Global Wheat Head Detection (GWHD) dataset: a large and diverse dataset of high resolution RGB labelled images to develop and benchmark wheat head detection methods

Detection of wheat heads is an important task allowing to estimate pertinent traits including head population density and head characteristics such as sanitary state, size, maturity stage and the presence of awns. Several studies developed methods for wheat head detection from high-resolution RGB imagery. They are based on computer vision and machine learning and are generally calibrated and validated on limited datasets. However, variability in observational conditions, genotypic differences, development stages, head orientation represents a challenge in computer vision. Further, possible blurring due to motion or wind and overlap between heads for dense populations make this task even more complex. Through a joint international collaborative effort, we have built a large, diverse and well-labelled dataset, the Global Wheat Head detection (GWHD) dataset. It contains 4,700 high-resolution RGB images and 190,000 labelled wheat heads collected from several countries around the world at different growth stages with a wide range of genotypes. Guidelines for image acquisition, associating minimum metadata to respect FAIR principles and consistent head labelling methods are proposed when developing new head detection datasets. The GWHD is publicly available at http://www.global-wheat.com/ and aimed at developing and benchmarking methods for wheat head detection.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, Dataset pape

Digital Forensics Use-Case of Blockchain Technology: A Review

Digital forensics is an ever-growing field of science that is heavily involved in various fields. However, because of the expanding complexity of computer science, many new problems have arisen for digital forensics such as data scalability and cloud computing forensics data privacy, data traceability, integrity, and chain of custody. Blockchain can be useful for digital forensics to ensure security, like Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake. Proof-of-Work verifies that one node has done adequate computational work to other nodes on the network. Proof-of-Stake is a similar consensus mechanism but relates more to cryptocurrency. In literature, there are several attempts to synthesize the blockchain’s digital forensics capabilities from a technical standpoint. After analyzing these review papers, we identify there is still a lack of classifying the solutions following an artifact classification taxonomy, understanding the broader impact of technical solutions following theories such as socio-technical theory, and summarizing the research contributions towards developing a design theory. The objective of this paper, thus, is to develop research propositions regarding the digital forensics use-case of blockchain following artifact taxonomy, socio-technical theory, and design theory

New viral-genetic mapping uncovers an enrichment of corticotropin-releasing hormone-expressing neuronal inputs to the nucleus accumbens from stress-related brain regions.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is an essential, evolutionarily-conserved stress neuropeptide. In addition to hypothalamus, CRH is expressed in brain regions including amygdala and hippocampus where it plays crucial roles in modulating the function of circuits underlying emotion and cognition. CRH+ fibers are found in nucleus accumbens (NAc), where CRH modulates reward/motivation behaviors. CRH actions in NAc may vary by the individual's stress history, suggesting roles for CRH in neuroplasticity and adaptation of the reward circuitry. However, the origin and extent of CRH+ inputs to NAc are incompletely understood. We employed viral genetic approaches to map both global and CRH+ projection sources to NAc in mice. We injected into NAc variants of a new designer adeno-associated virus that permits robust retrograde access to NAc-afferent projection neurons. Cre-dependent viruses injected into CRH-Cre mice enabled selective mapping of CRH+ afferents. We employed anterograde AAV1-directed axonal tracing to verify NAc CRH+ fiber projections and established the identity of genetic reporter-labeled cells via validated antisera against native CRH. We quantified the relative contribution of CRH+ neurons to total NAc-directed projections. Combined retrograde and anterograde tracing identified the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, basolateral amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex as principal sources of CRH+ projections to NAc. CRH+ NAc afferents were selectively enriched in NAc-projecting brain regions involved in diverse aspects of the sensing, processing and memory of emotionally salient events. These findings suggest multiple, complex potential roles for the molecularly-defined, CRH-dependent circuit in modulation of reward and motivation behaviors

New viral-genetic mapping uncovers an enrichment of corticotropin-releasing hormone-expressing neuronal inputs to the nucleus accumbens from stress-related brain regions.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is an essential, evolutionarily-conserved stress neuropeptide. In addition to hypothalamus, CRH is expressed in brain regions including amygdala and hippocampus where it plays crucial roles in modulating the function of circuits underlying emotion and cognition. CRH+ fibers are found in nucleus accumbens (NAc), where CRH modulates reward/motivation behaviors. CRH actions in NAc may vary by the individual's stress history, suggesting roles for CRH in neuroplasticity and adaptation of the reward circuitry. However, the origin and extent of CRH+ inputs to NAc are incompletely understood. We employed viral genetic approaches to map both global and CRH+ projection sources to NAc in mice. We injected into NAc variants of a new designer adeno-associated virus that permits robust retrograde access to NAc-afferent projection neurons. Cre-dependent viruses injected into CRH-Cre mice enabled selective mapping of CRH+ afferents. We employed anterograde AAV1-directed axonal tracing to verify NAc CRH+ fiber projections and established the identity of genetic reporter-labeled cells via validated antisera against native CRH. We quantified the relative contribution of CRH+ neurons to total NAc-directed projections. Combined retrograde and anterograde tracing identified the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, basolateral amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex as principal sources of CRH+ projections to NAc. CRH+ NAc afferents were selectively enriched in NAc-projecting brain regions involved in diverse aspects of the sensing, processing and memory of emotionally salient events. These findings suggest multiple, complex potential roles for the molecularly-defined, CRH-dependent circuit in modulation of reward and motivation behaviors