Question Part Relevance and Editing for Cooperative and Context-Aware VQA (C2VQA)

I attended the CBMI 2017 (Content-Based Multimedia Indexing) conference in Florence, Italy this past June and presented our paper on a new method for understanding the relevance and editing of questions in VQA. The paper is entitled Question Part Relevance and Editing for Cooperative and Context-Aware VQA (C2VQA) and we received a number of insightful questions and some excellent feedback.

The paper can be found here:

https://doi.org/10.1145/3095713.3095718

Biometrics and forensics integration using deep multi-modal semantic alignment and joint embedding

My advisor (Dr. Harry Wechsler) and I just published a paper entitled "Biometrics and forensics integration using deep multi-modal semantic alignment and joint embedding" in Pattern Recognition Letters. In the paper, we show some results about multi-modal (text / image) models and their application as a source of biometric information that is useful for forensic investigations.

The paper can be found here:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167865517300430

A multi-scale approach to data-driven mass migration analysis

Here is a link to the proceedings for the Workshop on Data Science for Social Good (SoGood 2016), containing a paper for which I was one of the authors: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rey5462zl2m67by/proceedings_SoGood16.pdf?dl=0

The paper was entitled "A multi-scale approach to data-driven mass migration analysis".

Abstract:
A system for scenario analysis and forecasting of mass migration is presented. The system consists of a family of multi-scale models to address the need of responding agencies for better situational awareness, short and medium-term forecasts of migration patterns, and assess impact of changes on the ground. Such insights allow for better planning and resource allocations to address migrant needs. The analytical frame-work consists of three separate models (a) a global push-pull model to estimate macro-patterns, (b) a time-series prediction model for estimating future boundary conditions of crisis regions, and (c) a detailed network
ow model that models population diffusion within the crisis region and allows  for  scenario  modeling.  The  paper  presents  the  framework  using the European refugee crisis as a case study. In addition, overall system design, practical considerations, end-user applications, and limitations of the modeling approach are discussed.

Error using PHP exec in MAMP in OSX (El Capitan)

Problem:

• I ran into an error trying to execute a system command in PHP 5.4.4 using exec, shell_exec, or system in MAMP. 
• Example error: “image not found for libcaffe”.
• This command executed fine from Terminal, but would not work within MAMP.  

• <?php
     $cmd = "some command here";   
     shell_exec($cmd);
  ?>

Diagnosis:

• The $PATH did not seem to be correct (compared to what I have in ~/.bash_profile.), so MAMP must not be setting it up correctly

• <?php shell_exec("echo $PATH"); ?>
  

Solution:

• Stop MAMP
• Copy unused environment variables file

• cp /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/envvars_ /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/envvars
  

• Edit environment variables file

• vi /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/envvars
  

• Add the following line: 

• ~/.bash_profile
  

• Start MAMP