Perceptual video quality assessment in H.264 video coding standard using objective modeling

Since usage of digital video is wide spread nowadays, quality considerations have become essential, and industry demand for video quality measurement is rising. This proposal provides a method of perceptual quality assessment in H.264 standard encoder using objective modeling. For this purpose, quality impairments are calculated and a model is developed to compute the perceptual video quality metric based on no reference method. Because of the shuttle difference between the original video and the encoded video the quality of the encoded picture gets degraded, this quality difference is introduced by the encoding process like Intra and Inter prediction. The proposed model takes into account of the artifacts introduced by these spatial and temporal activities in the hybrid block based coding methods and an objective modeling of these artifacts into subjective quality estimation is proposed. The proposed model calculates the objective quality metric using subjective impairments; blockiness, blur and jerkiness compared to the existing bitrate only calculation defined in the ITU G 1070 model. The accuracy of the proposed perceptual video quality metrics is compared against popular full reference objective methods as defined by VQEG

Relationship between chronic periodontitis and metabolic syndrome: a case-control study

Background: The aim of this case-control study was to investigate the periodontal status of patients with metabolic syndrome compared to general healthy individuals and to determine whether the periodontal status was consistent with the values of the metabolic components.Methods: A total of ninety patients were examined in this study. Group one consisted of forty five patients who were confirmed to have metabolic syndrome and group two consisted of forty five age and sex matched healthy controls. Plaque index, Gingival Bleeding Index (Ainamo & Bay), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), Clinical Attachment Level (CEJ), total number of missing teeth and the reasons for extraction were also noted. Medical examination and blood investigations included measurement of height, weight, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, Body-Mass Index (BMI), serum lipid profile, fasting blood glucose and blood pressure. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to NCEP ATP III definition. The results obtained were analyzed statistically using SYSTAT html output.Results: The results of the present study showed that the periodontal condition of group one patients were poor compared to group two patients. The periodontal conditioned worsened with an increase in the metabolic components.Conclusion: Based on the results of our study, it can be concluded that that periodontitis and metabolic syndrome were confounding the systemic effects of each other. Dentists should counsel their patients regarding the health hazards of metabolic syndrome and periodontitis and motivate them to maintain good oral hygiene and follow healthy life-style. Keywords: Chronic periodontitis, Metabolic syndrome (MS), Systemic disease

A phase Ib/II study of cabozantinib (XL184) with or without erlotinib in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

PurposeCabozantinib is a multi-kinase inhibitor that targets MET, AXL, and VEGFR2, and may synergize with EGFR inhibition in NSCLC. Cabozantinib was assessed alone or in combination with erlotinib in patients with progressive NSCLC and EGFR mutations who had previously received erlotinib.MethodsThis was a phase Ib/II study (NCT00596648). The primary objectives of phase I were to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics and to determine maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of cabozantinib plus erlotinib in patients who failed prior erlotinib treatment. In phase II, patients with prior response or stable disease with erlotinib who progressed were randomized to single-agent cabozantinib 100 mg qd vs cabozantinib 100 mg qd and erlotinib 50 mg qd (phase I MTD), with a primary objective of estimating objective response rate (ORR).ResultsSixty-four patients were treated in phase I. Doses of 100 mg cabozantinib plus 50 mg erlotinib, or 40 mg cabozantinib plus 150 mg erlotinib were determined to be MTDs. Diarrhea was the most frequent dose-limiting toxicity and the most frequent AE (87.5% of patients). The ORR for phase I was 8.2% (90% CI 3.3-16.5). In phase II, one patient in the cabozantinib arm (N = 15) experienced a partial response, for an ORR of 6.7% (90% CI 0.3-27.9), with no responses for cabozantinib plus erlotinib (N = 13). There was no evidence that co-administration of cabozantinib markedly altered erlotinib pharmacokinetics or vice versa.ConclusionsDespite responses with cabozantinib/erlotinib in phase I, there were no responses in the combination arm of phase II in patients with acquired resistance to erlotinib. Cabozantinib did not appear to re-sensitize these patients to erlotinib

Combined harmonic reduction and DC voltage regulation of a single DC source five-level multilevel inverter for wind electric system

Wind power generation has increased in the past twenty years due to the development of power electronic converters. Power generation through wind has advantages over other renewable sources, such as having more efficiency, being pollution-free, and its abundant availability. Power electronic converters play a vital role in the wind energy conversion system. This paper presents a wind-electric system with a permanent magnet synchronous generator, diode rectifier, DC-DC converter (buck-Boost or Cuk converter), and a three-phase five-level inverter. The five-level inverter is a modified form of a cascaded H-bridge inverter that uses a single DC source as an input irrespective of several levels and phases. As the wind speed changes, the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) voltage and frequency changes, but for practical applications, these changes should not be allowed; hence, a voltage controller is used that maintains the output voltage of a DC converter, andthus a constant AC output is obtained. The DClink voltage is maintained at the desired voltage by a Proportional plus Integral (PI)-based voltage controller. The DC link voltage fed to the multilevel inverter (MLI) is converted to AC to feed the load. The MLI is controlled with a new Selected Harmonic Elimination (SHE), which decreases the total harmonic distortion (THD). The system is simulated with an Resistive plus Inductive (RL) load and is tested experimentally with the same load;the results prove that the Cuk converter has a better efficiency compared to the Buck-Boost converter, and the system has less THD when compared with the conventional SHE Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique

Corrections to “An Improved Harmonics Mitigation Scheme for a Modular Multilevel Converter” [2019 147244-147255]

In the above-named work, T. Deepa should have been listed as the second co-author of the article with the affiliation of (1): School of Electrical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai 600127, India. The author's biography is also provided within this correction. Additionally, the correct zip code of affiliation (1) should be 600127, and the correct statement on financial support acknowledgement should be as follows: "This work was funded by the Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Communications and Networks Engineering, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." It is necessary to mention the nature of funding provided by Prince Sultan University and to note the correction in the spelling of the university in the same statement in the published manuscript

CyberKnife with Tumor Tracking: An Effective Treatment for High-Risk Surgical Patients with Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Published data suggests that wedge resection for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with improved overall survival compared to stereotactic body radiation therapy. We report CyberKnife outcomes for high-risk surgical patients with biopsy-proven stage I NSCLC. PET/CT imaging was completed for staging. Three-to-five gold fiducial markers were implanted in or near tumors to serve as targeting references. Gross tumor volumes (GTVs) were contoured using lung windows; the margins were expanded by 5 mm to establish the planning treatment volume (PTV). Treatment plans were designed using a mean of 156 pencil beams. Doses delivered to the PTV ranged from 42 to 60 Gy in three fractions. The 30 Gy isodose contour extended at least 1 cm from the GTV to eradicate microscopic disease. Treatments were delivered using the CyberKnife system with tumor tracking. Examination and PET/CT imaging occurred at 3 month follow-up intervals. Forty patients (median age 76) with a median maximum tumor diameter of 2.6 cm (range, 1.4–5.0 cm) and a mean post-bronchodilator percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) of 57% (range, 21–111%) were treated. A median dose of 48 Gy was delivered to the PTV over 3–13 days (median, 7 days). The 30 Gy isodose contour extended a mean 1.9 cm from the GTV. At a median 44 months (range, 12–72 months) follow-up, the 3 year Kaplan–Meier locoregional control and overall survival estimates compare favorably with contemporary wedge resection outcomes at 91 and 75%, respectively. CyberKnife is an effective treatment approach for stage I NSCLC that is similar to wedge resection, eradicating tumors with 1–2 cm margins in order to preserve lung function. Prospective randomized trials comparing CyberKnife with wedge resection are necessary to confirm equivalence

CyberKnife® enhanced conventionally fractionated chemoradiation for high grade glioma in close proximity to critical structures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>With conventional radiation technique alone, it is difficult to deliver radical treatment (≥ 60 Gy) to gliomas that are close to critical structures without incurring the risk of late radiation induced complications. Temozolomide-related improvements in high-grade glioma survival have placed a higher premium on optimal radiation therapy delivery. We investigated the safety and efficacy of utilizing highly conformal and precise CyberKnife radiotherapy to enhance conventional radiotherapy in the treatment of high grade glioma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between January 2002 and January 2009, 24 patients with good performance status and high-grade gliomas in close proximity to critical structures (i.e. eyes, optic nerves, optic chiasm and brainstem) were treated with the CyberKnife. All patients received conventional radiation therapy following tumor resection, with a median dose of 50 Gy (range: 40 - 50.4 Gy). Subsequently, an additional dose of 10 Gy was delivered in 5 successive 2 Gy daily fractions utilizing the CyberKnife^®image-guided radiosurgical system. The majority of patients (88%) received concurrent and/or adjuvant Temozolmide.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During CyberKnife treatments, the mean number of radiation beams utilized was 173 and the mean number of verification images was 58. Among the 24 patients, the mean clinical treatment volume was 174 cc, the mean prescription isodose line was 73% and the mean percent target coverage was 94%. At a median follow-up of 23 months for the glioblastoma multiforme cohort, the median survival was 18 months and the two-year survival rate was 37%. At a median follow-up of 63 months for the anaplastic glioma cohort, the median survival has not been reached and the 4-year survival rate was 71%. There have been no severe late complications referable to this radiation regimen in these patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We utilized fractionated CyberKnife radiotherapy as an adjunct to conventional radiation to improve the targeting accuracy of high-grade glioma radiation treatment. This technique was safe, effective and allowed for optimal dose-delivery in our patients. The value of image-guided radiation therapy for the treatment of high-grade gliomas deserves further study.</p