text:
\section{Introduction}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{sec:intro}

Many professional tasks like surveillance systems and telemedicine applications require lossless compression due to their sensitive content. However, lossless compression naturally leads to high bit rates. Considering any wireless network with limited channel capacity, a fast transmission of the entire data is challenging. Therefore, scalable lossless video coding is desirable, which allows for transmitting a base layer (BL) with coarser quality in the first instance and afterwards one or more enhancement layers (ELs), comprising the residual video data, to reconstruct the original sequence without any loss.
Basically, three different types of video scalability can be distinguished. Temporal scalability affects the frame rate, spatial scalability controls the spatial resolution, and quality scalability manipulates the fidelity of the video.
Beside \mbox{DCT-based} coding schemes like Scalable High Efficiency Video Coding
(SHVC)~\cite{7172510} and Sample-Based Weighted Prediction for Enhancement Layer Coding (SELC)~\cite{lnt2017-42}, also 3-D subband coding (SBC)~\cite{Karlsson1988} can be applied. 3-D SBC is based on Wavelet Transforms (WT), which naturally provide scalability features without additional overhead~\cite{lnt2011-23}. As shown in Fig.\,\ref{fig:lifting}, by a transformation in temporal direction, the signal is decomposed into a lowpass (LP) and a highpass (HP) subband.
Both subbands offer only half the frame rate compared to the original sequence. While the LP subband is very similar to the original signal, the HP subband contains the structural information of the video sequence.
Afterwards, every frame of each subband is coded by the wavelet-based coder JPEG\,2000~\cite{ITU-T-800}, resulting in a fully scalable BL-EL-representation.

In this work, we focus on the optimization of the temporal scalability, which is controlled by the temporal WT highlighted by the dashed box in Fig.\,\ref{fig:lifting}.
The recursive application of the WT to the LP subband of the previous stage halves the frame rate for every decomposition level.
This is advantageous for similar frames of the video sequence. In contrast, if huge changes occur among subsequent frames, the visual quality suffers significantly from multiple decomposition levels. This is why motion compensation (MC) should be included into the WT.
However, MC always leads to a higher entire rate, mainly caused by the motion information, which has to be transmitted as additional overhead~\cite{8066388}. Further, there exists no practical approach for perfect MC. Hence, the error propagation will increase for a higher number of decomposition levels, leading to an inferior visual quality of the LP subband.
Therefore, the temporal scaling should be adapted to the video sequence.
This can be reached by our proposed content adaptive wavelet lifting (CA-WL), which provides fine temporal resolution for high dynamic parts of a video sequence, while parts with few changes among subsequent frames are resolved coarser.
After a brief overview of 3-D SBC, the proposed CA-WL is described in detail. Simulation results are given in the next section, followed by a short conclusion and outlook at the end of the paper.
\begin{figure}[t]
	\centering
	\resizebox{0.48\textwidth}{!}{%
		\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1.1, >=latex']
		\input{tikzlibrarydsp}
		%
		\tikzstyle{box} = [draw]
		\coordinate (c0) at (-1.25,-1);
		\coordinate (c1) at (0,0);
		\coordinate (c2) at (0,-2);
		\coordinate (c3) at (8.5,0);
		\coordinate (c4) at (8.5,-2);
		\node[left, align=center] (n0) at (-1.5,-1) {Input\\video\\sequence};
		\node[dspnodeopen,align=center] (n0) at (c0) {};
		\node[dspadder] (add1) at (2.25,0) {};
		\node[dspadder,dsp/label=below] (add3) at (1.25,-2) {};
		\node[dspsquare](b1) at (1.25,-1) {$\mathcal{P}$};
		\node[dspsquare](b2) at (2.25,-1) {$\mathcal{U}$};
		\node[dspfilter](split) at (0,-1) {Split};
		\node[dspnodefull](n5) at (1.25,0) {};
		\node[dspnodefull](n6) at (2.25,-2) {};
		%
		\node (n9) at (3.825,0) {LP};
		\node (n10) at (3.825,-2) {HP};
		\node[dspnodefull] (n11) at (3.5,0) {};
		\node[dspnodefull] (n12) at (3.5,-2) {};
		\node[dspnodefull] (n13) at (4.125,0) {};
		\node[dspnodefull] (n14) at (4.125,-2) {};
		\node[box] (JPEG1) at (5.325,0) {JPEG2000};
		\node[box] (JPEG2) at (5.325,-2) {JPEG2000};
		\node (n15) at (6.75,0) {BL};
		\node (n16) at (6.75,-2) {EL};
		\node[dspnodeopen] (n17) at (6.375,0) {};
		\node[dspnodeopen] (n18) at (6.375,-2) {};
		\node (n19) at (1.3,-2.75) {Temporal Wavelet Transform};
		\node (n19) at (5.325,-2.75) {Spatial Wavelet Transform};
		\node (n20) at (1.25,0.75) {Quality and temporal scalability};
		\node (n21) at (5.325,0.75) {Quality and spatial scalability};
		%
		\draw[-] (c1) -- node[above]{$l_{2t-1}$}(n5);
		\draw[->] (n5) -- (b1);
		\draw[->] (c2) -- node[below]{$l_{2t}$}(add3);
		\draw[->] (b1) -- node[left]{$-$}(add3);
		\draw[->] (n5) -- (add1);
		\draw[->] (b2) -- (add1);
		\draw[->] (n6) -- (b2);
		\draw[-] (add3) -- (n6);
		\draw[-] (add1) -- node[above]{$l_{2t-1}$}(n11);
		\draw[-] (n6) -- node[below]{$h_{2t}$}(n12);
		\draw[->] (n13) -- (JPEG1);
		\draw[-] (JPEG1) -- (n17);
		\draw[-] (JPEG2) -- (n18);
		\draw[->] (n14) -- (JPEG2);
		\draw[-] (split) -- (c1);
		\draw[-] (split) -- (c2);
		\draw[->] (n0) -- (split);
		\draw[dashed] (-1,-2.5) rectangle (3.325,0.5);

		\end{tikzpicture}}
	\caption{Considered scenario to achieve a fully scalable representation of a video sequence. The dashed box shows the lifting structure of the wavelet transform for one decomposition level.}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{fig:lifting}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure*}
	\centering
	\resizebox{0.94\textwidth}{!}{%
		\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.5, >=latex']
		\input{tikzlibrarydsp}
		%
		input{tikzlibrarydsp}
		\tikzstyle{box} = [draw]
		\draw[->] (0,0.5) -- node[above]{time $t$}(24,0.5);
		\draw[->] (-0.5,0.25) -- node[rotate=90,above]{decomposition level $i$}(-0.5,-13.25);
		\footnotesize
		\begin{scriptsize}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {0,1.5,...,11}{
			\draw[fill=darkgray] ({\mathbf x},-1.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,0) node[midway] {\textcolor{white}{$l_{0,\i}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-2);}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-4);
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+2.125,-2);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {12,13.5,...,17}{
			\draw[fill=lightgray] ({\mathbf x},-1.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,0) node[midway] {\textcolor{white}{$l_{0,\pgfmathparse{\i+8}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-2);}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-4);
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+2.125,-2);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {18,19.5,...,23}{
			\draw[fill=gray] ({\mathbf x},-1.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,0) node[midway] {\textcolor{white}{$l_{0,\pgfmathparse{\i+12}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-2);}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-4);
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-1.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+2.125,-2);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {1.5,4.5,...,23}
		\draw({\mathbf x},-3.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-3.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$h_{1,\pgfmathparse{2+(\i-1)*2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {0,3,6,9}{
			\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-5.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-5.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{1,\pgfmathparse{1+(\i-1)*2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-5.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-6);}{
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				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-5.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+3.625,-6);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {12,15}{
			\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-5.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-5.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{1,\pgfmathparse{9+(\i-1)*2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {18,21}{
			\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-5.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-5.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{1,\pgfmathparse{13+(\i-1)*2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-5.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-6);}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-5.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-8);
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-5.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+3.625,-6);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {3,9}
		\draw({\mathbf x},-7.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-7.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$h_{2,\pgfmathparse{3+(\i-1)*2^2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {21}
		\draw({\mathbf x},-7.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-7.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$h_{2,15}$}};
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {0,6}{
			\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-9.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-9.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{2,\pgfmathparse{1+(\i-1)*2^2}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
			\pgfmathparse{Mod(\i,2)==0?1:0}
			\ifthenelse{\pgfmathresult>0}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-9.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-10);}{
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-9.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-12);
				\draw[->] ({\mathbf x}+0.625,-9.28) -- ({\mathbf x}+6.625,-10);		}	}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {18}{
			\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-9.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-9.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{2,13}$}};}
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {6}
		\draw({\mathbf x},-11.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-11.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$h_{3,\pgfmathparse{5+(\i-1)*2^3}\pgfmathprintnumber{\pgfmathresult}}$}};
		\foreach {\mathbf x} [count = \i] in {0}
		\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots]({\mathbf x},-13.28) rectangle ({\mathbf x}+1.28,-13.28+1.28) node [midway]{{$l_{3,\i}$}};
		\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots] (12,-13.28) rectangle (12+1.28,-13.28+1.28) node [midway]{$l_{1,9}$};
		\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots] (15,-13.28) rectangle (15+1.28,-13.28+1.28) node [midway]{$l_{1,11}$};
		\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots] (18,-13.28) rectangle (18+1.28,-13.28+1.28) node [midway]{$l_{2,13}$};
		\end{scriptsize}

		\node[left] at (26,-2.7) {$\text{EL}_1$};
		\node[left] at (26,-6.7) {$\text{EL}_2$};
		\node[left] at (26,-10.7) {$\text{EL}_3$};
		\node[left] at (26,-12.7) {{$\text{BL}\hphantom{_1}$}};
		\draw[fill=darkgray] (27,-1.28) rectangle (27+1.28,0);
		\draw[fill=gray] (27,-3.28) rectangle (27+1.28,-3.28+1.28);
		\draw[fill=lightgray] (27,-5.28) rectangle (27+1.28,-5.28+1.28);
		\draw[pattern color=lightgray,pattern=crosshatch dots] (33,-1.28) rectangle (33+1.28,-1.28+1.28);
		\draw[fill=white] (33,-3.28) rectangle (33+1.28,-3.28+1.28);
		\node[right] (bl) at (29,-0.625) {no motion};
		\node[right] (gr) at (29,-2.625) {low motion};
		\node[right] (lg) at (29,-4.625) {strong motion};
		\node[right] (wh) at (35,-0.625) {LP frames};
		\node[right] (wh) at (35,-2.625) {HP frames};
		\end{tikzpicture}}
	\caption{Basic decomposition scheme of the CA-WL for $i_\text{max}{=}3$ decomposition levels resulting in one BL and three ELs. Depending on the underlying motion in the original sequence, the local depth of the decomposition differs.}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{fig:model}
\end{figure*}

\section{3-D Subband Coding}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{sec:WT}

An efficient implementation of the discrete WT was proposed by Sweldens~\cite{Sweldens1995}. The \mbox{so-called} lifting structure consists of three steps: split, predict, and update. The block diagram of the lifting structure for a decomposition in temporal direction is depicted in the dashed box in Fig.\,\ref{fig:lifting}. In the first step, splitting is performed by decomposing the input signal into even- and odd-indexed frames $l_{2t}$ and $l_{2t-1}$. In the second step, the even frames are predicted from the odd frames by a prediction \mbox{operator $\mathcal{P}$}. Subtracting the predicted values $\mathcal{P}(l_{2t-1})$ from the even frames, results in the HP coefficients $h_{2t}$. In the third step, the HP coefficients are filtered by an update operator $\mathcal{U}$ and are added back to the odd frames, resulting in the LP coefficients.
To get coarser temporal resolutions, the lifting scheme can be iterated on the LP subband by $i_{\text{max}}=\log_2(T)$ decomposition levels, where $T$ equals the total number of original frames.

Since the lifting structure offers a flexible framework, it can be modified in multiple ways. By introducing rounding operators as introduced in~\cite{647983}, integer to integer transforms can be achieved, which yield perfect reconstruction. This makes the lifting structure of the WT highly attractive for many professional applications by offering a scalable representation and lossless reconstruction at the same time.
However, due to temporal displacements in the sequence, blurriness and ghosting artifacts will appear in the LP subband.
These can be alleviated by incorporating MC methods directly into the lifting structure without losing the property of perfect reconstruction. This is called motion compensated temporal filtering (MCTF)~\cite{334985} and can be achieved by realizing the prediction \mbox{operator $\mathcal{P}$} by the warping operator $\mathcal{W}_{2t-1\rightarrow2t}$. Instead of the original odd frames, a compensated version is subtracted from the even frames. In case of the Haar wavelet filters, the prediction step is given by
\begin{align}
{h}_{2t} &= l_{2t}-\lfloor\mathcal{W}_{2t-1\rightarrow2t}(l_{2t-1})\rfloor. \pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{eq:HP_mc}
\end{align}
However, to achieve an equivalent wavelet transform, the compensation has to be inverted in the update step~\cite{bozinovic2005}. By reversing the index of $\mathcal{W}$, the LP coefficients of the Haar transform can be calculated by
\begin{equation}
{l}_{2t-1} = l_{2t-1}+\left\lfloor\frac{1}{2}\mathcal{W}_{2t\rightarrow2t-1}({h}_{2t})\right\rfloor. \pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{eq:LP_mc}
\end{equation}
$\mathcal{W}$ can be realized by different approaches of MC. In this work, we will employ a block-based approach.

\section{Content Adaptive Wavelet Lifting}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{sec:adaptiveWT}

Considering video sequences from surveillance systems or medical data sets, which comprise a temporal acquisition of images with contrast medium, there will be parts, where almost no motion occurs over time. In this case, an adaptive temporal scaling is advantageous, which performs iteratively a further decomposition, if subsequent frames are similar enough. If there are no changes over several frames, they shall be represented by only one LP frame. For significant changes among subsequent frames, for example when the contrast medium gets visible, these changes shall be represented in the LP subband with finer temporal resolution.

Fig.\,\ref{fig:model} shows the basic approach of our proposed content adaptive wavelet transform.
Index $i$ indicates the number of the current decomposition level. For $i{=}0$, no decomposition has been done so far, which corresponds to the original video sequence.
In the first row, a schematic video sequence is given, which consists of three sections, each with a different amount of moving content. The corresponding amount of motion is described by the legend on the right side of Fig\,\ref{fig:model}. While in this example the first decomposition is performed for the entire sequence, the second decomposition is performed only on the frames with no or low motion. The third decomposition is exclusively done on frames with no motion. The resulting BL and ELs are marked at the right side. Since the maximum decomposition level $i_\text{max}$ is equal to $3$, three ELs are generated. By combining the ELs with the BL at the decoder side, the original sequence can be reconstructed step by step without any loss.

\subsection{Calculation of the Stopping Criterion}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{subsec:stoppingCrit}
Haar WTs can be represented with tree structures~\cite{lnt2011-23}. For 3-D SBC, the tree structure is given by decomposing two subsequent frames into LP and HP frames.
To realize the CA-WL, the costs of the single nodes in every tree have to be considered. If the combined costs of the child nodes exceed the costs of the parent node, this means for an arbitrary signal $s$, if
\begin{equation}
\mathcal{C}(s_{i,[2t-1,2t]}) \leq (\mathcal{C}(s_{i+1,2t-1})\cup\mathcal{C}(s_{i+1,2t}))
\end{equation}
holds, then the child nodes shall be pruned from the tree.
Here, $\mathcal{C}(\cdot)$ describes a cost functional, which represents the coding costs, such as entropy~\cite{119732} or rate-distortion~\cite{217221}.
In this work, every decomposition level is performed for the entire input sequence in advance, before a retrospective evaluation of the resulting costs is done. Further, we decided to use a rate-distortion-based approach for calculating the coding costs.
Therefore, we formulate the Lagrangian cost functional for a signal $s$
\begin{equation}
C(s) = D(s) + \lambda R(s).
\end{equation}
To determine the distortion $D(s)$ of the resulting LP frame, we calculate the MSE of the corresponding wavelet coefficients compared to the original signal according to~\cite{Lanz2018}. In this work, not only the similarity of the LP frame to the odd-indexed frame, but also the similarity to the even indexed frame is considered, which is a very important aspect for many professional applications.
The rate $R(s)$ is composed of the required rate for lossless coding of the LP and HP frames and, in case of MC, the file size of the motion vectors.
Then, the current decomposition can be evaluated locally by comparing the R-D costs of the children to the costs of the parent node for a given value $\lambda$. If the R-D costs of the child nodes exceed the costs of the parent node, thus if the following inequality
\begin{align*}
	D({l_{i,[2t-1,2t]}}) + \lambda R(l_{i,[2t-1,2t]}) \leq& \numberthis \\
	(D(l_{i+1,2t-1})+D(h_{i+1,2t})) + \lambda (R(l_{i+1,2t-1})&+R(h_{i+1,2t}))
\end{align*}
holds, then a further decomposition is prevented. The Lagrange multiplier $\lambda$ can be any positive value.
By choosing large values for $\lambda$, the rate is decreased, while for small values the distortion is decreased.

\begin{table}[t]
	\centering
	\caption{For the evaluation, sequences from surveillance systems, medical applications, and the HEVC test data set are employed. All sequences are used in 4:0:0 color sub-sampling format.}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{tab:data}
	\resizebox{0.48\textwidth}{!}{%
		\begin{tabular}{l|l|ll}
			&& \textbf{Spatial resolution} & \textbf{Number of frames} \\ \hline
			\multirow{4}{*}{{\textbf{Surv}}}&\textit{AirportNight1}                 & $688\times352$              & $500$                     \\
			&\textit{AirportNight2}                 & $688\times432$              & $500$                     \\
			&\textit{AirportNight3}                 & $688\times372$              & $500$                     \\
			&\textit{AirportDay1}                   & $688\times432$              & $500$                     \\ \hline
			\multirow{2}{*}{{\textbf{Med}}}&\textit{MedFrontal}                          & $512\times512$              & $29$                      \\
			&\textit{MedSagittal}                          & $512\times512$              & $29$                      \\ \hline
			\multirow{2}{*}{{\textbf{HEVC}}}&\textit{ClassC}                          & $832\times480$              & $300$                     \\
			&\textit{ClassD}                          & $416\times240$              & $300$
		\end{tabular}
	}
\end{table}

\subsection{Handling of the Overhead}
For lossless reconstruction, the decomposition depth for every part of the input sequence has to be transmitted additionally. Therefore, a vector $\boldsymbol{v}$ is generated, whose length corresponds to $T$. This vector is initialized with zeros and gets an increment of $1$ at every temporal position of a LP frame after one decomposition level. The position to the corresponding HP frame is set to zero. Consequently, the non-zero entries correspond to the number of applied decomposition levels $i$ for every temporal position of a LP frame, while the distance $d$ to the corresponding HP frame is given by $d{=}2^{i-1}$. For the schematic video sequence in Fig.\,\ref{fig:model}, vector $\boldsymbol{v}$ is generated as follows:
\begin{align*}
&\text{Initialize } \boldsymbol{v}: & (0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0)	\\
&\boldsymbol{v} \text{ after level } i{=}1: & (1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0)\\
&\boldsymbol{v} \text{ after level } i{=}2: & (2,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,2,0,0,0)\\
&\boldsymbol{v} \text{ after level } i{=}3: & (3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,2,0,0,0)
\end{align*}
The entire vector $\boldsymbol{v}$ is encoded using Context Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC)~\cite{Witten:1987} and is transmitted to the decoder side.
Then, for lossless reconstruction of the previous stage, the decoder can easily determine the decomposition level and the temporal positions of the LP and HP frames regarding the original video sequence.

\section{Experimental Results}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{sec:results}

\begin{table}
	\centering
	\caption{Absolute $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ [dB] and relative rate [\%] differences of our proposed CA-WL compared to the U-WL with (bottom) and without (top) block-based MC. Positive numbers denote a better visual quality and a higher rate of our proposed CA-WL and vice versa.}

	\resizebox{0.48\textwidth}{!}{%
		\begin{tabular}{l|l|l|c|c|c|c||c}
			&& $\boldsymbol{\lambda}$ & \textbf{Surv} &\textbf{Med} &\textbf{ClassC} &\textbf{ClassD} & \textbf{Total}\\
			&&  &  &  &  &  & \textbf{average}\\\hline

			\multirow{10}{*}{\tabrotate{No MC}}&\multirow{4}{*}{{$\Delta$ $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$}}  & 1 & 4.12 & 5.28 & 12.83 & 18.07 & $\bf{8.88}$  \\
			&& 3 & 1.64 & 1.91 & 6.32 & 11.4 & $\bf{5.3}$  \\
			&& 5 & 0.97 & 1.16 & 3.73 & 8.89 & $\bf{3.67}$  \\
			&& 7 & 0.65 & 1.16 & 4.09 & 8.27 & $\bf{3.5}$  \\ \cline{2-8}
			&\multirow{4}{*}{{$\Delta$ File size}} & 1 & 5.99 & 0.09 & 11.64 & 9.07 & $\bf{6.56}$  \\
			&& 3 & 0.8 & -0.96 & 2.53 & 5.77 & $\bf{2.18}$  \\
			&& 5 & 0.23 & -1.29 & 0.84 & 4.04 & $\bf{1.08}$  \\
			&& 7 & 0.16 & -1.29 & 0.25 & 3.07 & $\bf{0.67}$  \\ \hhline{=|=|=|=|=|=|=#=}

			\multirow{13}{*}{\tabrotate{Block-based MC}}&\multirow{4}{*}{{$\Delta$ $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$}} & 1 & 9.3 & 15.56 & 6.99 & 14.15 & $\bf{10.98}$  \\
			&& 3 & 8.17 & 13.89 & 9.6 & 11.26 & $\bf{10.28}$  \\
			&& 5 & 7.42 & 13.89 & 9.21 & 9.55 & $\bf{9.47}$  \\
			&& 7 & 7.27 & 13.89 & 8.95 & 8.42 & $\bf{9.02}$  \\ \cline{2-8}
			&\multirow{4}{*}{{$\Delta$ File size}} & 1 & 0.16 & -5.58 & 1.98 & 6.9 & $\bf{1.34}$  \\
			&& 3 & -0.52 & -5.64 & -1.7 & 1.35 & $\bf{-1.06}$  \\
			&& 5 & -0.69 & -5.64 & -1.96 & 0.65 & $\bf{-1.38}$  \\
			&& 7 & -0.8 & -5.64 & -2.18 & 0.29 & $\bf{-1.57}$  \\
		\end{tabular}
	}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{tab:results_all}

\end{table}

\begin{figure*}[tb]
	\centering
	\resizebox{0.98\textwidth}{!}{%
	\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
		\input{groupplot.tex}
	\end{minipage}
	}
	\vspace{-0.5cm}
	\caption{Absolute rate and $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ results from the \textit{AirportNight1} sequence with and without MC, using $\lambda{=}3$. The results are displayed over all reached decomposition levels $i$. The proposed method is characterized by the dashed lines.}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{fig:RD_results}
	\vspace{0.15cm}
\end{figure*}

\begin{figure*}[t!]
	\centering
	\resizebox{\textwidth}{!}{%
		\begin{tikzpicture}

		\node (U-WL) at (4.6,1.7) {\textbf{U-WL}};
		\node (CA-WL) at (9.2,1.7) {\textbf{Proposed CA-WL}};
		\node (U-WL) at (13.8,1.7) {\textbf{U-WL}};
		\node (CA-WL) at (0.2,1.7) {\textbf{Original}};
		\node (CA-WL) at (18.4,1.7) {\textbf{Proposed CA-WL}};
		\node (U-WL) at (6.9,2.2) {\textbf{No MC}};
		\node (CA-WL) at (16.1,2.2) {\textbf{Block-based MC}};
		\draw[-,dashed] (2.3,2.4) -- (2.3,-6.75);
		\draw[-,dashed] (11.5,2.4) -- (11.5,-6.75);
		%
		\node[align=center, rotate=90,] (surf) at (-2.8,0) {\small{\textbf{\textit{AirportDay1}}}\\ \small{Frame $321$}};
		%
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (orig_surf) at (0,0)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 2.5cm 0.75cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/airportDay2_321}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_none) at (4.6,0)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 2.5cm 0.75cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/airportDay2_none_u_321}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (6.15,-1.15) {\small{$35.01$\,dB}};
			\draw[draw=red,very  thick]  (5.65,1.2) ellipse (0.2cm and 0.2cm);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_none) at (9.2,0)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 2.5cm 0.75cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/airportDay2_none_a_321}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (10.75,-1.15) {\small{$37.28$\,dB}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_block) at (13.8,0)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 2.5cm 0.75cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/airportDay2_block_u_321}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (15.35,-1.15) {\small{$30.75$\,dB}};
			\draw[draw=red,very  thick]  (11.7,-1.2) rectangle (11.7+2.5,-1.2+1);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_block) at (18.4,0)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 2.5cm 0.75cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/airportDay2_block_a_321}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (19.95,-1.15) {\small{$47.02$\,dB}};

		\node[align=center, rotate=90,] (surf) at (-2.8,-2.85) {\small{\textbf{\textit{MedSagittal}}}\\ \small{Frame $17$},zoom};
		%
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (orig_surf_med_zoom) at (0,-2.85)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 4cm 4cm 8cm 8cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/med065_17}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_none) at (4.6,-2.85)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 4cm 4cm 8cm 8cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/med065_none_17}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (6.15,-4) {\small{$39.67$\,dB}};
			\draw[draw=red,very  thick]  (5.5,-3.0) ellipse (0.5cm and 0.5cm);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_none) at (9.2,-2.85)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 4cm 4cm 8cm 8cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/med065_none_15}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (10.75,-4) {\small{$44.34$\,dB}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_block) at (13.8,-2.85)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 4cm 4cm 8cm 8cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/med065_block_u_17}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (15.35,-4) {\small{$39.46$\,dB}};
			\draw[draw=red,very  thick]  (14.75,-2.25) rectangle (14.75+0.6,-2.25+0.6);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_block) at (18.4,-2.85)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 4cm 4cm 8cm 8cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/med065_block_a_17}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (19.95,-4) {\small{$43.92$\,dB}};

		\node[align=center, rotate=90,] (surf) at (-2.8,-5.7) {\small{\textbf{\textit{BQMall}}}\\ \small{Frame $25$, zoom}};
		%
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (orig_BQMall_zoom) at (0,-5.7)
		{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 14cm 7.9cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/BQMall_25}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_none) at (4.6,-5.7)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 14cm 7.9cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/BQMall_none_u_25}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (6.15,-6.55) {\small{$20.87$\,dB}};
			\draw[rotate around ={-25:(4.5,-5.6)}, draw=red,very  thick]  (4.5,-5.6) ellipse (0.8cm and 1.15cm);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_none) at (9.2,-5.7)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 14cm 7.9cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/BQMall_none_a_25}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (10.75,-6.55) {\small{$29.69$\,dB}};
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (UWT_block) at (13.8,-5.7)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 14cm 7.9cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/BQMall_block_u_25}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (15.35,-6.55) {\small{$30.23$\,dB}};
			\draw[draw=red,very  thick]  (11.8,-6.6) rectangle (11.8+1,-6.6+1.5);
		\node[inner sep=0pt] (CAWT_block) at (18.4,-5.7)
			{\includegraphics[trim = 2.5cm 1cm 14cm 7.9cm,clip,width=.25\textwidth]{Figures/BQMall_block_a_25}};
			\node[fill=white] (n1) at (19.95,-6.55) {\small{$33.54$\,dB}};
		\end{tikzpicture}}
	\caption{Comparison of the visual quality of one frame from each test data set compared to the corresponding LP frames of a U-WL and our CA-WL with and without block-based MC, for $\lambda=3$. The rectangles depict blocking artifacts, the circles indicate missing objects, and the ellipses show blurring artifacts.}
	\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{fig:visual_results}
\end{figure*}

Our simulation setup comprises surveillance videos, medical sequences with contrast medium, and natural sequences from the HEVC test data set~\cite{Bossen2013}. The dimensions are summarized in Table\,\ref{tab:data}. The bit depth for all sequences constitutes 8 bits per sample.
All surveillance sequences are characterized by a static background and some moving objects in the foreground. The medical sequences origin from Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA), showing the inflow of a contrast medium into a human cranium in frontal and sagittal perspectives.

In the following, we will compare our proposed CA-WL to a uniform wavelet lifting (U-WL) with the same number of total decomposition levels.
The single frames of each subband are encoded by JPEG\,2000, using the OpenJPEG~\cite{openjpeg} implementation with four spatial wavelet decomposition steps in $xy$-direction.
Further, we evaluate the CA-WL and the U-WL with and without a block-based MC, respectively. For block-based MC, the block size is set to 8, while the search range starts with a size of 8 and is doubled for every decomposition level until a maximum size of 64. The increasing search range is important, since the input frames of higher decomposition levels have a larger temporal distance, which has to be covered. To keep the computational effort realistic, we limit the increment of the search range by 64 pixels. The resulting motion vectors are encoded using the QccPack library~\cite{fowler2000qccpack}.
Then, the entire file size is composed of the rate resulting from each subband, the required motion vectors and the coding costs for transmitting vector $\boldsymbol{v}$.
The visual quality of the resulting LP subband is measured by the same metric as already used in Section\,\ref{subsec:stoppingCrit}, but in terms of $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$~\cite{Lanz2018}.

Table\,\ref{tab:results_all} gives the differences regarding $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ in [dB] and the entire file size in [\%] of our proposed method compared to the U-WL for all data sets with and without the application of MC and for different values of $\lambda$.
As can be seen in the right column, our method always results in a better visual quality compared to the U-WL. By increasing $\lambda$, the file size is reduced, while the $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ gains are also decreased. However, for $\lambda{=}7$, the $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ gains are still positive.
By including MC into both methods, we are able to get a lower rate than for the U-WL, resulting in positive $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ gains at the same time.
For $\lambda{=}3$, the file size can be reduced by up to $1.06\%$ in total average, while the visual quality is increased by $10.28$\,dB, as the right column of Table\,\ref{tab:results_all} shows.

To demonstrate the performance of our proposed CA-WL in more detail, Fig.\,\ref{fig:RD_results} presents the absolute rate and $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ results from the \textit{AirportNight1} sequence with and without MC, using $\lambda{=}3$. As the left plot offers, the entire file size for incorporating MC is always higher than omitting MC. However, the visual quality is significantly higher by including MC, which is very important for many professional applications. But for higher decomposition levels $i$, the error propagation due to imperfect MC is increasing. The right plot shows the strong decreasing $\text{PSNR}_{\text{LP}_t}$ results, which can be prevented by our proposed CA-WL. Simultaneously, the overall file size can be decreased, as the left plot of Fig.\,\ref{fig:RD_results} shows.

In Fig.\,\ref{fig:visual_results}, some visual results for each data set are presented. From left to right, the reference frame and the corresponding LP frames from the U-WL and the proposed CA-WL are shown for a value of $\lambda{=}3$, without MC and with block-based MC, respectively.
Disturbing artifacts and loss of content, resulting from the U-WL, are highlighted in every frame. The rectangles depict blocking artifacts, the circles indicate locations of objects, which are canceled out completely, and the ellipses show blurring artifacts. As the right column shows, the CA-WL is capable to compensate this lack of data fidelity efficiently and gives a reliable impression of the actual content of the sequence. This is also proven by the PSNR values given at the bottom right corner of each frame.

\section{Conclusion}
\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/dsp/label}}{sec:conclusion}

Scalable lossless video coding and a high visual quality of the corresponding BL is very important for many professional applications. Wavelet-based video coding provides full scalability without additional overhead. The temporal resolution can be controlled by the recursive application of the WT in temporal direction to the LP subband of the previous stage.
This leads to lower bit rates, but if the content of the underlying video sequence comprises strong motion, the visual quality of the BL is degraded significantly.
We proposed a method which locally adapts the temporal scaling by evaluating a Lagrangian cost functional in every transformation step and prevents further decomposition, if the costs of the current level are higher than the costs of the previous level. This way, we can increase the visual quality of the BL by $10.28$\,dB compared to the U-WL with block-based MC, while the required rate is reduced by $1.06\%$ at the same time. Further work aims at the development of an algorithm to determine the optimum value of $\lambda$ in a rate-distortion sense, based on the characteristics of the underlying sequence.

\section{Acknowledgment}

We gratefully acknowledge that this work has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under contract number KA 926/4-3.

\vfill\pagebreak

\bibliographystyle{IEEEbib}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
The Über Rock Singles Club – March Madness (Part ...
Skypilot – 'The Affront' (Self-Released)
Amon Amarth – 'Berserker' (Metal Blade Records/Sony Mus...
Era Bleak – 'Era Bleak' (Dirt Cult Records)
Posted by Team Uber | Aug 17, 2020 | CD Reviews, Recently Added | 0
By Steve Mirsik
We are certainly living in strange and troublesome times and Portland, OR, punk-rockers, Era Bleak, are here to provide the soundtrack! Our country is currently being run by a tangerine tyrant, during a global pandemic, and it seems like no one can be trusted. Honestly, what could be more bleak than that? Right from the start, you're hit with a wall of raw, in-your-face energy with the title track 'Era Bleak'. The lyrics "Things get shittier every week/No hope for the future in this era bleak" perfectly sums up how 2020 is going so far and it's only the beginning!
Era Bleak, featuring members of Dark/Light and Piss Test, provides relentless 1980's hardcore, punk rock vibes, while still capturing a sound that's very much their own. Candy's vocals grab you tight and shake you to the core on 'Robot', which packs a huge punch in only one minute and 19 seconds! Track after track, this album is bursting with energy and refreshing honesty about the current state of the world. The same rings true on 'Mind Control Tower' during a time where so many people are brainwashed by the false information from our "leaders". Likewise, another relatable sentiment comes from 'Opinions' lyrics: 'We've all got something to say/We've all got nothing to say'.
Other notable tracks from this LP include 'Burning Sky', 'Struggle', and 'Tinder Box'. This album gives you the sense that you're not alone and even though things are bleak, we can get through it together. Who said Covid-19 could stop creativity? Era Bleak have also released two socially distant music videos for their title track, as well as 'Mind Control Tower'. In a time when concerts are non-existent and fans are looking for a way to connect, what better way than through a music video? These home-made recordings capture the true essence of the band and are packed full of personality.
There's no denying that Era Bleak are carving their own path in the punk rock scene. The blistering speed and precision of the rhythm section (Justin/Spiz), paired with frantic guitar riffs from Zach will have you thrashing around in no time! Recorded at Portland's very own Red Lantern Studios, this album will be spinning for quite some time.
So, what are you waiting for? Listen for yourself! Grab a digital download or pick up a limited to 300 edition of the vinyl and you won't regret it!
'Era Bleak' is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
www.facebook.com/EraBleak
All content © of Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.
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text:
Smart Materials Provide For Self-Adjusting Satellite Antennas
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Researchers at Ohio State University have taken the first step toward developing adjustable antennas for satellite communications.
Such an antenna could change the shape of its reflector while in orbit to improve signal quality. It could also replace several traditional antennas by delivering a variety of signals for cellular phones, pagers, and global positioning systems.
Scientists had previously found that adjustable reflectors made of plastic were light enough for use in space, but they were too flexible to afford good shape control.
Gregory Washington, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Hwan-Sik Yoon, a graduate student, have proven through computer simulations that thin piezoceramic patches spaced around the back of a reflector will reinforce the plastic while controlling its shape. The research appeared in a recent issue of the journal Smart Materials & Structures.
A piezoceramic material is a ceramic that changes shape when a voltage is applied to it, or releases a voltage when its shape is changed manually. Researchers sometimes call these 'smart' materials. "When we attach this piezoceramic material to another surface and it expands, the surface bends. When it contracts, the surface bends the other way. With that movement, we're able to change the overall shape of a structure. In this case, the shape change alters the properties of the reflector or antenna itself," explained Washington.
Satellites normally must move the entire mechanism beneath an antenna to change its direction. "It's as if our eyes could only stare straight forward -- to see other directions we'd have to turn our whole head," said Washington. "But an adjustable antenna can make fine movements on its own, like we do when we look around with our eyes."
When satellites move to adjust the direction of standard antennas, they create inertial forces that throw off the orientation of the entire satellite. But an adjustable antenna with actuators made of plastic and piezoceramic material would be light enough to generate very little inertia.
"That's one of the significant benefits -- the satellite wouldn't have to constantly reorient itself," said Washington. "Plus, instead of having three or four antennas on a satellite, we could have one or two multifunctional antennas."
Washington and Yoon developed a series of lengthy and complex equations to model the movement of the piezoceramic actuators. Then they put those equations into a computer code called POMESH, short for Physical Optics Mesh.
Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, previously developed POMESH to model the radiation pattern of rigid antenna reflectors. Washington and Yoon modified the code to suit an antenna that changes shape.
Through computer simulations with POMESH, Washington and Yoon found that the plastic reflector materials must be molded to a particular shape and the actuators must be bonded to the structure at specific temperatures and pressures for the design to work. The researchers have now obtained a series of molds to begin making adjustable antennas. "Nobody has ever tried to build these antennas before, so we're doing everything from the ground up," said Washington.
He and Yoon have also written control algorithms by which these new antennas will be able to self-tune in response to commands from Earth. "Let's say someone wants to find a shape that gives maximum power to a signal in the presence of atmospheric disturbances," said Washington. "An adjustable antenna could configure itself to send out the maximum amount of information."
The ability for antennas to change shape solves certain problems. For instance, sunlight heats antenna materials and warps them; when that happens, adjustable antennas could simply self-correct.
Another common problem: Earth's atmosphere scatters satellite signals the same way water scatters a beam of light. For this reason, not all transmitted information reaches a target. Standard antennas can't correct for that, but an adjustable antenna could even navigate signals through turbulent atmospheric conditions like storms. It could deliver more information using the same amount of power.
The technology may also lead to advanced membrane optics for telescopes and microscopes -- that is, thin and flexible lenses and mirrors that change shape to change focus.
Currently Washington and Yoon are working with Willie Theunissen, an engineering graduate student at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, to continue to modify and develop physical and geometric optics code for advanced antennas. "We're generating new code because we want to be able to choose the right amount of actuators and find out just where to place them for the different shapes we want to obtain," said Washington.
This work was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office. In the future, the researchers may work with NASA on smart, adjustable antennas for wireless communications networks. Such networks could transmit signals for telephones, televisions, and faxes without the need for cables and phone lines. Washington hopes they will be able to finish building an antenna by March 1999, when the space agency will run a series of field tests.
Related Satellite Articles from Brightsurf:
NASA satellite gives a hello to tropical storm Dolly
During the morning of June 23, the fourth system in the Northern Atlantic Ocean was a subtropical depression.
Observing phytoplankton via satellite
Thanks to a new algorithm, researchers at the AWI can now use satellite data to determine in which parts of the ocean certain types of phytoplankton are dominant.
The Internet of Things by satellite will become increasingly accessible
Thanks to the implementation of advanced random access schemes using efficient, low complexity algorithms.
Satellite broken? Smart satellites to the rescue
The University of Cincinnati is developing robotic networks that can work independently but collaboratively on a common task.
Satellite images reveal global poverty
How far have we come in achieving the UN's sustainable development goals that we are committed to nationally and internationally?
Satellite data exposes looting
Globally archaeological heritage is under threat by looting. The destruction of archaeological sites obliterates the basis for our understanding of ancient cultures and we lose our shared human past.
NASA satellite finds 16W now subtropical
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite found 16W was still being battered by wind shear after transitioning into an extra-tropical cyclone.
How far to go for satellite cloud image forecasting into operation
Simulated satellite cloud images not only have the visualization of cloud imagery, but also can reflect more information about the model.
NASA confirms re-discovered IMAGE satellite
The identity of the satellite re-discovered on Jan. 20, 2018, has been confirmed as NASA's IMAGE satellite.
Satellite keeps an eye on US holiday travel weather
A satellite view of the US on Dec. 22 revealed holiday travelers on both coasts are running into wet weather.
Read More: Satellite News and Satellite Current Events


Try this delicious tasting potato bake with sour cream. A great choice for dinner in summer, particularly for those who prefer vegetarian food.
Evenly place all of your your sliced potatoes and onion into a greased baking dish and then sprinkle over the two sprigs of fresh rosemary.
Using a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, cream, stock, parsely, salt and pepper with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. Then pour over the top of the potatoes and onion.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 1½ hours.
Once baked, spinkle with grated cheese and return to the oven to grill for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted to your liking.
As a meaty alternative, this potato bake can also be served with chicken.


Since the birth of cinema, the stereotype of the female as victim has been explored in countless ways. Females on screen, much as in real life (and to this day) exerted their limited power (beauty, charm, maternal sway) to manipulate those with power into giving them what they desired. And in the 1930's, no actress epitomized the young female ideal more than Shirley Temple.
In all of her roles, Temple represented the feminine traits that were desirable in a young girl/woman-to-be: beauty, intelligence, social graces, and possessing a strong moral compass.
Noir films and the sinister Femme Fatales of the 1940's/50's crossed over from Europe and opened the doors for mainstream American audiences to witness the development of a new type of young female character: The Girl Antagonist.


If space for the family is what your heart desires, then you will absolutely love this one.
Upon entry, be greeted with a beautiful entrance hallway with floating timber floors, which leads into the spacious open plan kitchen, dining and living area.
The chef (or chefs) of the family will be impressed with the well set out, and roomy kitchen which is equipped with breakfast bar, stunning granite benchtops (imported all the way from Italy) and quality appliances including gas hotplates, double ovens (one is a steam oven!) and a dishwasher - because who even has time for washing up these days? You'll be too busy entertaining under the outdoor alfresco area, which has STUNNING views from the rear of the property. You'll feel as if you're situated in the country, not in the middle of suburbia.
A second living room (perfect as a media room or children's playroom, due to its soundproof insulation) can also be found.
While the Master Bedroom Suite is sure to impress! Equipped with an enormous walk in robe and magazine quality ensuite, which features an amazing double sized shower, with his and hers waterfall shower heads, as well as a large vanity unit with twin basins.
The remaining three bedrooms are all generous in size and offer built in robes.
Located close by, the family bathroom is also impressive and accommodates a beautiful freestanding bath and separate shower, while the toilet is also separate.
Externally, children and pets will be safe with the yards being fully secure. There is also a small fenced dog yard, to keep your best mate even safer and out of the way when you are entertaining outdoors. For parking, there is a double garage with internal access, as well as some off street parking at the front.
Situated in a quiet street within family friendly Norwood, close to public and private schools and just a short drive to Norwood IGA, Kings Meadows shopping centre and Newstead shopping hub. While Launceston CBD is just a 10 minute drive.


National Instruments Corporation, or NI, is an American company with international operation. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. Common applications include data acquisition, instrument control and machine vision. In 2012, the company sold products to more than 35,000 companies with revenues of $1.12 billion USD.
National Instruments provides powerful, flexible technology solutions that accelerate productivity and drive rapid innovation. From daily tasks to grand challenges, NI helps engineers and scientists overcome complexity to exceed expectations. Customers in nearly every industry—from healthcare and automotive to consumer electronics and particle physics—use NI's integrated hardware and software platform to improve the world.
National Instruments Corp. (NASDAQ:NATI) has been primarily known by engineers and scientists as one of the premiere test and measurement equipment companies.


A CHICHESTER widow has been told she needs to pay £1,000 by Monday (February 16), if she wants her husband to be cremated.
As reported in full here, 69-year-old Rita Dunderdale was in Spain with her husband Ricky, 79, when he passed away.
However, because Rita wishes Ricky's funeral to take place in Spain, she is unable to get support from the Department of Work and Pensions as it does not fund overseas funerals.
She is now back at home in Swanfield Drive, but has been billed €4,122.61 bill for his body to be cremated in Spain – which is £3,048.09.
"I got a phone call from the manager in Spain this morning," she said, "he wanted £1,000 by Monday.
She said the Spanish crematorium was asking her to pay £1,000 by Monday, which marks a month since he died on January 16.
Since then, she has been forced to see her husband remain in a Spanish morgue.
"If I give them everything I have I wouldn't be able to survive," she said.


Atletico Madrid star midfielder, Saul Niguez, has been attracting attention of many top teams. One side that is now putting him top of their wish list is Manchester City.
According to reports, City's boss, Pep Guardiola is very keen on signing the Spanish international. The tactician believes that Saul has what it takes to further improve his team's midfield.
Saul is known as a talented midfielder with good technical qualities, hard working and versatile. His ability to play many different positions is one of his best asset that Guardiola is looking for.
Having a player who can cover many different roles can give many advantages for any teams. That's probably why the Spaniard is also attracting many teams outside of Man City.
Spanish giant, Barcelona, have also showing their interest in signing the talented 24-year-old. However, considering both teams' rivalry, Saul might be more keen on going to City.
However, prizing up the Spanish international won't be cheap as reports suggesting Atletico want 65 million Euro or more. That prize is quite expensive indeed, but that will be the number that Diego Simeone's side will at least ask.
Although Man City are very strong financially, but recent FFP situations they're having might force them to be more careful in their spending.


text:
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge–Crane Creek Estuary (Ottawa County)
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge website
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge map
Also, see Crane Creek Estuary (Lucas County) and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Ottawa NWR–Crane Creek Estuary (Ottawa Co.)
Ohio Birding Day Hikes
Crane Creek Estuary Trail
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Trails
Tips for birding Crane Creek Estuary
The Crane Creek Estuary can be good during any season. It has breeding birds in summer and attracts migrants in spring and fall. It can be productive when there is open water in the winter. Visiting the estuary requires hiking.
The easiest hike is to use the Crane Creek Estuary Trail, a joint project of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. This trail leaves from the west end of the parking lot at Magee Marsh and is an easy .5 mile walk along the lake shore Crane Creek. During migration and when water levels are appropriately low, this section of the estuary can host shorebirds. A spotting scope is helpful. This section of the estuary is in Lucas County.
To reach the Lucas County section of the estuary, drive straight north from the refuge entrance to the lot marked "East parking for trails" on the map, and hike north from there for about a mile on the dike road alongside the impoundments labeled MS 8b, Pool 2c, and Pool 2b. In about a mile the dike road angles northwest and then southwest, and the estuary becomes visible on the right (north) side, while the open areas of Pool 2b are visible to the left.
The Ottawa County section of the estuary can be reached by hiking from the parking lot at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.
The hiking trails at the National Wildlife Refuge are open most of the year. Some sections may be closed during breeding season or while there is hunting in progress at the refuge. Observe all "area closed" signs. The Visitor Center staff can tell you which trails are closed to hiking
From Kenn Kaufman
Tips for birding Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is a stop on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.
About Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge spans two counties. The northern part of the refuge is in Lucas County and the southern part is in Ottawa County.
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge provides valuable habitat for a diversity of waterfowl and other migratory birds, resident wildlife, and endangered and threatened species. It provides a place for people to enjoy wildlife-dependent activities and learn about the complexities of the natural world through education and interpretive programming.
Ottawa Refuge is located in northwest Ohio. The entrance is located 15 miles east of Toledo, Ohio or 16 miles west of Port Clinton, Ohio on OH-2. The entrance road is located on the north side of OH-2.
Visitors should stop at the visitor center which opened in 2007. This beautiful lodge style building welcomes you and tells the refuge story. The building is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
There are ten miles of hiking trails. These trails travel through a variety of habitats and start behind the visitor center or from the trailhead parking lot.
The refuge auto tour is open on scheduled days from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The auto tour travels through areas of the refuge not otherwise open to the general public. See the calendar of events for open dates.
From Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge webpage
Restrooms at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge are available at the Visitor Center (flush toilets) and at the parking lot for trails (non-flush toilets).


At BakersVille we believe Love is the key ingredient. We help you create your own unique masterpieces packed with creativity and sweetness. Be proud of your masterpiece and have fun while baking with our extensive range of bakery ingredients, cake & chocolates decoration products. No wonder then, your delicacies will now be a lot more delicious.
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and we will continue to do so by being a part of all your memorable occasions.
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We are very happy to be a part of BakersVille for the last 5 years. Quality products, availability of a wide range of products, quick service and a perfect team are the major factors that rightly define BakersVille.
We are happy with the products offered by BakersVille. The quality of the products is excellent and greatly adds up to the overall appearance of our offerings. We wish them success in this highly competitive market.
We are pleased to note our satisfaction with the excellent service and quality products offered by BakersVille India Pvt. Ltd. We would like to state that the prime vision of the company is to establish a long-term client-focused relationship built on honesty, enthusiasm and integrity. We believe in maintaining an open relationship with our clients, and we work towards constantly adding more products to our list.
We would like to thank and appreciate BakersVille for providing us quality solutions for creating delicious and beautiful cakes. Their range of colours, fondant and decorating material is amazing. They also provide us with necessary equipments that help us achieve the best bakery line. We are happy to see smiles on our customers' faces.
Previously, we got all our items imported from the UK. But, now the products are readily available in India. BakersVille has made this possible.
We are greatly thankful to the team at BakersVille for their support.


By the end of next year, the Army will have built five of its six planned security force assistance brigades, new units designed to do away with the "ad hoc" method of advising foreign forces the Army has relied upon for 16 years.
In remarks at a Jan. 17 breakfast hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said in addition to the 1st SFAB at Fort Benning, Ga., which will go to Afghanistan next month on its first deployment, the second SFAB is being established at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the third SFAB will be built before the end of this year. In 2019, he said, two more will be stood up, with the sixth SFAB slated for later in the Army National Guard.
In describing the structure of an SFAB, Milley said it is "nothing more complicated than the chain of command of an infantry brigade combat team from staff sergeant on up." The formation can rapidly expand to full IBCT capability by filling in the ranks with soldiers from basic and advanced individual training.
Volunteers for SFABs go through a selection process that assesses their physical, mental and emotional skills, as well as their personalities and maturity in the profession of arms. The selection rate so far, Milley said, has been around 55 percent to 60 percent. SFAB members also go through intense training specific to the advisory mission.


The army hit Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets around the Syrian town of Azaz using howitzers stationed on the Turkish side of the border, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Turkish forces carried out a similar bombardment on Saturday.
Anatolia gave no further details but military sources quoted by Turkish media said the new exchange took place from 07:00 GMT.
Turkish forces would continue to strike PYD targets in Syria as long as the army came under fire from their positions, the military sources added.
Turkish media reports said the fire was clearly audible from the border crossing close to the southern Turkish town of Kilis.
NTV television said Turkish forces had also captured three suspected PYD members in Kilis, without giving further details.
In Damascus, the Syrian government that is strongly opposed by Turkey condemned the attacks on its "territorial integrity" and urged the United Nations to act, Syrian state media said.
Turkey has been gravely alarmed by the push by the PYD and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia westwards along the Syrian border to the flashpoint town of Azaz.
Ankara accuses the PYD of being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that intensified in the last few months.
But Washington has been relying on the YPG as one of its few effective allies on the ground in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in northern Syria.
The PKK is recognised by the United States as a terror group but not the YPG or PYD.
The issue is causing increasing friction between the two NATO allies and complicating efforts to find a solution to Syria's five year civil war.
US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement late Saturday that Washington urged Turkey to cease its cross-border artillery fire.
He said the United States had also urged the Kurdish fighters "not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory".
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said that the movement of the YPG west of the Euphrates river in Syria was a "red line" for Ankara to which Turkey would never give its assent.
"We are talking here about issues that concern Turkey's national security," he told Kanal 7 television. "Turkey is not a nation that is going to sit down and watch everything from the sidelines or the stands."
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday that Turkey would take any step necessary against the PYD, IS jihadists or the Syrian regime.
"We will take every necessary step to ensure an environment that guarantees Turkey's security, an environment without Daesh (ISIS), the Syrian regime or the PYD," he said in the eastern city of Erzincan, quoted by Anatolia.
With Turkey appearing to ramp up its involvement in the Syrian crisis, Foreign Minster Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday Ankara and its ally Saudi Arabia could launch a ground operation against IS.
Saudi Arabia also has deployed aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik airbase to "intensify" its operations against ISIS, a senior Saudi defence official said.


This Is Hell! | Not working: Reclaiming time from the demands of capitalism.
Not working: Reclaiming time from the demands of capitalism.
The assumption is that by working, you are contributing to society. There are some Americans who feel work satisfaction and think they are contributing to society - and some of them certainly are. But many Americans know full well that when they go to work, they are not only not contributing to society, but are probably doing society damage.
Social historian Eva Swidler explores the radical potential of work resistance, explains how the labor movement of the 20th century traded the promise of way less working hours for slightly more wages (and why more radical unions in the future might reexamine that compromise) and makes the case for collective action and working class solidarity as the only way individuals can reclaim their limited time from the unlimited demands of capitalism.
Eva wrote the Monthly Review article Radical Leisure.
Eva Swidler is a social historian and political economist. She teaches at Goddard College and the Curtis Institute of Music.


Christmas was extra special this year – "Poppy" came over from Victoria to stay with us! Kim and I loved Poppy to bits and had missed him since we'd moved away from Victoria, so we were thrilled to have a chance to see him again.
The last time we'd spent Christmas with Poppy was with him and my late grandmother "Sam", at their house in Victoria. Christmas in Victoria always meant a large, fresh pine Christmas tree that stretched up close to the eight foot ceiling of Poppy's living room, the ancient Christmas lights and ornaments that had probably been around since Mum was a girl, and setting milk and digestive biscuits out for Santa on the fireplace hearth (plus a carrot for the Reindeer). Looking back now, I guess I'd say it was more traditional – there was some kind of history behind it all, like a ritual that had been performed many times over and into which you had become seamlessly incorporated.
On the other hand, Christmas in Langley this year was simpler, cozier and newer. We had a brand new five foot imitation scotch pine christmas tree, and strings of brand new mini-lights. I remember the smell of all the new fire retardant plastic from the lights and the tree. There was something very novel about the modernity of it all.
One day when Kim was asking Dad about Santa Claus, I became aware that there was a glaring problem about our home: we had a gas furnace with only a small exhaust pipe on the roof. "How could Santa fit down that little pipe?" I challenged my father. Dad, being mindful of my little sister's expectations, answered that Santa Claus could use his set of master keys to come in through the front door whenever he couldn't use the chimney. I didn't really buy into the whole Santa concept anymore by this time, but I went along with Dad's rational explanation, thinking that it was all in all a pretty clever answer. However, the image of Santa Claus coming in through our front door in the middle of the night bothered me a little. It seemed so unmagical and mundane that Santa would actually come in through the same door that we used every day.


The U.K. government's Department for Transport today announced plans to support advanced trials of autonomous vehicles, with the goal of having fully self-driving vehicles on its roads by 2021. But changes to the code of practice for testing have some criticizing the announcement for eliminating the need for an in-vehicle safety monitor.
The new code states that during trials on public roads or in other public places, "a suitably licensed and trained safety driver or safety operator should supervise the vehicle at all times, ensuring the vehicle is observing traffic laws, and should be ready and able to over-ride automated operation if necessary. The safety driver or operator may be outside of the vehicle, as long as they have the necessary capability to be able to resume control of the vehicle." The 2015 version of the code of practice did not mention remote operation.
The U.K. market for connected and automated vehicles is estimated to be worth £52 billion ($67.3 billion) by 2035, the government said, and the news "demonstrates that the government is on track to meet its commitment to having fully self-driving vehicles on U.K. roads by 2021", as part of its modern Industrial Strategy.
Such concerns mirror attitudes in the U.S., where liability and responsibility are among the top concerns of those driving autonomous vehicle development.
To download a free copy of the U.K.'s new code of practice for automated vehicle trials, click here.
Consumer, International & Regional, News, Robots & Law, Unmanned Systems, Autonomous Vehicles, Europe, Robot Law, Self-Driving Cars, U.K.


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Wellness in suite
Activate in suite
Enjoy our Twin Experience
Baobab Mon Cheri Experience in Divinity Lago
Family Fun Suite in Infinity Río
The 5 best reads for autumn
The end of summer inevitably means a return to routine; the dreaded sound of the alarm clock, the morning rush, way too much work, bad weather (if you don't live in the Canaries), and a long and rather sad etc.
One of the things that makes a rainy day easier to deal with is being able to snuggle up at home with a good book. We've looked around and chosen five that will definitely get people talking this autumn, so make sure you don't miss out! Another fabulous plan for the autumn months is to book a suite in Baobab and spend some time in the island of eternal spring, where you could enjoy reading these wonderful books lying in the sunshine, next to a pool, with a mojito in your hand. That's a slightly better plan, don't you think?
The Loving Husband – Christobel Kent
How well do we ever really know our partners? This brilliant novel has you gripped from the start, and centres on the life of Fran Hall and her husband Nathan. The couple decide to leave London for a fresh start and move with their two children to a farmhouse in an idyllic location. But when Fran wakes one night to find Nathan gone, she makes a devastating discovery. As the questions about her husband and her relationships start to mount up, Fran's normal, quiet life begins to spiral out of control. It's a real page-turner as you discover what Fran is hiding from the police about her marriage. How well does she really know the man she called her husband?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – J.K. Rowling
The book everyone will be talking about this autumn will undoubtedly be the latest instalment of Harry Potter; it's already the most pre-ordered book on Amazon. Currently a play in London's West End, it's divided into two parts. It's also the prequel to the much-anticipated Harry Potter: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This time we get to meet a very different Harry Potter, who's now a husband, father of three and an employee at the Ministry of Magic. Aside from being overworked, Harry also has to deal with the struggles of his youngest son, which sees the reader enter the complex world of father-son relationships.
Here I Am – Jonathan Safran Foer
Fasten your seatbelts for an emotional rollercoaster with Here I am. The novel centres around Julia and Jacob Bloch and their three sons, and is based in present-day Washington, D.C. Everyone's lives are completely upturned when a devastating earthquake hits America, and, to make matters even worse, there's also a very tense situation the Middle East, where conflict is reaching alarming levels. Yet as the crisis keeps getting worse, the family faces not only the things that divides them but also that which keeps them together. Fascinating, very cleverly written and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, Safran Foer's latest novel explores what it means to be human.
Small Great Things – Jodi Picoult
The woman who made us all cry with My Sister's Keeper is back to break our hearts once again. Be warned, this is no light-hearted drama, but we'd expect nothing less from Jodi Picoult. Small Great Things is a story about an African American delivery nurse who has to deal with racism, infant mortality, and the infamous American justice system. It's an exquisitely written, thought-provoking novel that will have you asking yourself some brutally honest questions about the role we all play in dealing with society's wider issues.
After Disasters – Viet Dinh
This brilliant debut novel explores the complicated and often dangerous world of aid workers in a novel that is utterly compelling. In the wake of a devastating earthquake in India, four people have to try and put their lives back together as they also bring international aid to the region. Through four men; Ted, Piotr, Andy and Dev, we discover the complicated lives they left behind and what can lead people into working in disaster relief. Haunting and at times heart-breaking, After Disasters can, at times, be uncomfortable to read, but it provides an incredible insight into human nature.
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For five years, the Maryland legislature has tried to pass HB 1, a bill that would require businesses of all sizes to provide sick leave to their employees. That's in addition to the family leave required by law.
Small employers with less than 15 employers would have to provide unpaid sick leave and keep track of employee hours while small businesses with 15 or more employees would have to pay out up to 5 days of sick leave a year to their employees. Employees who work at least 12 hours a week or more would be eligible for the benefits.
To many it may sound like a great idea. Even so, Over two-thirds of Maryland employees already have sick leave benefits. The ones that don't are often some of the lowest paid employees and most of those employees work for small businesses that have a very small profit margin.
Those businesses cannot absorb the additional administrative and direct costs of the sick leave bill the same as larger corporations and chain stores.
Yet, there are two big problems with HB 1, like so many others around the country, which is why businesses across the state unanimously opposed the bill.
First, it required new record keeping and paperwork requirements, including requiring workers to divulge health information in order to access the sick leave. Business owners and HR managers will loose added revenue as they spend time on paperwork and lost production due to the disruptions.
Secondly, the bill is as un-American as it can be by assuming employer guilt and requiring the employer to prove compliance with the law. The bill allowed the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to open an investigation on a business off an anonymous tip from an employee. The business would then be compelled to prove their innocence. This is a intimidating and humiliating process. Upon a verdict of non-compliance, the business is then subject to costly fines and penalties.
This is in addition to the time, expenditure, and opportunity and revenue lost by the business while defending themselves.
It is the very costs of administering, tracking, paying out and defending compliance with the sick leave bill that would cause many small businesses to either completely close down or to greatly reduce employee hours or positions.
According to a study done by NFIB Research Foundation, HB 1 would cost 13,000 jobs in the next 10 years. Most of those would be jobs from small business employers- the very jobs that the poorest workers in Maryland rely on. Undoubtedly, those workers would prefer a job over no job, with required sick leave for others.
This is, in part, because larger corporations are able to afford lobbyists and exceptions to the law. One such exception was even labeled the Comcast amendment. A number of businesses got themselves excused from the bill and others got special carve outs.
These are all privileges that small businesses can't afford to buy from the lawmakers. Ironically, it's the larger corporations that can better afford the additional regulatory compliance costs.
Few people know that Governor Larry Hogan introduced a business friendly sick leave law earlier in the year, but the law was quickly discarded my lawmakers.
Hogan's sick leave law provided tax benefits and exemptions that would help to cover the cost of paid sick leave for business owners. Hogan has repeatedly stated that one of his biggest goals as governor is to produce more Maryland jobs and his bill was designed to offer the benefits of sick leave to workers without the crippling effect on jobs.
Marylanders appear to agree with the governor. Although 77% support sick leave benefits. However under the same polling 66% oppose sick leave bills that would result in businesses cutting hours or staff to afford the bill.
The legislature may still have an opportunity to override the veto if they are called into a special session to look at some other bills, including adjusting the state's marijuana laws. Based on the current number of passed votes, both the Senate and the House have enough votes to override the Governor's veto. However, the Senate had no extra votes to spare.
One thing is certain, sick leave is likely to be a hotly debated topic again next year in Maryland.
Businesses increasingly face employment law compliance and have to comply with multiple conflicting local and federal ordinances defining employee benefits, sick leave accrual and labor laws.


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The Morila Gold Mine is an open-pit gold mine situated 180 km south of Bamako, near the community of Sanso, in the Sikasso Region of Mali. The operation is jointly owned by Firefinch Limited who owns 80%, while the Government of Mali owns the remaining 20%.

Apart from Morila, Firefinch also owns the Goulamina Lithium Project in Mali.

History
The Morila Gold Mine is one the world's great open pit gold mines, having produced over 7.5Moz of gold since 2000 at grades that were among the highest in the world, earning it the moniker "Morila the Gorilla".

Firefinch acquired Morila for just US$28.9m in late 2020 with the strategic intent to rapidly increase production; initially targeting 70-90kozpa of gold from a combination of satellite pits, stocks and tailings, and thereafter growing production to 150-200kozpa of gold by mining the Morila Superpit.

Morila's current Global Resource is 2.43 million ounces of gold (Measured:  1.73Mt at 0.5g/t gold for 0.03Moz, Indicated: 26.7Mt at 1.49g/t gold for 1.28Moz and Inferred: 22.1Mt at 1.58g/t gold for 1.12Moz). However, Morila's geological limits have not been tested. Exploration is therefore a major focus at the existing deposits and multiple targets on the 685km2 of surrounding tenure.

Production
Production figures of the recent past were:

References

External links
 AngloGold Ashanti website
 Randgold website
 Morila mine (MLI-00122) Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website
 Morila Gold Mine description ICMM website

Gold mines in Mali
Surface mines in Mali
AngloGold Ashanti
Sikasso Region
2000 establishments in Mali

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


It is the mission of Community Services to provide services to people to maximize independence, health, and productivity in accord with the needs of the individuals, families, and society of Clark County. The Community Services Department is a state mandated agency dedicated to meeting the needs of persons with mental illness, substance abuse, or developmental disability.
Outpatient Clinic- State certified provider of outpatient mental health and substance abuse services offering confidential individual, group, and family therapy. Psychiatric and psychological evaluations, substance abuse assessments, and counseling are available at two locations (Courthouse and Clark County Health Care Center). At this time we are only serving Clark County residents. Services provided can be billed to most health insurance companies and medical assistance. If no insurance, fees can be reduced based on ability to pay.
Case Management/Community Support Program - Since the mid 1970's the concept of community based services for persons with significant disabilities has been our guiding principle. Since the mid 1980's Community Services has partnered with the Clark County Health Care Center for this service. Case management reduces or eliminates the need for costly institutional care and improves the quality of life for persons with disabilities.
Birth-to-Three Program- Children with special needs are helped through a variety of case management and therapy efforts. All children and families who are eligible must be served. This is a growing program that presently serves 25 families.
Children's Community Options Program: Provides flexible, but limited, assistance to individuals with special needs who are living at home, from birth to age 21. Each family involved in the program receives goods and services that are helpful to them. Each year the program serves over 20 families.
24 hour Crisis Services-For emergencies after hours, the crisis helpline is available at 715-743-3400 or 1-800-863-3560 for toll free long distance calls. Trained staff is available to listen and assist you in finding the help you need.
Children's Waiver (CLTSW): The Children's Waiver Program is a home and community based service that serves children under 22 who have been diagnosed with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, or severe emotional disturbances. Its purpose is to help families support their children with severe disabilities within their own home. The program may fund a broad range of services not funded by Medicaid depending on eligibility and the specific needs of the child. CLTSW support staff assist with the initial application process and provide case management throughout the child's eligibility in the program. Parents and case managers work together to determine outcomes based on the child's needs.
Children's Community Options Program (CCOP): The Children's Community Options Program provides flexible, but limited assistance to children from birth to 21 years of age who have been diagnosed with special needs and are living in their own home. Depending on eligibility, case managers work with families to identify needs to better support the child and enhance long term goals within their home or community.
The Community Support Program (CSP) is provided through Clark County Rehabilitation and Living Center in partnership with Clark County Community Services which provides supports for adults with chronic, severe and persistent mental illness and are at the greatest risk for admission to mental health hospitals. Consumers are supported through a team made up of a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a nurse, mental health therapists, an AODA therapist, and case managers to implement and oversee treatment provisions. Case managers provide money management, assistance with activities of daily living, linkage to and utilization of appropriate community resources, supported employment, socialization skills, symptom management and coping techniques, and medication management. The purpose is to focus on recovery through providing well-rounded, community based care in the least restrictive environment possible. Services are billable through Medicaid and some private insurance plans.
Are you depressed, under stress, having family problems?
Our trained staff is available to listen and assist you in finding the help you need.


After spending weeks for shooting video footage from different location around San Francisco, this morning I have officially started the post production of my upcoming holiday music video project. Unlike the past projects that I did, I'm using Avid Media Composer to edit this project, which involves totally different workflows and process, and that's a challenge for me. First of all, I've been using Final Cut Pro for almost two years, and I can use FCP proficiently without a lot of obstacles. On the other hand, I also have experience in Avid MC, but besides I used it and worked on it in school, I rarely use it in editing my own projects or projects of others. I mean I can work on both FCP and Avid environments without any problem, however, I need to have some adaptation when I use Avid, such as review the books and materials, study the shortcuts, and more importantly, not to mess up with the process and workflows of FCP. Luckily, even though I use Avid far less than FCP, but I still have pretty good working knowledge of it.
Back to my project. This morning I started reviewing all the video footage that I shot, making notes for them, then began with the first rough cut. So far, I have finished about the first two minutes of rough cut, and it was not bad. Of there're still lots of work to do before I can put it on the Internet, but I believe I can finish it on time and make it available for everyone just in time for the Christmas holiday. I know this will be my busiest week for months, but I think that your support is more than everything. I know some people are reading my blog, so I'm here to say thank you to them. You are my true supporters. Thank you.
I'll keep you posted on the progress of my holiday MV project throughout the week, and you can always visit my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter @victorleivideo to get any updates about me and my projects.


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2013 Aston Martin Vanquish
99 problems but the stitch ain't one. (Okay, so maybe not as many problems as that.)
Jared Gall
Through a carbon-fiber driveshaft hidden inside an aluminum torque tube, the V-12 spins gears inside the same rear-mounted six-speed automated manual transaxle the DBS used. Aside from the composite body, perhaps the only way in which the Vanquish is cutting-edge is that it offers no conventional manual transmission. But like high-tech transmissions everywhere, the Vanquish's can be controlled with paddle shifters, and it zings the revs on downshifts. Sport mode allows the driver to hold the redline longer than in the other settings, but lest grand-touring drivers be caught off guard by the rapid onslaught of rpm, shifts eventually will occur automatically, no matter what. Huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors—15.7 inches up front and 14.2 out back—are standard and help even inattentive drivers bring things back below the speed limit in a hurry. They're actuated by a pedal that, like the rest of the car, is nearly perfectly calibrated for those who want to go fast but aren't too intent on going the fastest.
People spending nearly $300,000 on a grand tourer probably are pretty intent on being comfortable, though, and the Vanquish delivers on that front. Occupants see almost nothing that isn't leather or faux suede, and Aston boasts that there are about one million separate stitches in each quilted Vanquish interior. Sure. We're not gonna count. Those trimmings are standard at the car's $282,110 base price, as are heated front seats; a 1000-watt, 13-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system; and navigation. The sweeping center stack of the DB cars remains, but the controls are redesigned in the Vanquish for a more modern look, complete with haptic-feedback clusters for climate and infotainment functions. Although it looks elegant, this cabin can be a surprisingly noisy place. Aston explained away wind noise from the driver's door as a preproduction fit issue, but the tire noise emanating from all four corners isn't going to be fixed by a last-minute tweak.
Aston pushed the dash forward more than an inch, and we're told the doors and the center console are slimmer, too. The result is a noticeably more spacious Aston, although the passenger-side footwell still ends early and abruptly. And in moving the dash forward, Aston lost its glove box. Hey, you could get more elbowroom by removing the doors; the challenge is to figure out how to minimize such compromises. Then again, things that normally go in a glove box can go in the back seat—or the void where you'd expect one. As with the DB9/S, the seat is useless for people larger than your average garden gnome. It is, however, optional. Forgoing it won't get you any more front-seat travel, but it will keep friends from getting into your Aston and laughing.
Allow us, then, to amend our opening statement: Maybe England isn't so much the land that time forgot as it is the land of "good enough." Driving on the left side of the road, using imperial units—these things are good enough. Why bother with the way other people do things? This philosophy underlies Aston CEO Ulrich Bez's answer when asked why there's no redline on the counterclockwise-reading tachometer. He explains that those last few hundred rpm don't really make a difference, that most drivers aren't going for a best lap time on a track and don't need the few extra 10ths of a second provided by redline shifts. His company seems to bank on its customers' sharing this conviction. For people who want Aston Martins, this one is most definitely good enough.
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2- or 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 362 cu in, 5935 cc
Power: 565 hp @ 6750 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
Curb weight (C/D est): 3850 lb
Zero to 60 mph: 4.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 9.4 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 12.4 sec
PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 13/20 mpg