A Novel Way of Using Simulations to Support Urban Security Operations

The growing importance of security operations in urban terrain has triggered many attempts to address the perceived gaps in the readiness of security forces for this type of combat. One way to tackle the problem is to employ simulation techniques. Simulations are widely used to support both mission rehearsal and mission analysis, but these two applications tend to be seen as distinctly separate. We argue that integrating them in a unified framework can bring significant benefits for end-users. We perform a structured walk-through of such a unified system, in which a novel approach to integration through the behaviour cloning enabled the system to capture the operational knowledge of security experts, which is often difficult to express verbally. This capability emerged as essential for the operation of the integrated system. We also illustrate how the interplay between the system components for the mission analysis and mission rehearsal is realized

Human and climate impacts on tropical Andean ecosystems

Population growth and predicted global climate change are applying new, and increasing, pressure to mountain environments, but the consequences of these changes upon the biodiverse and vulnerable Tropical Andean ecosystems are poorly understood. This thesis explores past human-climate-ecosystem interactions using multi-proxy palaeolimnological investigations (fossil pollen, spore, charcoal and Chironomidae (midges); elemental abundance, colour spectra and magnetic susceptibility) of two sites in the eastern Bolivian Andes (Lake Challacaba and Laguna Khomer Kocha Upper) over the last c. 18,000 years. During the deglaciation and Holocene, ecosystems were exposed to varying climatic stress levels, and pressures imposed by the development of human cultures. Examination of preserved ecological assemblages, including the first assessment of subfossil central Andean Chironomidae, reveals ecosystem sensitivity to changes in temperature, moisture, fire regime, lake level, nutrients and salinity. Charcoal analysis from Laguna Khomer Kotcha Upper reveals changes in burning at c. 14,500, 10,100 and 6,400 cal yr BP. Concomitant palynological shifts shows climatically controlled fire regime was a transformative agent of Andean vegetation, particularly for the threatened, high elevation, Polylepis woodlands. Pollen and geochemical data from Lake Challacaba indicate two periods of aridity (c. 4,000-3,370 and 2,190-1,020 cal yr BP), these broadly correlated to El Nino/Southern Oscillation variations. Increased Sporormiella abundance after c. 1,340 cal yr BP indicate changes in trade-route use and agricultural practices; demonstrating human adaptation to environmental change and interconnectivity to Tiwanaku and Inca civilizations. The long-term response of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, reconstructed from these lakes, has provided insights into how Tropical Andean ecosystems may respond to future changes in temperature, precipitation and human interference. The palaeoenvironmental data has implications for conservation management; it indicates that spatial and temporal variations in site sensitivity, exposure and resilience should be assessed, and that planting strategies should mimic the present day natural patchy distribution of Polylepis woodlands

NASA SERC 1990 Symposium on VLSI Design

This document contains papers presented at the first annual NASA Symposium on VLSI Design. NASA's involvement in this event demonstrates a need for research and development in high performance computing. High performance computing addresses problems faced by the scientific and industrial communities. High performance computing is needed in: (1) real-time manipulation of large data sets; (2) advanced systems control of spacecraft; (3) digital data transmission, error correction, and image compression; and (4) expert system control of spacecraft. Clearly, a valuable technology in meeting these needs is Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). This conference addresses the following issues in VLSI design: (1) system architectures; (2) electronics; (3) algorithms; and (4) CAD tools

Book of short Abstracts of the 11th International Symposium on Digital Earth

The Booklet is a collection of accepted short abstracts of the ISDE11 Symposium

Assessing the resilience of Brazil’s iconic Araucaria Forests to past and future climate change

Southern Brazil’s Araucaria Forests are unique, iconic, and vanishing. Part of a globally important biodiversity hotspot, they are threatened by 20th -Century deforestation and 21st -Century anthropogenic climate changes. Natural climate variability and Indigenous people also affected Araucaria Forests over many millennia, but considerable uncertainty remains over the type and scale of their impacts. Interweaving ecological models and data on past, present and future human, climate and vegetation dynamics, this thesis seeks to better understand the roles of climatic and non-climatic factors – including topography, human land use, and fire – in shaping Araucaria Forests over the last 21,000 years and into the late 21st Century. Results show that 21st -Century anthropogenic climate change will likely bring greater disruption to Araucaria Forests than the last 21 millennia of natural variability. Key species will experience major range contractions and novel warm-adapted forests will replace long-established floristic associations, echoing and exceeding changes from the Holocene onset 12,000 years ago. Araucaria populations will likely find shelter in small-scale microrefugia, but more than a third of these have already lost their natural vegetation cover and few remnants are well protected. But results also show that climate only partially controls Araucaria Forest dynamics. 21,000 years ago, low atmospheric CO2 concentrations helped grasslands dominate woody vegetation, a dynamic which continued until recent millennia. Araucaria Forests then flourished late in the Holocene, as climate changes tipped landscapes over fire-suppression thresholds, triggering runaway forest expansion. Although subtle human impacts can be difficult to see in fossil pollen data, pre-colonial Indigenous communities did significantly shape Araucaria Forest structure and composition with fire, crop cultivation, and enriched Araucaria populations. This understanding of how past climatic and non-climatic factors combined to shape contemporary Araucaria Forests provides vital information for their future – from non-linear responses to climate shifts to conservation strategies and pathways for sustainable resource use

Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary (RTOPS)

This publication represents the NASA research and technology program for FY89. It is a compilation of the Summary portions of each of the RTOPs (Research and Technology Objectives and Plans) used for management review and control of research currently in progress throughout NASA. The RTOP Summary is designed to facilitate communication and coordination among concerned technical personnel in government, in industry, and in universities. The first section containing citations and abstracts of the RTOPs is followed by four indexes: Subject, Technical Monitor, Responsible NASA Organization, and RTOP Number

The State of Governance in Bangladesh 2009 : entitlement, responsiveness, sustainability

The State of Governance in Bangladesh 2009 is edited by Irum Shehreen Ali.Includes bibliographical references (page 150 - 164)

Image and Video Forensics

Nowadays, images and videos have become the main modalities of information being exchanged in everyday life, and their pervasiveness has led the image forensics community to question their reliability, integrity, confidentiality, and security. Multimedia contents are generated in many different ways through the use of consumer electronics and high-quality digital imaging devices, such as smartphones, digital cameras, tablets, and wearable and IoT devices. The ever-increasing convenience of image acquisition has facilitated instant distribution and sharing of digital images on digital social platforms, determining a great amount of exchange data. Moreover, the pervasiveness of powerful image editing tools has allowed the manipulation of digital images for malicious or criminal ends, up to the creation of synthesized images and videos with the use of deep learning techniques. In response to these threats, the multimedia forensics community has produced major research efforts regarding the identification of the source and the detection of manipulation. In all cases (e.g., forensic investigations, fake news debunking, information warfare, and cyberattacks) where images and videos serve as critical evidence, forensic technologies that help to determine the origin, authenticity, and integrity of multimedia content can become essential tools. This book aims to collect a diverse and complementary set of articles that demonstrate new developments and applications in image and video forensics to tackle new and serious challenges to ensure media authenticity

Understanding How Changes in Disturbance Regimes and Long-Term Climate Shape Ecosystem and Landscape Structure and Function

Long-term and anthropic climatic change intersecting with disturbances alters ecosystem structure and function across spatiotemporal scales. Quantifying ecosystem responses can be convoluted, therefore utilizing multiproxy approaches clarifies consequent responses beyond correlations. Throughout the Holocene, climate continuously changed, contributing to increasing drought duration in some regions, such as the Pacific Northwest (PNW) (early Holocene) of the United States (also late Holocene wetting), and more intense precipitation in others, like South America (mid to late Holocene). A dominant dictating force in terrestrial system compositions is climate (e.g., temperature and precipitation), which is observed through reoccurring biotic patterns existing across the globe (i.e., ‘biomes’). Some biome distribution schematics designate biomes based on a shifting relationship between temperature and precipitation in which biomes can transition into others consequently mirroring climatic change. However, shifts in biomes are instigated on a lower level, such as the ecosystem scale where ecosystems dynamically respond to internal and exogenous forces. Consequently, ecosystems are perpetually fluctuating where multiple regimes can coexist under the same environmental conditions in which feedbacks, perturbations, and regime resiliency can either reinforce ecosystem statuses or contribute to shifts. My dissertation aims to elucidate ecosystem responses to climatic and disturbance changes specifically looking through a lens of carbon sequestration and stability. Understanding the persistence of carbon within an ecosystem is more prudent than ever given our current climate crisis. My research spans different hemispheres and time periods, where I utilize different approaches in each chapter to quantify ecosystem responses from varying angles. In Chapter II, I quantify how forest and savanna ecosystems have changed over the late Holocene across a large ecoregion (i.e., Brazil’s Cerrado) using stable and radiocarbon isotopes within the soil. In Chapter III, I transition to a landscape scale in the PNW where I investigate how fire in tandem with post-fire management influence soil carbon stability and soil fungal community composition. Chapter IV encompasses the ecosystem level within the PNW, where I use a single sediment core and a multiproxy approach to reconstruct biogeochemical shifts throughout the Holocene in response to climatic and disturbance changes. My dissertation possesses previously published and unpublished coauthored research

COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Acceptance in Ethnic Minority Individuals in the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods study using Protection Motivation Theory

Background: Uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine among ethnic minority individuals has been lower than in the general population. However, there is little research examining the psychosocial factors that contribute to COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy in this population.Aim: Our study aimed to determine which factors predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention in minority ethnic individuals in Middlesbrough, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, in addition to demographic variables.Method: We used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. 64 minority ethnic individuals (33 females, 31 males; mage = 31.06, SD = 8.36) completed the survey assessing PMT constructs, COVID-19conspiracy beliefs and demographic factors. 42.2% had received the booster vaccine, 57.6% had not. 16 survey respondents were interviewed online to gain further insight into factors affecting booster vaccineacceptance.Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was a significant predictor of booster vaccination intention, with higher perceived susceptibility being associated with higher intention to get the booster. Additionally, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly predictedintention to get the booster vaccine, with higher conspiracy beliefs being associated with lower intention to get the booster dose. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed that barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination included time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event ofexperiencing side effects. Furthermore, there was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals.Conclusion: PMT and conspiracy beliefs predict COVID-19 booster vaccination in minority ethnic individuals. To help increase vaccine uptake, community leaders need to be involved in addressing people’s concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination