Research on Deep Learning-based Fractional Interpolation in Video Coding

Motion compensated prediction is one of the essential methods to reduce temporal redundancy in inter coding. The target of motion compensated prediction is to predict the current frame from the list of reference frames. Recent video coding standards commonly use interpolation filters to obtain sub-pixel for the best matching block located in the fractional position of the reference frame. However, the fixed filters are not flexible to adapt to the variety of natural video contents. Inspired by the success of CNN in super-resolution, we propose Convolutional Neural Network-based fractional interpolation for Luminance (Luma) and Chrominance (Chroma) components in motion compensated prediction to improve the coding efficiency. Moreover, two syntax elements indicate interpolation methods for the Luminance and Chrominance components, have been added to bin-string and encoded by CABAC using regular mode. As a result, our proposal gains 2.9%, 0.3%, 0.6% Y, U, V BD-rate reduction, respectively, under low delay P configuration.

A Research on Enhancing Reconstructed Frames in Video Codecs

A series of video codecs, combining encoder and decoder, have been developed to improve the human experience of video-on-demand: higher quality videos at lower bitrates. Despite being at the leading of the compression race, the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC or H.265), the latest Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard, and compressive sensing (CS) are still suffering from lossy compression. Lossy compression algorithms approximate input signals by smaller file size but degrade reconstructed data, leaving space for further improvement. This work aims to develop hybrid codecs taking advantage of both state-of-the-art video coding technologies and deep learning techniques: traditional non-learning components will either be replaced or combined with various deep learning models. Note that related studies have not made the most of coding information, this work studies and utilizes more potential resources in both encoder and decoder for further improving different codecs.In the encoder, motion compensated prediction (MCP) is one of the key components that bring high compression ratios to video codecs. For enhancing the MCP performance, modern video codecs offer interpolation filters for fractional motions. However, these handcrafted fractional interpolation filters are designed on ideal signals, which limit the codecs in dealing with real-world video data. This proposal introduces a deep learning approach for all Luma and Chroma fractional pixels, aiming for more accurate motion compensation and coding efficiency.One extraordinary feature of CS compared to other codecs is that CS can recover multiple images at the decoder by applying various algorithms on the one and only coded data. Note that the related works have not made use of this property, this work enables a deep learning-based compressive sensing image enhancement framework using multiple reconstructed signals. Learning to enhance from multiple reconstructed images delivers a valuable mechanism for training deep neural networks while requiring no additional transmitted data.In the encoder and decoder of modern video coding standards, in-loop filters (ILF) dedicate the most important role in producing the final reconstructed image quality and compression rate. This work introduces a deep learning approach for improving the handcrafted ILF for modern video coding standards. We first utilize various coding resources and present novel deep learning-based ILF. Related works perform the rate-distortion-based ILF mode selection at the coding-tree-unit (CTU) level to further enhance the deep learning-based ILF, and the corresponding bits are encoded and transmitted to the decoder. In this work, we move towards a deeper approach: a reinforcement-learning based autonomous ILF mode selection scheme is presented, enabling the ability to adapt to different coding unit (CU) levels. Using this approach, we require no additional bits while ensuring the best image quality at local levels beyond the CTU level.While this research mainly targets improving the recent video coding standard VVC and the sparse-based CS, it is also flexibly designed to adapt the previous and future video coding standards with minor modifications.博士（工学）法政大学 (Hosei University

EGG QUALITY COMPARISON OF TWO VIETNAMESE CHICKEN BREEDS (RI AND MIA)

In the context of the valorization of poultry biodiversity, this work represents a step toward a better knowledge of the production abilities of local chicken breeds in Vietnam. Local chicken breeds are indeed particularly well suited for low-input rearing systems, as widely practiced in rural households of Vietnam. The socio-economic importance of these breeds might be underpinned by a market valorization through the mounting of differentiated quality value chains. Such a strategy needs the production potential of these local breeds to be assessed using parameters of egg quality and quantity. This study presents data about egg quality traits in two chicken breeds, the Ri and the Mia. The former is the most widespread breed in Vietnam, while the latter is known to be in danger of extinction. Nineteen parameters of quality of ninety eggs of Ri chickens and sixty eggs of Mia chickens were measured, each for both 40 and 60-weeks old hens to take hens ages into account.Mean egg weight of Mia eggs (44.70g) was significantly (p<0.001) higher than that of Ri eggs (41.68g). The yolk to albumen ratio was not significantly different (p>0.05) between the two breeds at the age of 40 weeks (Ri: 0.55; Mia: 0.58). For 60-weeks old hens, the ratio became significantly (p<0.05) higher in Mia eggs compared to Ri eggs (0.64 vs. 0.57). No significant difference (p>0.05) was recorded between the two breeds for parameters used for egg freshness assessment (Haugh’s units and pH of albumen and yolk) or eggshell resistance (maximal breakage force). Despite the small sample available for the study (due to the low availability of Mia hens and eggs), significant differences in egg quality traits were thus observed between these two breeds.Peer reviewe

Meningitis patients with Angiostrongylus cantonensis may present without eosinophilia in the cerebrospinal fluid in northern Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic meningitis (EM) is a rare clinical syndrome caused by both infectious and noninfectious diseases. In tropical pacific countries, Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the most common cause. However, the EM definition varies in the literature, and its relation to parasitic meningitis (PM) remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Adult and adolescent patients of 13 years old or above with suspected central nervous system (CNS) infections with abnormal CSF findings were prospectively enrolled at a tertiary referral hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam from June 2012 to May 2014. Patients with EM or suspected PM (EM/PM) were defined by the presence of either ≥10% eosinophils or an absolute eosinophil cell counts of ≥10/mm3 in the CSF or blood eosinophilia (>16% of WBCs) without CSF eosinophils. In total 679 patients were enrolled: 7 (1.03%) had ≥10% CSF eosinophilia, 20 (2.95%) had ≥10/mm3 CSF eosinophilia, and 7 (1.03%) had >16% blood eosinophilia. The patients with ≥10% CSF eosinophilia were significantly younger (p = 0.017), had a lower body temperature (p = 0.036) than patients with ≥10/mm3 CSF eosinophilia among whom bacterial pathogens were detected in 72.2% (13/18) of those who were tested by culture and/or PCR. In contrast, the characteristics of the patients with >16% blood eosinophilia resembled those of patients with ≥10% CSF eosinophilia. We further conducted serological tests and real-time PCR to identify A. cantonensis. Serology or real-time PCR was positive in 3 (42.8%) patients with ≥10% CSF eosinophilia and 6 (85.7%) patients with >16% blood eosinophilia without CSF eosinophils but none of patients with ≥10/mm3 CSF eosinophilia. CONCLUSIONS: The etiology of PM in northern Vietnam is A. cantonensis. The eosinophil percentage is a more reliable predictor of parasitic EM than absolute eosinophil count in the CSF. Patients with PM may present with a high percentage of eosinophils in the peripheral blood but not in the CSF

Challenges in diagnosing scrub typhus among hospitalized patients with undifferentiated fever at a national tertiary hospital in northern Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus (ST) is a leading cause of non-malarial febrile illness in Southeast Asia, but evidence of its true disease burden is limited because of difficulties of making the clinical diagnosis and lack of adequate diagnostic tests. To describe the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of ST, we conducted an observational study using multiple diagnostic assays at a national tertiary hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We enrolled 1,127 patients hospitalized with documented fever between June 2012 and May 2013. Overall, 33 (2.9%) patients were diagnosed with ST by PCR and/or screening of ELISA for immunoglobulin M (IgM) with confirmatory tests: 14 (42.4%) were confirmed by indirect immunoperoxidase assay (IIP), and 19 (57.6%) were by IIP and PCR. Living by farming, conjunctival injection, eschar, aspartate aminotransferase elevation, and alanine aminotransferase elevation were significantly associated with ST cases (adjusted odds ratios (aORs): 2.8, 3.07, 48.8, 3.51, and 4.13, respectively), and having a comorbidity and neutrophilia were significantly less common in ST cases (aORs: 0.29 and 0.27, respectively). The majority of the ST cases were not clinically diagnosed with rickettsiosis (72.7%). Dominant IIP reactions against a single antigen were identified in 15 ST cases, whereas indistinguishably high reactions against multiple antigens were seen in 11 ST cases. The most frequently observed dominant IIP reaction was against Karp antigen (eight cases) followed by Gilliam (four cases). The highest diagnostic accuracy of IgM ELISA in acute samples was 78%. In a phylogenetic analysis of the 56-kDa type-specific antigen gene, the majority (14 cases) were located in the Karp-related branch followed by the Gilliam-related (two cases), Kato-related (two cases), and TA763-related clades (one case). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Both the clinical and laboratory diagnoses of ST remain challenging at a tertiary hospital. Implementation of both serological and nucleic acid amplification assays covering endemic O. tsutsugamushi strains is essential

Effects of water scarcity awareness and climate change belief on recycled water usage willingness: Evidence from New Mexico, United States

The global water crisis is being exacerbated by climate change, even in the United States. Recycled water is a feasible alternative to alleviate the water shortage, but it is constrained by humans’ perceptions. The current study examines how residents’ water scarcity awareness and climate change belief influence their willingness to use recycled water directly and indirectly. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of 1831 residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid inland region in the US. We discovered that residents’ willingness to use direct recycled potable water is positively affected by their awareness of water scarcity, but the effect is conditional on their belief in the impacts of climate change on the water cycle. Meanwhile, the willingness to use indirect recycled potable water is influenced by water scarcity awareness, and the belief in climate change further enhances this effect. These findings implicate that fighting climate change denialism and informing the public of the water scarcity situation in the region can contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term water conservation and climate change alleviation efforts

Prospects for Food Fermentation in South-East Asia, Topics From the Tropical Fermentation and Biotechnology Network at the End of the AsiFood Erasmus+Project

Fermentation has been used for centuries to produce food in South-East Asia and some foods of this region are famous in the whole world. However, in the twenty first century, issues like food safety and quality must be addressed in a world changing from local business to globalization. In Western countries, the answer to these questions has been made through hygienisation, generalization of the use of starters, specialization of agriculture and use of long-distance transportation. This may have resulted in a loss in the taste and typicity of the products, in an extensive use of antibiotics and other chemicals and eventually, in a loss in the confidence of consumers to the products. The challenges awaiting fermentation in South-East Asia are thus to improve safety and quality in a sustainable system producing tasty and typical fermented products and valorising by-products. At the end of the “AsiFood Erasmus+ project” (www.asifood.org), the goal of this paper is to present and discuss these challenges as addressed by the Tropical Fermentation Network, a group of researchers from universities, research centers and companies in Asia and Europe. This paper presents current actions and prospects on hygienic, environmental, sensorial and nutritional qualities of traditional fermented food including screening of functional bacteria and starters, food safety strategies, research for new antimicrobial compounds, development of more sustainable fermentations and valorisation of by-products. A specificity of this network is also the multidisciplinary approach dealing with microbiology, food, chemical, sensorial, and genetic analyses, biotechnology, food supply chain, consumers and ethnology

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Studying the Complex Magnetic Field of L43

We present observations of polarized dust emission at 850 μm from the L43 molecular cloud, which sits in the Ophiuchus cloud complex. The data were taken using SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as a part of the BISTRO large program. L43 is a dense (NH 10 22 2 ~ –1023 cm−2) complex molecular cloud with a submillimeter-bright starless core and two protostellar sources. There appears to be an evolutionary gradient along the isolated filament that L43 is embedded within, with the most evolved source closest to the Sco OB2 association. One of the protostars drives a CO outflow that has created a cavity to the southeast. We see a magnetic field that appears to be aligned with the cavity walls of the outflow, suggesting interaction with the outflow. We also find a magnetic field strength of up to ∼160 ± 30 μG in the main starless core and up to ∼90 ± 40 μG in the more diffuse, extended region. These field strengths give magnetically super- and subcritical values, respectively, and both are found to be roughly trans-Alfvénic. We also present a new method of data reduction for these denser but fainter objects like starless cores