2T-UNET: A Two-Tower UNet with Depth Clues for Robust Stereo Depth Estimation

Stereo correspondence matching is an essential part of the multi-step stereo depth estimation process. This paper revisits the depth estimation problem, avoiding the explicit stereo matching step using a simple two-tower convolutional neural network. The proposed algorithm is entitled as 2T-UNet. The idea behind 2T-UNet is to replace cost volume construction with twin convolution towers. These towers have an allowance for different weights between them. Additionally, the input for twin encoders in 2T-UNet are different compared to the existing stereo methods. Generally, a stereo network takes a right and left image pair as input to determine the scene geometry. However, in the 2T-UNet model, the right stereo image is taken as one input and the left stereo image along with its monocular depth clue information, is taken as the other input. Depth clues provide complementary suggestions that help enhance the quality of predicted scene geometry. The 2T-UNet surpasses state-of-the-art monocular and stereo depth estimation methods on the challenging Scene flow dataset, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The architecture performs incredibly well on complex natural scenes, highlighting its usefulness for various real-time applications. Pretrained weights and code will be made readily available

Branching through sustainable supply chain management theories: the tree perspective

Alongside Sustainability’s emergence as a pressing issue for discussion, it is concerning that there exists no unanimity pertaining to its definition and underpinning principles. Especially with it being addressed from various organizational functions, research disciplines and theoretical lenses. Building on the research gap realized through a Systematic Literature Network Analysis (SLNA) of the theoretical utilization of research within the SSCM domain, accompanied with the text mining of top organizations’ sustainability reports, the most influential theories to Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) are identified and their interrelationships and interactions presented in a tree model setting the precedent for future research

Extraction and characterization of oil from seeds of the medicinal plant Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal (Doda paneer)

Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal commonly known as Doda panner/ Indian Rennet is a well-known medicinal plant but remains underutilized mainly due to scarce distribution in nature and extremely poor germination rate. In the present study oil was extracted from seeds of Withania coagulans which was subsequently subjected to FTIR and GC-MS analysis to identify phytochemical components of extracted oil. FTIR analysis revealed presence of diverse group of compounds including alcohols, alkane, alkene, aldehyde, ketone and halo compounds. GC-MS analysis depicted presence of 49 phytoconstituents in the oil extracted from seeds of W. coagulans. among which hexanoic acid, n-hexadecenoic acid, Vitamin E, gamma-Tocopherol, squalene, fucosterol, 2-Pyrrolidinone, 1-methyl, octadecanoic acid represent major phytoconstituents identified. Several compounds identified to be present in extracted oil have been reported to possess one or more pharmacological activity. Hence, the study suggests validation of plant oil to be utilized as ingredient of different pharmacological, cosmetic and other food products

A seven year experience in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for benign diseases in a single unit of tertiary care centre: a retrospective case study

Background: Thyroidectomy is a common surgical procedure performed worldwide by surgeons with varied training. It is the experience and the skills by which a surgeon performs, the indication of surgery and the extent of surgery which determines the outcome and the complication rates.Method: This study is a retrospective study performed from January 2012 to December 2018 when a total of 170 patients underwent total thyroidectomy via kocher’s incision for benign diseases with clinically in hypothyroid state at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi in a single unit of a tertiary care hospital.Results: The male: female ratio was 1:7.09 with average age of patients being 40years. The overall complication rate was 18.82% (32 patients). Postoperative transient hypocalcaemia being the most common complication. There was no case of permanent hypocalcaemia. There was no injury to any nerve (recurrent or superior laryngeal). Transient recurrent laryngeal paresis was noted in 4(2.35%) which resolved with conservative management. Complications like wound infection, sympathetic chain injury were not noted. The characteristic feature of this study was five cases of giant secondary retrosternal goitre which had average weight of greater than 500 grams which were operated using kocher’s incision. The average weight of other 165 patients was 70grams +/- 12 grams. There were no major post-operative complications except for post-operative recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis and seroma formation which was evacuated after 3 weeks of surgery.Conclusion: Hence, from this it is concluded that it is the surgical experience and skills of the surgeon which make total thyroidectomy a safe procedure providing permanent cure with a low post-operative morbidity risk even with large sized retrosternal thyroid glands which can be operated via neck incision

Compressed Natural Gas Operated Two-Wheeler

In this paper the results obtained on a 110cc two-wheeler S.I. engine using both petrol and CNG as fuel. Tests like Acceleration test, Emission test, Mileage test and Exhaust noise test were conducted at different operating condition. The basic petrol engine is converted into a bi-fuel engine and regulated by means of an electronically controlled Solenoid Actuated Valve system. On a comparative analysis CNG fuelled engine accelerated slower compared to petrol fuelled engine, but the CO and CO2 emissions were lesser indicated that CNG when used as fuel accelerates at a faster rate, the emission of hazardous gases is comparatively far lower than petrol, fuel consumption of CNG is less and it is economical. The noise test shows that the exhaust of CNG is louder as compared to petrol

Controlling intense, ultrashort, laser-driven relativistic mega-ampere electron fluxes by a modest, static magnetic field

The guiding and control of ultrahigh flux, femtosecond relativistic electron pulses through solid density matter is of great importance for many areas of high energy density science. Efforts so far include the use of magnetic fields generated by the propagation of the electron pulse itself or the application of hundreds of Tesla magnitudes, pulsed external magnetic fields driven by either short pulse lasers or electrical pulses. Here we experimentally demonstrate the guiding of hundreds of keV mega-ampere electron pulses in a magnetized neodymium solid that has a very modest, easily available static field of 0.1 tesla. The electron pulses driven by an ultrahigh intensity, 30 femtosecond laser are shown to propagate beam-like, a distance as large as 5 mm in a high Z target (neodymium), their collimation improved and flux density enhanced nearly by a factor of 3. Particle-in-cell simulations in the appropriate parameter regime match the experimental observations. In addition, the simulations predict the occurrence of a novel, near-monochromatic feature towards the high energy end of the electron energy spectrum, which is tunable by the applied magnetic field strength. These results may prove valuable for fast electron beam-driven radiation sources, fast ignition of laser fusion, and laboratory astrophysics.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure