Measurement of the decay lengths of the near-field signal in tapping mode

In near-field optics, the use of vertical vibration of the probe is of great interest in order to prevent the tip crash, in tapping mode. The optical signal is often obtained through a lock-in amplifier using a feedback on this vertical vibration. Therefore, harmonics of the optical signal are available. The reconstruction of the near-field signal, from these harmonics, enables the knowledge of the vertical variations of the near-field signal, without the use of the slower technique of approach curves or the use of photocounter. In this work, we use this reconstruction to measure the vertical decay lengths of the near-field data with the Prony’s and the simplex methods. We compare both methods and we discuss the results in terms of filtering by the lock-in.     

A Review of Recent Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) Applications for Wet Particulate Processing

Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) provides the capability to measure the conductivity distribution within a given process plant delivering time evolving multi‐dimensional information which often enhances fundamental process understanding whilst improving the design and operation of the process equipment. This paper reviews previous work undertaken using ERT for applications associated to wet particulate processing. The review is split into three sections including multi‐phase flow, solid‐liquid suspensions and reactive particulate processing. Typical results from a number of examples from both, research and industrial environments are presented.     

A General Methodology for Full-Field Plastic Strain Measurements Using X-ray Absorption Tomography and Internal Markers

Probing the strain locally and throughout the bulk of various materials has long been of interest in Materials Science. This article presents a general methodology for assessing the plastic strain in terms of the displacement gradient tensor throughout the bulk of opaque samples. The method relies on a homogenous distribution of marker particles throughout the bulk of a sample, markers which are detected through the application of synchrotron X-ray tomography. Making use of the morphology of individual markers, motion of individual markers is tracked during deformation allowing the local displacement field to be determined throughout the bulk. The local displacement gradient tensor is derived from the displacement field. Spatial resolution is directly related to marker particle density in the sample, here 30 μm. The accuracy of the displacement gradient tensor calculation is dependent on the accuracy with which each marker position is determined and is shown to be in the range from 0.005 to 0.012. The software implementation of the procedures and algorithms presented in this work has been collected to form the “3Dstrain” program package which is intended to be free for use by the scientific community. It is available at under GNU General Public License.     

X-ray measurements on the influence of optical probes on gas–solid fluidized beds

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Imaging of subcutaneous microcirculation vascular network by double correlation Optical Coherence Tomography

Spatial distribution of superficial blood vessels in human skin in vivo has been observed by using the double correlation Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). To remove background noise, reduce the artifacts associated with patient motions and to increase the overall quality of the experimental OCT images an adaptive Wiener filtering technique has been employed. Fourier domain correlation has been subsequently applied to enhance spatial resolution of images of vascular network in human skin in vivo. Image processing has been performed on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) utilizing Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) framework in the frequency‐domain. This approach allows carrying out image processing in parallel significantly speeding up the computations. The presented results show that the double correlation method permits obtaining 2D/3D OCT images of subcutaneous microcirculation vascular network and its spatial distribution within the human skin with higher spatial resolution compare to the other OCT correlation‐based techniques developed earlier.     

多轴差分吸收光谱断层扫描重建烟羽空间分布

为了实现烟羽二维空间分布的精确重建, 建立了被动多轴差分吸收光谱断层扫描系统,实现了多台被动多轴差分吸收光谱系统对废气烟羽空间分布的测量。首先,介绍了多轴差分吸收光谱系统及其反演气体浓度的机理。接着,使用代数迭代算法对不同的重建模型,采用不同的扫描光路进行了重建模拟,并设计了重建程序。然后,对数值模拟仿真结果进行了分析比较。最后,搭建了多轴差分吸收光扫描系统平台,进行了外场试验。数值模拟的结果显示：MAX-DOAS层析技术能精确的重建出烟羽模型的二维空间分布,四光源光路的重建误差约是双光源光路重建误差的三分之一,四光源重建时间约是双光源重建时间的四分之一,且双峰模型的重建误差大于单峰模型的重建误差。外场试验的结果显示：重建图像的积分数据与多轴差分吸收光谱测得的投影数据是一致的,说明重建出的烟羽空间分布符合实际情况。研究表明,数值模拟的结果与外场试验的结果具有一致性。     

Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders

Recent findings of neurological functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) point to altered brain connectivity as a key feature of its pathophysiology. The cortical underconnectivity theory of ASD (Just et al., 2004) provides an integrated framework for addressing these new findings. This theory suggests that weaker functional connections among brain areas in those with ASD hamper their ability to accomplish complex cognitive and social tasks successfully. We will discuss this theory, but will modify the term underconnectivity to ‘disrupted cortical connectivity’ to capture patterns of both under- and over-connectivity in the brain. In this paper, we will review the existing literature on ASD to marshal supporting evidence for hypotheses formulated on the disrupted cortical connectivity theory. These hypotheses are: 1) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested mainly in long-distance cortical as well as subcortical connections rather than in short-distance cortical connections; 2) underconnectivity in ASD is manifested only in complex cognitive and social functions and not in low-level sensory and perceptual tasks; 3) functional underconnectivity in ASD may be the result of underlying anatomical abnormalities, such as problems in the integrity of white matter; 4) the ASD brain adapts to underconnectivity through compensatory strategies such as overconnectivity mainly in frontal and in posterior brain areas. This may be manifested as deficits in tasks that require frontal–parietal integration. While overconnectivity can be tested by examining the cortical minicolumn organization, long-distance underconnectivity can be tested by cognitively demanding tasks; and 5) functional underconnectivity in brain areas in ASD will be seen not only during complex tasks but also during task-free resting states. We will also discuss some empirical predictions that can be tested in future studies, such as: 1) how disrupted connectivity relates to cognitive impairments in skills such as Theory-of-Mind, cognitive flexibility, and information processing; and 2) how connection abnormalities relate to, and may determine, behavioral symptoms hallmarked by the triad of Impairments in ASD. Furthermore, we will relate the disrupted cortical connectivity model to existing cognitive and neural models of ASD.     

Polynomial approximation method for tomographic reconstruction of three-dimensional refractive index fields with limited data

We propose a polynomial approximation method (PAM) for reconstruction of three-dimensional refractive index fields by interferometric tomography using limited data. Based on the assumption that the fields to be reconstructed are usually smooth and can be decomposed into a finite order of (orthogonal) polynomials, a set of linear equations can be constructed using both the measured projection data and the Radon transform of the basis functions. By solving these equations, the least-squares solutions of expansion coefficients can be obtained and then substituted back to yield the desired fields. Numerical results have demonstrated that the proposed method is fast, robust to noise and can achieve satisfactory results for refractive index fields with limited projection views and large opaque objects.     

生物医学光声成像的研究进展

光声成像是21世纪初发展起来的新兴的生物医学成像技术,它同时具备光学成像和声学成像两者的优点,因而备受关注。本文对生物医学光声成像的发展进行了综述。首先,介绍了光声成像的特点以及相对于广泛应用的光学成像技术和声学成像技术的优点;其次,在成像原理上解释了光声成像优点的成因,并介绍了光声断层成像和光声显微镜这两种典型的光声成像技术;再次,详细介绍了多尺度的光声图像分辨率和成像深度,以及多信息维度的光声成像参数;最后,展望了光声成像在生物医学领域的应用潜力并讨论了其局限性。