Fast algorithm for H.264/AVC intra prediction based on discrete wavelet transform

H.264 or MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) is the new world-wide accepted international Standard for video coding, approved by ITU-T and ISO. New Tools have been added to improve the coding efficiency allowing a save up above of 50%, when is compared with previous standards (H.263, MPEG-2 y MPEG-4). From April 2007 there is a new set of profiles known as “all-Intra”. They were born as a sub-set from the “High” profile and have reached a high impact within broadcast industry where the highest quality video formats are demanded. The high efficiency of “all-Intra” mode in H.264 is due to Rate Distortion Optimization (RDO) technique. RDO chooses for each macroblock (MB) the best partition mode and directional prediction. However, the computational burden becomes extremely high due to huge number of prediction-prediction modes that should be evaluated. This article shows a new algorithm for fast partition mode algorithm based on Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). It allows reducing the number of candidate modes to those which are strictly defined for each partition. By using the local 2D-DWT over each MB, information of the homogeneity is obtained. It is got from multiresolution analysis of the transformed coefficients in each sub-band. This way it is easier to classify quickly the optimum partition mode avoiding the exhaustive seek made by RDO

Operating with Quantum Integers: an Efficient 'Multiples of' Oracle

Quantum algorithms are a very promising field. However, creating and manipulating these kind of algorithms is a very complex task, specially for software engineers used to work at higher abstraction levels. The work presented here is part of a broader research focused on providing operations of a higher abstraction level to manipulate integers codified as a superposition. These operations are designed to be composable and efficient, so quantum software developers can reuse them to create more complex solutions. Specifically, in this paper we present a 'multiples of' operation. To validate this operation we show several examples of quantum circuits and their simulations, including its composition possibilities. A theoretical analysis proves that both the complexity of the required classical calculations and the depth of the circuit scale linearly with the number of qubits. Hence, the 'multiples of' oracle is efficient in terms of complexity and depth. Finally, an empirical study of the circuit depth is conducted to further reinforce the theoretical analysis.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures, preprint submitted to SummerSOC 202

Some Initial Guidelines for Building Reusable Quantum Oracles

The evolution of quantum hardware is highlighting the need for advances in quantum software engineering that help developers create quantum software with good quality attributes. Specifically, reusability has been traditionally considered an important quality attribute in terms of efficiency of cost and effort. Increasing the reusability of quantum software will help developers create more complex solutions, by reusing simpler components, with better quality attributes, as long as the reused components have also these attributes. This work focuses on the reusability of oracles, a well-known pattern of quantum algorithms that can be used to perform functions used as input by other algorithms. In particular, in this work, we present several guidelines for making reusable quantum oracles. These guidelines include three different levels for oracle reuse: the ideas inspiring the oracle, the function which creates the oracle, and the oracle itself. To demonstrate these guidelines, two different implementations of a range of integers oracle have been built by reusing simpler oracles. The quality of these implementations is evaluated in terms of functionality and quantum circuit depth. Then, we provide an example of documentation following the proposed guidelines for both implementations to foster reuse of the provided oracles. This work aims to be a first point of discussion towards quantum software reusability. Additional work is needed to establish more specific criteria for quantum software reusability.Comment: 10 page

Monitorización de víctimas con manipuladores aéreos en operaciones de búsqueda y rescate

En este trabajo se presenta el primer dispositivo de monitorización de víctimas para su colocación automática con robots manipuladores aéreos. Se trata de un sistema sensorial distribuido para la evaluación de forma continua del estado de salud de víctimas de catástrofes. Se describen el sensor diseñado y el sistema de comunicaciones, así como la aplicación mediante la colocación del sensor basado en el uso de sistemas aéreos no tripulados (UAS) o robots manipuladores aéreos. El dispositivo de monitorización continua ofrece ventajas sobre el sistema de triage actual ya que permite obtener datos de la evolución de cada víctima. Recoge medidas de las constantes vitales de las víctimas, que son publicadas mediante protocolos de Internet de las Cosas (IoT) que permiten su procesado de forma remota. Además, posee métodos basados en aprendizaje profundo para la detección automática de la posición relativa de la muñeca del brazo de una persona con respecto al manipulador aéreo. Se han realizado experimentos preliminares de obtención de medidas y de colocación de sensores mediante una versión preliminar del sensor, cuyos resultados se incluyenUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Nanoinformática: retos e iniciativas para la gestión de la información generada en la investigación nanomédica

Durante la última década la investigación en nanomedicina ha generado gran cantidad de datos, heterogéneos, distribuidos en múltiples fuentes de información. El uso de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) puede facilitar la investigación médica a escala nanométrica, proporcionando mecanismos y herramientas que permitan gestionar todos esos datos de una manera inteligente. Mientras que la informática biomédica comprende el procesamiento y gestión de la información generada desde el nivel de salud pública y aplicación clínica hasta el nivel molecular, la nanoinformática extiende este ámbito para incluir el “nivel nano”, ocupándose de gestionar y analizar los resultados generados durante la investigación en nanomedicina y desarrollar nuevas líneas de trabajo en este espacio interdisciplinar. En esta nueva área científica, la nanoinformática (que podría consolidarse como una auténtica disciplina en los próximos años), elGrupo de Informática Biomédica (GIB) de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) participa en numerosas iniciativas, que se detallan a continuación

Calibration of Numerical Modelling of Hydrological and Hydraulic Processes in Arnas Experimental Basin

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

A Polyextreme Hydrothermal System Controlled by Iron: The Case of Dallol at the Afar Triangle

One of the latest volcanic features of the Erta Ale range at the Afar Triangle (NE Ethiopia) has created a polyextreme hydrothermal system located at the Danakil depression on top of a protovolcano known as the dome of Dallol. The interaction of the underlying basaltic magma with the evaporitic salts of the Danakil depression has generated a unique, high-temperature (108 °C), hypersaline (NaCl supersaturated), hyperacidic (pH values from 0.1 to −1.7), oxygen-free hydrothermal site containing up to 150 g/L of iron. We find that the colorful brine pools and mineral patterns of Dallol derive from the slow oxygen diffusion and progressive oxidation of the dissolved ferrous iron, the iron-chlorine/-sulfate complexation, and the evaporation. These inorganic processes induce the precipitation of nanoscale jarosite-group minerals and iron(III)- oxyhydroxides over a vast deposition of halite displaying complex architectures. Our results suggest that life, if present under such conditions, does not play a dominant role in the geochemical cycling and mineral precipitation at Dallol as opposed to other hydrothermal sites. Dallol, a hydrothermal system controlled by iron, is a present-day laboratory for studying the precipitation and progressive oxidation of iron minerals, relevant for geochemical processes occurring at early Earth and Martian environmentsThis work received funding from the European Research Council under the Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement 340863 (Prometheus) and from MINECO, ref CGL2016-78971-P, AEI/FEDER, UE”

An analysis of the corporate social responsibility of the spanish marinas

Las Marinas Deportivas son infraestructuras portuarias complejas que agregan valor a las zonas costeras, y que contribuyen al desarrollo económico y social del destino turístico donde se ubican. No obstante, y aunque el estudio de la RSC en el ámbito de las marianas deportivas tienen una gran relevancia tanto a nivel turístico como por sus efectos en el entorno, en la literatura previa sobre RSC, el estudio de los puertos marítimos es escaso y sólo se ha abordado el análisis de su impacto en el medio ambiente. Para cubrir este hueco en la investigación, el objetivo de la presente investigación es analizar el estado actual de la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa de las mariana deportivas españolas, aplicando técnicas de ecuaciones estructurales mediante mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-SEM) a la información obtenida de una muestra de 60 puertos deportivos españoles estratificados por tamaño y localización. Los resultados obtenidos han determinado las barreras y los impulsores asociados con la implementación de la RSC en el sector de las marinas deportivas españolas.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Land use change in a Mediterranean metropolitan region and its periphery: Assessment of conservation policies through CORINE land cover data and Markov models

Sustainable territorial management requires reliable assessment of the impact of conservation policies on landscape structure and dynamics. Euro-Mediterranean regions present a remarkable biodiversity which is linked in part to traditional land use practices and which is currently threatened by global change. The effectiveness of one-decade conservation policies against land use changes was examined in Central Spain (Madrid Autonomous Community). A Markov model of landscape dynamics was parameterized with CORINE Land Cover information and transition matrices were obtained. The methods were applied in both protected and unprotected areas to examine whether the intensity and direction of key land use changes —urbanisation, agricultural intensification and land abandonment— differed significantly depending on the protection status of those areas. Protected areas experienced slower rates of agricultural intensification processes and faster rates of land abandonment, with respect to those which occurred in unprotected areas. It illustrates how simple mathematical tools and models —parameterized with available data— can provide to managers and policy makers useful indicators for conservation policy assessment and identification of land use transitions