An overview on recent radiation transport algorithm development for optical tomography imaging

Optical tomography belongs to the promising set of non-invasive methods for probing applications of semi-transparent media. This covers a wide range of fields. Nowadays, it is mainly driven by medical imaging in search of new less aggressive and affordable diagnostic means. This paper aims at presenting the most recent research accomplished in the authors’ laboratories as well as that of collaborative institutions concerning the development of imaging algorithms. The light transport modelling is not a difficult question as it used to be. Research is now focused on data treatment and reconstruction. Since the turn of the century, the rapid expansion of low cost computing has permitted the development of enhanced imaging algorithms with great potential. Some of these developments are already on the verge of clinical applications. This paper presents these developments and also provides some insights on still unresolved challenges. Intrinsic difficulties are identified and promising directions for solutions are discussed.     

On Finite Shear

If a pair of material line elements, passing through a typical particle P in a body, subtend an angle Θ before deformation, and Θ+γ after deformation, the pair of material elements is said to be sheared by the amount γ. Here all pairs of material elements at P are considered for arbitrary deformations. Two main problems are addressed and solved. The first is the determination of all pairs of material line elements at P which are unsheared. The second is the determination of that pair of material line elements at P which suffers the maximum shear. All unsheared pairs of material elements in a given plane π(S) with normal S passing through P are considered. Provided π(S) is not a plane of central circular section of the C-ellipsoid at P (where C is the right Cauchy-Green strain tensor), it is seen that corresponding to any material element in π(S) there is, in general, one companion material element in π(S) such that the element and its companion are unsheared. There are, however, two elements in π(S) which have no companions. We call their corresponding directions \textit{limiting directions.} Equally inclined to the direction of least stretch in the plane π(S), the limiting directions play a central role. It is seen that, in a given plane π(S), the pair of material line elements which suffer the maximum shear lie along the limiting directions in π(S). If Θ _L is the acute angle subtended by the limitig directions in π(S) before deformation, then this angle is sheared into its supplement π−Θ _L so that the maximum shear γ^*;(S) is γ^*=π− 2 Θ _L . If S is given and C is known, then Θ _L may be determined immediately. Its calculation does not involve knowing the eigenvectors or eigenvalues of C. When all possible planes through P are considered, it is seen that the global maximum shear γ^* _G occurs for material elements lying along the limiting directions in the plane spanned by the eigenvectors of C corresponding to the greatest principal stretch λ₃ and the least λ₁. The limiting directions in this principal plane of C subtend the angle and . Generally the maximum shear does not occur for a pair of material elements which are originally orthogonal. For a given material element along the unit vector N, there is, in general, in each plane π(S passing through N at P, a companion vector M such that material elements along N and M are unsheared. A formula, originally due to Joly (1905), is presented for M in terms of N and S. Given an unsheared pair π(S), the limiting directions in π(S) are seen to be easily determined, either analytically or geometrically. Planar shear, the change in the angle between the normals of a pair of material planar elements at X, is also considered. The theory of planar shear runs parallel to the theory of shear of material line elements. Corresponding results are presented. Finally, another concept of shear used in the geology literature, and apparently due to Jaeger, is considered. The connection is shown between Cauchy shear, the change in the angle of a pair of material elements, and the Jaeger shear, the change in the angle between the normal N to a planar element and a material element along the normal N. Although Jaeger's shear is described in terms of one direction N, it is seen to implicitly include a second material line element orthogonal to N. Accepted: May 25, 1999     

Numerical developments for short-pulsed Near Infra-Red laser spectroscopy. Part II: inverse treatment

Indirect optical spectroscopy or tomography, that is, mapping of optical properties in scattering and absorption inside a medium given a set of measurements at the boundaries, is highly dependent on the radiative transfer model used to track radiative energy propagation in semi-transparent materials. In the first part of this study, a numerical tool adapted for treating radiative transfer in the frame of short-pulsed laser beam interaction with non-homogeneous matter has been presented. In this paper, it is intended to show how such numerical tools can undergo inversion through adjoint treatment or reverse differentiation.Adjoint models, as well as reverse differentiation, are used in order to allow an efficient computation of the gradient, in the unknown optical parameters space, of an objective or cost function estimating the residual between data obtained at the boundary and predictions by numerical simulations. This gradient is a crucial indication as to update, through line minimization, the set of internal optical properties of the medium.First, the theoretical background of the inverse treatments, both reverse differentiation and adjoint model, for the transient radiative transfer equation model introduced in Part I is developed. Second, different reconstruction configurations are presented. Time-dependent sampling and time filtering effects of the measurements are addressed. Image reconstructions from simulated data are achieved for material phantoms of simple geometry.     

Tensor Gauge Fields in Arbitrary Representations of GL( D, $${\mathbb{R})}$$ : II. Quadratic Actions

Quadratic, second-order, non-local actions for tensor gauge fields transforming in arbitrary irreducible representations of the general linear group in D-dimensional Minkowski space are explicitly written in a compact form by making use of Levi–Civita tensors. The field equations derived from these actions ensure the propagation of the correct massless physical degrees of freedom and are shown to be equivalent to non-Lagrangian local field equations proposed previously. Moreover, these actions allow a frame-like reformulation à la MacDowell–Mansouri, without any trace constraint in the tangent indices. Chargé de Recherches FNRS, Belgium     

5-epi-Canadensene and other novel metabolites of Taxus canadensis

The Canadian yew distinguishes itself from other yews by the nature of its taxane metabolites. We are now reporting a new canadensene taxane whose stereochemistry is rigorously established. The three-dimensional structures of canadensene, 5-epi-canadensene and three other related bicyclic taxanes isolated from other yews were calculated using distance constraints derived from NMR data. The stereochemistry of the substituents, the polar acetate groups and the double bonds determine the 3D models. In addition, three new taxanes were also characterized and some biosynthetic speculations are presented.     

Experimental demonstration of a pure third-order optical parametric downconversion process

We report what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first experiment on third-order optical difference frequency generation. The nonlinear medium is a phase-matched KTiOPO4 crystal pumped at 532 and 1665 nm in the picosecond regime. The proposed experimental configuration leads to an efficient and pure cubic process, with generation of 4.5 microJ/pulse at 1474 nm. This result opens the way to new quantum experiments on three-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entanglement.     

ALS-associated mutant SOD1<Superscript>G93A</Superscript> causes mitochondrial vacuolation by expansion of the intermembrane space and by involvement of SOD1 aggregation and peroxisomes

Background  

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disease that causes motor neuron degeneration, paralysis and death. Mutations in Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) are one cause for the familial form of this disease. Transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1 develop age-dependent motor neuron degeneration, skeletal muscle weakness, paralysis and death similar to humans. The mechanism whereby mutant SOD1 induces motor neuron degeneration is not understood but widespread mitochondrial vacuolation has been observed during early phases of motor neuron degeneration. How this vacuolation develops is not clear, but could involve autophagic vacuolation, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) or uncharacterized mechanisms. To determine which of these possibilities are true, we examined the vacuolar patterns in detail in transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1^G93A.     

Effective impedance spectra for predicting rough sea effects on atmospheric impulsive sounds

Two methods of calculating the effective impedance spectra of acoustically hard, randomly rough, two-dimensional surfaces valid for acoustic wavelengths large compared with the roughness scales have been explored. The first method uses the complex excess attenuation spectrum due to a point source above a rough boundary predicted by a boundary element method (BEM) and solves for effective impedance roots identified by a winding number integral method. The second method is based on an analytical theory in which the contributions from random distributions of surface scatterers are summed to obtain the total scattered field. Effective impedance spectra deduced from measurements of the complex excess attenuation above 2D randomly rough surfaces formed by semicylinders and wedges have been compared to predictions from the two approaches. Although the analytical theory gives relatively poor predictions, BEM-deduced effective impedance spectra agree tolerably well with measured data. Simple polynomials have been found to fit BEM-deduced spectra for surfaces formed by intersecting parabolas corresponding to average roughness heights between 0.25 and 7.5 m and for five incidence angles for each average height. Predicted effects of sea-surface roughness on sonic boom profiles and rise time are comparable to those due to turbulence and molecular relaxation effects.     

Theory of tunnel ionization in complex systems

A quasianalytical theory of tunnel ionization is developed that is applicable to general complex systems, such as large molecules. Our analysis reveals strong deviations from conventional tunnel ionization theories, dependent upon the system's geometry, angular momentum, and polarizability. A comparison of our theory with recent C(60) ionization experiments yields reasonable agreement.