The present invention relates to a method of determining the genotype of a sample polynucleotide having at least a first variant site. At least a portion of the sample polynucleotide is amplified to obtain first amplicons, the first amplicons including the first variant site. The first amplicons are combined with first and second different polynucleotide controls, the first and second polynucleotide controls differing by at least one base therealong, the position of the at least one differing base corresponding to the first variant site of the sample polynucleotide. A plurality of first duplexes are prepared, each of at least some of the first duplexes comprising (i) a polynucleotide strand of one of the first amplicons and (ii) a complementary polynucleotide strand of the first polynucleotide control. A plurality of second duplexes are prepared, each of at least some of the second duplexes comprising (i) a polynucleotide strand of one of the first amplicons and (ii) a complementary polynucleotide strand of the second polynucleotide control. The first and second duplexes are subjected to temperature gradient electrophoresis (TGE) to obtain first and second electrophoresis data. The genotype of the first variant site of the sample polynucleotide is determiend based on the first and second electrophoresis data.

Efficient, fast and cost-effective techniques are still required for analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and known mutations associated with disease. Many methods have been developed for SNP/mutation genotyping (Landergren et al. 1998). The DNA-chip method based on hybridization may allow processing large numbers of samples, but it requires careful calibration of the signal when interpreting data (Wang et al. 1998). Single base extension (SBE) followed by separation with capillary electrophoresis using automated sequencing instrument is limited by the length of the extension primer that can be synthesized by present technology. For instance, no more than 10 SBE products are separated in a single capillary using the Applied Biosystems' SNaPshot kit (from Protocol of ABI Prism SNaPshot Multiplex Kit, 2000). Detection of SBE reactions by mass spectrometry requires highly purified products, which can be costly and labor-intensive (Ross et al. 1998). For a more thorough review of the field, please see a number of papers published in a supplement to BioTechniques, June 2002, under the title—SNPs: Discovery of markers for disease.

System and method for determining known DNA variants with temperature gradient electrophoresis


Due to insufficient moisture inside a panel it may take a long time for a screening. An organic EL display device includes a light emitting region including a lower electrode, an organic EL layer, and an upper electrode, a barrier film formed so as to cover the light emitting region, and a moisture retaining film which is formed on the barrier film and is moisture retentive.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic EL display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As to an organic EL (Organic Electro Luminescent) material used for an Organic EL display device, its light emission characteristics of the organic EL material deteriorates if there is moisture, and a dark spot can be generated where the organic EL material is degenerated by the moisture and no longer emits light after a long-time operation. Therefore, it is examined before shipping whether moisture infiltrated inside, for the purpose of preventing a generation of such a dark spot after the device is distributed to the market. For example, JP2012-79658A discloses a technology to provide a pin hole detection layer which changes its color due to a reaction with moisture between an organic EL layer and a barrier film and detect a pin hole in an examination in a factory.


A method includes receiving paper comprising information regarding a vehicular violation, the information comprising a unique vehicle identifier and a violation classification, extracting from the paper the unique vehicle identifier and the violation classification via automated pattern recognition, uploading the extracted unique vehicle identifier and the violation classification to a database, determining whether the extracted unique vehicle identifier is associated with a predefined plurality of vehicles, responsive to a determination that the unique vehicle identifier is associated with a vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles, charging a violation fee for the vehicular violation to a party that was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation, responsive to a determination that the unique vehicle identifier is not associated with the predefined plurality of vehicles, disputing responsibility for the vehicular violation.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to automation of processing of vehicular violations and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to automation of processing of vehicular violations involving vehicles operated, for example, by a fleet operator or a rental-car agency.
2. History of Related Art
Third-party entities such as, for example, rental agencies, typically receive notices via standard mail from agencies such as, for example, governmental authorities, toll authorities, or the like regarding vehicular violations incurred by customers. The vehicular violations may include, but are not necessarily limited to, toll violations, parking violations, speeding violations, and the like.
After the notices of the vehicular violations are received, third-party-entity personnel often must manually search rental agreements or other records in order to determine an identity of a customer who was responsible for the violating vehicle at the time the violation occurred. In this way, the customer can be charged for the violation. In other circumstances, the third-party entity may send customer information to the entity from which the vehicular violation notice was received. Processes such as those described above are cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive.

Method and system for processing vehicular violations


A system for testing with an automated test equipment (ATE) includes a tester having first and second manipulator arms. The tester has a pin electronics card. The pin electronics card includes a tester channel for connecting to a single pin of a device under test. The pin electronics card also includes a muxing relay connected to the tester channel, a first lead of the muxing relay, for connecting to a single pin of a first device under test, and a second lead of the muxing relay, for connecting to a single pin of a second device under test. The muxing relay electrically switches from testing of the first device under test to testing of the second device under test, and vice versa. respectively, with negligible index time.

The present invention generally relates to automated manufacture systems and methods and, more particularly, relates to automated and robotic semiconductor equipment systems and methods, particularly for testing and quality control, and improvements thereto, including reduction of index timing delays and the like.
Automated manufacturing equipment has streamlined the manufacturing process in many industries. Moreover, such automation has increased reliability and results. A downside of automation has been timing delays in equipment operations. Particularly, where expensive manufacturing equipment is involved, delays in operations of the equipment, such as during mechanical movements in transferring devices under test, limit returns on the costs of such equipment because of idle or non-testing use periods during mechanical manipulations, resets, and the like. An impetus in manufacturing technology and operations has, therefore, been to limit times in which costly test equipment is idle and not performing the applicable test function, for example, when robotically substituting next test pieces.
In semiconductor manufacture, semiconductor device test equipment is a costly capital requirement. Conventionally, such test equipment has included a robotic manipulator for handling the devices being tested. This robotic manipulator system is commonly referred to as a "handler" and is typically configured with one or more robotic arms referred to as "manipulators." The manipulator mechanically picks up a device for testing, inserts the device into an interface test board socket and issues a start-of-test signal to the tester. The tester then conducts a test on the device and returns a test result and an end-of-test signal to the handler which causes the handler to disposition the device to a post-test tray or receptacle for holding tested devices. This process is repeated as long as the handler senses that there are additional devices available for test. This system as a whole is sometimes referred to as a "test cell."
During the time required for the handler to disposition a device(s) just tested and replace it with the next device(s) to be tested, the tester remains substantially idle. This idle time, sometimes referred to as the "index time" for the particular tester and system, involves mechanical manipulations of the devices awaiting test and having been tested. These mechanical manipulations are limited in speed of operations by various factors, including, for example, physical and speed constraints to ensure that devices to be tested are not damaged, contaminated, dropped, and the like.
The time required to test a device is sometimes referred to as "test time" for a particular device, test, tester, and system. When the system is operational in a manufacturing capacity, it is either indexing during the index time or otherwise testing during the test time.
Previously, test equipment manufacturers have focused efforts to reduce index time on design of manipulation equipment to increase speed of mechanical operations. Although speeds of mechanical operations in handling the test devices have increased significantly over time, there nonetheless remains significant mechanical index time required to manipulate test devices between tests, by the robotic handlers. Moreover, with increased speeds of mechanical manipulation equipment operations, costs increase for the equipment, including calibration, replacement frequency, maintenance, parts, and others. Given the constraints and precautions that must be addressed in speeding mechanical manipulations of many types of test devices and handlers, further speeding of mechanical operations is subject to economic and physical barriers.
In any event, reducing index time can provide greater returns on investments in test equipment, particularly where the test equipment is costly. It would, therefore, be a significant improvement in the art and technology to further reduce index time involved in test operations in manufacturing environments. Particularly in semiconductor manufacture, economic and other gains and advantages are possible if index times are reduced in the testing of semiconductor devices. It would also be an improvement to provide new and improved systems and methods for achieving reduced index times, without requiring substantial changes or new developments in existing mechanical operations of device handlers and similar robotic or automated components for the testing.
For purposes of background understanding, conventional testing systems and operations are now described:
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional system 100 for testing a device 102 includes a tester 104, an interface board 106 connected to the tester 104 that makes available the tester 104 resources (e.g., testing protocols, signals, and procedures run by the tester) to the device 102 under test, and a robotic handler 108. It is to be understood that the device 102 can be a single device or multiple devices simultaneously connected to the tester and tester resources for concurrent testing operations, but that the singular term "device" is used herein to refer to devices that are so simultaneously connected and concurrently tested. The robotic handler 108 is communicatively connected to the tester 104. The interface board 106 is communicatively connected to the tester 104. The interface board 106 includes one test socket 110 for receiving and maintaining the device 102 during testing.
The test socket 110 provides a physical mechanism that assists the manipulator arm 109 in the alignment of the device 102 under test, so that electrical contact between the device 102 under test and the tester 104 is adequately maintained while the device 102 is undergoing electrical test. Typically the precision of the manipulator arm 109 is too course to provide and maintain proper electrical contact between the device 102 under test and the tester 104 and relevant tester resources, and it is the test socket 110 which provides the mechanics of fine alignment required to maintain proper electrical contact during test.
Furthermore, a single interface board can have more than one test socket. When multiple sockets are present on the interface board, each socket has been typically connected to respective distinct sets of tester resources from a single tester 104. In effect, the tester 104 can perform different tests on each socket, but not the same tests on each socket concurrently. There can be certain exceptions, in special cases, where the tester resources can drive signals from the tester to multiple devices at the same time. Such resources include power supplies, digital drivers, and analog waveform generators. In each case the resource is considered an output resource from the particular tester, and the tester in such use must be specially configured and have functionality required to perform the separate distinct testing in concurrent manner. Most conventional testers do not have such special configuration or functionality and, in any event, any such special testers can be significantly more expensive and/or limited in application when compared to most conventional testers.
The robotic handler 108 mechanically moves and operates to pick up and handle the device 102, from among one or more devices to be tested. Once the device 102 to be tested is picked-up by the manipulator arm 109, the handler 108 controls the transfer of the device 102 into position in the appropriate socket 110 of the interface board 106. The tester 104 then commences to test the device 102. After the test is completed by the tester 104, the handler 108 mechanically removes the device 102 from the socket 110 and transfers the device 102 to a location of tested devices.
In operations of the conventional system 100, a set of devices to be tested are staged at the input to the handler 108 by a human operator. The operator then instructs the handler 108 to begin retrieving devices to be tested and to stage the next available device by inserting it into the test socket 110. Once the handler 108 has sensed that the first device 102 is in place in the test socket 110 and ready for test, the handler 108 issues a start-of-test signal to the tester 104. In response to the start-of-test signal, the tester 104 executes a test program that electrically stimulates, via the test socket 110, the device 102 under test and measures the output response from the device 102. The tester 104 compares the output response to a set of expected response data and judges the results as either a "pass" or a "fail" of the device 102.
If the interface board contains multiple test sockets and the tester is capable of concurrent testing with different tester resources of the tester, as with the certain specialized tester previously mentioned, the tester must query the handler status to determine which test sockets have devices ready for test and which do not. The tester can then ignore failing test results from empty test sockets and test only active test socket sites with devices inserted. Of course, as previously mentioned, such special testers with these capabilities are relatively uncommon, expensive, and limited in application.
Once the test program has concluded testing for the device 102 and a pass/fail determination of the test results has been made by the tester 104, the tester 104 communicates back to the handler 108 the test result data for the device 102 just tested and follows by an end-of-test signal to the handler 108. The handler 108 receives the end-of-test signal from the tester 104, and the handler 108 uses the test results data to disposition the device 102 just tested into an output staging area for tested devices, such as separate holding areas for passing devices and for failing devices, respectively.
If the interface board contains multiple test sockets and the tester is capable of concurrent testing with different tester resources of the tester, as with the certain specialized tester previously mentioned, the tester must communicate results data for each of the active test socket locations that is site specific and the handler must disposition each of the devices accordingly. Again, any such arrangement requires specialized tester and possibly special handler equipment, and these each have the problems of expense and limited applications.
In ongoing operations of the system 100, once the handler 108 has dispositioned the device 102 just tested, the process repeats in succession until there are no additional untested devices remaining to be tested, or until any error condition in the handler status or tester halts operation, or until a human operator intervenes to halt the testing.
In each case of a test in this conventional system 100, the handler 108 individually obtains and transfers the respective device 102 then being tested. During the mechanical operations of the handler 108 in picking up, setting in the socket 110, and locating after test, the tester 104 remains idle without conducting any test. The index time for the system 100 is substantially the time required for the mechanical operations of the handler 108 when removing and dispositioning the tested device and then retrieving and inserting each next successive untested device for testing. The index time also includes any time interval between the end-of-test signal from the tester 104 to the handler 108 and the next start-of-test signal from the handler 108 to the tester 104.
Referring to FIG. 4, a conventional process 400 for testing a device includes a step 402 of initiating a first manipulator. In the step 402, for example, a signal is communicated to a robotic handler having the first manipulator. The signal is communicated by a tester or other source, to indicate to the handler that the first manipulator should initiate actions to obtain and locate a device for testing. The device is, for example, a semiconductor device or any other manufactured part or element that is to be tested by the particular tester.
In a step 404, the first manipulator mechanically moves its arm to retrieve a first device for testing. The first manipulator grips or otherwise retains the first device. Then, in a step 406, the first manipulator mechanically picks-up and manipulates the first device, for example, appropriately orienting the first device for testing. In a step 408, the first manipulator mechanically moves the first device to an interface board connected to the tester and inserts the first device in a socket or other test cell of the interface board.
Once the first device is located in the socket or other test cell, the tester commences a step 412 of testing of the device. Testing can include power test, logic test, and any of a wide variety of other quality control or device conformance tests. The testing may take some period of time for completion, depending on the test being performed. During the testing, the first manipulator maintains the first device in position at the interface board for the test.
When the testing step 412 is completed, the tester signals to the handler and the first manipulator is activated to mechanically remove the device, in a step 414, from the socket or other test cell. The first manipulator then moves the first device to a desired post-test location in a step 416. In a step 418, the first device is released by the first manipulator at the post-test location.
The process 400 then returns to the step 402, in order to repeat the steps with respect to a next test device and a next test of the device. As previously mentioned, the time during the process 400 required for the operations of the first manipulator of the handler to pick-up, move, place, remove and dispense of each device, is referred to as the "index time" for the test system. During the index time of operations of the first manipulator, the tester remains in an idle state in which no test is being conducted. The index time that is required in such process 400 delays and limits the entire process 400.
Referring to FIG. 13, conventional testers include pin electronics cards 1302 that provide for the various tests performable by the tester, both analog and/or digital. Each pin electronics card 1302 contains one or more test resources, represented by the blocks 1302a-c. The test resources of each pin electronics card 1302 can include different, more, less or other elements from those of blocks 1302a-c, which are solely for example purposes, including, without limitation, such as the following:                1. a driver that drives a voltage to an input pin (or pad) on the DUT;        2. a receiver or comparator that measures the voltage on an output pin (or pad) of the DUT;        3. a current load of a 50 Ohm resistive connection to a variable termination voltage and current clamps which change the 50 Ohm resistance to whatever is required to hold the current load at a fixed and programmable value;        4. memory that stores data states (drive and receive), timing, and voltage thresholds;        5. a controller that sequences the drive and receive data to and from the DUT at a programmed rate;        6. fail memory that stores information on when the expected data does not match the actual data measured by the receivers;        7. software that manages the operation of the pin electronics of the card, individually and in synchronization with other tester resources; and        8. a calibration system that measures the length of the communication connection from the pin electronics to the DUT resources on the corresponding pin on the DUT.The pin electronics of the card 1302 can also include test hardware of an analog nature, such as analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters, and time measurement systems. The particular types of test resources of the card 1302 enable testing of the device under test ("DUT") by the tester.
Each pin electronics card 1302 includes test resources for one or more tester channels 1304, each tester channel 1304 serving to test, typically, at a single pin of the DUT. As previously mentioned, there are certain special configurations or functionalities where tester resources could drive signals from the tester to multiple pins at the same time; but most conventional testers do not have this capability and, in any event, the capability is significantly more expensive and quite limited in application. So, for purposes of discussion and understanding, the typical circumstance of test resources that drive a single pin of a single device, via a tester channel connected to the single pin of the device, is described herein. (It should be understood, however, that even if a "special capability" situation is presented, the presently disclosed embodiments will provide advantages as those skilled in the art will know and appreciate.)
Referring to FIG. 14, in conjunction with FIG. 13, another functional representation of the foregoing shows various pin electronics cards 1402, each including various respective test resources 1402a-d, with the separate respective tester channel 1404 connecting the applicable test resources 1402a-d to a single pin of a DUT (not shown in detail).
Referring to FIG. 15, conventional testers have pin electronics cards that include relays, such as the AC Relay of the exemplary pin electronics card 1500. The AC Relay, for example, electrically disconnects the test resources of the pin electronics card provided over the tester channel 1504, from a single pin of a DUT (not shown in detail) to which the tester channel 1504 is connected.
Because of the conventional design of testers and pin electronics cards, as just described, index time is consumed in testing because each tester channel can connect to only the single pin. This dictates that the tester channel for the test resources of the pin electronics card can connect for testing to solely a single pin of one DUT at each instant. In testing of each next DUT, therefore, the tester must mechanically connect the tester channel to the same equivalent single pin of the next DUT. This has required that the tester remove a DUT from the socket of the interface board of the tester after testing the DUT, and then place a next DUT in the same test socket of the interface board for performing the test on this next DUT. The tester channel, and test resources of the pin electronics card, remains unused during the mechanical displacement and replacement operations.
From the foregoing description of the conventional system and method for testing devices, it can be readily appreciated and understood that reductions of index time required in the conventional system and method would provide significant advantages. Moreover, it can be appreciated and understood that any reductions that require specialized tester and handler equipment can be inordinately expensive and limited in application.
The present invention provides these and other advantages and improvements, including improvements and nuances in the foregoing respects, without problems and disadvantages previously incurred in practice.

Pin electronics implemented system and method for reduced index time


Described is an apparatus which comprises: a first node to provide an un-gated power supply; a second node to provide a threshold dependent supply; an inverter with an input and an output, the inverter coupled to the first and second nodes, the inverter to receive the un-gated power supply at its power supply node, and to receive the threshold dependent supply for supplying ground supply at its ground node; and a transistor with its gate terminal coupled to the output of the inverter, the transistor to provide gated power supply to one or more logic units.

Power-gate transistors are used to provide gated power supply to one or more logic units (e.g., a processor core, memory block, an input-output (I/O) unit, etc). The term "gated power supply" generally refers to power supply which is controlled by a device (e.g., transistor). For example, power supply provided as output by source/drain terminal of a pass-gate when the pass-gate is turned ON is the gated power supply, while the power supply received as input by the drain/source terminal of the power-gate is the un-gated power supply.
Power-gate transistors have a gate terminal which is used to turn on or off the power-gate transistors. An un-gated power supply is provided to one of the terminals (source or drain) of the power-gate transistors and a gated power-supply is provided from the power-gate transistor as output for supplying power to logic units. Power-gate transistors are generally very large because they are designed with the ability to provide power supply to a large logic block of an integrated circuit.
In the case when the gated power supply is substantially close to ground, turning on the power gate causes gated power supply to ramp up. As the gated power supply ramps up, the gated power supply rail experiences di/dt and dv/dt events which may be mistaken for electro-static discharge (ESD) events. In such cases, ESD clamps may turn on and prematurely clamp the gated power supply and inhibit the power supply ramping process for the integrated circuit.

Threshold voltage dependent power-gate driver


A system and method for providing supplemental payment or transaction information. The method comprising the steps of receiving at least one payment file from at least one payor; receiving at least one supplemental payment information file from the at least one payor or at least one provider; associating the at least one supplemental payment information file with the corresponding at least one payment file; determining whether there is a payment discrepancy based on the at least one supplemental information file and the corresponding at least one payment file; and preparing at least one payment explanation file, wherein the payment explanation file comprises data or information based on the payment file and an explanation.

Increasingly, financial transactions are being made electronically with the help of devices and methods, such as, for example, credit cards, debit cards, stored value cards and direct deposit that enable the quick and convenient transmission and posting of funds to and from designated accounts. Typically, account statements are provided to the customer (electronic or hardcopy format) which list all transactions that occurred in a corresponding account during a specified period of time. For example, a bank or other financial institution may provide a customer with a monthly statement that indicates all transactions that occurred on the customer's checking/savings account or credit card, for example, during the previous month.
Unfortunately, current statements provide little information to the customer on the particular transactions. This is particularly the case when a customer receives a payment or deposit that is posted to the customer's account. For example, if the customer's employer deposits into the customer's account a paycheck through direct deposit, all the customer would be able to see in the account statement is the dollar amount and date of the deposit, and, in some cases, the identity of the payor (e.g., the customer's employer). Thus, if the customer notices that the payment amount is less (or more) than expected, the customer will have to contact the employer to resolve the matter.
Thus, what is needed is a system and method that provides supplemental, detailed, additional or expanded information ("supplemental information") on account transactions, such as, for example, the supporting details of a particular payment or transaction as well as any particular or customized messages that rules or parameters may determine need to be displayed to an account holder or group of account holders. For example, if a cardholder was entitled to a $500 deposit, but only $100 was actually deposited, the cardholder may be provided with an explanation that the missing $400 was deducted as a result of back taxes, past due amounts, etc. Supplemental information may comprise information of any kind or type, and is not limited to financial or transaction information.

System and method for providing supplemental payment or transaction information


In a method for the manufacturing or a foil capacitor, cut out into unit blocks by a circular saw blade from a capacitive strip, the saw blade rotates about an axis passing through a point of rotation that is offset with respect to the center of the saw blade. The method can be applied to the manufacture of capacitors with metallized dielectric films.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a foil capacitor, cut out into unit blocks from a capacitive strip made by the stacking or coiling of metallized dielectric films.
2. Discussion of the Background
The manufacture of foil capacitors out of metallized dielectric films is known. Generally, plastic films are used, comprising a metallized zone and a non-metallized side margin. Two films are superimposed, their non-metallized side margins being on opposite sides in order to obtain a pair of films constituted by an even-order film and an odd-order film. At least one pair of metallized films is wound in a determined number of turns around a large-diameter wheel. There is thus obtained a capacitive strip, known as a parent capacitor, comprising alternating even-order and odd-order layers. Then, each of the flanks of the capacitive strip is covered with a metal (or alloy) in order to make output plates. Each output plate enables the same-order layers to be connected to one another mechanically and electrically. This operation, which is done by the spraying of molten metal, is known as Schooping or Schoop's metal spraying process. The process is completed by cutting the capacitive strip out into unit blocks which are generally parallelepiped shaped. Then the connection strands are soldered, if necessary, to the output plates and, optionally, the capacitor is covered with a protective coating, made of epoxy resin for example.
This operation of cutting out into unit blocks is always difficult in view of the small thickness of the metallized films (some microns) and sometimes leads to surface deterioration of the cut sides of the blocks.
The cutting out is done with a circular saw blade rotating about an axis that passes through its center. Its diameter is far greater than the thickness of the capacitive strip to be cut. The saw blade engages and penetrates the capacitive strip transversally, i.e. substantially perpendicularly to the plates. The rotational axis of the saw blade is located substantially in the median plane of the capacitive strip.
When they are damaged, the cut flanks of the blocks may be the site of short-circuits between an even-order layer and an odd-order layer. These short-circuits are created by the splinters or chips that are cut free by the teeth of the saw blade. This process of the cutting free of splinters harms the cut surface. The short-circuits damage the electrical properties of the capacitor which may even become unusable.

Method for the manufacture of a foil capacitor

Compagnie Europeenne de Composants Electroniques LCC


Certain embodiments are directed to devices, systems and methods for determining a penetration depth of an induced oscillation in a porous medium. In certain examples, the devices, systems and methods are designed to detect a magnetic resonance signal in the presence of an induced oscillatory fluid flow in a porous medium to determine penetration depth of the induced oscillation in the porous medium. In some examples, the mobility of a fluid in the porous medium may be determined from the determined penetration depth.

It is difficult to measure the physical properties of a fluid in a potential petroleum bearing rock formation. The use of a logging method to measure mobility (permeability divided by viscosity) typically requires measuring of a fluid flow rate simultaneously with a pressure gradient. These measurements may be difficult to do especially in downhole applications.
Typical penetration depths for petroleum bearing rock formation may range from about 0.1 mm to about 20 cm, more particularly about 1 mm to about 10 cm, e.g., for a rock formation saturated with water-like fluids. The methods, systems and devices may be used in downhole applications, or in situations where a core sample is taken, the core sample may be brought uphole and analyzed using the methods, systems and devices disclosed herein on or off-site, e.g., in a laboratory using an electromagnet or superconducting NMR.
There are many drawbacks of existing techniques of measuring physical properties of porous media such as, for example, a potential petroleum bearing rock formation. For example, mudcake barriers may cause unknown effects and give aberrant results. Leakage around probes or unknown effects of empirically based correlations, e.g., NMR decay rate measurements, estimates based on mineralogy, can provide inaccurate results. Such problems make physical property measurements, such as mobility, of a potential petroleum bearing rock formation difficult to accomplish, particularly using a logging method.
It is an object of the present invention to address these difficulties.

Devices, systems and methods for assessing porous media properties


A method and system that implement a process for managing video information on a video recording device. The management process involves receiving a video input signal including a video stream, obtaining content information corresponding to the video stream, associating the content information with the video stream, and storing the video stream and associated content information in a database as a searchable index for the video stream. The searchable index includes location of the stored video stream and identifies the associated content information. Then, content information from an input signal corresponding to a video stream is captured for analysis and searching the index to identify stored video streams related to the video program for suggestion to the user.

Video recording and playback devices have been developed on many PVR set top boxes. However, such PVRs do not implement user friendly video recording and search functions. This lack of user friendly functionality becomes further pronounced when a user interface device, such as remote control is utilized, which is typically without a keyboard for alphabet key inputs. Further, such PVRs cannot automatically search for any video streams in a database (e.g., local content, databases on the Internet, etc.) that are related to a currently watched program.
Another shortcoming of such PVRs is that they can only record video streams, without the ability to record related information. Nor can such PVRs suggest any pre-recorded video stream that is related to a currently viewed video stream. There is, therefore, a need for a method and system that allows recording and analysis of content related information to enable suggesting a pre-recorded video stream related to a currently viewed video stream.

Method and system for managing information on a video recording


A plurality of orthotic systems are provided. One bi-layer system is constructed from a single sheet of fabric that is molded into two layers. One tri-layer system includes a base layer; a mid-layer; and an upper layer. The upper layer is joined to the mid-layer and the mid-layer is joined to the base layer. The coupling of the base layer, the mid-layer and the upper layer create a rear spring section, a mid-spring section and a front spring section in which the upper layer is suspended over the mid-layer and the heel portion is suspended on the proximal heel end of the base layer.

Walking and running can be defined as methods of locomotion involving the use of the two legs, alternately, to provide both support and propulsion, with at least one foot being in contact with the ground at all times. While the terms gait and walking are often used interchangeably, the word gait refers to the manner or style of walking, rather than the actual walking process. The gait cycle is the time interval between the exact same repetitive events of walking.
The defined cycle can start at any moment, but it typically begins when one foot contacts the ground and ends when that foot contacts the ground again. If it starts with the right foot contacting the ground, then the cycle ends when the right foot makes contact again. Thus, each cycle begins at initial contact with a stance phase and proceeds through a swing phase until the cycle ends with the limb's next initial contact. Stance phase accounts for approximately 60 percent, and swing phase for approximately 40 percent, of a single gait cycle.
Hard surfaces in modern human environments have changed the forces encountered by the human musculoskeletal system during the gait cycle as compared to the forces which it evolved to sustain. Impact energies from such surfaces enter the body through boney and dense tissues and through soft and fatty tissues. Such impact energy frequently causes physical damage leading to injury, in particular injury of the foot. At times, this type of physical injury can be treated by an orthotic insert.
Functional orthotic inserts may be placed in a shoe either on top of or in place of the insole to correct foot alignment and side-to-side movement during standing, walking, running to influence the orientation of the bones in a human foot and to influence the direction and force of motion of the foot or parts of the foot. Orthotics thereby decrease pain, not only in the foot, but also in other parts of the body such as the knee, hip and lower back. They can also increase stability in an unstable joint and prevent a deformed foot from developing additional problems. However, conventional devices are not dynamic as designed. Conventional orthotic devices typically include a shimmed, rigid post and as a result, dynamic adjustments to the foot during the gait cycle cannot be done. For example, adjustments such as making the foot tip out further, making the foot tip in further, raising the heel, raising the ball of the foot, and the like cannot be accomplished with conventional devices dynamically during the gait cycle.
Other causes of injury to the foot relate to underlying pathological disease states, such as by way of example, diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects up to six percent of the population in the U.S. and is associated with progressive disease of the microvasculature. Complications from diabetes include not only heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetic retinopathy but also in particular diabetic neuropathic foot disease.
Diabetic neuropathic foot disease typically results in the formation of ulcers which commonly result from a break in the barrier between the dermis of the skin and the subcutaneous fat that cushions the foot during ambulation. This rupture may lead to increase pressure on the dermis. While there are devices and methods that purport to prevent plantar ulcer formation in a diabetic patient there are no orthotic devices on the market that treat the ulcer with dynamic offloading after formation.
Other types of injury to the foot include fractures, pressure sores, surgical sites and overuse injuries. Patho-mechanical foot dysfunctions include supination and pronation pathologies.
Therefore, what is needed are orthotic systems that can be used remedially to correct deformities resulting from physical and other injuries to the foot. What is also needed are dynamic orthotic systems that can be used therapeutically to address underlying pathologies and patho-mechanical foot dysfunctions to accurately and precisely position the foot throughout the gait cycle in order to promote proper function and alignment and mitigate excessive forces. In particular, what is needed is a dynamic orthotic suspension system that addresses foot pathologies that cause systemic pathologies such as ankle, knee and hip misalignment.


A two-switch hybrid memory cell device includes a storage node connected between one terminal of a first switch and a gate of a second switch. The device also includes a resistive switching device connected to the storage node. The resistive switching device is to act as a capacitance by being set to a high resistive state when the memory cell is in a dynamic mode.

Computer memory may be either volatile or non-volatile. Volatile memory can operate at relatively high speeds but has to be connected to a power source in order to maintain its data. One type of volatile memory is dynamic memory. Dynamic memory typically uses capacitance to store data. Because the value stored in a capacitance will fade in time, it must be refreshed periodically. In contrast to volatile memory, non-volatile memory is able to maintain its data without a power supply and without being refreshed. Non-volatile memory, however, operates at a relatively slow speed.
Memory systems are often embedded into various systems. For example, mobile devices typically utilize embedded memory that is fabricated into the same integrated circuit as the processor and other mobile device circuitry. Mobile devices are becoming more powerful yet smaller in size. Thus, it is desirable to best utilize available space on each integrated circuit within the mobile device. Moreover, it is desirable to ensure that the mobile device operates efficiently with respect to power consumption.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A sensor for checking value documents has an illumination device for illuminating a value document, an imaging optic and a detection device. A light source receiver has at least two light sources which have mutually different emission spectra. The illumination device contains a microlens array which contains a multiplicity of microlenses, which with the light source receiver are arranged such that each of the light sources arranged on the light source receiver has exactly one of the microlenses associated therewith.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sensor for checking value documents and to a method for manufacturing the sensor from a sensor platform, as well as to a sensor family having at least two sensors manufactured from the same sensor platform.
B. Related Art
For checking value documents there are usually employed sensors with which the type of the value documents is determined and/or with which the value documents are checked for authenticity and/or for their state. Such sensors are employed for checking value documents such as e.g. bank notes, checks, identity cards, credit cards, check cards, tickets, vouchers and the like. The check of the value documents is effected in an apparatus for value-document processing, in which one or several different sensors are contained, depending on the value-document properties to be checked. Upon checking, the value documents are usually scanned in one or several tracks, whereby the sensor and the value document are moved relative to each other.
The value documents are frequently checked using optical sensors that capture the light reflected by the value documents. Previous optical sensors have been restricted to the spectral properties of the sensor that are defined upon the development of the sensor, such as e.g. the spectral resolution and the position and width of the spectral region capturable by the sensor. To adapt such an optical sensor to different requirements, e.g. a different spectral region or a different spectral resolution, basic changes of the optical components of the sensor are required. With optical sensors whose spectral selection is effected through different color filters which are respectively arranged in front of a detector, it would e.g. be necessary to replace the color filters to change the capturable spectral region. To increase the spectral resolution in such a sensor, additional detectors with different color filters would have to be installed in the sensor. This is usually hardly possible, however, on account of the limited space within the sensor housing.
It is also known to illuminate a value document by employing several different-colored light sources whose light is directed onto the value document via a common light guide. On account of the relative motion between the sensor and the value document transported past it, however, a minimum distance is required between the light guide and the sensor. Because the light diverges after exiting from the light guide, this minimum distance results in the illuminated region on the value document being relatively large and the illumination intensity accordingly low. Hence, such an illumination is unfavorable when the optical properties of a value document are to be captured in a spatially limited region.


Disclosed embodiments relate to eyewear configured to reduce stray light. An exemplary embodiment of the eyewear accounts for various design factors, including the cross sectional profile of the rim, the micro topography of the rim surface, the reflectivity, the theatre or room geometry, proximity of the eye to the lens, lens size, and the screen gain. An exemplary eyewear includes lenses connected to the rim sections of a frame, and a path may be defined through a maximum height of the outer flange portion of a rim section and a maximum height of the inner flange portion of the rim section. The path may be inclined at an angle relative to an angle α relative to a longitudinal axis defined by the lenses.

Stereoscopic systems operate by presenting two distinct images to a viewer. Filtering may be utilized to present one image to one eye and the second image to the other eye. Filtering may employ polarization or spectral-division methods to separate the two images. Spectacles (or eyewear) pass orthogonal polarization states to each eye and complete the filtering function.

Stereoscopic eyewear with stray light management


Hardness of bonding end portions of an external connection terminal to be bonded to circuit patterns of an insulating substrate which is not lower than 90 in Vickers hardness is disclosed. An ultrasonic welding tool is used. In the external connection terminal in which the bonding end portions are provided integrally with a bar, one of the bonding end portion located substantially in the lengthwise center of the bar is first bonded, and the other bonding end portions are bonded alternately in order toward either end. The hardness of the bonding end portions is increased so that strength of the ultrasonic welding portions is increased. Since the external connection terminal including the bonding end portions is bonded in such a manner that the bonding end portion located substantially in the center is first bonded and the other bonding end portions are then bonded in order of increasing distance substantially from the central bonding end portion, displacement of the bonding end portion in either end from its regular position can be suppressed to keep bonding strength high. In this manner, the bonding strength of the ultrasonic welding portions between the external connection terminal and the circuit patterns of the insulating substrate can be increased so that long-term reliability can be secured in a semiconductor device.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same, and particularly relates to a large-sized and high-capacity semiconductor device with improved reliability in a joint portion between a circuit pattern on an insulating substrate and an external connection terminal, and a method for manufacturing the same.
B. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor device for use in electric power conversion has an insulating substrate in which circuit patterns made of copper or the like are, for example, formed in an upper surface of a plate-like insulating member made of ceramic, and back-surface electrodes of semiconductor elements are bonded to the circuit patterns by soldering. In the configuration of such a semiconductor device, external connection terminals are placed to be separate from the insulating substrate. The external connection terminals are connected to the circuit patterns by wire bonding. In addition, copper foil formed on the back surface of the insulating substrate is connected to a copper base plate by soldering so that the insulating substrate can be fixed to the base plate.
Large-scale power conversion systems are requested to save space. To this end, semiconductor devices must be made large in scale and high in capacity to reduce the number of semiconductor devices used per unit power. In the configuration of a high-capacity semiconductor device where external connection terminals are connected to circuit patterns by wire bonding, a large number of wires must be used in order to secure a required current capacity. Thus, a method for bonding the external connection terminals directly to the circuit patterns is used.
The external connection terminals and the circuit patterns are often bonded by soldering. However, according to the bonding by soldering, it has been difficult to secure reliability in the bonding portions because the semiconductor device is made larger in scale and higher in capacity. That is, a base plate is deformed due to heat generated when the semiconductor is in use. As the semiconductor device increases in scale, stress on the bonding portions of the external connection terminals becomes very high due to the deformation. In addition, bonding by soldering requires heating to fuse solder. Due to the heating, the base plate may be deformed. When a plurality of bonding portions are formed integrally with the external connection terminals, the distance between each external connection terminal and each circuit pattern may be changed in accordance with bonding positions. In addition, the electric resistance of the solder is about one order of magnitude greater than that of the external connection terminals or the circuit patterns. If the semiconductor device is made higher in capacity, the amount of Joule heat generated in the solder will increase and that will increase loss when the power conversion system is in operation.
There is known a large-scale high-capacity semiconductor device in which external connection terminals are bonded to circuit patterns by ultrasonic welding in place of solder bonding (for example, see US Patent No. 2008/0211091). The ultrasonic welding is performed by applying horizontal ultrasonic vibration to a bonding end portion of each external connection terminal while applying a vertical load to a bonding interface between the external connection terminal and the circuit pattern. Ultrasonic welding can be performed at a normal temperature, in a short time and in the atmosphere, and high reliability in bonding portions can be secured due to solid state bonding between metals of one and the same material.
When a semiconductor device has a high capacity, each external connection terminal must be thickened to increase its sectional area. For example, when the external connection terminal uses a copper plate 0.8 mm thick, it is known that the reliability in the ultrasonic welding portion cannot be ensured if the Vickers hardness of the external connection terminal is higher than 80 (see Japanese Patent No. 3524360).
However, when low-hardness external connection terminals are used, the strength of the semiconductor device as a whole including the external connection terminals cannot be ensured. Particularly when the external connection terminals are further thickened to increase the capacity, a problem with respect to the long-term reliability of the semiconductor device arises, and it deteriorates due to the insufficient strength.
In addition, due to increases in the scale of the semiconductor device, external connection terminals with bonding end portions formed integrally with long bars to protrude thereon may be ultrasonically bonded with circuit patterns formed in predetermined positions on an insulating substrate. In this case, due to the processing accuracy of the external connection terminals or the assembling accuracy in bonding the external connection terminals, it is difficult to align the bonding positions thereof. Thus, there arises a problem that the bonding strength deteriorates due to the misalignment of the bonding positions to lower the long-term reliability of the semiconductor device.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


Described herein are systems and methods for transporting an electronic communication that includes one or more attachments efficiently by sending the electronic communication with a smaller-sized (e.g., lower resolution) representational element of each attachment and subsequently replacing each representational element with a higher resolution attachment thumbnail of the attachment. The high resolution attachment thumbnail is produced in an asynchronous process during or after the transportation of the attachment(s) and the electronic communication. After the high resolution attachment thumbnail(s) is generated, at least one representational element in the electronic communication may be replaced with a corresponding HR attachment thumbnail.

Electronic communications applications or services allow users to send and receive electronic communications over local and distributed networks, such as the Internet. One example of an electronic communications application is an electronic mail (email) application. Email applications or services are provided by a software application installed on a user's computer or by cloud or Internet-based services.
Email applications permit users (senders) to send files ("attachments") to a recipient by attaching the files to an email message. When the recipient views the email message, the email application presents the attachments to the recipient in a number of ways. If the attachment is an image file, the email application typically generates a thumbnail image ("thumbnail") of the image file and the recipient sees the thumbnail when he or she views the email message. A thumbnail is a smaller, lower resolution version of the image file that may be generated by sub-sampling the original higher resolution image file.
When the attachment is a non-image file, such as a word processing file, the email application may display an icon that is associated with the file type of the attachment or a low resolution thumbnail of the file. For example, if the attachment is a word processing file, an icon that represents the word processing program can be presented to the recipient. Similarly, if the attachment is a spreadsheet file, an icon that represents the spreadsheet program may be presented to the recipient. However, in some instances, the process of generating the thumbnail is time consuming and can slow the transmission of the email, which in turn delays the arrival of the email.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that embodiments have been described. Also, although relatively specific problems have been discussed, it should be understood that the embodiments should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background.

Multiple thumbnails for attachments in electronic communications


A mixer grid for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly has a plurality of strips arranged in interlocking rows and columns defining a plurality of cells. A stopper is fixed to each corner of each cell for both directing coolant flow, providing coolant mixing and providing a smooth contact surface for the fuel rod. The stopper is either cone-shaped or cylindrical for directing and channeling coolant flow. The stopper also has a smooth, flat chamfered surface for contacting the fuel rod and minimizing damage upon the shifting of the fuel rod. The grid is attached to the nuclear reactor fuel assembly by using guide cells comprising a plurality of support arches for welding to the nuclear reactor fuel assembly.

The present invention relates in general to the cooling of nuclear reactors and in particular to a new and useful mixer grid for cooling the fuel rods of a nuclear reactor fuel assembly.
In the nuclear power field, it is common to use a mixer grid in conjunction with a nuclear reactor fuel assembly for enhancing the heat transfer between the nuclear fuel rods of the assembly and the coolant of the nuclear reactor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,730 discloses a nuclear fuel spacer grid comprising a plurality of straps in an egg crate configuration defining a plurality of cells for enclosing the fuel rods for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly. A spring portion is provided on at least one of the straps of each cell and extends into each cell for pushing against the fuel rod contained therein. A back-up spring is positioned transverse to and behind each of the spring portions of the straps and is positioned so as not to touch the fuel rods within the cells.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,584 discloses a spacer grid for nuclear fuel rods comprising identical metal straps arranged in cross relation in order to define a multiplicity of cells for receiving elongated fuel elements such as rods. Tabs are used at the edges of the cell openings for the deflecting of coolant into the cells. Tabs from adjacent side walls are fixedly secured together in order to provide rigid flanges for the grid. Spring fingers are provided within each cell in order to hold the fuel rods against fixed stops.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,302 discloses a mixer grid for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly wherein the sole purpose of the grid is to promote cross flow mixing of the coolant of the reactor rather than support the fuel rods. At least one mixing vane is provided in each cell for directing coolant flow. Four dimple protrusions, which are open, extend into each cell and allow the flow of coolant therethrough and prevent damage to the fuel rods within each cell.
A major problem of the mixer grids commonly used in the nuclear reactor field is that both a separate stopper and mixing vane are used within the same cell for cooling hot spots within the grid and supporting the nuclear fuel rods. Hard stops used within each cell are aimed at preventing the fuel rods from contacting the mixing vanes of each cell while the mixing vanes are used to direct and channel coolant in each cell.
Additionally, it is common in the known mixer grids to use an outer strip around the grid for providing lead-in and coolant flow to hot spots of cells located on the periphery of the grid.
Moreover, it is common in the known mixer grids to use mixing vanes in every other peripheral cell of the mixer grid.
Presently, there is no known mixer grid which alleviates the need for using both a stopper and a mixing vane within each cell of the grid.


Methods and systems for transferring a user session between at least two electronic devices are described. The user session is conducted as an audible session via an audible interface provided by a primarily audible first electronic device. Input data is received from the audible interface, wherein the input data causes the audible interface to progress through audible interface states. An interaction may be determined to be sensitive or non-intuitive based on a logic rule or based on tracking interactions in the user session. A current audible interface state is mapped to a visual interface state defined for a visual interface. The mapped visual interface state is pushed to a second electronic device having a visual output device for displaying the visual interface, to enable the user session to be continued as a visual session on the second electronic device.

Voice-based virtual assistants (also referred to simply as voice assistants) are software applications that use voice recognition to receive, interpret and execute audible commands (e.g., voice commands). Voice assistants may be provided by a mobile wireless communication device such as a smartphone, desktop or laptop computer, smart device (such as a smart speaker) or similar internet-of-things (IoT) device.
A drawback of voice assistants is that some interactions during a user session may be too complicated or non-intuitive to be easily conducted by audible inputs or outputs alone. Given the sequential nature of audible commands, it may be difficult for the user to identify and/or correct mistaken inputs. Another drawback is that some interactions during a user session may be involve sensitive information that should not be conducted by audible inputs or outputs.
This may be particularly the case where the voice assistant is a primarily audible device that provides an audible interface (such as a smart speaker). In such cases, the user may abandon the interaction instead of attempting the non-intuitive or sensitive interaction, since the audible interface is not suitable for the task.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for transferring a session between audible and visual interfaces


This invention provides infectious chimeric HCV particles that can be used for vaccines. This invention further provides a nucleic acid comprising a chimeric gene derived from the hepatitis C virus comprising regions each encoding Core protein, E1 protein, E2 protein and p7 protein derived from a hepatitis C virus strain other than JFH-1 strain; NS2 protein derived from JFH-1 strain or a hepatitis C virus strain other than JFH-1 strain, or a chimeric NS2 protein of NS2 protein derived from JFH-1 strain and NS2 protein derived from a hepatitis C virus strain other than JFH-1 strain; and NS3 protein, NS4A protein, NS4B protein, NS5A protein, and NS5B protein derived from JFH-1 strain in that order in 5′ to 3′ direction, wherein the 328th proline residue from the amino acid residue at N-terminus of the Core protein is substituted with an amino acid residue other than proline. This invention further provides chimeric HCV particles comprising such nucleic acid, and use of such HCV particles for vaccines.

Hepatitis C virus (which may be simply referred to as "HCV" hereinafter) was discovered and identified as a causative virus of non-A and non-B hepatitis by Choo et al. in 1989 (Choo, Q L. et al., Science, 244: 359-362, 1989). HCV infection is a major cause for the progression with persistent infection from chronic hepatitis to cirrhosis and then hepatic cancer. It is said that there are approximately 170,000,000 HCV patients in the world and approximately 2,000,000 HCV patients in Japan. The major route of infection is transmission through blood. Since the screening of blood for transfusion was made available, the number of people newly infected with HCV dramatically decreased in Japan. However, it is considered that many virus carriers still remain.
At present, HCV is mainly treated with the use of PEG-interferon or with the use of PEG-interferon in combination with an antiviral drug (i.e., ribavirin). HCV is currently classified into 6 different genotypes, and HCV of genotype 1b and of genotype 2a are major types in Japan. In the case of HCV of genotype 1b, in particular, viruses cannot be completely eliminated from the body via administration of interferon and ribavirin, and therapeutic effects are insufficient. Accordingly, development of novel antiviral drugs or vaccines aimed at preventing virus carriers from causing the disease to develop or at eliminating viruses has been awaited.
The lack of effective animals that reflect virus infection besides chimpanzees and the lack of an effective in vitro virus culture system had been impediments to the development of therapeutic agents of HCV. In recent years, HCV replicon systems that enable evaluation of HCV-RNA replication have been developed (Lohmann, V. et al., Science., 285: 110-113, 1999), and such systems resulted in important progress as a system for screening for HCV inhibitors associated with the inhibition of virus replication.
HCV is a single-stranded (+) RNA virus having a genome length of approximately 9.6 kb, which has a gene encoding a precursor protein converted into 10 types of virus proteins (i.e., Core, E1, E2, p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A and NS5B proteins) upon post-translational cleavage by proteases. The replicon system was prepared by recombining the translation region of the HCV structural protein with a drug-resistant gene and inserting IRES of the encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) downstream thereof. RNA replication is observed in cells into which such recombinant RNA has been introduced. Even when a full-length genome RNA having the HCV structural protein region has been introduced into cells, however, release of virus particles into the culture solution has not been observed (Pietschmann, T. et al., J. Virol., 76: 4008-4021, 2002).
Recently, the HCV JFH-1 strain of genotype 2a isolated from a patient with fulminant hepatitis was discovered by Wakita et al., and the strain was found to be released as infectious virus particles in a culture medium of Huh-7 cells (hepatic cancer cell lines) (WO 05080575A1 and Wakita, T. et al., Nat. Med., 11: 791-796, 2005). This in vitro culture system for infectious HCV particles is expected to serve as a useful screening tool in the development of anti-HCV agents and to be an effective means for preparation of HCV vaccines. Research on HCV particle production in in vitro culture systems has made progress, and the HCV genome capable of virus particle production was found to be chimeric HCV of the JFH-1 strain and an HCV strain other than the JFH-1 strain. Such chimeric HCV can be prepared by recombining the structural genes of the JFH-1 genome (i.e., Core, E1, E2 and p7 protein coding sections) with structural genes of other HCV strains.
As chimeric HCV of the JFH-1 strain and an HCV strain other than the JFH-1 strain, the chimeric HCV of the J6CF strain (genotype 2a) and the JFH-1 strain (Lindenbach, B. D. et al., Science, 309: 623-626, 2005), the chimeric HCV of the H77 strain (genotype 1a) and the JFH-1 strain (WO 06096459A2 and MinKyung, Y. et al., J. Virol., 81: 629-638, 2007), and the chimeric HCV of the S52 strain (genotype 3a) and the JFH-1 strain (Gottwein, J M et al., Gastroenterology 133: 1614-1626, 2007) are known.
Pietschmann, T. et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 103: 7408-7413, 2006) discloses that the amount of viruses produced from chimeric HCV of the J6CF structural gene and the JFH-1 non-structural gene is the highest and the amount of infectious virus particles produced from chimeric HCV of the Con1 strain of genotype 1b and the JFH-1 strain is one tenth the former amount. As other chimeric HCV of a genotype 1b strain and the JFH-1 strain, WO 06022422A1 discloses that a genome (full-length genome replicon RNA) in which a region encoding the structural proteins of the TH strain is recombined with that of the JFH-1 genome, and a drug-resistant gene is inserted into a site upstream of such coding region was produced, the resulting genome is introduced into the Huh-7 cell, and then a drug-resistant strain is obtained, and infectious virus particles are produced into the culture supernatant, although productivity thereof is not clearly described.
Under such circumstances, concerning genotype 1b for which the possibility of attaining a complete remission with current therapy techniques is small and of which the number of patients is large, there is a need for development of a method for producing HCV particles that can produce large quantities of infectious virus particles with the structure of genotype 1b, and that can be cultured in a persistent infection system.

Nucleic acid comprising chimeric gene derived from hepatitis C virus

Japan As Represented by Director-General of National Institute of Infectious Diseases

Tokyo Metropolitan Organization for Medical Research


A luminous flux control member that controls travelling direction of light emitted from a light source includes an incident area, an emission area, and a plurality of projecting sections. The plurality of projecting sections are constituted by an inner area, an intermediate area, and a peripheral area defined in the radial direction, and a first specific projecting section disposed in the inner area is configured such that a planar section that is used to measure the height of the first specific projecting section and is perpendicular to the optical axis is connected to an inner peripheral end and an outer peripheral end of a base end portion of the first specific projecting section. The projecting sections other than the first specific projecting section, in principle, come into contact internally or externally with another projecting section other than the first specific projecting section.

As a luminous flux control member that controls the traveling direction of light emitted from a light source, a luminous flux control member (so-called Fresnel lens) has been conventionally used that has a serrated cross-sectional shape (referred to, hereinafter, as a Fresnel shape) in which a light-incident area and a light-emission area are divided into a plurality of concentric ring-shaped (circular band-shaped) segmented areas. Because this luminous flux control member is suitable for reducing thickness and weight and the like, it is used for various purposes (such as in magnifying glasses and lighting systems).
When this type of luminous flux control member is assembled into a product for illumination, for example, alight source, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), is fixed to the incident area side formed into the Fresnel shape after positioning is performed such that the center axis of light emitted from the light source is coaxially aligned with the optical axis of the luminous flux control member.
In addition, the Fresnel shape of this type of luminous flux control member includes a type having only a refraction surface that refracts light emitted from a light source and a type having a total reflection surface in addition to the refraction surface. The latter type is more advantageous than the former type in terms of efficiently capturing and converging light emitted from the light source (such as an LED) at a wide spread angle.
Specifically, the LED which is an example of a light source emits light having a wide spread angle and light distribution characteristics based on so-called Lambertian distribution. To effectively use this light for illumination and the like, the market requires the light distribution characteristics of the light to be narrowed by the luminous flux control member and the directivity of the light to be improved. Therefore, when the Fresnel shape including only the refraction surface is used to change the light emitted from the LED to light having a narrow-angle light distribution, the amount of change in the traveling direction of light in the incident area of the luminous flux control member is determined only by refraction by the refraction surface. Therefore, no significant change appears in the traveling direction of light transmitted within the luminous flux control member in relation to the traveling direction (original traveling direction) of light at the time of incidence onto the luminous flux control member. Therefore, in particular, light emitted from the LED towards the wide-angle side cannot be sent toward a target irradiated surface by refraction, and spreading of the overall light (light beam) cannot be sufficiently suppressed. On the other hand, when the Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface is used, the light entering the luminous flux control member from the refraction surface can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface and the traveling direction can be significantly changed. Therefore, even light emitted from the LED toward the wide-angle side can be sent towards the irradiated surface side.
Therefore, the Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface is suitable for luminous flux control. However, conversely, the tip portion (top portion) of a projecting section configuring the Fresnel shape becomes sharp due to the total reflection surface, and production tends to be difficult.
For example, when the luminous flux control member is obtained by injection molding, the sharper the tip portion of the projecting section of the Fresnel shape is, the more difficult it is to fill the feature replication surface for the projecting section of the mold with a resin material. Therefore, a molding defect easily occurs in which the edge of the tip portion is not formed due to insufficient filling.
In reflection of this difficulty in production, the sharp Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface requires shape management that is stricter than that for the Fresnel shape including only the refraction surface. Management of height of the projecting section (length from a base end portion to a tip portion) is particularly important.
Here, when the height of the projecting section of the Fresnel shape is measured as part of such shape management, in the instance of a common Fresnel shape including only the refraction surface, the difference between the tip portion and the base end portion of the projecting section of the Fresnel shape can be checked and the height can be accurately determined, by the Fresnel shape being traced while light is shone onto the surface of the Fresnel shape by a general-purpose measuring device, such as a tool microscope or a laser microscope, and reading the position at which focus is achieved.
On the other hand, in the instance of the Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface, the height of the projecting section cannot be accurately measured by a general-purpose measuring device. In the Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface, not only is the tip portion of the projecting section sharp, as described above, in the valley shape formed between adjacent projecting sections, the valley bottom in which the periphery of the base end portion of the projecting section is positioned tends to have a sharp acute angle. Even when light from the measuring device is shone onto the valley bottom formed by such steep inclined surfaces, noise occurs and an accurate focal position (periphery of the base end portion of the projecting section) cannot be read.
Therefore, for shape management of the Fresnel shape including the total reflection surface, measurement of the projecting section may be abandoned and the optical characteristics of the luminous flux control member itself may be evaluated instead. Because the purpose of the luminous flux control member is to achieve desired optical characteristics, such direct evaluation of optical characteristics is a highly reliable product inspection method.
However, a dedicated evaluation device is required for evaluation of optical characteristics. Time is also required for carrying out measurement. Therefore, a problem occurs in that cost increases and inspection efficiency decreases.
Here, in Patent Literature 1, a configuration is disclosed in which a planar section that is perpendicular to the optical axis is provided between projecting sections that are adjacent to each other in the radial direction in the Fresnel shape. A planar section such as this does not change in shape in the height direction and has a certain amount of area. Therefore, optical readout by a general-purpose measuring device can be appropriately performed. Thus, when the planar section is used as reference for the height of the projecting section (in other words, a zero-height position that is at the same height as the base end portion of the projecting section), the height of the projecting section can be simply and accurately measured.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2011-29168

Luminous flux control member and light-emitting apparatus including the same


A structure includes a first package component including a first conductive pad, and a second package component overlying the first package component. The second package component includes a surface dielectric layer, and a conductive bump protruding lower than the surface dielectric layer. The first conductive bump includes a first sidewall facing away from a center of the first package component, and a second sidewall facing toward the center. A solder bump joins the first conductive pad to the first conductive bump. The solder bump contacts the first sidewall. An underfill is between the first package component and the second package component, and the underfill contacts the second sidewall.

Integrated Circuit packages may include a plurality of package components bonded together. In recent development of applications, High-Performance Computing (HPC) packages were made, which typically include very large package substrates and interposers. The package substrates and interposers may include a plurality of layers. This compounded with the significant structure and material differences between the package substrate and the interposer, and their large sizes resulted in a significant difference in thermal expansion between package substrates and the overlying package components. Problems such as cold joint and bridging may be resulted.

Bump joint structure with distortion and method forming same

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A method for reducing abasing artefacts in an output image may include obtaining a plurality of input images captured by a plurality of cameras, each camera having a different field of view of an environment surrounding a vehicle, wherein the plurality of input images are mapped to the output image to represent the environment, from a predefined virtual point of view. The method may further include for each pixel position in the output image, obtaining a first pixel density value corresponding to a first output pixel position in the output image; and upon determining that the first pixel density value is higher than a threshold, calculating a first output brightness value corresponding to the first output pixel position based at least on a plurality of brightness values corresponding to a plurality of neighboring pixels of a corresponding position in a first input image of the plurality of input images.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method for enhanced anti-aliasing while mapping one or more input images to an output image. In particular, the method is suited for use on a graphics processing unit.
In multi-camera automotive vision systems, two or more cameras capture different views of an environment surrounding a vehicle. These images are processed and mapped to a target viewport to generate an output image corresponding to a virtual point of view. Each of the input images go through a different transformation in the mapping process, therefore, different parts of the input images undergo different degrees of sub-sampling or up-sampling. The transformation process can introduce visual artefacts in highly detailed image content, such as small white stones.
In recent years, GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) have become the hardware of choice in video processing applications. GPUs are highly optimized for video rendering with complex geometrical transformations. However, simple filtering operations that were relatively easy to implement on digital signal processing (DSP) architectures in real-time, are more difficult to implement on GPU architectures. Consequently, image processing operations need to be redesigned on GPU devices for real-time performance. There is a need in the art for methods of transforming one or more input images using a GPU to generate an output image with minimal aliasing effects.

Method and apparatus for enhanced anti-aliasing filtering on a GPU


A structure and method for creating a contact between a conductive layer and a pad for dissipating electrostatic charges comprising the steps of, forming a pad and a composite insulating layer between and over conductive plates on a substrate, wherein the insulating layer isolates and protects the conductive plates and pad from damage, the insulating layer comprising a dielectric region underlying a conductive layer. A passivation layer is formed over at least a portion of the conductive layer and a photoresist is patterned over at least a portion of the passivation. An opening is etched through the passivation and the insulating layers, wherein the photoresist and the conductive layer serve as masks. Finally, a conductive material is deposited in the opening to form an electrical contact between the pad and the conductive layer.

The present invention relates in general to the field of static discharge dissipation for use with a sensor, and more particularly, to a method of forming a contact for an embedded conductive layer with a reduced number of photolithographic steps.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with the protection of integrated circuit fingerprint sensors from the environment during regular use, as an example.
Heretofore, in this field, the detection of fingerprint patterns, composed of lines or ridges and valleys, has been useful for the identification of specific individuals based on the observation that each individual person has a unique fingerprint. Fingerprints, therefore, can be used not only to positively identify individuals, but to exclude individuals whose fingerprint profile does not match a pre-existing set of patterns.
Fingerprint sensing has evolved from optical and mechanical sensing technologies that acquire a fingerprint image. In those systems, generally, the mechanical and optical sensors obtain a fingerprint image using a scanner or a camera, process the acquired information into an analog or digital signal that can be analyzed, and provide an output based on the acquired signal. Unfortunately, the lighting and contrast conditions available at the time the image is acquired affects the analysis of the acquired data and consequently affects the sensor output. Furthermore, image capture systems are easily tricked using a false images. In addition, conventional optical sensors usually require bulky optics, making these types of sensors impractical for portable systems.
Another class of fingerprint sensors are capacitive sensors, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,056 issued to Tsikos. The Tsikos patent demonstrates the use of a sensor that incorporates a sensing member that has a sensing surface for receiving a fingerprint. The sensing surface has a means for sensing the ridges and valleys of the skin of the finger under observation. The sensing member contains a multitude of capacitors that sense the patterns of the fingerprint when the finger is pressed against the sensing surface. The information obtained by the sensing member is transformed into an electric signal. The capacitors are insulated from the environment of use by a flexible membrane that conforms itself to the contour of the fingerprint. Unfortunately, the repeated cycles of flexing and compression of the flexible membrane can lead to device failure and the need to replace the membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,831 issued to Ruell, et al., discloses a fingerprint sensor that provides an electrical output signal in response to the topography of the fingerprint. The sensor incorporates a contact body that is formed, at least in part, by a light transparent elastic material. The elastic contact material may be attached to a flat sensor plate that has a light receiving surface. The sensor also incorporates a light source and a photodetector to measure the valleys and ridges of the fingerprint. The elastic nature of the contact body causes cycles of compression and flexing that again lead to the deterioration of the contact point between the sensor and the finger.
It has also been found that the current methods and structures for protecting sensors from the environment of intended use fail to address the distinct environmental exposures to which the sensors are exposed, in particular, electrostatic build-up on, e.g, human skin or any other object come into close proximity with or contact the sensor. Sensor protection versus sensitivity must generally be carefully balanced to achieve both an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio and adequate protection. The present inventors have recognized that the number of photolithographic masking steps for creating an electrostatic discharge structure may be reduced by using the present invention.
The electrostatic discharge sensor protection and sensor sensitivity must be carefully balanced to achieve both an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio and adequate protection. Generally, as sensor protection increases, sensor sensitivity decreases. In the case of electrical damage to sensor surface structures or the active circuits that form part of the sensor circuitry during use, present electrostatic discharge circuitry fails to protect the sensor circuitry during an electrostatic discharge.
As sensors and users can be exposed to a wide variety of environmental conditions that can cause a great increase in electrical potential in comparison to objects that are at a different potential or grounded, it has now been found that sensors should be fitted with electrostatic discharge protection to be durable. For example, when the user approaches the sensor at a great voltage disparity, a sudden electrical discharge may cause operational failure of the sensor, such failure may be temporary or permanent.
Typical electrostatic discharge protection circuits for solid state arrays may be relatively poor, since in this type of circuit configuration, it is usual to connect the cell""s buried and ungrounded capacitor plates to transistor gates and/or to connect the cell""s ungrounded and buried capacitor plates to system ground potential by way of reverse biased diodes. In this type of construction and arrangement, the electrostatic charge sometimes carried by a human body and its fingertip, which may be in the range of several kilo volts (kV) or more, may be sufficiently high to break through the solid state cell""s upper dielectric/passivation layer. If this breakthrough occurs, the potential is raised at ungrounded circuit nodes that are associated with the buried capacitor plates and may cause damage to the associated array cell. Damage to the data or the sensor must be avoided, while the sensitivity of the sensor is maintained at close to optimal levels.
Another significant problem of the current structures for the protection of fingerprint sensors is contamination from substances, such as oils and proteins that are found on the surface of fingers. To remove these contaminants, it is often necessary to use organic or inorganic solvents or detergents to clean the sensor surface. Therefore, the electrostatic discharge protection must be resistant to these often corrosive compounds.
Another area of concern is hygiene. Fingers, as well as the environment, tend to contain a number of microbes and bacteria that are removed from the sensor along with the other contaminants. To remove these microbes and bacteria and reduce the chance of contagion between users, antibacterial, antifungal and decontaminating agents are often used to clean the sensors. These decontaminating agents often include harsh abrasives, enzymes, organic or inorganic solvents or detergents. Therefore, any electrostatic discharge protection must be resistant to these often corrosive cleaning compounds.
What is needed is a structure and method to protect sensors from electrostatic discharges, while at the same time maintaining the sensors ability to withstand mechanical stress. The structure must not only permit continued functioning of the sensor during normal use, but also withstand, among others, the extreme conditions of humidity, electricity, heat, light, etc., to which the sensor may be exposed. The sensor electrostatic discharge structure should also be resistant to chemical detergents and solvents, but still be compatible with the underlying components of the sensor.
The present invention provides a method of and system for providing electrostatic discharge capability for a sensor circuit, such as a fingerprint sensor. In a type of sensor array with which this invention finds utility, each sensing cell includes ungrounded metal capacitor plates covered by a dielectric. An ungrounded object, such as a fingertip which comes close to or in contact with the dielectric forms a third capacitor plate between the metal capacitor plates. An electrostatic charge sometimes carried by a human body may be sufficiently high to break through the dielectric layer covering the metal capacitor plates. The present invention improves the electrostatic discharge performance of such a sensor array.
The present invention is directed to a process and apparatus for using an integrated sensor mask for making a contact between layers in an integrated circuit including, providing a substrate having disposed thereon a sensor and an electrically conductive pad. An insulating layer is disposed over the sensor to electrically isolate the sensor, as is a conductive layer that is disposed over the insulating layer at the pad. A passivation layer is disposed over the conductive layer, wherein the conductive layer serves as a mask during an etching step that forms an opening in the passivation and insulating layer.

Apparatus and method for contacting a conductive layer


Disclosed is a fast side-face interference resistant face detection method, in which a user selects an ordinary image, uses a deep neural network to extract image features, and then determines an exact location of a face. A training method for face detection uses a pure data-driven manner, uses an ordinary face image and a face boundary box as inputs, uses mirror symmetry and Gaussian filtering to perform data augmentation, and uses migration learning and hard example mining to enhance training effects. After a face image is read, the image is firstly scaled, and then placed into the deep neural network to extract features, and generate a plurality of face likelihood boxes and confidence scores of the face likelihood boxes, and finally the most appropriate face likelihood box is selected in a non-maximum suppression manner. No specific requirements are set on an angle of the face image, and a detection effect of a side face is still very obvious. In addition, the detection method above is simple, employs an end-to-end detection manner, and can be applied to a real-time environment.

Surveillance videos, as the core portion of the intelligent surveillance system, have been paid much attention. With the increasing call for constructing a complete public security system, surveillance cameras in cities start to be greatly increased. With existing human resources, it will waste a lot of time to search the surveillance videos of more than a dozen routes and even search in massive video libraries only by manpower. Therefore, the automation of video surveillance, the full exertion of an autonomy and a real-time property of the video surveillance, and the liberation of manual labor play vital roles in a security field and even in the improvement of a living standard of people. Many automatic/semi-automatic algorithms emerge at the right moment to meet the needs of assistance, and even automatic retrieval or surveillance video shooting.
However, current detection algorithms in the world, such as the face detection algorithms, are difficult to meet the needs of the market, which often cannot effectively solve the problems of blurring, shielding, an excessively small face, or an excessively slow detection speed when facing a face detection task. The present invention has a fast processing speed and a high detection rate, and it can fully solve the problems of blurring, shielding and an excessively small face, and is able to effectively assist works of security personnel.

Fast side-face interference resistant face detection method