Prof. Dr. Marek E. Bialkowski (1951 – 2011)

It is our sad duty to report the untimely death of Prof. Dr. Marek E. Bialkowski, who passed away on Thursday, October 27, 2011 after a short unexpected illness caused by pneumonia. He was a remarkable researcher and a mentor and friend to many us and he will be greatly missed. Marek was born in Sochaczew, Poland, in 1951. He received the M.Eng.Sc. degree in applied mathematics and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering, both from the Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland, in 1974 and 1979, respectively. He received the Doctor of Engineering (higher doctorate) degree in computer science and electrical engineering from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 2000. He was a Chair Professor in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland. He held teaching and research appointments at universities in Poland, Ireland, Australia, UK, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. In 1977, he joined the Institute of Radio Electronics, Warsaw University of Technology and, in 1979, became an Assistant Professor. In 1981, he was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship by the Irish Department of Education and spent one year at the University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, carrying out research in the area of microwave circuits. In 1982, he won a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the University of Queensland, where he worked on electromagnetic models for waveguide diode mounts. In 1984, he joined the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, as a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in the field of communications. 1988, he was a Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, U.K. In 1989, he joined the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. In 1994, he held an appointment as a Visiting Professor in the University of Victoria, Canada. In 1998-99, he held an appointment as a Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2001, he was a Visiting Professor with the City University of Hong Kong. In 2003, he was a Visiting Professor with the National University of Singapore and with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He returned to the National University of Singapore as a Visiting Professor in 2008. His research interests included industrial and medical applications of microwaves, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and ultra wideband antennas for wireless communications, phased array antennas for mobile cellular and satellite communications, low profile antennas for reception of satellite broadcast TV programs, electromagnetic modelling of wave guiding and radiating structures, and conventional and space-level power combiners for solid-state oscillators and amplifiers. His work in these areas led to the development of theories and working prototypes of single and dual six-port network analysers, microwave liquid level gauging systems, full EM and approximate scattering models for MIMO systems, working prototypes of wideband smart antennas, phased and switched beam array antennas for Mobilesat, radial line slot array antennas for receiving DBS TV programs, reflection and transmission type space-level power combiners. The results of his work appeared in over 600 refereed technical papers, several book chapters, one book, one patent, and several research reports

Reconstruction of Microwave Imaging using Machine Learning

Tese de mestrado, Engenharia Biomédica e Biofísica, 2022, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasBreast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women. The gold standard technique for mass screening is X-ray mammography, which requires the use of ionising radiation. Mammography has a high false positive rate for women under 50, since the technique is highly sensitive to breast density. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Ultrasound Imaging (US) have been suggested as complementary imaging tools to lessen the false positive results; however present some disadvantages. The potential of using microwave signals for breast cancer detection and monitoring has been studied for over 20 years. Microwave Breast Imaging (MBI) is a low-cost, non-invasive and non-ionising technique. The reflected microwave signals are transformed into an image via beamforming algorithms. These images have limited resolution, which may result in a considerable high rate of false positives and false negatives. In this dissertation, a complementary method of image reconstruction using Machine Learning (ML) models to predict the healthy or tumorous nature of breast is proposed. To study the potential of the proposed method, microwave signals were collected with a monostatic radar-based microwave system. The signal was acquired from three breast phantoms: one mimicking a homogeneous breast and two mimicking heterogeneous breasts. The phantoms had a cavity to introduce a plug, which included types of tumour models in terms of malignancies. From the signals, portions with and without tumour signature were extracted to train classification models. The most robust models were used to reconstruct a binary image of the breast with values of “hit” for tumorous focal points, and values of “miss” for healthy focal points. Eventually, the reconstructed images resulting from the proposed method were compared with the images obtained using the traditional beamforming method, DAS. Overall, the results obtained with the method ML-based were satisfactory, since for most phantoms the regions classified as tumour, indeed corresponded to the real position of the tumour

Laser-based manufacturing routes for functionalizing surfaces

Robust functional surfaces are of a growing industrial interest for a range of optical, easy-to clean, anti-icing and non-fouling applications. At the same time, nature is a great source of inspiration for micro/nano-scale surface structures with tailored functional properties. There are a number of competing technologies for producing such structures but ultrashort laser processing is emerging as one of the most promising for fabricating bio-inspired surfaces. However, the technology has limitations and its capabilities have to be augmented to achieve the required high throughput in manufacturing products that incorporate functional surface topographies. Therefore, this research investigates a promising process chain that combines synergistically the capabilities of laser texturing with complementary surface engineering and replication technologies. Several large-area laser texturing techniques are investigated, namely Direct Laser Writing (DLW), Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) and microlenses-induced Photonic Jet (PJ) texturing. The research advances the knowledge in laser-based surface functionalization and also in factors affecting the functional response and durability of laser structured surfaces

ECOS 2012

The 8-volume set contains the Proceedings of the 25th ECOS 2012 International Conference, Perugia, Italy, June 26th to June 29th, 2012. ECOS is an acronym for Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation (of energy conversion systems and processes), summarizing the topics covered in ECOS: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Exergy and Second Law Analysis, Process Integration and Heat Exchanger Networks, Fluid Dynamics and Power Plant Components, Fuel Cells, Simulation of Energy Conversion Systems, Renewable Energies, Thermo-Economic Analysis and Optimisation, Combustion, Chemical Reactors, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Building/Urban/Complex Energy Systems, Water Desalination and Use of Water Resources, Energy Systems- Environmental and Sustainability Issues, System Operation/ Control/Diagnosis and Prognosis, Industrial Ecology

Análisis de la productividad, colaboración e impacto científico de la cardiología española (1999-2008)

De acuerdo con los datos disponibles por Who (2004), alrededor del 50% del total de las muertes en Europa se encuentran relacionadas con enfermedades reumáticas, hipertensión, isquemias, enfermedades cerebrovasculares o enfermedades cardiovasculares e inflamatorias. Según la información proporcionada por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2010) las enfermedades cardiovasculares se constituyen como la primera causa de muerte, siendo responsables del 31,7% del total de las defunciones en 2008 en España. Del mismo modo, estas enfermedades tienen asociadas también importantes consecuencias económicas, sociales y en el sistema sanitario, con lo que se están realizando esfuerzos para investigar sobre los factores que afectan a la salud y la enfermedad, lo que puede verse reflejado en que España ha experimentado una progresión en su actividad científica investigadora, capacidad y producción sin precedentes en su historia durante los últimos 25 años. El objetivo general de la presente tesis doctoral es analizar, mediante la utilización de indicadores bibliométricos, la actividad científica plasmada en publicaciones visibles internacionalmente que han sido generadas por instituciones cardiológicas españolas durante la década 1999-2008, así como la identificación de las redes o grupos de investigación de instituciones y autores a través del análisis de redes sociales. Las fuentes consultadas para elaborar este trabajo han sido las bases de datos SCI-Expanded (Science Citation Index Expanded) de Thompson Corporation (http://scientific.thomson.com/aboutus/) y la base de datos IME/Índice Médico Español elaborada por el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, siendo los documentos analizados los artículos originales, artículos de revisión, editoriales y cartas, habiendo desechado del análisis los resúmenes de comunicaciones a congresos, los artículos bibliográficos, las correcciones, reprints y noticias. Los resultados constataron que la producción española en el área de Cardiología ha experimentado durante el período un incremento del 51,10%, pasando de 1.104 documentos en el año 1998 a 1.668 en el año 2008. Asimismo, el 72,81% de los trabajos recuperados han sido artículos originales, constituyéndose este tipo documental como el preferido por los especialistas españoles en Cardiología para transmitir sus conocimientos. Revista Española de Cardiología se constituye en este trabajo como la revista española más productiva y más citada, con 3.239 citas y a pesar de que la lengua española tiene una representación apenas perceptible en la proyección internacional de la ciencia y la tecnología, en nuestro estudio, al haber realizado las búsquedas en la base de datos IME, el número de documentos publicados en inglés y en español ha sido muy similar (47% y 46%, respectivamente). Los “pequeños productores”, autores ocasionales o transitorios (que publican un único trabajo; n=18.772) suponen el 65,07% de los autores, mientras que el 92,89% de los documentos han sido realizados en colaboración, porcentaje que aumenta al 95,66% si se consideran únicamente los artículos originales. Destaca la colaboración con países del entorno geográfico, cultural o político, como los Estados Unidos y los países europeos occidentales, mientras que la colaboración es más limitada con los países de la Europa oriental y del Norte (entre los que destacan Polonia, Finlandia, Noruega y Grecia) y Latinoamérica, a pesar de compartir un idioma común. Los países europeos con mayor número de artículos publicados han sido Reino Unido (18,62%) Alemania (16,70%), Italia (13,32%), Francia (9,57%) y Holanda (5,62%), ocupando España (5,62%) el 6º lugar en el ranking europeo y el 11º en el mundial, superado por Estados Unidos, Japón, Canadá y Australia.The main objective of this thesis is to analyze, through the use of bibliometric indicators, the scientific activity that is reflected in internationally visible publications that have been generated by Spanish cardiology institutions during the decade 1999-2008. The sources consulted to elaborate this work have been the databases SCI-Expanded (Science Citation Index Expanded) of Thompson Corporation (http: // scientific.thomson.com/aboutus/) and the database Spanish IME/Índice Médico Español elaborated by the National Research Council. The results found that the Spanish production in the area of Cardiology has experienced during the period a 51,10% increase, from 1.104 documents in 1998 to 1.668 in 2008. Likewise, 72,81% of retrieved works were original articles, becoming this documental type such as preferred by the Spanish specialists in cardiology to transmit on their knowledge. Stands out the collaboration with countries of the geographical, cultural or political environment, as the United States and the European western countries, whereas the collaboration is more limited by the countries of the Eastern Europe and of the North (most notably Poland, Finland, Norway and Greece) and Latin America, despite sharing a common language. The European countries with major number of published articles have been United Kingdom (18,62 %) Germany (16,70 %), Italy (13,32 %), France (9,57 %) and Holland (5,62 %), occupying Spain (5,62 %) 6 º place in the European ranking and 11 º in the world one overcome by The United States, Japan, Canada and Australia. The European countries with largest number of published articles have been United Kingdom (18,62 %) Germany (16,70 %), Italy (13,32 %), France (9,57 %) and Holland (5,62 %), occupying Spain (5,62 %) 6th place in the European ranking and 11th in the world one overcome by The United States, Japan, Canada and Australia

Album Academicum des Polytechnikums zu Riga, 1862-1912

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1854231~S1*es