Abstract: Purpose: Initial auto-adjustment of the window level WL and width WW applied to mammographic images. The proposed intensity windowing (IW) method is based on the maximization of the mutual information (MI) between a perceptual decomposition of the original 12-bit sources and their screen displayed 8-bit version. Besides zoom, color inversion and panning operations, IW is the most commonly performed task in daily screening and has a direct impact on diagnosis and the time involved in the process. Methods: The authors present a human visual system and perception-based algorithm named GRAIL (Gabor-relying adjustment of image levels). GRAIL initially measures a mammogram's quality based on the MI between the original instance and its Gabor-filtered derivations. From this point on, the algorithm performs an automatic intensity windowing process that outputs the WL/WW that best displays each mammogram for screening. GRAIL starts with the default, high contrast, wide dynamic range 12-bit data, and then maximizes the graphical information presented in ordinary 8-bit displays. Tests have been carried out with several mammogram databases. They comprise correlations and an ANOVA analysis with the manual IW levels established by a group of radiologists. A complete MATLAB implementation of GRAIL is available at . Results: Auto-leveled images show superior quality both perceptually and objectively compared to their full intensity range and compared to the application of other common methods like global contrast stretching (GCS). The correlations between the human determined intensity values and the ones estimated by our method surpass that of GCS. The ANOVA analysis with the upper intensity thresholds also reveals a similar outcome. GRAIL has also proven to specially perform better with images that contain micro-calcifications and/or foreign X-ray-opaque elements and with healthy BI-RADS A-type mammograms. It can also speed up the initial screening time by a mean of 4.5 s per image. Conclusions: A novel methodology is introduced that enables a quality-driven balancing of the WL/WW of mammographic images. This correction seeks the representation that maximizes the amount of graphical information contained in each image. The presented technique can contribute to the diagnosis and the overall efficiency of the breast screening session by suggesting, at the beginning, an optimal and customized windowing setting for each mammogram.

Abstract: We present charged-particle distributions sensitive to the underlying event, measured by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, in low-luminosity Large Hadron Collider fills corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb-1. The distributions were constructed using charged particles with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5 and with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV, in events with at least one such charged particle with transverse momentum above 1 GeV. These distributions characterise the angular distribution of energy and particle flows with respect to the charged particle with highest transverse momentum, as a function of both that momentum and of charged-particle multiplicity. The results have been corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators, experimentally establishing the level of underlying-event activity at LHC Run 2 energies and providing inputs for the development of event generator modelling. The current models in use for UE modelling typically describe this data to 5% accuracy, compared with data uncertainties of less than 1%.

Abstract: We present a first numerical implementation of the loop-tree duality (LTD) method for the direct numerical computation of multi-leg one-loop Feynman integrals. We discuss in detail the singular structure of the dual integrands and define a suitable contour deformation in the loop three-momentum space to carry out the numerical integration. Then we apply the LTD method to the computation of ultraviolet and infrared finite integrals, and we present explicit results for scalar and tensor integrals with up to eight external legs (octagons). The LTD method features an excellent performance independently of the number of external legs.

Abstract: The Xi K-+(c)- mass spectrum is studied with a sample of pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.3 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment. The Xi(+)(c) is reconstructed in the decay mode pK(-)pi(vertical bar) . Five new, narrow excited Omega(0)(c) states are observed: the Omega(c)(3000)(0), Omega(c)(3050)(0), Omega(c)(3066)(0), Omega(c) (3090)(0), and Omega(c)(3119)(0). Measurements of their masses and widths are reported.

Abstract: A search for the decays B-c(+) -> J/psi D-(*()0) Kappa(+) and B-c(+) -> J/psi D-(*K)+*(0) is performed with data collected at the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). The decays B-c(+) -> J/psi(DK+)-K-0 and B-c(+) -> J/psi D*K-0(+) are observed for the first time, while first evidence is reported for the B-c(broken vertical bar) -> J/psi D*K-broken vertical bar(*0) and B-c(broken vertical bar) -> J/psi(DK)-K-broken vertical bar*(0) decays. The branching fractions of these decays are determined relative to the B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+) decay. The B-c(+) mass is measured, using the J/psi(DK+)-K-0 final state, to be 6274.28 +/- 1.40(stat) +/- 0.32(syst) MeV/c(2). This is the most precise single measurement of the B-c(+) mass to date.