Accelerating video encoding using cluster computing

The great advance and variety of multimedia applications such as video streaming, TV broadcasting, and video conferencing stimulated research to enhance video encoding, where a video is reduced in size and possibly transformed to numerous formats for portability. This paper is concerned with solving the problem of the huge processing time taken by the serial video encoding approaches by proposing a hybrid-parallel video encoding technique to speed up the process. In this work, the Joint Scalable Video Model (JSVM 9.19.14) is chosen as the basic serial video encoding algorithm for building different parallel video encoding architectures. The proposed technique exploits the triple-step nature of JSVM and intelligently determines the best task organization to achieve speedup and increase the efficiency on a cluster computing platform. Moreover, a dynamic load sharing scheme is proposed to redistribute load among different machines for additional parallelism. The remarkable feature of our approach is that, both the granularity of load partitioning among the cluster machines and all the associated overheads are considered. The experimental results are applied on a compact library of 160 mp4 encoded videos and two other bench mark datasets. The results proves a significant improvement in performance in comparison to the sequential version; which ranges from 64.2% to 95.3%, for a cluster with a number of machines ranging from 2 to 20 respectively.

     

A real-time approach for automatic defect detection from PCBs based on SURF features and morphological operations

Multimedia Tools and Applications - This paper presents an automatic inspection approach for Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) with accurate determination of the fault location and identification of...     

Determination of methyl gallate in Bauhinia retusa extract by high-performance liquid and thin-layer chromatography

Two stability-indicating chromatographic methods are reported for the determination of methyl gallate in crude extracts of Bauhinia retusa. Separation by high performance thin layer chromatography was conducted on silica gel aluminum sheets using 9.5:0.5:0.2 (v/v/v) chloroform:methanol:acetic acid at 280 nm. The results from the 2–40 µg/band were used to prepare a linear calibration graph. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.5 and 1.5 µg/band, respectively. The reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic isolation of methyl gallate was performed at ambient temperature with an injection volume of 10 μL. The mobile phase consisted of 40:60 (v/v) methanol:0.1% ortho-phosphoric acid. The separation was performed at 1 mL/min using a detection wavelength of 280 nm. The calibration graph for methyl gallate was rectilinear from 0.02–40 µg/mL with limits of detection and quantitation of 0.004 and 0.010 µg/mL, respectively. For both methods, intra-day and inter-day precision were evaluated and the relative standard deviation was less than 2%, indicating good precision. The robustness was evaluated by making small and deliberate changes to appropriate parameters and the calculated relative standard deviation was less than 2%.The chromatographic methods were employed to determine methyl gallate in crude Bauhinia retusa extracts.     

Highly Stable Nonionic Fatliquors Based on Ethoxylated Overused Vegetable Oils

Overused vegetable oils, which are considered to be a waste and available in huge quantities after frying processes, were directly ethoxylated using a conventional cheap catalyst in order to obtain an economically valuable ethoxylated product to replace the imported intermediate derivatives and at the same time the environment will be rid of one of its pollutants. Therefore, this work was devoted to exploring its application as a fatliquoring agent in the leather industry. Overused sunflower and olein oils were directly ethoxylated using ethylene oxide gas in the presence of 3% KOH catalyst at 180 °C for 20 h. The prepared products were applied as nonionic fatliquors. The fatliquoring process is the operation in which a fatty matter is introduced into the leather fibers. The results obtained showed that the prepared ethoxylated overused oils were effective fatliquors with high HLB values giving stable oil in water emulsion as well as high stability against acid, alkali and different metallic salts. The fatliquored leather had improved mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation at break. In addition, a significant enhancement of the texture of the treated leather by the two prepared fatliquors as indicated from the scanning electron microscope images was observed. Also the results indicated that ethoxylated overused sunflower oil gave better results than those of ethoxylated overused olein oil.     

Small/medium nuclear reactors for potential desalination applications : Mini review

Small/medium nuclear reactors (SMRs) are a promising alternative for powering large scale desalination plants. The modern generations of these systems manifest cost effectiveness and built-in safety features. The compatibility with geological and topological challenges is an added advantage. Moreover, funding opportunities and packages could be easily arranged for small/medium nuclear reactors (SMR). This mini review article provides the latest technical features of SMR nuclear plants with emphasis on pressurized light water reactors (PWR), boiling water reactors (BWR), heavy water reactors (HWR), gas cooled reactors (GCR), and liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR). Preliminary cost indicators for typical units were investigated as a part of joint effort to develop a cost database for these types of reactors. Security and safety features of small/medium reactors are identified and reviewed. This paper identifies and briefly discusses the various types of small/medium nuclear reactors to provide a preliminary evaluation and consideration of using this type of reactor in potential seawater desalination applications.     

Antioxidant properties and composition of Majorana syriaca extracts

Majorana syriaca is an important food‐flavouring ingredient in the Middle Eastern culture known commonly as Za'atar. The components of the plant were extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus sequentially with solvents of increasing polarity, specifically with petroleum ether (P), diethyl ether (D), ethyl acetate (EAc), and ethanol (E). The activity of the extracts to scavenge the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH^?) followed the order D > E > EAc > P. Moreover, the antioxidant activity in corn oil at concentrations of 200, 500 and 1000 ppm was monitored through peroxide value and conjugated hydroperoxide measurements and revealed that D and E extracts resulted in the highest protection followed by EAc and P extracts. Increasing the concentration from 200 to 500 ppm depressed peroxide formation, while a further increase had no effect. The main components of the P extract according to GS‐MS analysis were thymol (42.89%) and carvacrol (42.75%). The remaining extracts comprise flavonoids and phenolic acids that provide the antiradical and antioxidant activity.     

Comparative lyophilized platelet-rich plasma wafer and powder for wound-healing enhancement: formulation,in vitro and in vivo studies

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) accelerates wound healing, as it is an excellent source of growth factors. PRP was separated from whole human blood by centrifugation. PRP powder and wafers were prepared by lyophilization, with the wafers prepared using sodium carboxymethylcellulose (Na CMC). The PRP wafers showed porous structures, as indicated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, and the ability of the wafer to absorb exudates and thus promote wound healing was tested with the hydration capacity test. The platelet count was tested and indicated that the presence of PRP in the wafers had no effect on the platelet count. An antimicrobial activity test was carried out, showing that PRP had antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Compared with lyophilized PRP powder and PRP-free wafers, PRP wafers showed the highest percent of wound size reduction on induced wounds in rats. Histopathological examination of rat skin showed that the PRP wafers achieved the shortest healing time, followed by the lyophilized PRP powder and finally the PRP-free wafers. The present study revealed that PRP can be formulated as a wafer, which is a promising pharmaceutical delivery system that can be used for enhanced wound-healing activity and improved the ease of application compared to lyophilized PRP powder.     

Determination of Sensory Thresholds of Selected Calcium Salts and Formulation of Calcium-fortified Pocket-type Flat Bread

Pita bread loaves were prepared from flours fortified with calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and tricalcium dicitrate at 8 ascending levels to provide ranges of 800 to 2500, 700 to 1500, and 400 to 2000 mg of added Ca/100 g flour, respectively. The detection thresholds of calcium salts in pita bread were determined by the 3‐alter‐native forced choice (3‐AFC) test and construction of dose‐response curves. Detection thresholds determined by calculating geometric mean of individual best estimate thresholds, using criterion of 50%‐above‐chance and probit analysis of 3‐AFC data, were in the middle region of calcium concentrations. Analysis of dose‐response curves yielded values for thresholds outside the range of surveyed calcium concentrations. The detection threshold of CaSO₄ (2724 mg/100 g) in pita bread was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those of calcium carbonate (1984 mg/100 g) and tricalcium dicitrate (2132 mg/100 g). Calcium‐fortified pita bread was similar (P < 0.01) to its regular counterpart when formulated to contain 1254.6, 1772.5, or 1155 mg/100 g of CaCO₃, CaSO₄, or tricalcium dicitrate, respectively. At the indicated levels of fortification, calcium‐fortified pita bread is expected to provide between 61% and 126.5% of the recommended daily intake for calcium for Middle Eastern populations.