Hypertension in Clinical Practice: Control Rate in Short Term and Associated Factors in the Cardiology Department of the University Hospital Gabriel Touré(UH-GT) in Bamako (Mali)

Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is for many decades a worldwide major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.However, hypertension control rates are globally low in the world. Studies on observance have been published in Mali but there is to our knowledge no published data about HTN control rate. We therefore conducted this study to assess the control rate in short term after 3 months management and to look for factors associated with HTN control. Materials and Methods: This study designed as prospective was conducted in the cardiology department of the University Hospital Gabriel Touré (UH-GT) from March 24 to September 24, 2017. All outpatients aged 18 years and more who came for visit and with hypertension as diagnose were involved. All patients have consented to participate in the study. Sociodemographic and data on physical examination including measures for BP, height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and direct costs as reported by the patients were recorded. Patients were asked about medication discontinuation and if yes why and then they were informed about the need to take regularly medication. The concept of chronic disease was explained to them. A formulary served to collect data that were inserted into a Microsoft Access database and analyzed using SPSS version 18. After describing of sociodemographics and continuous variables, crosstabs and finally a logistic regression was performed to look for blood pressure control predictors. Results: There was no statistical difference in sociodemographics between older and newly diagnosed patients. At 3 months globally 40.90% (31.1 for old Patients and 09.8% for newPatients) of the sample were controlled (Figure 1). For old patients, hypertension control rate at inclusion was 12.78% and reached 49.44% at 3 months (Figure 2). After logistic regression only HTN duration was significant predictor with Odd-ratio of 0.365 [0.213 - 0.624] 95% CI and p-value patients as reference). During the study period therapeutic regimen remained unchanged in 73.1% (44.4 for old Patients and 28.7 for newPatients. Calcium channel blocker (CCB), diuretics (DIU) and ACE-inhibitors (ACE-I) were the most prescribed drugs without statistical difference between patients with and without blood pressure under control. Conclusion: Short term hypertension control rate is low and patient follow-up must incorporate information at each visit as well as information through others channels for preventing hypertension. The duration of hypertension was found to be predictor for hypertension control.

Screening, Treatment and Control of High Blood Pressure on Five Sites in Mali

Introduction: High blood pressure is defined as blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg for systolic and or 90 mm Hg for diastolic. It constitutes a major public health problem, the leading chronic disease in the world. The objective was to determine the prevalence, treatment rate and control of hypertension. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study which took place over a period of 6 months in a hospital environment and in the general population. Results: Of the 1000 participants, 637 had hypertension, giving a prevalence of 63.70% with a female predominance. Thirty-three percent (33%) were unaware of their high blood pressure. The age group 60 and more was the most represented (44%). A proportion of 33 and 23.20 were overweight and obese participants, respectively. Male subjects were more overweight than female, unlike obesity which was more common among female subjects. Sixty-two percent (62%) of hypertensives were treated, of whom 44% were non-compliant. The excessively high cost and consumption of medications as needed were the main factors in therapeutic non-compliance. Twenty-two percent (22%) of all hypertensive patients and 35% of treated hypertensive patients were controlled. Women were more treated but less observant and less controlled than men. Therapeutic coverage and combination therapy rates were lower in rural areas. Hypertensives who had a high level of education were better treated and controlled than those who had no level. Conclusion: High blood pressure remains a real public health problem in Mali. It is more common in people aged 60 and over and in females. One in three hypertensives were unaware of their hypertension. The majority received antihypertensive treatments, but only a minority of them had their hypertension controlled.

A rate control scheme for H.264 video under low bandwidth channel

The dilemma of the quantization parameter (QP) being involved in both rate control and rate-distortion optimization (RDO) prevents using the traditional rate control scheme. Although some rate control schemes are proposed to circumvent the dilemma, the inaccurate prediction model and improper bit allocation deter H.264 application on low bandwidth channel. To resolve this issue, this paper proposes a novel rate control scheme by considering the macroblock (MB) encoding complexity variation and buffer variation and by exploiting the spatio-temporal correlation sufficiently well. Simulations showed that this scheme improves the perceptual quality of the pictures with similar or smaller PSNR deviations when compared to that of rate control in JVT-O016.

Efficient Rate Control for Motion JPEG2000 under Constraint Memory

Fine scalability can provide not only precise rate control for constant bitrate (CBR) traffic, but also accurate quality control for variable bitrate (VBR) traffic. Motion JPEG2000 is a codec that can provide fine scalability with bitstreams. An efficient rate control approach utilizing a single buffer and two kinds of threshold for Motion JPEG2000 under resource constraint was proposed, which can offer good result in the constant quality video.

RATE CONTROL ALGORITHM FOR H.264 VIDEO ENCODER

This letter proposes a rate control algorithm for H.264 video encoder, which is based on block activity and buffer state. Experimental results indicate that it has an excellent performance by providing much accurate bit rate and better coding efficiency compared with H.264. The computational complexity of the algorithm is reduced by adopting a novel block activity description method using the Sum of Absolute Difference (SAD) of 16× 16 mode, and its robustness is enhanced by introducing a feedback circuit at frame layer.

Rate Control Algorithm of Wireless Video Based on Visual Saliency Map Model

In order to further improve the efficiency of video compression, we introduce a perceptual characteristics of Human Visual System (HVS) to video coding, and propose a novel video coding rate control algorithm based on human visual saliency model in H.264/AVC. Firstly, we modifie Itti's saliency model. Secondly, target bits of each frame are allocated through the correlation of saliency region between the current and previous frame, and the complexity of each MB is modified through the saliency value and its Mean Absolute Difference (MAD) value. Lastly, the algorithm was implemented in JVT JM12.2. Simulation results show that, comparing with traditional rate control algorithm, the proposed one can reduce the coding bit rate and improve the reconstructed video subjective quality, especially for visual saliency region. It is very suitable for wireless video transmission.

In-Network Puncturing for Delay-Efficient Rate Control of Distributed Video Coding in Wireless Video Sensor Networks

Wyner-Ziv Video Coding （WZVC） is considered as a promising video coding scheme for Wireless Video Sensor Networks （WVSNs） due to its high compression efficiency and error resilience functionalities, as well as its low encoding complex- ity. To achieve a good Rate-Distortion （R-D） per- formance, the current WZVC paradi^prls usually a- dopt an end-to-end rate control scheme in which the decoder repeatedly requests the additional deco- ding data from the encoder for decoding Wyner-Ziv frames. Therefore, the waiting time of the additional decoding data is especially long in multihop WVSNs. In this paper, we propose a novel pro- gressive in-network rate control scheme for WZVC. The proposed in-network puncturing-based rate control scheme transfers the partial channel codes puncturing task from the encoder to the relay nodes. Then, the decoder can request the addition- al decoding data from the relay nodes instead of the encoder, and the total waiting time for deco- ding Wyner-Ziv frames is reduced consequently. Simulation results validate the proposed rate con- trol scheme.

Optimal source rate control for adapting VBR video over CBR channels

In this paper we discuss the source rate control problem of adapting variable bit-rate （VBR） compressed video over constant bit-rate （CBR） channels. Firstly we formulate it as an optimal control problem of a discrete linear system with state and control constraints. Then we apply the discrete maximum principle to get the optimal solution. Experimental results are given in the end. Compared with traditional algorithms, the proposed algorithm is suitable for the coder with continuous output rates, and can achieve the better solution. Our algorithm can be used in both off-line and on-line coding.

Efficient Rate Control Algorithm for Multi-view Video Coding

Rate control is one of the key factors influencing the multi-view video transmission.However,there is not a rate control algorithm in the existing Joint Multi-view Video Coding Model.In this paper,an efficient rate control algorithm and a bit allocation strategy for multi-view video coding are proposed.In order to obtain the consistent view quality,a bit allocation model based on the Lagrange optimum algorithm is firstly proposed.Secondly,considering the encoding statistical characteristics of different view types,a view weighting factor is introduced,and it will help improve the precision of bit allocation among views.Compared with the fixed QP control strategy,experiment results show that the proposed algorithm can efficiently control the bit rate and obtain more consistent views,with video visual quality improved.

Science Letters:Controllable high repetition rate gain-switchedNd:YVO_4 microchip laser

We demonstrated a monolithic, compact, diode-pumped gain-switched Nd:YVO4 laser at 1.064 μm wavelength with controllable repetition rate of 1 Hz to 25 kHz. Stable gain-switched pulse train with maximum repetition rate of 25 kHz and pulse width of 16 ns was obtained.

A rate based congestion control algorithm in networks with coexisting unicast and multicast sessions

The optimal rate control problem in networks with unicast and multiratemulticast sessions is investigated. A penalty function approach is used to solve a convex programformulation of this problem, and then a heuristic rate control algorithm is derived. The algorithmis distributed, and suitable both for source-driven unicast sessions and receiver-driven multicastsessions. To obtain practical viability, the computational burden on core routers as well asend-hosts is kept very low, also is the overhead of network congestion feedback. Simulation resultsshow that the algorithm guarantees TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)-based unicast sessionscoexisting with multirate multicast sessions in a fair and friendly manner. It is also shown thatvarious fairness criteria of resource allocation could be achieved by choosing appropriate utilityfunctions, and resource-utilizing efficiencies would be likewise different.

An efficient rate control algorithm for JPEG2000 based on reverse order

The JPEG2000 image compression standard is the powerful encoder which can provide phenomenal rate-control performance. The post-compression rate-distortion(PCRD) algorithm in JPEG2000 is not efficient. It requires encoding all coding passes even though a large contribution of them will not be contained in the final code-stream. Tier-1 encoding in the JPEG2000 standard takes a significant amount of memory and coding time. In this work, a low-complexity rate distortion method for JPEG2000 is proposed. It is relied on a reverse order for the resolution levels and the coding passes. The proposed algorithm encodes only the coding passes contained in the final code-stream and it does not need any post compression rate control part. The computational complexity of proposed algorithm is negligible, making it suitable to compression and attaining a significant performance. Simulations results show that the proposed algorithm obtained the PSNR values are comparable with the optimal PCRD.

Model classification rate control algorithmfor video coding

A model classification rate control method for video coding is proposed. The macro-blocks are classified according to their prediction errors, and different parameters are used in the rate-quantization and distortion-quantization model. The different model parameters are calculated from the previous frame of the same type in the process of coding. These models are used to estimate the relations among rate, distortion and quantization of the current frame. Further steps, such as R-D optimization based quantization adjustment and smoothing of quantization of adjacent macrobloeks, are used to improve the quality. The results of the experiments prove that the technique is effective and can be realized easily. The method presented in the paper can be a good way for MPEG and H. 264 rate control.

Fair rate control for wireless ad-hoc networks with time varying channel capacities

We consider the problem of fair rate control for wireless ad-hoc networks with time varying channel capacities. The interaction between links in wireless ad-hoc networks introduces additional constraints on the flow rate. A primal-dual algorithm that guarantees fair rate control is proved to be trajectory stable. Various fairness indexes are obtained by choosing the specified form of the utility functions, and the numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Adaptive rate control on wireless transcoder

To guarantee the real-time transmission of a video stream, based on the stochastic optimal control method, a frame layer adaptive rate control algorithm for the wireless transcoder is proposed, which is capable of dynamically determining the transcoder＇s objective bit rate, according to the bandwidth variation of the wireless channel and the buffer occupancy. Then the transient performance, steady performance, and computational complexity of the algorithm are analyzed. Finally, the experiment results demonstrate that the algorithm can improve the synthetic performance of rate control through the compromise between the end-to-end delay and the playout quality.

A New MPEG-2 Rate Control Method Based on Model Classification

The paper proposed a new MPEG-2 rate control method that is based on model classification. The macro-blocks are classified according to their prediction errors, and different parameters are used in the rate-quantization and distortion-quantization model. The different model parameters are calculated from the previous frame of the same type in the process of coding. These models are used to estimate the relations among rate, distortion and quantization of the current frame. Further steps, such as R-D optimization based quantization adjustment and smoothing of quantization of adjacent macroblocks, are used to improve the quality. The results of the experiments prove that the technique is effective and can be realized easily. The method presented in the paper can be a good way for MPEG rate control.

An Improved Rate Control Method Based on Modification at Scene Change for H.264

This paper presents an improved rate control method for H.264. First, the scene changes are detected by the average absolute difference of the brightness histograms between the adjacent frames. Then, the bit allocation and quantization parameters are adjusted, using a certain threshold. In addition, the calculation of the mean absolute difference （MAD） is modified in an alternative way, which makes the rate distortion optimization （RDO） more accurate. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed method, compared with G012, can improve the average peak signal-to-noise ratio （PSNR） and moderate the image quality.

Equation based rate control scheme for video streaming over wireless channels with link level ARQ

Equation based TCP-friendly rate control (TFRC) protocol has been proposed to support video streaming applications. In order to improve TFRC performance in wireless channels, the link level automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme is usually deployed. However, ARQ cannot ensure strict delay guarantees, especially over multihop links. This paper introduces a theoretical model to deduce an equation for packet size adjustment in transport layer to minimize retransmission delay by taking into con- sideration the causative reasons inducing retransmission in link layer. An enhanced TFRC (ETFRC) scheme is proposed inte- grating TFRC with variable packet size policy. Simulation results demonstrate that higher goodput, lower packet loss rate (PLR), lower frame transmission delay and jitter with good fairness can be achieved by our proposed mechanism.

An Improvement of MPEG-4 Rate Control Algorithm

Frame skipping in low bit video coding could significantly reduce the visual quality of reconstructed video. At the same time, if the complexity of the video sequence remains high for a long period, then driving up the long term average bit rate, the only resort of MPEG-4 Q2 rate control algorithm results in using a high quantization scale, which shows a poor visual quality of the reconstructed video. This paper analyzes the main causes of frame skipping in current MPEG-4 frame rate control scheme, and presents a new rate control algorithm based on the quadratic R-D model over a CBR channel. Key features of the present work are: 1) the bits allocated to each P-frame or B-frame are in proportion to its distance from the end of this GOP, i.e. more bits are allocated to the frames that are nearer to their reference Ⅰ-frame; 2) the target buffer level is changeable in the GOP, at the end of each GOP(five P-frames or B-frames), the target buffer level is linearly reduced from 1/2 to 1/4 of buffer size, to other frames, the target buffer level is set to 1/2 of buffer size; 3) a selective and judicious use of the reduced resolution mode, in addition to a modulation of the quantization scale parameter, is to control the average long term bit rate. Experimental results with different video sequences of varied complexity, encoded at low bit rates show better efficacy of the proposed algorithm than MPEG-4 Q2 rate control scheme, and the experimental results also show that the improved algorithm has significantly reduced the number of frame skipping, increased the overall PSNR, and improved the perceptual quality.

Macroblock-Level Rate Control Scheme for Video Encoders

Rate control plays an important role in video coding. An algorithm is proposed by Tsai et al in which macroblock’s coding order is rearranged to improve the coding quality. However, the complexity is very high due to the change of macroblock’s coding order. In this paper, a macroblocl-level rate control algorithm is proposed which recalculates the quantization parameter of each macroblock based on its significance. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm not only achieves 0.1-0.6 dB in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) but also reduces 33%-55% total encoding time compared to Tsai’s algorithm.