An approach to license plate recognition in real time using multi-stage computational intelligence classifier

Automatic car license plate recognition (LPR) is widely used nowadays. It involves plate localization in the image, character segmentation and optical character recognition. In this paper, a set of descriptors of image segments (characters) was proposed as well as a technique of multi-stage classification of letters and digits using cascade of neural network and several parallel Random Forest or classification tree or rule list classifiers. The proposed solution was applied to automated recognition of number plates which are composed of capital Latin letters and Arabic numerals. The paper presents an analysis of the accuracy of the obtained classifiers. The time needed to build the classifier and the time needed to classify characters using it are also presented

Characterization of the newly isolated lytic bacteriophages KTN6 and KT28 and their efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm

We here describe two novel lytic phages, KT28 and KTN6, infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isolated from a sewage sample from an irrigated field near Wroclaw, in Poland. Both viruses show characteristic features of Pbunalikevirus genus within the Myoviridae family with respect to shape and size of head/tail, as well as LPS host receptor recognition. Genome analysis confirmed the similarity to other PB1-related phages, ranging between 48 and 96%. Pseudomonas phage KT28 has a genome size of 66,381 bp and KTN6 of 65,994 bp. The latent period, burst size, stability and host range was determined for both viruses under standard laboratory conditions. Biofilm eradication efficacy was tested on peg-lid plate assay and PET membrane surface. Significant reduction of colony forming units was observed (70-90%) in 24 h to 72 h old Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm cultures for both phages. Furthermore, a pyocyanin and pyoverdin reduction tests reveal that tested phages lowers the amount of both secreted dyes in 48-72 h old biofilms. Diffusion and goniometry experiments revealed the increase of diffusion rate through the biofilm matrix after phage application. These characteristics indicate these phages could be used to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and biofilm formation. It was also shown, that PB1-related phage treatment of biofilm caused the emergence of stable phage-resistant mutants growing as small colony variants

An Approach to License Plate Recognition in Real Time Using Multi-stage Computational Intelligence Classifier

Automatic car license plate recognition (LPR) is widely used nowadays. It involves plate localization in the image, character segmentation and optical character recognition. In this paper, a set of descriptors of image segments (characters) was proposed as well as a technique of multi-stage classification of letters and digits using cascade of neural network and several parallel Random Forest or classification tree or rule list classifiers. The proposed solution was applied to automated recognition of number plates which are composed of capital Latin letters and Arabic numerals. The paper presents an analysis of the accuracy of the obtained classifiers. The time needed to build the classifier and the time needed to classify characters using it are also presented

Transportation, Terrorism and Crime: Deterrence, Disruption and Resilience

Abstract: Terrorists likely have adopted vehicle ramming as a tactic because it can be carried out by an individual (or “lone wolf terrorist”), and because the skills required are minimal (e.g. the ability to drive a car and determine locations for creating maximum carnage). Studies of terrorist activities against transportation assets have been conducted to help law enforcement agencies prepare their communities, create mitigation measures, conduct effective surveillance and respond quickly to attacks. This study reviews current research on terrorist tactics against transportation assets, with an emphasis on vehicle ramming attacks. It evaluates some of the current attack strategies, and the possible mitigation or response tactics that may be effective in deterring attacks or saving lives in the event of an attack. It includes case studies that can be used as educational tools for understanding terrorist methodologies, as well as ordinary emergencies that might become a terrorist’s blueprint

Diversity, genetic mapping, and signatures of domestication in the carrot (Daucus carota L.) genome, as revealed by Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers

Carrot is one of the most economically important vegetables worldwide, but genetic and genomic resources supporting carrot breeding remain limited. We developed a Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) platform for wild and cultivated carrot and used it to investigate genetic diversity and to develop a saturated genetic linkage map of carrot. We analyzed a set of 900 DArT markers in a collection of plant materials comprising 94 cultivated and 65 wild carrot accessions. The accessions were attributed to three separate groups: wild, Eastern cultivated and Western cultivated. Twenty-seven markers showing signatures for selection were identified. They showed a directional shift in frequency from the wild to the cultivated, likely reflecting diversifying selection imposed in the course of domestication. A genetic linkage map constructed using 188 F2 plants comprised 431 markers with an average distance of 1.1 cM, divided into nine linkage groups. Using previously anchored single nucleotide polymorphisms, the linkage groups were physically attributed to the nine carrot chromosomes. A cluster of markers mapping to chromosome 8 showed significant segregation distortion. Two of the 27 DArT markers with signatures for selection were segregating in the mapping population and were localized on chromosomes 2 and 6. Chromosome 2 was previously shown to carry the Vrn1 gene governing the biennial growth habit essential for cultivated carrot. The results reported here provide background for further research on the history of carrot domestication and identify genomic regions potentially important for modern carrot breeding

System for Detecting Vehicle Features from Low Quality Data

The paper presents a system that recognizes the make, colour and type of the vehicle. The classification has been performed using low quality data from real-traffic measurement devices. For detecting vehicles’ specific features three methods have been developed. They employ several image and signal recognition techniques, e.g. Mamdani Fuzzy Inference System for colour recognition or Scale Invariant Features Transform for make identification. The obtained results are very promising, especially because only on-site equipment, not dedicated for such application, has been employed. In case of car type, the proposed system has better performance than commonly used inductive loops. Extensive information about the vehicle can be used in many fields of Intelligent Transport Systems, especially for traffic supervision. 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East-West Technology Transfer: Basic Knowledge and Reflections

This report was commissioned by the International Council for New Initiatives in East West Cooperation (the "Vienna Council"). The rapid economic transition in many East West European countries has brought into sharp focus the need to modernize services, methods, management and specialized skills as well as products and processes in the manufacturing sector. In spite of the recent expansion of economic cooperation between eastern and western enterprises the economic and technical importance of these joint ventures are of little strategic importance to real economic reform. They are mostly small low-investment and mostly in the low sophistication services sector. The relevance of the technology to be transferred is of obvious importance in any joint venture or cooperative business arrangement. However, the major reasons for slow progress is rooted in other factors, such as management skills, existence of services and maintenance infrastructure, availability of supplies, availability of transport and logistics, to name a few. It was to provide some background in these non-technological aspects of technological transfer that prompted this Working Paper. It is in that context that this Working Paper should be viewed

Location Tracking by Police: The Regulation of ‘Tireless and Absolute Surveillance’

Location information reveals people’s whereabouts, but can also tell much about their habits, preferences, and, ultimately, much of their private lives. Current surveillance technologies used in criminal investigation include many techniques to track someone’s movements; not all are equally intrusive. This raises the following questions: how do jurisdictions draw boundaries between lesser and more serious privacy intrusions? What factors play a role? How are geolocational privacy interests framed? In this Article, we answer these questions through a comparative analysis of location-tracking regulation in eight jurisdictions: Canada, Czechia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We analyze the legal status of location tracking through human observation, GPS tracking, cell-phone tracking, IMSI catchers (Stingrays), silent SMS, automated license-plate recognition, and directional Wi-Fi tracking in these countries. This results in highly context-dependent and case-specific assessments, in which eight factors play a role: use of a technical device, place, intensity, duration, degree of suspicion, object of tracking, covertness, and active generation of data. At a deeper level of analysis, we identify different conceptualizations of privacy underlying these assessments: not only classic privacy frames, such as communications secrecy, protection of home and body, and informational privacy, but also two new privacy frames: freedom of movement in combination with anonymity, and the mosaic theory. Thus, we discern a tentative but unmistakable shift in how lawmakers and courts assess the intrusiveness of location tracking, particularly of people’s movements in public space. Traditional privacy frames tend to downplay the seriousness of the privacy infringement enabled by location tracking, and our analysis demonstrates an increasing discomfort with this tendency, leading to the emergence of novel privacy frames (or theories) to regulate what might easily turn into what the Supreme Court of the United States has called “tireless and absolute surveillance.” We conclude that legal privacy frameworks developed in past centuries prove ill-suited for assessing the privacy-intrusiveness of contemporary location-tracking investigation methods, and that emerging, novel frameworks for understanding and protecting privacy may provide lawmakers and courts with the tools needed to address the challenge of preserving (geolocational) privacy in the twenty-first century

Location Tracking by Police: The Regulation of ‘Tireless and Absolute Surveillance’

Location information reveals people’s whereabouts, but can also tell much about their habits, preferences, and, ultimately, much of their private lives. Current surveillance technologies used in criminal investigation include many techniques to track someone’s movements; not all are equally intrusive. This raises the following questions: how do jurisdictions draw boundaries between lesser and more serious privacy intrusions? What factors play a role? How are geolocational privacy interests framed? In this Article, we answer these questions through a comparative analysis of location-tracking regulation in eight jurisdictions: Canada, Czechia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We analyze the legal status of location tracking through human observation, GPS tracking, cell-phone tracking, IMSI catchers (Stingrays), silent SMS, automated license-plate recognition, and directional Wi-Fi tracking in these countries. This results in highly context-dependent and case-specific assessments, in which eight factors play a role: use of a technical device, place, intensity, duration, degree of suspicion, object of tracking, covertness, and active generation of data. At a deeper level of analysis, we identify different conceptualizations of privacy underlying these assessments: not only classic privacy frames, such as communications secrecy, protection of home and body, and informational privacy, but also two new privacy frames: freedom of movement in combination with anonymity, and the mosaic theory. Thus, we discern a tentative but unmistakable shift in how lawmakers and courts assess the intrusiveness of location tracking, particularly of people’s movements in public space. Traditional privacy frames tend to downplay the seriousness of the privacy infringement enabled by location tracking, and our analysis demonstrates an increasing discomfort with this tendency, leading to the emergence of novel privacy frames (or theories) to regulate what might easily turn into what the Supreme Court of the United States has called “tireless and absolute surveillance.” We conclude that legal privacy frameworks developed in past centuries prove ill-suited for assessing the privacy-intrusiveness of contemporary location-tracking investigation methods, and that emerging, novel frameworks for understanding and protecting privacy may provide lawmakers and courts with the tools needed to address the challenge of preserving (geolocational) privacy in the twenty-first century