Integral geometry and three-dimensional reconstruction of randomly oriented identical particles from their electron microphotos

A new method for the three-dimensional reconstruction of a structure from projections of randomly oriented particles on a plane is proposed. Reconstruction is performed in two steps. First, we find mutual orientation of particles, i.e., Euler angles, describing the angle of one particle with respect to another. Almost all the paper is devoted to solving this problem. Then we perform the three-dimensional reconstruction of an object from its projections in already-known directions.The stability of the method with respect to experimental errors is shown. Three-dimensional reconstruction of asymmetric biological objects might be one of its applications.     

Detecting and imaging dielectric objects from real data: A shape-based approach

In this paper we investigate the performance of a shape-reconstruction technique as tested on the ‘Marseille data’. This approach, which is based on a level set technique, offers several advantages compared to other approaches, as for example well-defined boundaries and the incorporation of an intrinsic regularization in the form of a priori assumptions regarding the general structures in the medium. The level set strategy (which is an implicit representation of the shapes) frees us from topological restrictions during this reconstruction process. Our algorithm is aiming at, not only detecting the objects, but simultaneously determining their approximate locations, sizes and dielectric properties. The numerical experiments show the utility of this method.     

A variational method using fractional order Hilbert spaces for tomographic reconstruction of blurred and noised binary images

We provide in this article a refined functional analysis of the Radon operator restricted to axisymmetric functions, and show that it enjoys strong regularity properties in fractional order Hilbert spaces. This study is motivated by a problem of tomographic reconstruction of binary axially symmetric objects, for which we have available one single blurred and noised snapshot. We propose a variational approach to handle this problem, consisting in solving a minimization problem settled in adapted fractional order Hilbert spaces. We show the existence of solutions, and then derive first order necessary conditions for optimality in the form of optimality systems.     

An adaptive finite element method in reconstruction of coefficients in Maxwell’s equations from limited observations

We propose an adaptive finite element method for the solution of a coefficient inverse problem of simultaneous reconstruction of the dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability functions in the Maxwell’s system using limited boundary observations of the electric field in 3D.     

Level-set techniques for microwave medical imaging

Microwave tomographic imaging is showing significant promise as a new technique for the early detection of breast cancer. Its physical basis is the contrast between the dielectric properties of the healthy breast tissue and the malignant tumors at microwave frequencies. We propose and analyze a novel shape-reconstruction technique for the early detection of breast cancer from microwave data which is based on a level-set technique. The advantages of this method compared to more traditional pixel-based approaches are well-defined boundaries and the incorporation of an intrinsic regularization in form of a-priori assumptions about the general anatomical structure of breast that reduces the dimensionality of the inverse problem and thereby stabilizes the reconstruction. Our goal is not only to detect the tumors but to simultaneously determine their approximate locations, sizes and permittivity values. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Reconstruction of Wideband Reflectivity Densities by Wavelet Transforms

This paper is concerned with reconstruction problems arising in the context of radar signal analysis. The goal in radar is to obtain information about objects by emitting certain signals and analyzing the reflected echoes. In this paper, we shall focus on the general wideband model for radar echoes and on the case of continuously distributed objects D (reflectivity density). In this case, the echo is given by an inverse wavelet transform of the density D where the role of the analyzing wavelet is played by the transmitted signal. However, the null space of an inverse wavelet transform is nontrivial, it is described by the corresponding reproducing kernel. Following the approach of Naparst [14] and Rebolla-Neira et al. [16], we suggest to treat this problem by transmitting not just one signal but a family of signals. Indeed, a reconstruction formula for one- and 2-dimensional reflectivity densities can be derived, provided that the set of outgoing signals forms an orthogonal basis or – more general – a frame. We also present some rigorous error estimates for these reconstruction formulas. The theoretical results are confirmed by some numerical examples.     

Tomographic reconstruction using heuristic Monte Carlo methods

A tomographic reconstruction method based on Monte Carlo random searching guided by the information contained in the projections of radiographed objects is presented. In order to solve the optimization problem, a multiscale algorithm is proposed to reduce computation. The reconstruction is performed in a coarse-to-fine multigrid scale that initializes each resolution level with the reconstruction of the previous coarser level, which substantially improves the performance. The method was applied to a real case reconstructing the internal structure of a small metallic object with internal components, showing excellent results.     

A review of methods for computer-aided reconstruction of solid models of objects by their orthographic views

The paper contains a review of methods for computer-aided reconstruction of three-dimensional solid models of objects by their orthographic views. This problem arises when passing from engineering 2D-drawings to spatial models of objects in systems of three-dimensional solid modeling. In spite that there exists a large variety of such systems, none of them provides a computer-aided solution of this problem. This is due to the fact that the existing methods for solution are imperfect and require further elaboration. In this paper, we review the existing approaches and compare their application domains.     

An algorithm for finding an approximate solution to the Weber problem on a line with forbidden gaps

Under study is the problem of optimal location of interconnected objects on a line with forbidden gaps. The task is to minimize the total cost of links between objects and between objects and zones. The properties of the problem are found that allowed us to reduce the initial continuous problem to a discrete problem. Some algorithm for obtaining an approximate solution is developed, and the results of a computational experiment are given.     

Hypersingular integral equations for the diffraction of electromagnetic waves on homogeneous magneto-dielectric bodies

It is shown that hypersingular integral equations may be used for numerical solution of diffraction problems for electromagnetic waves on magneto-dielectric bodies. The problem is reducible to surface equations with simple kernels, which permit applying numerical schemes previously developed for ideally conducting objects. Examples of numerical solution of diffraction problems on circular or square dielectric cylinders obtained from equations of different kinds are reported. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Matematika i Informatika, No. 20, pp. 5–15, 2005.     

To lay out or not to lay out?

The Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) is known as one of the most difficult problems within combinatorial optimization. It is used to model many practical problems including different layout problems. The main topic of this paper is to provide methods to check whether a particular instance of the QAP is a layout problem. An instance is a layout problem if the distances of the objects can be reconstructed on the plane and/or in the 3-dimensional space. A new mixed integer programming model is suggested for the case if the distances of the objects are supposed to be rectilinear distances. If the distances are Euclidean distances then the use of the well-known Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) method of statistics is suggested for reconstruction purposes. The well-known difficulty of QAP makes it a popular and suitable experimental field for many algorithmic ideas including artificial intelligence methods. These types of results are published sometimes as layout problems. The methods of reconstruction can be used to decide whether the topic of a paper is layout or only general QAP. The issue what the OR community should expect from AI based algorithms, is also addressed.     

Optimal Data Selection for Piezoelectric Material Characterization

In the simulation and design of piezoelectric transducers the exact knowledge of the entries in the material tensors - the elastic, dielectric and piezoelectric coupling coefficients - is an important prerequisite. Our task is the identification of these coefficients from indirect measurements, namely electric impedance data at different frequencies. This leads to a parameter identification problem for a system of coupled PDEs, which we solve by regularized Newton iterations. A crucial issue is the selection of frequencies at which measurements are taken. Here, we discuss the problem of choosing these frequencies in an optimal way to preserve efficiency of our identification scheme while improving reliability of the reconstruction results. For this purpose, we formulate this task as an optimization problem with PDE constraints and propose two approaches for its solution. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Inferring consensus weights from pairwise comparison matrices without suitable properties

Pairwise comparison is a popular method for establishing the relative importance of n objects. Its main purpose is to get a set of weights (priority vector) associated with the objects. When the information gathered from the decision maker does not verify some rational properties, it is not easy to search the priority vector. Goal programming is a flexible tool for addressing this type of problem. In this paper, we focus on a group decision-making scenario. Thus, we analyze different methodologies for getting a collective priority vector. The first method is to aggregate general pairwise comparison matrices (i.e., matrices without suitable properties) and then get the priority vector from the consensus matrix. The second method proposes to get the collective priority vector by formulating an optimization problem without determining the consensus pairwise comparison matrix beforehand.     

Local sampling set conditions in weighted shift-invariant signal spaces

How to represent a continuous signal in terms of a discrete sequence is a fundamental problem in sampling theory. Most of the known results concern global sampling in shift-invariant signal spaces. But in fact, the local reconstruction from local samples is one of the most desirable properties for many applications in signal processing, e.g. for implementing real-time reconstruction numerically. However, the local reconstruction problem has not been given much attention. In this article, we find conditions on a finite sampling set X such that at least in principle a continuous signal on a finite interval is uniquely and stably determined by their sampling value on the finite sampling set X in shift-invariant signal spaces.     

Reconstructing infinite objects

We generalize an algebraic tool due to Alon et al. (J. Combin. Theory B 47 (1989) 153–161) for the reconstruction of finite objects to infinite objects. We apply our result to the reconstruction of infinite sets of points in the space Rⁿ with respect to two different groups of automorphisms of Rⁿ.     

Recent developments in the qualitative approach to inverse electromagnetic scattering theory

We consider the inverse scattering problem of determining both the shape and some of the physical properties of the scattering object from a knowledge of the (measured) electric and magnetic fields due to the scattering of an incident time-harmonic electromagnetic wave at fixed frequency. We shall discuss the linear sampling method for solving the inverse scattering problem which does not require any a priori knowledge of the geometry and the physical properties of the scatterer. Included in our discussion is the case of partially coated objects and inhomogeneous background. We give references for numerical examples for each problem discussed in this paper.     

Integer programming models for the q-mode problem

The q-mode problem is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires partitioning of objects into clusters. We discuss theoretical properties of an existing mixed integer programming (MIP) model for this problem and offer alternative models and enhancements. Through a comprehensive experiment we investigate computational properties of these MIP models. This experiment reveals that, in practice, the MIP approach is more effective for instances containing strong natural clusters and it is not as effective for instances containing weak natural clusters. The experiment also reveals that one of the MIP models that we propose is more effective than the other models for solving larger instances of the problem.     

Aspects of electromagnetic scattering in chiral media

In this work, we study two operators that arise in electromagnetic scattering in chiral media. We first consider electromagnetic scattering by a chiral dielectric with a perfectly conducting core. We define a chiral Calderon‐type surface operator in order to solve the direct electromagnetic scattering problem. For this operator, we state coercivity and prove compactness properties. In order to prove existence and uniqueness of the problem, we define some other operators that are also related to the chiral Calderon‐type operator, and we state some of their properties that they and their linear combinations satisfy. Then we sketch how to use these operators in order to prove the existence of the solution of the direct scattering problem. Furthermore, we focus on the electromagnetic scattering problem by a perfect conductor in a chiral environment. For this problem, we study the chiral far‐field operator that is defined on a unit sphere and contains the far‐field data, and we state and prove some of its properties that are preliminaries properties for solving the inverse scattering problem. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation Based Determination of Piezoelectric Material Parameters

The exact numerical simulation of piezoelectric transducers needs the knowledge of all material tensors that occur in the piezoelectric constitutive relations. The determination of these tensors is achieved by a simulation based algorithm which adjusts the 3D - FEM simulated data with electrical measurements of a piezoelectric transducer. Its advantage compared to the standards (see [1], [2]) lies in the fact that a determination of the complete set of material parameters from one arbitrarily shaped specimen with a high precision is possible. The reconstruction of the material tensors is formulated as a parameter identification problem for a system of PDEs. Since unique solvability of this inverse problem may hardly be verified, the system of equations we have to solve for recovering the material tensor entries can be rank deficient and therefore requires application of appropriate regularization strategies. For this purpose, we use inexact Newton methods. The material parameters are assumed to be complex-valued which allows to account for mechanical, dielectric and piezoelectric losses. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bilevel “Defender–Attacker” Model with Multiple Attack Scenarios

We consider a bilevel “defender-attacker” model built on the basis of the Stackelberg game. In this model, given is a set of the objects providing social services for a known set of customers and presenting potential targets for a possible attack. At the first step, the Leader (defender) makes a decision on the protection of some of the objects on the basis of his/her limited resources. Some Follower (attacker), who is also limited in resources, decides then to attack unprotected objects, knowing the decision of the Leader. It is assumed that the Follower can evaluate the importance of each object and makes a rational decision trying to maximize the total importance of the objects attacked. The Leader does not know the attack scenario (the Follower’s priorities for selecting targets for the attack). But, the Leader can consider several possible scenarios that cover the Follower’s plans. The Leader’s problem is then to select the set of objects for protection so that, given the set of possible attack scenarios and assuming the rational behavior of the Follower, to minimize the total costs of protecting the objects and eliminating the consequences of the attack associated with the reassignment of the facilities for customer service. The proposed model may be presented as a bilevelmixed-integer programming problem that includes an upper-level problem (the Leader problem) and a lower-level problem (the Follower problem). The main efforts in this article are aimed at reformulation of the problem as some one-level mathematical programming problems. These formulations are constructed using the properties of the optimal solution of the Follower’s problem, which makes it possible to formulate necessary and sufficient optimality conditions in the form of linear relations.