Digital rights management techniques for H.264 video

This work aims to present a number of low-complexity digital rights management (DRM) methodologies for the H.264 standard. Initially, requirements to enforce DRM are analyzed and understood. Based on these requirements, a framework is constructed which puts forth different possibilities that can be explored to satisfy the objective. To implement computationally efficient DRM methods, watermarking and content based copy detection are then chosen as the preferred methodologies. The first approach is based on robust watermarking which modifies the DC residuals of 4×4 macroblocks within I-frames. Robust watermarks are appropriate for content protection and proving ownership. Experimental results show that the technique exhibits encouraging rate-distortion (R-D) characteristics while at the same time being computationally efficient. The problem of content authentication is addressed with the help of two methodologies: irreversible and reversible watermarks. The first approach utilizes the highest frequency coefficient within 4×4 blocks of the I-frames after CAVLC en- tropy encoding to embed a watermark. The technique was found to be very effect- ive in detecting tampering. The second approach applies the difference expansion (DE) method on IPCM macroblocks within P-frames to embed a high-capacity reversible watermark. Experiments prove the technique to be not only fragile and reversible but also exhibiting minimal variation in its R-D characteristics. The final methodology adopted to enforce DRM for H.264 video is based on the concept of signature generation and matching. Specific types of macroblocks within each predefined region of an I-, B- and P-frame are counted at regular intervals in a video clip and an ordinal matrix is constructed based on their count. The matrix is considered to be the signature of that video clip and is matched with longer video sequences to detect copies within them. Simulation results show that the matching methodology is capable of not only detecting copies but also its location within a longer video sequence. Performance analysis depict acceptable false positive and false negative rates and encouraging receiver operating charac- teristics. Finally, the time taken to match and locate copies is significantly low which makes it ideal for use in broadcast and streaming applications

Bayesian estimation using Lindley’s approximation of Inverted Kumaraswamy distribution based on lower record values

In this paper, we have considered estimation of unknown parameters based on lower record values for Inverted Kumaraswamy distribution. Maximum likelihood and approximate Bayes estimators based on lower record values for unknown parameters of this distribution are obtained. Lindley’s approximation (L-approximation) is used to obtain approximate Bayes estimators under DeGroot loss function based on lower record values. A Simulation study and a real data analysis are presented to illustrate the results.Publisher's Versio

Pedestrian detection and vehicle type recognition using CENTROG features for nighttime thermal images

This paper proposes a feature-based technique to detect pedestrians and recognize vehicles within thermal images that have been captured during nighttime. The proposed technique applies the support vector machine (SVM) classifier on CENsus Transformed histogRam Oriented Gradient (CENTROG) features in order to classify and detect humans and/or vehicles. Although thermal images suffer from low image resolution, lack of colour and poor texture information, they offer the advantage of being unaffected by high intensity light sources such as vehicle headlights which tend to render normal images unsuitable for nighttime image capturing and subsequent analysis. Since contour is the most distinctive feature within thermal images, CENTROG is used to capture this feature information and is used within the experiments. The experimental results so obtained were compared with those obtained by employing the CENsus TRansformed hISTogram (CENTRIST). Experimental results revealed that CENTROG offers better detection and classification accuracy for both pedestrian and detection and vehicle type recognition

Determinants of Reproductive Tract Infection among married women in rural and peri-urban areas of Aligarh: A cross sectional Study

Background: Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) have a direct impact on reproductive and child health through infertility, cancers, and pregnancy complications, and they have an indirect impact through their role in facilitating the sexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. Objectives: To find the prevalence and determinants of RTI/STI among married women of reproductive age group in rural and peri-urban areas of Aligarh. Methods: The data were collected by using a pretested, semi-structured with both open and closed-ended questionnaire from 500 married women of reproductive age group. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 20.0 Proportion, frequencies, ?2, and logistic regression were used to interpret the data. Results: Prevalence of RTI/STI symptoms was found to (42.8%) in rural areas and 37.6 % in peri-urban areas. Strong association was found in study subjects having lower educational status, who were not using any contraceptive method, not following good menstrual hygiene, early marriage age had husband history of RTI/STI, had a history of abortion, had a history of violence, and increased parity. Conclusions: Prevalence of symptoms found to be associated with these females having low educational status, early age of marriage, high parity, partner history of reproductive Tract Infections, history of violence etc. So, there should be more focus on improvement in these factors to reduce the prevalence

Local-Partial Signal Combining Schemes for Cell-Free Large-Scale MU-MIMO Systems with Limited Fronthaul Capacity and Spatial Correlation Channels

Cell-free large-scale multi-user MIMO is a promising technology for the 5G-and-beyond mobile communication networks. Scalable signal processing is the key challenge in achieving the benefits of cell-free systems. This study examines a distributed approach for cell-free deployment with user-centric configuration and finite fronthaul capacity. Moreover, the impact of scaling the pilot length, the number of access points (APs), and the number of antennas per AP on the achievable average spectral efficiency are investigated. Using the dynamic cooperative clustering (DCC) technique and large-scale fading decoding process, we derive an approximation of the signal-tointerference-plus-noise ratio in the criteria of two local combining schemes: Local-Partial Regularized Zero Forcing (RZF) and Local Maximum Ratio (MR). The results indicate that distributed approaches in the cell-free system have the advantage of decreasing the fronthaul signaling and the computing complexity. The results also show that the Local-Partial RZF provides the highest average spectral efficiency among all the distributed combining schemes because the computational complexity of the Local-Partial RZF is independent of the UTs. Therefore, it does not grow as the number of user terminals (UTs) increases

A Review of Hashing based Image Copy Detection Techniques

Images are considered to be natural carriers of information, and a large number of images are created, exchanged and are made available online. Apart from creating new images, the availability of number of duplicate copies of images is a critical problem. Hashing based image copy detection techniques are a promising alternative to address this problem. In this approach, a hash is constructed by using a set of unique features extracted from the image for identification. This article provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art image hashing techniques. The reviewed techniques are categorized by the mechanism used and compared across a set of functional & performance parameters. The article finally highlights the current issues faced by such systems and possible future directions to motivate further research work

Hough transform generated strong image hashing scheme for copy detection

The rapid development of image editing software has resulted in widespread unauthorized duplication of original images. This has given rise to the need to develop robust image hashing technique which can easily identify duplicate copies of the original images apart from differentiating it from different images. In this paper, we have proposed an image hashing technique based on discrete wavelet transform and Hough transform, which is robust to large number of image processing attacks including shifting and shearing. The input image is initially pre-processed to remove any kind of minor effects. Discrete wavelet transform is then applied to the pre-processed image to produce different wavelet coefficients from which different edges are detected by using a canny edge detector. Hough transform is finally applied to the edge-detected image to generate an image hash which is used for image identification. Different experiments were conducted to show that the proposed hashing technique has better robustness and discrimination performance as compared to the state-of-the-art techniques. Normalized average mean value difference is also calculated to show the performance of the proposed technique towards various image processing attacks. The proposed copy detection scheme can perform copy detection over large databases and can be considered to be a prototype for developing online real-time copy detection system

Contamination of Kallar Kahar Lake by Inorganic Elements and Heavy Metals and their Temporal Variations

The present study was conducted to find out the contamination of Kallar Kahar Lake by inorganic elements and heavy metals and the temporal variation of these chemicals in the lake water. Water samples were collected on monthly basis during December 2001 to November 2002. Concentration of 10 inorganic elements and heavy metals (sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, cadmium, lead and zinc) was analyzed in the lake water by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Mean monthly concentration of the inorganic elements and heavy metals in the lake water was: nickel 0.117 mg. L-1, iron 1.456 mg. L-1, cobalt 0.061 mg. L-1, copper 0.258 mg. L-1 , cadmium 0.024 mg. L-1, lead 0.118 mg. L-1 sodium 397.970 mg. L-1, magnesium 115.710 mg. L-1, potassium 28.290 mg. L-1 and zinc 1.412 mg. L-1. Analysis of variance showed temporal variations (P < 0.001) in concentration of inorganic elements and heavy metals in Kallar Kahar Lake water. The present study indicates that the concentrations of inorganic elements and heavy metals were not within the safe limit at the sampling site throughout the period of study and water of Kallar Kahar Lake is not suitable for drinking, farming and aquaculture. @JASE

Analysis of genetic diversity in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Genetic diversity of seven chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars of Pakistani origin was analyzed by using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, an extremely effective method to determine the variations among the chickpea cultivars. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions were optimized for RAPD and the conditions which gave the optimized results were selected for further amplifications. Using nine random decamers for seven genotypes of chickpea, 63 bands were amplified. Out of 63 bands, 50 were polymorphic in all the seven chickpea cultivars. The numbers of RAPD fragments generated per primer ranged from 3 to 11. However, majority of the primers amplified 7 to 11 fragments. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficients ranged from 0.333 to 0.651. Maximum similarity (65.1%) was observed between PK G-3 and PK G-4 and the lowest similarity (33.3%) was observed between PK G-3 and PK G-7. A dendrogram was constructed by using the unweighted pair group arithmetic mean arrangement (UPGMA) that was based on similarity coefficients. Seven chickpea cultivars were clustered in two distinct groups of which two cultivars (PK G-6 and PK G-7) stood separately in the dendrogram. The results from this study may be useful to maximize the selection of diverse parent cultivars and to broaden the germplasm base in the future for chickpea breeding programs. The information generated from this study can also be used in identifying efficient strategies for the sustainable management of the genetic resources of chickpea crop.Keywords: Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), chickpea cultivars, genetic diversit

A comparison between solar thermal and photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems for typical household in Libya

—The fossil fuel in Libya produces the most of the generated electricity. As the energy demand will escalate significantly in the near future, more oil and gas are consumed and hence more CO2 emission. Therefore, for a sustained development the renewable energy must share in the electricity market. The special location of Libya in the highest sunny belt makes the solar energy one of the best alternative energy supplier. This paper is aimed at proposing an effective solution to enhance continuous power availability and to reduce the peak load demand in Libyan electric grid through replacing the electric heaters with Domestic Solar Water Heating (DSWH). Two alternatives are analyzed; photovoltaic-solar water heating (PV-SWH) system and photovoltaic-photovoltaic/thermal (PVPV/T). The two options are compared in terms of the capital cost, maintenance cost, total cost, fuel cost and the CO2 emission. The results show that the total energy saving for the PV-SWH system is around 69.79% of the total energy required. Furthermore, the total energy saving for the PV-PV/T system is about 75.02% of the net energy need