A mask has an inspection region virtually divided by a plurality of stripes. A position error-correcting unit is disposed on a stage in a region different from the mask, formed with patterns divided virtually by the plurality of stripes. A first deviation amount acquiring circuit acquires a first deviation amount from the optical image and the reference image of the position error correction unit. A second deviation amount acquiring circuit acquires a second deviation amount. A position correcting circuit corrects a positional relationship between the mask and the position error correction unit based on the first deviation amount, and obtains a fluctuation value of position coordinates of each pattern in the inspection region of the mask based on the second deviation amount and corrects the position coordinates.

In recent years, as the levels of integration and capacity of large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) have increased, there has been a need to continue to reduce the width of the circuit patterns of semiconductor devices. Semiconductor devices are manufactured by a reduced projection exposure system called a "stepper" using original artwork patterns with a circuit pattern formed thereon, these are called masks or reticles (hereinafter referred to collectively as masks). Here, a wavelength of deep ultraviolet rays used for the transfer of a pattern is 193 nm, but the size of a pattern to be transferred is shorter than the wavelength. Therefore, the complexity of the lithography technique is also accelerated. Further, the degree of freedom to perform a design change to a different mask pattern for each product is also demanded for mass production of LSIs. In view of these circumstances, an electron beam lithography technique implemented in an electron beam writing system is used when original artwork patterns are formed on a mask.
Electron beam lithography inherently provides a superior resolution, since it uses electron beams, which are a type of charged particle beam. This technology is also advantageous in that great depth of focus is obtained, which enables dimensional variations to be reduced even when a large step feature is encountered. Therefore, the electron beam lithography technique is used not only in manufacturing masks but also when patterns are written directly on a wafer. For example, the technology has been applied to the development of state-of-the-art devices typified by DRAM (dynamic random access memory), as well as to the production of some ASICs.
Incidentally, since the cost to manufacture LSIs is very high, an increase in yield is required to make the manufacturing economically feasible. Therefore, various measures have been adopted in order to increase the yield. In particular, since pattern defects of masks are a large factor in causing yield reduction, the pattern detects are required to be detected accurately in the mask manufacturing process.
However, the dimensions of the patterns for LSI devices, as typified by 1-gigabit class DRAMs are about to be scaled down from the order of submicrons to the order of nanometers. Therefore, the size of pattern defects to be detected on the mask is very small. As a result, high inspection accuracy is required of inspection systems for detecting defects of masks used in LSI manufacture.
There are two known mask defect detecting methods: the die-to-die inspection method and the die-to-database inspection method. Both the inspections are configured so as to compare an optical image of a sample to be inspected with a reference image serving as an example to detect a defect. For example, in the die-to-database inspection, write data (design pattern data) is inputted into an inspection system and design image data (reference image) serving as the reference image is generated based upon the write data. Measurement data (optical image) obtained by photographing a pattern is compared with the design image data (reference image). Incidentally, the write data is obtained by converting CAD (Computer Aided Design) data that has been pattern-designed into a format, which can be inputted into the inspection system.
The die-to-database inspection method is specifically disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-112178. In this document light is emitted from a light source, and the mask to be inspected is irradiated with this light through an optical unit. The mask is mounted on a stage, and this stage is moved so that the emitted beam of light scans the surface of the mask. Light transmitted through or reflected from the mask reaches an image sensor forming an image thereon. The optical image thus formed on the image sensor is sent to a comparing unit as measurement data. The comparing unit compares the measurement data with design image data in accordance with an appropriate algorithm, and if they are not identical, the mask is determined to have a defect.
As described above, according to the decrease in dimensions of a pattern on a mask, a size of a defect to be detected becomes smaller. Therefore, the inspection system is required to have an optical unit with a high magnification, and the time for inspection becomes protracted. Therefore, due to thermal drift of a mask or fluctuation of air flow inside the inspection system caused by long-time irradiation of an inspection light to the mask, measurement errors of a position measuring system caused by various heat sources in the inspection system and the like, there is a problem in that fluctuation of the position of the pattern obtained from the inspection result occurs. In view of further advancement of decreases in pattern dimensions, such a position fluctuation must be corrected.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the above problem. Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a system and method, which can reduce position errors occurring in the inspection process.
Other challenges and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the following description.


The present invention provides a method for determining a spatial channel model. The method may include generating a three-dimensional scattering cloud model based on a scattering environment proximate a mobile unit and a configuration of a plurality of antennas.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The coverage area of a wireless communication system is typically divided into a number of cells, which may be grouped into one or more networks. A base station (or alternatively a node-B, base station router, or access network) typically provides wireless connectivity to mobile units located in each cell. The mobile units may include devices such as mobile telephones, personal data assistants, smart phones, text messaging devices, Global Positioning System devices, wireless network interface cards, desktop or laptop computers, and the like. Mobile units located in each cell may access the wireless communications system by establishing a wireless communication link, often referred to as an air interface, with the base station that serves the cell.
The wireless communication link is formed using radio waves that may be transmitted between the mobile units and the base stations. Radio waves experience fading as they propagate from the transmitting end to the receiving end of the wireless communication link. Fading may be defined as a decrease in the intensity of a radio wave as it propagates from a transmitter to a receiver. The most common type of fading is Rayleigh fading, which is caused by scattering of the radio wave by scattering entities (or scatterers) in the environment. For example, Rayleigh fading may be significant in environments that have a large number or density of scatterers, such as the relatively dense distribution of buildings in urban environments. Rayleigh fading typically causes the transmitted radio wave to be received over a range of times, i.e., Rayleigh fading is a type of temporal fading. For example, portions of the radio wave that traveled directly from the transmitter to the receiver without being scattered may arrive at a time T1, whereas portions of the radio wave that have been scattered by a scatterer while traveling from the transmitter to the receiver may travel over a longer distance and therefore may arrive at a time T2>T1. Doppler shifting of the signal caused by the relative motion of the mobile unit and the scatterer or antenna may also shift the frequency (or wavelength) of the radio wave.
Rayleigh fading over a wireless communication link may be modeled using a one-dimensional model of a time series of the received signal. For example, the time series of the received signal may be modeled in terms of temporal correlations between portions of the time series, temporal averages of portions of the time series, temporal variances of portions of the time series, and other statistical measures. One exemplary model of Rayleigh fading is the well-known Jakes model, in which the time series is assumed to be generated by a one-dimensional angular distribution of scatterers surrounding the mobile transmitter or receiver. Various parameters of the one-dimensional distribution of scatterers may be varied to match the scattering environment, the speed of the transmitter and/or receiver, the deployment scenario for the transmitters and/or receivers, and other factors. For example, field tests may be used to define input parameters for a Jakes model of a particular environment, such as a neighborhood in an urban environment. The Jake's model may be used for testing, for performance analysis, to estimate capacities, to evaluate the performance of the wireless communication links, and the like in wireless communication systems, particularly those that include a single antenna for transmitting and receiving.
Base stations (and in some cases mobile units) may use more than one antenna for providing wireless connectivity within the cell coverage area. For example, a base station may use multiple antennas for transmitting information to mobile units over a forward link (or downlink) and receiving information from the mobile units over a reverse link (or uplink). Cell coverage and/or throughput can be improved by employing multiple antennas at either the transmitting or receiving end of the wireless communication link using techniques such as transmit and/or receive diversity, intelligent antennas, space-time coding, and the like. These techniques are conventionally referred to as Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technologies.
Temporal models like the Jakes model are able to capture the temporal statistics of the fading in multiple antenna systems, but these one-dimensional models are not able to capture spatial correlations or polarization correlations between the antennas. Two-dimensional models (such as a modified Jakes model) have been developed to model temporal and a portion of the spatial correlations in multiple antenna systems. The two-dimensional Jakes model specifies the geometric location of each scatter within a circular cloud around a mobile unit and then uses this two-dimensional scatter cloud to determine fading coefficients for each antenna. However, two-dimensional models are limited to modeling fading of a single polarization and therefore do not capture the polarization correlations between the multiple antennas. Consequently, these two-dimensional models may only be used to model fading in relatively simple multi-antenna systems, e.g., a four vertical-polarization configuration for 4-branch receiver diversity at the base station. More sophisticated two-dimensional channel models have been proposed but these models typically require extensive computation and take a long time to run. Furthermore, these models provide little or no intuition regarding the propagation physics.
Spatial channel modeling has also been hindered by a number of technical difficulties. For example, modeling spatial correlations requires expensive measurement data that is typically expensive and time-consuming to collect. Furthermore, spatial correlations may be highly dependent on the environment. For example, spatial correlations typically differ significantly between urban, suburban, and rural environments. The spatial correlations may also be different in macro-cell and micro-cell deployment scenarios. For example, the relatively large coverage areas and high vertical displacements of the base station antennas in macro-cell deployments may lead to high spatial correlations between the antennas. In contrast, base station antennas in micro-cell deployments are typically deployed much lower and in regions that may include a large number of scatterers, which may lead to a lower spatial correlation between the antennas. Antenna radiation patterns and the relative position of the mobile unit with respect to the antenna radiation orientation may also affect the spatial correlations. The difficulties are even more pronounced for models of polarization diversity.

Spatial channel model with a three-dimensional cloud of scatterers


An antenna. The antenna comprises a convex ground unit, a radiating member disposed above the ground unit and a feed member connected to the radiating member. The radiating member comprises a first sub-radiating member and a second sub-radiating member having a feed point to which the feed member is connected.

The present invention relates to an antenna, and in particular to an antenna with a uniform half-space radiation pattern.
As wireless local area networks (WLANs) proliferate, wireless networking is more popular. Access point antennas are, thus, highly valued. For WLAN access-point applications in different operation environments, various radiation patterns in the horizontal (azimuthal) plane, such as an omnidirectional radiation pattern or a half-space radiation pattern in one direction, are required for the mounting antennas.
For omnidirectional radiation, a monopole antenna is preferable. For half-space radiation, however, an additional metal reflector with a particular shape is added to the monopole antenna structure. US patent application publication No. 2002/0158807 A1 discloses a cylindrical metal reflector device with a specific opening for adjusting the radiation pattern of a monopole antenna, thereby creating the half-space radiation pattern. Such a structure (one monopole antenna and a reflector with a particular shape) is, however, oversized and complicated.
European patent No. 1,130,677 discloses a patch antenna comprising a patch element disposed above a flat ground plane. By adjusting an additional metal reflector cooperated with the ground plane, the radiation beam width, of 180° for uniform half-space radiation, can be enlarged. However, the radiation beam width of the patch antenna, however, can only reach 110°.
Japan patent No. JP2002-368532 discloses a microstrip antenna having a bulged ground plane and a lens-like structure formed by dielectric material to improve the radiation characteristics at low elevation. The improvement of the radiation beam width is, however, still non-obvious.
Japan patent No. JP2000-040917 discloses a cylindrical antenna provided with a circular radiating member and a circular ground plane. Such an antenna has a complicated structure and offers only limited improvement in enlarging the radiation beam width.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present invention relates to a process for producing a toner for electrophotography, including:                (a) a step of aggregating resin particles containing a resin binder in an aqueous medium; and        (b) a step of unifying the aggregated resin particles,        the step (a) including:        (a-1) a step of adding a monovalent salt as an aggregating agent; and        (a-2) a step of adding at least one compound selected from the group consisting of alkylethersulfates represented by the formula (1):R—O—(CH2CH2O)nSO3M  (1)wherein R is an alkyl group; n represents an average molar number of addition and is a number of more than 0 and not more than 15 (0<n≦15), and M is a monovalent cation, alkylsulfates and linear alkylbenzenesulfonates. The toner of the present invention has a small particle size which is controlled with a high accuracy, and a sharp particle size distribution, and a particle shape of the toner is readily controlled even at a low temperature, and further the obtained toner exhibits a high circularity.

In the field of toners for electrophotography, with the progress of electrophotographic systems, it has been demanded to develop toners adaptable for high image quality and high copying speed. From the viewpoint of the high image quality, the toners are required to have a small particle size, and the particle size and particle shape thereof must be suitably controlled.
As the method of controlling a particle size of the toners with a high accuracy and attaining a sharp particle size distribution and a sharp charge distribution thereof, there is disclosed, for example, the process for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image by subjecting resin particles contained in a dispersion to salting-out/aggregation to form toner particles which process includes a step of adding a salting-out agent, in particular, a di- or more valent salting-out agent to the dispersion (salting-out/aggregation step), and a step of adding a salting-out stopping agent to the dispersion at the time at which the toner particles is grown such that a volume-average particle size thereof reaches from 2 to 9 μm (particle growth-stopping step) (refer to JP 2003-66648A).
Also, as the technique for controlling a shape of toner particles at a low temperature, there is known the method of substantially decreasing a glass transition point of resin particles by adding thereto an organic solvent capable of being infinitely dissolved in water to effectively conduct melt-bonding/fusion of the particles (refer to JP 2004-295028A). Further, there is known the emulsion polymerization and aggregation method in which a surfactant such as an alkylbenzenesulfonic acid is added during growth of particles to thereby obtain toner particles having a narrow dimensional distribution (refer to JP 7-146584A). In addition, JP 2002-131978A discloses the process for producing styrene-acryl-based toner particles by conducting salting-out, aggregation and fusion thereof under the coexistence of a specific surfactant.

Process for producing toner for electrophotography


A prefabricated tuned top and a launcher for launching the tuned top, manufactured in a small size with five components of a knob, a rim, beads, a body and a spinning spindle. The tuned top can be readily assembled by sequentially inserting and then tightening the components. The tuned top implements a changeable spinning form based on induction of a change in difference between the centripetal force and centrifugal force, generated during spinning, since the center of gravity can be eccentrically disposed freely according to the user's selection. The tuned top is prevented from being reversely loosened so it can be safely, semi-permanently, and easily enjoyable at any location. The tuned top enables accurate and stable mounting when a launcher is used, such that the top is not easily separated therefrom but is quickly launched without a launch failure, thereby providing accurate launching without the loss of spinning power.

Conventionally, a top is a play tool for a top-spinning game, which is one of Korean traditional folk games for children. The conventional top includes a top body made by chipping out of wood, and a spinning spindle fixed at the center of a lower end of the top body. The top-spinning game is performed in such a way that the top spins when a user hits the top body with a string fixed on a stick.
There are various kinds of top-spinning games: a long spinning game that persons make their tops spin longer after hitting their tops with their strings of the sticks so the person who makes his or her top spin the longest is the winner; a spinning top battle game that a spinning top of a person crashes against other's top and knocks over the other's top so the person whose top stops spinning is the loser; and a returning-to-start-line game that persons return to the start line while hitting their tops to make their tops spin and move accurately and faster till their tops return to the start line from a target so the person whose top returns to the start line the fastest.
The top-spinning games are mostly performed on the ice or in an outdoor space to secure a sufficient space. So, due to rapid industrialization, tendency of nuclear families, and high advancement of play tools, such as toys, the top-spinning becomes one of experience game cultures that people can experience in tourist attractions or experience centers.
Recently, with development of toy tops that children can play indoors, the toy tops became very popular among children. So, the game culture that a child makes his or her top crash against other's top and the child whose top spins the longest or flicks the other's top off a top board is the winner has been established.
Such tops are classified into string tops, launcher tops, and finger tops, and the following Table 1 shows merits and demerits of the above-mentioned tops.
TABLE 1Div.String topLauncher topFinger topConceptAfter a user connects theThis top spins by aWhen a user grips theknob and the centralseparate top-spinningknob of the top withspindle with a string andtool (launcher orfingers and releases thewinds the string on theshooter) instead of atop while turning the top,inclined surface of a lowerstring.the top spins.portion of the top bodywhile making concentriccircles, the user throws thetop on which the string iswound toward the floor,then the top is separatedfrom the string by acentrifugal force and spinson the floor.MeritIt is a traditional top, andAnyone can spin theThere is no need to use aanyone can enjoy it easilytop easily without anystring or a launcher.and rapidly if he or she isskill.Anyone can spin the topskilled at the top.The user can adjusteasily without any skill.The user can adjust thethe spinning speedChildren can enjoyspinning speed accordingaccording to the speedspinning tops even in ato ways to wind the stringof pulling a winder.narrow space, such as onor ways to throw the top.a table or on the palm,since the diameter of thetop is less than 3 cm.Namely, children can playwith the top anywhere.It is not dangerous and issafe.It is easy to carry.DemeritIt is difficult to tightlyIt is difficult toIt is difficult to be higherwind the string to make theobtain wantedin spinning force than thetop spin.spinning force of thelauncher top or the stringIt is difficult to play withtop due to a loss oftop.the top indoors since thespinning force of thesharp spinning spindletop in an aspect of thestabs the floor when thestructure of athrown top drops on thelauncher.floor.It is dangerous whenbeing thrown toward aperson.Just a skilled person canspin the top.
Because of the above-mentioned differences, there are limitations in utilizing as the string top, the launcher top or the finger top. Combined tops may be used in such a way that the function of the string top is added to the launcher top or the function of the launcher top is added to the string top, but the string top or the launcher top is not used as the finger top. Especially, due to the nature of the launcher having the combination of a rack and a pinion gear, in consideration of the height, width, and gear mesh of gears mounted in the launcher, the launcher top must be about 50 mm or more in diameter. Then, the user cannot spin the launcher top at a strong centrifugal force just by a finger since the launcher top increases in weight and volume.
Moreover, the finger top is a miniature top of a tiny size, and is less than 30 mm in diameter so as to be spined by a finger, and must have a knob so that the user can grip and spin with the finger.
However, since the string top has no knob and the launcher top has a knob changed in structure for gear meshing, the string top and the launcher top are inappropriate for spinning by the finger.
In the meantime, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 (Jul. 18, 2000) discloses a top having a bottom member, a body member and a head member which are separable from one another, so as to be easily replaceable and to provide weight changing means and a suspension function. Therefore, the top increases safety since the top has changeable spinning force and impulsive force when a person plays with the top and absorbs shock when crashing onto other's top, and the user can enjoy spinning his or her own top since optional articles can be added to the top freely.
However, the top disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 has several disadvantages in that it is complicated in structure and it is difficult to assemble since the top must have a suspension unit, and a fastening screw and an adjusting screw for fastening the suspension unit, must be specified in location of the top, and must have a coupling structure to screw the head member and the bottom member to the body member.
Additionally, the string top which is not usable as the finger top has a string to be wound on the body member. The top disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 has a groove formed in the circumference of the body member so that the user can easily wind the string on the top. Therefore, the top disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 is clearly a string top.
In addition, the finger top is characterized by a knob protruding long so that a user can spin the top with the fingers. However, the top disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 does not have a knob but has an upper cap. The upper cap is just a cap for protecting an adjustable screw mounted to adjust an elastic restoring force of the suspension.
Moreover, because a shaft member has a structure that a bearing spring and a bearing are embedded in order to strengthen an elastic buffering function, in view of the concept of the Table 1, the top disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-197776 is not the finger top but is clearly a string top. It is difficult to miniaturize the top like the finger top with the size of less than 3 cm due to the complicated structure.
Meanwhile, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3088350 (Jun. 19, 2002) discloses a launcher top of which spinning characteristics are changed when spinning at low speed and when spinning at high speed.
The launcher top can secure variety in playing the top without additional expenses since changing its spinning characteristics without purchase and replacement of additional parts.
However, because the top disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3088350 is clarified as the launcher top spinning by a shooter, it is difficult to be used as a finger top based on the concept of the Table 1.
Especially, the top disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3088350 includes a magnet disposed at the center of the top and a magnetic core touching the magnet, wherein a lower end of the magnetic core is located in an exposed space, the space is notched with the outside and movable iron beads are contained in the space. Therefore, the launcher top can obtain a change in speed, namely, a change in the number of rotations, by a change in location of the iron beads since the iron beads are adsorbed onto the magnetic core by a magnetic force of the magnetic core during a low-speed rotation and are separated from the magnetic core to be away from the magnetic core while a centrifugal force increases during a high-speed rotation.
As described above, the top disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3088350 has several disadvantages in that it is complicated and difficult to mold since having the magnetic core, a space for mounting the magnetic core, the magnet embedded therein, and the arrangement that the magnetic core gets in contact with the magnet, and since a lower layer member, a middle layer member and an upper layer member must be molded to have a specific fitting assembly structure, and in that it is structurally inconvenient to assemble since having additional insertion pieces and a storage part. Furthermore, the launcher top has only the storage part structure to be coupled with the shooter but does not have a knob which is the feature of the finger top. On the contrary, because the finger top has a long knob but does not have a gear mesh structure, it cannot be fit and used to the shooter, thus it is difficult for the launcher top and the finger top to be redirected to each other.
Furthermore, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0261196 (Jan. 19, 2002) discloses a string top which is easily disassembled such that a spinning spindle can be easily replaced when being worn down and which can keep a balance by relieving the shock at the time of crash onto the ground since having an elastic buffering structure by a spring, thereby enabling even an unskilled person to spin the top easily.
However, the string top which spins by the string wound on the top has a large volume exceeding 3 cm and includes a hanger part to which the spring is inserted and on which the string is wound. So, the string top is utterly different from the finger top in concept, increases manufacturing costs due to the complicated structure of a bundle of spinning spindles for fixing the spring, and it is difficult to fit a coupling protrusion of the body to an outer ring at the time of assembly.
Meanwhile, because the spinning spindle of the launcher top is fixed rigidly, when the top collides against the ground initially after launching, a strong shock is not absorbed and is directly transmitted to the top as it is. Therefore, the top is out of the balance and does not frequently well, so the user has to repeat a launching action several times.
In connection with the above, a conventional art in which a spindle moves elastically by a spring so as to absorb the shock. However, the conventional art cannot solve the above-mentioned demerits other than the above.
Additionally, there is a method of launching a top by separating the top from a launcher. According to the method, when a user pulls the launcher after fitting and fixing the top to the launcher, the toy top is separated from the launcher by a centrifugal force generated when the top rotates. However, if the top is fixed too tightly, the top is not separated easily. On the contrary, if the top is fixed loosely, the top is easily separated from the launcher due to weak fixation power before launching. Moreover, in this case, even though the top is fixed, due to looseness, the top cannot obtain a strong spinning power, so it reduces fun and it is tiresome and complicated since the user has to launch the top several times.
Furthermore, most of launcher tops, which adopt the method of fixing a top on a launcher, have a hook-type retaining jaw. Because most of the launcher tops are made of synthetic resin, the retaining jaw is worn down when being used for a long time, and it causes deterioration of retaining power and reduction of lifespan of the top.
Additionally, because the conventional top is a single type top that only one top is fit to one launcher, the launcher top is very monotonous, and the top launched can spin jus in one direction. So, the conventional launcher top has a limitation that it cannot provide fun of various and changeable games.
Moreover, because the conventional tops are manufactured in a state where the center of gravity is settled according to standards, users cannot increase or decrease the center of gravity as the user please. That is, because the users cannot adjust the width of precession as the users want, the conventional tops has a limitation in realizing an attacking style top suitable for user preferences.
Furthermore, because the rack gear of the conventional launcher is formed at one side, the rack gear has directivity, so users feel inconvenient since they have to fit the top to a launcher body while checking all parts.

Prefabricated tuned top and launcher for launching tuned top


A substrate for a liquid crystal device includes: an electrode film provided on a display area on the substrate; an alignment film which covers at least the display area and is subjected to an alignment process by rubbing; and a band-shaped projection provided in a peripheral area outside the display area so as at least to intersect the rubbing direction and extend along the display area, in which the height of the band-shaped projection on the substrate is higher than the height of the surface of the electrode film.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a substrate for a liquid crystal device suitable for improving the image quality displayed on the liquid crystal device and a method of manufacturing the same, an electro-optic apparatus, and electronic equipment.
2. Related Art
A liquid crystal device which corresponds to an electro-optic apparatus is configured with two substrates such as a glass substrate or a quartz substrate, and liquid crystal encapsulated therebetween. There is the liquid crystal device employing an active system having non-linear elements such as TFTs (Thin Film Transistor) or TFDs (Thin Film Diode) provided on the pixel-to-pixel basis, and signal electrodes and pixel electrodes are electrically connected via the non-linear elements.
The liquid crystal device of an active system includes the non-linear elements arranged in a matrix pattern on one substrate and opposed electrodes arranged on the other substrate to enable display of images by changing the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer encapsulated between the substrates according to the image signals.
The TFT substrate having the TFTs arranged thereon and the opposed substrate arranged so as to oppose the TFT substrate are manufactured separately. These substrates are bonded to each other with high degree of accuracy in a panel assembly process, and then the liquid crystal is encapsulated therebetween.
In the panel assembly process, alignment films are formed on the opposed surfaces of the TFT substrate and the opposed substrate which are manufactured separately in the respective substrate manufacturing process, that is, on the surfaces of the opposed substrate and the TFT substrate which come in contact with the liquid crystal layer, and then a rubbing process is carried out. Then, a sealing member which corresponds to an adhesive agent is formed on peripheral sides on one of the substrates. The TFT substrate and the opposed substrate are bonded using the sealing member and are press-cured while being adjusted in alignment. The sealing member is formed with a notch, which is used for filling the liquid crystal.
When the alignment film is formed and applied with the rubbing process, the alignment of liquid crystal molecules when no voltage is applied is determined. The alignment film is formed by applying, for example, polyimide by a thickness of approximately several tens nanometers. By forming the alignment films on the surfaces of both the substrates opposing the liquid crystal layer, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned along the surfaces of the substrates. The rubbing process is a process to be applied to an alignment-anisotropic film by forming fine grooves on the surface of the alignment film, and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is defined by carrying out the rubbing process on the alignment film in a certain direction.
In consideration of productivity, an array manufacture in which film formation and a photolithography process are repeated on one piece of mother glass substrate without cutting the same to form elements for a plurality of TFT substrates on the mother glass substrate at once may be employed.
In the rubbing process, a rotating rubbing roller is slid on the surface of the substrate. Foreign substances generated by the rubbing process like chips of the alignment film move with the movement of the rubbing roller and are swept out of the substrate. However, since there generates a level difference at every element in the array manufacture, the chips generated during the rubbing process may remain on the adjacent elements due to the level difference.
Therefore, in JP-A-2004-240053, a technology to prevent entry of the chips generated during the rubbing process into the display area by forming projections in the peripheral area on the TFT array substrate is disclosed.
However, in JP-A-2004-240053, there is no disclosure relating to the opposed substrate manufactured by the array manufacture, and the chips generated during the rubbing process remain on the opposed substrate even with the technology disclosed in JP-A-2004-240053. When the chips enter the effective display area, there arises a problem such that the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is disordered and hence the image quality is deteriorated at a portion where the chips are attached.

Substrate for liquid crystal device, electro-optic apparatus and electronic equipment


The invention detects the position of an eye in image of a driver's face quickly and with high reliability, even if the density of the driver's face image is not uniform on the right and left sides due to direct sunlight. Only one eye detection area is obtained on the dark side of the face image when the density of the face image is not uniform on the right and left sides. One eye window is detected in the one eye detection area, and an iris center is detected within the eye window to discriminate an inattentive driver who is dozing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eye position detecting system, and more specifically to an eye position detecting system suitable for use in an automotive vehicle, to detect driver's inattentive driving due to a doze or looking aside.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The background of the present invention will be explained with respect to its application to the system used with an automotive vehicle.
As the first type of prior-art driver's eye position detecting systems for automotive vehicles, driver's eye position recognizing systems have been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) Pat. Appli. Nos. 60-158303, 60-158304, 61-77705 and 61-17706, in which an upper half of a driver face is irradiated with infrared rays emitted from two infrared stroboscopes; the reflected light is detected by two image sensors; two dark areas within the detected bright face image are extracted as two singular points; and the two extracted singular points are recognized as two eyes.
Further, as the second type of prior-art systems for automotive vehicles, an electric apparatus energizing control system has been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) Pat. Appli. No. 64-13491, in which the change in driver's eye conditions or the shape of driver's mouth speaking conditions is recognized to turn-on or off various electric apparatus such as buzzers, meters, automatic doors, relays, monitor TVs, etc.
In these prior-art eye position detecting systems, two eye existing areas are first decided before detecting eye positions. That is, a head top position of a driver face from a fixed position is detected in a face image: the detected face is divided into a few (e.g., three) areas; appropriate threshold values are determined for each areas respectively; and the lightness can be obtained as binary image signals to decide the eye existing areas.
In the first-type prior-art eye position detecting system, however, since the two dark areas within a closed bright area in a driver's face image are recognized as eye positions of singular points, when a half side of the driver's face is irradiated with direct sunlight, since the optical density (lightness) gradation on the driver face is excessively high and therefore is not uniformly detected, it is impossible to distinguish dark areas from bright areas so that eye positions cannot be detected.
Further, in the second-type prior-art eye position detecting system, when the external light conditions vary complicatedly during vehicle travelling, there exist various problems in that the driver's head position cannot be detected within the face image (being out of the detected image) so that the eye positions cannot be detected, and therefore the threshold levels must be adjusted many times according to the light density gradation in order to obtain binary image signals, thus resulting in slow response speed.
In summary, in the prior-art eye position detecting system, when the driver face is irradiated with direct sunlight, it has been difficult to accurately detect the driver eye position at high response speed and with high reliability.

Eye position detecting system and method therefor


An optical pickup apparatus is guided in a predetermined direction along a pair of guide shafts, and includes a supporting mechanism for supporting the optical pickup relative to the guide shafts, a preloading mechanism for providing a preload force on the supporting mechanism against the guide shafts, and an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the preload force of the preloading mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a moving body provided with a mechanism for exerting a preload on a bearing against a guide shaft, and more particularly to an optical pickup apparatus with an objective lens mounted therein.
2. Related Background Art
Conventional optical pickup apparatus are provided with a preloading mechanism for giving a preload on a support portion (bearing portion) against a guide rail as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. In the apparatus, rollers 102 as a bearing rotationally supported on a carriage 106 are pressed against a reference shaft 101 with circumferential surfaces thereof being in contact with the reference shaft 101 in cooperation with a preloading roller 104 and a fixed roller 103 also as a bearing with circumferential surfaces thereof being in contact with a support shaft 110 set in parallel with the reference shaft 101, thereby restricting rotation of carriage 106 about the reference shaft.
A preloading plate spring 105 for exerting the above pressing force on the preloading roller 104 is a spring formed of a single spring member in an appropriate shape (in an approximately "V" shape in this example), which is arranged to be deformed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 to generate a preload when the carriage 106 is set between the reference shaft 101 and the support shaft 110 in incorporating the base (not shown) of the apparatus. Since this prior art example employs no mechanism or structure for adjusting the preload force, the preload force is determined by a relative position between the shafts and an amount of deformation of the plate spring. Since machining and assembling of those members involved considerable errors, the spring constant of the plate spring has generally been set to be small, particularly in order to absorb the above errors by deformation of the plate spring.
For pursuing high-speed accessibility of optical disk apparatus, the optical pickup apparatus, however, needs to have a size-decreased moving part and vibration characteristics durable for high-speed operation. In order to achieve this object, the apparatus needs to satisfy such a reciprocal relation that moving resistance of the guide portion should be decreased in access whereas the support stiffness by the plate spring should be increased. Namely, the rolling resistance of the guide rollers should be decreased so as to increase a utilization factor of a motor drive force as a propulsive force of the carriage and at the same time, the support stiffness of the carriage should be increased so as to be ready for high-speed operation in a widened control frequency band. When the support stiffness is increased or when the spring constant is increased, there is a possibility that considerable errors are made in machining and assembling of the shafts and plate spring to cause great differences of the preload force, to reduce an elastic deformation range, or to cause plastic deformation of the plate spring in assembling.

Device for adjusting the preload of a plate spring for an optical pickup apparatus


A structured cabling system with at least one pair of 2n-pole distribution sockets, with at least one pair of 2n-pole outlets, and with installed n-wire cable connections, each of which connects n poles of a distribution socket to n poles of the associated outlet. The system comprises means connecting the n unoccupied poles of one distribution socket (10.1) to the unoccupied poles of the second distribution socket (10.2) for at least one pair of distribution sockets (10.1, 10.2). The system further includes means connecting the n unoccupied poles of one outlet (14.1) to the unoccupied poles of the second outlet (14.2) for at least the associated pair of outlets; and in that, in one distribution socket (10.2) and in one outlet (14.2) of each pair, each of the n unoccupied poles can be connected to one of the n occupied poles by means of a short-circuiting bridge plug (16).

In commercial buildings, structured cablings are being installed to an increasing extent, i.e., cablings which head out in a star-like pattern from a central distribution panel to outlets distributed throughout the building or one floor of the building. These structured cablings are designed for telecommunications and data networks, etc. Each socket on the distribution panel is connected by the cabling to a plug-in outlet. The individual outlets can be connected and reconnected individually to the distribution panel.
The distribution sockets on the distribution panel and the plug-in outlets for the terminal devices connected by the cabling are usually standard sockets with a predetermined number of contact poles. In many cases, sockets with eight contacts are used, e.g., RJ45 sockets. The structured cabling is often designed so that not all the contacts of the sockets are assigned. For example, ISDN and Ethernet networks are designed for only 4 wires, so that of the 8 contacts in the sockets, only 4 are occupied by wires of the structured cabling. If a 4-wire structured cabling of this type is to be used for 8-wire services, it is necessary to change the wiring of the distribution sockets and outlets and to connect the wires of two sockets in each case to the contact poles of a single socket. This means that installation will be expensive.


There is provided a method of reducing noise in a medical image while maintaining structure characteristics within the medical image. The method of reducing noise in the medical image includes: a step of estimating the amount of noise at each pixel by using a look-up table that previously stores physical properties of an image capturing device; a step of calculating a structure direction and a signal coherence at each pixel; a step of performing anisotropic smoothing by using an anisotropic smoothing filter kernel that reflects the structure direction and the signal coherence; and a step of obtaining a structure direction and a signal coherence from an image on which the anisotropic smoothing is performed, obtaining an anisotropic smoothing filter kernel that reflects the obtained structure direction and the signal coherence, and performing filtering that reflects statistical properties of the estimated amount of noise.

In modern medicine, medical images captured by X-ray irradiation, CT and MRI play important roles for diagnosing patients or making decision in treating the patients. Accordingly, obtaining high-quality images with less noise is necessary in medical imaging examinations. A medical image is produced by physical energy in which image signals are generated through the reaction of the physical energy with the body and detected by a detector. So, in the medical image obtaining procedure, noise is unavoidably included in the image due to slight variations in an energy generating source and energy distribution in space as well as the occurrence of thermodynamic noise within the detector. Especially in X-rap and CT examinations that use ionizing radiation, in order to reduce potential harm due to radiation exposure, it is necessary to reduce a radiation dose exposure when capturing the medical image. However, a reduction of the radiation dose causes an increased noise level in the medical image.
An important step in imaging examination chain is the application of appropriate post processing technique which reduces the image noise generated at the time of image capture, in order to increase the value of clinical utilization of the medical image.
However, a general method of reducing noise in the field of image processing is primarily focused to enhance visual comfort. For this reason, mechanisms that prevent the degradation of structural properties within the image caused by the noise reduction procedure are not sufficiently provided. The degradation of an important anatomical structure or lesion shape caused by the noise reduction procedure may lead to an error in imaging diagnosis, which may in turn bring about a serious consequence in patient care. Accordingly, the noise reduction method of the medical image needs to have specially tuned mechanisms unlike those techniques used in a general application field.

Method for reducing noise in medical image


A semiconductor device having a high-K gate dielectric layer includes a p-type well that is formed in an upper layer of a silicon substrate. Arsenic ions are implanted into an extreme surface layer of the p-type well and a heat treatment is performed to form a p-type low-concentration layer. A HfAlOx film and a polycrystalline silicon layer are laminated on the substrate. A gate electrode is formed by patterning the polycrystalline silicon layer. After a n-type extension region is formed by implanting arsenic ions by using the gate electrode as a mask, sidewall spacers are formed on sides of the gate electrode. Arsenic ions are implanted by using the sidewall spacers and the gate electrode as masks, whereby n-type source/drain regions are formed.

In order to realize a high-speed performance and size reduction of semiconductor devices, such as a MISFET (metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor), a thin gate dielectric layer has been adopted. However, a problem that gate leakage current increases when the thickness of a silicon oxide film and a silicon oxynitride film (hereinafter referred to as "a silicon oxide film and the like") is reduced. The silicon oxide film and the like have been used as gate dielectric layers. To solve this problem, there has been proposed a technique which involves adopting a film having high dielectric constant (k) (hereinafter referred to as "a high-k gate dielectric layer") as a gate dielectric layer.
Also, there has been proposed a technique which involves controlling the threshold voltage of a MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) transistor by forming P-type impurity regions (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-313950).
However, as a result of an examination by the present inventor, it became apparent that the use of a high-k gate dielectric layer as a gate dielectric layer of a MISFET causes the problem that the threshold voltage of a MISFET rises more than when a silicon oxide film and the like are used. As one cause, it might be that this is because the metals contained in a high-k gate dielectric layer and the Si contained in a gate electrode react with each other. Furthermore, as another cause it might be that this is because the metals contained in a high-k gate dielectric layer react with arsenic ions and boron ions implanted into a substrate for use in the formation of source/drain regions.
Since the driving performance of a transistor decreases if the threshold voltage of a MISFET rises, it is necessary to control the threshold voltage with high accuracy.

Semiconductor device having high-k gate dielectric layer and method for manufacturing the same


An apparatus for measuring physical strength by dynamically measuring the instantaneous power of a nonrepetitive muscular force as, for example, the force exerted by a leg extension, on the basis of a power theory and, consequently, the instantaneous power generated by a dynamic, nonrepetitive multi-articular movement such as a vertical jump. The power produced by a leg extension is calculated from the maximum speed V.sub.max of the foot plate and its output time T.sub.max. An apparatus for such measurement includes a base frame; a guide section that extends in the same direction as the base frame; a foot section that slides along the guide section so that its sliding angle is variable; a measuring unit that measures sliding conditions of the foot section; a display unit that displays, visually or aurally, various data on the leg extension of the subject; and a processor means for calculating the power generated by the leg extending force.

This invention relates to an apparatus for and method of measuring the physical strength of a person. More particularly, it is directed to an apparatus for and method of dynamically measuring the instantaneous power of a nonrepetitive muscular force as, for example, the force of a leg extending motion, based on a power theory. Specifically, the apparatus and method involve measuring the instantaneous power of a dynamic, nonrepetitive multi-articular motion as, for example, a vertical jump.
Conventional physical strength tests, such as vertical jump tests, reciprocal jump tests, and dorsal muscle tests, have had the following problems:
(1) It is often difficult to synthesize separate test results sized for evaluation, since various functions are evaluated separately.
(2) Evaluation standards are ambiguous. For example, the evaluation standard of a vertical jump is the height to which one can jump; however, this is merely an indirect index of physical strength.
(3) There is no standardized scientific support.
(4) Unusual movements may be involved, the loads involved are large, and injuries are liable to occur.
Presently, there is growing interest in physical conditioning. Thus, a method of and apparatus for easily, safely and accurately measuring physical strength is needed. In response, a study on unified indices of physical strength based on a power theory is underway.
According to the power theory, physical strength is measured as the capacity of energy (an integrated value of the power) or as an index. Methods for the generation of power can be classified according to energy developing mechanisms within a living body. For each method of power generation, an upper limit of power is measured and used as an index of physical strength for the corresponding energy generating mechanism.
Specifically, the mechanisms are classified as follows:
(a) Oxygen-present energy mechanism PA0 (b) Lactic acid-type anaerobic energy mechanism PA0 (c) Non-lactic acid-type anaerobic energy mechanism
Duration: Infinite PA1 Evaluation of upper limit power: Power available at 75% of the maximum heart rate, etc. PA1 Main factor for energy generation: Oxygen PA1 Duration: About 30 seconds PA1 Evaluation of upper limit power: Average power, critical power, etc. PA1 Main factor for energy generation: Glycogen PA1 Duration: About 7 seconds PA1 Evaluation of upper limit power: The optimum value determined by speed and developing force of the peak power around 5 to 6 seconds. PA1 Main factor for energy generation: ATP-CP type chemical energy.
With respect to energy mechanisms (a) and (c), a measuring apparatus using a bicycle ergometer has been practiced by the applicant (Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 42694/1989). "AEROBIKE" and "POWERMAX" are also known apparatuses developed from the above art. (Both "AEROBIKE" and "POWERMAX" are registered and pending trademarks of Combi Corporation; the former is Japanese Trademark Registration No. 1840771, and the latter is Japanese Trademark Publication No. 61-42348.) As for energy mechanism (b), the Wingate test is an example.
Power measurement by means of a bicycle ergometer has the advantage of rhythmic and efficient pedaling motion which lessens the chance of injury.
The instantaneous power of a dynamic, nonrepetitive muscular force in continuous muscular exercise of one's legs or other similar multi-articular exercise can be advantageous in every day life as, for example, when one must hastily avoid an obstacle. One apparatus for measuring the instantaneous power of a nonrepetitive muscular motion of legs is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 18103/1988. In this publication, the leg extending power is transmitted to an hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, and the physical strength of a subject is measured according to data from the cylinder.
In the above leg extending, power measuring apparatus, the adjustment of the cylinder and the like is very difficult, and the variation of the load in accordance with the speed makes it difficult to accurately measure instantaneous power. Further, with a hydraulic cylinder, the response time of the hydraulic pressure is so slow as to make measurement accuracy unreliable.
Instantaneous power generated by a leg extending force is conventionally calculated from the amount of work done on a brake load. The foot plate, having to receive the force generated when the user or subject kicks it with his full power within a very short time (about 0.3 seconds), is heavy and rigid in structure. Kinetic and inertial energy, as absorbed by the foot plate and the rotating system of a brake, are not taken into consideration in such calculations. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately measure the instantaneous power generated by leg extension.

Leg extension apparatus with pivotal foot section for measuring instantaneous power generated by a leg extending force


A programmable resistive memory cell comprising a lower electrode, a programmable resistance layer, and an upper electrode, wherein a lower mask is arranged between the lower electrode and the programmable resistance layer and an upper mask is arranged between the programmable resistance layer and the upper electrode, and wherein the lower mask and the upper mask comprise current-inhibiting regions.

Conventional electronic data memories, for example dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or flash RAM, are increasingly running into limits when they are supposed to satisfy modern requirements. Conventional concepts for electronically storing data, as are also used in DRAM or flash RAM, store information units in capacitors, in which case a charged or uncharged state of a capacitor may represent, for instance, the two logic states "1" or "0".
In the case of DRAM, the capacitors are of extremely small design, in order to achieve high information density and integration, and therefore require the stored information content to be continuously refreshed. In addition to additional memory controllers for the purpose of refreshing, this also requires a considerable amount of power. On the other hand, flash RAM retains the information content stored in it even without power being supplied, but individual flash RAM memory cells are relatively large and require a high voltage for writing information. Modern electronic data memories must therefore be capable of combining high information density, fast access, and non-volatility. In this context, non-volatility denotes the property of an electronic data memory of being able to store information reliably for a considerably long period of time without the need of external power supply.
The requirements in terms of integration density and non-volatility become apparent particularly in the case of mobile applications, since, in that case, available space is limited and batteries—serving as the power supply—may provide only a limited amount of power and also only a limited voltage. In order to combine non-volatility with fast access time and high integration, alternatives for DRAM or flash RAM are subject to intensive scientific and industrial research. In this case, the so-called resistive electronic memories—inter alia—represent a promising concept.
In addition to solid electrolytes, phase transition materials and other special materials, a high-resistive and a low-resistive state may also be imposed on transition metal oxide layers, which, in this way, may serve as a reliable and stable resistive memory cell. By way of example, a logic state "1" may thus be assigned to a low-resistive state and a logic state "0" may be assigned to a high-resistive state. Furthermore, such layers also allow a distinction to be made between a plurality of resistive states, with the result that a plurality of distinguishable logic states may be kept reliably in a single cell, which is also referred to as multibit capability.
The process of storing information in a transition metal oxide (TMO) layer is based on the principle that a low-resistive filament can be formed in a TMO by means of local heating. Local heating may be generated by a current through the TMO which initially has a high resistance. As a result, the filament short-circuits the otherwise high-resistive TMO and thus considerably changes the effective electrical resistance. By means of application of a sufficiently low volatage the resistive and thus the logic state of the memory cell may be determined via measuring a resulting current. An existing filament may be interrupted again using a sufficiently high current and the TMO memory cell thus reverts to a high-resistive state. This process is reversible and has also already been shown at technically relevant repetition rates in the range of 106. In general, a TMO memory cell may be formed from a lower electrode, an upper electrode and a TMO layer arranged in between said electrodes. The minimum size in this case of such a TMO memory cell is primarily given by lithographic restrictions as far as the patterning of the electrodes is concerned.
An individual filament which considerably reduces the electrical resistance of a TMO memory cell often has a much smaller cross section than the minimum contact area of the electrodes which can be achieved using modern lithography and patterning techniques. During an initial programming step, a plurality of filaments begin to form until a first continuous filament short-circuits the upper and lower electrodes. This also terminates the further formation of the residual filaments which do not continue to grow after the short circuit caused by the first contiguous filament. However, the formation of these residual filaments is unnecessary as far as the programming is concerned, since only one individual filament suffices to reliably define the resistive state of the TMO memory cell. The spatial extent and the size of the cross-sectional area of the at least one continuous filament is not subject to any control either and hence the resistivity of a considerable volume of the TMO is changed unnecessarily. Nevertheless, the formation of the residual filaments and the unnecessary altering of volume requires current heating and hence power is consumed unnecessarily. However, it is desired, to keep the power required to write to, and read from, modern electronic data memories as low as possible.

Programmable resistive memory cell with a programmable resistance layer


This haptic presentation apparatus includes a first haptic presentation element that includes an air-tight and flexible first pouch into which an object has been inserted and is capable of presenting, by using an amount of gas to be exhausted from an interior of the first pouch, hardness of a virtual object in response to an operation of holding the virtual object by a user, and a second haptic presentation element that includes an air-tight and flexible second pouch and is capable of presenting, by using an amount of gas to be supplied to an interior of the second pouch, elasticity of the virtual object in response to the operation of holding the virtual object by the user.

In recent years, an operation that feeds back, in response to a manual operation of a user for an object by computer graphics in augmented reality (AR) or the like, the haptic perception according to the characteristics such as the size, hardness, and elasticity of the object is researched and developed.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a glove-type haptic feedback device that employs a number of individual fluid chambers. The individual fluid chambers are each a microchamber in which an electrorheological fluid is enclosed, and the viscosity of the electrorheological fluid is changed by applying an electric field to both ends of the microchamber, thereby presenting the hardness of an object.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a type of haptic display hand that is worn on the back of the hand. This haptic display hand presents the haptic perception to a user using a pneumatic actuator that extends in the lengthwise direction by application of pneumatic pressure.

Haptic presentation apparatus, haptic presentation system, and haptic presentation method


In one implementation, a power semiconductor package includes a power transistor having a first power electrode and a gate electrode on its bottom surface, and a second power electrode on its top surface. The first power electrode is configured for attachment to a first partially etched conductive carrier segment and the gate electrode is configured for attachment to a second partially etched conductive carrier segment. The power semiconductor package also includes a power electrode heat spreader situated over the second power electrode and configured for attachment to a power electrode conductive carrier segment.

For optimization of form factor, performance, and manufacturing cost, it is often desirable to integrate components of a power circuit, such as a half-bridge based DC-DC converter or a voltage converter, in a single semiconductor package. Thus, several semiconductor package designs have been developed to integrate the power transistors of a power circuit within a compact package. To provide sufficient electrical performance for the reliable operation of high power semiconductor packages, it is crucial to ensure high current carrying capability and low resistance for connection between the transistors of the power circuit.
Various high power semiconductor package designs use at least one conductive clip and a separate heat spreader for coupling transistors to a substrate, undesirably increasing electrical resistance and reducing current carrying capability. Additionally, package design rules to successfully accommodate multiple leadframes, a separate heat spreader, and a conductive clip require a large degree of tolerance (i.e. a large clearance space) for manufacturing, thus undesirably increasing package form factor and complexity. For example, package height and width have to be increased to provide sufficient space for the multiple leadframes, the separate heat spreader, and the conductive clip, and additional area on the package may be reserved for necessary electrical connections. Additionally, the increased package complexity resulting from the use of multiple leadframes, the separate heat spreader and the conductive clip may negatively affect manufacturing time, cost, and package yields.

Power semiconductor package with integrated heat spreader and partially etched conductive carrier


A printed note deposit machine, comprises: a user recognition unit identifying a user with an authenticated person; an inlet unit serving as a receiving teller in which printed notes are deposited; a dispensing unit receiving printed notes deposited in the inlet unit to dispense them in sequence; an identifying unit classifying the dispensed printed notes into four categories of authenticated notes, counterfeit notes, unidentifiable notes, and rejected notes, and identified them with the four categories; a temporary money holder temporarily storing the authenticated, counterfeit, and unidentified notes but the rejected ones therein; a plurality of storage cells storing the printed notes after they are temporarily stored in the previous stage; and a rejection unit accumulating the printed notes identified with the rejected notes by the identifying unit to return them to the user. A printed note deposit system, comprises: a plurality of the printed note deposit machines; a database apparatus installed in a central office and receiving transaction data from the memory of each of the printed note deposit machines to accumulate the transaction data; and a trace unit matching the transaction data accumulated in the database apparatus with transaction data on the detected counterfeit or unidentified notes to track down a user of the unauthenticated notes.

The present invention relates to printed note processing machine and system that performs a receiving teller process for deposit of printed notes including currency bills.
In depositing money in a bank or its alternative money exchange system, it has typically been conducted that deposited currency bills are all identified with and categorized into authenticated notes (including damaged notes), unauthenticated counterfeit notes, unidentifiable notes, and rejected notes due to an overlap of more than one notes or a canted posture of notes.
It is also very common that any printed note recognized as the counterfeit note, the unidentifiable note, or the rejected note but the authenticated note is returned as the unacceptable to a customer.
It is a crime to use counterfeit notes, and when currency bills used for payment or deposit in a bank are recognized as counterfeit notes, the currency bills must be cautiously examined if they truly are counterfeited notes. The counterfeit and unidentifiable notes might be a real proof in judging that the suspected of counterfeiting is guilty.
In the state of the art, proposed and well known is a money order teller machine capable of examining deposited paper notes to give a warning if any of the notes is recognized as highly suspected of being counterfeited (see Japanese Patent No. 3,368,906).
Such a prior art printed note deposit machine immediately returns the counterfeit and unidentifiable notes without a temporary capture, and hence, an opportunity to identify them and then a proof of a crime are lost.

Printed note processing machine and system


An internal anterior fixation system for treatment of vertebral burst fractures includes an elongated plate having longitudinal axis which includes integral superior, inferior and bridge portions. The superior and inferior portions are provided for fixation to corresponding vertebrae while the bridge portion spanning between the portions over the affected vertebra. The superior portion includes a pair of generally parallel elongated slots therethrough each having scallops on for receiving bone fixation screws or bolts. The inferior portion includes a pair of openings through which fixation screws or bolts extend. The slots in the superior portion allow for compression or distraction of the intermediate vertebral region. The openings in the inferior portion are oriented at an oblique angle relative to the axis of the plate to provide a quadrilateral fixation construct. The bridge portion has a width significantly less than the width of the superior and inferior fixation portions.

The present invention concerns devices for the anterior fixation of the spine. In particular, the present invention relates to a plate for the fixation of thoracic or lumbar vertebra. The plate of the present invention has particular application in situations where vertebral body corpectomies are performed, such as burst fractures with significant spinal canal compromise or vertebral body tumors.
Fractures of the spine commonly occur at the thoracolumbar junction, and particular in the T-11, T-12, L-1 or L-2 vertebrae. In the past, treatment of burst fractures involved prolonged bed rest in a body cast and/or a brace. Harrington rods were the first widely successful devices implementing internal fixation for treatment of a vertebral burst fracture. The Harrington rods involved posterior distraction of the spine and allowed some reduction and restoration of vertebral height by means of distraction. However, the inability of Harrington rods to reduce a kyphosis or to clear the spinal canal completely were major disadvantages of this approach.
To improve reduction, posterior distraction systems were modified with the use of contoured rods, sleeves for the rods, improved hooks and sublaminar wires. However, with these posterior distraction systems, it was usually recommended that the spinal fusion include 2 vertebral levels caudad to the fracture and 2 or 3 levels cephalad to the fracture. The posterior approach, even to this level of advancement, was still less than an optimum solution to the problem of treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures.
In the early 1980's an anterior approach was developed for treatment of burst fractures. Improved scanning techniques allowed visualization of bone fragments that were present with burst fractures, so that attention could then be directed toward complete decompression of the canal as a way to provide the best environment for neurological recovery. Various fixation devices have been developed since that time based upon this theory of internal anterior treatment of burst fractures. However, the anterior approach has in some cases lead to increased operative morbidity due to the very difficult nature of the procedure. In addition risk to the vascular network as well as complete clearance of the spinal canal has been a problem with many of the anterior fixation approaches. Most of the prior internal anterior systems suffer from a great degree of complexity.
One such system is the Kanada device marketed by Acromed, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio. The Kanada device utilizes vertebral body staples through which fixation screws are placed into the vertebral body. Rods are then engaged between the screws in the superior and inferior vertebral bodies. Normally two screws are placed in each body, therefore requiring two rods between the vertebrae. The rods are threaded at their ends to allow compression and distraction.
Another device marketed by Zimmer, provides an anterior spinal fixation system indicated for treatment of tumors or thoracolumbar burst fractures. This device is described in the patent to Dunn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,123, which issued on Sep. 15, 1981. This device is similar to the Kanada device in that it uses rods between the superior and inferior vertebrae. A pair of large plates contoured to the vertebrae are engaged by way of a number of screws.
Several plating systems have been developed for anterior internal fixation of the spine. One of these plates, the Syracuse I-plate provides a number of differently sized I-shaped plates which are engaged across the burst fracture. However, the Syracuse I-plate does not allow for compression or distraction of a bone graft between the superior and inferior vertebrae.
Acromed Inc. markets a contoured anterior spinal fixation plate (CASF.TM. plate) which is indicated for treatment of lumbar burst fractures and tumors. The plate includes a number of screw openings through the contoured plate. The number of openings simply provide different locations for engaging a bone screw to the vertebra, and does not lend itself to compression or distraction of a bone graft. Duma International of Taipai, Taiwan, offers the Stafix plating system which includes a plate that has a number of screw holes and a single screw slot. The Stafix plate permits quadrilateral placement of bone screws, but is not readily adapted for compression or distraction. Moreover, this plate, as with the aforementioned anterior plates, lack the ability to provide rigid or semi-rigid fixation using bone screws or bone bolts.
Even with these prior anterior internal fixation systems, there remains a need for a plate and screw system for the efficient management of thoracolumbar burst fractures and tumors. There is a need for such a system which permits anterior load sharing, as well as compression and distraction. The system must also be easy to implant, to thereby reduce operative morbidity.


What is disclosed is an eye detection apparatus which can detect the pupil position accurately. The apparatus has an image taking unit that picks up an image of an eye and a pupil detection unit that detects the position of the pupil in the eye based on an image picked up by the image taking portion. The pupil detection unit determines the pupil position based on images picked up by the image taking unit in a plurality of states.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eye detection apparatus provided in, for example, a head mount display to be mounted on the head of a user, for detecting the position of a pupil of the user.
2. Description of Related Art
When an observer wears a head mounted display (which will be abbreviated as HMD hereinafter) and observes an image, if the designed optical axis of the display optical system and the direction of the line of sight of the observer do not coincide with each other, there is a possibility that when the observer moves his/her eye to observe a peripheral portion of the image, the eye deviates from the pupil diameter of the display optical system to cause eclipse or spoil strength of observed images, though it is possible to observe the central portion of the image.
To make the HMD suitable for an increased number of observers, it is necessary to make the pupil diameter of the display optical system larger. However, the size of the display optical system will increase with the increase in the pupil diameter.
There are technologies for detecting the position of a pupil or the direction of the line of sight of an observer, such as a technology in which an eye is irradiated with several infrared rays (IR) and the direction of the line of sight is detected based on the reflected rays and Purkinje images (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-66340, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H06-276459 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-142026).
In this method, it is required that the reflected IR rays to be detected be within the area of the colored part of the eye, and it is necessary that the position of the eye of the observer be in a limited small area (a predetermined area) relative to the HMD. In connection with detecting the direction of the line of sight, to detect Purkinje images, it is necessary to move the eye to left and right over an angle range of about 15 degrees.
However, the observer does not necessarily always wear the HMD in the same position. In addition, when the observer wears the HMD, the position of an eye of the observer relative to the HMD is not always in the aforementioned predetermined area. In cases where the position of the eye is not in the predetermined area, the position of the pupil of the observer cannot be detected accurately using the aforementioned conventional detecting method.
Moreover, while there is a trend of widening the angle of field of the HMD recently, the above-described conventional detection method cannot cope with the widening of the angle of view, since its detection area is limited.

Eye detection apparatus and image display apparatus


A substrate for connecting one element having a first coefficient of thermal expansion to another element having a differing coefficient of thermal expansion that will alleviate interconnection problems due to thermal mismatch.

This invention relates in general to stress relieving elements and more particularly to a thermal stress relief plate or substrate adapted to join heat generating elements, i.e. a semiconductor chip and a printed circuit board.
It is a continuing need as set forth by U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,993 in a number of fields to provide stress relief elements for electrically or mechanically coupling differing heat generating devices. This has been desired in that thermal stress can cause fatigue at the interfaces of these elements after repetitive expansion and contraction during thermal cycling, i.e. a shearing in soldered joints, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,381.
Each of the aforesaid patents attempt to suggest a solution to the problem of thermal stress management, and it is in the improvement of their efforts that this invention disclosure is made. In that regard it is an object of this invention to provide a thermal coefficient of expansion matching substrate for joining members that during use will produce differing coefficients of thermal expansion whereby the substrate will keep joint stress low to maintain low bonding strains at each interconnect level.
It is yet another object of this invention to construct a substrate for interconnecting multiple elements whose coefficient of thermal expansion may be easily varied to match an element having a coefficient of thermal expansion in an area thereof and also match another element having another coefficient of thermal expansion in another area thereof.
It is still further object of this invention to provide a member that can be constructed to allow for selection of its coefficient of thermal expansion in the plane of its matching surfaces with other heat transmissive elements to allow joinder thereof.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a thermal coefficient of expansion matching substrate or mounting member having a plurality of matching surfaces each having areas of an independently selectable thermal coefficient of expansion for joining a like plurality of dissimilar elements.
In preferred embodiment of this invention a composite substrate containing Invar material is adapted to join a silicon chip to a printed circuit board so as to accommodate the variations of the chip's and board's coefficients of thermal expansion.

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention comprises various materials and methods for the formation of bone within a patient using implanted bodies that are seeded with bone forming cells. The implants of the invention may comprise interlocking building blocks which allow for the formation of any desired structure. The geometry of the resulting bone structure can be tailored with great precision, and can be controllably integrated with native bone as desired. Advantageously, the methods result in the formation of functional, structured bone and avoid overgrowth, undergrowth, and the use of growth factors such as BMP-2.

Autologous bone grafting is used in the treatment of a variety of orthopedic conditions. However, the harvesting of bone for the graft, typically from the iliac crest, causes various morbidities, including pain, infection, and weakened bone, and lengthens the duration of surgery and recovery. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a bone forming material that substitutes for conventional graft material, avoiding the extraction of bone from the patient for transplant.
Various bone graft substitutes have been developed. For example, the Medtronic INFUSE™ system comprises a collagen sponge containing bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). When the sponge is implanted, native cells migrate into the matrix and form bone structures. Research groups have also investigated the use of transplanted osteoblasts cultured within collagen matrices.
The prior art methodologies suffer from various drawbacks. Prior art methods often do not efficiently remodel structured bone. Second, the inclusion of BMP or other growth factors (e.g. human growth hormone and VEGF) with cultured cells may increase inflammation and may increase the risk of cancer forming in the transplanted cells or surrounding tissues. Also, BMP-treated cells tend to overgrow to form chaotic disordered structures, while transplanted osteoblasts without BMP treatment fail to grow adequate bone mass.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for novel bone forming materials: that are easily produced; that robustly form bone structures yet do not overgrow; that do not rely on exogenous growth factors; and which result in the formation of ordered bone. Disclosed herein are novel compositions and novel and improved methodologies for the formation of bone tissue, which provides the robust formation of structured bone tissue and which enables the creation of replacement bone structures with unprecedented precision.

High yield and high precision bone graft substitute from stem cells

The Regents of the University of California


In recognition of the need to develop novel therapeutic agents and efficient methods for the synthesis thereof, the present invention provides novel compounds of general formula (I), and methods for the synthesis thereof.

The discovery of novel therapeutic agents has traditionally relied on the identification of biologically active secondary metabolites of microorganisms. These compounds have provided a rich source of natural products that have either been utilized directly as effective therapeutic agents, or have provided leads for novel therapeutic agents to be developed through synthetic techniques.
One disease for which the development of novel therapeutics is particularly important is cancer, which not only has eluded a "cure", but is also one of the leading disease-related causes of death of the human population. Examples of anticancer agents that have been identified from or developed from natural sources include paclitaxel, mitomycin C, and adriamycin to name a few. One drawback to the use of secondary metabolites from natural resources, however, has been that these agents are generally only present in minute quantities. Fortunately, in an effort to make these agents more available for use, and to enable further pharmaceutical research, synthetic chemists have developed elegant and efficient synthetic strategies to enable the production of either the natural products themselves, or useful derivatives thereof.
Although these therapeutic agents, and others developed from natural sources, through the efforts of synthetic chemistry, are currently in use for the treatment of individuals having cancer, many of these agents, as well as other common treatments such as surgery and radiation, are often unselective for tumor cells and/or are so toxic as to render the individual significantly immunocompromised. Thus, although many strides have been made in the development of novel treatments, there remains a need for the identification of additional therapeutics, preferably those that are more selective and less toxic.
One particular family of natural products that has generated significant interest is the saframycins. The saframycins are a class of antibiotics with activity against gram-positive bacteria and also against several kinds of tumor. Specifically, several saframycin analogues have been isolated and characterized in recent years (see, DE 2839668; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,863; 4,372,947; 5,023,184; 4,837,149; and EP 329606). For example saframycins A–H, R and S have been isolated from the culture broths of Streptomyces lavendulae, and saframycins Mx1 and Mx2, have been isolated from the culture broths of the myxobacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, each of the saframycins varying in the oxidation state of the ring system and in substitution of the core structure (see, for example, Saito et al. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1995, 43, 777). It has been suggested that certain saframycins, namely A and C exhibit extreme cytotoxicity toward culture cells and toward several experimental tumors including leukemias L1210 and P388 and Ehrlich carcinoma. Specifically, saframycin A has been shown to block RNA synthesis in cultured cells, and it has been suggested that saframycins A and C exhibit this potency because of their ability to bind and cleave DNA (for a discussion of the biological activity of saframycins see, for example, Lown et al. Biochemistry 1982, 21, 419; Ishiguro et al. Biochemistry 1978, 17, 2545; Rao et al. Chem Res. Toxicol 1990, 3, 262; Ishiguro et al. J Biol. Chem. 1981, 256, 2162). Although this class of natural products has shown promising biological activity, there have been few investigations into the synthesis and development of novel analogues of this family of natural products (see, EP 233841; EP 173649; Fukuyama et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1982, 104, 4957–4958; Kubo et al. J. Org. Chem. 1988, 53, 4295–4310; Fukuyama et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 3712–3713).
Clearly, there remains a need to further investigate the potential of this class of natural products, and analogues thereof, to develop novel, more potent and more selective therapeutics. Additionally, because of the complexity of the structure of this class of natural products, there also remains a need to develop additional synthetic techniques to rapidly access novel compounds based upon the general core structure of the saframycins, and other related compounds.

Abstract: In another aspect, the present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of formula (I) and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. In yet another aspect, the present invention provides methods for treating cancer comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula (I) to a subject in need thereof.

President and Fellows of Harvard College