AIMS Recent studies report increased echogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using transcranial sonography (TCS). However, the main limitation to TCS is its dependence on the sonographer's experience. Experimental software for quantitative evaluation of the echogenic SN area was thus developed by us. The aim of this study was to test the reliability o...

Due to the nonminimum phase characteristics and nonlinearity of boost converters, control design is always a challenging issue. A novel model predictive strategy proposed for converter in this work. First, Super-Twisting algorithm applied current control, input–output plant voltage derived based on linearization technique. All uncertainties are defined as lumped disturbances, generalized propor...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic performance of obliteration of normal heterogeneous enhancement of the spleen (ONHES) on arterial phase (AP) computed tomography (CT) images in diffuse infiltrative splenic lymphoma (DISL). MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and thirty-six patients with lymphoma who had undergone two-phase (arterial and portal venous) abdominal CT were included in this stud...

OBJECTIVE Currently the relationship between the evaluation of the donor chest radiograph and the final disposition of potential donor lungs is unknown, yet potential lung donors receive frequent x-rays. We sought to clarify the role donor chest radiographs and donor lung acceptability. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of 84 potential organ donors. Radiographs were reviewed separat...

Predictive control of nonlinear systems subject to output and input constraints is considered. A fuzzy model is used to predict the future behavior. Three new ideas are proposed here. First, an added constraint on the applied control action is used to ensure the decrease of a quadratic Lyapunov function, and so guarantee Lyapunov exponential stability of the closed-loop system. Second, the feas...