by J.C. Slater. / "September 19, 1947." / Bibliography: p. 18. / Army Signal Corps Contract No. W-36-039 sc-32037

Since 1982, 40 states and the District of Columbia have offered amnesty programs. In December 1990, the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) established the National Nexus Program (NNP), a permanent tax amnesty program. Prior literature has focused on amnesty programs and has shown that these programs do little to increase tax revenues and compliance when increased future enforcement is absent. I examine the impact of the NNP on state corporate tax revenues. From 1991 through 2008, state corporate tax revenues are significantly lower than revenues from 1973 through 1990. Further, I find that states joining the NNP have a negative impact on state corporate tax revenues; however, the initial year impacts revenues differently than all other years. The implementation of Financial Interpretation No. 48 (FIN 48) provides another reason for firms to disclose in the NNP. Specifically, to reduce the FIN 48 liability on financial statements, firms may disclose in the NNP. The primary purpose of FIN 48 is to increase the comparability and transparency of financial reporting of income taxes through requiring consistent recording and disclosure across firms. Although FIN 48 has been replaced with the Accounting Standard Codification 740-10, I continue to refer to FIN 48 because of familiarity. I examine whether FIN 48 resulted in an increased number of firms entering the NNP by state. I also investigate whether FIN 48 impacted the dollar amount of NNP disclosures by state. Using aggregated proprietary data obtained from the NNP and matched with hand-collected data from 1994 through 2008, I find that FIN 48 has a positive effect on the number of NNP disclosures but has no impact on the dollar amount of disclosure. Rather, for states joining the NNP, the dollar amount of disclosure tends to be driven by the states adopting combined reporting requirements. In examining publicly-traded firms on an individual case basis, I find that economic presence and voluntary compliance initiatives predominately have a negative effect on the dollar amount of disclosure while FIN 48 has an insignificant impact.

Norwegian nationalist composer Edvard Grieg composed one hundred and eighty songs, including songs in Norwegian, Bokmal, German, and Danish. The Sechs Lieder, Op. 48 was written in German texts, which Grieg successfully merged the style of High Romantic Lieder with his Norwegian cultural background. This lecture-recital document contains the following four main sections: Grieg¡¦s biographical information, the musical characteristics of Grieg¡¦s art songs, the background of his composing the Sechs Lieder, Op. 48, and a performance analysis of the Sechs Lieder, Op. 48. The work captures the essence of German Lieder with its text painting and expressive piano accompaniment, and has earned a well-deserved place in the German Lieder repertoire, despite the fact that Grieg does not have German nationality.

In this study, I examine how firms change their tax avoidance and financial reporting following large tax settlements. I find that firms decrease tax avoidance following large settlements and this effect is concentrated among firms under-reserved for the settlement for financial accounting purposes. Additionally, my results suggest firms learn from tax examination resolutions in a way that affects their financial reporting over the tax account. Finally, I find that the effect of large settlements also spills over to firms within the same auditor network. This study provides context to the tax authority's efficacy in deterring tax avoidance and highlights its role in the financial reporting process.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2000--Darmstadt.

Recent studies have provided conflicting results in regards to equine intradermal skin testing and its use in defining causative antigens in IgE mediated diseases such as equine recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). This study was divided into two experiments. In the first experiment of this study, the hypothesis tested was normal horses would have minimal variability in the wheals formed by intradermal injection of positive control stimulants. This was evaluated by examining the repeatability of skin test wheals created by 5 concentrations of histamine, compound 48/80, and phaseolus vulgaris (PHA) within a normal horse and between 12 normal horses at 0.5 hours, 4 hours, and 24 hours post injection. Minimal variability was detected within individual horses and between 12 horses for histamine and compound 48/80 at 0.5 hours and for PHA at 4 hours. This information suggests that the intradermal injection of positive control substances is a repeatable test in normal horses. In the second experiment of this study, the hypothesis tested was normal horses react differently to intradermal injection of positive control stimulants (histamine, compound 48/80, PHA) and/or an environmental antigen (Aspergillus) in comparison to horses affected with RAO. This was evaluated by identifying differences in wheal responses between normal horses and RAO affected horses. Concentration response curves were created in normal and RAO affected horses to the aforementioned stimulants at 0.5 hours, 4 hours, and 24 hours post injection. No statistically significant differences were noted in concentration response between normal and ROA affected horses when compound 48/80 and PHA were evaluated. RAO affected horses demonstrated a greater slope at the 0.5 hour time when compared to normal horses suggesting that RAO affected horses are hypersensitive to intradermal injection of histamine. Injection of Aspergillus mix at 4000 protein nitrogen units/ml caused an intradermal wheal reaction at the 24-hour time in 4/5 RAO horses. This reaction was not noted in normal horses. This information suggests that there may be a positive relationship between causative antigens (i.e. Aspergillus) that may induce clinical RAO and positive intradermal skin test results. An additional aspect that was evaluated in both experiments involved histologic examination of skin biopsies taken from wheals created by intadermal injection of histamine, compound 48/80, PHA, and Aspergillus at various times post injection. In the first experiment, intradermal injection of histamine caused severe dermal edema and margination of neutrophils and eosinophils at 0.5 hours. Compound 48/80 demonstrated mild to modest dermal edema at 0.5 hours while PHA demonstrated severe dermal edema, hemorrhage, and lymphactic ectasia at 4 and 24 hours. PHA also demonstrated a neutophilic inflammation at 4 hours that progressed to a mixed lymphohistiocytic and neutrophilic inflammation at 24 hours. In the second experiment, no edema and modest to moderate neutrophilic inflammation was noted in normal horses after intradermal injection of Aspergillus at 24 hours. In contrast, RAO affected horses demonstrated mild to modest edema and a mild to moderate mixed inflammatory response (lympho-histocytic, neutrophilic, eosinophilic) after intradermal injection of Aspergillus at 24 hours suggesting a delayed type response. / Master of Science

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The significant increase of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere comes intensifying the global warming. The search for energetic source that turn emission down is of great importance, as well as the use of complementary actions like dioxide carbon capture process of the main emissions sources. From among some processes already very well-known industrially highlights chemical absorption with alkanolamine, which shows some disadvantages in being costly and generate waste derived from recovery. The use gas-solid selective in carbon dioxide adsorption has very advantages over absorption liquid amine such as easy handling without risks to the environment and recovering of adsorbent material, being possible to use industries plants with continuous flux. In this context were synthesized through hydrothermal method two materials of family M41S of type MCM-41 and MCM-48. Then the materials were impregnated with ethylenediamine by wet impregnation method. These materials were used for the carbon dioxide adsorption process and were characterized by several physic-chemical techniques. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples showed all peaks characteristics of MCM-41 and MCM-48 before and after impregnation with amines. The absorption spectrum in the infrared region showed bands due to Si-O and O-Si-O bonds in all materials and N-H bonds due to presence of amine in the supports after impregnation process. The thermogravimetric curves showed that stability of material containing amines is up to 100 °C. The materials showed N2 adsorption isotherms type IV, some with hysteresis type H1 and high surfaces areas (over 1000 m2 g-1). Carbon dioxide capture tests in flux system and atmosphere pressure showed significant drawbacks in the capture capacities of carbon dioxide for the materials impregnated with ethylenediamine in comparison to the values obtained with the MCM-41 and MCM-48 supports alone. Tests with closed system and pressure variation in the range of 0.5 to 30 bar allowed the construction of the isotherms to prepared materials of which were fitted using the Langmuir model. The results showed that the samples of MCM-41 and MCM-48 without impregnation are favorable for applications where high pressures are required. / O aumento significativo das emissões de dióxido de carbono na atmosfera vem acentuando o efeito do aquecimento global. A busca por fontes energéticas que minimizem as emissões é de grande importância, como também o uso de ações complementares como processos para captura deste gás das principais fontes emissoras. Dentre alguns processos já bem conhecidos industrialmente, destaca-se a absorção química com alcanolaminas, a qual apresenta algumas desvantagens por ser dispendiosa e gerar rejeitos da sua recuperação. O uso da adsorção gás-sólido seletiva de dióxido de carbono tem muitas vantagens sobre a absorção com aminas líquidas, tais como: fácil manipulação sem riscos ao ambiente, e recuperação do material adsorvente, podendo-se utilizar plantas industriais com fluxo contínuo. Neste contexto, foram sintetizados através do método hidrotérmico dois materiais da família M41S do tipo MCM-41 e MCM-48. Em seguida os materiais foram impregnados com etilenodiamina, através do método de impregnação por via úmida. Estes materiais foram utilizados para o processo de adsorção de dióxido de carbono e foram caracterizados por diversas técnicas físico-químicas. Os difratogramas de raios-X das amostras sintetizadas apresentaram os picos característicos do MCM-41 e do MCM-48 antes e após a impregnação com aminas. Os espectros de absorção na região do infravermelho mostraram bandas devido às ligações Si-O e O-Si-O em todos os materiais e de ligações N-H devido à presença da amina nos suportes após a impregnação. As curvas termogravimétricas mostraram que a estabilidade do material contendo aminas é de até 100 °C. Todos os materiais apresentaram isotermas de adsorção de N2 do tipo IV, alguns com histerese do tipo H1 e elevadas áreas superficiais (acima de 1000 m2 g-1). Os testes de captura de dióxido de carbono em sistema com fluxo e pressão atmosférica mostraram significativas reduções nas capacidades de captura para os materiais impregnados em comparação com os valores obtidos com os suportes MCM-41 e MCM-48. Testes com sistema fechado e variação de pressão na faixa de 0,5-30 bar permitiram o levantamento de isotermas de equilíbrio para os materiais preparados as quais foram ajustadas através do modelo de Langmuir. Os resultados mostraram que as amostras de MCM-41 e MCM-48 são favoráveis para aplicações onde altas pressões são requeridas.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-09-01T13:08:20Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Lorena Costa Vasconcelos Macedo - 2016.pdf: 2158010 bytes, checksum: 6fe7ebd2c875341e61444e1eaf37fa19 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-09-01T13:08:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Lorena Costa Vasconcelos Macedo - 2016.pdf: 2158010 bytes, checksum: 6fe7ebd2c875341e61444e1eaf37fa19 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-01T13:08:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Lorena Costa Vasconcelos Macedo - 2016.pdf: 2158010 bytes, checksum: 6fe7ebd2c875341e61444e1eaf37fa19 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-18 / This study examined the performance of pineapple bagasse for the production of reducing sugars after pretreatment with alkaline hydrogen peroxide and acid and enzymatic hydrolysis. They were determined after conducting preliminary acid and enzymatic hydrolysis the best conditions for the bagasse pineapple used in dry form, "in natura" and washed. Chosen the dry pomace condition, this was separated granulometrically, wherein the average diameter fractions of 1.242 mm and 0.564 mm were predominant among the amounts of sieved bagasse, these two fractions were then chosen and denominated 20 and 48 mesh respectively, to evaluate the influence of particle size on the release of total reducing sugars. Type DCCR designs were conducted to evaluate the influence of weather pretreatment (h) Temperature (°C) and concentration of alkaline hydrogen peroxide (%) in the performance of acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, which was measured by the release of total reducing sugars (TRS). Moreover, the mass loss caused in the samples 20 and 48 mesh after pretreatment with alkaline hydrogen peroxide were observed. The results showed that the highest yields of reducing sugars obtained for fractions 20 and 48 mesh, both the acid hydrolysis with diluted sulfuric acid 2.9% (v/v) as the enzymatic hydrolysis with 9 FPU / g dry biomass at 50 °C and pH 4.8, were obtained when using lower levels of time, temperature and concentration of peroxide to the pre-treatment with hydrogen peroxide. The ART mass analysis after 8 h of reaction at 20 °C and concentration of alkaline hydrogen peroxide at 2% (v/v) to acid and enzymatic hydrolysis at residue 20 mesh, were 0.092 g/g ART dry bagasse and 0.063 g/g of dry bagasse ART respectively. As for the enzymatic and acid hydrolysis in the residue 48 mesh under the same conditions was 0.074 g/g dry bagasse ART and 0.058 g/g ART respectively. Therefore, it is believed that the smaller mass loss is related to obtaining higher yield of reducing sugars. This is because, observing the mass losses of such biomasses intended to acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, in both fractions pineapple pulp, 20 and 48 mesh after pretreatment with alkaline hydrogen peroxide were detected smaller mass loss of 77.829% and 83.182% for bagasse of 20 mesh and 83.724% and 83.493% for the bagasse of 48 mesh. / Neste trabalho analisou-se o desempenho do bagaço de abacaxi para produção de açúcares redutores após o pré-tratamento com peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino e hidrólises ácida e enzimática. Foram determinadas após a realização de prévias da hidrólise ácida e enzimática as melhores condições para os bagaços do abacaxi usados sob a forma seca, “in natura” e lavada. Escolhida a condição do bagaço seco, este foi separado granulometricamente, sendo que as frações de diâmetro médio de 1,242 mm e 0,564 mm apresentaram predomínio dentre as quantidades do bagaço peneirado, estas duas frações foram então escolhidas e denominadas de 20 e 48 mesh respectivamente, com o objetivo de avaliar a influência do tamanho da partícula na liberação dos açúcares redutores totais. Foram realizados planejamentos do tipo DCCR a fim de avaliar a influência do tempo de pré-tratamento (h), temperatura (°C) e concentração de peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino (%) no desempenho das hidrólises ácida e enzimática, que foi mensurado pela liberação de açúcares redutores totais (ART). Além disso, foram observadas as perdas mássicas ocasionadas nas amostras de 20 e 48 mesh após o pré-tratamento com peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino. Os resultados demostraram que os maiores rendimentos em açúcares redutores, obtidos para as frações, de 20 e 48 mesh, tanto na hidrólise ácida com ácido sulfúrico diluído 2,9% (v/v), quanto na hidrólise enzimática com 9 FPU/g de biomassa seca a 50°C e pH 4,8, foram obtidos quando se utilizou os menores níveis de tempo, temperatura e concentração de peróxido para o pré-tratamento com peróxido de hidrogênio. As análises de massa de ART após 8 h de reação, temperatura de 20°C e concentração de peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino a 2% (v/v) para a hidrólise ácida e enzimática no bagaço de 20 mesh, foram 0,092 g/g de ART bagaço seco e 0,063 g/g de ART bagaço seco respectivamente. Enquanto para a hidrólise enzimática e ácida no bagaço de 48 mesh nas mesmas condições foram 0,074 g/g de ART bagaço seco e 0,058 g/g de ART, respectivamente. Portanto, acredita-se que a menor perda mássica relaciona-se ao maior rendimento na obtenção de açúcares redutores. Isto porque, observado as perdas mássicas nessas biomassas destinadas às hidrólises ácidas e enzimáticas, em ambas as frações do bagaço de abacaxi, 20 e 48 mesh, após o pré-tratamento com peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino foram detectadas as menores perdas mássicas de 77,829% e 83,182% para os bagaços de 20 mesh e de 83,724% e 83,493% para os bagaços de 48 mesh.

Η απεικόνιση μαγνητικού συντονισμού (MRI) βασίζεται στο φυσικό φαινόμενο του πυρηνικού μαγνητικού συντονισμού (NMR). Ενώ το φαινόμενο αυτό είναι γνωστό από το 1950, η πρώτη μαγνητική τομογραφία σε άνθρωπο διενεργήθηκε μόλις το 1977. Η δεκαετία του '80 ήταν η δεκαετία που τα συστήματα MRI άρχισαν να εξελίσσονται ταχύτατα και η εξέλιξη αυτή συνεχίζεται ακόμη και σήμερα. Στις μέρες μας, τα σύγχρονα συστήματα MRI κάνουν πολύ περισσότερα από απλή απεικόνιση, με τη μαγνητική τομογραφία διάχυσης, τη φασματοσκοπία και τη λειτουργική μαγνητική τομογραφία να αποτελούν νέες και πολλά υποσχόμενες εφαρμογές. Τα συστήματα MRI δεν χρησιμοποιούν ιοντίζουσα ακτινοβολία, αλλά μαγνητικά πεδία και ηλεκτρομαγνητικά κύματα στην περιοχή των ραδιοσυχνοτήτων. Αυτός είναι πιθανώς ο λόγος για τον οποίο τα συστήματα MRI δεν είχαν τύχει τόσης προσοχής όπως τα συστήματα υπολογιστικής τομογραφίας, όσον αφορά τους κανονισμούς που διέπουν την ασφάλεια της χρήσης τους για χρήση σε εξετάσεις ασθενών. Ωστόσο, δεδομένου ότι η απεικόνιση χρησιμοποιείται για τη διάγνωση και μια λανθασμένη διάγνωση μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε λανθασμένη θεραπεία ή την απουσία θεραπείας, τα οποία με τη σειρά τους μπορεί να οδηγήσουν σε μη αναστρέψιμη βλάβη για την υγεία των ασθενών ή ακόμα και στο θάνατο, η Αμερικανική Ένωση Φυσικών Ιατρικής (AAPM) είχε προτείνει μεθόδους για τον έλεγχο της ποιότητας εικόνας από τις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1990. Το Αμερικανικό Κολλέγιο Ακτινολογίας (ACR), είχε επίσης συμβάλει στην προσπάθεια αυτή από την αρχή της νέας χιλιετίας, προτείνοντας μεθόδους ελέγχου της ποιότητας εικόνας για τη δημιουργία ενός προγράμματος πιστοποίησης για τις εγκαταστάσεις MRI. Το 2010 η AAPM δημοσίευσε μια έκθεση (AAPM report No. 100) με τίτλο «Έλεγχοι αποδοχής και διαδικασίες διασφάλισης ποιότητας για εγκαταστάσεις απεικόνισης μαγνητικής τομογραφίας», το οποίο περιγράφει τις διαδικασίες για τον έλεγχο της απόδοσης των μαγνητικών τομογράφων, αλλά και τις διαδικασίες που αφορούν άλλα ζητήματα ασφάλειας για τους ασθενείς και το προσωπικό. Στην Ελλάδα μέχρι πρόσφατα, οι εγκαταστάσεις MRI - σε αντίθεση με τους υπολογιστικούς τομογράφους και όλα τα άλλα ακτινολογικά συστήματα - ήταν εκτός της εποπτείας της Ελληνικής Επιτροπής Ατομικής Ενέργειας (Ε.Ε.Α.Ε.) και της Ένωσης Φυσικών Ιατρικής Ελλάδος (Ε.Φ.Ι.Ε.). Ωστόσο, από τις αρχές του 2013, η E.E.A.E. έχει προτείνει ένα πρόγραμμα διαπίστευσης (με βάση την έκθεση AAPM Νο. 100) που πρέπει να εφαρμόζεται σε όλες τις καινούριες εγκαταστάσεις MRI. Αυτό το πρόγραμμα πιστοποίησης σταδιακά θα εφαρμοστεί και σε παλαιότερες εγκαταστάσεις. Ο στόχος είναι μέσα σε 5 χρόνια το πολύ, όλες οι εγκαταστάσεις MRI να είναι διαπιστευμένες όπως ισχύει εδώ και πολλά χρόνια για τις εγκαταστάσεις υπολογιστικής τομογραφίας. Ο σκοπός αυτής της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να συνοψίσει το βασικό θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο πάνω στο οποίο στηρίζεται η απεικόνιση μαγνητικού συντονισμού, για να βοηθήσει τους Φυσικούς Ιατρικής οι οποίοι δεν έχουν εξειδικευτεί στα συστήματα αυτά, να κατανοήσουν τις αρχές της λειτουργίας τους, ιδίως εκείνες που σχετίζονται με τον τρόπο δημιουργίας των διαγνωστικών εικόνων. Στο επόμενο κεφάλαιο, παρουσιάζεται η AAPM report No. 100 (μεταφρασμένη στα Ελληνικά), προκειμένου να θέσει τις βάσεις για την κατανόηση των διαδικασιών που χρησιμοποιούνται για τους ποιοτικούς ελέγχους (QC), αλλά και άλλα θέματα που αφορούν στην ασφάλεια λειτουργίας των συστημάτων MRI. Στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο, παρουσιάζεται η εφαρμογή αυτών των διαδικασιών σε μια υπάρχουσα εγκατάσταση MRI, ως ένα παράδειγμα του τρόπου με τον οποίο εκτελούνται οι διαδικασίες QC και του τρόπου με τον οποίο οι εικόνες που προκύπτουν αξιολογούνται προκειμένου να εξαχθούν μετρήσιμες ποσότητες. Αυτές οι ποσότητες χρησιμοποιούνται ως δείκτες απόδοσης και ο Φυσικός Ιατρικής συγκρίνοντάς τις με καθορισμένα όρια, μπορεί να διαπιστώσει εάν το ελεγχόμενο σύστημα MRI πληροί τα καθορισμένα κριτήρια (κάτι που υποδηλώνει μια ικανοποιητική λειτουργία και ποιότητα απεικόνισης) ή εάν υπάρχουν ένα ή περισσότερα προβλήματα που οδηγούν σε μη αποδεκτή ποιότητα απεικόνισης και ως εκ τούτου απαιτούνται διορθωτικές ενέργειες. Στην τελευταία περίπτωση, ο έλεγχος που ανέδειξε το πρόβλημα θα πρέπει να επαναλαμβάνεται μετά από την όποια επισκευή, προκειμένου να διαπιστωθεί εάν το σύστημα MRI είναι κατάλληλο να χρησιμοποιηθεί για διάγνωση. / Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is based on the physical phenomenon of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). While this phenomenon has been known since the 1950s, the first MRI scan was performed on a human being just in 1977. The 80’s was the decade that MRI systems started to evolve rapidly and this evolution still goes on. Nowadays, modern MRI systems do so much more than simple imaging, with diffusion MRI, MRI spectroscopy and functional MRI being the new promising applications. MRI scanners do not use ionizing radiation but magnetic fields and electromagnetic waves in the range of radiofrequencies. This is probably the reason why the MRI scanners did not attract so mach attention as CT scanners did, in terms of regulations regarding the safety of their use for patient scanning. However, since imaging is used for diagnosis and a wrong diagnosis can result to a wrong therapy or no therapy at all, which in turn may result to irreversible damage in the patient health or even to death, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) had proposed methods for testing the image quality from the early 1990s , . The American College of Radiology (ACR) has also contributed to this effort in the beginning of the new millennium, proposing image quality control methods to establish an accreditation program for MRI facilities , . In 2010 the AAPM published a report (AAPM REPORT NO. 100) with title “Acceptance Testing and Quality Assurance Procedures for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facilities”, which describes procedures for testing the performance of MRI scanners, but also procedures concerning other safety issues for the patients and the personnel. In Greece until recently, MRI facilities – in contrast to CT scanners and all the other radiological equipment - were beyond the supervision of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (Ε.Ε.Α.Ε.) and the Greek Association of Physicist in Medicine (Ε.Φ.Ι.Ε.). However, from the beginning of 2013, E.E.A.E. has proposed an accreditation program (based on the AAPM report No. 100) to be applied in all new MRI facilities. This accreditation program will progressively applied in older MRI facilities as well. The goal is within 5 years at most, all MRI facilities be accredited in the same way that CT scanners are. The purpose of this MSc thesis was to review the basics of MRI theory, to help Medical Physicists which are not experts in MRI, understand the principles of its operation, especially those related to the production of diagnostic images. In the next chapter the AAPM No. 100 report is presented (translated in Greek), in order to set the foundations for understanding the procedures used for quality control (QC) purposes but also other MRI operation safety issues. In the last chapter, an application of these procedures to an existing MRI installation is presented, as an example of the way that QC procedures are performed and the way that the resulting images are evaluated to result to measurable quantities. These quantities are used as performance indices and when compared to established limits, may inform the Medical Physicist whether the tested MRI systems satisfies the established criteria indicating an acceptable performance or whether one or more problems exist that result to suboptimal image quality and therefore corrective actions should be taken. In the latter case the failed test should be repeated after the field service engineers have corrected the problem, in order to ascertain that the MRI system is eligible to be used for medical diagnosis.

Les gliomes diffus de bas grade sont des tumeurs cérébrales des jeunes adultes. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à la segmentation et à la modélisation de ces tumeurs. Dans la première partie du manuscrit, nous étudions la segmentation des gliomes diffus de bas grade à base de différentes méthodes manuelles et semi-automatiques. La délimitation de ces tumeurs peut être problématique en raison de leur caractère très infiltrant et inhomogène. En pratique clinique, le suivi des gliomes diffus de bas grade repose sur l'estimation du volume tumoral, soit par une segmentation suivie d'une reconstruction logicielle, soit par la méthode des trois diamètres. Pour la segmentation, elle est manuelle et est exécutée par des praticiens sur des IRM en pondération FLAIR ou T2. La méthode des trois diamètres est rapide mais s'avère difficile à implémenter dans le cas de gliomes diffus de bas grade très infiltrants ou en post-traitement. La solution par segmentation manuelle et reconstruction logicielle du volume est chronophage mais demeure plus précise en comparaison de la méthode des trois diamètres. Nous étudions ici la reproductibilité de la segmentation manuelle avec le logiciel OsiriX en réalisant un test subjectif dans le Living Lab PROMETEE de TELECOM Nancy. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que ni la spécialité du praticien ni le nombre d’années d’expérience ne semblent impacter significativement la qualité de la segmentation. Nous comparons par ailleurs les résultats obtenus à ceux d'un deuxième test où nous appliquons la méthode des trois diamètres. Enfin, nous explorons deux algorithmes de segmentation semi-automatique basés, respectivement, sur les contours actifs et sur la méthode des level set. Même si la segmentation automatique semble être une voie prometteuse, nous recommandons aujourd’hui l’utilisation de la segmentation manuelle du fait notamment du caractère diffus des gliomes de bas grade qui rend le contour complexe à délimiter. La seconde partie du manuscrit est consacrée à la modélisation des gliomes diffus de bas grade eux-mêmes ou, plus exactement, à la modélisation de l'évolution du diamètre tumoral en phase de chimiothérapie. La prise en charge thérapeutique des patients atteints de ces tumeurs inclut en effet souvent une chimiothérapie. Pour ce travail, nous nous intéressons à la chimiothérapie par Témozolomide en première ligne de traitement. Une fois le traitement entamé, les praticiens aimeraient déterminer l'instant optimal d'arrêt de traitement. Nous proposons une modélisation statistique du diamètre tumoral sous chimiothérapie. Cette modélisation s'appuie sur des modèles de régression linéaire et exponentielle. Elle permet de prédire le diamètre tumoral à partir d'un jeu de données d'apprentissage et d'alerter le clinicien sur l'état d'évolution du diamètre sous traitement. Nous espérons que ces modèles pourront un jour être utilisés comme un outil dans la planification de la chimiothérapie en milieu clinique. / Diffuse low-grade gliomas are brain tumors of young adults. In this thesis, we focus on the segmentation and on the modeling of these tumors. In the first part of the manuscript, we study the segmentation of diffuse low-grade gliomas based on different manual and semi-automatic methods. The delineation of these tumors can be problematic because of their very infiltrating and inhomogeneous nature. In clinical practice, the monitoring of diffuse low-grade gliomas is based on the estimation of tumor volume, obtained either through a segmentation followed by a software reconstruction or through the three diameters method. As for the segmentation, it is manual and it is performed by practitioners on FLAIR-weighted or T2-weighted MRI.The three diameters approach is fast but it is difficult to implement in the case of highly infiltrating diffuse low grade gliomas or after a treatment. The manual segmentation and software-based volume reconstruction solution is time-consuming but it remains more accurate in comparison with the three diameters method. We investigate in this work the reproducibility of the manual segmentation with the OsiriX software by performing a subjective test in the Living Lab PROMETEE in TELECOM Nancy. The results of this study show that neither the practitioners' specialty nor their number of years of experience seem to have a significant impact on the quality of the segmentation. We also compare the results to those of a second test where we apply the three diameters method. Finally, we explore two semi-automatic segmentation algorithms which are, respectively, based on active contours and on the level set method. Even if automatic segmentation seems to be a promising avenue, we recommend for now the use of manual segmentation because of the diffuse nature of low-grade gliomas, which makes the tumor's contours complex to delineate. The second part of the manuscript is dedicated to the modeling of diffuse low-grade gliomas themselves or, to be more precise, to the modeling of the evolution of the tumor's diameter during chemotherapy. The therapeutic management of patients with these tumors often includes indeed chemotherapy. For this work, we focus on Temozolomide chemotherapy in first-line treatment. After the beginning of the treatment, the practitioners would like to determine the optimum time of discontinuation. We propose a statistical modeling of tumor diameter under chemotherapy. This modeling is based on linear and exponential regression models. It can predict the tumor diameter from a set of training dataset and can alert the clinician on the state of change in diameter under treatment. We hope that these models will, eventually, be used as a tool in the planning of chemotherapy in a clinical environment.