Edge illumination x-ray phase contrast CT

An unmet demand for high resolution 3D imaging modalities providing enhanced soft tissue contrast exists in a number of biomedical disciplines. X-ray phase contrast (PC) methods can provide a solution: contrast is driven by the refractive index decrement from unity (RID) rather than the absorption term, the former being much larger than the latter for low absorbing materials and energies typically used for biomedical imaging. However, most existing PC methods suff er from drawbacks a ffecting their implementation outside specialised facilities such as synchrotrons and therefore their applicability to biomedical research. The Edge Illumination (EI) PC method has the potential to overcome or at least mitigate most of these drawbacks. Its major strengths are its simple setup, compatibility with laboratory-based x-ray sources and potential for low-dose imaging. Until now, however, EI had not been implemented in computed tomography (CT) mode. The work presented in this thesis bridges this gap. Practical and theoretical requirements for the CT extension were identifi ed, and experimental EI-CT setups were implemented both at a synchrotron and in a standard laboratory. It was shown that EI-CT allows the reconstruction of maps of a number of physical quantities, including the RID and the absorption term. Quantitative imaging via the reconstruction of the RID was demonstrated to be feasible, and to be limited only by physical eff ects not accounted for in the phase retrieval model (namely coherence) and, to some extent, polychromaticity. An optimal sampling scheme was derived for laboratory-based EI-CT. This was demonstrated to be compatible with low-dose scans, which is important for in vivo imaging. The dose such a system would deliver to a small animals (e.g. mice) was estimated, and found to be within acceptable limits. Moreover, new scientifi c areas that can benefi t from the method were identi fied (e.g. regenerative medicine), and the fi rst ever PC-CT images of acellular organ sca ffolds are presented

Intelligent Transportation Related Complex Systems and Sensors

Building around innovative services related to different modes of transport and traffic management, intelligent transport systems (ITS) are being widely adopted worldwide to improve the efficiency and safety of the transportation system. They enable users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and smarter decisions on the use of transport networks. Current ITSs are complex systems, made up of several components/sub-systems characterized by time-dependent interactions among themselves. Some examples of these transportation-related complex systems include: road traffic sensors, autonomous/automated cars, smart cities, smart sensors, virtual sensors, traffic control systems, smart roads, logistics systems, smart mobility systems, and many others that are emerging from niche areas. The efficient operation of these complex systems requires: i) efficient solutions to the issues of sensors/actuators used to capture and control the physical parameters of these systems, as well as the quality of data collected from these systems; ii) tackling complexities using simulations and analytical modelling techniques; and iii) applying optimization techniques to improve the performance of these systems. It includes twenty-four papers, which cover scientific concepts, frameworks, architectures and various other ideas on analytics, trends and applications of transportation-related data

RadioLab tra presente e futuro

Il progetto nazionale dell’INFN sul monitoraggio ambientale del radon ha coinvolto per oltre un decennio scuole su tutto il territorio nazionale. Recentemente, alcune attività hanno coinvolto molte sedi rafforzandone l’efficacia e l’impatto su studenti e insegnanti. Tra queste ricordiamo il sondaggio sulla conoscenza del radon, la scuola estiva nazionale e le attività di calibrazione con protocolli comuni. La pandemia ha interrotto bruscamente le attività in presenza e l’organizzazione scolastica post-lockdown richiede di ripensare alcune azioni per ampliare la diffusione della consapevolezza di questa problematica tra i cittadini, ora che il recepimento della normativa europea sul radon `e giunto a compimento

Psychological Engagement in Choice and Judgment Under Risk and Uncertainty

Theories of choice and judgment assume that agents behave rationally, choose the higher expected value option, and evaluate the choice consistently (Expected Utility Theory, Von Neumann, & Morgenstern, 1947). However, researchers in decision-making showed that human behaviour is different in choice and judgement tasks (Slovic & Lichtenstein, 1968; 1971; 1973). In this research, we propose that psychological engagement and control deprivation predict behavioural inconsistencies and utilitarian performance with judgment and choice. Moreover, we explore the influences of engagement and control deprivation on agent’s behaviours, while manipulating content of utility (Kusev et al., 2011, Hertwig & Gigerenzer 1999, Tversky & Khaneman, 1996) and decision reward (Kusev et al, 2013, Shafir et al., 2002)