Automating image analysis by annotating landmarks with deep neural networks

Image and video analysis is often a crucial step in the study of animal behavior and kinematics. Often these analyses require that the position of one or more animal landmarks are annotated (marked) in numerous images. The process of annotating landmarks can require a significant amount of time and tedious labor, which motivates the need for algorithms that can automatically annotate landmarks. In the community of scientists that use image and video analysis to study the 3D flight of animals, there has been a trend of developing more automated approaches for annotating landmarks, yet they fall short of being generally applicable. Inspired by the success of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) on many problems in the field of computer vision, we investigate how suitable DNNs are for accurate and automatic annotation of landmarks in video datasets representative of those collected by scientists studying animals. Our work shows, through extensive experimentation on videos of hawkmoths, that DNNs are suitable for automatic and accurate landmark localization. In particular, we show that one of our proposed DNNs is more accurate than the current best algorithm for automatic localization of landmarks on hawkmoth videos. Moreover, we demonstrate how these annotations can be used to quantitatively analyze the 3D flight of a hawkmoth. To facilitate the use of DNNs by scientists from many different fields, we provide a self contained explanation of what DNNs are, how they work, and how to apply them to other datasets using the freely available library Caffe and supplemental code that we provide.https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.00583Published versio

Developing non-verbal ways of knowing in dance: Collaborative school / university action research.

Gardner (1983, 1993) has long argued that education privileges certain intelligences, primarily the linguistic and the logical-mathematical. As the arts tend to emphasise ways of knowing outside these intelligences, their marginalised status is exacerbated. A recent two-year project in eight primary schools on dance, drama, music and visual art found that the non-verbal aspects of each art form warranted serious attention to investigate what it means to learn in the arts. In this paper we describe and discuss the results of an aspect of action research in dance from this larger research project. We demonstrate how movement can be used as the primary expressive mode of communication, as opposed to privileging the spoken word. Through the use of powerpoint and video, we provide an intriguing and innovative model for providing non-verbal feedback and feed forward in the dance classroom

Discovering useful parts for pose estimation in sparsely annotated datasets

Our work introduces a novel way to increase pose estimation accuracy by discovering parts from unannotated regions of training images. Discovered parts are used to generate more accurate appearance likelihoods for traditional part-based models like Pictorial Structures and its derivatives. Our experiments on images of a hawkmoth in flight show that our proposed approach significantly improves over existing work for this application, while also being more generally applicable. Our proposed approach localizes landmarks at least twice as accurately as a baseline based on a Mixture of Pictorial Structures (MPS) model. Our unique High-Resolution Moth Flight (HRMF) dataset is made publicly available with annotations.https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.00707Accepted manuscrip

Relative abundances of the recently introduced barnacles, Megabalanus coccopoma and an unidentified species of Megabalanus, in the southeastern U.S.

ABSTRACT Megabalanus coccopoma is a prominent invasive species off the coast of Georgia. Recently, among collected samples thought to be M. coccopoma, several individuals of an unidentified species of barnacle were found. The species has been identified as a Megabalanus species, but is still unidentified to the species level. Species identification is difficult due to morphological variation, inconsistent taxonomic keys, and unknown origin. In this study I developed a method to accurately distinguish M. coccopoma from the unidentified Megabalanus sp. using sequence differences in the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene. This study will provide an accurate estimate of the relative abundance and distribution of the unknown species and M. coccopoma at 7 locations off the coast of Georgia including buoys, offshore towers, and intertidal sites. The two species had different distributions. Megabalanus coccopoma was found at all sites and the unidentified Megabalanus sp. was only found at offshore sites. At the offshore sites, the two species occurred in equal abundances

Touching in Psychotherapy: A Case Study

There is a wide range of opinion among psychotherapists as to the appropriateness of physical contact between therapist and client. Some suggest that touching facilitates the development of the therapeutic relationship; others, however, argue that potentially harmful effects far outweigh possible benefits. In the present case study, touching was manipulated using an ABA reversal design during each of four initial meetings of a male therapist and female client. Dependent measures included therapist and client immediacy and speech production, and client self-disclosure. Time series data for each dependent measure were examined to determine whether client and/or therapist behavior changed in response to touch. Additional correlational analyses were performed to provide information on patterns of concomitant variation, over time, among the various immediacy, speech, and disclosure measures. Therapist-initiated touch increased client speech production in two of the sessions, but also produced compensatory reductions in client immediacy (e.g. reduced gaze, backward lean), especially in early sessions. The results suggest that the effects of touch on the client-therapist relationship can be quite complex and may change as the therapeutic relationship develops. The results also highlight the importance of examining therapist as well as client response to physical contact

Postcard: Old Pioneer, Western Kansas Soddy

This black and white photographic postcard features a sod house. An ax and two guns are propped against the building next to the door. Fencing is in the background. Printed text is at the bottom of the card. Handwriting is on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/2203/thumbnail.jp

Border Literacies and the Plazas Comunitarias Program

In this column, I hope to contribute to the wider discussion on this topic by highlighting a specific binational adult literacy program called Plazas Comunitarias to illustrate how some adults are developing Spanish literacy on the border and explore to what extent a model like Plazas could act as a bridge to both Spanish and English literacy learning. Among its many features, learners enrolled in Plazas can also work towards earning official certificates for primaria and secundaria (the equivalent to elementary and middle school) issued directly from the Ministry of Education in Mexico. At the same time, I take a look at the ways in which the local organizations that help implement the Plazas program play a role in overall community engagement and have the potential to be a valuable resource for Latinx families on the border and beyond, particularly for those with children enrolled in the school system. Therefore, K-12 educators working with Latinx families may well find programs such as Plazas to be a valuable community resource for parents by opening up avenues to literacy learning that could support both their and their children’s development

Trusting Children: Lifelong Learning And Autonomy Within The Unschooling Movement

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of autonomy in the context of education and analyse the complex features of unschooling, a particular movement within the home- based education paradigm. This study will aim to link the significance of autonomy and unschooling and place them within the wider discourse of contemporary lifelong learning (LLL) theories. Under the tenets of humanistic education theories that underline self-driven and intrinsic motivations for learning, this article will highlight the unschooling movement as an example of a subaltern pedagogical approach that is deeply rooted in institutional and ideological autonomy. More importantly, this study intends to challenge the way LLL is conceptualised and propel the international discourse surrounding it beyond the boundaries of institutional education