Do the Tactics of Armed Groups Affect Organizational Behavior? The Case of Kidnap for Ransom

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Scintillator-based ion beam profiler for diagnosing laser-accelerated ion beams

Next generation intense, short-pulse laser facilities require new high repetition rate diagnostics for the detection of ionizing radiation. We have designed a new scintillator-based ion beam profiler capable of measuring the ion beam transverse profile for a number of discrete energy ranges. The optical response and emission characteristics of four common plastic scintillators has been investigated for a range of proton energies and fluxes. The scintillator light output (for 1 MeV > Ep < 28 MeV) was found to have a non-linear scaling with proton energy but a linear response to incident flux. Initial measurements with a prototype diagnostic have been successful, although further calibration work is required to characterize the total system response and limitations under the high flux, short pulse duration conditions of a typical high intensity laser-plasma interaction

GOES-R Stereoscopic Cloud Top Retrieval Algorithm Using Normalized Cross-Correlation for 1-min Overshoot Analysis

Satellite-based cloud top height (CTH) analyses are instrumental in understanding storm dynamics which can be utilized for severe and tornado warnings. Currently, CTHs are derived using IR imagery which are subject to errors. Some assumptions used when determining CTHs solely from IR produce less reliable CTHs such as knowledge of cloud emissivity, ambient temperature, lapse rate, and that the cloud is in thermodynamic equilibrium which is least true around intense thunderstorms. A method proposed for obtaining more accurate CTHs is stereoscopy since it is dependent on geometric relationships. Stereoscopy is a scientific technique used to combine two images to enhance the illusion of depth. This technique can be applied to weather phenomena using visible or infrared satellite images to retrieve CTHs. GOES-16 and GOES-17 mesoscale sector scans are time synchronized and can be used to take images of the same field of view with different viewing points. Conducting stereoscopy on this data can ultimately determine an offset between the two GOES images which is proportional to the corresponding CTH. Previous stereoscopy studies to calculate CTHs using American satellites have been conducted on thunderstorms and hurricanes in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Since then, satellites have advanced and the spatial and temporal resolution of visible and infrared images from new-era GOES are now available at 0.5 km and 2 km resolution, respectively, every minute. It is hypothesized this increase in resolution will allow cloud height calculations accurate to within 500 m which is higher than the accuracy found in past studies of 1500 m. Retrieved CTHs are compared to echo top heights from GridRad to determine validity of the height estimate. The nature of analyzing storms through stereoscopy presents several constraints. Visible imagery from GOES constrains analyses to storms during the day. In addition, using GOES-16 and GOES-17 as the two satellites only allows for analyses of storms over the central U.S. since it is where both mesoscale floating domains overlap. These CTH analyses alongside radar data and storm reports can be used to further investigate severe storm dynamics

Call Me BIG PAPA: An Extension of Mason’s Information Ethics Framework to Big Data

In 1986, Richard Mason proposed the PAPA framework to address four ethical issues society would likely face in the information age: privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility. In this paper, we propose an extension to the PAPA framework by appending three additional issues relevant to information ethics in the big data era. First, we outline the four components of Mason’s original PAPA. Second, we briefly review the major technological changes that have occurred since Mason proposed his framework. Third, we outline concepts relevant to the big data context. Fourth, we propose and discuss our extension by appending three ethical issues related to behavioral surveillance, interpretation, and governance to Mason’s original PAPA framework, forming BIG PAPA. Lastly, we discuss how these issues impact practice and how they can inform future research

Automated in-row weed trimmer

The Automated In-Row Weed Trimmer, or AIRWT, is a weed removal system designed to be used in vineyards in order to enable safe and e cient removal of weeds while preventing damage to the vines. The goal of the system is to reduce the need for the use of manual labor and herbicides while improving production rates of grapes by automating the weed removal process at vineyards. By implementing an automated system for weed removal, the team aims to resolve ethical issues in food production, primarily those surrounding human labor, environmental friendliness, and social sustainability. The focus of this report is to explore in depth the AIRWT system concept as well as its subsystems, in addition to reviewing its product development cycle