Multimodal Data Augmentation for Visual-Infrared Person ReID with Corrupted Data

The re-identification (ReID) of individuals over a complex network of cameras is a challenging task, especially under real-world surveillance conditions. Several deep learning models have been proposed for visible-infrared (V-I) person ReID to recognize individuals from images captured using RGB and IR cameras. However, performance may decline considerably if RGB and IR images captured at test time are corrupted (e.g., noise, blur, and weather conditions). Although various data augmentation (DA) methods have been explored to improve the generalization capacity, these are not adapted for V-I person ReID. In this paper, a specialized DA strategy is proposed to address this multimodal setting. Given both the V and I modalities, this strategy allows to diminish the impact of corruption on the accuracy of deep person ReID models. Corruption may be modality-specific, and an additional modality often provides complementary information. Our multimodal DA strategy is designed specifically to encourage modality collaboration and reinforce generalization capability. For instance, punctual masking of modalities forces the model to select the informative modality. Local DA is also explored for advanced selection of features within and among modalities. The impact of training baseline fusion models for V-I person ReID using the proposed multimodal DA strategy is assessed on corrupted versions of the SYSU-MM01, RegDB, and ThermalWORLD datasets in terms of complexity and efficiency. Results indicate that using our strategy provides V-I ReID models the ability to exploit both shared and individual modality knowledge so they can outperform models trained with no or unimodal DA. GitHub code: https://github.com/art2611/ML-MDA.Comment: 8 pages of main content, 2 pages of references, 2 pages of supplementary material, 3 figures, WACV 2023 RWS workshop

Visible-Infrared Person Re-Identification Using Privileged Intermediate Information

Visible-infrared person re-identification (ReID) aims to recognize a same person of interest across a network of RGB and IR cameras. Some deep learning (DL) models have directly incorporated both modalities to discriminate persons in a joint representation space. However, this cross-modal ReID problem remains challenging due to the large domain shift in data distributions between RGB and IR modalities. % This paper introduces a novel approach for a creating intermediate virtual domain that acts as bridges between the two main domains (i.e., RGB and IR modalities) during training. This intermediate domain is considered as privileged information (PI) that is unavailable at test time, and allows formulating this cross-modal matching task as a problem in learning under privileged information (LUPI). We devised a new method to generate images between visible and infrared domains that provide additional information to train a deep ReID model through an intermediate domain adaptation. In particular, by employing color-free and multi-step triplet loss objectives during training, our method provides common feature representation spaces that are robust to large visible-infrared domain shifts. % Experimental results on challenging visible-infrared ReID datasets indicate that our proposed approach consistently improves matching accuracy, without any computational overhead at test time. The code is available at: \href{https://github.com/alehdaghi/Cross-Modal-Re-ID-via-LUPI}{https://github.com/alehdaghi/Cross-Modal-Re-ID-via-LUPI

Social Production and Consumption of Space: A Lefebvrian Analysis of the Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest pilgrimage gathering on the shores of the River Ganges. Drawing on Lefebvre’s (1991) trialectics of space framework, this paper interrogates the spatial dynamics of the Kumbh Mela through the spatial meanings espoused by local and international pilgrims. Accounting for dominant discourses that frame the event as occurring in and around a sacred waterscape, five focus groups with pilgrims were conducted at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India. The findings indicate that local pilgrims were aware of river pollution, but they used discursive strategies to decouple this material fact from their lived spiritual experiences; from this vantage point the sacred was believed to be insulated from the secular. International pilgrims’ perceptions significantly differed, from those of their local counterparts, in that the sacred waterscape was seen as polluted and the onus was on them to remedy what they believed locals had neglected to do; for this group cleaning the River was a sacred act. The findings indicate that despite the existence of dominant spatial conceptualisations of a sacred waterscape, through use of the space, new and often competing spatial meanings arise that illuminate our understanding of the human condition and the social relations therewithin

Individual differences in meditation interventions: A meta-analytic study

OBJECTIVES: Meditation interventions typically show small to moderate effects on health and well‐being, but we know little about how these effects vary across individuals. This meta‐analytic study investigates the relationship between baseline participant characteristics and the outcomes of meditation. METHODS: A systematic search yielded 51 eligible studies with 7782 participants. A combination of subgroup analyses and meta‐regression based on the random‐effects model were used. RESULTS: We found that a higher baseline level of psychopathology or depression was associated with deterioration in mental health after a meditation intervention. On the other hand, participants with higher scores on interpersonal variables, motivation, medical conditions, and mindfulness showed higher levels of positive meditation outcomes. Higher well‐being and stress were simultaneously associated with moderate increases in negative and positive meditation outcomes. Participant demographics, psychological traits, self‐concept, and length of meditation practice did not significantly influence the response to meditation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found that meditation interventions affect participants differently, and identified some of the individual characteristics that should be considered when using meditation interventions

Habitat preferences depend on substrate quality in a cooperative breeder

© 2018 Dario Josi. Background: The evolution of complex social organization is mediated by diverse environmental constraints, including predation risk and the availability and distribution of food resources, mating partners, and breeding habitats. The cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher inhabits highly distinct habitats ranging from sheer rock faces to gastropod shells, rubble and sandy bottoms with dispersed stones. Physical habitat characteristics influence predator abundance and consequently the social system and reproductive performance of this species. Under natural conditions, habitat preferences should facilitate optimization of territorial position within a colony. Question: When given the choice, does N. pulcher have a preference for environments differing in structural complexity and the presence of sand? Method: We created breeding groups consisting of a dominant pair and two subordinates. We manipulated structural complexity (low vs. high stone cover) and sandy environments (present vs. absent). We measured habitat preference using a four-factorial design with binary choice options. Predictions: We predicted that groups prefer to settle in a highly structured environment that provides many places to hide from potential predators. We further predicted a preference for a sandy bottom, especially in environments with low structural complexity, because sand allows shelters to be dug out. Results and conclusion: Neolamprologus pulcher favoured more complex over less complex habitats, independently of the presence of sand. When fish faced low structural complexity in both experimental compartments, the presence of sand became a critical factor. Choosing appropriate habitats may help to reduce predation risk

Budidaya Maggot Lalat BSF Sebagai Pakan Ternak, KKN-Reguler Desa Bone-Bone Universitas Muhammadiyah Enrekang (UNIMEN)

Waste management in a number of areas in the country is still limited and is still a problem for the environment. One way to manage waste wisely is by using it as a medium for cultivating BSF fly maggots (black soldier flies). That's why the Regular Community Service Team at Muhammadiyah University, Enrekang, Bone-bone Village Command Post, Baraka District, Enrekang Regency is cultivating BSF fly maggots in Bone-bone village. The aim of this program is to empower Bone-bone village residents to manage organic waste by cultivating BSF fly maggots into animal feed. The implementation method is by conducting training and at the same time practicing with the local Bone-bone village community and making BSF fly cages directly. The result of this activity is that animal feed is produced in the form of BSF fly maggots and organic fertilizer in packaged form ready to be marketed. The evaluation results also show that there is positive enthusiasm from residents to carry out the same cultivation