A segmentation algorithm for automated tracking of fast swimming unlabelled cells in three dimensions

Recent advances in microscopy and cytolabelling methods enable the real time imaging of cells as they move and interact in their real physiological environment. Scenarios in which multiple cells move autonomously in all directions are not uncommon in biology. A remarkable example is the swimming of marine spermatozoa in search of the conspecific oocyte. Imaging cells in these scenarios, particularly when they move fast and are poorly labelled or even unlabelled requires very fast three-dimensional time-lapse (3D+t) imaging. This 3D+t imaging poses challenges not only to the acquisition systems but also to the image analysis algorithms. It is in this context that this work describes an original automated multiparticle segmentation method to analyse motile translucent cells in 3D microscopical volumes. The proposed segmentation technique takes advantage of the way the cell appearance changes with the distance to the focal plane position. The cells translucent properties and their interaction with light produce a specific pattern: when the cell is within or close to the focal plane, its two-dimensional (2D) appearance matches a bright spot surrounded by a dark ring, whereas when it is farther from the focal plane the cell contrast is inverted looking like a dark spot surrounded by a bright ring. The proposed method analyses the acquired video sequence frame-by-frame taking advantage of 2D image segmentation algorithms to identify and select candidate cellular sections. The crux of the method is in the sequential filtering of the candidate sections, first by template matching of the in-focus and out-of-focus templates and second by considering adjacent candidates sections in 3D. These sequential filters effectively narrow down the number of segmented candidate sections making the automatic tracking of cells in three dimensions a straightforward operation.     

鉴别式多核手跟踪

快速运动、背景混杂及手的特殊性为传统的核目标跟踪技术提出了挑战.文中提出一种鉴别式颜色子空间选择和多核校正机制的核跟踪方法.首先基于前景背景建模,通过鉴别函数选取最优鉴别式颜色子空间集,再基于训练的肤色模型保留高置信子空间表征目标.其次,为适应尺度变化和快速运动,基于多核快速估计相似度表面以校正初始核位置,迭代定位目标.实验表明,融合二者的跟踪器在有效性和速度上都实现了满意的性能,满足实时性需要.     

基于MAX263的带通跟踪滤波设计

介绍了MAX263滤波芯片性能,分析了其软件设计方法及其工作原理,结合锁相环频率跟踪原理设计了针对转子不平衡量电信号的带通跟踪滤波器,实验证明该方法滤波效果十分明显,能够有效滤除干扰信号,且电路简单,具有很高的应用价值。     

基于MSPF的实时监控多目标跟踪算法研究

近年来,实时监控下多目标跟踪作为智能交通系统(Intelligent transportation system,ITS)的重要组成部分受到关注.传统多目标跟踪方法通常具有处理速度慢、容易对交叉行进车辆产生误匹配等问题.本文首先对基于贝叶斯规则的车辆视频复杂背景的建模及运动目标的检测进行研究,在此基础上提出一种基于Meanshift粒子滤波(Mean shift particle filter,MSPF)的多目标跟踪算法,首先对每一目标车辆在下一帧可能出现的范围进行预测,对单目标和多目标情况采用不同的检测策略,避免了全局搜索,提高了跟踪速度;通过构造基于最新观测信息的重要性密度函数,提高了MSPF算法在复杂背景情况下追踪部分遮挡及交叉车辆的准确性和鲁棒性.仿真实验结果验证了所提出算法的有效性.     

基于非线性迭代滑模的欠驱动UUV三维航迹跟踪控制

为实现欠驱动无人水下航行器(Unmanned underwater vehicle, UUV)在未知海流干扰作用下的三维航迹跟踪控制, 提出一种基于工程解耦思想设计的非线性迭代滑模航迹跟踪控制器. 基于虚拟向导的方法,建立UUV空间航迹跟踪误差方程;采用迭代方法设计非线性滑模控制器, 无需对UUV模型参数不确定部分和海流干扰进行估计,避免了舵的抖振现象以及减小了稳态误差与超调问题. 仿真实验表明,设计的控制器对欠驱动UUV系统的模型参数摄动及海流干扰变化不敏感、 且设计参数易于调节,可以实现三维航迹的精确跟踪.     

偏移校正的核空间直方图目标跟踪

针对传统均值漂移算法中核函数直方图对目标特征描述较弱、 跟踪窗不能动态调整容易导致目标跟偏或跟丢的缺点, 提出了一种改进的均值漂移跟踪算法.为提高目标特征描述的可靠性, 采用二阶空间直方图建立目标模型,以Bhattacharyya系数作为相似性度量; 通过偏移校正更新目标区域参数建立新的目标模型; 结合边缘与角点检测选取特征点建立仿射模型实现跟踪窗的调整; 根据卡尔曼残差判断目标是否被遮挡,从而选择卡尔曼滤波或是线性预测来确定目标位置. 实验结果表明,该算法可以准确地跟踪目标,对相似背景干扰、目标大小与方向的变化以及短时遮挡具有鲁棒性.     

水雷出水模型突变的控制方法

水雷水下发射攻击水上目标时出水瞬间数学模型发生突变, 严重影响水雷出 水的稳定性和打击概率, 对这一过程设计了滑模变结构单控制器和组合控制 器.利用微分几何的输入输出反馈线性化方法将非线性系统进行了线性化, 并利用变结构控制策略及趋近律算法设计了姿态跟踪闭环控制系统, 计算简便, 易于实现.对两种控制器的优劣性进行了比较, 通过数字仿真表明所设 计的控制系统可以适用于水下攻击目标出水突变过程, 并对系统参数摄动具 有较强的鲁棒性.     

Multiple human tracking in high-density crowds

In this paper, we introduce a fully automatic algorithm to detect and track multiple humans in high-density crowds in the presence of extreme occlusion. Typical approaches such as background modeling and body part-based pedestrian detection fail when most of the scene is in motion and most body parts of most of the pedestrians are occluded. To overcome this problem, we integrate human detection and tracking into a single framework and introduce a confirmation-by-classification method for tracking that associates detections with tracks, tracks humans through occlusions, and eliminates false positive tracks. We use a Viola and Jones AdaBoost detection cascade, a particle filter for tracking, and color histograms for appearance modeling. To further reduce false detections due to dense features and shadows, we introduce a method for estimation and utilization of a 3D head plane that reduces false positives while preserving high detection rates. The algorithm learns the head plane from observations of human heads incrementally, without any a priori extrinsic camera calibration information, and only begins to utilize the head plane once confidence in the parameter estimates is sufficiently high. In an experimental evaluation, we show that confirmation-by-classification and head plane estimation together enable the construction of an excellent pedestrian tracker for dense crowds.     

Optimal pricing, lot-sizing and marketing planning in a capacitated and imperfect production system

In the classical economic production quantity (EPQ) problem demand is considered to be known in advance. However, in the real-world, demand of a product is a function of factors such as product’s price, its quality, and marketing expenditures for promoting the product. Quality level of the product and specifications of the adopted manufacturing process also affect the unit product’s cost. Therefore, in this paper we consider a profit maximizing firm who wants to jointly determine the optimal lot-sizing, pricing, and marketing decisions along with manufacturing requirements in terms of flexibility and reliability of the process. Geometric programming (GP) technique is proposed to address the resulting nonlinear optimization problem. Using recent advances in optimization techniques we are able to optimally solve the developed, highly nonlinear, mathematical model. Finally, using numerical examples, we illustrate the solution approach and analyze the solution under different conditions.     

Predictable service overlay networks: Predictability through adaptive monitoring and efficient overlay construction and management

Providing bounded communication among participating nodes is significant for distributed systems. Internet-based applications suffer with lower performance due to absence of bounded latency. We describe PSON, an overlay network solution to this challenging problem. PSON has two components. The monitoring component, SyncProbe, utilizes efficient and adaptive monitoring techniques to measure latency, detect packet loss, and provide real-time estimates of maximum expected latency along paths of an Internet substrate. The QoSMap component constructs and manages overlay such that it yields application-level QoS and provides resilience against network failures. A distinctive feature of QoSMap is construction of QoS-compliant backup paths which facilitate in overlay management and operation during the period when primary overlay paths violate QoS. We evaluate PSON on PlanetLab to provide predictable communication for applications with different topology and QoS requirement. Our experiments confirm the effectiveness of PSON in providing an inexpensive and efficient application-layer solution to Internet’s unpredictable behavior.