CoMaL Tracking: Tracking Points at the Object Boundaries

Traditional point tracking algorithms such as the KLT use local 2D information aggregation for feature detection and tracking, due to which their performance degrades at the object boundaries that separate multiple objects. Recently, CoMaL Features have been proposed that handle such a case. However, they proposed a simple tracking framework where the points are re-detected in each frame and matched. This is inefficient and may also lose many points that are not re-detected in the next frame. We propose a novel tracking algorithm to accurately and efficiently track CoMaL points. For this, the level line segment associated with the CoMaL points is matched to MSER segments in the next frame using shape-based matching and the matches are further filtered using texture-based matching. Experiments show improvements over a simple re-detect-and-match framework as well as KLT in terms of speed/accuracy on different real-world applications, especially at the object boundaries.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, to appear in 1st Joint BMTT-PETS Workshop on Tracking and Surveillance, CVPR 201

An Empirical Evaluation of Visual Question Answering for Novel Objects

We study the problem of answering questions about images in the harder setting, where the test questions and corresponding images contain novel objects, which were not queried about in the training data. Such setting is inevitable in real world-owing to the heavy tailed distribution of the visual categories, there would be some objects which would not be annotated in the train set. We show that the performance of two popular existing methods drop significantly (up to 28%) when evaluated on novel objects cf. known objects. We propose methods which use large existing external corpora of (i) unlabeled text, i.e. books, and (ii) images tagged with classes, to achieve novel object based visual question answering. We do systematic empirical studies, for both an oracle case where the novel objects are known textually, as well as a fully automatic case without any explicit knowledge of the novel objects, but with the minimal assumption that the novel objects are semantically related to the existing objects in training. The proposed methods for novel object based visual question answering are modular and can potentially be used with many visual question answering architectures. We show consistent improvements with the two popular architectures and give qualitative analysis of the cases where the model does well and of those where it fails to bring improvements.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted in CVPR 2017 (poster

A Domain-Agnostic Approach for Characterization of Lifelong Learning Systems

Despite the advancement of machine learning techniques in recent years, state-of-the-art systems lack robustness to "real world" events, where the input distributions and tasks encountered by the deployed systems will not be limited to the original training context, and systems will instead need to adapt to novel distributions and tasks while deployed. This critical gap may be addressed through the development of "Lifelong Learning" systems that are capable of 1) Continuous Learning, 2) Transfer and Adaptation, and 3) Scalability. Unfortunately, efforts to improve these capabilities are typically treated as distinct areas of research that are assessed independently, without regard to the impact of each separate capability on other aspects of the system. We instead propose a holistic approach, using a suite of metrics and an evaluation framework to assess Lifelong Learning in a principled way that is agnostic to specific domains or system techniques. Through five case studies, we show that this suite of metrics can inform the development of varied and complex Lifelong Learning systems. We highlight how the proposed suite of metrics quantifies performance trade-offs present during Lifelong Learning system development - both the widely discussed Stability-Plasticity dilemma and the newly proposed relationship between Sample Efficient and Robust Learning. Further, we make recommendations for the formulation and use of metrics to guide the continuing development of Lifelong Learning systems and assess their progress in the future.Comment: To appear in Neural Network

Progressive hemorrhage and myotoxicity induced by echis carinatus venom in murine model: neutralization by inhibitor cocktail of n,n,n `,n `-tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl) ethane-1,2-diamine and silymarin

Viperbite is often associated with severe local toxicity, including progressive hemorrhage and myotoxicity, persistent even after the administration of anti-snake venom (ASV). In the recent past, investigations have revealed the orchestrated actions of Zn2+ metalloproteases (Zn(2+)MPs), phospholipase A(2)s (PLA(2)s) and hyaluronidases (HYs) in the onset and progression of local toxicity from the bitten site. As a consequence, venom researchers and medical practitioners are in deliberate quest of potent molecules alongside ASV to tackle the brutal local manifestations induced by aforesaid venom toxins. Based on these facts, we have demonstrated the protective efficacy of inhibitor cocktail containing equal ratios of N,N,N', N'-tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl) ethane-1,2-diamine (TPEN) and silymarin (SLN) against progressive local toxicity induced by Echis carinatus venom (ECV). In our previous study we have shown the inhibitory potentials of TPEN towards Zn(2+)MPs of ECV (IC50: 6.7 mu M). In this study we have evaluated in vitro inhibitory potentials of SLN towards PLA(2)s (IC50: 12.5 mu M) and HYs (IC50: 8 mu M) of ECV in addition to docking studies. Further, we have demonstrated the protection of ECV induced local toxicity with 10 mM inhibitor cocktail following 15, 30 min (for hemorrhage and myotoxicity); 60 min (for hemorrhage alone) of ECV injection in murine model. The histological examination of skin and thigh muscle sections taken out from the site of ECV injection substantiated the overall protection offered by inhibitor cocktail. In conclusion, the protective efficacy of inhibitor cocktail is of high interest and can be administered locally alongside ASV to treat severe local toxicity

The trans opening of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid bis anhydride (EDTAA) with cystine-di-OMe: one-step synthesis of bihelical systems

The generation of a bihelical (figure of 8) motif has been illustrated by trans opening of EDTAA with l-cystine-di-OMe and d-penicillamine disulfide-di-OMe. In the former case the open cyclic system, arising by cis addition, was secured as a minor product