from their working principle, the actual sensors that are
available and the tasks that they have been used for, from low-level vision
(feature detection and tracking, optic flow, etc.) to high-level vision
(reconstruction, segmentation, recognition). We also discuss the techniques
developed to process events, including learning-based techniques, as well as
specialized processors for these novel sensors, such as spiking neural
networks. Additionally, we highlight the challenges that remain to be tackled
and the opportunities that lie ahead in the search for a more efficient,
bio-inspired way for machines to perceive and interact with the world
Anomalous transport in the crowded world of biological cells
A ubiquitous observation in cell biology is that diffusion of macromolecules
and organelles is anomalous, and a description simply based on the conventional
diffusion equation with diffusion constants measured in dilute solution fails.
This is commonly attributed to macromolecular crowding in the interior of cells
and in cellular membranes, summarising their densely packed and heterogeneous
structures. The most familiar phenomenon is a power-law increase of the MSD,
but there are other manifestations like strongly reduced and time-dependent
diffusion coefficients, persistent correlations, non-gaussian distributions of
the displacements, heterogeneous diffusion, and immobile particles. After a
general introduction to the statistical description of slow, anomalous
transport, we summarise some widely used theoretical models: gaussian models
like FBM and Langevin equations for visco-elastic media, the CTRW model, and
the Lorentz model describing obstructed transport in a heterogeneous
environment. Emphasis is put on the spatio-temporal properties of the transport
in terms of 2-point correlation functions, dynamic scaling behaviour, and how
the models are distinguished by their propagators even for identical MSDs.
Then, we review the theory underlying common experimental techniques in the
presence of anomalous transport: single-particle tracking, FCS, and FRAP. We
report on the large body of recent experimental evidence for anomalous
transport in crowded biological media: in cyto- and nucleoplasm as well as in
cellular membranes, complemented by in vitro experiments where model systems
mimic physiological crowding conditions. Finally, computer simulations play an
important role in testing the theoretical models and corroborating the
experimental findings. The review is completed by a synthesis of the
theoretical and experimental progress identifying open questions for future
investigation.Comment: review article, to appear in Rep. Prog. Phy
Challenges and opportunities for quantifying roots and rhizosphere interactions through imaging and image analysis
The morphology of roots and root systems influences the efficiency by which plants acquire nutrients and water, anchor themselves and provide stability to the surrounding soil. Plant genotype and the biotic and abiotic environment significantly influence root morphology, growth and ultimately crop yield. The challenge for researchers interested in phenotyping root systems is, therefore, not just to measure roots and link their phenotype to the plant genotype, but also to understand how the growth of roots is influenced by their environment. This review discusses progress in quantifying root system parameters (e.g. in terms of size, shape and dynamics) using imaging and image analysis technologies and also discusses their potential for providing a better understanding of root:soil interactions. Significant progress has been made in image acquisition techniques, however trade-offs exist between sample throughput, sample size, image resolution and information gained. All of these factors impact on downstream image analysis processes. While there have been significant advances in computation power, limitations still exist in statistical processes involved in image analysis. Utilizing and combining different imaging systems, integrating measurements and image analysis where possible, and amalgamating data will allow researchers to gain a better understanding of root:soil interactions
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