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High-Throughput Identification and Classification Algorithm for Leukemia Population Statistics

Abstract:
Early detection of leukemia and reduced risk to human health can result from interdisciplinary integration of image analysis with clinical experimental results. Image analysis relies on efficient and reliable processing algorithms to make quantitative judgments on image data. This article presents the design and implementation of an efficient and high-throughput leukemia cell count and cluster classification algorithm to automatically quantify leukemia population statistics in the field of view. The algorithm is divided into two stages: (1) the cell identification stage and (2) the cell classification and inspection stage. The cell identification stage accurately segments background and noise from foreground pixels. A boundary box is generated enclosing the foreground pixels identifying all isolated cells and cell clusters. The cell classification and inspection stage uses one-dimensional intensity profiles that behave as signature plots to segregate isolated cells from cell clusters and evaluate total count within each cluster. The designed algorithm is tested with a variety of leukemia cell images that vary in image acquisition conditions, image sizes, cell sizes, intensity distributions, and image quality. The proposed algorithm demonstrates good potential in processing both ideal and nonideal images with an average accuracy of 91% and average processing time of 3 s. The performance of the proposed algorithm in comparison to recently published algorithms and commercial image analysis tool further ascertains its robustness.

Brinda Prasad and Wael Badawy, “High-Throughput Identification and Classification Algorithm for Leukemia Population Statistics,” The Journal of Imaging Science and Technology 52(3), 2008.

Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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DVD – Region Codes

What are region codes?Region encoding is the mechanism that enables motion picture studios to control the worldwide release of their movies. It is required by the DVD Forum (https://www.dvdforum.org/forum.shtml) in all commercial hardware DVD players. Every DVD-Video disc contains one byte of data representing a region code, which limits where the disc can be played. Region codes correspond to the following areas of the globe:

  1. Canada, United States, and U.S. territories
  2. Japan, Middle East, South Africa, Western Europe
  3. East Asia, Southeast Asia
  4. Australia, Caribbean islands, Central America, Mexico, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, South America
  5. Africa, Eastern Europe, India, Mongolia, North Korea
  6. China
  7. Reserved
  8. Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, and so forth)

How is the region code set?

The first time you insert a DVD disc in Mac OS X v10.3 or later:

  • If the disc only supports one region, the DVD drive is set to that region. No dialog box appears if you are logged in as an admin user. This will automatically count against the number of times you can change the region setting (see below).
  • If the disc supports more than one region, or is region-free, the below dialog appears asking you to choose a region for your DVD drive.

If you later insert a DVD that uses a different region, the above dialog will appear.

You can change the region setting up to 5 times, as indicated in the dialog box. On the fifth time, the drive is permanently set to use that region, and you cannot make any more changes. For example, imagine you have both a Region 1 and Region 2 DVD-Video disc. You insert the Region 1 disc and DVD Player is now set to play only Region 1 discs. You insert the Region 2 disc, and set the drive to play only Region 2 discs. If you continue to switch between the discs, on the fifth time the DVD drive is permanently set to use the region of that disc.

Learn more

Discs with the region byte set to all zeros (sometimes called Region 0) can be played in any part of the world. Region 0 DVD-Video discs, such as those created by iDVD, do not have a geographical boundary. However, your DVD player and television must be compatible with the video standard used to record the movie on the disc. You should be able to play any Region 0 DVD disc with the DVD Player application since it is compatible with these video standards.

DVD players are generally limited to playing discs of only one region—usually the region where the DVD player was purchased. For example, DVD players purchased in Canada usually only play Region 1 DVD-Video discs.

This blog is inspired by Amy Maria  https://www.facebook.com/amy.maria.965

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A Robust Video-Based Algorithm for Detecting Snow Movement in Traffic Scenes

Abstract

Video-based Automatic Incident Detection (AID) systems are widely deployed in many cities for detecting traffic incidents to provide smoother, safer and congestion free traffic flow. However, the accuracy of an AID system operating in an outdoor environment suffers from high false alarm rates due to environmental factors. These factors include snow movement, static shadow and static glare on the roads. In this paper, a robust real-time algorithm is proposed to detect snow movement in video streams to improve the rate of detection. This is done by having the AID system reducing its sensitivity in the areas that have snow movements. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using traffic videos captured from several cameras at the City of Calgary.

Jun Cai, Mohamed Shehata, Wael Badawy, “A Robust Video-Based Algorithm for Detecting Snow Movement in Traffic Scenes”, The Journal of VLSI Signal Processing Systems for Signal, Image, and Video Technology, Special Issue on Signal Processing Systems, Volume 56, Numbers 2-3 / September, 2009, pp. 307-326.

 Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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WHAT IS NTSC AND PAL STANDARD?

Although VHS video format is the same throughout the World, the video standard or electronic signal that is recorded on the cassette varies from country to country. The two most common video standards used are NTSC and PAL.

NTSC is the video system or standard used in North America and most of South America. In NTSC, 30 frames are transmitted each second. Each frame is made up of 525 individual scan lines.

PAL is the predominant video system or standard mostly used overseas. In PAL, 25 frames are transmitted each second. Each frame is made up of 625 individual scan lines.

 

There are other format as follows:

NTSC: National Television System Committee. Developed in the USA, also used by other countries. Utilizing the USA power net 60Hz as refreshing frequency

PAL: Phase Alternation Line. Developed in Germany, also used by other countries. Utilizing the European power net 50Hz as refreshing frequency.

SECAM: Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire. Developed in France also used by other countries. Utilizing the European power net 50Hz as refreshing frequency.

MESECAM: Mediterranean SECAM, a SECAM sub-standard developed for use in the Middle East and still used by a few countries. TV reception and playback may be viewed with both PAL and SECAM TV sets.

PAL-60: A substandard of PAL used by some countries, utilizing 60Hz instead of 50Hz refreshing frequency.

NTSC 4.43: An NTSC substandard. Most modern playback machines are dual mode and will switch automatically between versions 3.XX and 4.XX. Older machines may require manual switching or an additional external converter.

 

 

Here is a list of the countries and there popular formats:

 

COUNTRY VHF UHF DVD REGIONS
AFGHANISTAN PAL/SECAM B  5
ALBANIA PAL B PAL G  2
ALGERIA PAL B PAL G  5
ANGOLA PAL I  5
ARGENTINA PAL N PAL N  4
AUSTRALIA PAL B PAL G  4
AUSTRIA PAL B PAL G  2
AZORES PAL B
BAHAMAS NTSC M  4
BAHRAIN PAL B PAL G  2
BANGLADESH PAL B  5
BARBADOS NTSC M  4
BELGIUM PAL B PAL H  2
BERMUDA NTSC M
BOLIVIA NTSC M NTSC M  4
BOTSWANA PAL I  5
BRAZIL PAL M PAL M  4
BRUNEI PAL B PAL B
BULGARIA SECAM D SECAM K  2
BURKINA FASO SECAM K1  5
BURMA NTSC M
BURUNDI SECAM K1  5
CAMBODIA NTSC M  3
CAMEROON PAL B PAL G  5
CANADA NTSC M NTSC M < 1
CANARY ISLANDS PAL B  2
CHAD SECAM K1  5
CHILE NTSC M NTSC M  4
CHINA PAL D  6
COLOMBIA NTSC M NTSC M  4
COSTA RICA NTSC M NTSC M  4
CROATIA PAL B PAL G  2
CUBA NTSC M NTSC M  4
CYPRUS PAL B< PAL G
CZECH REPUBLIC PAL D PAL K  2
DAHOMEY SECAM K1
DENMARK PAL B PAL G  2
DJIBOUTI SECAM B SECAM G  5
DOMINICAN REP NTSC M NTSC M  4
ECUADOR NTSC M NTSC M  4
EGYPT SECAM B/PAL B SECAM G/PAL G  2
EL SALVADOR NTSC M NTSC M  4
EQUAT. GUINEA PAL B  5
ESTONIA PAL B (was SECAM) PAL D  5
ETHIOPIA PAL B PAL G  5
FIJI PAL B
FINLAND PAL B PAL G  2
FRANCE SECAM L SECAM L  2
FRENCH POLYNESIA SECAM K1
GABON SECAM K1  5
GAMBIA PAL I  5
GERMANY PAL B PAL G  2
GHANA PAL B PAL G  5
GIBRALTAR PAL B PAL H  2
GREECE PAL B (was SECAM) PAL G  2
GREENLAND NTSC/PAL B  2
GUADELOUPE SECAM K1
GUAM NTSC M  1
GUATEMALA NTSC M NTSC M  4
GUINEA PAL K  5
GUYANA (FRENCH) SECAM K1  4
HONDURAS NTSC M NTSC M  4
HONG KONG PAL I  3
HUNGARY SECAM D/PAL SECAM K/PAL  2
ICELAND PAL B PAL G  2
INDIA PAL B  5
INDONESIA PAL B PAL G  3
IRAN SECAM B SECAM G  2
IRAQ SECAM B  2
IRELAND PAL I PAL I  2
ISRAEL PAL B PAL G  2
ITALY PAL B PAL G  2
IVORY COAST SECAM K1  5
JAMAICA NTSC M  4
JAPAN NTSC M NTSC M  2
JORDAN PAL B PAL G  2
KENYA PAL B PAL G  5
KOREA NORTH PAL  5
KOREA SOUTH NTSC M NTSC M  3
KUWAIT PAL B  2
LATVIA PAL D (was SECAM) PAL K  5
LEBANON SECAM B SECAM G  2
LIBERIA PAL B PAL H  5
LIBYA SECAM B SECAM G  5
LITHUANIA PAL D (was SECAM) PAL K  5
LUXEMBOURG PAL B/SECAM L PAL G/SEC L  2
MADAGASCAR SECAM K1  5
MADEIRA PAL B
MALAGASY SECAM K1
MALAWI PAL B PAL G  5
MALAYSIA PAL B  3
MALI SECAM K1  5
MALTA PAL B PAL H  2
MARTINIQUE SECAM K1
MAURITANIA SECAM B  5
MAURITIUS SECAM B  5
MEXICO NTSC M NTSC M  4
MONACO SECAM L  2
MONGOLIA SECAM D  5
MOROCCO SECAM B  5
MOZAMBIQUE PAL B  5
NAMIBIA PAL I  5
NEPAL PAL B
NETHERLANDS PAL B PAL G  2
NETH. ANTILLES NTSC M NTSC M
NEW CALEDONIA SECAM K1
NEW GUINEA PAL B PAL G  4
NEW ZEALAND PAL B PAL G  4
NICARAGUA NTSC M NTSC M  4
NIGER SECAM K1  5
NIGERIA PAL B PAL G  5
NORWAY PAL B PAL G  2
OMAN PAL B PAL G  2
PAKISTAN PAL B  5
PANAMA NTSC M NTSC M  4
PARAGUAY (was PAL N) NTSC M (was PAL N) NTSC M  4
PERU NTSC M NTSC M  4
PHILIPPINES NTSC M NTSC M  3
POLAND PAL D PAL K  2
PORTUGAL PAL B PAL G  2
PUERTO RICO NTSC M NTSC M  1
QATAR PAL B  2
REUNION SECAM K1
RUMANIA PAL D PAL K  2
RUSSIA SECAM D SECAM K  5
RWANDA SECAM K1  5
SABAH/SAWARA PAL B
ST. KITTS NTSC M NTSC M
SAMOA (US) NTSC M  1
SAUDI ARABIA SECAM-B/PAL-B SECAM G  2
SENEGAL PAL  5
SEYCHELLES PAL B PAL G  5
SIERRA LEONE PAL B PAL G  5
SINGAPORE PAL B PAL G
SLOVAK REPUBLIC PAL PAL  2
SOMALIA PAL B PAL G  5
SOUTH AFRICA PAL I PAL I  2
SPAIN PAL B PAL G  2
SRI LANKA PAL B  5
SUDAN PAL B PAL G  5
SURINAM NTSC M NTSC M  4
SWAZILAND PAL B PAL G
SWEDEN PAL B PAL G  2
SWITZERLAND PAL B PAL G  2
SYRIA SECAM B  2
TAHITI SECAM K1
TAIWAN NTSC M NTSC M  3
TANZANIA PAL B PAL B  5
THAILAND PAL B  3
TOGO SECAM K  5
TRINIDAD TOBAGO NTSC M NTSC M  4
TUNISIA SECAM B  5
TURKEY PAL B PAL G
UGANDA PAL B PAL G  5
UKRAINE PAL / SECAM D-K  5
UNITED ARAB EMIR. PAL B PAL G  2
UNITED KINGDOM PAL I  2
UPPER VOLTA SECAM K1
URUGUAY PAL N PAL N  4
USA NTSC M NTSC M  1
VENEZUELA NTSC M NTSC M  4
VIETNAM PAL B PAL G  3
YEMEN PAL B  2
YUGOSLAVIA PAL B PAL G  2
ZAIRE SECAM K1
ZAMBIA PAL B PAL G  5
ZIMBABWE PAL B PAL G  5

 

 

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Towards an H.264/AVC HW/SW Integrated Solution: An Efficient VBSME Architecture

Abstract:

This paper presents an efficient real-time variable block size motion estimation architecture. The proposed architecture provides motion vectors for each 16 times 16 block and its 40 sub-blocks. The proposed architecture is a single-instruction multiple-data architecture integrated with embedded SRAMs on one chip. The architecture has been prototyped using Xilinx Virtex-4 XC4VSX35-10 field-programmable gate array. It processes 30-CIF fps using 71-MHz clock frequency. Its maximum clock frequencyuency is 187.7 MHz and the maximum throughput is 20 4CIF fps. The prototyped architecture has 175 k gates and 18 kbits embedded SRAM.

Published in:

Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, IEEE Transactions on  (Volume:55 ,  Issue: 9 )

Mohammed Sayed, Wael Badawy, and Graham Jullien, “Towards an H.264/AVC HW/SW Integrated Solution: An Efficient VBSME Architecture”, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, Volume: 55, Issue: 9, pp. 912-916, Sept. 2008.

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An Architecture for Programmable Multi-core IP Accelerated Platform with an Advanced Application of H.264 Codec Implementation

Abstract

A new integrated programmable platform architecture is presented, with the support of multiple accelerators and extensible processing cores. An advanced application for this architecture is to facilitate the implementation of H.264 baseline profile video codec. The platform architecture employs the novel concept of virtual socket and optimized memory access to increase the efficiency for video encoding. The proposed architecture is mapped on an integrated FPGA device, Annapolis WildCard-II™ or WildCard-4™, for verification. According to the evaluation under different configurations, the results show that the overall performance of the architecture, with the integrated accelerators, can sufficiently meet the real-time encoding requirement for H.264 BP at basic levels, and achieve about 2–5.5 and 1–3 dB improvement, in terms of PSNR, as compared with MPEG-2 MP and MPEG-4 SP, respectively. The architecture is highly extensible, and thus can be utilized to benefit the development of multi-standard video codec beyond the description in this paper.

Yifeng Qiu, Wael Badawy and Robert Turney, “An Architecture for Programmable Multi-core IP Accelerated Platform with an Advanced Application of H.264 Codec Implementation” Journal of Signal Processing Systems, Volume 57, Number 2 / November, 2009, 123-137.

 Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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Interpolation-Free Fractional-Pixel Motion Estimation Algorithms with Efficient Hardware Implementation`

Abstract

This paper presents interpolation-free fractional-pixel motion estimation (FME) algorithms and efficient hardware prototype of one of the proposed FME algorithms. The proposed algorithms use a mathematical model to approximate the matching error at fractional-pixel locations instead of using the block matching algorithm to evaluate the actual matching error. Hence, no interpolation is required at fractional-pixel locations. The matching error values at integer-pixel locations are used to evaluate the mathematical model coefficients. The performance of the proposed algorithms has been compared with several FME algorithms including the full quarter-pixel search (FQPS) algorithm, which is used as part of the H.264 reference software. The computational cost and the performance analysis show that the proposed algorithms have about 90% less computational complexity than the FQPS algorithm with comparable reconstruction video quality (i.e., approximately 0.2 dB lower reconstruction PSNR values). In addition, a hardware prototype of one of the proposed algorithms is presented. The proposed architecture has been prototyped using the TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology. It has maximum clock frequency of 312.5 MHz, at which, the proposed architecture can process more than 70 HDTV 1080p fps. The architecture has only 13,650 gates. The proposed architecture shows superior performance when compared with several FME architectures.

M. Sayed, W. Badawy, and G. Jullien, “Interpolation-Free Fractional-Pixel Motion Estimation Algorithms with Efficient Hardware Implementation,” the Journal of Signal Processing Systems. Volume 67, Issue 2 , pp 139-155, May 2012.
 Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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A Prototyping Virtual Socket System-On-Platform Architecture with a Novel ACQPPS Motion Estimator for H.264 Video Encoding Applications

Abstract

H.264 delivers the streaming video in high quality for various applications. The coding tools involved in H.264, however, make its video codec implementation very complicated, raising the need for algorithm optimization, and hardware acceleration. In this paper, a novel adaptive crossed quarter polar pattern search (ACQPPS) algorithm is proposed to realize an enhanced inter prediction for H.264. Moreover, an efficient prototyping system-on-platform architecture is also presented, which can be utilized for a realization of H.264 baseline profile encoder with the support of integrated ACQPPS motion estimator and related video IP accelerators. The implementation results show that ACQPPS motion estimator can achieve very high estimated image quality comparable to that from the full search method, in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), while keeping the complexity at an extremely low level. With the integrated IP accelerators and optimized techniques, the proposed system-on-platform architecture sufficiently supports the H.264 real-time encoding with the low cost.

Download A Prototyping Virtual Socket System-On-Platform Architecture with a Novel ACQPPS Motion Estimator for H.264 Video Encoding Applications

 

Yifeng Qiu and Wael Badawy, “A Prototyping Virtual Socket System-On-Platform Architecture with a Novel ACQPPS Motion Estimator for H.264 Video Encoding Applications” EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems, Volume 2009

Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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Efficient Variable Block Size Selection for AVC Low Bitrate Applications

 

ABSTRACT

The Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard proposes the usage of Variable Block Size (VBS) motion-compensated prediction and mode decision aiming for an optimized Rate-Distortion (R-D) performance. Unlike Fixed Block Size (FBS) motion-compensated prediction, where all regions of the pictures are treated similarly in terms of temporal prediction, VBS increases the efficiency of encoding by allowing more active regions to be represented with more bits than less active ones. The main concern regarding the usage of VBS motion-compensated prediction is the dramatic increase it adds to the encoder computational requirements, which not only prevents the encoder from satisfying real-time constraints, but also makes it impractical for hardware implementation. This paper presents an efficient VBS selection scheme, which can be applied to any VBS Motion Estimation (ME) module, leading to significant reduction in its computational requirements with minor loss in the quality of the reconstructed picture. The computational requirements reduction is achieved by minimizing the number of required ME searches and simplifying the Mode Decision (MD) operation. In order to meet different applications’ demands, the proposed algorithm can be adjusted to function at any of three operating points, trading off computational requirements with R-D performance. In the paper, the algorithm is described in detail, focusing on the theoretical computational requirements savings. This theoretical analysis is then supported with simulation results performed on three benchmark video sequences with various types of motion. Keywords-H.264/AVC, motion estimation, variable block size.

 

Download from here

Reference: Ihab Amer, Wael Badawy, Graham Jullien, Adrian Chirila-Rus, Robert Turney, and Rana Hamed, “Efficient Variable Block Size Selection for AVC Low Bitrate Applications,” IARIA on-line journals, 2010 Vol. 1&2, July 2010.

Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications

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Self-Represented Litigant is a choice

Self-Represented Litigant: A person (party) who advocates on his or her own behalf before a court, rather than being represented by an attorney. These litigants are also known as pro se or pro per litigants.

Cases with Self-Represented Litigants: Legal cases in which one or more parties is self-represented.

People may be self-represented for many reasons, and for the most part do not choose to be self- represented. SRLs are often particularly vulnerable in terms of a relative lack of education, income and assets. They may be grouped into seven overlapping categories:

  • People with a lack of social resources (low income, low education, low literacy, etc.).
  • Low income SRLs with some social resources (people who cannot afford a lawyer but who have sufficient social resources and education to seek available services).
  • SRLs living with social barriers that interfere with accessing justice (i.e. people living with challenges resulting from physical or mental differences, language and cultural barriers, people living in remote locations, etc.).
  • SRLs who are unable to find a lawyer (usually people who live in small towns or remote areas).
  • SRLs who were previously represented but who are no longer represented (usually in lengthy cases with no permanent resolution).
  • SRLs in cases where representation is said not to be necessary (i.e. small claims, traffic court, etc.).
  • SRLs who could access representation but prefer to self-represent (usually well-educated people who distrust the legal profession). SRLs in this category have been found to be a significant minority of the overall SRL population.

SRL is a choice that we all can make and we can Win!!!