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Abstract Larval settlement and recruitment of sessile organisms are key ecological processes for population recovery and maintenance that occur at scales invisible to the human eye. Accordingly, proxies of recruitment have commonly been quantified using artificial substrata such as settlement tiles made of diverse materials and shapes, which are typically transported to the laboratory for examination. However, it is unknown how much bias is introduced with this sampling strategy and how recruitment quantified on tiles relates to recruitment on nearby natural substrata. Here, we applied techniques that combine macrophotography with photogrammetry (macrophotogrammetry) underwater to monitor benthic communities at submillimetre scale. This application allows the investigation of recruitment and community succession of the earliest life‐history stages in situ and on natural substrata. We tested the use of four different imaging systems, varying in costs from US$ 1400 to US$ 5440. While the most expensive SONY αRiv system provided the best visual output and ground resolution (up to 5 μm/pixel with a + 4 close‐up lens); regardless of systems, 3D models always had a ground resolution ≤23 μm/pixel and errors in planar measurements of submillimetre features were similar among systems. This level of resolution compares well with stereomicroscopy in the range of 5:1 to 10:1 magnification, while providing detailed 3D digital records through time. Using a coral reef example, we apply this approach to demonstrate how it can be used to monitor small reef areas (~300–600 cm2) through time, including the quantification of biophysical metrics such as cover of small facilitative and competitive organisms and microhabitat complexity. We further show that organisms as small 0.5 mm in size, such as 2‐month‐old coral settlers, can be located accurately within the 3D models and measured with a good level of confidence. This method can be readily applied to other benthic environments to elucidate drivers of early recruitment and recovery of benthic organisms following disturbance impacts at very fine scales, directly on natural substrata, to avoid biases inherent with laboratory‐based analyses of artificial surfaces.

Larval settlement and recruitment of sessile organisms are key ecological processes for population recovery and maintenance that occur at scales invisible to the human eye. Accordingly, proxies of recruitment have commonly been quantified using artificial substrata such as settlement tiles made of diverse materials and shapes, which are typically transported to the laboratory for examination. However, it is unknown how much bias is introduced with this sampling strategy and how recruitment quantified on tiles relates to recruitment on nearby natural substrata.Here, we applied techniques that combine macrophotography with photogrammetry (macrophotogrammetry) underwater to monitor benthic communities at submillimetre scale. This application allows the investigation of recruitment and community succession of the earliest life‐history stages in situ and on natural substrata.We tested the use of four different imaging systems, varying in costs from US$ 1400 to US$ 5440. While the most expensive SONY αRiv system provided the best visual output and ground resolution (up to 5 μm/pixel with a + 4 close‐up lens); regardless of systems, 3D models always had a ground resolution ≤23 μm/pixel and errors in planar measurements of submillimetre features were similar among systems. This level of resolution compares well with stereomicroscopy in the range of 5:1 to 10:1 magnification, while providing detailed 3D digital records through time.Using a coral reef example, we apply this approach to demonstrate how it can be used to monitor small reef areas (~300–600 cm2) through time, including the quantification of biophysical metrics such as cover of small facilitative and competitive organisms and microhabitat complexity. We further show that organisms as small 0.5 mm in size, such as 2‐month‐old coral settlers, can be located accurately within the 3D models and measured with a good level of confidence. This method can be readily applied to other benthic environments to elucidate drivers of early recruitment and recovery of benthic organisms following disturbance impacts at very fine scales, directly on natural substrata, to avoid biases inherent with laboratory‐based analyses of artificial surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of a study of the degradation of the cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) traces carried in fingerprints depending on the fingerprint number are presented. The surface concentration of the trace was assessed using macrophotography in polarized light and by the method of laser fragmentation/laser-induced fluorescence. A technique for estimating the surface concentration of RDX traces in sweat-fat fingerprints based on pixel-by-pixel scanning of macrophotographs is described. The data of parallel experiments on remote laser detection of RDX particles in fingerprints are presented. A comparison shows that the results of the direct measurements of the total trace area are in good agreement with the LF/LIF response data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophotography Images (MPIs) have recently emerged as an active topic due to the development of mobile phone camera technology. A large number of MPIs have been rapidly increasing in many rich visual services, such as smartphones or high‐definition monitors. MPIs are often composed of sharp macroimage and blur background, which exhibit different perceptual properties that often lead to different just noticeable difference (JND) estimation. Inspired by this, we formulate the blur concealment (BC) as another factor to determine the total masking effect: the interaction is relatively straightforward with a limited masking effect in the sharp regions, and is complicated with a strong masking effect in the blur parts. Furthermore, texture and orientation adaption and color information weighting are separately incorporated into the contrast masking and color masking. Finally, considering both BC and masking effects, a novel robust watermarking framework based on the proposed blur‐guided JND model for MPIs, targeting at further improving the MPIs copyright protection performance. Extensive experiments on MP2020 and Blur Detection data sets show that the applicability of the proposed JND model in the scenario of perceptually MPIs watermarking, and our proposed scheme can outperform the state‐of‐the‐art watermarking schemes by providing better robustness performance at the uniform visual quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knee osteoarthritis is treated based on total knee arthroplasty (TKA) interventions. The most frequent failure cause identified in surgical practice is due to wear and oxidation processes of the prothesis' tibial insert. This component is usually manufactured from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). To estimate the clinical complications related to a specific prosthesis design, we investigated four UHMWPE tibial inserts retrieved from patients from Clinical Hospital Colentina, Bucharest, Romania. For the initial analysis of the polyethylene degradation modes, macrophotography was chosen. A light stereomicroscope was used to estimate the structural performance and the implant surface degradation. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the optical results and fulfilled the computation of the Hood index. The oxidation process in UHMWPE was analyzed based on Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The crystallinity degree and the oxidation index were computed in good agreement with the existing standards. Mechanical characterization was conducted based on the small punch test. The elastic modulus, initial peak load, ultimate load, and ultimate displacement were estimated. Based on the aforementioned experimental tests, a variation between 9 and 32 was found in the case of the Hood score. The oxidation index has a value of 1.33 for the reference sample and a maximum of 9.78 for a retrieved sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of a study of the degradation of the cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) traces carried in fingerprints depending on the fingerprint number are presented. The surface concentration of the trace was assessed using macrophotography in polarized light and by the method of laser fragmentation/laser-induced fluorescence. A technique for estimating the surface concentration of RDX traces in sweat-fat fingerprints based on pixel-by-pixel scanning of macrophotographs is described. The data of parallel experiments on remote laser detection of RDX particles in fingerprints are presented. A comparison shows that the results of the direct measurements of the total trace area are in good agreement with the LF/LIF response data.

With the development of mobile phone camera technology, mobile phones can take a large number of macro photography images that previously could only be taken by professional cameras. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the quality of macro photography images. For this reason, a macro photography image visual quality evaluation database is established and it is named as MP2020. The database contains 100 reference images and 800 distorted images of four distortion types, including 200 distorted images of JPEG 2000, 200 distorted images of JPEG, 200 distorted images of white noise, and 200 distorted images of Gaussian blur. The DMOS values in the database were calculated from 48000 data which are provided by 60 subjects. Ten classical image quality assessment algorithms were tested on the MP2020 database. The experimental results show that the existing image quality assessment algorithms, which are widely used, are not applicable to the macro photography images. Therefore, MP2020 would contribute to the improvement of existing algorithms and the development of new algorithms. MP2020 has been uploaded to GitHub for download. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Liwaa Torbey, a young Argentinian dentist, is presented. Topics include work is an invitation to the microscopic and highly technical world of macro photography; and professional development as well as vision in dentistry; and dentists should use a camera on a daily basis with the benefits in terms of communicating with the laboratory.

Copyright of Journal of Agriculture & Nature / Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım & Doğa Dergisi is the property of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Universitesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of China Mechanical Engineering is the property of Editorial Board of China Mechanical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Presenting your research in the proper light can be exceptionally challenging. Meanwhile, dome illumination systems became a standard for micro- and macrophotography in taxonomy, morphology, systematics and especially important in natural history collections. However, proper illumination systems are either expensive and/or laborious to use. Nowadays, 3D-printing technology revolutionizes lab-life and will soon find its way into most people's everyday life. Consequently, fused deposition modelling printers become more and more available, with online services offering personalized printing options. Here, we present a 3D-printed, scalable, low-cost and modular LED illumination dome system for scientific micro- and macrophotography. We provide stereolithography ('.stl') files and print settings, as well as a complete list of necessary components required for the construction of three differently sized domes. Additionally, we included an optional iris diaphragm and a sliding table, to arrange the object of desire inside the dome. The dome can be easily scaled and modified by adding customized parts, allowing you to always present your research object in the best light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I consider the potential of digital technology to raise ecological awareness and motivate change, focusing on my artwork, The Sea As Sculptress, a macrophotographic record of the marine life growing on sculptures I placed in the San Francisco Bay. Originally presented thirty years ago as a performative lecture with slide dissolves, I recently redesigned and updated the project as an extensive web site. Here, I present the initial context and intention of the project and then outline the strategies that I employed to translate and re-envision the work in light of both the development of new technologies and changing conceptions of art and ecology. I argue for the importance of collaboration between artists and scientists to develop and promulgate the values and policies necessary to address the many ecological challenges of our times.