A Short-Range FMCW Radar-Based Approach for Multi-Target Human-Vehicle Detection

In this article, a new microwave-radar-based technique for short-range detection and classification of multiple human and vehicle targets crossing a monitored area is proposed. This approach, which can find applications in both security and infrastructure surveillance, relies upon the processing of the scattered-field data acquired by low-cost off-The-shelf components, i.e., a 24 GHz frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar module and a Raspberry Pi mini-PC. The developed method is based on an ad hoc processing chain to accomplish the automatic target recognition (ATR) task, which consists of blocks performing clutter and leakage removal with an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter, clustering with a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) approach, tracking using a Benedict-Bordner $alpha$-$eta$ filter, features extraction, and finally classification of targets by means of a $k$-nearest neighbor ( $k$-NN) algorithm. The approach is validated in real experimental scenarios, showing its capabilities in correctly detecting multiple targets belonging to different classes (i.e., pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, and trucks)

Filling the gap of wind observations inside tropical cyclones

The WIVERN (WInd VElocity Radar Nephoscope) mission, currently under the Phase‐0 of the ESA Earth Explorer program, promises to provide new insight in the coupling between winds and microphysics by globally observing, for the first time, vertical profiles of horizontal winds in cloudy areas. The objective of this work is to explore the potential of the WIVERN conically scanning Doppler 94 GHz radar for filling the wind observation gap inside tropical cyclones (TCs). To this aim, realistic WIVERN notional observations of TCs are produced by combining the CloudSat 94 GHz radar reflectivity observations from 2007 to 2009 with ECMWF co‐located winds. Despite the short wavelength of the radar (3 mm), which causes strong attenuation in presence of large amount of liquid hydrometeors, the system can profile most of the TCs, particularly the cloudy areas above the freezing level and the precipitating stratiform regions. The statistical analysis of the results shows that, (a) because of its lower sensitivity, a nadir pointing WIVERN would detect 75% of the clouds observed by CloudSat (45% of winds with 3 m s−1 accuracy, in comparison to CloudSat sampling of clouds), (b) but thanks to its scanning capability, WIVERN would actually provide 53 times more observations of clouds than CloudSat in TCs (30 times more observations of horizontal winds), (c) this corresponds to about 350 (200) million observations of clouds (accurate winds) every year. Such observations could be used to shed light on the physical processes underpinning the evolution of TCs and in data assimilation in order to improve numerical weather prediction

Pendidikan Masyarakat Modern dan Tradisional dalam Menghadapi Perubahan Sosial dan Modernisasi

Perubahan sosial dan modernisasi merupakan hal yang tidak dapat terelakkan dalam kehidupan saat ini. Perubahan-Perubahan yang begitu cepat terjadi di masyarakat tentunya akan berdampak positif dan negatif tergantung bagaimana menyikapinya. Akan ada konsekuensi yang akan ditanggung pada berbagai aspek kehidupan masyarakat dalam menghadapai Perubahan sosial dan modernisasi ini. Perubahan sosial dan modernisasi di tandai dengan berkembangnya ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi. Maka peran pendidikan menjadi sangat penting bagi masyarakat agar mampu beradaptasi dengan cepat dengan Perubahan ini. Pendidikan diharapkan mampu meningkatkan sumber daya masyarakat dalam memanfaatkan dengan baik sumber daya alam yang ada disekitarnya

Investigating users’ experience on social media ads: perceptions of young users

Social media platforms changed from being socialization platforms to serve businesses through advertisements. This research aims at investigating active young users' experience with social media ads by studying the personalization and the usefulness of the ads, and the role of the host architecture of the used platform. The results prove that users' experience was affected by the designated variables: personalization, perceived usefulness, and the host architecture. Specifically, It was found that social media users find social media ads useful, and personalized, and that the perceived usefulness and personalization significantly affect the usage of host architecture which significantly affects users’ experience. Additionally, a significant difference is found between clusters of student answers in terms of personalization and perceived usefulness effect on user experience

A Taxonomy-Based Evaluation of Personalized E-Advertisement

The art of personalized e-advertising relies in attracting a user attention to the recommended product, as it relates to their taste, interest and data. Whilst in practice, companies attempt various forms of personalization, research of e-advertising is rare, and seldom routed in solid theory. Adaptive hypermedia (AH) techniques have contributed to the development of personalized tools for adaptive content delivery, mostly in educational domain. This study explores the use of these theories and techniques in a specific field -- adaptive e-advertisements, via implementing and evaluating an adaptive e-advertisement system called "MyAds". The novelty of this approach relies in a systematic design, implementation and evaluation based on an adaptive hypermedia taxonomy-. In particular, this paper reports on a case study, which investigated users' perceptions' on the proposed system MyAds and the reflection of the acceptance level of the users. The results from both implicit and explicit feedback indicated that users found MyAds acceptable and agreed that the implemented AH features within the system contributed to an enhanced experience through the exposure to different personalization methods. Appealing ideas of the system were ease of use, personalization and diversity in a non-intrusive way

An Investigation of Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services from Users’ Perspectives

Cloud computing is one of the paradigms that have undertaken to deliver the utility computing concept. It views computing as a utility similar to water and electricity. We aim in this paper to make an investigation of two highly efficacious Cloud platforms: Microsoft Azure (Azure) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) from users’ perspectives the point of view of users. We highlight and compare in depth the features of Azure and AWS from users’ perspectives. The features which we shall focus on include (1) Pricing, (2) Availability, (3) Confidentiality, (4) Secrecy, (5) Tier Account and (6) Service Level Agreement (SLA). The study shows that Azure is more appropriate when considering Pricing and Availability (Error Rate) while AWS is more appropriate when considering Tier account. Our user survey study and its statistical analysis agreed with the arguments made for each of the six comparisons factors

Prospective, randomized, multicenter comparison of laser-facilitated balloon angioplasty versus stand-alone balloon angioplasty in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease

AbstractObjectives. The goal of this study was to examine the relative safety and efficacy of laser-facilitated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) versus “stand-alone” PTCA.Background. Plaque debulking with lasing before PTCA may result in improved lumen dimensions and decreased rates of periprocedural ischemic complications, thus improving short- and long-term outcomes after percutaneous intervention. The mid-infrared holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser has been shown to be effective in a variety of plaque subtypes and may be particularly useful in high risk acute ischemic syndromes.Methods. A total of 215 patients (mean [±SD] age 61 ± 12 years) with 244 lesions were prospectively randomized at 14 clinical centers to laser versus stand-alone PTCA. After laser treatment, all patients underwent PTCA; 148 patients (69%) had unstable angina.Results. The procedural success rate without major catheterization laboratory complications was similar in patients assigned to laser treatment or PTCA alone (96.6% vs. 96.9%, p = 0.88), as was the in-hospital clinical success rate (89.7% vs. 93.9%, p = 0.27). There was no difference in postprocedural diameter stenosis after laser treatment compared with PTCA (18.3% ± 13.6% vs. 19.5% ± 15.1%, p = 0.50). However, use of the laser, versus PTCA alone, did result in significantly more major and minor procedural complications (18.0% vs. 3.1%, p = 0.0004), myocardial infarctions (4.3% vs. 0%, p = 0.04) and total in-hospital major adverse events (10.3% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.08). At a mean follow-up time of 11.2 ± 7.7 months, there were no differences in late or event-free survival in patients assigned to laser treatment versus PTCA alone.Conclusions. Compared with stand-alone PTCA, laser-facilitated PTCA results in a more complicated hospital course, without immediate or long-term benefits