Transformer Network for Multi-Person Tracking and Re-Identification in Unconstrained Environment

Multi-object tracking (MOT) has profound applications in a variety of fields, including surveillance, sports analytics, self-driving, and cooperative robotics. Despite considerable advancements, existing MOT methodologies tend to falter when faced with non-uniform movements, occlusions, and appearance-reappearance scenarios of the objects. Recognizing this inadequacy, we put forward an integrated MOT method that not only marries object detection and identity linkage within a singular, end-to-end trainable framework but also equips the model with the ability to maintain object identity links over long periods of time. Our proposed model, named STMMOT, is built around four key modules: 1) candidate proposal generation, which generates object proposals via a vision-transformer encoder-decoder architecture that detects the object from each frame in the video; 2) scale variant pyramid, a progressive pyramid structure to learn the self-scale and cross-scale similarities in multi-scale feature maps; 3) spatio-temporal memory encoder, extracting the essential information from the memory associated with each object under tracking; and 4) spatio-temporal memory decoder, simultaneously resolving the tasks of object detection and identity association for MOT. Our system leverages a robust spatio-temporal memory module that retains extensive historical observations and effectively encodes them using an attention-based aggregator. The uniqueness of STMMOT lies in representing objects as dynamic query embeddings that are updated continuously, which enables the prediction of object states with attention mechanisms and eradicates the need for post-processing

Surgical Outcome & Cost Analysis of Single Stage Anterior Decompression and Cage Fixation in Patients with Thoracic and Lumbar Tuberculous Spondylitis: A Single Centre Experience Over Six – Years with Comprehensive Literature Review

Objective:  For Tuberculous spondylitis (TS) the optimal mode of management for extensive tuberculous spondylitis is still a subject of debate. We determined the outcome for single stage anterior decompression and cage fixation for dorso-lumbar TS. Material and Methods:  This prospective study was conducted between 2012 and 2018. Worsening or new onset neurological deficit, increasing deformity, large paraspinal abscess and those not responding to anti-tuberculous drug therapy were included. Patients with severe comorbidities (> ASA class III) and recurrent cases were excluded. Demographics, clinical features, radiological characteristics, intraoperative details, postoperative complications and follow-up condition were recorded. Results:  One patient with mean age of 45.6 ± 14.9 years with 17 (54.8%) males and 14 (45.2%) females. Mean symptoms duration was 71.9 ± 29.4 days. 41.9% had spasticity & 25.8% had sphincter dysfunction on presentation. Half (48%) of patients had a Frankel grade 3 or less bilaterally. Mean length of the procedure was 137.4 ± 19.9 minutes. 19.4% (n = 6) had postoperative pulmonary complications, 16.1% (n = 5) wound infection, 9.7% (n = 3) had worsening of neurologic deficit and one (3.2%) remained static. Graft extrusion and cage subsidence were noted in one (3.2%) patient each. Favorable outcome was observed in 83.9% (n = 26) while 16.1% (n = 5) had unfavorable outcome. Mean out-of-pocket cost was 164677.4 ± 11469.9 rupees (USD: 1187 approx). Conclusion:  Timely spinal decompression with stabilization at the onset of the Pott’s disease in patients who fulfil the criteria as surgical candidates carries a promising outcome

Early Postoperative Complications Following Myelomeningocele Repair

Introduction: Neural tube defects are one of the most common congenital anomalies which frequently needs operative intervention for the anomaly correction. Complications can arise in these paediatric patients peri-operatively which require special considerations.Materials and Methods: After taking informed consent patient data was gathered in pre-designed pro-forma. After MMC repair patients were followed till the time of discharge and up to 1 month afterwards and record made of any early postoperative complications. Data was gathered about patient demographics along with postoperative recovery variables. Analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 20.0. Data was presented using graphs, charts and figures.Results: 197 patients were included in the study with 54.31% males and 45.69% females with mean age of 71.4 days ± 61.9 SD. 68.5% patients developed at least some form of complication. The most common postoperative complication was hydrocephalous (57.4%) which was followed by postoperative fever (27.4%). VP shunt was inserted in 50.3% patients. There was no significant association between age or gender to the occurrence of complications (p = 0.85 and 0.47 respectively).Conclusion: Since majority of infants die within the early postoperative period we should be vigilant regarding developments of these complications and minimising them. By documenting the early postoperative compli-cations, the surgical teams can improve their outcome

Diethyl 5-acetamido-3-methyl­thio­phene-2,4-dicarboxyl­ate

The title compound, C13H17NO5S, is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation for the non-H atoms = 0.055 Å). Its conformation is stabilized by N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which both generate S(6) rings. The crystal packing only features van der Waals contacts

Rising atmospheric temperature impact on wheat and thermotolerance strategies

Temperature across the globe is increasing continuously at the rate of 0.15–0.17 °C per decade since the industrial revolution. It is influencing agricultural crop productivity. Therefore, thermotolerance strategies are needed to have sustainability in crop yield under higher temperature. However, improving thermotolerance in the crop is a challenging task for crop scientists. Therefore, this review work was conducted with the aim of providing information on the wheat response in three research areas, i.e., physiology, breeding, and advances in genetics, which could assist the researchers in improving thermotolerance. The optimum temperature for wheat growth at the heading, anthesis, and grain filling duration is 16 ± 2.3 °C, 23 ± 1.75 °C, and 26 ± 1.53 °C, respectively. The high temperature adversely influences the crop phenology, growth, and development. The pre-anthesis high temperature retards the pollen viability, seed formation, and embryo development. The post-anthesis high temperature declines the starch granules accumulation, stem reserve carbohydrates, and translocation of photosynthates into grains. A high temperature above 40 °C inhibits the photosynthesis by damaging the photosystem-II, electron transport chain, and photosystem-I. Our review work highlighted that genotypes which can maintain a higher accumulation of proline, glycine betaine, expression of heat shock proteins, stay green and antioxidant enzymes activity viz., catalase, peroxidase, super oxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase can tolerate high temperature efficiently through sustaining cellular physiology. Similarly, the pre-anthesis acclimation with heat treatment, inorganic fertilizer such as nitrogen, potassium nitrate and potassium chloride, mulches with rice husk, early sowing, presoaking of a 6.6 mM solution of thiourea, foliar application of 50 ppm dithiothreitol, 10 mg per kg of silicon at heading and zinc ameliorate the crop against the high temperature. Finally, it has been suggested that modern genomics and omics techniques should be used to develop thermotolerance in wheat.Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan | Ref. 1a55b19f0b99ca1

Incidence & Management of Delayed Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks after Lumbar Spinal Surgery-Analysis of 10 Cases

Objectives: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks in degenerative lumbar spine surgery are common, however, delayed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks are quite rare in neurosurgical practice. Literature regarding its incidence and management is scant.Our aim was to describe the incidence & management of delayed CSF leaks after degenerative lumbar spine surgery. Material & Methods: This was a prospective study where all patients operated for lumbar disc or stenosis, who presented with the delayed CSF leak (> 1 week postoperatively) without intraoperative record of incidental durotomy were included. Data was collected about demographics, diagnosis, operative detail, postoperative course & management issues. Results: Ten out of 1128 patients developed delayed CSF leaks (0.89%). Mean age at the time of diagnosis was 52.1 ± 6.9 years with 6 (60%) males & 4 (40%) female. The most common spinal level was L5-S1 (50%). Eighty percent (n = 8) patients underwent primary surgery while 20% (n = 2) were revisions. Clinical features were headaches (80%), dizziness (70%) and altered sensorium in 20%. Mean time of the leak was 17.3 ± 2.2 days. Two patients resolved with bed rest and compression dressing while the lumbar drain was placed in 80%. Three (30%) patients of the 8 needed open repair of the dural defect. Complications of the CSF leak included wound infection in 60%, and meningitis in one (10%) patient. There were no cases of neurologic deficit. One case eventually developed infective discitis

Effect of Phosphorus on Root Signaling of Wheat under Different Water Regimes

Phosphorus (P) is one of the most vital nutrient needed for crop production. Phosphorus plays an important role in root growth and builds resistance against abiotic stresses. In the current study two wheat cultivars (phosphorus responsive) were planted to study the treatment effects in polythene bags. The treatments were 5 different levels of P (P0 = 0.2 g/bag, P60 = 0.4 g/bag, P80 = 0.53 g/bag, P100 = 0.66 g/bag and P120 = 0.8 g/bag) and three water regimes. The data regarding root length, shoot length, root-shoot ratio and yield parameters were collected and analyzed. Among both the genotypes, NARC-2009 performed well compared to Sehar-06. The highest dry matter and yield were obtained under P100 compared to other treatments. With the increased phosphorus root and shoot length increased linearly up-to P100 while afterward it starts decreasing. The results lead to conclusion that optimum dose of phosphorus could be used to increase root growth and establishment under water stress

Surgical Management of Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Background: To study the management patternof soft tissue sarcomas in a tertiary care settingMethods: In this descriptive study patients whowere operated for soft tissue masses were included.Intra-operative findings, procedure details andpostoperative orders were recorded. Postoperativechemo-radiotherapy records were reviewed andrecorded. Depth of the tumour was grouped asdeeper or superficial than 5 cm. The follow uprecords were accessed from the outpatientdepartment and any surgical complications wererecorded up to three years.Staging was done usingclinical and radiological criteria taking into accountthe histological grade,tumour size , depth, locallymph node invasion and metastasis.Surgicalprocedure for removal of STS are wide local excision(WLE), intralesional excision (IE) or tumordebulking, marginal excision (ME) and radicalexcision (RE).Results: Sixty eight patients with mean age of 43.0± 17.258 SD were diagnosed as cases of soft tissuesarcomas. Male to female ratio was 3.25:1.The mostcommon histopathological variety was malignantfibrous histiocytoma (35.3%) , followed byRhabdomyosarcoma(30%). Most common involvedsite was lower limbs (35.3%).Wide local excision wasperformed in majority (82.4%) . Most commonpostop complication was wound infection (10.3%)Conclusion: Clinicians must be agile about thenature of these tumours and their referral to aspecialist surgeon for further management. Promptdiagnosis, accurate investigations and earlyintervention will benefit the patients and help usunderstand this disease entity

Role of Intermittent Self Catheterization after Cauda Equina Syndrome Surgery.

Background: To determine the effectiveness andsafety of intermittent self catheterization in caudaequina patients who have lost the bladder control.Methods : In this prospective study patients withsymptoms and signs of cauda equina syndrome, dueto lumbar disc herniation confirmed by relevantMRI ,were included. Emergency surgery wasperformed and post operatively these patients weretaught the technique of intermittent selfcatheterization. After full aseptic measures patientswere asked to sit on the chair and identify themeatus. Catheter was slowly inserted into thebladder,uptil the urine output was obtained.Pressure on the lower abdomen was applied to helpin emptying the bladder. Nelton catheter wasremoved and was kept in a bottle of clean water.After couple of attempts patients learnt to pass thecatheter. Patient was asked and helped to do thisactivity 3 to 4 times a day. The patient wasdischarged from the hospital only when he/she wasconfident enough to catheterize himself/herself.Initially patients were kept on biweekly follow upand later on monthly basis.Results : Majority (86%) continued to undergointermittent self catheterization, but 14% , elderlypatients, experienced insertion difficulty anddiscontinued intermittent self catheterization. Tenpatients (24%) had bacteriuria during the procedure.Epididymitis was seen in 2%. There were no urethralcomplications suggesting that the self-lubricatingNelton catheters are safe and less traumatic.Conclusion: Intermittent self catheterization is asafe, effective treatment and is associated withimproved quality of life in cauda equina syndromepatients