Software for non-parametric image registration of 2-photon imaging data

Functional 2-photon microscopy is a key technology for imaging neuronal activity. The recorded image sequences, however, can contain non-rigid movement artifacts which requires high-accuracy movement correction. Variational optical flow (OF) estimation is a group of methods for motion analysis with established performance in many computer vision areas. However, it has yet to be adapted to the statistics of 2-photon neuroimaging data. In this work, we present the motion compensation method Flow-Registration that outperforms previous alignment tools and allows to align and reconstruct even low signal-to-noise ratio 2-photon imaging data and is able to compensate high-divergence displacements during local drug injections. The method is based on statistics of such data and integrates previous advances in variational OF estimation. Our method is available as an easy-to-use ImageJ/FIJI plugin as well as a MATLAB toolbox with modular, object oriented file IO, native multi-channel support and compatibility with existing 2-photon

Lagrangian Motion Magnification with Double Sparse Optical Flow Decomposition

Motion magnification techniques aim at amplifying and hence revealing subtle motion in videos. There are basically two main approaches to reach this goal, namely via Eulerian or Lagrangian techniques. While the first one magnifies motion implicitly by operating directly on image pixels, the Lagrangian approach uses optical flow techniques to extract and amplify pixel trajectories. Microexpressions are fast and spatially small facial expressions that are difficult to detect. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for local Lagrangian motion magnification of facial micromovements. Our contribution is three-fold: first, we fine-tune the recurrent all-pairs field transforms for optical flows (RAFT) deep learning approach for faces by adding ground truth obtained from the variational dense inverse search (DIS) for optical flow algorithm applied to the CASME II video set of faces. This enables us to produce optical flows of facial videos in an efficient and sufficiently accurate way. Second, since facial micromovements are both local in space and time, we propose to approximate the optical flow field by sparse components both in space and time leading to a double sparse decomposition. Third, we use this decomposition to magnify micro-motions in specific areas of the face, where we introduce a new forward warping strategy using a triangular splitting of the image grid and barycentric interpolation of the RGB vectors at the corners of the transformed triangles. We demonstrate the very good performance of our approach by various examples

Der Einfluss nutritiver Lipide auf die differentielle Genexpression in humanen Monozyten und Zellkulturmodellen:Untersuchungen mit DNA-Chips und quantitativer PCR

Der Einfluss nutritiver Lipide auf die Genexpression der HepG2- und THP-1-Zelllinie wurde mit quantitativer PCR und DNA-Chips untersucht. Mit Hilfe von high-density-DNA-Chips konnten so A-FABP, FAT und PDGFR-alpha-precursor als Markergene für die Pristansäure-vermittelte Genregulation im THP-1-Modell identifiziert und mit quantitativer PCR bestätigt werden. Ebenso wurde eine induzierende Wirkung konjugierter Linolsäuren (CLAs) auf verschiedene Zielgene gezeigt. Parallel erfolgte die Entwicklung und Evaluierung eines low-density-DNA-Chips zur Untersuchung ausgewählter Gene mit denen erste Expressionsprofile in beiden Zelllinien erstellt wurden. Die Wirkung der CLAs auf primäre Humanmonozyten wurde ebenfalls untersucht. Dabei wurden große Unterschiede zwischen der Genexpression männlicher und weiblicher Monozyten sowohl nach Behandlung mit den Fettsäuren als auch mit einem Placeboöl beobachtet und Markergene für diese Wirkung identifiziert

Die Freiheit reich zu sein!?

In der vorliegenden Untersuchung wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob und auf welche Art und Weise sich Polarisierungen in Form sozialer Ausschließungsprozesse nicht nur in 'Global Cities', sondern auch im mittelstädtischen Raum zeigen. Dazu wurden anhand bestimmter Merkmale zwei Bezirke Bielefelds ausgewählt und diese mit Hilfe einer unstrukturierten Beobachtung einem Kontrastvergleich unterzogen. Die Autoren konzentrieren sich vor allem auf die Ausgrenzung in ökonomischer, räumlicher und institutioneller Hinsicht. Die Ausführungen und Daten zeigen, dass in Deutschland der Dimension 'Ausgrenzung am Arbeitsmarkt' besondere Bedeutung zukommt, da sich gesellschaftliche Integration nach wie vor entscheidend über den beruflichen Status vollzieht. In den oben genannten Dimensionen wird daher in gewisser Weise eine hierarchische Abfolge deutlich, so dass bei Ausschluss von Erwerbstätigkeit den darauf folgenden Punkten sukzessive Gewicht verliehen werden kann. Entsprechend richteten die Autoren ihr Hauptaugenmerk auf die Punkte 'ökonomische Ausgrenzung', 'räumliche Ausgrenzung' und 'institutionelle Ausgrenzung' im weiteren Sinne. (ICA2

Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans

Unlike dogs and cats, people do not point their ears as they focus attention on novel, salient, or task-relevant stimuli. Our species may nevertheless have retained a vestigial pinna-orienting system that has persisted as a 'neural fossil’ within in the brain for about 25 million years. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that the direction of auditory attention is reflected in sustained electrical activity of muscles within the vestigial auriculomotor system. Surface electromyograms (EMGs) were taken from muscles that either move the pinna or alter its shape. To assess reflexive, stimulus-driven attention we presented novel sounds from speakers at four different lateral locations while the participants silently read a boring text in front of them. To test voluntary, goal-directed attention we instructed participants to listen to a short story coming from one of these speakers, while ignoring a competing story from the corresponding speaker on the opposite side. In both experiments, EMG recordings showed larger activity at the ear on the side of the attended stimulus, but with slightly different patterns. Upward movement (perking) differed according to the lateral focus of attention only during voluntary orienting; rearward folding of the pinna’s upper-lateral edge exhibited such differences only during reflexive orienting. The existence of a pinna-orienting system in humans, one that is experimentally accessible, offers opportunities for basic as well as applied science

Multimodal data acquisition at SARS-CoV-2 drive through screening centers: Setup description and experiences in Saarland, Germany

SARS-CoV-2 drive through screening centers (DTSC) have been implemented worldwide as a fast and secure way of mass screening. We use DTSCs as a platform for the acquisition of multimodal datasets that are needed for the development of remote screening methods. Our acquisition setup consists of an array of thermal, infrared and RGB cameras as well as microphones and we apply methods from computer vision and computer audition for the contactless estimation of physiological parameters. We have recorded a multimodal dataset of DTSC participants in Germany for the development of remote screening methods and symptom identification. Acquisition in the early stages of a pandemic and in regions with high infection rates can facilitate and speed up the identification of infection specific symptoms and large-scale data acquisition at DTSC is possible without disturbing the flow of operation

Second allogeneic stem cell transplantation can rescue a significant proportion of patients with JMML relapsing after first allograft

Myeloproliferative disease; PaediatricsEnfermedad mieloproliferativa; PediatríaMalaltia mieloproliferativa; PediatriaOpen Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL

Quantitative phosphoproteomics of cytotoxic T cells to reveal Protein Kinase D 2 regulated networks

The focus of the present study was to characterize the phosphoproteome of cytotoxic T cells and to explore the role of the serine threonine kinase PKD2 (Protein Kinase D2) in the phosphorylation networks of this key lymphocyte population. We used Stable Isotope Labeling of Amino acids in Culture (SILAC) combined with phosphopeptide enrichment and quantitative mass-spectrometry to determine the impact of PKD2 loss on the cytotoxic T cells phosphoproteome. We identified 15,871 phosphorylations on 3505 proteins in cytotoxic T cells. 450 phosphosites on 281 proteins were down-regulated and 300 phosphosites on 196 proteins were up-regulated in PKD2 null cytotoxic T cells. These data give valuable new insights about the protein phosphorylation networks operational in effector T cells and reveal that PKD2 regulates directly and indirectly about 5% of the cytotoxic T-cell phosphoproteome. PKD2 candidate substrates identified in this study include proteins involved in two distinct biological functions: regulation of protein sorting and intracellular vesicle trafficking, and control of chromatin structure, transcription, and translation. In other cell types, PKD substrates include class II histone deacetylases such as HDAC7 and actin regulatory proteins such as Slingshot. The current data show these are not PKD substrates in primary T cells revealing that the functional role of PKD isoforms is different in different cell lineages