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Accelerated biodiversity loss has destabilized functional links within and between ecosystems. Species that cross different ecosystems during migration between breeding and nonbreeding sites are particularly sensitive to global change because they are exposed to various, often ecosystem-specific, threats. Because these threats have lethal and nonlethal effects on populations, many migratory specie
BACKGROUND: The degree to which avian migrants revisit the same sites to replicate routes from previous years has received more and more attention as the possibilities of tracking small to medium-size birds over multiple annual cycles have improved. Repeated measurements of individuals with an appropriate sampling resolution can potentially inform about their navigation and migration strategies an
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a powerful non-invasive technique for probing tissuemicrostructure. While highly sensitive, conventional dMRI methods suffer from low specificity, due in part toexperimental designs that conflate multiple contrast mechanisms. This thesis aims to address these limitations bydeveloping advanced time-dependent dMRI techniques to disentangle competing sou
Memories link elements across event boundaries, integrating overlapping content experienced at different times and places. Such memory representations are thought to rely on memory integration mechanisms. The present study used multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of electroencephalographic (EEG) data to elucidate the temporal dynamics of integrative encoding memory processes. Memory integration w
This work presents a framework for designing self-locking 3D compliant structures using elasto-plastic topology optimization. Design updates are generated using the gradient-based method of moving asymptotes, while the material behavior is modeled under small strain elasto-plasticity. To accurately capture the Bauschinger effect that occur during reversed loading, kinematic hardening is a crucial
Surface-subsurface flow models for hydrological applications solve a coupled multiphysics problem. This usually consists of some form of the Richards and shallow water equations. A typical setup couples these two nonlinear partial differential equations in a partitioned approach via boundary conditions. Full interaction between the subsolvers is ensured by an iterative coupling procedure. This can
The atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice components in Earth system models are coupled via boundary conditions at the sea surface. Standard coupling algorithms correspond to the first step of an iteration, so-called Schwarz waveform relaxation. Not iterating is computationally cheap but introduces a numerical coupling error, which we aim to quantify for the case of a coupled single column model: the EC-
PURPOSE: Neglecting imaging gradients in b-value calculations has been a documented issue for decades and remains unaccounted for in the current postprocessing pipelines. This omission may introduce inaccuracies that propagate into diffusion parameter estimates, such as in ADC and DTI analysis. Because intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) makes use of low b-values, these inaccuracies may be of grea
We consider waveform iterations for dynamical coupled problems, or more specifically, PDEs that interact through a lower-dimensional interface. We want to allow for the reuse of existing codes for the subproblems, called a partitioned approach. To improve computational efficiency, different and adaptive time steps in the subsolvers are advisable. Using so-called waveform iterations in combination
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing (RS) technology is an ideal tool to map flooded areas on account of its all-time, all-weather imaging capability. Existing SAR data-based change detection approaches lack well-discriminant change indices for reliable floodwater mapping. To resolve this issue, an unsupervised change detection approach, made up of two main steps, is proposed for detectin
The planetary system K2-24 is composed of two transiting low-density Neptunians locked in an almost perfect 2:1 resonance and showing large transit time variations (TTVs), and it is an excellent laboratory to search for signatures of planetary migration. Previous studies performed with K2, Spitzer, and RV data tentatively claimed a significant non-zero eccentricity for one or both planets, possibl
Steric clashes pose a challenge when exploring dense protein systems using conventional explicit-chain methods. A minimal example is a single lattice protein confined on a minimal grid, with no free sites. Finding its minimum energy is a hard optimization problem, with similarities to scheduling problems. It can be recast as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem amenable to
Asphalt is made of a mixture of stones of different sizes and a binder called bitumen, the size distribution of the stones is determined by the recipe of the asphalt. One quality check of asphalt is to see if the real size distribution of asphalt samples is consistent with the recipe. This is usually done by first extracting the binder using methylenchloride and the sieving the stones and see how
Ultrasound imaging of the heart is a non-invasive method widely used for different applications. One of them is to measure the blood volume in the left ventricle at different stages of the heart cycle. This demands a proper segmentation of the left ventricle and a (semi-) automated method would decrease intra-variability as well as workload. This paper presents a semi-automated segmentation method t
The field of high dynamic range imaging addresses the problem of capturing and displaying the large range of luminance levels found in the world, using devices with limited dynamic range. In this paper we present a novel tone mapping algorithm that is based on $K$-means clustering. Using dynamic programming we are able to, not only solve the clustering problem efficiently, but also find the global
Indisputably Normalized Cuts is one of the most popular segmentation algorithms in pattern recognition and computer vision. It has been applied to a wide range of segmentation tasks with great success. A number of extensions to this approach have also been proposed, including ones that can deal with multiple classes or that can incorporate a priori information in the form of grouping constraints.
It is commonly believed that higher order smoothness should be modeled using higher order interactions. For example, 2nd order derivatives for deformable (active) contours are represented by triple cliques. Similarly, the 2nd order regularization methods in stereo predominantly use MRF models with scalar (1D) disparity labels and triple clique interactions. In this paper we advocate a largely over
Control systems are often built using visual dataflow-based languages, and supporting different variants may be challenging. We introduce the concept of connection interception based on inheritance. This mechanism allows a diagram to extend another diagram and intercept connections defined in the supertype, that is, to replace it by two other connections, in order to specialize the behavior. This
We study and solve the previously unstudied problem of finding both transmitter and receiver positions using only time of arrival (TOA) measurements when there is a difference in dimensionality between the affine subspaces spanned by receivers and transmitters. Anchor-free TOA network calibration has uses both in radio, radio strength and sound applications, such as calibrating ad hoc microphone a
The semantic formalism reference attribute grammars (RAGs) allows graphs to be superimposed on abstract syntax trees. This paper investigates how RAGs can be used to model visual languages, with a case study of a control language that also has a textual syntax. The language contains blocks on which a total execution order is defined based on connections and layout information. One strength of RAGs
