LOW-COST PHOTOGRAMMETRY SYSTEM FOR GEOREFERENCED STRUCTURE FROM MOTION

Photogrammetry has become increasingly available as a tool for re-constructing the 3D model of real-world objects and terrain, which is referred to as the structure from motion (SFM) solution. The re-constructed model has three-dimensional colorized surfaces. Integration of geo-referenced data into SFM allows for precise geo-registration, scaling and orienting of the object. Today, industrial users of SFM typically acquire imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV-based SFM relies on having a large number of ground control points that were surveyed ahead of time as the main source of geo-referenced data. The deployment and survey of ground control points are time consuming, and sometimes infeasible due to environmental constraints. A better solution is to gather location and/or orientation data of the camera in flight. A capable navigation device can record the precise location and orientation of the camera at the exact moment at which every image was taken. With that information, few or no ground control points are needed for geo-registration. However, the commercially available solutions of UAV-based SFM with an on-board navigator tend to be bulky and expensive. A low-cost, compact solution with open interfaces will be proposed in this work

LOW-COST PHOTOGRAMMETRY SYSTEM FOR GEOREFERENCED STRUCTURE FROM MOTION

Photogrammetry has become increasingly available as a tool for re-constructing the 3D model of real-world objects and terrain, which is referred to as the structure from motion (SFM) solution. The re-constructed model has three-dimensional colorized surfaces. Integration of geo-referenced data into SFM allows for precise geo-registration, scaling and orienting of the object. Today, industrial users of SFM typically acquire imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV-based SFM relies on having a large number of ground control points that were surveyed ahead of time as the main source of geo-referenced data. The deployment and survey of ground control points are time consuming, and sometimes infeasible due to environmental constraints. A better solution is to gather location and/or orientation data of the camera in flight. A capable navigation device can record the precise location and orientation of the camera at the exact moment at which every image was taken. With that information, few or no ground control points are needed for geo-registration. However, the commercially available solutions of UAV-based SFM with an on-board navigator tend to be bulky and expensive. A low-cost, compact solution with open interfaces will be proposed in this work

A cost-effective high-throughput digital system for observation and acquisition of animal behavioral data

We have designed and implemented a low-cost digital system using closed-circuit television cameras coupled to a digital acquisition system for the recording of in vivo behavioral data in rodents and for allowing observation and recording of more than 10 animals simultaneously at a reduced cost, as compared with commercially available solutions. This system has been validated using two experimental rodent models: one involving chemically induced seizures and one assessing appetite and feeding. We present observational results showing comparable or improved levels of accuracy and observer consistency between this new system and traditional methods in these experimental models, discuss advantages of the presented system over conventional analog systems and commercially available digital systems, and propose possible extensions to the system and applications to nonrodent studies

Caveolae protect endothelial cells from membrane rupture during increased cardiac output.

Caveolae are strikingly abundant in endothelial cells, yet the physiological functions of caveolae in endothelium and other tissues remain incompletely understood. Previous studies suggest a mechanoprotective role, but whether this is relevant under the mechanical forces experienced by endothelial cells in vivo is unclear. In this study we have sought to determine whether endothelial caveolae disassemble under increased hemodynamic forces, and whether caveolae help prevent acute rupture of the plasma membrane under these conditions. Experiments in cultured cells established biochemical assays for disassembly of caveolar protein complexes, and assays for acute loss of plasma membrane integrity. In vivo, we demonstrate that caveolae in endothelial cells of the lung and cardiac muscle disassemble in response to acute increases in cardiac output. Electron microscopy and two-photon imaging reveal that the plasma membrane of microvascular endothelial cells in caveolin 1(-/-) mice is much more susceptible to acute rupture when cardiac output is increased. These data imply that mechanoprotection through disassembly of caveolae is important for endothelial function in vivo

User-friendly automatic transcription of low-resource languages: Plugging ESPnet into Elpis

This paper reports on progress integrating the speech recognition toolkit ESPnet into Elpis,a web front-end originally designed to provide access to the Kaldi automatic speech recognition toolkit. The goal of this work is to makeend-to-end speech recognition models avail-able to language workers via a user-friendlygraphical interface. Encouraging results are reported on (i) development of an ESPnet recipe for use in Elpis, with preliminary resultson data sets previously used for training acoustic models with the Persephone toolkit alongwith a new data set that had not previously been used in speech recognition, and (ii) in-corporating ESPnet into Elpis along with UIe nhancements and a CUDA-supported Docker file

Canagliflozin impairs T cell effector function via metabolic suppression in autoimmunity

Augmented T cell function leading to host damage in autoimmunity is supported by metabolic dysregulation, making targeting immunometabolism an attractive therapeutic avenue. Canagliflozin, a type 2 diabetes drug, is a sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor with known off-target effects on glutamate dehydrogenase and complex I. However, the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on human T cell function have not been extensively explored. Here, we show that canagliflozin-treated T cells are compromised in their ability to activate, proliferate, and initiate effector functions. Canagliflozin inhibits T cell receptor signaling, impacting on ERK and mTORC1 activity, concomitantly associated with reduced c-Myc. Compromised c-Myc levels were encapsulated by a failure to engage translational machinery resulting in impaired metabolic protein and solute carrier production among others. Importantly, canagliflozin-treated T cells derived from patients with autoimmune disorders impaired their effector function. Taken together, our work highlights a potential therapeutic avenue for repurposing canagliflozin as an intervention for T cell-mediated autoimmunity

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Spectra and Parameters

We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra measured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol). We analyze night-time data collected during 2013-14 using two detector arrays at 149 GHz, from 548 deg$^2$ of sky on the celestial equator. We use these spectra, and the spectra measured with the MBAC camera on ACT from 2008-10, in combination with Planck and WMAP data to estimate cosmological parameters from the temperature, polarization, and temperature-polarization cross-correlations. We find the new ACTPol data to be consistent with the LCDM model. The ACTPol temperature-polarization cross-spectrum now provides stronger constraints on multiple parameters than the ACTPol temperature spectrum, including the baryon density, the acoustic peak angular scale, and the derived Hubble constant. Adding the new data to planck temperature data tightens the limits on damping tail parameters, for example reducing the joint uncertainty on the number of neutrino species and the primordial helium fraction by 20%.Comment: 23 pages, 25 figure