Towards high-throughput 3D insect capture for species discovery and diagnostics

Digitisation of natural history collections not only preserves precious information about biological diversity, it also enables us to share, analyse, annotate and compare specimens to gain new insights. High-resolution, full-colour 3D capture of biological specimens yields color and geometry information complementary to other techniques (e.g., 2D capture, electron scanning and micro computed tomography). However 3D colour capture of small specimens is slow for reasons including specimen handling, the narrow depth of field of high magnification optics, and the large number of images required to resolve complex shapes of specimens. In this paper, we outline techniques to accelerate 3D image capture, including using a desktop robotic arm to automate the insect handling process; using a calibrated pan-tilt rig to avoid attaching calibration targets to specimens; using light field cameras to capture images at an extended depth of field in one shot; and using 3D Web and mixed reality tools to facilitate the annotation, distribution and visualisation of 3D digital models.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, for BigDig workshop at 2017 eScience conferenc

Mind the Gap: Two Dissociable Mechanisms of Temporal Processing in the Auditory System.

High temporal acuity of auditory processing underlies perception of speech and other rapidly varying sounds. A common measure of auditory temporal acuity in humans is the threshold for detection of brief gaps in noise. Gap-detection deficits, observed in developmental disorders, are considered evidence for "sluggish" auditory processing. Here we show, in a mouse model of gap-detection deficits, that auditory brain sensitivity to brief gaps in noise can be impaired even without a general loss of central auditory temporal acuity. Extracellular recordings in three different subdivisions of the auditory thalamus in anesthetized mice revealed a stimulus-specific, subdivision-specific deficit in thalamic sensitivity to brief gaps in noise in experimental animals relative to controls. Neural responses to brief gaps in noise were reduced, but responses to other rapidly changing stimuli unaffected, in lemniscal and nonlemniscal (but not polysensory) subdivisions of the medial geniculate body. Through experiments and modeling, we demonstrate that the observed deficits in thalamic sensitivity to brief gaps in noise arise from reduced neural population activity following noise offsets, but not onsets. These results reveal dissociable sound-onset-sensitive and sound-offset-sensitive channels underlying auditory temporal processing, and suggest that gap-detection deficits can arise from specific impairment of the sound-offset-sensitive channel. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The experimental and modeling results reported here suggest a new hypothesis regarding the mechanisms of temporal processing in the auditory system. Using a mouse model of auditory temporal processing deficits, we demonstrate the existence of specific abnormalities in auditory thalamic activity following sound offsets, but not sound onsets. These results reveal dissociable sound-onset-sensitive and sound-offset-sensitive mechanisms underlying auditory processing of temporally varying sounds. Furthermore, the findings suggest that auditory temporal processing deficits, such as impairments in gap-in-noise detection, could arise from reduced brain sensitivity to sound offsets alone

On the Dichotomy between the Nodal and Antinodal Excitations in High-temperature Superconductors

Angle-resolved photoemission data on optimally- and under-doped high temperature superconductors reveal a dichotomy between the nodal and antinodal electronic excitations. In this paper we propose an explanation of this unusual phenomenon by employing the coupling between the quasiparticle and the commensurate/incommensurate magnetic excitations.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Hemmung von Monozyten/Makrophagen Funktionen durch Dexamethson-Liposomen in der Arthritis: Einfluss auf die Expression von pro-inflammatorischen Zyotokinen und Effekte im Modell der Adjuvansarthritis

Hintergrund: Makrophagen (Mφ) spielen eine essentielle Rolle in der Pathogenese der Rheumatoiden Arthritis (RA): sie gehören zu den hauptsynovialmembraninfiltrierenden Zellen und besitzen eine Vielzahl von pro-inflammatorischen und destruktiven Fähigkeiten. Deshalb ist das selektive Anti-Makrophagen-Prinzip ein effektiver therapeutischer Ansatz. Glukokortikoide (GK) gehören zu den am häufigsten eingesetzten Therapeutika bei der RA, trotz der bedenklichen Vielzahl an Nebenwirkungen. Deshalb besteht das Bedürfnis sicherere Darreichungsformen zu entwickeln; z.B. indem man GK in Liposomen verpackt. Diese besitzen die Eigenschaft von aktivierten Mφ phagozytiert zu werden und im entzündeten Gelenk zu kumulieren. In dieser Studie wurden Dexamethason-Liposomen (DxM-Lipos, Novosom AG) untersucht. Methoden & Ergebnisse: Die Genexpression von stimulierten humanen Blutmonozyten nach Vorinkubation DxM-Lipos wurde mittels Microarrays untersucht. Dadurch wurde ein Überblick der wichtigsten, durch DxM-Lipos hoch- oder herunter-regulierten Genen erhalten. Diese Ergebnisse wurden mittels PCR, sowie durch Messung der Zytokinproduktion mittels ELISA validiert, wodurch die wirksame Hemmung von pro-inflammatorische Funktionen von Monozyten bestätigt wurde. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde die Wirksamkeit der DxM-Lipos im experimentellen Modell der Adjuvansarthritis der Ratte untersucht. Diese führten zu einer hoch-wirksamen, lang-anhaltende und dosisabhängige Unterdrückung der klinischen Zeichen der Arthritis, die auch signifikant stärker waren als nach Behandlung mit gleicher Dosis freiem DxM. Zusätzlich wurde eine signifikante Unterdrückung von systemischen hämatologischen und immunologischen Entzündungszeichen nur durch die DxM-Lipos erreicht. Schlussfolgerung Diese translationelle Forschung zeigte, dass die verkapselte GK-Formulierung das Potential besitzt, die therapeutische Wirksamkeit zu erhöhen und stellt somit eine erfolgsversprechende Alternative für die RA-Behandlung dar

A summary of the BARREL campaigns: Technique for studying electron precipitation.

BARREL observed electron precipitation over wide range of energy and timescalesPrecipitating electron distribution is determined using spectroscopy for 19 January 2013 eventBARREL timing data has accuracy within sampling interval of 0.05 s

Transport of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II by human thoracic duct lymph

The daily transport of human plasma apolipoproteins A-I and A-II, triglyceride, and total cholesterol from the thoracic duct lymph into plasma was measured in 2 subjects before and 3 subjects after renal transplantation. Lymph triglyceride transport was ~83% of the daily ingested fat loads, whereas lymph cholesterol transport was consistently greater than the amount of daily ingested cholesterol. Lymph apolipoprotein transport significantly (P < 0.05) exceeded the predicted apolipoprotein synthesis rate by an average of 659±578 mg/d for apolipoprotein A-I and 109±59 mg/d for apolipoprotein A-II among the 5 subjects. It is estimated that 22-77% (apolipoprotein A-I) and 28-82% (apolipoprotein A-II) of daily total body apolipoprotein synthesis takes place in the intestine. Lymph high density lipoprotein particles are mostly high density lipoprotein(2b) and high density lipoprotein(2a) and have a greater overall relative triglyceride content and a smaller relative cholesteryl ester content when compared with homologous plasma high density lipoproteins. The major quantity of both lymph apolipoprotein A-I (81±8%) and apolipoprotein A-II (90±11%) was found within high density lipoproteins with almost all of the remainder found in chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins. The combined results are consistent with a major contribution of the intestine to total body synthesis of apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein A-II. An important role of lymph in returning filtered apolipoprotein to plasma in association with high density lipoproteins is proposed. Accompanying the return of filtered apolipoprotein to the plasma is a probable transformation, both in size and composition, of at least some of the lymph high density lipoprotein(2b) and high density lipoprotein(2a) particles into high density lipoprotein3

Residual tumor cells that drive disease relapse after chemotherapy do not have enhanced tumor initiating capacity.

Although chemotherapy is used to treat most advanced solid tumors, recurrent disease is still the major cause of cancer-related mortality. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been the focus of intense research in recent years because they provide a possible explanation for disease relapse. However, the precise role of CSCs in recurrent disease remains poorly understood and surprisingly little attention has been focused on studying the cells responsible for re-initiating tumor growth within the original host after chemotherapy treatment. We utilized both xenograft and genetically engineered mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to characterize the residual tumor cells that survive chemotherapy treatment and go on to cause tumor regrowth, which we refer to as tumor re-initiating cells (TRICs). We set out to determine whether TRICs display characteristics of CSCs, and whether assays used to define CSCs also provide an accurate readout of a cell's ability to cause tumor recurrence. We did not find consistent enrichment of CSC marker positive cells or enhanced tumor initiating potential in TRICs. However, TRICs from all models do appear to be in EMT, a state that has been linked to chemoresistance in numerous types of cancer. Thus, the standard CSC assays may not accurately reflect a cell's ability to drive disease recurrence

DOSE TO CURIE DETERMINATION FOR CONTAINERS WITH MEASURABLE CS-137

The Next Generation Retrieval (NGR) project will retrieve suspect transuranic (TRU) waste containers from Trenches 17 and 27 in the 218-E-12B (12B) burial ground. The trenches were in operation from May 1970 through October 1972. A portion of the retrieved containers that will require shipment to and acceptance at a treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility and the containers will be either remote-handled (RH) and/or contact-handled (CH). The method discussed in this document will be used for the RH and some of the CH containers to determine the radionuclide inventory. Waste disposition (shipment and TSD acceptance) requires that the radioactive content be characterized for each container. Source-term estimates using high resolution, shielded, gamma-ray scan assay techniques cannot be performed on a number of RH and other containers with high dose rates from {sup 137}Cs-{sup 137m}Ba. This document provides the method to quantify the radioactive inventory of fission product gamma emitters within the containers based on the surface dose rate measurements taken in the field with hand-held survey instruments

KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS MATEMATIS SISWA MELALUI MODEL PEMBELAJARAN PROBLEM BASED LEARNING DAN DISCOVERY LEARNING DITINJAU DARI PERBEDAAN GENDER

Berpikir kritis hendaknya menjadi salah satu aktivitas yang harus dikembangkan dan diajarkan di setiap mata pelajaran, karena kemampuan berpikir kritis bukan bawaan sejak lahir. Kemampuan berpikir kritis dalam penyelesaian masalah matematika hendaknya didukung oleh penggunaan model pembelajaran yang digunakan guru dalam proses pembelajaran. Setiap siswa memiliki perbedaan pengetahuan, pengalaman, kemampuan dalam pemecahan masalah. Perbedaan ini dapat juga dikategorikan berdasarkan gender. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kemampuan berpikir kritis matematis siswa antara siswa yang belajar menggunakan model pembelajaran Problem Based Learning (PBL) dengan siswa yang menggunakan model pembelajaran Discovery Learning (DL) ditinjau dari segi gender. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode campuran, dengan strategi metode campuran bertahap, yaitu tahap pertama adalah mengumpulkan dan menganalsis data kuantitatif kemudian diikuti oleh pengumpulan dan menganalisis data kualitatif. Penelitian ini bertempat di SMA Negeri 6 Ambon. Instrumen tes yang digunakan berupa soal uraian yang disusun berdasarkan indikator kemampuan berpikir kritis matematis menurut Facione. Analisis data yang dilakukan dalam peneitian ini terbagi atas analisis data kuantitatif dan analisis data kualitatif. Analisis data kuantitatif berupa uji normalitas, uji homogenitas, uji hipotesis. Analisa data kualitatif yang dilakukan berdasarkan langkah-langkah yang dikemukakan oleh Miles dan Huberman yaitu: reduksi Data, penyajian Data, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil yang diperoleh dalam penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa tidak terdapat perbedaan kemampuan berpikir kritis matematis antara siswa yang belajar menggunakan model pembelajaran PBL dengan siswa yang belajar menggunakan model pembelajaran DL dan juga tidak terdapat perbedaan kemampuan berpikir kritis matematis siswa berdasarkan gender, dan tidak terdapat interaksi antara model pembelajaran PBL dan DL dengan gender terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis matematis sisw