Category Archives: Science in the News

What Is Computer Vision?

Posted on November 12, 2018 by | 1 comment

Have you ever imagined a robot being able to rebuild crime scenes using the clues and pieces of evidence it sees at the sites of crimes just like the character in the sci-fi game Detroit: Become Human? This is possible if the technologies of computer vision are developed and mature. Computer vision is the process that lets computers recognize, understand, and analyze pictures and videos. Computer vision is important because it provides the foundation for many science and engineering applications which will benefit humans in many aspects of their lives.

How does computer vision work?

The basis of computer vision is simple: computers transform an image into a set of pixels. Each pixel has a set of values which are used to represent the color of this pixel. Transforming images into data is easy, but it is hard for computers to categorize data in order to recognize objects. For example, it is hard for computers to recognize and understand which set of pixels represents a human face, a box, or a car. Therefore, computer scientists design different computer vision algorithms to help computers recognize objects in the pixel sets. Recently, in order to make computerized devices able to find similar patterns that allow them to recognize objects, computer vision scientists have trained their devices with numerous sets of images using machine learning technologies. (You can refer to my previous blog post to understand how machine learning works: click here).

“The future of computer vision with the TensorFlow Object Detection API from Google. You won’t have to describe any photo….” by ShashiBellamkonda is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: flickr.com

What are some real-life applications of computer vision?

“Face Recognition Software Recognizes Animals Now Too” by terrykimura is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Source:  flickr.com

You have probably already used a computer vision application in your life. For example, after you upload photos that contain your friends to Facebook, Facebook recognizes your friends and tags them automatically without asking you to tag your friends. This is done using Facebook’s facial recognition technology.

There are also a lot of other computer vision applications, such as barcode scanner and handwriting recognition. Also, check out the TED talk video below to see how we can use computer vision to transform our cities into smart cities.

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Video: “How to use computer vision to improve cities | Nikhil Naik | TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet” by TEDx Talks. Source: youtube.com

Conclusion

Computer vision is a sub-branch of Artificial Intelligence because it studies the methods that provide computers with sight so that these computers can see the world just like humans. Nowadays, computer vision is a very hot research area in computer science. If you would like to take a computer vision course online, I recommend the Introduction to Computer Vision course by Georgia Tech on Udacity.

 

-Baihao Luo

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Transfer Your Photo To An Artistic Work!

Posted on November 12, 2018 by | 1 comment

Can you imagine that you can change any photo you want into a piece of art on your own? It is made possible now! Recently, researchers from University of Tubingen, Leon A. Gatys and his colleagues have found a new way to automatically transfer an image to any style while preserving the original content.

Actually, there are many methods in previous studies used to do the style transferring work. However, resultant images are not statisfiable because only low-level image features are transferred, leading to unnatural images. This time, the researchers applied convolutional neural network (CNN), a kind of neural network popularly used in photo manipulation, in style transferring. As a result, new styles could be fit in photos more perfectly without any abrupt feelings.

The image synthesized with Van Gogh’s The Starry Nigtht

Credit: Leon A. Gatys, Alexander S. Ecker and Alexander S. Ecker

Before the transferring stage, their study is mainly focused on separating content representation and style representation of images, which are features extracted from images for further recombination. Usually, the semantic content and style are hard to separate. Even for artists themselves, it is really hard to tell which part is exactly content and which is exactly style. In this study, both of them are caught by the CNN, which captures object information accurately so that both the content and the style could be used independently to synthesize new meaningful images.

Style Represetation extracted from The Starry Nigtht

Credit: Leon A. Gatys, Alexander S. Ecker and Alexander S. Ecker

The final step is not easy either. The synthesis is not simply combining representations got from the previous step, you need to decide which, original content or new style, to be dominant in the new image. Naturally, we want the new style to dominate, but in fact, a strong emphasis on style could result in images matching the appearance of artwork but losing the original content.

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The presentation of the study

Viedeo Credit: Leon A. Gatys, Alexander S. Ecker and Alexander S. Ecker

Finally, their work paid off. The synthesis images using their method show a high perceptual quality. Thanks to their study, some image style transferring services based on the study, such as deepart.io, allow everyone to upload any image to produce a new artistic picture. Now, everyone can enjoy what the new technology brings to us.

Style Transferred picture from deepart.io

Credit: deepart.io

There are still some limitations in this study, the major one is about resolution. The speed of production heavily depends on image resolution. So, costumers need to wait a long time before getting synthesis picture if they want a high-quality picture, which influence customers’ experience with the online service. Further studies could find ways to speed up the whole process so that all customers could get instant feedbacks with high quality. I believe it will popularize the service further so that more people can join in!

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New tracking system could show-at last- how pesticides are harming bee colonies

Posted on November 12, 2018 by | 3 comments

We see the use of insecticides all around the world because it is something that is necessary for our own population. Insecticides is something that we depend on for the survival of our crops. However, as much as humanity may need them, not all of them are beneficial for the world. There is one type of insecticide that harms the important bee pollinators – the neonicotinoids. At high doses, the chemicals that make up insecticides can enter the pollen and nectar of flowers and harm bees’ memory, which consequently affect the bees’ ability to harvest nectar.

Neonicotinoid Pesticides Affects Bees’ Social Behaviour
Source: Organic Authority

To further investigate how this happens, researchers have come up with a tracking technique that makes note of how neonicotinoids reduce and affect the activity of bees. Previous research studied the damaging effects of neonicotinoids on the environment as a whole, but most of them did not extend towards how pesticides could specifically harm bee colonies.

Video down Below.

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To see how pesticides were affecting bee colonies, James Crall, an animal behaviour biologist at Harvard University, glued small tags to the backs of bees from approximately a dozen colonies. He then used tracking software to capture their movements as they were given sugar syrup coated with a small amount of a common neonicotinoid called an imidacloprid. As a result, the bees’ activity level, including their social interactions, decreased as the bees cared less about their brood.

Source: Wired
Tags on the back of bees to track their behaviour and movement

This was a notable finding as collectivism and working for the brood is integral to the survival of a bee colony. Crall also noted that the bees’ level of lethargy increased during the night and that their abilities to regulate temperature also hindered. Despite the potential benefits that insecticides may bring to our agriculture, they are undoubtedly harmful for some of our species, including the bees.

Source: Phys.org
Bee colonies collapsing as they are decreasing in numbers. Less social interactions.

As such, the question arises as to whether our need for pesticides is greater than our need for our natural pollinators, which is something that cannot be answered so easily.

-Christina Lee

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The Venom that Can Cure You

Posted on November 11, 2018 by | 2 comments

Imagine hearing the words from your doctor, “You have cancer,” then feeling relived that it wasn’t anything fatal. Yes, scientists in Africa have discovered that the venom from Polybia paulista (South American Wasp) can kill cancer.

The polybia paulista (South American Wasp) is found native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

The university of Brazil have begun experimenting its effects on mice with areas of tumour and seeing hopeful results. After stings from the wasps, the size of  tumours of the mice visibly shrunk significantly. This is cause by the venom having a protein Polybia-MP1 that causes the rupture on the parts of the cell membrane with these fatty component, phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Cancerous cell, unlike normal cells, have these parts on the outer membrane, making them more susceptible. The venom will actively damage these parts of the cells and cause the cell to degrade.

The process in which the wasp venom kills the tumorous cells.

Reachers are excited in the discovery of such medication. There exists a saying in Chinese “以毒攻毒” meaning using poison to attack poison.  The venom used does have its drawbacks. Normal cells are still susceptible to the the degradation and prolonged exposure can kill the healthy cells as well. Prolonged exposure to these venom will cause the patient to die. Researchers are still studying ways to implement this technique without harming the patient.

Dr Paul Beales, from the University of Leeds, stated that drugs that attacked the lipid structure of the cancerous cell’s  membrane are a revolutionary type of drug. “This could be useful in developing new combination therapies,” as he was keen on using multiple ways to deal with the tumour at the same time to increase the efficiency and to decease the time the patient is in contact with venom.

“This early stage research increases our understanding of how the venom of the Brazilian wasp can kill cancer cells in the laboratory.” said Dr Aine McCarthy, the science information officer for Cancer Research UK. She along with many others are excited to hear and is looking forward to do more tests on this subject before it is available to treat patients.

– Steven Li

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A Setback in Animal Conservation Efforts: Reversal of Rhino and Tiger Trade Ban in China

Posted on November 8, 2018 by | 8 comments

Can you imagine a world without animals?! What about a world without rhinoceroses or tigers? Sadly enough, there has been a large decline in the abundance of these animals within the past few generations.

An image showing two South China Tigers sitting in an enclosed conservation area. Image Credit: Amur Tiger Programme, under Creative Commons License.

For example, the South China Tiger population, pictured above, is currently listed as critically endangered, since thousands of them have been killed from hunting practices. Another species in China that has a population directly threatened by hunters are the rhinos. Because poaching is persistent and there has been a gradual loss of habitat, there are very few rhinos that can survive outside of national parks.

The reason that animals, such as tigers and rhinos, are commonly sought after in China is because of their medicinal properties. The rhino horn is used to treat fevers, gout and even food poisoning! Tiger bones, on other hand, are used to boost health and oddly enough, they are believed to enhance male strength. Although there is a lack of evidence to support these “healing” powers, there is still a strong demand for rhino horns and tiger bones, which threatens these species’ chances of survival.

An image showing two rhinos after hunters have removed their horns, leaving them severely injured. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as Chinese government officials realized how urgent it was to protect these animals, they enforced a ban on the trade of rhino horns and tiger bones in 1993. This ban was a relatively effective measure aimed towards wildlife conservation. Although there was a subtle black market trade that persisted, it was definitely a step in the right direction towards saving these beautiful animals!

Despite China’s initial efforts to protect the endangered rhino and tiger species, they have recently decided to lift the ban on the trade of their body parts. This measure has spurred dissent amongst environmentalists and conservation groups, since poachers and hunters can now legally trade these items. Since rhino and tiger populations are already dwindling in numbers, the expansion of the wildlife trade market is a serious setback to prior conservation efforts. The urgency to continue to protect these endangered species is emphasized in the video below.

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A video highlighting the criticism behind the removal of this ban.

Video Credit: Youtube, South China Morning Post, published under the Creative Commons License.

 

The removal of the wildlife trade ban will only encourage hunters/poachers to continue their practices… So therefore, it is crucial that we pursue any measure that might prevent these species from going extinct!

 

Lexynn Kwan

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Virtual Reality as Therapy for Mental Disorders

Posted on November 5, 2018 by | 3 comments

While many of us have heard of virtual reality (VR), we are likely less familiar with its applications. While VR can be an immersive gaming experience, it can also be used to confront your biggest psychological fears. In fact, some psychologists currently use this technology as treatment for patients with psychotic disorders and paranoid ideations. People with paranoid ideations believe they are being harassed and are suspicious of other people’s motives. As of 2013, more than 6.7 million people in Canada were living with mental conditions and Canadians with bipolar disorder and Schizophrenia, which both involve paranoia, each made up 1% of the population.

What is virtual reality?

Virtual reality creates the illusion of reality within different scenarios. The VR program is set up through a computer system, to which headphones and glasses are often attached. The recreated sights and sounds allow total immersion into the environment being experienced.

Samsung Gear VR virtual reality glasses

Specialized glasses for virtual reality
Image Source: flickr
Photographer: jocelynbird

 

Virtual reality as therapy

People with psychotic disorders often have similar responses to social interactions. Specifically, public settings and social activities tend to be avoided and time spent alone is higher than for an average person. One approach to treating patients and helping them reduce their social anxieties is through exposure. While therapeutic exposure-treatments are widely used, they present limitations for psychologists. Specifically, the therapist does not have control over the environment in which the patient is placed, which includes other peoples’ responses. Another difficulty is the willingness of a patient to undergo exposure to their fears in the real world. Virtual reality allows therapists to use exposure-treatments in a more controlled setting and therefore overcoming these limitations.

Virtual reality is used to treat paranoia
Posted By: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

 

The effects of VR-assisted therapy were further explored in a study published in March 2018, which was conducted at seven Dutch mental health centres. The study consisted of outpatients between the ages of 18-65, who had been diagnosed with psychotic disorders and paranoid ideation, being randomly assigned to one of two groups: a control group (traditional therapy treatment) or VR-CBT (traditional therapy treatment with addition of VR). Patients within the VR-CBT group attended 16, one-hour VR-therapy sessions and were subjected to experiences such as busy streets, buses, cafés, and supermarkets. As mentioned earlier, the advantage to this treatment is the range of control that the therapist obtains. In this study, the number of human avatars in proximity to the patient, their sex and ethnicity and their responses to the patient, such as eye contact or hostile behaviour were all controlled by the therapist. The study found that momentary paranoid ideation and momentary anxiety were both decreased in patients. Their trigger-response behaviour was also reduced in the VR group compared to the control.

Supermarket virtual reality for paranoia patients
Posted By: Science News

 

Virtual reality can be used as a powerful tool in the treatment of mental illnesses. By exposing patients to their psychological fears in a controlled environment, we can decrease the anxiety and paranoia they would otherwise experience during real-life social activities.

-Shadi Elmi

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Stroke and Motor Rehabilitation

Posted on November 5, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Stroke is the most common neurological disorder and is the primary cause of physical disability. After cancer and coronary artery disease, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with an incidence of at least 100 per 100,000 people. In Canada, there are more than 50,000 strokes a year. Every seven minutes, a Canadian dies of heart disease or stroke.

What is a Stroke

Stroke is also called the cerebrovascular disease which means it happens when blood flow to a certain brain area is cut off. Without the oxygen in the blood, brain cells start dying within minutes.

Here is a video understanding some basic concepts of stroke by an animated explanation.

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Video Credit: HealthSketch

Types

There are two main types of stroke:

The first type is called Ischemic Stroke. Due to lack of blood flow caused by a blood clot or fatty deposits lodging within a brain artery. Approximately 85% – 90%  of all stroke is due to ischemia.

The second type of stoke is the Hemorrhagic stroke, which is due to bleeding from a ruptured artery. It’s less common than an ischemic stroke, but it can be more serious. It can be a blood vessel in the brain balloons up and bursts, or a weakened one leaks.

The difference between the ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke

Image Credit: FlintRehab

Causes

A common cause of ischemic stroke is the hardening of the arteries which is caused by plaques. Those plaques are mostly made of fat, cholesterol, and other substances build up in the arteries, leaving less space for blood flow. Therefore, a blood clot may stay in this narrow space and cause an ischemic stroke.

Risk factors that can be controlled include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, blood vessel disease, heart disease, smoking, obesity, high alcohol consumption, poor diet, etc.

symptoms

The F.A.S.T test helps spot symptoms of stroke:

Related image

F.A.S.T Test

Image Credit: sleepapnea.org

motor rehabilitation

At least 70% of people will survive a stroke, but they may have profound motor deficits. Most people lose their motor functions of the other side of the body (different from the side where stroke happens) after stroke. Thus, functional recovery through active rehabilitation training is essential to achieve increased independence and quality of life.

Muscle weaknesses are pervasive after a stroke. This can interfere with walking and other daily motor activities. Physical rehabilitation is an effective way to regain strength, balance, and coordination; whereas occupational therapy is essential for fine motor skills, such as using a knife and fork, writing and buttoning a shirt.

Stroke rehabilitation works the best after 24 hours to 48 hours of stroke occur. Most people make the biggest recovery during the first three months after stroke. By continuing exercising and practicing new skills help part of your brain take over new functions.

Here is a video talking about how Steve recovered his motor ability from rehabilitative technology after a stroke.

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Video Credit: Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital

 

Elaine Yuling Chen

 

 

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Slow and Steady: New Research Claims That Removing The Appendix Decreases Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

Posted on November 5, 2018 by | 3 comments

Many people have a friend or family member who is afflicted by Parkinson’s Disease, a long-term degenerative disease affecting the brain’s central nervous system. Seemingly unrelated, many people also have removed their appendix, a small finger-like length of intestine that is widely removed due to appendicitis. Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, a recent study analyzing more than 1 million people in Sweden has concluded that an appendix removal done decades ago may reduce the chances of developing Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

Scientists speculate that the removal of the appendix affects the development of an abnormally formed protein, named α-synuclein (alpha-synuclein), which is present in PD patients.

What Is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s Disease is a genetic neurological (brain) disorder that can have significant impact on the physical and mental state of patients, with more than 55,000 Canadians diagnosed with PD. The onset of PD is slow, often alongside symptoms such as hand tremors and body stiffness.

Parkinson’s encompasses a wide subset of symptoms and related complications: restricting the movement of a patient gradually, eventually initiating other symptoms such as difficulty speaking, loss of coordination, and development of depression.

Prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in household population, by age group and sex, population aged 45 or older, Canada excluding territories, 2010/2011 Source: StatCan

Presence of α-synuclein In PD Patients

A protein called α-synuclein, in its misfolded (mutated) form, is fairly abundant in the appendix of both healthy people and PD patients. The mutated version of α-synuclein has the same structure as the version of α-synuclein that is found in the brains of patients afflicted by PD, which scientists have suggested causes PD by damaging the brain cells which control bodily movement.

Highly magnified image of mutated α-synuclein.
Source: Van Andel Research Institute

α-synuclein tends to travel from the appendix, leading scientists to investigate whether the protein present in the appendix is the same as the protein in the brain of PD patients.

Study on More than 1 Million Swedes Found…

Knowing this information about α-synuclein, Viviane Labrie (the first author of the study) and her team at the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan analyzed 1.6 million Swedish medical records to find that appendix removal showed almost a 20% decrease in chances of developing PD.

The data analysis also showed that an appendix removal also delays the diagnosis of PD for the people in the data set who did go on to develop PD for more than 3 years.

Why Is This Important? 

Parkinson’s Disease is not only a devastating and debilitating disorder, but also it is increasingly common as the general population begins to age. In recent years, PD is affecting more than 60,000 people each year in the United States. As PD is the second most common neurodegenerative (brain disorder) disease in Canada, it is with hope that these findings will inspire investigations into the pursuit of a treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.

See below for a video posted by Parkinson Society of BC, showcasing a young patient and her goals despite her disorder.

An instalment of Parkinson Society of BC’s This Is Parkinson’s Disease campaign, sharing Hilary’s story: a real-life British Columbian living with PD.
Source: Parkinson Society of BC

-Allison Chiang

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