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Introduction
The IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS) and Medical Imaging Conference
(MIC) will be held this year at the Wyndham El Conquistador resort
in Las Croabas, Puerto Rico (just outside of San Juan). The meeting
will begin on October 23 with short courses and end with the MIC
conference dinner on the evening of October 29. The El Conquistador
is a beautiful resort facility that allows all of the conference
activities and attendee lodging to be accommodated in one location.
Complete information about the conference can be found on the Conference
web site at http://www.nss-mic.org/2005.
The call for papers produced more than 1100 high quality submissions.
This response reflects tremendous efforts by the conference committee
coupled with the success and additional publicity of the outstanding
conference held last year in Rome, Italy – the second NSS/MIC
conference held outside the continental United States. A major challenge
for the committee was the selection of the papers for presentation.
When the conference site was selected several years ago, the projection
was that about 850 papers would be submitted. Unfortunately, the
space limitations of our site can not accommodate all of the many
fine papers we received for 2005. Thus, many deserving papers could
not be accepted. Even with this most difficult complication, the
Program Committee has put together an exceptional conference covering
a broad area of interests to the community. In addition to independent
NSS and MIC sessions, we will continue the tradition to provide
increasingly important and popular joint sessions covering topics
of common interests.
The Continuing Education Program this year consists of six short
courses in nuclear science and medical imaging – some of which
are held over a two-day period. These courses provide an essential
opportunity for the expert and newcomer alike to be taught by practicing
experts. In addition, special emphasis sessions and workshops are
being organized to cover topics such as hadron therapy and the OpenGATE
Monte Carlo simulation package.
The El Conquistador has extensive facilities and allows the collocation
of both the exhibition and the poster sessions. The exhibition hall
will be used to good advantage to allow exhibitors to show their
products and to meet the community in a professional and productive
atmosphere. Continuing in the success of previous years, exhibitors
will also be taking part in a series of technical seminars and product
presentations.
The use of computer facilities at the NSS/MIC meeting has increased
steadily over the years. Taking full advantage of the number of
attendees who bring laptop computers with WiFi capability, the conference
this year will have several WiFi hot spots – including the
entire commercial exhibit area and several seating areas near the
poster displays.
Given the unique venue for this conference, the committee has decided
to split the sessions each day – with sessions running from
8 am to noon and then starting again at 3:30 pm and running to 6:30
or 8 pm depending on the evening activities. This format was selected
to allow attendees and their guests to enjoy the relaxed, informal
atmosphere of the hotel facilities for discussions as well as relaxation
between sessions.
An extra effort was put forth to provide an unusual and exciting
Companion Program comprised of activities that take advantage of
the unique location of the meeting. Participants will get the opportunity
to experience a variety of exciting events including trips to Old
San Juan, a tour of Ponce City and its art galleries, a full day
exploring the Arecibo radio telescope and the Camuy Cave system,
as well as cooking classes, rain forest tours, and even kayaking.
In addition to these organized tours, the El Conquistador offers
the full range of water sports (scuba diving, snorkeling, wind surfing,
etc) as well as golf, riding, and relaxing on the beach or at one
of the several pools. There are also programs for families and children
at the hotel that our companion program chairs can help arrange.
The organizing committee has spared no effort to ensure that the
event will be a stimulating and valuable experience for all participants.
My colleagues and I are looking forward to meeting old friends and
making many new ones at what promises to be an outstanding event.
For those in any doubt, the working language of the conference is
English.
Tom Lewellen, NSS-MIC General Chairman
University of Washington
Telephone: (206) 598-6249
Fax: (206) 598-4192
Email: nss2005@u.washington.edu
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
It is not possible in limited space to give full details of the
program, so the reader is directed to the conference web site (http://www.nss-mic.org/2005)
for complete details of all the topics and sessions. We have received
over 100 outstanding paper contributions that will be presented
in both an oral and poster format. The following are descriptions
of the individual programs.
The Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS), to be held October 25-27
(NSS/MIC joint sessions on October 26), offers an outstanding opportunity
for scientists and engineers in the field of nuclear science to
meet with their colleagues and present new and original work on
the latest developments in technology and instrumentation. Instruction
on specialized topics will also be available through the Short Course
program. Authors were invited to submit papers describing original,
previously unpublished work in the topic areas listed below:
• Instrumentation for Homeland Security
• Nuclear Techniques for Homeland Security
• Analog and Digital Circuits
• Astrophysics and Space Instrumentation
• Data Acquisition and Analysis Systems
• Environmental Health and Safety Instrumen-tation
• Gaseous Detectors
• High Energy Physics Detectors
• Nuclear Measurements and Monitoring Techniques
• Photodetectors and Radiation Imaging
• Radiation Damage Effects
• Scintillation Detectors
• Solid State Tracking Detectors
• New Solid State Detectors
• Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation
• Trigger and Front-End Systems
• Instrumentation for Medical and Biological Research
• Nuclear Physics Instrumentation
• Accelerators and Beam Line Instrumentation
• Computing and Software for Experiments
• Neutron Imaging and Radiography
For information concerning the NSS Program, please
contact:
Richard Lanza, NSS Program Chairman
Department of Nuclear Engineering
MIT
Telephone: (617) 253 4333
Fax: (631) 344 4240
Email: nss2005@mit.edu
The Medical Imaging Conference (MIC), to be held October
27-29 (NSS/MIC joint sessions on October 26), provides a forum for
fundamental theoretical and applied contributions to the physics,
engineering, and mathematical aspects of medical imaging. This conference
will provide the opportunity for an exchange of ideas and recent
advances in medical imaging. Authors were invited to submit papers
describing original and innovative technical contributions to the
general field of medical imaging in the following areas:
• Emission Tomography Instrumentation (PET,
SPECT)
• Multimodality Systems
• High Resolution and Animal Imaging Systems
• Image Reconstruction Methods
• Intraoperative Probes and Portable Imaging Systems
• Modeling of Medical Imaging Systems
• Evaluation of Imaging Systems and Reconstruction Methods
• Dynamic Data Acquisition and Recon-struction Methods
• Tracer Kinetic Modeling
• Quantitative Image Processing Methods
• Application of New Detector Materials and Technologies
to Medical Imaging
• X-ray Imaging and X-ray Computed Tomography
• Synchrotron Radiation
• Other Imaging Modalities Utilizing Ionizing Radiation
For information concerning the MIC Program, please
contact:
Simon Cherry, MIC Program Chairman
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of California, Davis
Telephone: (530) 754-9419
Email: mic2005@ucdavis.edu
CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Continuing Education Program this year consists of nine short
courses covering topics of interest common to all conference programs.
The following courses will be scheduled for the first two days of
the conference to limit conflicts with the technical sessions. For
more information, visit the conference web site (www.nss-mic.org/2005).
1. Radiation Detection and Measurement (2 days) - Glenn Knoll
2. Nuclear Science for Homeland Security (1 day) - Tony Peurrung
3. Integrated Circuit Front Ends for Nuclear Pulse Processing (1
day) - Paul O'Connor
4. Medical Imaging Fundamentals (1 day) - Todd Peterson
5. Molecular Imaging Basics (1/2 day) - Arion Chatziioannou
6. Statistical Methods for Image Reconstruction (1/2 day) - Jinyi
Qi
For questions concerning the Short Course Program, please contact:
Stephen E. Derenzo
Short Courses Program Chair Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley, California, USA
Phone: +1-510-486-4097
Fax: +1-510-486-4768
Email: sederenzo@lbl.gov
Jennifer Huber
Short Courses Program Co-Chair
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California, USA
Phone: +1-510-486-6445
Fax: +1-510-486-4768
Email: jshuber@lbl.gov
WORKSHOPS
As of the time this article was submitted, workshops were still
being organized. Full details of their programs may be found on
the conference web site (http://www.nss-mic.org/2005)
OpenGATE Workshop
Thursday, October 27, 2005
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Chairman: Irene Buvat, PhD
Equipe "Imagerie in vivo de la perfusion et des échanges
moléculaires"
http://www.guillemet.org/irene/equipe4
U678 INSERM
CHU Pitie-Salpetriere
91 Boulevard de l'Hopital
75 634 Paris Cedex 13
France
Tel : (33) (0)1 53 82 84 19
Fax : (33) (0)1 53 82 84 48
e-mail : buvat@imed.jussieu.fr
http://www.guillemet.org/irene
PUBLICATIONS
The title and authors of accepted papers will appear in the Conference
Program Handbook. Abstracts will be contained in USB memory sticks
to be handed out to attendees when they pick up registration materials
at the conference. Full paper texts will be published in the Conference
Record, a nonrefereed journal of the conference proceedings, available
only on CD-ROM. Prior to the mailing of the CD-ROM, the conference
papers will be posted to the conference web site.
In addition, authors may submit their papers to the conference issue
of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (TNS). This is a peer-reviewed
journal with significant distribution within the nuclear science
and medical imaging communities. All IEEE/NPSS member participants
will receive a complimentary copy of the conference issue of the
TNS. Alternatively, relevant papers may be independently submitted
to the IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI) - there is no
special conference issue.
EXHIBITS PROGRAM
The NSS-MIC 2005 Exhibit Program will take place in a 10,000 sq.
ft. area in the Grand Caribbean Ballroom. The space will be designed
to ensure easy access to all the booths with the maximum of comfort
and visibility for the exhibitor and visitor alike. The program
of technical seminars and product presentations associated with
the exhibition will be held in seminar rooms adjacent to the exhibits
area.
In addition to the exhibits, all poster sessions and general coffee
breaks will be held in the Grand Caribbean Ballroom and the adjacent
foyer space to provide attendees with additional convenient access
to the exhibits.
Up-to-date information on the Industrial Program including the list
of exhibitors, their contact information and profiles, the exhibition
floor plan, as well as details of the technical seminars and product
presentations, is available on the conference web site (http://www.nss-mic.org/2005).
For all information concerning the exhibits program, please contact
the Exhibition Coordinator.
Robert G. Finnegan
Manager, Exhibits Division
American Institute of Physics
2 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 1NO1
Melville, NY 11747
Tel: 516-576-2433
Fax: 516-576-2481
Email: rfinneg@aip.org
TOURS AND COMPANION PROGRAM
The focus of the Tours and Companion Program is to provide unusual
experiences and activities not generally available to the public.
The price of each day's activities includes a lunch or snacks with
drinks, the services of a very knowledgeable tour guide, and all
entrance fees. All tours depart from, and return to, the conference
hotel. For those tours beginning in the morning, participants are
invited to meet for a complimentary continental breakfast on the
Caribbean Terrace.
The tours are subject to a minimum participation and the detailed
itinerary of each tour may be changed without prior notice. For
your comfort and safety, “sensible” footwear is advised
– please visit the web site (http://
www.nss-mic.org/2005) for complete details regarding restrictions
and requirements.
Conference Arranged Tours:
Sunday:
Ponce City Excursion – All day including 2.5 hours each way
on the bus Puerto Rico's second largest city is located on the southern
coast.
“The Pearl of the South,” Ponce was named after Loiza
Ponce de Leon, great-grandson of Juan Ponce de Leon. Founded in
1692, Ponce is today Puerto Rico's principal shipping port on the
Caribbean. The streets are lit with gas lamps and lined with neoclassical
buildings, just as they were a century ago. Thanks to the restoration,
Ponce now recalls the turn of the 20th century, when it rivaled
San Juan as a wealthy business and cultural center. The tour will
include a visit to the Ponce Art Museum. With more than 3,000 works
of the European and American schools from the 14th to the 20th centuries,
the museum’s collection is known worldwide for its superb selection
of Italian Baroque and British Pre-Raphaelite works as well as French
Academy and 17th century Spanish (Golden Age) schools. The Museum
also exhibits Puerto Rican and contemporary Latin American art.
Monday:
Old City Historical Walking Tour with Shopping – All day
This tour is for culture and history enthusiasts who like to get
up close to the sites and examine the past first-hand.
Old San Juan is the oldest city in the U.S. There, you’ll be
able to stroll through Old Spanish cathedrals and forts such as
San Cristobal, where you will see and learn how the Spanish built
and defended their city. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity
to do some shopping.
Tuesday:
Catamaran Snorkeling – 3 hours
The typical excursion entails a transfer to the marina where the
guests will board a catamaran, to begin a leisurely sail to one
of the off-shore coral reefs. After anchoring near the reef, the
captain and crew will inform the guests as to the safety rules and
procedures and pass out the snorkeling equipment and safety gear
for those who wish to snorkel. Guests typically have between one
and two hours to snorkel, swim or relax at the beach while crew
is preparing snacks. Depending on the number of individuals who
sign up, we will offer both a morning and an afternoon trip.
Wednesday:
Combined Tour Camuy Caves and Aericibo:
The Camuy Caves System - The third largest underground river
system in the world, which has taken millions of years to carve
out the spectacular 300-acre network of subterranean chambers known
as the Rio Camuy Caves. Today the underground cave system is part
of a natural reserve that is recognized as one of the world’s
most impressive natural wonders. Developed and operated by the Puerto
Rico Land Administration, the park provides visitors the opportunity
to visit three of the system’s most remarkable sinkholes and
caves in safety and comfort. The Visitors will board trolleys for
guided tours that carry them down the spiraling enplaned sinkhole,
into one of the system's largest caves. After a walk through the
170-foot Cueva Clara, another shuttle takes them to a platform overlooking
the 65-foot wide and 400-feet deep Tres Pueblos Sinkhole.
The Arecibo Observatory - The Arecibo Observatory is part
of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), a national
research center operated by Cornell University under a cooperative
agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). As the site
of the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, the Observatory
is recognized as one of the most important national centers for
research in radio astronomy, planetary radar and terrestrial aeronomy.
Option – (if enough attendees sign up in advance)
Puerto Rican Fusion Cuisine
Presented by the Conquistador Chefs –a 3 hour experience with
some of the talented Chefs of El Conquistador. The Conquistador
culinary team has won gold and silver medals in the Taste of the
Culinary Competition 2003 in Jamaica, as well as gold, silver and
bronze medals in the 2003 Florida Restaurant Show.
Bebidas – Guests will learn how to prepare Mojitos and Sangria
Appetizers – Guests will incorporate local ingredients such
as plantain and shrimp into
alcapurrias, a bite size appetizer.
Entree – Guests will be led into Isabela's kitchen for a lesson
in preparing Sangria
marinated pork loin stuffed with sweet mofongo, a Puerto Rican staple,
with papaya salsa
Dessert – Back in El Faro, guests will learn about a Canasta
de Frutas...a pastry basket
dipped in chocolate and filled with mango mousse and garnished with
fruit.
Thursday:
Nature Reserve Excursion with Eco Kayaking / Rio Grande.
Kayaking brings to the traveler the opportunity to explore remote
areas inaccessible to most forms of marine transportation. The Mangrove
river labyrinths that wind their way into salt lagoons sustain a
wide variety of wild life, land and sea dwellers alike. Upon arrival
at each site you will be given a brief safety and kayak lesson before
teaming up in a tandem kayak. The sturdy kayaks and knowledgeable
tour guides will assure a safe and fun experience for beginners
and advanced sportsmen.
Friday:
Old San Juan and Bacardi Rum Distillery
Visitors to Casa Bacardi will be guided through seven exquisitely
designed and historically accurate rooms created to engage visitors
as they experience the sight, smell and taste of Bacardi rum. Nosing
booths invite visitors to take in the delicious smells of eight
Bacardi rums. Learn the secrets of Bacardi rum making, including
the secret strain of yeast isolated in 1862 and still used today.
Demonstrations by professional bartenders will highlight the making
of Bacardi classics such as the Cuba Libre, Mojito and Daiquiri
from the Company's “Golden Cocktail Age,” which occurred
during prohibition when visitors flocked to Cuba to enjoy a then-American
taboo.
After the tour of the Bacardi Facilities, we will depart for Old
San Juan. Old San Juan is the oldest city in the U.S. There, you
will be able to stroll through Old Spanish cathedrals and forts
such as San Cristobal where you will see and learn how the Spanish
built and defended their city.
Saturday:
El Yunque Rainforest Excursion
Named after the good Indian spirit, Yuquiyu, and shelter to the
Carib Indians for 200 years, El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest
in the U.S. National Forest System. Spanning 28,000 acres and reaching
an elevation of 3,624 feet, the area receives over 100 billion gallons
of rainfall each year. In El Yunque you will see many unique sights
and hear many unique sounds unsurpassed by any of the natural wonders.
Breathtaking views of feathery ferns, thick ropelike vines, white
tuberoses, ginger, miniature orchids and some 240 different species
of trees are in abundance throughout the area.
GENERAL CONFERENCE EVENTS
Monday, October 24 – Plenary session. The plenary session will
be held in the Pablo Casals Ballroom
Tuesday, October 25 - Exhibition Reception
The NSS-MIC 2005 Exhibits Program will host a cocktail reception
in the Grand Caribbean Ballroom beginning at 7:30 pm.
Tuesday, October 25 - NSS Luncheon
The NSS Luncheon will be held in the Pablo Casals Ballroom at 12:00
pm.
Wednesday, October 26 – Conference Reception
All participants are invited to a reception to be held near the
El Yunque Garden at 7:30 pm.
Saturday, October 29 - MIC Banquet
The MIC banquet will take place on Saturday evening at the hotel
or on its adjacent island.
REGISTRATION
This year, all registration formalities for participants are again
being handled electronically through the conference web site at
http:// www.nss-mic.org/2005.
Participants can register for the conference, Short Courses, Workshops,
Tours and Companion Program, Technical Visits, as well as all social
events and request hotel accommodations. Payment may be made in
several convenient ways.
WYNDHAM EL CONQUISTADOR RESORT
Perched on top of cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean
Sea, this majestic paradise is the perfect Puerto Rico destination
for outdoor recreation, championship golf and spa therapy. Each
of the resort's four unique environments offers delightful touches
and amenities of its own.
The Grand Hotel rises above it all with panoramic views, spacious
bathrooms and walk-in closets. The ultraluxurious Las Casitas Village
offers a Spanish-style atmosphere with private check-in, pool and
personal butler. The villas of Las Olas Village are built into the
side of a cliff and offer breathtaking ocean views, while the balconies
of La Marina Village overlook the sea - just steps from the marina
and quaint shops.
Outside, the hotel offers a host of activities. Enjoy the Arthur
Hill championship golf course, wave running, horseback riding, windsurfing,
scuba diving, fishing and swimming in one of six pools. Visit the
adjacent private Palomino Island, explore the nearby El Yunque Rain
Forest or relax in the Golden Door Spa and Fitness Center. Savor
exquisite international cuisine and enjoy a sunset cruise.
Tom Lewellen, General Chair, can be reached at the University
of Washington, P.O. Box 356004, Seattle, WA, USA 98195-6004; Phone:
+1 205 598-6249; Fax: +1 205 598-4496; E-mail: tkldog@u.wash.edu.
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