A model-based approach to recovering the structure of a plant from images

We present a method for recovering the structure of a plant directly from a small set of widely-spaced images. Structure recovery is more complex than shape estimation, but the resulting structure estimate is more closely related to phenotype than is a 3D geometric model. The method we propose is applicable to a wide variety of plants, but is demonstrated on wheat. Wheat is made up of thin elements with few identifiable features, making it difficult to analyse using standard feature matching techniques. Our method instead analyses the structure of plants using only their silhouettes. We employ a generate-and-test method, using a database of manually modelled leaves and a model for their composition to synthesise plausible plant structures which are evaluated against the images. The method is capable of efficiently recovering accurate estimates of plant structure in a wide variety of imaging scenarios, with no manual intervention

Use of domesticated pigs by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in northwestern Europe

Acknowledgements We thank the Archaeological State Museum Schleswig-Holstein, the Archaeological State Offices of Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and Saxony and the following individuals who provided sample material: Betty Arndt, Jo¨rg Ewersen, Frederick Feulner, Susanne Hanik, Ru¨diger Krause, Jochen Reinhard, Uwe Reuter, Karl-Heinz Ro¨hrig, Maguerita Scha¨fer, Jo¨rg Schibler, Reinhold Schoon, Regina Smolnik, Thomas Terberger and Ingrid Ulbricht. We are grateful to Ulrich Schmo¨lcke, Michael Forster, Peter Forster and Aikaterini Glykou for their support and comments on the manuscript. We also thank many institutions and individuals that provided sample material and access to collections, especially the curators of the Museum fu¨r Naturkunde, Berlin; Muse´um National d0 Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.; Zoologische Staatssammlung, Mu¨nchen; Museum fu¨r Haustierkunde, Halle; the American Museum of Natural History, New-York. This work was funded by the Graduate School ‘Human Development in Landscapes’ at Kiel University (CAU) and supported by NERC project Grant NE/F003382/1. Radiocarbon dating was carried out at the Leibniz Laboratory, CAU. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Widespread sex differences in gene expression and splicing in the adult human brain

There is strong evidence to show that men and women differ in terms of neurodevelopment, neurochemistry and susceptibility to neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. The molecular basis of these differences remains unclear. Progress in this field has been hampered by the lack of genome-wide information on sex differences in gene expression and in particular splicing in the human brain. Here we address this issue by using post-mortem adult human brain and spinal cord samples originating from 137 neuropathologically confirmed control individuals to study whole-genome gene expression and splicing in 12 CNS regions. We show that sex differences in gene expression and splicing are widespread in adult human brain, being detectable in all major brain regions and involving 2.5% of all expressed genes. We give examples of genes where sex-biased expression is both disease-relevant and likely to have functional consequences, and provide evidence suggesting that sex biases in expression may reflect sex-biased gene regulatory structures

Can We Really Prevent Suicide?

Every year, suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages. Unfortunately, suicide is difficult to prevent, in large part because the prevalence of risk factors is high among the general population. In this review, clinical and psychological risk factors are examined and methods for suicide prevention are discussed. Prevention strategies found to be effective in suicide prevention include means restriction, responsible media coverage, and general public education, as well identification methods such as screening, gatekeeper training, and primary care physician education. Although the treatment for preventing suicide is difficult, follow-up that includes pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, or both may be useful. However, prevention methods cannot be restricted to the individual. Community, social, and policy interventions will also be essentia

Microbial catabolic activities are naturally selected by metabolic energy harvest rate

The fundamental trade-off between yield and rate of energy harvest per unit of substrate has been largely discussed as a main characteristic for microbial established cooperation or competition. In this study, this point is addressed by developing a generalized model that simulates competition between existing and not experimentally reported microbial catabolic activities defined only based on well-known biochemical pathways. No specific microbial physiological adaptations are considered, growth yield is calculated coupled to catabolism energetics and a common maximum biomass-specific catabolism rate (expressed as electron transfer rate) is assumed for all microbial groups. Under this approach, successful microbial metabolisms are predicted in line with experimental observations under the hypothesis of maximum energy harvest rate. Two microbial ecosystems, typically found in wastewater treatment plants, are simulated, namely: (i) the anaerobic fermentation of glucose and (ii) the oxidation and reduction of nitrogen under aerobic autotrophic (nitrification) and anoxic heterotrophic and autotrophic (denitrification) conditions. The experimentally observed cross feeding in glucose fermentation, through multiple intermediate fermentation pathways, towards ultimately methane and carbon dioxide is predicted. Analogously, two-stage nitrification (by ammonium and nitrite oxidizers) is predicted as prevailing over nitrification in one stage. Conversely, denitrification is predicted in one stage (by denitrifiers) as well as anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation). The model results suggest that these observations are a direct consequence of the different energy yields per electron transferred at the different steps of the pathways. Overall, our results theoretically support the hypothesis that successful microbial catabolic activities are selected by an overall maximum energy harvest rate

Secular evolution versus hierarchical merging: galaxy evolution along the Hubble sequence, in the field and rich environments

In the current galaxy formation scenarios, two physical phenomena are invoked to build disk galaxies: hierarchical mergers and more quiescent external gas accretion, coming from intergalactic filaments. Although both are thought to play a role, their relative importance is not known precisely. Here we consider the constraints on these scenarios brought by the observation-deduced star formation history on the one hand, and observed dynamics of galaxies on the other hand: the high frequency of bars and spirals, the high frequency of perturbations such as lopsidedness, warps, or polar rings. All these observations are not easily reproduced in simulations without important gas accretion. N-body simulations taking into account the mass exchange between stars and gas through star formation and feedback, can reproduce the data, only if galaxies double their mass in about 10 Gyr through gas accretion. Warped and polar ring systems are good tracers of this accretion, which occurs from cold gas which has not been virialised in the system's potential. The relative importance of these phenomena are compared between the field and rich clusters. The respective role of mergers and gas accretion vary considerably with environment.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, review paper to "Penetrating Bars through Masks of Cosmic Dust: the Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note", Pilanesberg, ed. D. Block et al., Kluwe

Protocol for Work place adjusted Intelligent physical exercise reducing Musculoskeletal pain in Shoulder and neck (VIMS): a cluster randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neck and shoulder complaints are common among employees in sedentary occupations characterized by intensive computer use. Specific strength training is a promising type of physical exercise for relieving neck and shoulder pain in office workers. However, the optimal combination of frequency and exercise duration, as well as the importance of exercise supervision, is unknown. The VIMS study investigates in a cluster randomized controlled design the effectiveness of different time wise combinations of specific strength training with identical accumulated volume, and the relevance of training supervision for safe and effective training.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>A cluster randomized controlled trial of 20 weeks duration where employed office workers are randomized to 1 × 60 min, 3 × 20 min, 9 × 7 min per week of specific strength training with training supervision, to 3 × 20 min per week of specific strength training with a minimal amount of training supervision, or to a reference group without training. A questionnaire will be sent to 2000 employees in jobs characterized by intensive computer work. Employees with cardiovascular disease, trauma, hypertension, or serious chronic disease will be excluded. The main outcome measure is pain in the neck and shoulders at week 20.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01027390.</p

On the relationship between standard intersection cuts, lift-and-project cuts, and generalized intersection cuts

We examine the connections between the classes of cuts in the title. We show that lift-and-project (L&P) cuts from a given disjunction are equivalent to generalized intersection cuts from the family of polyhedra obtained by taking positive combinations of the complements of the inequalities of each term of the disjunction. While L&P cuts from split disjunctions are known to be equivalent to standard intersection cuts (SICs) from the strip obtained by complementing the terms of the split, we show that L&P cuts from more general disjunctions may not be equivalent to any SIC. In particular, we give easily verifiable necessary and sufficient conditions for a L&P cut from a given disjunction D to be equivalent to a SIC from the polyhedral counterpart of D. Irregular L&P cuts, i.e. those that violate these conditions, have interesting properties. For instance, unlike the regular ones, they may cut off part of the corner polyhedron associated with the LP solution from which they are derived. Furthermore, they are not exceptional: their frequency exceeds that of regular cuts. A numerical example illustrates some of the above properties. © 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and Mathematical Optimization Societ