Kvazaar 2.0 : Fast and efficient open-source HEVC inter encoder

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the key to economic video transmission and storage in the current multimedia applications but tackling its inherent computational complexity requires powerful video codec implementations. This paper presents Kvazaar 2.0 HEVC encoder that is the new release of our academic open-source software (github.com/ultravideo/kvazaar). Kvazaar 2.0 introduces novel inter coding functionality that is built on advanced rate-distortion optimization (RDO) scheme and speeded up with several early termination mechanisms, SIMD-optimized coding tools, and parallelization strategies. Our experimental results show that the proposed coding scheme makes Kvazaar 125 times as fast as the HEVC reference software HM on the Intel Xeon E5-2699 v4 22-core processor at the additional coding cost of only 2.4% on average. In constant quantization parameter (QP) coding, Kvazaar is also 3 times as fast as the respective preset of the well-known practical x265 HEVC encoder and is still able to attain 10.7% lower average bit rate than x265 for the same objective visual quality. These results indicate that Kvazaar has become one of the leading open-source HEVC encoders in practical high-efficiency video coding.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Towards ecosystemic stance in Finnish public sector enterprise architecture

Governments and organizations in both public and private sector are operating in fields of ever-growing uncertainty and complexity. To study this complex environment, the concept of ecosystems has been suggested, interpreting organizations as intertwined systems among layers of evolving ecosystems. While offering possibilities, operating in an ecosystemic environment might prove to be challenging, and the change from traditional governance structures might be difficult to manage, requiring holistic yet detailed view. Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been an interest of academics and practitioners for few decades, offering one of the most prominent solutions to managing complex organizations. Recently, it has been discussed that EA should further evolve to respond to the interconnectedness of organizations’, thus extending the focus of enterprise architecting from intra-organizational to the ecosystems level. Based on data from 26 in-depth practitioner interviews in Finland, we discuss how EA should be developed to better support Finnish public sector ecosystems. Our data indicates that qualities such as organizational capabilities, holistic view, co-creation and needs-based utilization are essential features of public sector ecosystem EA.peerReviewe

Method and Practical Guidelines for Overcoming Enterprise Architecture Adoption Challenges

During the last few years, interest towards Enterprise Architecture (EA) has increased, not least due to anticipated benefits resulting from adopting it. For instance, EA has been argued to provide cost reduction, technology standardisation, process improvement, and strategic differentiation. Despite these benefits, the EA adoption rate and maturity are still low. Consequently, EA benefits are not realised. A major reason hindering the adoption is that EA is not understood correctly. This paper aims for minimising the effect of the lack of understanding EA to adopting EA. Based on the research conducted in Finnish public sector, we propose an improved Enterprise Architecture Adoption Method (EAAM) to overcome the EA adoption challenges. EAAM is built using Design Science approach and evaluated using Delphi method. Some practical guidelines for applying EAAM are also provided to help organisations to overcome EA adoption challenges.peerReviewe

Relationship Between Chemical Markers and Sensory Score of Traditional Balsamic Vinegars Using a Screening Approach Combined with Rapid Assessment Methods

In this study, 200 samples of traditional balsamic vinegar (TBV) of Reggio-Emilia, a typical Italian \u201caged dressing\u201d with Protected Denomination of Origin, were analyzed to model the relationship between sensory scores with some preselected compounds/parameters, such as Brix value, water activity (aw), titratable acidity, color, polymeric compounds, and electronic nose signal. Statistical techniques, such as nonlinear regression and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to model the relationship among vinegars composition. The sensory score of panelists was mainly correlated with Brix (r=0.85) followed by brown color at 445 nm (r=0.74) and water activity (aw) (r= 120.79), whereas the polymeric compounds content showed a negative correlation with water activity (r=\u20130.73). In particular, the water activity of TBVs at different Brix values followed a nonlinear trend with good fitting (r=0.857) with K=3.10 that was consistent with the value reported in the literature for fructose and glucose. Electronic nose (enose) data from TBVs and six marker compounds (acetic acid, butyric acid, vanillin, ethylphenylacetate, phenylethyl alcohol, and furfural) combined with PCA revealed a pattern related to the ageing of TBVs