Multi Branch Siamese Network For Person Re-Identification

To capture robust person features, learning discriminative, style and view invariant descriptors is a key challenge in person Re-Identification (re-id). Most deep Re-ID models learn single scale feature representation which are unable to grasp compact and style invariant representations. In this paper, we present a multi branch Siamese Deep Neural Network with multiple classifiers to overcome the above issues. The multi-branch learning of the network creates a stronger descriptor with fine-grained information from global features of a person. Camera to camera image translation is performed with generative adversarial network to generate diverse data and add style invariance in learned features. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed method performs better than other state of the arts methods

A Deep Residual Star Generative Adversarial Network for multi-domain Image Super-Resolution

Recently, most of state-of-the-art single image super-resolution (SISR) methods have attained impressive performance by using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs). The existing SR methods have limited performance due to a fixed degradation settings, i.e. usually a bicubic downscaling of low-resolution (LR) image. However, in real-world settings, the LR degradation process is unknown which can be bicubic LR, bilinear LR, nearest-neighbor LR, or real LR. Therefore, most SR methods are ineffective and inefficient in handling more than one degradation settings within a single network. To handle the multiple degradation, i.e. refers to multi-domain image super-resolution, we propose a deep Super-Resolution Residual StarGAN (SR2*GAN), a novel and scalable approach that super-resolves the LR images for the multiple LR domains using only a single model. The proposed scheme is trained in a StarGAN like network topology with a single generator and discriminator networks. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach in quantitative and qualitative experiments compared to other state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 5 pages, 6th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies 2021. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2009.03693, arXiv:2005.0095

Empirical Analysis of Farmers Preferences and Willingness towards Organic Farming in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Background: Organic farming is an eco-friendly approach in the agricultural production system that ensures food safety, reduces health problems, promotes environmental conservation, and generates employment opportunities for local communities.Methods: The survey was conducted using a well-structured questionnaire that focused on the scope and potential of organic farming in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Pakistan. The data were collected from randomly selected 150 respondents in nine districts of GB between May and June (2019). This survey analyzed the factors influencing the willingness of farmers to pay attention to organic farming and evaluated the possibilities of espousal organic farming as an effective approach.Results: In general, mixed perceptions were revealed by the behavior and attitudes of the farmers, however, it is necessary to notice the intentions of the farmers for substitute methods to make organic farming feasible. Based on the survey, people were not reluctant to adopt organic farming to ensure better market value for their products. As a result, they will sustainably get a better livelihood.Conclusion: The current study is concluded that the espousal of organic farming could have a positive and noteworthy outcome on a farmer’s life in terms of profitability, compatibility, productivity, and sustainability in GB. There is a dire need for organic certification to increase the market value both at local and international levels.Keywords: Gilgit-Baltistan; Eco-friendly; Organic farming; Practices; Survey

Language Hybridization in Advertisements of Banks in Pakistan

The study investigates the Persuasive role of Urdu and English hybridization in Pakistani banks’ advertisements. In the current decade a rapid increase in the hybridized uses of languages has been observed in Pakistan in particular and the world in general. The rise of hybridized uses of languages necessitates the fact that this linguistic phenomenon requires to be explored in depth. Consequently, the current study explores language hybridization between Urdu and English in the advertisements of banks in Pakistan aiming to unpack its nature and the perception of bankers about this phenomenon. Data were collected by means of collection of hybridized phrases from the different banks’ pamphlets in district Mardan and serving a questionnaire to its 200 staff members. The descriptive and grammatical analysis of the data showed that the bankers tried to use hybridized language for a number of purposes including to ascertain surety, guarantee, legality and righteousness. The banks persuade their customers by using a hybrid language (English and Urdu) and thus effectively putting their message across. The hybrid phrases are mainly consisted of the grammatical categories of noun, adjective and adverb. Most of the words in the category of noun, adjective and adverb show ethnic, religious and cultural solidarity and empathy. They also ascertain legality, correctness, surety, safety and licitness. This study would have numerous implications for professionals in the bank sectors as well as for applied linguists

Language Hybridization in Advertisements of Banks in Pakistan

The study investigates the Persuasive role of Urdu and English hybridization in Pakistani banks’ advertisements. In the current decade a rapid increase in the hybridized uses of languages has been observed in Pakistan in particular and the world in general. The rise of hybridized uses of languages necessitates the fact that this linguistic phenomenon requires to be explored in depth. Consequently, the current study explores language hybridization between Urdu and English in the advertisements of banks in Pakistan aiming to unpack its nature and the perception of bankers about this phenomenon. Data were collected by means of collection of hybridized phrases from the different banks’ pamphlets in district Mardan and serving a questionnaire to its 200 staff members. The descriptive and grammatical analysis of the data showed that the bankers tried to use hybridized language for a number of purposes including to ascertain surety, guarantee, legality and righteousness. The banks persuade their customers by using a hybrid language (English and Urdu) and thus effectively putting their message across. The hybrid phrases are mainly consisted of the grammatical categories of noun, adjective and adverb. Most of the words in the category of noun, adjective and adverb show ethnic, religious and cultural solidarity and empathy. They also ascertain legality, correctness, surety, safety and licitness. This study would have numerous implications for professionals in the bank sectors as well as for applied linguists

The Impact of High Quality Relationship on Innovative Work Behavior of Employees through Psychological Wellbeing: A Case of Pharmaceutical Sector in Pakistan

The impact of qualities and experiences of high quality relationship is of great value to the companies and field of human resource. Pakistan is facing critical situation regarding qualities and experiences of relationship of employees. Innovative work behavior of employees has not been studied in developing countries like Pakistan. In order to assist the business in pharmaceutical sector this study is aimed at investigating the effect of experiences and qualities of high quality relationship on innovative work behavior of employees. Pharmaceutical sector was considered for this study as this sector has significant contribution in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan. This research was quantitative in nature in which data was collected from managerial and non-managerial employees of pharmaceutical sector. Total 310 questionnaires were completely filled and entered in SPSS for analysis. Correlation analysis was performed in SPSS to show relationship between the variables. Model was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS and goodness of fit indices were estimated using Hu and Bentler (2010) criteria and all the values were found to show good fit model. To test the mediation among variables through regression the SOBEL test was used as a supplemental test. All the direct and mediational hypotheses were accepted. The results reveal that the psychological wellbeing mediates the relationship between experiences, qualities of high quality relationship and innovative work behavior. Limitation of the study and managerial implications are also discussed along with guideline for future research

The Relationship between Knowledge Management Practices and Organizational Performance: Evidence from Banking Sector of Southern Punjab, Pakistan

The main objective of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between knowledge management practices and organizational performance in the banking sector of districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Target population of the study was all the employees providing customer services of all banks located in the districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. Simple random sampling was used to select an appropriate and truly representative sample. Sample size of this research was 306 and out of 306 questionnaires, 291 were useful for the purpose of this research and hence making our response rate 95%. The reliability of data was tested by Cronbach’s alpha and regression analysis was used for testing of hypotheses. All the hypotheses of the study were accepted which stated that information technology, organizational elements and knowledge have positive relationship with organizational performance and further this relationship was statistically significant. This study has been conducted in the banking industry which bars to generalize the results of this research to other business settings. The findings of this kind of study are possibly useful to decision making bodies within the Banking services and it is also helpful for the government policy makers to develop policies for the better operations of banking sector with the aim of growing banking industry. This study makes a contribution in knowledge management literature by empirically investigating the impact of knowledge management practices on organizational performance