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Atomic nuclei are composite systems, and they may be dynamically excited during nuclear reactions. Such excitations are not only relevant to inelastic scattering but they also affect other reaction processes such as elastic scattering and fusion. The coupled-channels approach is a framework which can describe these reaction processes in a unified manner. It expands the total wave function of the system in terms of the ground and excited states of the colliding nuclei, and solves the coupled Schrödinger equations to obtain the S-matrix, from which several cross sections can be constructed. This approach has been a standard tool to analyze experimental data for nuclear reactions. In this paper, we review the present status and the recent developments of the coupled-channels approach. This includes the microscopic coupled-channels method and its application to cluster physics, the continuum discretized coupled-channels (CDCC) method for breakup reactions, the semi-microscopic approach to heavy-ion subbarrier fusion reactions, the channel coupling effects on nuclear astrophysics and syntheses of superheavy elements, and inclusive breakup and incomplete fusion reactions of weakly-bound nuclei.

This tutorial is devoted to the understanding of the different components that are present in the neutron light output pulse height distribution of liquid scintillators in fusion relevant energy ranges. The basic mechanisms for the generation of the scintillation light are briefly discussed. The different elastic collision processed between the incident neutrons and the hydrogen and carbon atoms are described in terms of probability density functions and the overall response function as their convolution. The results from this analytical approach is then compared with those obtained from simplified and full Monte Carlo simulations. Edge effect, finite energy resolution, light output and transport and competing physical processes between neutron and carbon and hydrogen atoms and their impact on the response functions are discussed. Although the analytical treatment here presented allows only for a qualitative comparison with full Monte Carlo simulations it enables an understanding of the main features present in the response function and therefore provides the ground for the interpretation of more complex response functions such those measured in fusion plasmas. Although the main part of this tutorial is focused on the response function to mono-energetic 2.45 MeV neutrons a brief discussion is presented in case of broad neutron energy spectra and how these can be used to infer the underlying properties of fusion plasmas via the application of a forward modelling method.

With the enormous increase in the use and volume of photographs and videos, multimedia-based digital evidence has come to play an increasingly fundamental role in criminal investigations. However, given the increase in the volume of multimedia data, it is becoming time-consuming and costly for investigators to analyse the images manually. Therefore, a need exists for image analysis and retrieval techniques that are able to process, analyse and retrieve images efficiently and effectively. Outside of forensics, image annotation systems have become increasingly popular for a variety of purposes and major software/IT companies, such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google all have cloud-based image annotation systems. The paper presents a series of experiments that evaluate commercial annotation systems to determine their accuracy and ability to comprehensively annotate images within a forensic image analysis context (rather than simply single object imagery, which is typically the case). The paper further proposes and demonstrates the value of utilizing a multi-algorithmic approach via fusion to achieve the best results. The results of these experiments show that by existing systems the highest Average Recall was achieved by imagga with 53%, whilst the proposed multi-algorithmic system achieved 77% across the selected datasets. These results demonstrate the benefit of using a multi-algorithmic approach.

Modeling of Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) is difficult because of spatial dispersion. Numerical methods based on finite element or finite difference have difficulties in handling spatial dispersive effects, because the response is non-local. Fourier spectral methods can handle spatial dispersion, however, these methods have difficulties in handling the complex geometries outside the plasma domain and tend to produce dense matrices that are time consuming to invert. In this study, we investigate the potential of a new numerical method for solving the spatially dispersive wave equation based on FEM and wavelets. The spatially dispersive terms in the wave equation are evaluated using wavelets, and its contribution is represented as an induced current density in the wave equation. The wave equation is then solved using a finite element scheme, where the induced current density is represented as an inhomogeneous term and added using a fixed point iteration scheme. The method is applied to a case of one dimensional fast wave minority heating, including the up- and downshift in the parallel wave number, where we show that convergence can be obtained in a few iterations., QC 20190625

Density functional theory (DFT) has become a standard tool for ab-initio simulations for a wide range of applications. While the intrinsic cubic scaling of DFT was for a long time limiting the accessible system size to some hundred atoms, the recent progress with respect to linear scaling DFT methods has allowed to tackle problems that are larger by many orders of magnitudes. However, as these linear scaling methods were developed for insulators, they cannot, in general, be straightforwardly applied to metals, as a finite (electronic) temperature is needed to ensure locality of the density matrix. In this paper we show that, once finite electronic temperature is employed, the linear scaling version of the BigDFT code is able to exploit this locality to provide a computational treatment that scales linearly with respect to the number of atoms of a metallic system. We provide prototype examples based on bulk Tungsten, which plays a key role in finding safe and long-lasting materials for Fusion Reactors; however we do not expect any major obstacles in extending this work to cover other metals. We believe that such an approach might help in opening the path towards novel approaches for investigating the electronic structure of such materials, in particular when large supercells are required., We acknowledge valuable discussions with María José Caturla and Chu-Chun Fu. S.M. acknowledges support from the MaX project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreements 676598. M.A. acknowledges support from the Novartis Universität Basel Excellence Scholarship for Life Sciences and the Swiss National Science Foundation (P300P2-158407, P300P2-174475). We gratefully acknowledge the computing resources on Marconi-Fusion under the EUROfusion project BigDFT4F, from the Swiss National Supercomputing Center in Lugano (project s700), the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) (which is supported by National Science Foundation grant number OCI-1053575), the Bridges system at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) (which is supported by NSF award number ACI-1445606), the Quest high performance computing facility at Northwestern University, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (DOE: DE-AC02- 05CH11231)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

During development of a high-performance hybrid scenario for future deuterium–tritium experiments on the Joint European Torus, an increased level of fast ion losses in the MeV energy range was observed during the instability of high-frequency n = 1 fishbones. The fishbones are excited during deuterium neutral beam injection combined with ion cyclotron heating. The frequency range of the fishbones, 10–25 kHz, indicates that they are driven by a resonant interaction with the NBI-produced deuterium beam ions in the energy range ≤120 keV. The fast particle losses in a much higher energy range are measured with a fast ion loss detector, and the data show an expulsion of deuterium plasma fusion products, 1 MeV tritons and 3 MeV protons, during the fishbone bursts. An MHD mode analysis with the MISHKA code combined with the nonlinear wave-particle interaction code HAGIS shows that the loss of toroidal symmetry caused by the n = 1 fishbones affects strongly the confinement of non-resonant high energy fusion-born tritons and protons by perturbing their orbits and expelling them. This modelling is in a good agreement with the experimental data., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053 and from the RCUK Energy Programme [grant No EP/P012450/1]. To obtain further information on the data and models underlying this paper please contact PublicationsManager@ukaea.uk . The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission, Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

The measured D-D neutron rate of neutral beam heated JET baseline and hybrid H-modes in deuterium is found to be between approximately 50% and 100% of the neutron rate expected from the TRANSP code, depending on the plasma parameters. A number of candidate explanations for the shortfall, such as fuel dilution, errors in beam penetration and effectively available beam power have been excluded. As the neutron rate in JET is dominated by beamplasma interactions, the ` neutron deficit' may be caused by a yet unidentified form of fast particle redistribution. Modelling, which assumes fast particle transport to be responsible for the deficit, indicates that such redistribution would have to happen at time scales faster than both the slowing down time and the energy confinement time. Sawteeth and edge localised modes are found to make no significant contribution to the deficit. There is also no obvious correlation with magnetohydrodynamic activity measured using magnetic probes at the tokamak vessel walls. Modelling of fast particle orbits in the 3D fields of neoclassical tearing modes shows that realistically sized islands can only contribute a few percent to the deficit. In view of these results it appears unlikely that the neutron deficit results from a single physical process in the plasma., 20200311

The measured D-D neutron rate of neutral beam heated JET baseline and hybrid H-modes in deuterium is found to be between approximately 50% and 100% of the neutron rate expected from the TRANSP code, depending on the plasma parameters. A number of candidate explanations for the shortfall, such as fuel dilution, errors in beam penetration and effectively available beam power have been excluded. As the neutron rate in JET is dominated by beam-plasma interactions, the 'neutron deficit' may be caused by a yet unidentified form of fast particle redistribution. Modelling, which assumes fast particle transport to be responsible for the deficit, indicates that such redistribution would have to happen at time scales faster than both the slowing down time and the energy confinement time. Sawteeth and edge localised modes are found to make no significant contribution to the deficit. There is also no obvious correlation with magnetohydrodynamic activity measured using magnetic probes at the tokamak vessel walls. Modelling of fast particle orbits in the 3D fields of neoclassical tearing modes shows that realistically sized islands can only contribute a few percent to the deficit. In view of these results it appears unlikely that the neutron deficit results from a single physical process in the plasma.

Combined ICRF and NBI heating played a key role in achieving the world-record fusion yield in the first deuterium-tritium campaign at the JET tokamak in 1997. The current plans for JET include new experiments with deuterium-tritium (D-T) plasmas with more ITER-like conditions given the recently installed ITER-like wall (ILW). In the 2015-2016 campaigns, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of high-performance plasma scenarios compatible with ILW in preparation of the forthcoming D-T campaign. Good progress was made in both the inductive (baseline) and the hybrid scenario: a new record JET ILW fusion yield with a significantly extended duration of the high-performance phase was achieved. This paper reports on the progress with the hybrid scenario which is a candidate for ITER longpulse operation (∼1000 s) thanks to its improved normalized confinement, reduced plasma current and higher plasma beta with respect to the ITER reference baseline scenario. The combined NBI+ICRF power in the hybrid scenario was increased to 33 MW and the record fusion yield, averaged over 100 ms, to 2.9x1016 neutrons/s from the 2014 ILW fusion record of 2.3x1016 neutrons/s. Impurity control with ICRF waves was one of the key means for extending the duration of the high-performance phase. The main results are reviewed covering both key core and edge plasma issues., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

During the 2015-2016 JET campaigns many efforts have been devoted to the exploration of high performance plasma scenarios envisaged for ITER operation. In this paper we model the combined ICRF+NBI heating in selected key hybrid discharges using PION. The antenna frequency was tuned to match the cyclotron frequency of minority hydrogen (H) at the center of the tokamak coinciding with the second harmonic cyclotron resonance of deuterium. The modelling takes into account the synergy between ICRF and NBI heating through the second harmonic cyclotron resonance of deuterium beam ions which allows us to assess its impact on the neutron rate RNT. We evaluate the influence of H concentration which was varied in different discharges in order to test their role in the heating performance. According to our modelling, the ICRF enhancement of RNT increases by decreasing the H concentration which increases the ICRF power absorbed by deuterons. We find that in the recent hybrid discharges this ICRF enhancement was in the range of 10-25%. Finally, we extrapolate the results to D-T and find that the best performing hybrid discharges correspond to an equivalent fusion power of ∼7.0 MW in D-T., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. Dani Gallart would like to thank “La Caixa” for support of his PhD studies., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

ICRH was extensively used in the 2015-16 JET-ILW (ITER like wall) experimental campaign; bulk heating together with high-Z impurity chase-out from plasma centre importantly contributed to the good DD fusion performance obtained recently in JET. Power up to 6 MW was launched in H-mode deuterium plasmas and 8 MW during the hydrogen campaign. The ILA was re-installed and contributed positively to the availability of ICRH power. The ILA produces slightly less high-Z impurities than the A2's and the PWI measured via Be line emission on limiters is in the same ballpark. Specific experiments were conducted to optimise ICRH scenarios in preparation for DT in particular the dual frequency scheme, (H)D and (He)D were tested. In addition, it was confirmed that the (D)H scenario is accessible in a ILW environment and the novel 3-ions ICRH scheme was validated experimentally., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053 and from the RCUK Energy Programme [grant number EP/P012450/1]. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission 'To obtain further information on the data and models underlying this paper please contact PublicationsManager@ukaea.uk., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) programme is directed towards physics input to critical elements of the ITER design and the preparation of ITER operation, as well as addressing physics issues for a future DEMO design. Since 2015, AUG is equipped with a new pair of 3-strap ICRF antennas, which were designed for a reduction of tungsten release during ICRF operation. As predicted, a factor two reduction on the ICRF-induced W plasma content could be achieved by the reduction of the sheath voltage at the antenna limiters via the compensation of the image currents of the central and side straps in the antenna frame. There are two main operational scenario lines in AUG. Experiments with low collisionality, which comprise current drive, ELM mitigation/suppression and fast ion physics, are mainly done with freshly boronized walls to reduce the tungsten influx at these high edge temperature conditions. Full ELM suppression and non-inductive operation up to a plasma current of Ip = 0.8 MA could be obtained at low plasma density. Plasma exhaust is studied under conditions of high neutral divertor pressure and separatrix electron density, where a fresh boronization is not required. Substantial progress could be achieved for the understanding of the confinement degradation by strong D puffing and the improvement with nitrogen or carbon seeding. Inward/outward shifts of the electron density profile relative to the temperature profile effect the edge stability via the pressure profile changes and lead to improved/decreased pedestal performance. Seeding and D gas puffing are found to effect the core fueling via changes in a region of high density on the high field side (HFSHD). The integration of all above mentioned operational scenarios will be feasible and naturally obtained in a large device where the edge is more opaque for neutrals and higher plasma temperatures provide a lower collisionality. The combination of exhaust control with pellet fueling has been successfully demonstrated. Hi, This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement number 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

A novel method for solving wave equations with spatial dispersion is presented, suitable for applications to ion cyclotron resonance heating. The method splits the wave operator into a dispersive and a non-dispersive part. The latter can be inverted with e.g. finite element methods. The spatial dispersion is evaluated using a wavelet representation of the dielectric kernel and added by means of iteration. The method has been successfully tested on a low frequency kinetic Alfvén wave with second order Larmor radius effects in a nonuniform plasma slab., QC 20170308

The interaction between fast particles and core turbulence has been established as a central issue for a tokamak reactor. Recent results predict significant enhancement of electromagnetic stabilisation of ITG turbulence in the presence of fast ions. However, most of these simulations were performed with the assumption of equivalent Maxwellian distributed particles, whereas to rigorously model fast ions, a non-Maxwellian background distribution function is needed. To this aim, the underlying equations in the gyrokinetic code GENE have been re-derived and implemented for a completely general background distribution function. After verification studies, a previous investigation on a particular JET plasma has been revised with linear simulations. The plasma is composed by Deuterium, electron, Carbon impurities, NBI fast Deuterium and ICRH 3He. Fast particle distributions have been modelled with a number of different analytic choices in order to study the impact of non-Maxwellian distributions on the plasma turbulence: slowing down and anisotropic Maxwellian. Linear growth rates are studied as a function of the wave number and compared with those obtained using an equivalent Maxwellian. Generally, the choice of the 3He distribution seems to have a stronger impact on the microinstabilities than that of the fast Deuterium., QC 20170308

The tungsten enriched surface layers in two fusion-relevant EUROFER steel model samples, consisting of an iron-tungsten mixture exposed to sputtering by deuterium ions, were studied by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and medium energy ion scattering. Exposure conditions were the same for the two samples and the total amount of tungsten atoms per unit area in the enriched layers were similar (2e15 and 2.4e15 atoms/cm2 respectively), despite slightly different initial atomic compositions. A depth profile featuring exponential decrease in tungsten content towards higher depths with 10-20 atomic percent of tungsten at the surface and a decay constant between 0.05 and 0.08 Å-1 was indicated in one sample, whereas only the total areal density of tungsten atoms was measured in the other. In addition, two different beams, iodine and chlorine, were employed for elastic recoil detection analysis of the deposited layer on a polished graphite plate from a test limiter in the TEXTOR tokamak following experiments with tungsten hexafluoride injection. The chlorine beam was preferred for tungsten analysis, mainly because it (as opposed to the iodine beam) does not give rise to problems with overlap of forward scattered beam particles and recoiled tungsten in the spectrum., QC 20171027

Molybdenum mirrors were irradiated with Mo and He ions to simulate the effect of neutron irradiation on diagnostic first mirrors in next-generation fusion devices. Up to 30 dpa were produced under molybdenum irradiation leading to a slight decrease of reflectivity in the near infrared range. After 3×1017 cm-2 of helium irradiation, reflectivity decreased by up to 20%. Combined irradiation by helium and molybdenum led to similar effects on reflectivity as irradiation with helium alone. Ion beam analysis showed that only 7% of the implanted helium was retained in the first 40nm layer of the mirror. The structure of the near-surface layer after irradiation was studied with scanning transmission electron microscopy and the extent and size distribution of helium bubbles was documented. The consequences of ion-induced damage on the performance of diagnostic components are discussed., QC 20160609

i-vector modeling techniques have been successfully used for speaker clustering task recently. In this work, we propose the extraction of i-vectors from short-and long-term speech features, and the fusion of their PLDA scores within the frame of speaker diarization. Two sets of i-vectors are first extracted from short-term spectral and longterm voice-quality, prosodic and glottal to noise excitation ratio (GNE) features. Then, the PLDA scores of these two ivectors are fused for speaker clustering task. Experiments have been carried out on single and multiple site scenario test sets of Augmented Multi-party Interaction (AMI) corpus. Experimental results show that i-vector based PLDA speaker clustering technique provides a significant diarization error rate (DER) improvement than GMM based BIC clustering technique., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Recent JET experiments have been dedicated to the studies of fusion reactions between deuterium (D) and Helium-3 (3He) ions using neutral beam injection (NBI) in synergy with third harmonic ion cyclotron radio-frequency heating (ICRH) of the beam. This scenario generates a fast ion deuterium tail enhancing DD and D3He fusion reactions. Modelling and measuring the fast deuterium tail accurately is essential for quantifying the fusion products. This paper presents the modelling of the D distribution function resulting from the NBI+ICRF heating scheme, reinforced by a comparison with dedicated JET fast ion diagnostics, showing an overall good agreement. Finally, a sawtooth activity for these experiments has been observed and interpreted using SPOT/RFOF simulations in the framework of Porcelli's theoretical model, where NBI+ICRH accelerated ions are found to have a strong stabilizing effect, leading to monster sawteeth., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Modern spaceborne SAR sensors like TerraS AR-X offer ground resolution of up to one meter in range and azimuth direction. Buildings, roads, bridges, and other man-made structures appear in such data often as regular patterns of strong and temporally stable points (Persistent Scatterer, PS). As one step in the process of unveiling what object structure actually causes the PS (i.e., physical nature) we compare those regular structures in SAR data to their correspondences in optical imagery. We use lattices as a common data representation for visible facades. By exploiting the topology information given by the lattices we can complete gaps in the structures which is one step towards the understanding of the complex scattering characteristics of distinct facade objects.

Full drift kinetic modelling including finite orbit width effects has been used to assess the passive stabilisation of the resistive wall mode (RWM) that can be expected in the ITER advanced scenario. At realistic plasma rotation frequency, the thermal ions have a stabilising effect on the RWM, but the stability limit remains below the target plasma pressure to achieve Q = 5. However, the inclusion of damping arising from the fusion-born alpha particles, the NBI ions, and ICRH fast ions extends the RWM stability limit above the target beta for the advanced scenario. The fast ion damping arises primarily from finite orbit width effects and is not due to resonance between the particle frequencies and the instability., QC 20120806

Since the last IAEA Conference JET has been in operation for one year with a programmatic focus on the qualification of ITER operating scenarios, the consolidation of ITER design choices and preparation for plasma operation with the ITER-like wall presently being installed in JET. Good progress has been achieved, including stationary ELMy H-mode operation at 4.5 MA. The high confinement hybrid scenario has been extended to high triangularity, lower rho* and to pulse lengths comparable to the resistive time. The steady-state scenario has also been extended to lower rho* and nu* and optimized to simultaneously achieve, under stationary conditions, ITER-like values of all other relevant normalized parameters. A dedicated helium campaign has allowed key aspects of plasma control and H-mode operation for the ITER non-activated phase to be evaluated. Effective sawtooth control by fast ions has been demonstrated with (3)He minority ICRH, a scenario with negligible minority current drive. Edge localized mode (ELM) control studies using external n = 1 and n = 2 perturbation fields have found a resonance effect in ELM frequency for specific q(95) values. Complete ELM suppression has, however, not been observed, even with an edge Chirikov parameter larger than 1. Pellet ELM pacing has been demonstrated and the minimum pellet size needed to trigger an ELM has been estimated. For both natural and mitigated ELMs a broadening of the divertor ELM-wetted area with increasing ELM size has been found. In disruption studies with massive gas injection up to 50% of the thermal energy could be radiated before, and 20% during, the thermal quench. Halo currents could be reduced by 60% and, using argon/deuterium and neon/deuterium gas mixtures, runaway electron generation could be avoided. Most objectives of the ITER-like ICRH antenna have been demonstrated; matching with closely packed straps, ELM resilience, scattering matrix arc detection and operation at high power density (6.2 MW m(-2)), QC 20111003

A new gas-filled operation mode of the large-acceptance spectrometer VAMOS at GANIL is reported. A beam rejection factor greater than 10(10) is obtained for the Ca-40+Sm-150 system at 196 MeV. The unprecedented transmission efficiency for the evaporation residues produced in this reaction is estimated to be around 80% for alpha x n channels and above 95% for x ny p channels. A detailed study of the performance of the gas-filled VAMOS and future developments are discussed. This new operation mode opens avenues to explore the potential of fusion reactions in various kinematics. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

It is the objective of the EU-funded 'Red-Impact' project to analyse the impact of partitioning, transmutation and waste reduction technologies on the final nuclear waste disposal. The partnership of 25 organisations is originating from European nuclear industry, waste agencies, research centres and universities. The system studies focus on a realistic evolution of P&T technologies and advanced fuel cycles which can be deployed incrementally on an industrial scale as well as on future developments such as reactors of the third and fourth generation (Gen III & Gen IV) and Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS). A comprehensive inventory of all existing and foreseen nuclear fuel cycle facilities in Europe has been performed including a review on worldwide ongoing R&D programs on P&T. Thus, it was possible to select a set of three so-called "industrial scenarios", taking into account industrial feasibility of alternate strategies leading to increased actiniae burning and reduced actinide generation based on direct disposal (reference case) or MOXfuel for LWR and plutonium recycle in Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR). R&D needs for the development of processes and technologies have also been addressed. In addition, three 'innovative scenarios ' have been identified allowing multi-recycling of plutonium and minor actinides in SFR and Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) as well as GANEX or COEXprocess and PYRO reprocessing technologies. Waste streams have been calculated for all of these scenarios including the transition from the present situation towards new fuel cycle options. These data provide the input to specific analyses on the impact on geological disposal in different host formations such as granite, clay and salt. The results show that advanced fuel cycles influence the required size of the geological repository in case of disposal in clay, salt or hard rock formations. Recycling of all the actinides results in a reduction of the necessary gallery length (d, QC 20141020

Subjects used the dichoptic combination of a monocular image intensifier (NVG) and a monocular uncooled microbolometer (LWIR) to detect and localise both visual targets and camouflaged thermal targets while moving through a dimly lit complex environment. The NVG imagery enabled the subjects to move freely through the environment with high accuracy, but did not mediate the detection of camouflaged thermal targets. The LWIR mode mediated the detection of camouflaged thermal targets but did not allow the detection of visual targets, and provided insufficient detail to allow accurate movement through the environment. Subjects were quite capable to dichoptically fuse the individual LWIR and NVG images, enabling them to detect all (visual and thermal) targets while moving accurately through the environment. We conclude that dichoptic fusion of NVG and LWIR imagery is quite feasible and is a simple way to provide observers with enhanced situational awareness in nighttime operations.

The fully automatic registration of terrestrial scan data is still a major topic for many research groups. Existent methods used in commercial software often use artificial markers which are placed in the scene and measured from each scan position. This is a reliable method to get the transformation parameters, but it is not very efficient. These manual or semi-automated registration techniques should be substituted by new methods in order to make terrestrial laser scanning also profitable for larger projects. In this paper we present a registration method based on the extraction of planar patches from 3D laser scanning data. A search technique is used to find corresponding patches in two overlapping scan positions. Since laser scanning instruments are nowadays often equipped with an additional image sensor, we also use the image information to improve the registration process. Assuming that the calibration parameters of a hybrid sensor system are known, the extracted planar patches can be textured automatically. The correlation between corresponding textured patches can be calculated and the registration method is improved by shifting the patches until they fit best.

A self-consistent zero-dimensional model of a Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) configuration is presented. The plasma target is a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC). Model parameters were scanned using a Monte Carlo routine in order to determine an operating point that would correspond to reactor conditions. Albeit the model being intrinsically optimistic, the highest Q-values found only slightly exceed unity. The limited performance is due to the short dwell time of the liner, preventing a large portion of the fuel to burn., QC 20100525 QC 20110915

A large amplitude backscatter instability, consistent with Brillouin, occurs when a prepulse plasma is formed ahead of a high irradiance (10 to the 15th to 10 to the 16th power W/sq cm) Nd-laser pulse. These results indicate that temporally structured laser pulses suggested for laser pellet implosion may also encounter large backscatter. (Author)

Mashhadani, S., Clarke, N., & Li, F. (2019). Identification and extraction of digital forensic evidence from multimedia data sources using multi-algorithmic fusion. In ICISSP 2019: 5th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy (pp. 438-448). Prague, Czech Republic: SciTePress. Available here

Al-Kawaz, H., Clark, N., Furnell, S. M.., & Alburan, A. (2018). Advanced facial recognition for digital forensics. In A. Jøsang (Ed.), Proceedings of the 17th European Conference on Information Warfare and Security: ECCWS 2018 (pp. 11-19). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.