Joint Classification and Regression for Visual Tracking with Fully Convolutional Siamese Networks

Visual tracking of generic objects is one of the fundamental but challenging problems in computer vision. Here, we propose a novel fully convolutional Siamese network to solve visual tracking by directly predicting the target bounding box in an end-to-end manner. We first reformulate the visual tracking task as two subproblems: a classification problem for pixel category prediction and a regression task for object status estimation at this pixel. With this decomposition, we design a simple yet effective Siamese architecture based classification and regression framework, termed SiamCAR, which consists of two subnetworks: a Siamese subnetwork for feature extraction and a classification-regression subnetwork for direct bounding box prediction. Since the proposed framework is both proposal- and anchor-free, SiamCAR can avoid the tedious hyper-parameter tuning of anchors, considerably simplifying the training. To demonstrate that a much simpler tracking framework can achieve superior tracking results, we conduct extensive experiments and comparisons with state-of-the-art trackers on a few challenging benchmarks. Without bells and whistles, SiamCAR achieves leading performance with a real-time speed. Furthermore, the ablation study validates that the proposed framework is effective with various backbone networks, and can benefit from deeper networks. Code is available at https://github.com/ohhhyeahhh/SiamCAR.

Tile drainage monitoring in agricultural fields with an unmanned aerial system

In Russia, the volume of restoration and maintenance work of drainage reclamation systems has significantly decreased, the number of trained reclamation specialists has decreased, most of the objects need reconstruction, and the documentation and schemes of pipes and channels of drainage systems have been lost. Accordingly, the development of agricultural drainage reclamation will require large amounts of financial and labor costs. The aim of the work is to present an alternative approach to assessing the status of these systems for making management decisions using an unmanned aerial system (UAS), which allows you to quickly obtain high quality aerial photographs (2-7 cm/pixel) of an agricultural area up to 50 hectares in one flight. In addition to the unmanned aerial vehicle, the UAS also includes an onboard complex, a payload and a ground control station. The flight group carries out all stages of data acquisition and preprocessing in an automated mode using specialized software. In the course of the experimental studies, the main elements of the considered approach to monitoring drainage systems are highlighted: the period of aerial photography, determination of the pipes and canals schemes, determination of waterlogging zones on agricultural areas and breakdowns of a reclamation system, monitoring in dynamics. As a result, when solving the problem of monitoring drainage reclamation systems, the use of UAS seems to be a relevant and promising approach, which makes it possible to assess the object status promptly.

OBJECT STATUS IN MODERN ONTOLOGIES

The philosophical discourse of the XX–ХХI, in the face of the latest ontologies, is characterized by a change in the way of speaking about things (objects), the restoration of their philosophical rights, almost completely, excluding one of the central ontological roles of a person in access to the surrounding reality. The purpose of this study was to identify the features of ideas about the ontological status of an object in modern philosophical and ontological theories. Achievement of the stated goal of the research was ensured by complex application, based on the comparative approach, dialectical and hermeneutic methods, as well as the method of ontological differentiation. In the course of the study, the features of the vision of an object, characteristic of postclassical ontologies of the 20th century, were considered. In the course of the research, the features of the object vision characteristic of post-classical ontologies of the XX century (actor-network theory, flat ontologies) were considered. Based on the ideas of plurality, heterogeneity, anti-essentialism and relationalism in the philosophical discourse of our time, the author presents a modern interpretation of the ontological statuses of objects. By analyzing the relationship of postclassical ontologies to the category of truth, the epistemological and methodological nature of the above ontological theories has been revealed. A critical analysis of the features of the status that is attributed to the object within their framework is carried out. The author substantiates the idea that the ontological status of an object in modern ontologies is reduced exclusively to its communicative and intermediary nature. The article ends with a brief presentation of the author’s views that the ontological status of an object is a fundamental issue of the connection between the idea of essence and the idea of subjectivity, which is inherent in intentionality as the ability to cognize an object. At the same time, it is pointed out that the researcher must concentrate exclusively on «cognition» and not on the «construction» of the object. The author notes that modern specialists, operating with traditional ontological terms (being, existence) in the sphere of the considered ontologies, and trying to create a new «ontology of the social», miss their original intention. In this connection, the idea turns into a new epistemology and, as a consequence, the construction of a completely different methodological framework for the cognitive process, but not an integral ontological concept.

Religion as the “art of being an object”: Some modern cryptotheological approaches

In the article, the author proceeds from the assumption that the obsession with the subject status, characteristic of the New European man, devalued the “art of being an object”. The article deals with intellectual strategies for the rehabilitation of the “object” status: the social grammar of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and the cybernetic epistemology of Gregory Bateson. Rosenstock-Huessy draws attention to the fact that in speech acts the speaker appears not only as the subject-source of speech, but also as the object to which the listener’s reaction is directed. Moreover, the condition for the formation of the subject of speech is the listener’s object position. This statement captures a wide range of interpretations: from psychological and pedagogical to theological. Bateson criticizes Cartesian epistemology, which, without reflexive grounds, places a person in the position of a subject, thinking, acting, that is ultimately controlling, and ignores or critically treats the position of the object. However, such epistemology gives an incomplete picture of the cognitive or practically transformative act, since it does not register the moments when the cognizing and acting subject receives feedback from the known or transformed reality — becomes an object. The “art of being an object” is proposed as an essential characteristic of religion as such. In fact, a religious situation (at least in theistic religions) is a situation of being in a complex subject-object relationship with the Absolute, where a person, as a rule, does not control the situation, but voluntarily or forcibly becomes the object of influence, control. At the same time, a religious person is not indifferent to the field of a certain power he finds himself in, therefore he is forced to use art or the “gift of discerning spirits”. In the article’s conclusion, secular forms of object behavior are criticized.

Youth: Subject-Object Status in the System of Municipal Youth Policy

The article deals with theoretical and methodological approaches to determining the subject-object status and involvement of young people in the processes of political, social, and economic development of a municipality. The starting point of the research is the assumption that the traditional approach to youth as a socio-demographic group, distinguished by socio-age and professional characteristics, does not correspond to the current dynamics of political processes occurring in municipalities and regions. From the authors’ point of view, there is a need in a different understanding of the status of youth as an active part of society, which is largely able to solve problems independently. The concept of youth development and the formation of municipal youth policy based on the analysis of conceptual interdisciplinary approaches that determine the subject-object status of youth in the system of youth policy is proposed for discussion. The article substantiates the idea of subjectivity of youth in modern social and political conditions.

The possibility of using a water body for economic activities

Varying interpretation of fundamental water use legislation regulations and guidelines very often becomes the main reason of matter of controversy cases arising during the water object use determination. Legal matters not infrequently involve the items of water object status and riparian right. Parties to a dispute deal with the issue of privatization in order to get the legal obligation for further investing. It should be mentioned that the sound water use of small artificial water bodies by private owners for the purpose of fish farming development is also practically assured. The employees of FSBSI «VNIIGiM n.a. A.N. Kostyakova» were suggested to analyze in details the hydrological characteristic of the small artificial water body (in Klinskiy district of Moscow Oblast) in order to create its optimal exploitation guidelines. The main goal of this research is to prove the right object status of its usage in accordance with the Water Code and the Legislation of the Russian Federation. As a result of this investigation: field studies conducting, hydraulic connection determination, existing law-creating instruments and regulatory legal acts – detailed study of pond – reservoir criteria and a list of potential usage possibilities of the investigated water object were fulfilled.

THE FORMAL AND SUBSTANTIVE CORE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Human dignity is the basis of human rights. From the four dimensions of dignity - the status subjectionis, the status negativus, the status positivus and the status activus - both form and content of human rights can be justified. The form as subjective rights is necessary so that man is treated as a subject and not as a mere object (status subjectionis). In terms of content, human rights protect not only freedom from the state (status negativus), freedom through the state (status positivus), but also the freedom of the individual to participate in the establishment of public authorities (status activus). In addition: human dignity itself is a human right.

Subjektivitas Perempuan: Pekerja Seks dalam Tiga Karya Utuy Tatang Sontani

Penelitian ini mengambil topik subjektivitas perempuan pekerja seks dalam tiga karya Utuy Tatang Sontani: Selamat Jalan Anak Kufur, “Menuju Kamar Durhaka”, dan “Doger”. Tiga pekerja seks tersebut ditampilkan melalui tokoh Titi, Aku, dan Selendang Merah. Dengan menggunakan metode kritik feminis yang berfokus pada isu tubuh dan ruang perempuan, pembahasan dibagi menjadi dua bagian yang berkaitan dengan tubuh, ruang, dan subjektivitas pekerja seks. Berdasarkan hasil analisis dapat dimaknai bahwa: (1) tubuh dan ruang pekerja seks ditampilkan sebagai aset ambivalen dalam posisinya sebagai subjek dan objek; (2) posisi subjek-objek yang bahagia berkaitan erat dengan perspektif yang digunakan tokoh dalam memandang pekerja seks. Oleh sebab itu, dapat diargumentasikan bahwa Utuy memosisikan tiga tokoh perempuannya dalam posisi subjek dan objek yang tidak ajek.This research talks about the subjectivity of women sex workers in Utuy Tatang Sontani’s works titled Selamat Jalan Anak Kufur, “Menuju Kamar Durhaka”, and “Doger.” Women sex worker are portrayed through characters named Titi, Aku, and Selendang Merah. By using a feminist literary criticism method that focuses on women’s body and space, the discussion has been divided into two sections related to body, space, and subjectivity of the sex workers. Body and space are the crucial aspects for the characters in Utuy’s works when achieving their status as a subject. Based on the results of the analysis it can be interpreted that: (1) the bodies and spaces of the sex workers are depicted as an ambivalent asset in their position both as subject and object; (2) the position of happy subject-object status of the sex workers is closely related to the perspective used by the character in looking at sex workers. Therefore, it can be argued that Utuy positioned the three women characters in the position of subjects and objects that were not fixed.

Subjektivitas Perempuan: Pekerja Seks dalam Tiga Karya Utuy Tatang Sontani

Penelitian ini mengambil topik subjektivitas perempuan pekerja seks dalam tiga karya Utuy Tatang Sontani: Selamat Jalan Anak Kufur, “Menuju Kamar Durhaka”, dan “Doger”. Tiga pekerja seks tersebut ditampilkan melalui tokoh Titi, Aku, dan Selendang Merah. Dengan menggunakan metode kritik feminis yang berfokus pada isu tubuh dan ruang perempuan, pembahasan dibagi menjadi dua bagian yang berkaitan dengan tubuh, ruang, dan subjektivitas pekerja seks. Berdasarkan hasil analisis dapat dimaknai bahwa: (1) tubuh dan ruang pekerja seks ditampilkan sebagai aset ambivalen dalam posisinya sebagai subjek dan objek; (2) posisi subjek-objek yang bahagia berkaitan erat dengan perspektif yang digunakan tokoh dalam memandang pekerja seks. Oleh sebab itu, dapat diargumentasikan bahwa Utuy memosisikan tiga tokoh perempuannya dalam posisi subjek dan objek yang tidak ajek.This research talks about the subjectivity of women sex workers in Utuy Tatang Sontani’s works titled Selamat Jalan Anak Kufur, “Menuju Kamar Durhaka”, and “Doger.” Women sex worker are portrayed through characters named Titi, Aku, and Selendang Merah. By using a feminist literary criticism method that focuses on women’s body and space, the discussion has been divided into two sections related to body, space, and subjectivity of the sex workers. Body and space are the crucial aspects for the characters in Utuy’s works when achieving their status as a subject. Based on the results of the analysis it can be interpreted that: (1) the bodies and spaces of the sex workers are depicted as an ambivalent asset in their position both as subject and object; (2) the position of happy subject-object status of the sex workers is closely related to the perspective used by the character in looking at sex workers. Therefore, it can be argued that Utuy positioned the three women characters in the position of subjects and objects that were not fixed.