Towards a reliable face recognition system.

Face Recognition (FR) is an important area in computer vision with many applications such as security and automated border controls. The recent advancements in this domain have pushed the performance of models to human-level accuracy. However, the varying conditions in the real-world expose more challenges for their adoption. In this paper, we investigate the performance of these models. We analyze the performance of a cross-section of face detection and recognition models. Experiments were carried out without any preprocessing on three state-of-the-art face detection methods namely HOG, YOLO and MTCNN, and three recognition models namely, VGGface2, FaceNet and Arcface. Our results indicated that there is a significant reliance by these methods on preprocessing for optimum performance

Few-shot Classifier GAN

Fine-grained image classification with a few-shot classifier is a highly challenging open problem at the core of a numerous data labeling applications. In this paper, we present Few-shot Classifier Generative Adversarial Network as an approach for few-shot classification. We address the problem of few-shot classification by designing a GAN in which the discriminator and the generator compete to output labeled data in any case. In contrast to previous methods, our techniques generate then classify images into multiple fake or real classes. A key innovation of our adversarial approach is to allow fine-grained classification using multiple fake classes with semi-supervised deep learning. A major strength of our techniques lies in its label-agnostic characteristic, in the sense that the system handles both labeled and unlabeled data during training. We validate quantitatively our few-shot classifier on the MNIST and SVHN datasets by varying the ratio of labeled data over unlabeled data in the training set. Our quantitative analysis demonstrates that our techniques produce better classification performance when using multiple fake classes and larger amount of unlabelled data

Rapid Diagnostic Algorithms as a Screening Tool for Tuberculosis: An Assessor Blinded Cross-Sectional Study

Background: A major obstacle to effectively treat and control tuberculosis is the absence of an accurate, rapid, and low-cost diagnostic tool. A new approach for the screening of patients for tuberculosis is the use of rapid diagnostic classification algorithms. Methods: We tested a previously published diagnostic algorithm based on four biomarkers as a screening tool for tuberculosis in a Central European patient population using an assessor-blinded cross-sectional study design. In addition, we developed an improved diagnostic classification algorithm based on a study population at a tertiary hospital in Vienna, Austria, by supervised computational statistics. Results: The diagnostic accuracy of the previously published diagnostic algorithm for our patient population consisting of 206 patients was 54% (CI: 47%–61%). An improved model was constructed using inflammation parameters and clinical information. A diagnostic accuracy of 86% (CI: 80%–90%) was demonstrated by 10-fold cross validation. An alternative model relying solely on clinical parameters exhibited a diagnostic accuracy of 85% (CI: 79%–89%). Conclusion: Here we show that a rapid diagnostic algorithm based on clinical parameters is only slightly improved by inclusion of inflammation markers in our cohort. Our results also emphasize the need for validation of new diagnostic algorithms in different settings and patient populations

Symbols in engineering drawings (SiED): an imbalanced dataset benchmarked by convolutional neural networks.

Engineering drawings are common across different domains such as Oil & Gas, construction, mechanical and other domains. Automatic processing and analysis of these drawings is a challenging task. This is partly due to the complexity of these documents and also due to the lack of dataset availability in the public domain that can help push the research in this area. In this paper, we present a multiclass imbalanced dataset for the research community made of 2432 instances of engineering symbols. These symbols were extracted from a collection of complex engineering drawings known as Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID). By providing such dataset to the research community, we anticipate that this will help attract more attention to an important, yet overlooked industrial problem, and will also advance the research in such important and timely topics. We discuss the datasets characteristics in details, and we also show how Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) perform on such extremely imbalanced datasets. Finally, conclusions and future directions are discussed