Multimodality Medical Image Fusion Using Clustered Dictionary Learning in Non-Subsampled Shearlet Transform.

Imaging data fusion is becoming a bottleneck in clinical applications and translational research in medical imaging. This study aims to incorporate a novel multimodality medical image fusion technique into the shearlet domain. The proposed method uses the non-subsampled shearlet transform (NSST) to extract both low- and high-frequency image components. A novel approach is proposed for fusing low-frequency components using a modified sum-modified Laplacian (MSML)-based clustered dictionary learning technique. In the NSST domain, directed contrast can be used to fuse high-frequency coefficients. Using the inverse NSST method, a multimodal medical image is obtained. Compared to state-of-the-art fusion techniques, the proposed method provides superior edge preservation. According to performance metrics, the proposed method is shown to be approximately 10% better than existing methods in terms of standard deviation, mutual information, etc. Additionally, the proposed method produces excellent visual results regarding edge preservation, texture preservation, and more information.

Impact of Packet Loss Rate on Quality of Compressed High Resolution Videos.

Video delivered over IP networks in real-time applications, which utilize RTP protocol over unreliable UDP such as videotelephony or live-streaming, is often prone to degradation caused by multiple sources. The most significant is the combined effect of video compression and its transmission over the communication channel. This paper analyzes the adverse impact of packet loss on video quality encoded with various combinations of compression parameters and resolutions. For the purposes of the research, a dataset containing 11,200 full HD and ultra HD video sequences encoded to H.264 and H.265 formats at five bit rates was compiled with a simulated packet loss rate (PLR) ranging from 0 to 1%. Objective assessment was conducted by using peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) metrics, whereas the well-known absolute category rating (ACR) was used for subjective evaluation. Analysis of the results confirmed the presumption that video quality decreases along with the rise of packet loss rate, regardless of compression parameters. The experiments further led to a finding that the quality of sequences affected by PLR declines with increasing bit rate. Additionally, the paper includes recommendations of compression parameters for use under various network conditions.

A Performance Benchmark for Dedicated Short-Range Communications and LTE-Based Cellular-V2X in the Context of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication and Urban Scenarios.

For more than a decade, communication systems based on the IEEE 802.11p technology-often referred to as Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC)-have been considered a de facto industry standard for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication. The technology, however, is often criticized for its poor scalability, its suboptimal channel access method, and the need to install additional roadside infrastructure. In 3GPP Release 14, the functionality of existing cellular networks has been extended to support V2X use cases in an attempt to address the well-known drawbacks of the DSRC. In this paper, we present a complex simulation study in order to benchmark both technologies in a V2I communication context and an urban scenario. In particular, we compare the DSRC, LTE in the infrastructural mode (LTE-I), and LTE Device-to-Device (LTE-D2D) mode 3 in terms of the average end-to-end delay and Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) under varying communication conditions achieved through the variation of the communication perimeter, message generation frequency, and road traffic intensity. The obtained results are put into the context of the networking and connectivity requirements of the most popular V2I C-ITS services. The simulation results indicate that only the DSRC technology is able to support the investigated V2I communication scenarios without any major limitations, achieving an average end-to-end delay of less than 100 milliseconds and a PDR above 96% in all of the investigated simulation scenarios. The LTE-I is applicable for the most of the low-frequency V2I services in a limited communication perimeter (<600 m) and for lower traffic intensities (<1000 vehicles per hour), achieving a delay pf less than 500 milliseconds and a PDR of up to 92%. The LTE-D2D in mode 3 achieves too great of an end-to-end delay (above 1000 milliseconds) and a PDR below 72%; thus, it is not suitable for the V2I services under consideration in a perimeter larger than 200 m. Moreover, the LTE-D2D mode 3 is very sensitive to the distance between the transmitter and its serving eNodeB, which heavily impacts the PDR achieved.

Adaptive Reservation of Network Resources According to Video Classification Scenes.

Video quality evaluation needs a combined approach that includes subjective and objective metrics, testing, and monitoring of the network. This paper deals with the novel approach of mapping quality of service (QoS) to quality of experience (QoE) using QoE metrics to determine user satisfaction limits, and applying QoS tools to provide the minimum QoE expected by users. Our aim was to connect objective estimations of video quality with the subjective estimations. A comprehensive tool for the estimation of the subjective evaluation is proposed. This new idea is based on the evaluation and marking of video sequences using the sentinel flag derived from spatial information (SI) and temporal information (TI) in individual video frames. The authors of this paper created a video database for quality evaluation, and derived SI and TI from each video sequence for classifying the scenes. Video scenes from the database were evaluated by objective and subjective assessment. Based on the results, a new model for prediction of subjective quality is defined and presented in this paper. This quality is predicted using an artificial neural network based on the objective evaluation and the type of video sequences defined by qualitative parameters such as resolution, compression standard, and bitstream. Furthermore, the authors created an optimum mapping function to define the threshold for the variable bitrate setting based on the flag in the video, determining the type of scene in the proposed model. This function allows one to allocate a bitrate dynamically for a particular segment of the scene and maintains the desired quality. Our proposed model can help video service providers with the increasing the comfort of the end users. The variable bitstream ensures consistent video quality and customer satisfaction, while network resources are used effectively. The proposed model can also predict the appropriate bitrate based on the required quality of video sequences, defined using either objective or subjective assessment.

Impact of Scene Content on High Resolution Video Quality.

This paper deals with the impact of content on the perceived video quality evaluated using the subjective Absolute Category Rating (ACR) method. The assessment was conducted on eight types of video sequences with diverse content obtained from the SJTU dataset. The sequences were encoded at 5 different constant bitrates in two widely video compression standards H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC at Full HD and Ultra HD resolutions, which means 160 annotated video sequences were created. The length of Group of Pictures (GOP) was set to half the framerate value, as is typical for video intended for transmission over a noisy communication channel. The evaluation was performed in two laboratories: one situated at the University of Zilina, and the second at the VSB-Technical University in Ostrava. The results acquired in both laboratories reached/showed a high correlation. Notwithstanding the fact that the sequences with low Spatial Information (SI) and Temporal Information (TI) values reached better Mean Opinion Score (MOS) score than the sequences with higher SI and TI values, these two parameters are not sufficient for scene description, and this domain should be the subject of further research. The evaluation results led us to the conclusion that it is unnecessary to use the H.265/HEVC codec for compression of Full HD sequences and the compression efficiency of the H.265 codec by the Ultra HD resolution reaches the compression efficiency of both codecs by the Full HD resolution. This paper also includes the recommendations for minimum bitrate thresholds at which the video sequences at both resolutions retain good and fair subjectively perceived quality.

Exploiting Direct Link in Two-Way Half-Duplex Sensor Network over Block Rayleigh Fading Channel: Upper Bound Ergodic Capacity and Exact SER Analysis.

Relay communication, in which the relay forwards the signal received by a source to a destination, has a massive consideration in research, due to its ability to expand the coverage, increase the capacity, and reduce the power consumption. In this paper, we proposed and investigated energy harvesting (EH) based two-way half-duplex (TWHD) relaying sensors network using selection combining (SC) over block Rayleigh fading channel. In this model, we proposed the direct link between two sources for improving the system performance. For the system performance analysis, we investigated and derived the closed-form of the exact and upper bound Ergodic capacity (EC) and the exact form of the symbol error ratio (SER). By using the Monte Carlo simulation, the correctness of the research results is verified in the influence of the main system parameters. From the discussions, we can see that the analytical and simulation agree well with each other.