Towards Automated Three-Dimensional Tracking of Nephrons through Stacked Histological Image Sets

An automated approach for tracking individual nephrons through three-dimensional histological image sets of mouse and rat kidneys is presented. In a previous study, the available images were tracked manually through the image sets in order to explore renal microarchitecture. The purpose of the current research is to reduce the time and effort required to manually trace nephrons by creating an automated, intelligent system as a standard tool for such datasets. The algorithm is robust enough to isolate closely packed nephrons and track their convoluted paths despite a number of nonideal, interfering conditions such as local image distortions, artefacts, and interstitial tissue interference. The system comprises image preprocessing, feature extraction, and a custom graph-based tracking algorithm, which is validated by a rule base and a machine learning algorithm. A study of a selection of automatically tracked nephrons, when compared with manual tracking, yields a 95% tracking accuracy for structures in the cortex, while those in the medulla have lower accuracy due to narrower diameter and higher density. Limited manual intervention is introduced to improve tracking, enabling full nephron paths to be obtained with an average of 17 manual corrections per mouse nephron and 58 manual corrections per rat nephron

Hazardous Chemicals in Plastics in Marine Environments : International Pellet Watch

Marine plastic debris, including microplastics <5Â mm, contain additives as well as hydrophobic chemicals sorbed from surrounding seawater. A volunteer-based global monitoring programme entitled International Pellet Watch (IPW) is utilizing the sorptive nature of plastics, more specifically of beached polyethylene (PE) pellets, in order to measure persistent organic pollutants (POPs) throughout the world. Spatial patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides have been revealed. Original data of IPW show large piece-to-piece variability in PCB concentrations in pellets collected at each location. This is explained by the combination of slow sorption/desorption and large variabilities of speed and route of floating plastics. The sporadically high concentrations of POPs, both sorbed chemicals and hydrophobic additives, are frequently observed in pellets and the other microplastics in open ocean and remote islands. This poses a chemical threat to marine ecosystems in remote areas