Detection of Buried Inhomogeneous Elliptic Cylinders by a Memetic Algorithm

The application of a global optimization procedure to the detection of buried inhomogeneities is studied in the present paper. The object inhomogeneities are schematized as multilayer infinite dielectric cylinders with elliptic cross sections. An efficient recursive analytical procedure is used for the forward scattering computation. A functional is constructed in which the field is expressed in series solution of Mathieu functions. Starting by the input scattered data, the iterative minimization of the functional is performed by a new optimization method called memetic algorithm. (c) 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works

A Reconstruction Procedure for Microwave Nondestructive Evaluation based on a Numerically Computed Green's Function

This paper describes a new microwave diagnostic tool for nondestructive evaluation. The approach, developed in the spatial domain, is based on the numerical computation of the inhomogeneous Green’s function in order to fully exploit all the available a-priori information of the domain under test. The heavy reduction of the computational complexity of the proposed procedure (with respect to standard procedures based on the free-space Green’s function) is also achieved by means of a customized hybrid-coded genetic algorithm. In order to assess the effectiveness of the method, the results of several simulations are presented and discussed

A Numerical Technique for Determining the Internal Field in Biological Bodies Exposed to Electromagnetic Fields

In this paper, the field prediction inside biological bodies exposed to electromagnetic incident waves is addressed by considering inverse scattering techniques. In particular, the aim is to evaluate the possibility of limiting the test area in order to strongly reduce the computational time, ensuring, at the same time, a quite accurate solution. The approach is based on separating the scattering contributions of the region under test and the other part of the biological body. The starting point is represented by the inverse-scattering equations, which are recast as a functional to be minimized. A Green's function approach is then developed in order to include an approximate knowledge (a model) of the biological body. The possible application of the approach for diagnostic purposes is also discussed

Synthesis of sum and difference patterns for monopulse antennas by an hybrid real/integer-coded differential evolution method

The synthesis of sum and difference patterns of monopulse antennas is considered in this paper. The synthesis problem is recast as an optimization problem by defining a suitable cost function based on the constraints on the side lobe levels. A subarray configuration is considered and the excitations of the difference pattern are approximately determined. The optimization problem is efficently solved by a differential evolution algorithm, wich is able to contemporarly handle real and integer unknowns. Numerical results are reported considering classic array configurations previusly assumed in the literature

Improved Microwave Imaging Procedure for Non-Destructive Evaluations of Two-Dimensional Structures

An improved microwave procedure for detecting defects in dielectric structures is proposed. The procedure is based on the integral equations of the inverse scattering problem. A hybrid Genetic Algorithm is applied in order to minimize the obtained nonlinear functional. Since in nondestructive evaluations the unperturbed object is completely known, it is possible off-line to numerically compute the Green's function for the configuration without defects. Consequently, a very dignificant computation saving is obtained, since the 'chromosome' of the Genetic Algorithm codes only the parameters describing the unknown defect

X-ray phase contrast topography to measure the surface stress and bulk strain in a silicon crystal

The measurement of the Si lattice parameter by x-ray interferometry assumes the use of strain-free crystals, which might not be true because of intrinsic stresses due to surface relaxation, reconstruction, and oxidation. We used x-ray phase-contrast topography to investigate the strain sensitivity to the finishing, annealing, and coating of the interferometer crystals.We assessed the topography capabilities by measuring the lattice strain due to films of copper deposited on the interferometer mirror-crystal. A byproduct has been the measurement of the surface stresses after complete relaxation of the coatings

Analysis of Prey Composition in Eurasian Reed Warblers’ Acrocephalus scirpaceus Droppings at Four Breeding Sites in Italy

Our aim was to investigate the among-populations diversity of prey composition in Eurasian Reed Warblers’ diets via their droppings, both to assess the ecological validity of this sampling method and to test whether the prey species most abundant in fecal samples were also the most present in the Italian study site. We collected fecal samples at four sites throughout Italy, for a total of 144 samples. Within reedbeds, the breeding habitat of the Eurasian Reed Warbler, we also collected arthropods by carrying out entomological sweepings at one of the study sites. Within the fecal samples, we identified dozens of prey species, belonging mainly to Araneae, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Aphidoidea taxa, whose compositions were not statistically different among sites. The commonest prey species were Coleoptera in the droppings (68.5%) and Diptera in the reedbeds (31.3%), although the latter was less numerous in the fecal samples. The diets of different Italian populations of Eurasian Reed Warbler emerging from our study underline a strong Coleopteran presence, without differences across Italy. Fecal samples appear to be an exhaustive method to study variation in Eurasian Reed Warbler diet and its ecological importance; however, although potential caveats do exist, such as the possible under-representation of Diptera