Quasar: rapid prototyping for image/video processing on heterogeneous hardware.

In this Show&Tell session, we present Quasar, a new framework for heterogeneous programming on (multi-)CPU/GPU systems. GPUs are increasingly used because of the large performance gains they offer for calculations with large amounts of data (e.g., in image and video processing). However, GPU programming is challenging as it requires significant programming expertise and because the corresponding tools are not well suited for rapid prototyping. Quasar is aimed at alleviating these challenges, while still delivering significant acceleration. This is achieved by employing a high-level language, with a similar abstraction level as Matlab or Python. We will demonstrate the Quasar language and IDE by showing several well-known (computationally intensive) image processing algorithms, such as pyramidal optical flow, voxel carving, volumetric ray tracing, geometric active contours, superpixel segmentation, image restoration... We highlight debugging, visualization and profiling capabilities while running the algorithms in real-time. The audience is encouraged to change algorithmic parameters and see their algorithmic influence in real-time. For more information, see http://gepura.i

GPU-based maize plant analysis: accelerating CNN segmentation and voxel carving

PHENOVISION is a high-throughput plant phenotyping system for crop plants in greenhouse conditions. A conveyor belt transports plants between automated irrigation stations and imaging cabins. The aim is to phenotype maize varieties grown under different conditions. To this end we model the plants in 3D and automate the measuring of the plants

Machine learning for maize plant segmentation

High-throughput plant phenotyping platforms produce immense volumes of image data. Here, a binary segmentation of maize colour images is required for 3D reconstruction of plant structure and measurement of growth traits. To this end, we employ a convolutional neural network (CNN) to perform this segmentation successfully

De CRA+vouchers methodiek: is het belonen van abstinentie bij cocaïnegebruikers effectief?

Wetenschappers van de UGent onderzochten in samenwerking met het ambulant behandelingscentrum De Kiem het effect van de zogenaamde CRA+vouchers methodiek bij de behandeling van cocaïneverslaving. Bij aanvang lokte deze nieuwe werkvorm zowel in de media, op de werkvloer als in wetenschappelijke kringen heel wat reacties uit, omdat druggebruikers financieel beloond worden als ze geen cocaïne gebruiken. De druggebruikers kunnen in een periode van 6 maanden tot 1.265 EUR verdienen als ze geen drugs gebruiken. Het voucher¬systeem is echter slechts één onderdeel van een meer omvattende cognitief-gedrags¬therapeutische behandeling, die bestaat uit individuele gesprekken, het inoefenen van gedrags- en sociale vaardigheden, relatietherapie, motiverende gespreksvoering en terugval¬preventie. Een ander belangrijk verschil met bestaande behandelingsprogramma’s is de intensiteit van de werkvorm, waarbij druggebruikers tot drie keer per week moeten langskomen voor een gesprek en speekselcontrole. De resultaten van de kleinschalige studie zijn overwegend positief. Zo was de kans op abstinentie zes maanden na de start van de behandeling drie keer groter in de CRA+vouchers groep dan in de controlegroep. Ook de kwaliteit van leven lag na zes maanden beduidend hoger in de CRA+vouchers groep

Robust plane-based calibration for linear cameras

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The transcriptional repressor complex FRS7-FRS12 regulates flowering time and growth in Arabidopsis

Most living organisms developed systems to efficiently time environmental changes. The plant-clock acts in coordination with external signals to generate output responses determining seasonal growth and flowering time. Here, we show that two Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factors, FAR1 RELATED SEQUENCE 7 (FRS7) and FRS12, act as negative regulators of these processes. These proteins accumulate particularly in short-day conditions and interact to form a complex. Loss-of-function of FRS7 and FRS12 results in early flowering plants with overly elongated hypocotyls mainly in short days. We demonstrate by molecular analysis that FRS7 and FRS12 affect these developmental processes in part by binding to the promoters and repressing the expression of GIGANTEA and PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 as well as several of their downstream signalling targets. Our data reveal a molecular machinery that controls the photoperiodic regulation of flowering and growth and offer insight into how plants adapt to seasonal changes

Multiplex Amplicon Quantification (MAQ), a fast and efficient method for the simultaneous detection of copy number alterations in neuroblastoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer genomes display characteristic patterns of chromosomal imbalances, often with diagnostic and prognostic relevance. Therefore assays for genome-wide copy number screening and simultaneous detection of copy number alterations in specific chromosomal regions are of increasing importance in the diagnostic work-up of tumors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We tested the performance of Multiplex Amplicon Quantification, a newly developed low-cost, closed-tube and high-throughput PCR-based technique for detection of copy number alterations in regions with prognostic relevance for neuroblastoma. Comparison with array CGH and the established Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification method on 52 neuroblastoma tumors showed that Multiplex Amplicon Quantification can reliably detect the important genomic aberrations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multiplex Amplicon Quantification is a low-cost and high-throughput PCR-based technique that can reliably detect copy number alterations in regions with prognostic relevance for neuroblastoma.</p

Arabidopsis leaf flatness is regulated by PPD2 and NINJA through repression of CYCLIN D3 genes

In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), reduced expression of the transcriptional regulator PEAPOD2 (PPD2) results in propeller-like rosettes with enlarged and dome-shaped leaves. However, the molecular and cellular processes underlying this peculiar phenotype remain elusive. Here, we studied the interaction between PPD2 and NOVEL INTERACTOR OF JAZ (NINJA) and demonstrated that ninja loss-of-function plants produce rosettes with dome-shaped leaves similar to those of ppd mutants but without the increase in size. We showed that ninja mutants have a convex-shaped primary cell cycle arrest front, putatively leading to excessive cell division in the central leaf blade region. Furthermore, ppd and ninja mutants have a similar increase in the expression of CYCLIN D3;2 (CYCD3;2), and ectopic overexpression of CYCD3;2 phenocopies the ppd and ninja rosette and leaf shape phenotypes without affecting the size. Our results reveal a pivotal contribution of NINJA in leaf development, in addition to its well-studied function in jasmonate signaling, and imply a new function for D3-type cyclins in, at least partially, uncoupling the size and shape phenotypes of ppd leaves