Detection, Location and Imaging of Multiple Scatterers by means of the Iterative Multiscaling Method

In this paper, a new version of the iterative multiscaling method (IMM) is proposed for reconstructing multiple scatterers in two-dimensional microwave imaging problems. The manuscript describes the new procedure evaluating the effectiveness of the IMM previously assessed for single object detection. Starting from inverse scattering integral equations, the problem is recast in a minimization one by defining iteratively (at each level of the scaling procedure) a suitable cost function allowing firstly a detection of the unknown objects, successively a location of the scatterers and finally a quantitative reconstruction of the scenario under test. Thanks to its properties, the approach allows an effective use of the information achievable from inverse scattering data. Morover, the adopted kind of expansion is able to deal with all possible multiresolution combinations in an easy and computationally inexpensive way. Selected numerical examples concerning dielectric as well as dissipative objects in noisy enviroments or starting from experimantally-acquired data are reported in order to confirm the usefulness of the introduced tool and of the effectiveness of the proposed procedure

Outside a Black Box: Court and Regulatory Review of Investment Valuations of Hard-to-Value Securities

Valuation is a critical function of investment advisers that has significant implications for both clients and advisers. One potential risk associated with valuation is that an investment adviser may abuse its position in valuing portfolio assets to accrue higher management and incentive fees to the detriment of clients. Although the valuation function may be viewed as an objective exercise, adviser valuations become subject to greater levels of discretion for hard-to-value securities, making determinations of adviser abuse less clear. Depending on the transparency of the adviser, the valuation process itself may become a black box to the client. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation of and enforcement actions over an investment adviser’s valuations of securities and court review of private litigation have taken different approaches to address this problem. Although Securities and Exchange Commission matters address questions of whether an adviser has appropriately valued a particular security, the focus of many enforcement matters addresses the process an adviser used to reach a valuation determination. In contrast, private litigants are constrained by court views of valuations of hard-to-value securities within the context of the antifraud statutes. In many cases, courts have taken the position that such determinations are simply opinions of an adviser. This Article surveys these approaches and concludes that judicial scrutiny should focus on a process-driven approach for adviser valuations

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