The architecture of neuron connectivity in brain networks is one of the basic mechanisms by which to organize and sustain a particular function of the brain circuitry. There are areas of the brain composed of well-organized layers of neurons connected by unidirectional synaptic connections (e.g., cortex, hippocampus). Re-engineering of the neural circuits with such a heterogeneous network structure in culture may uncover basic mechanisms of emergent information functions of these circuits. In this study, we present such a model designed with two subpopulations of primary hippocampal neurons (E18) with directed connectivity grown in a microfluidic device with asymmetric channels. We analysed and compared neurite growth in the microchannels with various shapes that promoted growth dominantly in one direction. We found an optimal geometric shape features of the microchannels in which the axons coupled two chambers with the neurons. The axons grew in the promoted direction and formed predefined connections during the first 6 days in vitro (DIV). The microfluidic devices were coupled with microelectrode arrays (MEAs) to confirm unidirectional spiking pattern propagation through the microchannels between two compartments. We found that, during culture development, the defined morphological and functional connectivity formed and was maintained for up to 25 DIV.

Predicting the live weight of cattle helps us monitor the health of animals, conduct genetic selection, and determine the optimal timing of slaughter. On large farms, accurate and expensive industrial scales are used to measure live weight. However, a promising alternative is to estimate live weight using morphometric measurements of livestock and then apply regression equations relating such measurements to live weight. Manual measurements on animals using a tape measure are time-consuming and stressful for the animals. Therefore, computer vision technologies are now increasingly used for non-contact morphometric measurements. The paper proposes a new model for predicting live weight based on augmenting three-dimensional clouds in the form of flat projections and image regression with deep learning. It is shown that on real datasets, the accuracy of weight measurement using the proposed model reaches 91.6%. We also discuss the potential applicability of the proposed approach to animal husbandry.

The animal carcass is one of important indicators of the development of young cattles, therefore it is essential to follow it up. Only the animals with sufficient body frame and with well-muscled top can be successfully fattened to high body mass. In this work we propose a prototype of non-intrusive scanning system for recovery of live cattle 3D shape with three depth cameras. To obtain the highest precision in measuring of cattle shape, we use calibrated cameras, curve fitting algorithms for solving the problem of missing data owing to partial occlusion, and algorithms for accurate fusion of point cloud data from three cameras. The measured animal 3D shape can be used, for instance, for automatic and precise estimation of body dimensions of live animals and for predicting the body weight of individual cattle as well as for daily monitoring production capacity of cattle.

Many studies have purposed in order to measure live animal body characteristics using RGB-D cameras. However, most of these studies were made only for specific body measurements in interactive manner. A deviation from the expected animal body characteristics can indicate ill thrift, diseases and vitality. Currently, the farm manager can measure the body characteristics manually. Manual measuring generally requires a lot of labor, and it is, therefore, time consuming and stressful for animals. In this work we propose a non-intrusive depth camera-based system for automatic measurement of various cattle body parameters such as linear and integral characteristics along directional lines and local areas, geodesic distances, perimeters of cross sections, etc

In beef cattle breeding, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) arrays can reveal many loci of various production traits, such as growth, productivity, and meat quality. With the development of genome sequencing technologies, new opportunities are opening up for more accurate identification of areas associated with these traits. This article aims to develop a novel approach to the lifetime evaluation of cattle by 3-D visualization of economic-biological and genetic features. The purpose of this study was to identify significant variants underlying differences in the qualitative characteristics of meat, using imputed data on the sequence of the entire genome. Samples of biomaterial of young Aberdeen-Angus breed cattle (n = 96) were the material for carrying out genome-wide SNP genotyping. Genotyping was performed using a high-density DNA chip Bovine GPU HD BeadChip (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA), containing ~150 thousand SNPs. The following indicators were selected as phenotypic features: chest width and chest girth retrieved by 3-D model and meat output on the bones. Correlation analysis showed a reliable positive relationship between chest width and meat output on the bones, which can potentially be used for lifetime evaluation of meat productivity of animals.

In this paper, we estimate the accuracy of 3D object reconstruction using multiple Kinect sensors. First, we discuss the calibration of multiple Kinect sensors, and provide an analysis of the accuracy and resolution of the depth data. Next, the precision of coordinate mapping between sensors data for registration of depth and color images is evaluated. We test a proposed system for 3D object reconstruction with four Kinect V2 sensors and present reconstruction accuracy results. Experiments and computer simulation are carried out using Matlab and Kinect V2.