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Accurate coregistration of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging can provide clinically relevant and complementary information and can serve to facilitate multiple clinical tasks including surgical and radiation treatment planning, and generating a virtual Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/MR for the sites that do not have a PET/MR system available. Despite the long-standing interest in multimodality co-registration, a robust, routine clinical solution remains an unmet need. Part of the challenge may be the use of mutual information (MI) maximization and local phase difference (LPD) as similarity metrics, which have limited robustness, efficiency, and are difficult to optimize. Accordingly, we propose registering MR to CT by mapping the MR to a synthetic CT intermediate (sCT) and further using it in a sCT-CT deformable image registration (DIR) that minimizes the sum of squared differences. The resultant deformation field of a sCT-CT DIR is applied to the MRI to register it with the CT. Twenty-five sets of abdominopelvic imaging data are used for evaluation. The proposed method is compared to standard MI- and LPD-based methods, and the multimodality DIR provided by a state of the art, commercially available FDA-cleared clinical software package. The results are compared using global similarity metrics, Modified Hausdorff Distance, and Dice Similarity Index on six structures. Further, four physicians visually assessed and scored registered images for their registration accuracy. As evident from both quantitative and qualitative evaluation, the proposed method achieved registration accuracy superior to LPD- and MI-based methods and can refine the results of the commercial package DIR when using its results as a starting point. Supported by these, this manuscript concludes the proposed registration method is more robust, accurate, and efficient than the MI- and LPD-based methods.

Myomatous erythrocytosis syndrome (MES) is gynaecological condition marked by isolated erythrocytosis and a fibroid uterus. This report presents a case of MES and reviews common clinical presentations, hematological trends, and patient outcomes. This study was a combined case report and review of published cases of MES. Cases were identified using Medline and EMBASE databases. Binomial statistics were used to compare clinical characteristics among patients with MES. Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance was used to compare hematological values across time points (Canadian Task Force Classification III). A total of 57 cases of MES were reviewed. The mean age at presentation was 48.7 years. Commonly reported signs or symptoms at presentation include abdominopelvic distension or mass (93%), skin discolouration (33%), and menstrual irregularities (25%). There was no difference in parity (P = 0.42), menopausal status (P = 0.87), or hydronephrosis on imaging (P = 0.48) among patients. Preoperative phlebotomy to reduce the risk of thromboembolic complications was performed in half of all cases. On average, a 51% reduction in serum erythropoietin levels was observed following surgical resection (P = 0.004). In conclusion, patients with MES present with signs and symptoms attributed to either an abdominopelvic mass or erythrocytosis. Preoperative phlebotomy to decrease the severity of erythrocytosis has been used to mitigate the risk of thrombotic complications. Surgical resection of the offending leiomyoma is a valid approach for the treatment of MES.

In 1995, Mexico introduced a credit system based on a price-level-adjusting unit of account called the Unidad de Inversion (UDI, pronounced “oo-dee†), which is Spanish for “unit of investment.†The Bank of Mexico maintains an UDI Index, which sets the peso value of an UDI on any given day. Loans denominated in UDIs maintain their purchasing power and provide a real rate of return in the local currency, pesos. The focus of this study is the real rate of return earned by dollar investors in UDI mortgages. Most dollar investors fear exposure to exchange rate losses in unstable currencies. In this paper, we examine the real-dollar rate of return and the extent to which the inflation adjusting aspect of the UDI mitigates the losses from currency devaluations. We also examine exchange-rate patterns relative to purchasing-power-parity to find investment strategies that increase the real-dollar rate of return on investments in Mexico’s UDI mortgages.

In 1995, the Mexican government sponsored a price-level adjusting credit system based on a unit of account called the UDI. This research examines the mechanics and behavior of UDI mortgages and compares them with dual-index mortgages (DIMs) in a simulation under the most volatile economic conditions in Mexico's recent history. We use Mexican economic data from February 1982 through January 1998 to simulate changes in payment-to-income ratios, equity-to-value ratios, and yields, both in pesos and dollars.Results indicate that UDI borrowers opting for the constant-amortization payment plan had low default incentives during most of the study period, reaching moderately high levels for a brief period of time for some borrowers. A comparison reveals that the DIMs used in Mexico resulted in greater incentives to default. We conclude that UDI mortgages are preferable to DIMs and offer greater potential for expansion of Mexico's mortgage markets.

The focus of a decision support system is much different from Management Information Systems (MIS) and data-based "decision support systems". Decision support systems, as defined by the authors, focus on decisions and decision makers, and on information. Technology is treated as a tool and data as the raw material. In many traditional systems the focus is on the technology, and the data is the "information", while decision makers are, to some extent, externalized.The purpose of the Forest Management Decision Support System (FMDSS) project is to develop a set of software tools for creating forest management decision support systems. This set of tools will be used to implement a prototype forest management decision support system for the Plonski forest, near Kirkland Lake, Ontario.There are three critical ingredients in building the FMDSS, these are: (1) knowledge of the decision making process, (2) knowledge of the forest, and (3) the functionality of underlying support technology. The growing maturity of the underlying technology provides a tremendous opportunity to develop decision support tools. However, a significant obstacle to building FMDSS has been the diffuse nature of knowledge about forest management decision making processes, and about the forest ecosystem itself. Often this knowledge is spread widely among foresters, technicians, policy makers, and scientists, or is in a form that is not easily amenable to the decision support process. This has created a heavy burden on the project team to gather and collate the knowledge so that it could be incorporated into the function and design of the system. It will be difficult to gauge the success of this exercise until users obtain the software and begin to experiment with its use.

Objective: It is well established that people who work with clients who are dependent on substances need to be well equipped to deal with challenging and complex situations. Our research explores the experience of alcohol and other drug workers (AODW) in order to identify how successful Australia's teaching institutions are at preparing AODWs to meet this challenge. Design: Interviews were conducted to ascertain the perceived gaps in existing training programs and the perceived training needs of AODW. Using a qualitative research approach in-depth interviews were conducted with more than 20 counsellors working in six AODW rehabilitation centres in regional New South Wales. Results: There was a perception among all workers that their training had been inadequate and that the preparation for employment in AODW settings had not meet the felt needs of grass-roots workers leaving them to learn through experience. Conclusion: Considering the recommendations of both national and state policies on AODWs in Australia there is an urgent need to develop courses relevant to the needs of workers as suggested by respondents to this research.

(1981). RATIONAL DIALOGUE: A CHALLENGE TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Religious Education: Vol. 76, No. 3, pp. 280-294.

Annual Review of BBC Audience Research Findings (London: BBC, 1975 and 1976, two numbers issued so far at £1.00 each or about $1.85, paper) Egon Larsen's Radio and Television: The Everyday Miracle (London: J.M. Dent, 1976 [also the same publisher's Canadian office in Don Mills, Ontario]—£2.95, or about $5.50) The Media Reporter (Brennan Publications, 39 Legh Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 2SU, England—L4.60 in British Isles, £6.00 elsewhere in Europe, and $14.00 overseas) Journalism Studies Review (Centre of Journalism Studies, University College, Cardiff, Y.K.—£1.75 or about $3.00 by post per year) Tenth Anniversary Report: 1974–76 of the Centre for Mass Communication Research (University of Leicester, 104 Regent Road, Leicester LEI 7LT) Media Information Australia (subscriptions are about $15.00 overseas from MIA, P.O. Box 1106, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia) Kevin Tindall, et al. Television: 20th Century Cyclops (AV Centre, Sydney Teacher's College, Newtown 2042, Australia—about $7.50 R.B. Walker, The N...

ISATIN 3-thiosemicarbazone is known to have antiviral activity against certain poxviruses1,2. The antiviral spectrum of 1-methylisatin 3-thiosemicarbazone, which reportedly extends to adenoviruses, may be rather broader but is still limited to several groups of DNA viruses2,3. It was therefore an unexpected finding that these compounds are also active against certain rhinoviruses. As a result, related heterocyclic compounds were tested of which several examples are shown here; two (D and E) were found to have activity against all rhinovirus strains used so far.