BACKGROUND The delineation of pancreatic tumors on CT is challenging. In this study, we quantified the interobserver variation for pancreatic tumor delineation on 3DCT as well as on 4DCT. METHODS Eight observers (radiation oncologists) from six institutions delineated pancreatic tumors of four patients with (borderline) resectable pancreatic cancer. The study consisted of two stages. In the 3...

To evaluate the repeatability of a questionnaire designed to assess change in respiratory symptoms 90 smokers were interviewed on two occasions. The questionnaire included questions from the Medical Research Council questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, questions on acute chest illness and cough and phlegm production in the preceding two weeks, a modification of Field's card system for estimat...

AIMS To evaluate observer variation in diagnosis of villitis of unknown aetiology. METHODS Fifty haematoxylin and eosin stained sections were circulated to three pathologists who were asked to assess if villitis was present. These slides, with an additional 20, were recirculated and reassessed by the same pathologists. RESULTS Intra-observer agreement was 84.7% (range 74--92%) and interobse...

In this paper a novel method is proposed for construction of an exponential observer for nonlinear system. The presented method is based on direct solution of dynamic error without any linearzing of nonlinear terms. Necessary and sufficient conditions for construction of direct observer are presented. Stability of the observer is checked using Lyapunov theorem. Also the ability of this observer...

A novel digital implementation of speed controller for a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) with disturbance rejection using conventional observer combined with Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is proposed. First, the EKF is constructed to achieve a precise estimation of the speed and current from the noisy measurement. Second, a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller is developed...

INTRODUCTION Measurement of brain volume on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans is regarded as an objective marker of multiple sclerosis (MS) severity with the potential to monitor treatment efficacy accurately. This study was performed to assess the variability of brain MRI volume measurements. PATIENTS AND METHODS We studied nine patients with relapsing-remitting MS, who were imaged on t...

BACKGROUND The ventilatory threshold (VT) is usually determined by visual assessment of the point where the rate of elimination of carbon dioxide (VCO(2)) increases nonlinearly with respect to oxygen uptake (VO(2)) (the V-Slope method). We quantified the reliability of VT determination using data from a multicenter study in patients with heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS The Fix-Heart Failur...

AIMS Myocardial velocity imaging has been validated in adults for assessment of ventricular function and indirect indices of pulmonary arterial pressure. To establish whether it could also be used in infants, we investigated the reproducibility of myocardial velocities and deformation indices in term and preterm neonates. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial velocity loops acquired from 16 infants ...