The recent developments in artificial intelligence have the potential to facilitate new research methods in ecology. Especially Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) have been shown to outperform other approaches in automatic image analyses. Here we apply a DCNN to facilitate quantitative wood anatomical (QWA) analyses, where the main challenges reside in the detection of a high number of cells, in the intrinsic variability of wood anatomical features, and in the sample quality. To properly classify and interpret features within the images, DCNNs need to undergo a training stage. We performed the training with images from transversal wood anatomical sections, together with manually created optimal outputs of the target cell areas. The target species included an example for the most common wood anatomical structures: four conifer species; a diffuse-porous species, black alder (Alnus glutinosa L.); a diffuse to semi-diffuse-porous species, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.); and a ring-porous species, sessile oak (Quercus petraea Liebl.). The DCNN was created in Python with Pytorch, and relies on a Mask-RCNN architecture. The developed algorithm detects and segments cells, and provides information on the measurement accuracy. To evaluate the performance of this tool we compared our Mask-RCNN outputs with U-Net, a model architecture employed in a similar study, and with ROXAS, a program based on traditional image analysis techniques. First, we evaluated how many target cells were correctly recognized. Next, we assessed the cell measurement accuracy by evaluating the number of pixels that were correctly assigned to each target cell. Overall, the “learning process” defining artificial intelligence plays a key role in overcoming the issues that are usually manually solved in QWA analyses. Mask-RCNN is the model that better detects which are the features characterizing a target cell when these issues occur. In general, U-Net did not attain the other algorithms’ performance, while ROXAS performed best for conifers, and Mask-RCNN showed the highest accuracy in detecting target cells and segmenting lumen areas of angiosperms. Our research demonstrates that future software tools for QWA analyses would greatly benefit from using DCNNs, saving time during the analysis phase, and providing a flexible approach that allows model retraining.
Geo-referenced aerial images are available in very high resolution. The automated production and updating of electronic nautical charts (ENC), as well as other products (e.g. thematic maps), from aerial images is a current challenge for hydrographic organizations. Often standard vision algorithms are not reliable enough for robust object detection in natural images. We thus propose a procedure that combines processing steps on three levels, from pixel (low-level) via segments (mid-level) to semantic information (high level). We combine simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) as an efficient low-level algorithm with a classification based on texture features by supported vector machine (SVM) and a generalized Hough transformation (GHT) for detecting shapes on mid-level. Finally, we show how semantic information can be used to improve results from the earlier processing steps in the high-level step. As standard vision methods are typically much too slow for such huge-sized images and additionally geographical references must be maintained over the complete procedure, we present a solution to overcome these problems.
Artificial neural networks can be trained on complex data sets to detect, predict, or model specific aspects. Aim of this study was to train an artificial neural network to support environmental monitoring efforts in case of a contamination event by detecting induced changes towards the microbial communities. The neural net was trained on taxonomic cluster count tables obtained via next-generation amplicon sequencing of water column samples originating from a lab microcosm incubation experiment conducted over 140 days to determine the effects of the herbicide glyphosate on succession within brackish-water microbial communities. Glyphosate-treated assemblages were classified correctly; a subsetting approach identified the clusters primarily responsible for this, permitting the reduction of input features. This study demonstrates the potential of artificial neural networks to predict indicator species in cases of glyphosate contamination. The results could empower the development of environmental monitoring strategies with applications limited to neither glyphosate nor amplicon sequence data.
The first international workshop on Object Oriented Groupware Platforms (OOGP'97) was held September 7, 1997, as a full day workshop at the ECSCW'97 conference in Lancaster, UK. During this day, 25 participants from Europe, the US and Australia - which were invited to the workshop based on position papers -- gathered to discuss the question: "
What should an Object Oriented Groupware Platform look like and how do we get there from current state of the art?
". The full workshop proceedings [1], a list of participants and an index of research groups involved in research into object oriented groupware platforms are available on the workshop websitehttp:/Iwww.trc.nl/eventslecscw97oogp/ welcome.htm.
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