Digital Fish Library

位于圣地亚哥的加州大学获得了一笔赠款，用于在斯克里普斯海洋研究所（SIO）的海洋脊椎动物收藏（MVC）中收集一个代表性样本，这是世界上同类收藏中最大和最全面的。它是许多科学家的重要研究资源，也具有作为教育资源的巨大潜力。然而，标本完整性的长期维持通常与标本使用相冲突（例如，解剖）和转移标本是昂贵的，并且涉及对标本的潜在风险。此外，MVC的可访问性必然受到限制，限制了教育用途的潜在范围。磁共振成像（MRI）的独特之处在于它能够无创地从软组织结构中获取高分辨率的三维（3D）数字数据。最近UCSD功能MRI中心（CFMRI）和SIO研究人员之间的合作表明，MRI可以有效地用于非侵入性可视化和量化鱼类的内部解剖结构，并可能提高MVC的研究和教育用途的有效性。在这个奖项数字鱼类图书馆（DFL）将开发，其中包括1。收集标本的高分辨率3D MRI图像，涵盖鱼类形态多样性的范围，特别强调MVC的优势; 2。开发一个公共DFL网站，用于MVC MRI数据的数据检索、可视化和定量分析，包括将数据与现有数据库和从其他方法收集的数据整合; 3.与斯克里普斯桦树水族馆（BAS）合作开发数字解剖工具（DDT），这是一个嵌入DFL网站的教育程序。针对高中理科学生，它使用来自MVC的MRI数据和DFL内的图像分析工具，并辅以DFL所涉及的基本科学领域的教育模块。该工具将在学术联系计划（ACP）中进行测试，ACP是通过UCSD运行的大学预科高中课程。该项目的成功完成将建立一个约1000个MVC标本的数字图书馆，供研究人员、学生和教育工作者在互联网上进行定量分析、可视化或生物信息学目的。此外，还将制作一个教育工具，适合高中以上学生学习鱼类解剖学、磁共振成像、生物信息学以及数字图像分析方法在海洋生物学中的应用。

The University of California at San Diego is awarded a grant to digitize a representative sample of the Marine Vertebrates Collection (MVC) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), among the largest and most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world. It is a significant research resource for many scientists and also holds great potential as an educational resource. However, long-term maintenance of specimen integrity is often in conflict with specimen usage (e.g., dissection) and transfer of specimens is costly and involves potential risk to specimens. Moreover, accessibility to the MVC is necessarily restricted, limiting the potential scope of educational uses. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unique in its ability to non-invasively acquire high-resolution 3- dimensional (3D) digital data from soft tissue structures. Recent collaborative work between the UCSD Center for Functional MRI (CFMRI) and researchers at SIO has shown that MRI can effectively be used to non-invasively visualize and quantify the internal anatomy of fishes, and can potentially increase the effectiveness of both the research and educational uses of the MVC. In this award Digital Fish Library (DFL) will be developed that includes 1. Collection of high-resolution 3D MRI images of specimens that cover the range of morphological diversity in fishes with special emphasis on the strengths of the MVC; 2. Development of a public DFL web site for data retrieval, visualization, and quantitative analysis of the MRI data from the MVC, including integration of the data with extant databases and with data collected from other methodologies; 3. Development, in collaboration with the Birch Aquarium at Scripps (BAS), of the Digital Dissection Tool (DDT), an educational program embedded within the DFL site. Aimed at high-school science students, it uses the MRI data from the MVC and the image analysis tools within the DFL, and is supplemented by educational modules on the basic scientific areas involved in the DFL. This tool will be tested in the Academic Connections Program (ACP), a college preparatory high school level curriculum run through UCSD. Successful completion of this project will establish a digital library of approximately 1000 MVC specimens available to researchers, students, and educators on the internet for quantitative analysis, visualization, or bioinformatics purposes. In addition, an educational tool will be produced that is appropriate for high school students and above for learning about fish anatomy, MRI, bioinformatics, and the application of digital image analysis methods to marine biology.