Object segmentation in depth maps with one user click and a synthetically trained fully convolutional network

With more and more household objects built on planned obsolescence and consumed by a fast-growing population, hazardous waste recycling has become a critical challenge. Given the large variability of household waste, current recycling platforms mostly rely on human operators to analyze the scene, typically composed of many object instances piled up in bulk. Helping them by robotizing the unitary extraction is a key challenge to speed up this tedious process. Whereas supervised deep learning has proven very efficient for such object-level scene understanding, e.g., generic object detection and segmentation in everyday scenes, it however requires large sets of per-pixel labeled images, that are hardly available for numerous application contexts, including industrial robotics. We thus propose a step towards a practical interactive application for generating an object-oriented robotic grasp, requiring as inputs only one depth map of the scene and one user click on the next object to extract. More precisely, we address in this paper the middle issue of object seg-mentation in top views of piles of bulk objects given a pixel location, namely seed, provided interactively by a human operator. We propose a twofold framework for generating edge-driven instance segments. First, we repurpose a state-of-the-art fully convolutional object contour detector for seed-based instance segmentation by introducing the notion of edge-mask duality with a novel patch-free and contour-oriented loss function. Second, we train one model using only synthetic scenes, instead of manually labeled training data. Our experimental results show that considering edge-mask duality for training an encoder-decoder network, as we suggest, outperforms a state-of-the-art patch-based network in the present application context.Comment: This is a pre-print of an article published in Human Friendly Robotics, 10th International Workshop, Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, vol 7. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89327-3\_16, Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, Siciliano Bruno, Khatib Oussama, In press, Human Friendly Robotics, 10th International Workshop,

Molecular and Metabolic Subtypes Correspondence for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Classification

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is an extremely lethal disease due to late diagnosis, aggressiveness and lack of effective therapies. Considering its intrinsic heterogeneity, patient stratification models based on transcriptomic and genomic signatures, with partially overlapping subgroups, have been established. Besides molecular alterations, PDAC tumours show a strong desmoplastic response, resulting in profound metabolic reprogramming involving increased glucose and amino acid consumption, as well as lipid scavenging and biosynthesis. Interestingly, recent works have also revealed the existence of metabolic subtypes with differential prognosis within PDAC, which correlated to defined molecular subclasses in patients: lipogenic subtype correlated with a classical/progenitor signature, while glycolytic tumours associated with the highly aggressive basal/squamous profile. Bioinformatic analyses have demonstrated that the representative genes of each metabolic subtype are up-regulated in PDAC samples and predict patient survival. This suggests a relationship between the genetic signature, metabolic profile, and aggressiveness of the tumour. Considering all this, defining metabolic subtypes represents a clear opportunity for patient stratification considering tumour functional behaviour independently of their mutational background

Microwave neural processing and broadcasting with spintronic nano-oscillators

Can we build small neuromorphic chips capable of training deep networks with billions of parameters? This challenge requires hardware neurons and synapses with nanometric dimensions, which can be individually tuned, and densely connected. While nanosynaptic devices have been pursued actively in recent years, much less has been done on nanoscale artificial neurons. In this paper, we show that spintronic nano-oscillators are promising to implement analog hardware neurons that can be densely interconnected through electromagnetic signals. We show how spintronic oscillators maps the requirements of artificial neurons. We then show experimentally how an ensemble of four coupled oscillators can learn to classify all twelve American vowels, realizing the most complicated tasks performed by nanoscale neurons

Avaliação dos impactos ambientais e econômicos do controle químico do percevejo-barriga-verde (Dichelops melacanthus) em trigo e milho safrinha.

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Combinatorial activities of SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE and FLOWERING LOCUS C define distinct modes of flowering regulation in Arabidopsis.

BACKGROUND: The initiation of flowering is an important developmental transition as it marks the beginning of the reproductive phase in plants. The MADS-box transcription factors (TFs) FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) form a complex to repress the expression of genes that initiate flowering in Arabidopsis. Both TFs play a central role in the regulatory network by conferring seasonal patterns of flowering. However, their interdependence and biological relevance when acting as a complex have not been extensively studied. RESULTS: We characterized the effects of both TFs individually and as a complex on flowering initiation using transcriptome profiling and DNA-binding occupancy. We find four major clusters regulating transcriptional responses, and that DNA binding scenarios are highly affected by the presence of the cognate partner. Remarkably, we identify genes whose regulation depends exclusively on simultaneous action of both proteins, thus distinguishing between the specificity of the SVP:FLC complex and that of each TF acting individually. The downstream targets of the SVP:FLC complex include a higher proportion of genes regulating floral induction, whereas those bound by either TF independently are biased towards floral development. Many genes involved in gibberellin-related processes are bound by the SVP:FLC complex, suggesting that direct regulation of gibberellin metabolism by FLC and SVP contributes to their effects on flowering. CONCLUSIONS: The regulatory codes controlled by SVP and FLC were deciphered at the genome-wide level revealing substantial flexibility based on dependent and independent DNA binding that may contribute to variation and robustness in the regulation of flowering

Diatom and vegetation responses to Late Glacial and Early Holocene climate changes at Lake Estanya (Southern Pyrenees, NE Spain)

We investigate Lake Estanya's diatom and pollen records from the Late Glacial (LG) to the Early Holocene (EH), in order to compare limnological and vegetation responses to common climate forcing. The biotic changes recognized in this study largely agree with the hydrological evolution of the lake described previously for the same period. The diatom record shows high sensitivity to fluctuations in both lake level and salinity concentration as consequence of climate shifts. In addition vegetation results indicate that the area could have played an important role as regional vegetation refuge. Shallow lake conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) were punctuated by relatively deeper freshwaters between 19.3 and 18.6 cal kyr BP and at 18.0 cal kyr BP, as recorded by diatom shifts. A subsequent increasing aridity trend, coinciding with the Mystery Interval (MI), affected the diatom accumulation rates, which dropped to its minimum values between 17.2 to 14.7 cal kyr BP. Particularly dry and cold conditions during the LGM and MI are supported by the largest values of steppic pollen taxa of the whole sequence, which account for up to 40%. However, relatively high values of Betula during the Heinrich Event 1 suggest a plausible regional vegetation refuge. Abrupt cooling and warming episodes within the LG triggered remarkable ecological threshold crossings in the diatom communities, especially during the stadial/interstadial episodes. At this point, the vegetation reflect the onset of warm conditions during the Bølling/Allerød with the partial substitution of Betula by Marcescent and Evergreen Quercus, what probably indicates the arrival of temperate taxa to the area and the likely migration of birch to higher altitudes. The Younger Dryas Stadial shows a complex ecological response. Diatoms are very poorly preserved, but aquatic taxa reach their highest values. An increase in Marcescent Quercus during this cold stage lends further support to the hypothesis that this is a regional vegetation refuge. Low lake levels recorded during the EH affected the development and preservation of diatom communities. A delay in the onset of humid conditions for the EH is also supported by the vegetation composition, characterized by the maximum expansion of Juniperus

Avaliação agronômica de genótipos de bananeiras em Votuporanga-SP: primeiro ciclo de produção

A banana é uma fruta de consumo mundial, apreciada por pessoas de todas as classes e de qualquer idade, que a consomem in natura ou de diferentes formas (Moreira, 1999). O cultivo de bananeiras no Brasil apresenta aspectos peculiares em relação à diversidade climática explorada, uso de cultivares e forma de comercialização. Os maiores problemas encontrados são a falta de variedades comerciais produtivas, com porte adequado e resistência às principais doenças, nematóides e pragas, além do manejo inadequado do sistema solo-água-planta (Silva et al., 2002). Para solucionar estes problemas, há a necessidade de criação de novos genótipos mediante técnicas de melhoramento genético que possibilitem a obtenção de híbridos tetraplóides superiores a partir das cultivares triplóides tradicionais. A etapa final do melhoramento constitui-se na avaliação dos novos genótipos em áreas de produção (Silva, 2000). O presente trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar características agronômicas de diferentes genótipos de bananeiras, no Noroeste Paulista, obtidas no primeiro ciclo de produção.pdf 97

Comparative study on the in vitro and in vivo properties of two bovine herpesvirus-5 reference strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5) is an alphaherpesvirus responsible for meningoencephalitis in young cattle and it is antigenically and genetically related to bovine herpesvirus 1. BoHV-5 outbreaks are sporadic and restricted in their geographical distribution, being mostly detected in the Southern hemisphere. The N569 and A663 strains are prototypes of the "a" and "b" subtypes of BoHV-5, however, scarce information about their <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>properties is currently available.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For the <it>in vitro </it>comparison between BoHV-5 A663 and N569 strains, viral growth kinetics, lysis and infection plaque size assays were performed. Additionally, an experimental infection of cattle with BoHV-5 A663 and N569 strains was carried out. Viral excretion, development of neurological signs, presence of specific antibodies in serum and nasal swabs and presence of latent BoHV-5 DNA in trigeminal ganglion, were analyzed. Histopathological examination of samples belonging to inoculated animals was also performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lytic capacity and the cell-to-cell spread was lower for the A663 strain compared to the N569 strain, however, the production of total infectious viral particles was similar between both strains. Concerning the <it>in vivo </it>properties, the A663 and N569 strains are able to induce similar degrees of pathogenicity in cattle.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show that the A663 strain used in this study is less adapted to <it>in vitro </it>replication in MDBK cells than the N569 strain and, although slight differences were observed, both strains are able to induce a similar degree of virulence in the natural host.</p