TallyQA: Answering Complex Counting Questions

Most counting questions in visual question answering (VQA) datasets are simple and require no more than object detection. Here, we study algorithms for complex counting questions that involve relationships between objects, attribute identification, reasoning, and more. To do this, we created TallyQA, the world's largest dataset for open-ended counting. We propose a new algorithm for counting that uses relation networks with region proposals. Our method lets relation networks be efficiently used with high-resolution imagery. It yields state-of-the-art results compared to baseline and recent systems on both TallyQA and the HowMany-QA benchmark.Comment: To appear in AAAI 2019 ( To download the dataset please go to http://www.manojacharya.com/

Towards Multimodal Open-World Learning in Deep Neural Networks

Over the past decade, deep neural networks have enormously advanced machine perception, especially object classification, object detection, and multimodal scene understanding. But, a major limitation of these systems is that they assume a closed-world setting, i.e., the train and the test distribution match exactly. As a result, any input belonging to a category that the system has never seen during training will not be recognized as unknown. However, many real-world applications often need this capability. For example, self-driving cars operate in a dynamic world where the data can change over time due to changes in season, geographic location, sensor types, etc. Handling such changes requires building models with open-world learning capabilities. In open-world learning, the system needs to detect novel examples which are not seen during training and update the system with new knowledge, without retraining from scratch. In this dissertation, we address gaps in the open-world learning literature and develop methods that enable efficient multimodal open-world learning in deep neural networks

Biologically Active Saponin from Seeds of Allium Ampeloprasum

A novel oleanen type triterpenoid glycoside has been isolated from the butanolic extract of the seeds of Allium ampeloprasum. Its structure was elucidated as 3?O?{??D?glucopyranosyl?(1?6)?[??L?rhamnopyranosyl?(1?2)]???D?glucopyranosyl?(1?4)?[??D?glucopyranosyl?(1?2)]???D?xylopyranosyl}?2,16?dihydroxy?23,29?dihydroxymethylolean?11,13(18)?diene?28?oic acid on the basis of spectral evidences, i.e. FT?IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FAB?MS data. The isolated saponin was tested for its antimicrobial activity.  Significant results were obtained by evaluating the antibacterial activity by “Disc diffusion method” and antifungal activity by “Spore  dilution  method”.  Maximum  inhibition  was  recorded  in  gram  positive  bacterium? Streptococcus  pneumoniae,  while  complete  inhibition  on  the  growth  of  fungus?Alternaria alternata was observed at a concentration of  200  ?g/mL. The potency of the extract was quantitatively assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration values against selected bacteria.  The minimum inhibitory concentration values were in agreement with antibacterial results where minimum value was recorded to be 23 ?g/mL for Streptococcus pneumonia. Key Words: Allium ampeloprasum, Triterpenoid, Saponin, Antimicrobial activity

Production economics and resource use efficiency of tomato under open field condition in Kapilvastu, Nepal

A study was conducted in Kapilvastu district with an objective to analyze the production economics and resource use efficiency of tomato production under open field condition. Altogether ninety tomato growers were purposely selected for household survey. Primary data were collected using pre-tested interviews and focus group discussion with tomato farmers and stakeholders. Data was analyzed using SPSS and STATA, and socio-demographic characteristics, Cobb-Douglas production function and resource use efficiency of the tomato farmers was studied. The tomato production in the studied site was found to be a labor-intensive venture as cost incurred for labor was about 39 percent of the total cost with gross margin of NRs. 7255.10 per kattha and net profit of NRs. 5464.1 per kattha. Cobb-Douglas production function analysis showed positive and significant relationship of cost on labor, seed, farm yard manure, inorganic fertilizer and micronutrients and other associated expenses with the gross income. The returns to scale of 1.02 indicated increasing returns to scale whereas resource use efficiency values indicated all input resources were underutilized in tomato production

Green Inhibitors for Prevention of Metal and Alloys Corrosion: An Overview

Corrosion control of metal is of technical, economical, environmental and aesthetical importance. The use of inhibitor is the best way to prevent metal and alloys from corrosion. There is an intensive effort underway to develop new plant origin corrosion inhibitors for metal subjected to various environmental conditions. These efforts are motivated by the desire to replace toxic organic corrosion inhibitors used for mitigation of corrosion of various metals and alloys in solutions. Plants represent a class of interesting source of compounds currently being explored for use in metal corrosion protection in most systems, as possible replacement of toxic synthetic inhibitors. The green corrosion inhibitors are bio degradable, non-toxic, environmentally benign, and low cost, are obtained from renewable resources with minimal health and safety concerns. Investigations of corrosion inhibiting abilities of tannins, alkaloids, organic amino acids and organic dyes of plant origin are of interest. Development of computational modeling backed by wet results would help in understanding the mechanism of inhibition action, their adsorption patterns, inhibitor-metal surface interface and help in the development of designer inhibitor with an understanding of the time required for the release of self-healing inhibitors. The present paper restricts itself mainly to the plant materials as “Green Corrosion Inhibitor”. Keywords: Green Corrosion Inhibitor, Corrosion Inhibition, Plant Extracts

CellTree: A New Paradigm for Distributed Data Repositories

We present CellTree, a new architecture for distributed data repositories. The repository allows data to be stored in largely independent, and highly programmable cells, which are “assimilated” into a tree structure. The data in the cells are allowed to change over time, subject to each cell’s own policies; a cell’s policies also govern how the policies themselves can evolve. A design goal of the architecture is to let a CellTree evolve organically over time, and adapt itself to multiple applications. Different parts of the tree may be maintained by different sets of parties interested in the respective parts, and the core mechanisms used for maintaining the tree can also vary across the tree and over time. We present provable guarantees of liveness, correctness and consistency (the last one being a generalization of the typical blockchain guarantee of “persistence,” when data is dynamic), when the CellTree architecture is instantiated using a simple set of modules. These properties can be guaranteed for individual cells that satisfy requisite trust assumptions, even if these trust assumptions do not hold for other cells in the tree. We also discuss several features of a CellTree that can be exploited by applications. We leave it for future work to develop full-fledged applications on top of this powerful architecture

Grain Yield Stability of Rice Genotypes

Stability analysis identifies the adaptation of a crop genotype in different environments. The objective of this study was to evaluate promising rice genotypes for yield stability at different mid-hill environments of Nepal. The multilocation trials were conducted in 2017 and 2018 at three locations viz Lumle, Kaski; Pakhribas, Dhankuta; and Kabre, Dolakha. Seven rice genotypes namely NR11115-B-B-31-3, NR11139-B-B-B-13-3, NR10676-B-5-3, NR11011-B-B-B-B-29, NR11105-B-B-27, 08FAN10, and Khumal-4 were evaluated in each location. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The rice genotype NR10676-B-5-3 produced the highest grain yield (6.72 t/ha) among all genotypes. The growing environmental factors (climate and soil conditions) affect the grain yield performance of rice genotypes. The variation in climatic factors greatly contributed to the variation in grain yield. Polygon view of genotypic main effect plus genotype-by-environment interaction (GGE) biplot showed that the genotypes NR10676-B-53 and NR11105-B-B-27 were suitable for Lumle; NR11115-B-B-31-3 and NR11139-B-B-B-13-3 for Pakhribas; and 08FAN10 and NR11011-B-B-B-B-29 for Kabre. The GGE biplot showed that genotype NR10676-B-5-3 was stable hence it was near to the point of ideal genotype. This study suggests that NR10676-B-5-3 can be grown for higher grain yield production in mid-hills of Nepal