Distributed physical sensors network for the protection of critical infrastractures against physical attacks

The SCOUT project is based on the use of multiple innovative and low impact technologies for the protection of space control ground stations and the satellite links against physical and cyber-attacks, and for intelligent reconfiguration of the ground station network (including the ground node of the satellite link) in the case that one or more nodes fail. The SCOUT sub-system devoted to physical attacks protection, SENSNET, is presented. It is designed as a network of sensor networks that combines DAB and DVB-T based passive radar, noise radar, Ku-band radar, infrared cameras, and RFID technologies. The problem of data link architecture is addressed and the proposed solution described

Scientific exploitation of PAZ products in coastal surveillance and monitoring tasks

Revista oficial de la Asociación Española de Teledetección[EN] PAZ mission appears due to the need of a Spanish SAR satellite able to provide radar image products for security and defense, civil and scientific users. INTA is responsible for the technical direction of the Ground Segment, as well as the development of the Calibration and Validation Centre and the scientific exploitation. The ‘Demonstrator of Maritime SAR Applications’ is proposed as an answer to detection tasks in maritime synthetic aperture radar imagery, which are not completely solved yet. DeMSAR has been developed in the framework of a contract between the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) and the University of Alcalá. It is intended to be used as a demonstrator of the capabilities of the airborne SAR prototypes of INTA as well as for PAZ, the Spanish SAR satellite. With two operation modes, an automatic ship detector and a toolboxes mode, DeMSAR offers the user a high flexibility in SAR data processing tasks such as speckle filtering, coastline detection, land mask estimation and ship detection and characterization.[ES] La misión PAZ surge ante la necesidad de un satélite SAR español que pueda proporcionar productos imagen radar para usuarios de seguridad y defensa, civiles y científicos. INTA es el responsable de la dirección técnica del Segmento Terreno, así como del desarrollo y operación del Centro de Calibración y Validación y de la Explotación Científica. Dentro de este ámbito de explotación, se desarrolla un demostrador de aplicaciones SAR marítimas (DeMSAR) como herramienta robusta capaz de llevar a cabo tareas de detección sobre la superficie marina, empleando las imágenes adquiridas por radares de apertura sintética. Se desarrolla bajo un marco de colaboración entre el INTA y la Universidad de Alcalá con el fin de convertirse en un demostrador de las capacidades de los sistemas aerotransportados de INTA y, en el futuro, para procesar los datos adquiridos por el sensor PAZ. Con capacidad de operar en modo automático de detección de barcos o mediante librerías de procesado SAR, DeMSAR ofrece una gran versatilidad al usuario en tareas de procesado tales como filtrado de ruido speckle, detección de líneas de costa, estimación de máscaras de tierra y detección y caracterización de barcos.Jarabo, M.; González, M.; De La Mata, D.; Martín De Nicolás, J.; Del Rey, N.; Bárcena, J.; Peláez, V. (2014). Explotación científica de productos PAZ en tareas de vigilancia y monitorización costera. Revista de Teledetección. (41):97-109. doi:10.4995/raet.2014.2287.SWORD9710941Comaniciu, D., & Meer, P. (2002). Mean shift: a robust approach toward feature space analysis. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 24(5), 603-619. doi:10.1109/34.1000236Duda, R. O. & Hart, P. E., 1973. Pattern classification and scene analysis. Wiley.Mallat, S., 2008. A wavelet tour of signal processing. 3rd Edition. Academic Press

Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe

Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions

The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Project—a survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with high–stress and high–fertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sex–role ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not cross–culturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe

Chemical And Extractives Compatibility Of Empty Bunch Fruit Of Elaeis Guineensis, Leaves Of Ananas Cumosos And Tetrapak With Wood Used In Particleboards In Tropical Areas

Tropical countries produce a great variety of lignocellulosic residues from small-area planted crops. Large amount of "Tetra Pak" package are also produced without any disposal treatment. In order to give solutions for waste management, residues must be incorporated in other processes, such as the manufacture of particleboards. The main objective of this work was to evaluate chemical compositions, extractives in different solvent, chemical characterization of extracts in polar and un-polar solvent utilizing infrared spectrum analysis. A second aim of this study was to test the compatibility between chemical composition and extractives of empty bunch fruit of Elaeis guineensis (BPF), the leaves of Ananas cumosos (PL) and "Tetra Pak" packages with three timber species (Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Cupressus lusitanica).. Results showed that cellulose, ashes and lignin content of BPF, PL and "Tetra Pak" differ from those of the woody species. Similar result was obtained for pH and for the amount of substances extracted with different solvents. Infrared speetrum of water (polar), and ethanol-toluene (un-polar) solutions showed that the greatest differences in extracts were found in BPF and PL, this in relation to the studied woody species. Finally, HCMA showed that residues from BPF and "Tetra Pak" packages are slightly different, considering chemical compositions and extract content, to other woody species used for particleboard manufacture. Moreover, PL has the least compatibility with the woody species.Los países tropicales producen una gran variedad de residuos lignocelulósicos a partir de cultivos sembrados en áreas pequeñas. También se produce una gran cantidad de envases "Tetra Pak" sin ningún tratamiento de eliminación. Para dar soluciones a la gestión de residuos es necesario incorporar los residuos en otros procesos, como la fabricación de tableros de partículas. El principal objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar composiciones químicas, extractivos en diferentes solventes, caracterización química de extractos en solventes polares y no polares utilizando análisis de espectro infrarrojo. Un segundo objetivo de este estudio fue probar la compatibilidad entre la composición química y los extractivos del fruto de racimo vacío de Elaeis guineensis (BPF), las hojas de Ananas cumosos (PL) y los envases "Tetra Pak" con tres especies maderables (Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis y Cupressus lusitanica). Los resultados mostraron que el contenido de celulosa, cenizas y lignina de BPF, PL y "Tetra Pak" difieren de los de las especies leñosas. Se obtuvo un resultado similar para el pH y para la cantidad de sustancias extraídas con diferentes solventes. El espectro infrarrojo de las soluciones de agua (polar) y etanol-tolueno (no polar) mostró que las mayores diferencias en los extractos se encontraron en BPF y PL, esto en relación con las especies leñosas estudiadas. Finalmente, HCMA mostró que los residuos de los envases BPF y "Tetra Pak" son ligeramente diferentes, considerando las composiciones químicas y el contenido de extracto, a otras especies leñosas utilizadas para la fabricación de tableros de partículas. Además, PL tiene la menor compatibilidad con las especies leñosas.Universidad Nacional, Costa RicaEscuela de Químic

DVB-T-based passive radar for silent surveillance of drones

Nowadays, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones are used as threat’s vectors that create personal and public security issues. The unpredictable and complex motion along with the small Radar Cross Section (RCS) and low velocity makes the drone detection a challenging task for any radar system. In the context outlined earlier, the security level enabled by conventional active radar systems could be augmented by the cost-effective, non-intrusive and eco-friendly Passive Radar (PR) technology. As a PR system does not have its own transmitter, this allows reduced costs, intrinsic covert operation capability and the lack of additional electromagnetic pollution. To guarantee complete and continuous coverage, PR can effectively be integrated within conventional active radars not only to extend the surveillance coverage, acting as ‘gap-filler’, but also to reduce the probability of out of service of the surveillance system. Moreover, aiming at the monitoring of airport terminal areas or harbours, where the installation of additional sensors might be limited by regulations related to public safety and risk of interference with pre-existing systems, a network of PRs could easily be deployed to provide continuous and complete coverage. The stationary nature and the isotropic characteristic of many of the employable Illuminators of Opportunity (IoO) provide a persistent illumination of the targets of interest to generate Coherent Processing Intervals (CPIs) of long integration times (Tint) on receive to counteract the limited power density offered by the emitter. This certainly applies to many ground-based transmitters for analogue or digital radio/TV broadcasting. Among them, the emitters of the Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) are particularly attractive for counter-drone applications. Specifically, the high radiated power of these transmitters and the excellent coverage make them suitable for the detection of these small RCS and low altitude targets. In addition, the continuous emissions and the fine range resolution of about 20 m (equivalent monostatic range resolution yielded by a signal bandwidth of approximately 8 MHz) make them potentially able to continuously detect and discriminate closely spaced targets. Aiming at the detection of the low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) targets and at widening the DVB-T-based PR coverage area, very long integration times (up to few seconds) can be exploited if the migration effects are properly compensated. It is worth noticing that the use of long integration time allows also to improve the Doppler resolution as well as to discriminate between slowly moving targets and clutter contributions, which is of particular interest in a scenario with a high density of targets. By employing an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, DVB-T signals are noise-like waveforms; thus, they provide ambiguity function with attractive properties that are nearly independent of the signal content and almost time-invariant. Eventually, since a DVB-T transmitter typically broadcasts multiple channels at different carrier frequencies, this provides the desired diversity of information that could be successfully exploited for both target detection and its localization. Recently, different authors have investigated the use of such sensor for counter-drone operations proving the capability of such technology to detect and localize small and medium drones up to a few kilometres from the PR receiver. Moreover, the capability of such sensor in simultaneous detection of drones flying near the airport area along with the conventional civil air traffic at farther ranges has been proved. This chapter reports the latest results of DVB-T-based PR for counter-drone operations obtained by the research groups of the University of Alcala´ and Sapienza University of Rome