Calculation of the optimal FIB milling and deposition operations for easier and faster circuit reconfiguration

To respond to the demand for FIB operations on complex ICs with several metal layers, it is first necessary to check if the operations are do-able and to evaluate the risks and duration involved. In order to respond to this challenge, we have developed a new approach for automatic calculation of optimal FIB operations using the layout information and the schematic of the circuit when available. The strategy we have followed is to determine the fastest and easiest access to the metal line connected to the electrical node as displayed on the schematic, taking into account milling and depositing constraints.     

Multidimensional Analysis of Trends in Patent Activity

Only multidimensional analyses can provide overviews of complex relationships among many variables. We have previously illustrated the use of Correspondence Factor Analysis (CFA) in the analysis of publication profiles. In this article, we retrace our activity in patent analysis from the late 1970s to the present day and show how CFA is a particularly useful tool not only for describing the correlations between countries and technological fields but also for highlighting non-linear patenting time trends.     

Gas and liquid phase fuels desulphurization for hydrogen production via reforming processes

The present work focuses on the development of efficient desulphurization processes for multi-fuel reformers for hydrogen production. Two processes were studied: liquid hydrocarbon desulphurization and H₂S removal from reformate gases. For each process, materials with various chemical compositions and microporous structures were synthesized and characterized with respect to their physicochemical properties and desulphurization ability. In the case of liquid phase desulphurization, the adsorption of sulphur compounds contained in diesel fuel under ambient conditions was studied employing as sorbents, zeolite-based materials, i.e. NaY, HY and metal ion-exchanged NaY and HY, as well as a high-surface area activated carbon (AC), for three different diesel fuels with sulphur content varying between 5 and 180 ppmw. Among all sorbents studied, AC showed the best desulphurization performance followed by cerium ion-exchanged HY. The gas phase desulphurization experiments involved the evaluation of zinc-based mixed oxides, synthesized by non-conventional (combustion synthesis) techniques on high steam content reformate gas mixtures.     

Performance of an integrated microoptical system for fluorescence detection in microfluidic systems

This article presents a new integrated microfluidic/microoptic device designed for basic biochemical analysis. The microfluidic network is wet-etched in a Borofloat 33 (Pyrex) glass wafer and sealed by means of a second wafer. Unlike other similar microfluidic systems, elements of the detection system are realized with the help of microfabrication techniques and directly deposited on both sides of the microchemical chip. The detection system is composed of the combination of refractive circular or elliptical microlens arrays and chromium aperture arrays. The microfluidic channels are 60 microm wide and 25 microm deep. The elliptical microlenses have a major axis of 400 microm and a minor axis of 350 microm. The circular microlens diameters range from 280 microm to 350 microm. The apertures deposited on the outer chip surfaces are etched in a 3000-A-thick chromium layer. The overall thickness of this microchemical system is < 1.6 mm. A limit of detection of 3.3 nM for a Cy5 solution in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) was demonstrated. The cross-talk signal measured between two adjacent microchannels with 1 mm pitch was < 1:5600, meaning that < or = 1.8 x 10(-4)% of the fluorescence light power emitted from one microchannel filled with a 50 microM Cy5 solution reaches the photodetector at the adjacent microchannel. This performance compares very well with that obtainable in microchemical chips using confocal fluorescence systems, taking differences in parameters, such as excitation power into microchannels, data acquisition rates, and signal filtering into account.     

Integration of cell membranes and nanotube transistors

We report the integration of a complex biological system and a nanoelectronic device, demonstrating that both components retain their functionality while interacting with each other. As the biological system, we use the cell membrane of Halobacterium salinarum. As the nanoelectronic device, we use a nanotube network transistor, which incorporates many individual nanotubes in such a way that entire patches of cell membrane are contacted by nanotubes. We demonstrate that the biophysical properties of the membrane are preserved, that the nanoelectronic devices still function as transistors, and that the two systems interact. Further, we use the interaction to study the charge distribution in the biological system, finding that the electric dipole of the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin is located 2/3 of the way from the extracellular to the cytoplasmic side.     

Recognition of polychromatic three-dimensional objects

We propose to use optical multichannel correlation in various chromatic systems to obtain a setup for recognition of polychromatic three-dimensional (3-D) objects based on Fourier-transform profilometry. Because red-green-blue color components are not able to split the luminance information of objects in a defined component, when the 3-D objects are brighter than the reference objects the correlation result gives false alarms. We demonstrate that it is possible to use different color spaces that can split luminance from chromatic information to yield adequate recognition of polychromatic 3-D objects. We show experimental results that prove the utility of the proposed method.     

A Wavelet-Based Multiresolution Method to Automatically Register Images

We present a method to automatically register images presenting bothglobal and local deformations. The image registration process isperformed by exploiting a multi-level/multi-image approach wherebyafter having wavelet-transformed the images, the subband images atdifferent levels are used in a non-feature-based way to determine themotion vectors between the reference and the target images. The crudemotion field determined by block matching at the coarsest level ofthe pyramid is successively refined by taking advantage of both theorientation sensitivity of the different subbands and thecontribution of the adjacent levels. The final registered image isobtained by applying the motion field to the lowest level of thepyramid and by inversely transforming it.     

Injectable nanocarriers for biodetoxification

Hospitals routinely treat patients suffering from overdoses of drugs or other toxic chemicals as a result of illicit drug consumption, suicide attempts or accidental exposures. However, for many life-threatening situations, specific antidotes are not available and treatment is largely based on emptying the stomach, administering activated charcoal or other general measures of intoxication support. A promising strategy for managing such overdoses is to inject nanocarriers that can extract toxic agents from intoxicated tissues. To be effective, the nanocarriers must remain in the blood long enough to sequester the toxic components and/or their metabolites, and the toxin bound complex must also remain stable until it is removed from the bloodstream. Here, we discuss the principles that govern the use of injectable nanocarriers in biodetoxification and review the pharmacological performance of a number of different approaches.