Revenge by photoshop: Memefying police acts in the public dialogue about injustice

In this article, we are interested in the role digital memes in the form of pictures play in the framing of public discourses about police injustice and what it is that makes memes successful in this process. For this purpose, we narrate the story of one such meme: the ‘pepper-spray cop’. In our analysis, we link the creation and spread of the meme to the democratization of online activism and the subversive acts of hierarchical sousveillance. Based on our findings, we discuss features of the meme and the process linked to its initiation, rapid spread and disappearance as vital for the success of visual memes in the context of online protests

Clinical implementation of a 3D4K-exoscope (Orbeye) in microneurosurgery

Exoscopic surgery promises alleviation of physical strain, improved intraoperative visualization and facilitation of the clinical workflow. In this prospective observational study, we investigate the clinical usability of a novel 3D4K-exoscope in routine neurosurgical interventions. Questionnaires on the use of the exoscope were carried out. Exemplary cases were additionally video-documented. All participating neurosurgeons (n = 10) received initial device training. Changing to a conventional microscope was possible at all times. A linear mixed model was used to analyse the impact of time on the switchover rate. For further analysis, we dichotomized the surgeons in a frequent (n = 1) and an infrequent (n = 9) user group. A one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate, if the number of surgeries differed between the two groups. Thirty-nine operations were included. No intraoperative complications occurred. In 69.2% of the procedures, the surgeon switched to the conventional microscope. While during the first half of the study the conversion rate was 90%, it decreased to 52.6% in the second half (p = 0.003). The number of interventions between the frequent and the infrequent user group differed significantly (p = 0.007). Main reasons for switching to ocular-based surgery were impaired hand-eye coordination and poor depth perception. The exoscope investigated in this study can be easily integrated in established neurosurgical workflows. Surgical ergonomics improved compared to standard microsurgical setups. Excellent image quality and precise control of the camera added to overall user satisfaction. For experienced surgeons, the incentive to switch from ocular-based to exoscopic surgery greatly varies

Genetic and genomic monitoring with minimally invasive sampling methods

Funding: Marie Slodowska Curie Fellowship, (Behaviour-Connect) funded by the EU Horizon2020 program (ELC).The decreasing cost and increasing scope and power of emerging genomic technologies are reshaping the field of molecular ecology. However, many modern genomic approaches (e.g., RAD-seq) require large amounts of high quality template DNA. This poses a problem for an active branch of conservation biology: genetic monitoring using minimally invasive sampling (MIS) methods. Without handling or even observing an animal, MIS methods (e.g. collection of hair, skin, faeces) can provide genetic information on individuals or populations. Such samples typically yield low quality and/or quantities of DNA, restricting the type of molecular methods that can be used. Despite this limitation, genetic monitoring using MIS is an effective tool for estimating population demographic parameters and monitoring genetic diversity in natural populations. Genetic monitoring is likely to become more important in the future as many natural populations are undergoing anthropogenically-driven declines, which are unlikely to abate without intensive adaptive management efforts that often include MIS approaches. Here we profile the expanding suite of genomic methods and platforms compatible with producing genotypes from MIS, considering factors such as development costs and error rates. We evaluate how powerful new approaches will enhance our ability to investigate questions typically answered using genetic monitoring, such as estimating abundance, genetic structure and relatedness. As the field is in a period of unusually rapid transition, we also highlight the importance of legacy datasets and recommend how to address the challenges of moving between traditional and next generation genetic monitoring platforms. Finally, we consider how genetic monitoring could move beyond genotypes in the future. For example, assessing microbiomes or epigenetic markers could provide a greater understanding of the relationship between individuals and their environment.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Object Segmentation from Motion Discontinuities and Temporal Occlusions–A Biologically Inspired Model

BACKGROUND: Optic flow is an important cue for object detection. Humans are able to perceive objects in a scene using only kinetic boundaries, and can perform the task even when other shape cues are not provided. These kinetic boundaries are characterized by the presence of motion discontinuities in a local neighbourhood. In addition, temporal occlusions appear along the boundaries as the object in front covers the background and the objects that are spatially behind it. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: From a technical point of view, the detection of motion boundaries for segmentation based on optic flow is a difficult task. This is due to the problem that flow detected along such boundaries is generally not reliable. We propose a model derived from mechanisms found in visual areas V1, MT, and MSTl of human and primate cortex that achieves robust detection along motion boundaries. It includes two separate mechanisms for both the detection of motion discontinuities and of occlusion regions based on how neurons respond to spatial and temporal contrast, respectively. The mechanisms are embedded in a biologically inspired architecture that integrates information of different model components of the visual processing due to feedback connections. In particular, mutual interactions between the detection of motion discontinuities and temporal occlusions allow a considerable improvement of the kinetic boundary detection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A new model is proposed that uses optic flow cues to detect motion discontinuities and object occlusion. We suggest that by combining these results for motion discontinuities and object occlusion, object segmentation within the model can be improved. This idea could also be applied in other models for object segmentation. In addition, we discuss how this model is related to neurophysiological findings. The model was successfully tested both with artificial and real sequences including self and object motion

Action Recognition with a Bio--Inspired Feedforward Motion Processing Model: The Richness of Center-Surround Interactions

International audienceHere we show that reproducing the functional properties of MT cells with various center--surround interactions enriches motion representation and improves the action recognition performance. To do so, we propose a simplified bio--inspired model of the motion pathway in primates: It is a feedforward model restricted to V1-MT cortical layers, cortical cells cover the visual space with a foveated structure, and more importantly, we reproduce some of the richness of center-surround interactions of MT cells. Interestingly, as observed in neurophysiology, our MT cells not only behave like simple velocity detectors, but also respond to several kinds of motion contrasts. Results show that this diversity of motion representation at the MT level is a major advantage for an action recognition task. Defining motion maps as our feature vectors, we used a standard classification method on the Weizmann database: We obtained an average recognition rate of 98.9%, which is superior to the recent results by Jhuang et al. (2007). These promising results encourage us to further develop bio--inspired models incorporating other brain mechanisms and cortical layers in order to deal with more complex videos

Instagrammatics and digital methods: Studying visual social media, from selfies and GIFs to memes and emoji

Visual content is a critical component of everyday social media, on platforms explicitly framed around the visual (Instagram and Vine), on those offering a mix of text and images in myriad forms (Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr), and in apps and profiles where visual presentation and provision of information are important considerations. However, despite being so prominent in forms such as selfies, looping media, infographics, memes, online videos, and more, sociocultural research into the visual as a central component of online communication has lagged behind the analysis of popular, predominantly text-driven social media. This paper underlines the increasing importance of visual elements to digital, social, and mobile media within everyday life, addressing the significant research gap in methods for tracking, analysing, and understanding visual social media as both image-based and intertextual content.In this paper, we build on our previous methodological considerations of Instagram in isolation to examine further questions, challenges, and benefits of studying visual social media more broadly, including methodological and ethical considerations. Our discussion is intended as a rallying cry and provocation for further research into visual (and textual and mixed) social media content, practices, and cultures, mindful of both the specificities of each form, but also, and importantly, the ongoing dialogues and interrelations between them as communication forms