Road Detection Using Data From Mobile Robot Camera

The paper is focused on developing a road detection algorithm that uses only data from a mobile robot’s camera. Key requirements are low latency and relatively low power requirements. Presented algorithm makes use of machine learning, where the neural network is fed not only image data, but also select additional inputs

Mitochondrial genomes reveal an east to west cline of steppe ancestry in Corded Ware populations

From around 4,000 to 2,000 BC the forest-steppe north-western Pontic region was occupied by people who shared a nomadic lifestyle, pastoral economy and barrow burial rituals. It has been shown that these groups, especially those associated with the Yamnaya culture, played an important role in shaping the gene pool of Bronze Age Europeans, which extends into present-day patterns of genetic variation in Europe. Although the genetic impact of these migrations from the forest-steppe Pontic region into central Europe have previously been addressed in several studies, the contribution of mitochondrial lineages to the people associated with the Corded Ware culture in the eastern part of the North European Plain remains contentious. In this study, we present mitochondrial genomes from 23 Late Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals, including representatives of the north-western Pontic region and the Corded Ware culture from the eastern part of the North European Plain. We identified, for the first time in ancient populations, the rare mitochondrial haplogroup X4 in two Bronze Age Catacomb culture-associated individuals. Genetic similarity analyses show close maternal genetic affinities between populations associated with both eastern and Baltic Corded Ware culture, and the Yamnaya horizon, in contrast to larger genetic differentiation between populations associated with western Corded Ware culture and the Yamnaya horizon. This indicates that females with steppe ancestry contributed to the formation of populations associated with the eastern Corded Ware culture while more local people, likely of Neolithic farmer ancestry, contributed to the formation of populations associated with western Corded Ware cultur

Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague

[Significance] The bacterium Yersinia pestis has caused numerous historically documented outbreaks of plague and research using ancient DNA could demonstrate that it already affected human populations during the Neolithic. However, the pathogen’s genetic diversity, geographic spread, and transmission dynamics during this early period of Y. pestis evolution are largely unexplored. Here, we describe a set of ancient plague genomes up to 5,000 y old from across Eurasia. Our data demonstrate that two genetically distinct forms of Y. pestis evolved in parallel and were both distributed across vast geographic distances, potentially occupying different ecological niches. Interpreted within the archeological context, our results suggest that the spread of plague during this period was linked to increased human mobility and intensification of animal husbandry.The bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis gave rise to devastating outbreaks throughout human history, and ancient DNA evidence has shown it afflicted human populations as far back as the Neolithic. Y. pestis genomes recovered from the Eurasian Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (LNBA) period have uncovered key evolutionary steps that led to its emergence from a Yersinia pseudotuberculosis-like progenitor; however, the number of reconstructed LNBA genomes are too few to explore its diversity during this critical period of development. Here, we present 17 Y. pestis genomes dating to 5,000 to 2,500 y BP from a wide geographic expanse across Eurasia. This increased dataset enabled us to explore correlations between temporal, geographical, and genetic distance. Our results suggest a nonflea-adapted and potentially extinct single lineage that persisted over millennia without significant parallel diversification, accompanied by rapid dispersal across continents throughout this period, a trend not observed in other pathogens for which ancient genomes are available. A stepwise pattern of gene loss provides further clues on its early evolution and potential adaptation. We also discover the presence of the flea-adapted form of Y. pestis in Bronze Age Iberia, previously only identified in in the Caucasus and the Volga regions, suggesting a much wider geographic spread of this form of Y. pestis. Together, these data reveal the dynamic nature of plague’s formative years in terms of its early evolution and ecology.This study was funded by the Max Planck Society, Max Planck Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean and the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement 771234 – PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), 856453 – HistoGenes (to J.K.), and 834616 – ARCHCAUCASUS (to S.H.). The Heidelberg Academy of Science financed the genetic and archeological research on human individuals from the Augsburg region within the project WIN Kolleg: “Times of Upheaval: Changes of Society and Landscape at the Beginning of the Bronze Age. M.E. was supported by the award “Praemium Academiae” of the Czech Academy of Sciences. M.D. was supported by the project RVO 67985912 of the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague. I.O. was supported by the Ramón y Cajal grant from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government (RYC2019-027909-I). A. H€ubner was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Germany’s Excellence Strategy (EXC 2051 – Project-ID 390713860). J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by the Diputación Foral de Alava, IT 1223-19, Gobierno Vasco. A. Buzhilova was supported by the Center of Information Technologies and Systems (CITIS), Moscow, Russia 121041500329-0. L. M., L.B.D., and E. Khussainova were supported by the Grant AP08856654, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A. Beisenov was supported by the Grant AP08857177, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.Peer reviewe

Reineckes Erbe. Die absolute Chronologie der Frühbronzezeit Mährens – ein Diskussionsansatz

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Map machine recognition and optimal path planning

Diplomová práce navazuje na předchozí práce zabývající se strojovým chápáním tištěných map zpětně převedených do rastrové grafiky a tvorby modelu terénu. Aplikace také musí dokázat zpracovat záznamy pohybu a integrovat je s načtenou mapou. Cílem je, aby aplikace sloužila k tréninku reprezentantů ČR v orientačním běhu. Nejprve je provedena rešerše způsobů měření polohy v terénu a následné ukládání pomocí dataloggerů. Také jsou definovány mapové značky, které v mapě popisují skladbu terénu. Minulé přístupy jsou vyhodnoceny, včetně identifikace nejzávažnějších problémů bránících praktickému nasazení. Je navržena řada možných vylepšení aplikace, například metody pro odstranění šumu ve vstupních datech nebo pro zrychlení segmentace mapy. Navržená vylepšení jsou implementována, hlavní vylepšení je v oblasti rychlosti zpracování a vylepšení segmentace vrstevnic.This masters thesis continues in the work of two previous theses dealing with machine understanding of maps and modelling terrain. The final program also has to be able to interpret position data from dataloggers and integrate it with the loaded map. The goal for the program is to serve during training of Czech orienteering runners. Position measurement and storage is researched first. Also researched are map markers used to define the terrain. Afterwards, past approaches are evaluated, including identification of most severe issues hindering the usage in real world applications. Many improvements are proposed, for example methods to remove noise in the input data, or to improve processing speed. Lastly, a set of possible improvements to the original applications are made, i.e. methods for denoising the input data or for speedup of the image processing. Proposed improvements are then implemented, the most impactful being processing speed and contour segmentation improvements.

Road Detection Using Data From Mobile Robot Camera

The paper is focused on developing a road detection algorithm that uses only data from a mobile robot’s camera. Key requirements are low latency and relatively low power requirements. Presented algorithm makes use of machine learning, where the neural network is fed not only image data, but also select additional inputs

Visible and Invisible Monuments. Late Eneolithic Burial Mounds in Forested Areas of Central Moravia

The main purpose of this paper is to contribute archaeological data towards the ongoing discussion on the missing evidence of barrows of the late Eneolithic Corded Ware and Bell Beaker period in Central Europe. A variety of problems, such as demographic representation of cemeteries, burial customs and the spatial structure of funerary areas is associated with the missing barrows. The sites, such as Dřevohostice (East Moravia), represent one of the few examples of Eneolithic cemeteries with remaining surface relics of funerary activities. We also stress that the variability of late Eneolithic funerary monuments is, however, commonly reduced by modern ploughing and erosion. Therefore, the evidence from exceptionally preserved barrow cemeteries in Central Moravia is enormously important for the reconstruction of the structure and extent of cemeteries in the ploughed landscape. Such sites represent an exceptional opportunity to investigate the evidence of otherwise missing and highly invisible archaeological data. Furthermore, in some respects, this opportunity may be thought of as the key to answering many of the questions regarding Late Eneolithic funerary archaeology. In this paper we are going to summarize the aims and methodology of recent research into the late Eneolithic Corded Ware and Bell Beaker burial mounds.TUREK Jan, Peška Jaroslav, Matějíčková Andrea. Visible and Invisible Monuments. Late Eneolithic Burial Mounds in Forested Areas of Central Moravia. In: Ancestral Landscape. Burial mounds in the Copper and Bronze Ages (Central and Eastern Europe – Balkans – Adriatic – Aegean, 4th-2nd millennium B.C.) Proceedings of the International Conference held in Udine, May 15th-18th 2008. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 2012. pp. 107-117. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée. Série recherches archéologiques, 58

Settlements of Local Phase of Corded Ware culture in Moravia

In the context of the long discussion on the (non-)existence of permanent Corded Ware culture (CWC) settlements and the semi-nomadic way of life of their inhabitants, ongoing excavations of common settlements have newly gained immense significance, as in almost all other regions, also in Moravia (Olomouc-Slavonín, Horní lán; Vřesovice; Seloutky; Hulín-Pravčice 1; Prostějov, Za tržištěm). Earlier sporadic indications have been joined by a series of records of settlements with sunken features and typical local ceramics identical with burial grounds, together with which they formed complete settlement areas in a number of sites. Light wattle structures, wells(?), textile production, animal husbandry, etc., have been identified, as were some very unconventional inhumation burials in pits (Olomouc-Slavonín, two cases). The cord element clearly formed a part of the mixed horizon of Strachotín-Držovice with elements of Makó/Kosihy-Čaka culture, Globular Amphora culture and Moravian Group of CWC. Absolute dating indicated the 26th–23rd century cal. BC. Absence of foundations of (residential) structures could be explained by the lower level of recognisability of CWC settlements. In other aspects, it showed no particular difference from other prehistoric farmers and cattle breeders

Editorial Michal Erneé, Volker Heyd, and Jaroslav Peška

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Určení výrobků mléčného původu v keramických nádobách kultury se šňůrovou keramikou z pozdního eneolitického pohřebiště

V této studii byla analyzována půda ze dvou keramických nádob náležejících ke kultury se šňůrovou keramikou, 2707-2571 př. n.l, která byla nalezená v žárovém hrobě objeveném na střední Moravě v České republice, pomocí laserové desorpce / ionizace-hmotnostní spektrometrie MS) v kombinaci s pokročilým statistickým zpracováním (analýza hlavních složek, PCA a ortodontická projekce na diskriminační analýzu s latentními strukturami, OPLS-DA) a enzymaticky vázaným imunosorbentovým testem (ELISA). Cílové experimenty ELISA současně poskytovaly mléčné proteiny v obou keramických nádobách, což odpovídá odpovědně ostatním výsledkům. Nálezy z eneolitického období v šňůrové keramice kultuře a pomáhají lépe pochopit stravovací návyky a životní podmínky eneolitické populace ve střední Evropě.In this study, a soil from two ceramic vessels belonging to Corded Ware culture, 2707–2571 B.C., found in a cremation grave discovered in Central Moravia, Czech Republic, was analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–mass spectrometry (MALDI–MS) combined with advanced statistical treatment (principal component analysis, PCA, and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis, OPLS-DA) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MALDI–MS revealed the presence of triacylglycerols in both vessels. This analytical technique was used for the analysis of the soil content from archaeological ceramic vessels for the first time. Targeted ELISA experiments consequently proved the presence of milk proteins in both ceramic vessels. These results represent the first direct evidence of the use of milk or dairy products in the Eneolithic period in Moravian Corded Ware Culture and help to better understand the diet habits and living conditions of Eneolithic populations in Central Europe