Abstract: Methods of utilizing carbon nanotubes or composites thereof as hole plugs in vias or in contact holes for connecting conductive layers in integrated circuits are disclosed. Integrated circuits and integrated circuit layers formed by the methods are also disclosed.

Abstract: A catalytic material which includes a metal oxide catalyst anchored to a nano-sized metal oxide crystal as support and functions well at low temperatures. The catalytic material may optionally include another metal oxide as a promoter deposited on the surface of the support to modify the properties of the metal oxide catalyst and/or the properties of the support. The catalyst may be vanadium oxide, tungsten oxide, manganese oxide, chromium oxide or molybdenum oxide; the support may be TiO2, SiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, or WO3; and the promoter may be vanadium oxide, tungsten oxide, manganese oxide, chromium oxide or molybdenum oxide. The present invention also provides a method of producing the catalytic materials, which is useful in removing ammonia and other nitrogen containing contaminants.

Abstract: The present invention relates to color liquid crystal displays without the use of color filters. By carefully choosing the design parameters of a liquid crystal display, it is possible to obtain vivid colors from the display as a function of the operating voltage.

Abstract: Formulations containing plant extracts, in particular Astragalus extracts, and their use in inducing telomerase activity in cells, are described. Such compositions include pharmaceutical, including topical, and nutraceutical formulations. The methods and compositions are useful for treating diseases subject to treatment by an increase in telomerase activity in selected cells, such as, for example, HIV infection, various degenerative diseases, and acute or chronic skin ailments. They are also useful for enhancing replicative capacity of cells in culture, as in ex vivo cell therapy and proliferation of stem cells. Also described are cosmetic formulations of such extracts for conditioning the skin.

Abstract: A voltage mirror circuit using a symmetrically matched transistor structure is provided. The circuit includes an input reference voltage node on a first side of said circuit and an output mirror voltage node on a second side of said circuit, and a plurality of matched transistor pairs wherein the transistors in each pair have the same aspect ratio and wherein one transistor in each pair is provided on the first side of the circuit and the second transistor in each pair is provided on the second side of said circuit. The transistor pairs may include pairs of NMOS transistors and pairs of PMOS transistors or pairs of bipolar npn transistors and pairs of bipolar pnp transistors.

Abstract: The quantization factor for each block of pixels in an image or video encoding or transcoding method is determined. The blocks of pixels are classified according to predefined criteria and the blocks are processed according to the resulting classification. The predefined criteria include, for example, anticipated characteristics of the blocks after quantization, such as the transform coefficients after quantization and/or the total number of non-zero transform coefficients.

Abstract: A low-dropout regulator comprises a high-gain error amplifier having a differential input stage and a single-ended output, a high-swing high-positive-gain second stage with input connecting to the output of the error amplifier and a single-ended output, a p-type MOS transistor with gate terminal connecting to the output of the second stage, source terminal connecting to the supply voltage, and drain terminal to the output of the low-dropout regulator. A first-order high-pass feedback network connects the output of the low-dropout regulator and the positive input of the error amplifier, and a damping-factor-control means comprising a negative gain stage with a feedback capacitor connects the input and output of this gain stage. A capacitor is connected between the output of the error amplifier and the output of the low-dropout regulator, while a voltage reference connects to the negative input of the error amplifier.

Abstract: A series of improved processes and methods to manufacture solder bumps on the wafer which shrink the space among solder bumps and reduce the cost of manufacturing. A design method and a relevant manufacturing process are introduced to form an organic material or metal material layer, which is called a Bump-Reflow-Control Layer. The pad patterns can be defined by this method. A mechanical part is designed with a hermetic cover to improve the photoresist process. The series of photolithography process including the designing method of related photolithography mask is introduced to achieve the high quality and thick photoresist.

Abstract: An area-efficient capacitor-free low-dropout regulator based on a current-feedback frequency compensation technique is disclosed. An implementation of a current feedback block with a single compensation capacitor is used to enable capacitance reduction. The resultant low-dropout regulator does not generally require an off-chip capacitor for stability and is particularly useful for system-on-chip applications.

Abstract: The present invention provides a preparation for treatment or prevention of a condition in a patient, said preparation comprising Schisandrin B. The concentration of Schisandrin B in the preparation may be between about 0.01 and about 0.1%, or it may be between about 20 and about 40% w/w or w/v. The preparation may additionally comprise one or more components selected from the group consisting of herbal extracts, fluids, solvents, antioxidants, preservatives, electrolytes, salts and pH control agents.

Abstract: An End-Point Prediction scheme is described for voltage-mode buck regulators to generate adaptive output voltage to integrated-circuit systems. Internal nodal voltages of the regulator controller are predicted and set automatically by the proposed algorithms and circuits. The settling time of the regulator can therefore be significantly reduced for faster dynamic responses, even with dominant-pole compensation.

Abstract: A technique has been developed to fabricate micro- or nanopumps based on porous alumina thin films. The main body of the nanopump consists of a porous alumina thin film (containing nano-sized channels of about 40-300 nm in diameter) with conductive surfaces (e.g. Au coating layers) on both sides of the film. Through the fabrication of nanochannels in (the alumina films) and the subsequent annealing and surface activation processes, high-efficiency micro- or nanopumps can be made. The nanofluidic flow through the nanochannels of the alumina thin films is driven by an electric field with no moving parts. The flow rate (up to 50 millilitres/(min·cm2)) of water through the alumina thin film can be continuously tuned through the intensity of the electric field, i.e., the DC electric potential applied across the nanochannels.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a titanium dioxide material for coating on a substrate and method of making the same. The coated material is resistant to delamination and can be used for air-purification purposes.

Abstract: There is provided a method for converting an image with N rows of pixels present and N rows of pixels missing to an image with 2N rows of pixels, wherein the missing pixels are generated by performing a deinterlacing algorithm. The algorithm determines whether missing pixels are part of a horizontal edge region, a smooth region, a vertical edge region or a texture region. Based on the determination, a deinterlacing method is selected.

Abstract: Crystallization-inducing metal elements are introduced onto an amorphous silicon thin film. A first, low-temperature, heat-treatment induces nucleation of metal-induced crystallization (MIC), resulting in the formation of small polycrystalline silicon “islands”. A metal-gettering layer is formed on the resulting partially crystallized thin film. A second, low-temperature, heat-treatment completes the MIC process, whilst gettering metal elements from the partially crystallized thin film. The process results in the desired polycrystalline silicon thin film.

Abstract: A low-dropout regulator with a single-transistor-control providing improved transient response and stability is disclosed. The single-transistor-control provides a dynamic resistance at the output of the regulator for minimizing undershoot and overshoot, and hence improves transient response. Since the single-control transistor reduces the output resistance of the regulator, the output pole is pushed to a sufficiently high frequency without affecting stability. Therefore, the limited choice of combinations of the output capacitance and its equivalent-series-resistance is substantially relaxed.

Abstract: A method for the fine-pitch stencil mask design for stencil printing bumping technology for eutectic Sn/Pb and lead-free solder material is described. In the method, a reflowing enhancement layer is introduced to improve the solder quality and reduce the pitch of solder bumps. The method of forming the layer is described as well as the forming method of matching under-bump metallurgy layer. The method of stencil mask design can match various sizes and pitch of the solder bumps. The designed mask is fixed on the stencil printer to deposit the solder materials with the required patterns. This method can increase the solder paste volume to increase the height of solder bumps after the reflowing process.

Abstract: There is disclosed a structure for a stacked organic light emitting device in which a plurality of emissive units are disposed between the anode and the cathode. The emissive units comprise at least a hole-transport layer and an electron-transport layer. An intermediate layer is disposed between two adjacent emissive units and the intermediate layer comprises at least two sub-layers, a first sub-layer being formed of a material that can inject electrons into one emissive unit and a second sub-layer being formed of a material that can inject holes into the adjacent emissive unit. The sub-layers are formed of metals or inorganic materials only and a surface of the intermediate layer may be treated by a low pressure CF4-plasma.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing streaming data to multiple clients involves the provision of intelligent gateway at the edge of a network. The gateway is designed so that if it receives a request from a second client within the network for a data stream already being supplied to a first client in the network, that data stream is duplicated by the gateway rather than making a second request for the same stream from a server. Multiple such gateways can be combined to form a large load balancing network. An important aspect of the invention is a software interface in the gateway that enables a data packet address type to be changed from unicast to multicast and vice versa.

Abstract: A switched-capacitor regulator is provided for regulating the output voltage of a voltage supply. The switched-capacitor regulator includes a supply input terminal capable of receiving a supply voltage, two or more flying capacitors, a regulation switch located between each flying capacitor and the supply input terminal, and a voltage control circuit. The activity of the regulation switches is controlled by the voltage control circuit. In one embodiment of the invention, the voltage control circuit includes a feedback resistance area having one or more feedback resistors located between the output of the flying capacitors and a ground terminal, a first gain stage connected to the feedback resistance area, and two or more second switchable gain stages, which are each connected to a regulation switch and the first gain stage. The switched-capacitor regulator operates in pseudo-continuous regulator mode using three-stage switchable operational amplifiers with time-multiplexed pole-splitting compensation.