Limitations Of Tomography Research Articles

Diffuse time tomography of strongly scattering random structures†

An original model of wave propagation in strongly scattering transparent random structures with arbitrary correlated disorder is derived from the first principles. In particular, it is shown that the mean arrival (or diffuse) time of a short narrowband pulse can be presented as a linear integral transform of the microstructure's power spectrum. Moreover, this integral transform is invertible, which allows one, in principle, to reconstruct the correlation function of a heterogeneous medium by measuring the angular distributions of the diffuse time for waves of different frequencies. This technique, called here the diffuse time tomography, is free of the intrinsic diffraction tomography limitations; the most important is the fact that it can be applied to strongly scattering structures.

Tomographic Imaging outside a Seismic Network: Application to the Northeast Japan Arc

The conventional local tomography can determine the 3D seismic velocity structure right beneath a seismic network, but it cannot determine the 3D structure outside a seismic network. In this study we show that such a limitation of tomography can be overcome if many earthquakes occur outside a seismic network. In the northeast Japan arc earthquakes occur actively from the Japan Trench to the Pacific coast. We detected and used sP -depth phase to relocate the suboceanic earthquakes accurately, and then used P - and S -wave arrival times from the relocated suboceanic events and the earthquakes under the northeast Japan land area to determine the 3D P - and S -wave velocity and Poisson’s ratio structures of the entire northeast Japan arc from the Japan Trench to the Japan Sea coast. Our results exhibit strong lateral heterogeneities under the forearc region. The mainshock hypocenters of large interplate earthquakes ( M 7.0–8.2) mainly cluster near the boundaries of high and low velocity and Poisson’s ratio above the subducting Pacific slab. A few large earthquakes are located in areas with high velocity and low Poisson’s ratio. These results suggest that lateral heterogeneities on the slab boundary can affect the rupture nucleation of large thrust earthquakes and the degree of interplate seismic coupling.

Automated data collection for electron tomography

Three-dimensional imaging has become an important addition to the variety of methods available for research on biological structures. Non-crystalline samples can be examined by high resolution electron tomography which requires that projection data be collected over a large range of specimen tilts. Practical limitations of tomography are set by the large number of micrographs to be processed, and by the required (and tedious) recentering and refocusing of the object during data collection; especially for dose sensitive specimens. With automated electron tomography a number of these problems can be overcome. First, the images are recorded directly in digital format, using a cooled slow scan CCD camera, and, with automatic tracking and correction for image shift and focus variation, a pre-aligned dataset is obtained, with every image recorded under well defined imaging conditions.At UCSF, we use intermediate voltage electron tomography to study higher-order chromatin structure. Of central interest is elucidating the higher-order arrangement of the 30nm chromatin fiber within condensed chromosomes through several phases of the cell cycle and, in collaboration with Chris Woodcock, the structure of the 30 nm fiber.

Speculation on the meaning of cerebral metabolic hypofrontality in schizophrenia.

Cerebral metabolic hypofrontality in schizophrenia is a controversial research finding. In this article we discuss some of the issues that fuel this controversy, and we speculate on the neural mechanisms that may be responsible for the finding. Most regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) studies using radioactive xenon have found hypofrontality; the results of positron emission tomography (PET) studies have been less consistent. Several technical factors are discussed that might contribute to the inconsistencies, including airway artifacts with xenon, limitations of tomography in studying the cortex, and approaches to data analysis. The possibility that hypofrontality is a result of medication is also critically examined. The medication factor is still unclear, but most studies of patients before and after neuroleptic medication find that cerebral metabolism goes up, not down, after treatment. The role of patient behavior and experience during an rCBF or PET procedure is an important variable that has not been adequately controlled in most studies. We suggest that this has been the most important variable in interpreting cerebral metabolic data in schizophrenia. Studies of patients examined during a behavior that normally activates prefrontal cortex have consistently found hypofrontality. One theoretical mechanism that could account for hypofrontality as well as many clinical and research findings in schizophrenia is dysfunction of dopaminergic neural transmission at the level of the prefrontal cortex.