High Accuracy 65nm OPC Verification: Full Process Window Model vs. Critical Failure ORC

It is becoming more and more difficult to ensure robust patterning after OPC due to the continuous reduction of layout dimensions and diminishing process windows associated with each successive lithographic generation. Lithographers must guarantee high imaging fidelity throughout the entire range of normal process variations. The techniques of Mask Rule Checking (MRC) and Optical Rule Checking (ORC) have become mandatory tools for ensuring that OPC delivers robust patterning. However the first method relies on geometrical checks and the second one is based on a model built at best process conditions. Thus those techniques do not have the ability to address all potential printing errors throughout the process window (PW). To address this issue, a technique known as Critical Failure ORC (CFORC) was introduced that uses optical parameters from aerial image simulations. In CFORC, a numerical model is used to correlate these optical parameters with experimental data taken throughout the process window to predict printing errors. This method has proven its efficiency for detecting potential printing issues through the entire process window [1]. However this analytical method is based on optical parameters extracted via an optical model built at single process conditions. It is reasonable to expect that a verification method involving optical models built from several points throughout PW would provide more accurate predictions of printing errors for complex features. To verify this approach, compact optical models similar to those used for standard OPC were built and calibrated with experimental data measured at the PW limits. This model is then applied to various test patterns to predict potential printing errors. In this paper, a comparison between these two approaches is presented for the poly layer at 65 nm node patterning. Examples of specific failure predictions obtained separately with the two techniques are compared with experimental results. The details of implementing these two techniques on full product layouts are also included in this study

Predictors of neutralizing antibody response to BNT162b2 vaccination in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.

peer reviewedBACKGROUND: Factors affecting response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) recipients remain to be elucidated. METHODS: Forty allo-HCT recipients were included in a study of immunization with BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine at days 0 and 21. Binding antibodies (Ab) to SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) were assessed at days 0, 21, 28, and 49 while neutralizing Ab against SARS-CoV-2 wild type (NT50) were assessed at days 0 and 49. Results observed in allo-HCT patients were compared to those obtained in 40 healthy adults naive of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood cells was performed before vaccination to identify potential predictors of Ab responses. RESULTS: Three patients had detectable anti-RBD Ab before vaccination. Among the 37 SARS-CoV-2 naive patients, 20 (54%) and 32 (86%) patients had detectable anti-RBD Ab 21 days and 49 days postvaccination. Comparing anti-RBD Ab levels in allo-HCT recipients and healthy adults, we observed significantly lower anti-RBD Ab levels in allo-HCT recipients at days 21, 28 and 49. Further, 49% of allo-HCT patients versus 88% of healthy adults had detectable NT50 Ab at day 49 while allo-HCT recipients had significantly lower NT50 Ab titers than healthy adults (P = 0.0004). Ongoing moderate/severe chronic GVHD (P  0.5, P < 0.01) and more weakly with the number of follicular helper T cells (r = 0.4, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic GVHD and rituximab administration in allo-HCT recipients are associated with reduced Ab responses to BNT162b2 vaccination. Immunological markers could help identify allo-HCT patients at risk of poor Ab response to mRNA vaccination. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at clinicaltrialsregister.eu on 11 March 2021 (EudractCT # 2021-000673-83)

Human OTULIN haploinsufficiency impairs cell-intrinsic immunity to staphylococcal alpha-toxin

The molecular basis of interindividual clinical variability upon infection with Staphylococcus aureus is unclear. We describe patients with haploinsufficiency for the linear deubiquitinase OTULIN, encoded by a gene on chromosome 5p. Patients suffer from episodes of life-threatening necrosis, typically triggered by S. aureus infection. The disorder is phenocopied in patients with the 5p- (Cri-du-Chat) chromosomal deletion syndrome. OTULIN haploinsufficiency causes an accumulation of linear ubiquitin in dermal fibroblasts, but tumor necrosis factor receptor-mediated nuclear factor kappa B signaling remains intact. Blood leukocyte subsets are unaffected. The OTULIN-dependent accumulation of caveolin-1 in dermal fibroblasts, but not leukocytes, facilitates the cytotoxic damage inflicted by the staphylococcal virulence factor alpha-toxin. Naturally elicited antibodies against alpha-toxin contribute to incomplete clinical penetrance. Human OTULIN haploinsufficiency underlies life-threatening staphylococcal disease by disrupting cell-intrinsic immunity to alpha-toxin in nonleukocytic cells.Peer reviewe

Cent scientifiques répliquent à SEA (Suppression des Expériences sur l’Animal vivant) et dénoncent sa désinformation

La lutte contre la maltraitance animale est sans conteste une cause moralement juste. Mais elle ne justifie en rien la désinformation à laquelle certaines associations qui s’en réclament ont recours pour remettre en question l’usage de l’expérimentation animale en recherche

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Lecture d'une pièce sortant du dépôt des affaires étrangères sur l'absence de traités garantissant la possession d'Avignon par la cour de Rome, lors de la séance du 30 avril 1791

Boussay Jacques-François de Menou, baron de, Clermont-Tonnerre Stanislas Marie, comte de. Lecture d'une pièce sortant du dépôt des affaires étrangères sur l'absence de traités garantissant la possession d'Avignon par la cour de Rome, lors de la séance du 30 avril 1791. In: Archives Parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 - Première série (1787-1799) Tome XXV - Du 13 avril 1791 au 11 mai 1791. Paris : Librairie Administrative P. Dupont, 1886. pp. 466-467

Lecture d'une pièce sortant du dépôt des affaires étrangères sur l'absence de traités garantissant la possession d'Avignon par la cour de Rome, lors de la séance du 30 avril 1791

Menou Jacques François de Boussay, baron de, Clermont-Tonnerre Stanislas Marie, comte de. Lecture d'une pièce sortant du dépôt des affaires étrangères sur l'absence de traités garantissant la possession d'Avignon par la cour de Rome, lors de la séance du 30 avril 1791. In: Archives Parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 - Première série (1787-1799) Tome XXV - Du 13 avril 1791 au 11 mai 1791. Paris : Librairie Administrative P. Dupont, 1886. pp. 466-467