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Due to launching vibrations and space harsh environment, high resolution remote sensing satellite imaging systems require permanent assessment and control of image quality, which may vary between ground pre-launch measurements, after launch and over satellite lifetime. In order to mitigate noise, remove artifacts and enhance image interpretability, the Point Spread Function (PSF) of the imaging system is estimated. Image deconvolution can be performed across the characterization of the actual Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of the imaging system. In this work we focus on adapting and applying a no reference method to characterize in orbit high resolution satellite images in terms of geometrical performance. Moreover, we use natural details contained in images as edges transitions to estimate the impulse response via the assessment of the MTF image. The obtained results are encouraging and promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the mathematical models of fragility, robustness, and antifragility. It states that fragility is mathematically defined through the use of Jensen's inequality, monomodal distribution, and transfer function. Moreover, fragility was defined as a sensitivity of a given risk measure in the error estimation.

A recent force field model is used in this paper to analyze, with a nano-scale simulation, the structural and the vibrational properties of a rock system under the application of various high pressures. Our results show that this model reproduces accurately the equilibrium structural properties for calcite, gives comparable results for aragonite with the observed data, and predicts the structural, elastic and vibrational properties of the post-aragonite phase. In addition, we show that the transition from the aragonite to the post-aragonite phase appears at a transition pressure of 35.2 GPa. The longitudinal wave velocity increases rapidly by a factor of 1.71. In contrast the shear wave velocity increases very slowly up to the transition pressure, and thereafter increases rapidly, changing by 45% to 80 GPa. In addition, our calculations for the vibrational properties show that with the new potential model presented here, we observe a softening mode in the Γ-F direction. The phonon frequencies of the post-aragonite phase show more modes than for calcite and aragonite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new automatic control point selection and matching technique for digital subtraction angiography image enhancement is proposed. The characteristic of this approach is that it uses features that are based on image moments and are invariant to symmetric blur, translation, and rotation to establish correspondences between matched regions from two X-ray images. The automatic extraction of control points is based on an edge detection approach and on local similarity detection by means of template matching according to a combined invariants- based similarity measure. A new strategy was developed in which a 3-D space-time motion detection algorithm was used for selecting movement points (MPs) belonging to moving structures. The proposed technique has been successfully applied to register several clinical data sets including coronary applications. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm which have outperformed manual registration in terms of root mean square error at the MPs. In addition, the results of the proposed registration algorithm, using the combined invariants-based similarity measure are compared to those of the same proposed algorithm but using the energy of the histogram of differences (Fill)) measure. These results clearly indicate that the combined invariants-based measure may be better suited for subpixel registration as it produces more accurate results than EHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern medicine, digital subtraction angiography is a powerful technique for the visualization of blood vessels in a sequence of X-ray images. A serious problem encountered in this technique is misregistration of images due to patient motion. The resulting artifacts which arise from the misalignment of successive images in the sequence frequently reduce the diagnostic value of the images. In this paper, a new approach to the registration of digital angiographic image sequences is proposed. It is based on local similarity detection by means of template matching according to a combined invariants-based similarity measure and on thin-plate spline image warping. This technique is fully automatic and very efficient to correct for patient motion artifacts. The proposed algorithm for this technique has been successfully applied to register several clinical data sets including coronary applications. It works perfectly well for both slow and sudden motions and is both effective and fast. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The electrochemical capacitance voltage technique has been used on highly boron doped SiGe and Si layers. Although the boron concentration is constant over the space charge depth, the 1/C2 versus voltage curves are not linear. They indeed present a negative curvature. This can be explained by the existence of deep acceptors which ionise under a high electric field (large inverse voltage) and not at a low inverse voltage. The measured doping concentration in the electrochemical capacitance voltage increases strongly as the inverse voltage increases. Thanks to a comparison with the boron concentration measured by secondary ions mass spectrometry, we show that the relevant doping concentrations in device layers are obtained for small inverse voltage in agreement with the existence of deep acceptors. At the large inverse voltage, the measured doping can be more than twice larger than the boron concentration measured with a secondary ion mass spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to compare body composition and epicardial fat thickness changes in insulin-naïve inadequately controlled patients with type 2 diabetes following basal insulin initiation with detemir vs. glargine. Six-month, openlabel, interventional randomized pilot study was conducted. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and echocardiography were used to estimate the body composition and epicardial fat thickness respectively. Thirty-six patients in the detemir group and 20 in the glargine group completed the study. Study groups baseline characteristics were comparable. At 6 months, for similar glycemic control, those on detemir significantly gained less total weight (0.6 ± 2.5 vs. 4.2 ± 4.1 kg, p = 0.004), total fat mass (0.9 ± 2.2 vs. 2.9 ± 2.4 kg, p = 0.02), and truncal fat mass (0.8 ± 1.5 vs. 2.1 ± 1.7 kg, p = 0.02), with a loss in truncal lean mass (- 0.8 ± 1.9 kg vs. 0.3 ± 1.7 kg; p = 0.02). EFT significantly decreased from baseline in both group (detemir - 1.7 ± 0.52 - mm, glargine - 1.1 ± 1.6 - mm; p < 0.05, without significant difference inter-groups). Within the detemir group, epicardial fat thickness change correlated with truncal fat and total fat mass changes (r = 0.65, p = 0.06 and r = 0.60, p = 0.07). In conclusion, detemir resulted in less fat mass gain, a trend for a more pronounced epicardial fat thickness reduction when compared with glargine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work investigates the impact of various processing parameters on the leakage current of in situ P-doped Si1−x C x embedded source/drain (S/D) junctions, i.e., the carbon content x (%) and the thermal budget used either before or after the selective epitaxial deposition. It is shown that while the area leakage current density, generated by defects in the depletion region is not affected by the epitaxial process or the strain in the substrate, the perimeter leakage current density (J P) increases with x. From the stronger reverse bias dependence of J P, it is derived that a higher electric field exists along the junction periphery. This is confirmed by capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements, demonstrating a higher p-well B doping density for increasing x. It is believed that this originates from the strain dependence of the B diffusivity in the p-well region. No evidence of electrically active extended defect formation was found, so it is expected that the off-state current of embedded Si1−x C x S/D nMOSFETs will not be adversely affected by the selective epitaxial deposition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In humans, low birth weight is associated with nonfatal stroke, cardiovascular disease and diabetes at adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate in rats the effect of early protein restriction, inducing low birth weight, on brain and endocrine pancreas vascularization at birth and to study if such alterations lasted until adulthood. Pregnant rats were fed either 20 or 8% protein isocaloric diets. Control newborns were nursed by their dams fed the 20% protein diet and low protein (LP) pups by dams fed either the 8 or 20% protein diet. The diets given during lactation were maintained until adulthood. The blood vessel density of cerebral cortex analyzed by morphometry in 3-d-old pups from dams fed the 8% protein diet was lower than in control (C). It remained lower at adulthood whether a LP or a C diet was given postnatally. Reduction of vascularization at adulthood induced by the LP diet limited to fetal life seems characteristic for the brain since vascularization of islets of Langerhans was reduced in neonates but normalized at adulthood by a C diet postnatally. Body and brain weights were lower in LP pups and adults. DNA concentration was lower in forebrain and higher in cerebellum in LP pups. In brain of LP adults, DNA, protein, cholesterol and phospholipid concentrations were lower and were restored at adulthood by a normal diet after birth. In conclusion, cerebral cortex of offspring exposed to a LP isocaloric diet during fetal development showed reduced vascularization which remained throughout life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Real world datasets are needed to assess biomarker performances in daily routine practice. • The stromal CD8+TILs were found to be the strongest predictor for PFS and OS in advanced NSCLC on anti-PD-1 monotherapy. • The combination of stromal CD8+TILs, albumin and LDH best predicted OS. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), such as anti-PD-1 agents, have become part of the standard of care treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Predictive biomarkers are needed to identify patients that benefit from anti-PD-1 treatments. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-L1 are major players in the ICI mechanism of action. In this study, we assess the impact of real-world clinicopathological variables, including TILs and PD-L1, on anti-PD-1 efficacy. We performed a monocenter retrospective study in advanced NSCLC treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab between January 2015 and February 2019. The impact of baseline clinical and pathological variables was assessed by univariate and multivariate models. TILs, defined as CD8+T-cells, and PD-L1 were scored in tumor and stroma, and correlated with progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). We included 366 patients of whom 141 were assessed for tumor and stromal TILs. The median follow-up time was 487 days. In the whole cohort, PFS was associated with high tumor PD-L1, high albumin and good performance. OS was associated with low LDH, high albumin, good performance and 'first-line treatment'. In the TILs subcohort, stromal TILs had the strongest impact on PFS and OS. Stromal TILs were a stronger marker for PFS and OS than tumoral TILs, tumoral PD-L1 or stromal PD-L1. Remaining factors for PFS and OS were albumin and albumin with LDH, respectively. This real-world study on clinicopathological features shows that stromal CD8 + TILs were the strongest predictor for PFS and OS in patients with advanced NSCLC on anti-PD-1 therapy. Other predictors for PFS and OS included albumin and albumin together with LDH, respectively. This study highlights the pivotal role of the stromal compartment in the mechanisms of action of ICI, and the need for further studies aiming to overcome this stromal firewall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new pansharpening alternative is proposed for the fusion of satellite images. • A new approximation of the weighting coefficients is proposed. • The scheme can inject more spatial information and assure more color preservation. In remote sensing applications, pan-sharpening or image fusion focuses on improving the low spatial resolution (LSR) of multispectral (MS) images by injecting the details information selected from the panchromatic (PAN) images with high spatial resolution (HSR). This paper presents a new pansharpening alternative based on the combination of the well-known Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) method and multiscale analysis by using wavelets. The multiscale wavelet decomposition has been achieved by using the "à trous" wavelet transform (ATWT). In this novel approach, a new approximation of the weighting coefficients of the multispectral bands based on the combination of energy and correlation coefficients of the MS and PAN images is proposed. Therefore, the intensity element is extracted from the up-sampled MS images and the weighting coefficients of the intensity component are computed by using the average energy ratio and the correlation coefficients between the wavelet-based decomposed PAN image and the different MS bands in order to achieve more detail information. The detail information is then injected to the MS bands to obtain a fused image with high spectral and spatial information. The experimental results confirmed that a superior trade-off between spectral and spatial quality can be achieved by using the proposed approach. Moreover, compared to numerous classical and state-of-the-art pansharpening methods, the proposed scheme can inject more spatial information and guarantee more color preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BF3 plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is a promising technique in the race for highly boron doped P+/N ultra-shallow junctions (USJs) in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) silicon technologies. Implantation conditions used in BF3 PIII lead to high super-saturations (≥1 × 1020 cm-3) of both boron and silicon interstitial atoms in the implantation region. In such conditions, very large loop-shaped boroninterstitial clusters (BICs) are formed during subsequent thermal anneals, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. In this study, amorphizing BF3 PIII implants (10 keV, 5 × 1015 cm-2) followed by different thermal anneals were carried out in order to investigate the large BICs precipitation. A 'large BICs' model based on moments approach allowed to reproduce the experimental data including boron diffusion profiles (obtained by SIMS) and boron electrical activation obtained by Hall effect sheet resistance measurements. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a model describing the boron redistribution during laser thermal annealing in the melting regime based on the adsorption of boron atoms at the solid-liquid interface. To validate the model, we performed SIMS measurements on silicon samples implanted with boron with an energy of 3 keV and doses of 3 × 1013 cm-2 and 4 × 1014 cm-2 annealed with a XeCl excimer laser with a wavelength of 308 nm, a pulse duration of 160 ns, and up to 10 consecutive pulses. After calibration, our model is able to reproduce the measured profiles for the different process conditions. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalous impurity redistribution after a laser irradiation process in group-IV elements has been reported in numerous papers. In this Letter, we correlate this still unexplained behavior with the peculiar bonding character of the liquid state of group-IV semiconductors. Analyzing the B-Si system in a wide range of experimental conditions we demonstrate that this phenomenon derives from the non-Fickian diffusion transport of B in l-Si. The proposed diffusion model relies on the balance between two impurity states in different bonding configurations: one migrating at higher diffusivity than the other. This microscopic mechanism explains the anomalous B segregation, whereas accurate comparisons between experimental chemical profiles and simulation results validate the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]