Wildbook: Crowdsourcing, computer vision, and data science for conservation

Photographs, taken by field scientists, tourists, automated cameras, and incidental photographers, are the most abundant source of data on wildlife today. Wildbook is an autonomous computational system that starts from massive collections of images and, by detecting various species of animals and identifying individuals, combined with sophisticated data management, turns them into high resolution information database, enabling scientific inquiry, conservation, and citizen science. We have built Wildbooks for whales (flukebook.org), sharks (whaleshark.org), two species of zebras (Grevy's and plains), and several others. In January 2016, Wildbook enabled the first ever full species (the endangered Grevy's zebra) census using photographs taken by ordinary citizens in Kenya. The resulting numbers are now the official species census used by IUCN Red List: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/7950/0. In 2016, Wildbook partnered up with WWF to build Wildbook for Sea Turtles, Internet of Turtles (IoT), as well as systems for seals and lynx. Most recently, we have demonstrated that we can now use publicly available social media images to count and track wild animals. In this paper we present and discuss both the impact and challenges that the use of crowdsourced images can have on wildlife conservation.Comment: Presented at the Data For Good Exchange 201

Prominin-1 (CD133) Defines Both Stem and Non-Stem Cell Populations in CNS Development and Gliomas

Prominin-1 (CD133) is a commonly used cancer stem cell marker in central nervous system (CNS) tumors including glioblastoma (GBM). Expression of Prom1 in cancer is thought to parallel expression and function in normal stem cells. Using RNA in situ hybridization and antibody tools capable of detecting multiple isoforms of Prom1, we find evidence for two distinct Prom1 cell populations in mouse brain. Prom1 RNA is first expressed in stem/progenitor cells of the ventricular zone in embryonic brain. Conversely, in adult mouse brain Prom1 RNA is low in SVZ/SGZ stem cell zones but high in a rare but widely distributed cell population (Prom1hi). Lineage marker analysis reveals Prom1hi cells are Olig2+Sox2+ glia but Olig1/2 knockout mice lacking oligodendroglia retain Prom1hi cells. Bromodeoxyuridine labeling identifies Prom1hi as slow-dividing distributed progenitors distinct from NG2+Olig2+ oligodendrocyte progenitors. In adult human brain, PROM1 cells are rarely positive for OLIG2, but express astroglial markers GFAP and SOX2. Variability of PROM1 expression levels in human GBM and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) – from no expression to strong, uniform expression – highlights that PROM1 may not always be associated with or restricted to cancer stem cells. TCGA and PDX data show that high expression of PROM1 correlates with poor overall survival. Within proneural subclass tumors, high PROM1 expression correlates inversely with IDH1 (R132H) mutation. These findings support PROM1 as a tumor cell-intrinsic marker related to GBM survival, independent of its stem cell properties, and highlight potentially divergent roles for this protein in normal mouse and human glia

An HST/WFPC2 Snapshot Survey of 2MASS-Selected Red QSOs

Using simple infrared color selection, 2MASS has found a large number of red, previously unidentified, radio-quiet QSOs. Although missed by UV/optical surveys, the 2MASS QSOs have K-band luminosities that are comparable to "classical" QSOs. This suggests the possible discovery of a previously predicted large population of dust-obscured radio-quiet QSOs. We present the results of an imaging survey of 29 2MASS QSOs observed with WFPC2 onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. I-band images, which benefit from the relative faintness of the nuclei at optical wavelengths, are used to characterize the host galaxies, measure the nuclear contribution to the total observed I-band emission, and to survey the surrounding environments. The 2MASS QSOs are found to lie in galaxies with a variety of morphologies, luminosities, and dynamical states, not unlike those hosting radio-quiet PG QSOs. Our analysis suggests that the extraordinary red colors of the 2MASS QSOs are caused by extinction of an otherwise typical QSO spectrum due to dust near the nucleus.Comment: 23 pages including 9 figures and 7 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ, higher resolution HST images at: http://shapley.as.arizona.edu/~amarble/papers/twomq

Community science informs movement and reproductive ecology of sand tigers Carcharias taurus off North Carolina, United States of America

Sand tigers are frequently observed at shipwrecks and other artificial reef habitats off North Carolina (USA), but data about occupancy, movement ecology, and site fidelity are lacking. Spot A Shark USA researchers used Wildbook© photoidentification software to spot map sand tigers in images provided by recreational SCUBA divers, or collected from remotely operated vehicles, and an offshore live-streaming camera. We uniquely identified 1837 sand tigers, 101 of which were resighted on more than one date between 2005–2021. Sand tigers of both sexes and various ages were found year-round along the northern, central and southern coast. We identified shipwrecks or artificial reef sites with consistently high numbers of shark encounters reported, sometimes with seasonal occupancy patterns. Resighted sharks were often encountered at the same or nearby locations, confirming high levels of residency and site fidelity to specific locations. Together, the mating scars seen on 121 female sand tigers and 202 females documented with rotund abdomens consistent with pregnancy highlight the importance of NC waters for reproduction. We also quantified other characteristics of the sand tigers visible in the photographs including wounds, parasitic copepods, and attached fishing gear. Our results reflect the importance of habitats off the NC coast to the movement and reproductive ecology of sand tigers at multiple life history stages. Sand tiger populations have declined in the Northwest Atlantic, so information about residence at specific locations, seasonal patterns of occupancy, and sex-dependent behaviors associated with migration and reproduction are important to future management and conservation of the species

Post-Transplant Outcomes in High-Risk Compared with Non-High-Risk Multiple Myeloma: A CIBMTR Analysis.

Conventional cytogenetics and interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) identify high-risk multiple myeloma (HRM) populations characterized by poor outcomes. We analyzed these differences among HRM versus non-HRM populations after upfront autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (autoHCT). Between 2008 and 2012, 715 patients with multiple myeloma identified by FISH and/or cytogenetic data with upfront autoHCT were identified in the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database. HRM was defined as del17p, t(4;14), t(14;16), hypodiploidy (-Y) or chromosome 1 p and 1q abnormalities; all others were non-HRM. Among 125 HRM patients (17.5%), induction with bortezomib and immunomodulatory agents (imids) was higher compared with non-HRM (56% versus 43%, P \u3c .001) with similar pretransplant complete response (CR) rates (14% versus 16%, P .1). At day 100 post-transplant, at least a very good partial response was 59% in HRM and 61% in non-HRM (P = .6). More HRM patients received post-transplant therapy with bortezomib and imids (26% versus 12%, P = .004). Three-year post-transplant progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates in HRM versus non-HRM were 37% versus 49% (P \u3c .001) and 72% versus 85% (P \u3c .001), respectively. At 3 years, PFS for HRM patients with and without post-transplant therapy was 46% (95% confidence interval [CI], 33 to 59) versus 14% (95% CI, 4 to 29) and in non-HRM patients with and without post-transplant therapy 55% (95% CI, 49 to 62) versus 39% (95% CI, 32 to 47); rates of OS for HRM patients with and without post-transplant therapy were 81% (95% CI, 70 to 90) versus 48% (95% CI, 30 to 65) compared with 88% (95% CI, 84 to 92) and 79% (95% CI, 73 to 85) in non-HRM patients with and without post-transplant therapy, respectively. Among patients receiving post-transplant therapy, there was no difference in OS between HRM and non-HRM (P = .08). In addition to HRM, higher stage, less than a CR pretransplant, lack of post-transplant therapy, and African American race were associated with worse OS. In conclusion, we show HRM patients achieve similar day 100 post-transplant responses compared with non-HRM patients, but these responses are not sustained. Post-transplant therapy appeared to improve the poor outcomes of HRM

On the importance of AI research beyond disciplines

As the impact of AI on various scientific fields is increasing, it is crucial to embrace interdisciplinary knowledge to understand the impact of technology on society. The goal is to foster a research environment beyond disciplines that values diversity and creates, critiques and develops new conceptual and theoretical frameworks. Even though research beyond disciplines is essential for understanding complex societal issues and creating positive impact it is notoriously difficult to evaluate and is often not recognized by current academic career progression. The motivation for this paper is to engage in broad discussion across disciplines and identify guiding principles fir AI research beyond disciplines in a structured and inclusive way, revealing new perspectives and contributing to societal and human wellbeing and sustainability

Constraints on the angular distribution of satellite galaxies about spiral hosts

We present, using a novel technique, a study of the angular distribution of satellite galaxies around a sample of isolated, blue host galaxies selected from the sixth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a complement to previous studies we subdivide the sample of galaxies into bins of differing inclination and use the systematic differences that would exist between the different bins as the basis for our approach. We parameterize the cumulative distribution function of satellite galaxies and apply a maximum likelihood, Monte-Carlo technique to determine allowable distributions, which we show as an exclusion plot. We find that the allowed distributions of the satellites of spiral hosts are very nearly isotropic. We outline our formalism and our analysis and discuss how this technique may be refined for future studies and future surveys.Comment: MNRAS in press. Version 2 has some sections reordered and additional discussion include