Organ-focused mutual information for nonrigid multimodal registration of liver CT and Gd–EOB–DTPA-enhanced MRI

Accurate detection of liver lesions is of great importance in hepatic surgery planning. Recent studies have shown that the detection rate of liver lesions is significantly higher in gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (Gd–EOB–DTPA-enhanced MRI) than in contrast-enhanced portal-phase computed tomography (CT); however, the latter remains essential because of its high specificity, good performance in estimating liver volumes and better vessel visibility. To characterize liver lesions using both the above image modalities, we propose a multimodal nonrigid registration framework using organ-focused mutual information (OF-MI). This proposal tries to improve mutual information (MI) based registration by adding spatial information, benefiting from the availability of expert liver segmentation in clinical protocols. The incorporation of an additional information channel containing liver segmentation information was studied. A dataset of real clinical images and simulated images was used in the validation process. A Gd–EOB–DTPA-enhanced MRI simulation framework is presented. To evaluate results, warping index errors were calculated for the simulated data, and landmark-based and surface-based errors were calculated for the real data. An improvement of the registration accuracy for OF-MI as compared with MI was found for both simulated and real datasets. Statistical significance of the difference was tested and confirmed in the simulated dataset (p < 0.01)

Genome-wide survey of SNP variation uncovers the genetic structure of cattle breeds

status: publishe

Output trends and Okun's law

This paper estimates trend growth rates for a sample of industrial countries by applying Okun's law in first differences. Despite the simplicity of the approach and the restrictive assumptions, the method typically yields reasonable results when trend shifts in the Okun coefficients and changes in structural unemployment are allowed for. Particular caution is required in using the method for estimating output gaps.

The Taylor Rule and Interest Rates in the EMU Area

We demonstrate that average interest rates in the EMU countries in 1990-98, with the exception of the period of exchange market turmoil in 1992-93, moved very closely in relation to average output gaps and inflation as suggested by the Taylor rule.ECB; Taylor Rule

The Taylor rule and interest rates in the EMU area: a note

We demonstrate that average interest rates in the EMU countries in 1990-98, with the exception of the period of exchange market turmoil in 1992-93, moved very closely with average output gaps and inflation as suggested by the Taylor rule.