Learning to Detect and Track Cells for Quantitative Analysis of Time-Lapse Microscopic Image Sequences

© 2015 IEEE.Studying the behaviour of cells using time-lapse microscopic imaging requires automated processing pipelines that enable quantitative analysis of a large number of cells. We propose a pipeline based on state-of-the-art methods for background motion compensation, cell detection, and tracking which are integrated into a novel semi-automated, learning based analysis tool. Motion compensation is performed by employing an efficient nonlinear registration method based on powerful discrete graph optimisation. Robust detection and tracking of cells is based on classifier learning which only requires a small number of manual annotations. Cell motion trajectories are generated using a recent global data association method and linear programming. Our approach is robust to the presence of significant motion and imaging artifacts. Promising results are presented on different sets of in-vivo fluorescent microscopic image sequences

The effect of developmental disabilities on the externalizing behavior of siblings

Early intervention for children with developmental disabilities or delays has become an important topic in the fields of education and psychology. Equally as important are the effects on children who are typically developing if one or more of their siblings is a child with a disability. Particularly of interest in this study was the level of externalizing behavior displayed by the typically developing siblings of children who have disabilities; This study compared the externalizing behavior (measured by the CBCL) of 16 siblings of children who have developmental disabilities with the externalizing behavior of 14 siblings of children who are typically developing. The expected findings, that children with a sibling with a disability, especially males, would exhibit higher levels of externalizing behavior than children who did not have a sibling with a disability, were not statistically significant. Results were discussed in significant. Results were discussed in relation to previous research of siblings of children with a disability

Advanced polymeric materials based on chitosan

V diplomskem delu sem popisal nekaj najpomembnejših, najbolj razširjenih oziroma najbolj zanimivih aplikacij hitozana, ki dajejo nastalim materialom edinstvene lastnosti. V uvodu sem predstavil razširjenost hitozana in njegovih derivatov, v nadaljevanju pa sem opisal njegove lastnosti z namenom za lažje razumevanje kako in zakaj vzbuja toliko zanimanja v razvoju pametnih materialov. Temu sledijo njegovi derivati, njihove lastnosti in področja aplikacije. Med drugim je predstavljena modifikacija s polibenzoksazinom ter obnovljivostne lastnosti materiala, in sicer sposobnost samoceljenja in oblikovni učinek. Za konec sem podal še kratko diskusijo s sklepi.In this thesis I have studied some of the most important, the most used or the most interesting applications of chitosan, which give us materials with unique properties. For beginning I have introduced how wide is chitosan spread, it followed by description of its properties, so we could understand, how and why is it so wanted for developing advanced materials. After that, I have described it’s derivates, their properties and fields of applications. Among other things, modification with polybenzoxazine and a renewable property of a material, namely the self-healing and the shape memory effect are presented. Finally, a brief discussion with the conclusions followed

Libpsht - algorithms for efficient spherical harmonic transforms

Libpsht (or "library for Performant Spherical Harmonic Transforms") is a collection of algorithms for efficient conversion between spatial-domain and spectral-domain representations of data defined on the sphere. The package supports transforms of scalars as well as spin-1 and spin-2 quantities, and can be used for a wide range of pixelisations (including HEALPix, GLESP and ECP). It will take advantage of hardware features like multiple processor cores and floating-point vector operations, if available. Even without this additional acceleration, the employed algorithms are among the most efficient (in terms of CPU time as well as memory consumption) currently being used in the astronomical community. The library is written in strictly standard-conforming C90, ensuring portability to many different hard- and software platforms, and allowing straightforward integration with codes written in various programming languages like C, C++, Fortran, Python etc. Libpsht is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 and can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/libpsht.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&

Health Impact Assessments and Planning: Bridging the Gap to Promote Health Equity

Public health and planning have been intertwined professions since the 1800s, when a concern over the health and wellness of city dwellers led reformers to demand greater order to the growth of cities and the provision of government services. The connection between the two professions was reinforced again in the 1960s, when air and water pollution legislation swept the nation.1 Today, the evidence of the relationship between planning decisions and public health outcomes can be seen in increasing health inequalities throughout the United States. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) can contribute information to the planning process in order to address these unintended health consequences prior to a decision being made. Planners work to “improve the welfare of people and their communities by creating more convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient, and attractive places for present and future generations.”2 A planner’s actions can either contribute to health inequities or promote equity. Language related to the protection of health and enhancing quality of life is commonplace in comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. However, this language typically concerns only very basic health issues such as clean water, sanitary sewer services, building stability and fire protection. Today, with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease on the rise, the health profession – both clinical and public health – is becoming more involved in plans, policies, programs and projects that impact the built environment. Health professionals recognize that the planning profession is at the frontlines of determining whether or not healthy communities are built

Surface Spline Approximation on SO(3)

The purpose of this article is to introduce a new class of kernels on SO(3) for approximation and interpolation, and to estimate the approximation power of the associated spaces. The kernels we consider arise as linear combinations of Green's functions of certain differential operators on the rotation group. They are conditionally positive definite and have a simple closed-form expression, lending themselves to direct implementation via, e.g., interpolation, or least-squares approximation. To gauge the approximation power of the underlying spaces, we introduce an approximation scheme providing precise L_p error estimates for linear schemes, namely with L_p approximation order conforming to the L_p smoothness of the target function.Comment: 22 pages, to appear in Appl. Comput. Harmon. Ana

A pseudospectral matrix method for time-dependent tensor fields on a spherical shell

We construct a pseudospectral method for the solution of time-dependent, non-linear partial differential equations on a three-dimensional spherical shell. The problem we address is the treatment of tensor fields on the sphere. As a test case we consider the evolution of a single black hole in numerical general relativity. A natural strategy would be the expansion in tensor spherical harmonics in spherical coordinates. Instead, we consider the simpler and potentially more efficient possibility of a double Fourier expansion on the sphere for tensors in Cartesian coordinates. As usual for the double Fourier method, we employ a filter to address time-step limitations and certain stability issues. We find that a tensor filter based on spin-weighted spherical harmonics is successful, while two simplified, non-spin-weighted filters do not lead to stable evolutions. The derivatives and the filter are implemented by matrix multiplication for efficiency. A key technical point is the construction of a matrix multiplication method for the spin-weighted spherical harmonic filter. As example for the efficient parallelization of the double Fourier, spin-weighted filter method we discuss an implementation on a GPU, which achieves a speed-up of up to a factor of 20 compared to a single core CPU implementation.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figure

The \u3ci\u3eExxon Valdez\u3c/i\u3e Reopener: Natural Resources Damage Settlements and Roads Not Taken

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill caused extensive natural resource damage to the Prince William Sound. Lawsuits addressing this natural resource damage resulted in a settlement that required Exxon to pay $900 million over time to trustees charged with spending this money to restore the damaged environment of the Sound and nearby areas. The settlement included a “Reopener Clause,” which pledges Exxon to spend an additional$100 million to fund restoration or rehabilitation of resources whose injuries were not foreseeable in 1989. This Article urges the State of Alaska and the United States to seek enforcement of the Reopener Clause, to restore natural resources and Native subsistence uses that were not addressed in the initial settlement and have not recovered from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Alternatively, this Article urges Native entities to intervene in the case and seek enforcement of the Reopener Clause. To date, neither Alaska nor the federal government have requested any of the $100 million Exxon may be required to pay to compensate for additional damages resulting from the oil spill. We offer extended comment on this most famous of all natural resource damage cases. Special attention will be paid to legal roads not taken

Multi-modal imaging probe for assessing the efficiency of stem cell delivery to orthotopic breast tumours

Stem cells have been utilised as anti-cancer agents due to their ability to home to and integrate within tumours. Methods to augment stem cell homing to tumours are being investigated with the goal of enhancing treatment efficacy. However, it is currently not possible to evaluate both cell localisation and cell viability after engraftment, hindering optimisation of therapy. In this study, luciferase-expressing human adipocyte-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were incubated with Indium-111 radiolabelled iron oxide nanoparticles to produce cells with tri-modal imaging capabilities. ADSCs were administered intravenously (IV) or intracardially (IC) to mice bearing orthotopic breast tumours. Cell fate was monitored using bioluminescence imaging (BLI) as a measure of cell viability, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for cell localisation and single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT) for cell quantification. Serial monitoring with multi-modal imaging showed the presence of viable ADSCs within tumours as early as 1-hour post IC injection and the percentage of ADSCs within tumours to be 2-fold higher after IC than IV. Finally, histological analysis was used to validate engraftment of ADSC within tumour tissue. These findings demonstrate that multi-modal imaging can be used to evaluate the efficiency of stem cell delivery to tumours and that IC cell administration is more effective for tumour targeting