Rate-distortion optimization for stereoscopic video streaming with unequal error protection

We consider an error-resilient stereoscopic streaming system that uses an H.264-based multiview video codec and a rateless Raptor code for recovery from packet losses. One aim of the present work is to suggest a heuristic methodology for modeling the end-to-end rate-distortion (RD) characteristic of such a system. Another aim is to show how to make use of such a model to optimally select the parameters of the video codec and the Raptor code to minimize the overall distortion. Specifically, the proposed system models the RD curve of video encoder and performance of channel codec to jointly derive the optimal encoder bit rates and unequal error protection (UEP) rates specific to the layered stereoscopic video streaming. We define analytical RD curve modeling for each layer that includes the interdependency of these layers. A heuristic analytical model of the performance of Raptor codes is also defined. Furthermore, the distortion on the stereoscopic video quality caused by packet losses is estimated. Finally, analytical models and estimated single-packet loss distortions are used to minimize the end-to-end distortion and to obtain optimal encoder bit rates and UEP rates. The simulation results clearly demonstrate the significant quality gain against the nonoptimized schemes

Rate-distortion optimized layered stereoscopic video streaming with raptor codes

A near optimal streaming system for stereoscopic video is proposed. Initially, the stereoscopic video is separated into three layers and the approximate analytical model of the Rate-Distortion (RD) curve of each layer is calculated from sufficient number of rate and distortion samples. The analytical modeling includes the interdependency of the defined layers. Then, the analytical models are used to derive the optimal source encoding rates for a given channel bandwidth. The distortion in the quality of the stereoscopic video that is caused by losing a NAL unit from the defined layers is estimated to minimize the average distortion of a single NAL unit loss. The minimization is performed over protection rates allocated to each layer. Raptor codes are utilized as the error protection scheme due to their novelty and suitability in video transmission. The layers are protected unequally using Raptor codes according to the parity ratios allocated to the layers. Comparison of the defined scheme with two other protection allocation schemes is provided via simulations to observe the quality of stereoscopic video. ©2007 IEEE

Error resilient layered stereoscopic video streaming

In this paper, error resilient stereoscopic video streaming problem is addressed. Two different Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes namely Systematic LT and RS codes are utilized to protect the stereoscopic video data against transmission errors. Initially, the stereoscopic video is categorized in 3 layers with different priorities. Then, a packetization scheme is used to increase the efficiency of error protection. A comparative analysis of RS and LT codes are provided via simulations to observe the optimum packetization and UEP strategies

Genetic and bioinformatic analyses of the expression and function of PI3K regulatory subunit PIK3R3 in an Asian patient gastric cancer library

10.1186/1755-8794-5-34BMC Medical Genomics5

Step-by-step Guideline for disease-specific costing studies in low and middle income countries: a mixed methodology.

__Abstract__ BACKGROUND: Disease-specific costing studies can be used as input into cost-effectiveness analyses and provide important information for efficient resource allocation. However, limited data availability and limited expertise constrain such studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). OBJECTIVE: To describe a step-by-step guideline for conducting disease-specific costing studies in LMICs where data availability is limited and to illustrate how the guideline was applied in a costing study of cardiovascular disease prevention care in rural Nigeria. DESIGN: The step-by-step guideline provides practical recommendations on methods and data requirements for six sequential steps: 1) definition of the study perspective, 2) characterization of the unit of analysis, 3) identification of cost items, 4) measurement of cost items, 5) valuation of cost items, and 6) uncertainty analyses.Please provide the significance of asterisk given in table body. RESULTS: We discuss the necessary tradeoffs between the accuracy of estimates and data availability constraints at each step and illustrate how a mixed methodology of accurate bottom-up micro-costing and more feasible approaches can be used to make optimal use of all available data. An illustrative example from Nigeria is provided. CONCLUSIONS: An innovative, user-friendly guideline for disease-specific costing in LMICs is presented, using a mixed methodology to account for limited data availability. The illustrative example showed that the step-by-step guideline can be used by healthcare professionals in LMICs to conduct feasible and accurate disease-specific cost analyses

Radiation tolerance of the CMS forward pixel detector

In this paper we present some results on the radiation tolerance of the CMS forward pixel detector. They were obtained from a beam test at Fermilab of a pixel-detector module, which was previously irradiated up to a maximum dose of 45 Mrad of protons at 200 MeV. It is shown that CMS forward pixel detector can tolerate this radiation dose without any major deterioration of its performance. © 2008 Elsevier B.V

Highly Charged Ions in Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Penning Traps

A newly constructed apparatus at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is designed for the isolation, manipulation, and study of highly charged ions. Highly charged ions are produced in the NIST electron-beam ion trap (EBIT), extracted through a beamline that selects a single mass/charge species, then captured in a compact Penning trap. The magnetic field of the trap is generated by cylindrical NdFeB permanent magnets integrated into its electrodes. In a room-temperature prototype trap with a single NdFeB magnet, species including Ne10+ and N7+ were confined with storage times of order 1 second, showing the potential of this setup for manipulation and spectroscopy of highly charged ions in a controlled environment. Ion capture has since been demonstrated with similar storage times in a more-elaborate Penning trap that integrates two coaxial NdFeB magnets for improved B-field homogeneity. Ongoing experiments utilize a second-generation apparatus that incorporates this two-magnet Penning trap along with a fast time-of-flight MCP detector capable of resolving the charge-state evolution of trapped ions. Holes in the two-magnet Penning trap ring electrode allow for optical and atomic beam access. Possible applications include spectroscopic studies of one-electron ions in Rydberg states, as well as highly charged ions of interest in atomic physics, metrology, astrophysics, and plasma diagnostics.Comment: Proceedings of CDAMOP-2011, 13-16 Dec 2011, Delhi, India. To be published by Springer Verla

PPPC 4 DM ID: A Poor Particle Physicist Cookbook for Dark Matter Indirect Detection

We provide ingredients and recipes for computing signals of TeV-scale Dark Matter annihilations and decays in the Galaxy and beyond. For each DM channel, we present the energy spectra of electrons and positrons, antiprotons, antideuterons, gamma rays, neutrinos and antineutrinos e, mu, tau at production, computed by high-statistics simulations. We estimate the Monte Carlo uncertainty by comparing the results yielded by the Pythia and Herwig event generators. We then provide the propagation functions for charged particles in the Galaxy, for several DM distribution profiles and sets of propagation parameters. Propagation of electrons and positrons is performed with an improved semi-analytic method that takes into account position-dependent energy losses in the Milky Way. Using such propagation functions, we compute the energy spectra of electrons and positrons, antiprotons and antideuterons at the location of the Earth. We then present the gamma ray fluxes, both from prompt emission and from Inverse Compton scattering in the galactic halo. Finally, we provide the spectra of extragalactic gamma rays. All results are available in numerical form and ready to be consumed.Comment: 57 pages with many figures and tables. v4: updated to include a 125 higgs boson, computation and discussion of extragalactic spectra corrected, some other typos fixed; all these corrections and updates are reflected on the numerical ingredients available at http://www.marcocirelli.net/PPPC4DMID.html they correspond to Release 2.

The First Magnetic Fields

We review current ideas on the origin of galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. We begin by summarizing observations of magnetic fields at cosmological redshifts and on cosmological scales. These observations translate into constraints on the strength and scale magnetic fields must have during the early stages of galaxy formation in order to seed the galactic dynamo. We examine mechanisms for the generation of magnetic fields that operate prior during inflation and during subsequent phase transitions such as electroweak symmetry breaking and the quark-hadron phase transition. The implications of strong primordial magnetic fields for the reionization epoch as well as the first generation of stars is discussed in detail. The exotic, early-Universe mechanisms are contrasted with astrophysical processes that generate fields after recombination. For example, a Biermann-type battery can operate in a proto-galaxy during the early stages of structure formation. Moreover, magnetic fields in either an early generation of stars or active galactic nuclei can be dispersed into the intergalactic medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Pdf can be also downloaded from http://canopus.cnu.ac.kr/ryu/cosmic-mag1.pd