Transparent Fingerprint Sensor System for Large Flat Panel Display

In this paper, we introduce a transparent fingerprint sensing system using a thin film transistor (TFT) sensor panel, based on a self-capacitive sensing scheme. An armorphousindium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) TFT sensor array and associated custom Read-Out IC (ROIC) are implemented for the system. The sensor panel has a 200 ?? 200 pixel array and each pixel size is as small as 50 ??m ?? 50 ??m. The ROIC uses only eight analog front-end (AFE) amplifier stages along with a successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). To get the fingerprint image data from the sensor array, the ROIC senses a capacitance, which is formed by a cover glass material between a human finger and an electrode of each pixel of the sensor array. Three methods are reviewed for estimating the self-capacitance. The measurement result demonstrates that the transparent fingerprint sensor system has an ability to differentiate a human finger???s ridges and valleys through the fingerprint sensor array

Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Improving survival and extending the longevity of life for all populations requires timely, robust evidence on local mortality levels and trends. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2015. These results informed an in-depth investigation of observed and expected mortality patterns based on sociodemographic measures. Methods We estimated all-cause mortality by age, sex, geography, and year using an improved analytical approach originally developed for GBD 2013 and GBD 2010. Improvements included refinements to the estimation of child and adult mortality and corresponding uncertainty, parameter selection for under-5 mortality synthesis by spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, and sibling history data processing. We also expanded the database of vital registration, survey, and census data to 14 294 geography-year datapoints. For GBD 2015, eight causes, including Ebola virus disease, were added to the previous GBD cause list for mortality. We used six modelling approaches to assess cause-specific mortality, with the Cause of Death Ensemble Model (CODEm) generating estimates for most causes. We used a series of novel analyses to systematically quantify the drivers of trends in mortality across geographies. First, we assessed observed and expected levels and trends of cause-specific mortality as they relate to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary indicator derived from measures of income per capita, educational attainment, and fertility. Second, we examined factors affecting total mortality patterns through a series of counterfactual scenarios, testing the magnitude by which population growth, population age structures, and epidemiological changes contributed to shifts in mortality. Finally, we attributed changes in life expectancy to changes in cause of death. We documented each step of the GBD 2015 estimation processes, as well as data sources, in accordance with Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER). Findings Globally, life expectancy from birth increased from 61.7 years (95% uncertainty interval 61.4-61.9) in 1980 to 71.8 years (71.5-72.2) in 2015. Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa had very large gains in life expectancy from 2005 to 2015, rebounding from an era of exceedingly high loss of life due to HIV/AIDS. At the same time, many geographies saw life expectancy stagnate or decline, particularly for men and in countries with rising mortality from war or interpersonal violence. From 2005 to 2015, male life expectancy in Syria dropped by 11.3 years (3.7-17.4), to 62.6 years (56.5-70.2). Total deaths increased by 4.1% (2.6-5.6) from 2005 to 2015, rising to 55.8 million (54.9 million to 56.6 million) in 2015, but age-standardised death rates fell by 17.0% (15.8-18.1) during this time, underscoring changes in population growth and shifts in global age structures. The result was similar for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with total deaths from these causes increasing by 14.1% (12.6-16.0) to 39.8 million (39.2 million to 40.5 million) in 2015, whereas age-standardised rates decreased by 13.1% (11.9-14.3). Globally, this mortality pattern emerged for several NCDs, including several types of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, cirrhosis, and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. By contrast, both total deaths and age-standardised death rates due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional conditions significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, gains largely attributable to decreases in mortality rates due to HIV/AIDS (42.1%, 39.1-44.6), malaria (43.1%, 34.7-51.8), neonatal preterm birth complications (29.8%, 24.8-34.9), and maternal disorders (29.1%, 19.3-37.1). Progress was slower for several causes, such as lower respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies, whereas deaths increased for others, including dengue and drug use disorders. Age-standardised death rates due to injuries significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, yet interpersonal violence and war claimed increasingly more lives in some regions, particularly in the Middle East. In 2015, rotaviral enteritis (rotavirus) was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to diarrhoea (146 000 deaths, 118 000-183 000) and pneumococcal pneumonia was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to lower respiratory infections (393 000 deaths, 228 000-532 000), although pathogen-specific mortality varied by region. Globally, the effects of population growth, ageing, and changes in age-standardised death rates substantially differed by cause. Our analyses on the expected associations between cause-specific mortality and SDI show the regular shifts in cause of death composition and population age structure with rising SDI. Country patterns of premature mortality (measured as years of life lost [YLLs]) and how they differ from the level expected on the basis of SDI alone revealed distinct but highly heterogeneous patterns by region and country or territory. Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes were among the leading causes of YLLs in most regions, but in many cases, intraregional results sharply diverged for ratios of observed and expected YLLs based on SDI. Communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases caused the most YLLs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with observed YLLs far exceeding expected YLLs for countries in which malaria or HIV/AIDS remained the leading causes of early death. Interpretation At the global scale, age-specific mortality has steadily improved over the past 35 years; this pattern of general progress continued in the past decade. Progress has been faster in most countries than expected on the basis of development measured by the SDI. Against this background of progress, some countries have seen falls in life expectancy, and age-standardised death rates for some causes are increasing. Despite progress in reducing age-standardised death rates, population growth and ageing mean that the number of deaths from most non-communicable causes are increasing in most countries, putting increased demands on health systems. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Numerical Study on the Absorption Characteristics of Subwavelength Metallic Gratings Covered with a Lossy Dielectric Layer

Optical absorbers have been a topic of intense research due to their importance in many applications. In particular, multi-band and perfect absorption features in a desired frequency range are essential in broadband applications. In this work, we numerically studied the absorption properties of subwavelength metallic gratings coated with a dielectric layer. Here, the structure is considered to be an integration between a resonant cavity and a subwavelength metallic grating. Two appropriately designed structures can exhibit multi-band absorption properties. In addition to the numerical simulation results, we elaborate on determining the appropriate structural parameters that yield the desired spectral absorption profile in the visible range. We also numerically identify critical coupling conditions for perfect absorption

High-performance fab-compatible processed near-infrared organic thin-film photodiode with 3.3×10 12 Jones detectivity and 80% external quantum efficiency

A high-performance small molecular near-infrared (NIR) organic photodiode (OPD) including indium (III) phthalocyanine chloride (ClInPc):C60 bulk heterojunction as a photoactive layer is fabricated by using only vacuum processes that are highly compatible with common manufacturing processes used in the photodiode industry. To satisfy simultaneously sufficient absorption of NIR photons, efficient charge extraction, and suppression of undesired dark current injection, the thickness of each constituent layer of NIR-OPD is carefully adjusted. Optical simulations on absorption profiles of NIR photons within a layered OPD structure combined with dark current analyses suggest the optimized device architecture of indium tin oxide/molybdenum oxide/ClInPc:C60 (120 nm)/C60/2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline/aluminum. Due to the sufficiently thin active layer thickness, a detectivity (D*) spectrum of the optimized OPD well reflects the absorption feature of ClInPc:C60, with a remarkable detection band at the NIR region with a peak dark-current-based D* of 4.5 × 10 12 Jones and a maximum noise-current-based D* of 3.3 × 10 12 Jones. Furthermore, a low noise equivalent power of 6.13 × 10 −14 W/Hz 0.5 , wide linear dynamic range of 77.2 dB, and fast enough temporal response with a -3dB frequency of 2.85 kHz are demonstrated, that can be ascribed to not only the excellent light absorbing-ability of ClInPc:C60 but also the well-designed diode architecture with effectively suppressed dark current even in a thin active film thickness of 120 nm. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.1

Evolution of spatial light modulator for high‐definition digital holography

Since the late 20th century, there has been rapid development in the display industry. Only 30 years ago, we used big cathode ray tube displays with poor resolution, but now most people use televisions or smartphones with very high‐quality displays. People now want images that are more realistic, beyond the two‐dimensional images that exist on the flat screen, and digital holography—one of the next‐generation displays—is expected to meet that need. The most important parameter that determines the performance of a digital hologram is the pixel pitch. The smaller the pixel pitch, the higher the level of hologram implementation possible. In this study, we fabricated the world‐smallest 3‐μm‐pixel‐pitch holographic backplane based on the spatial light modulator technology. This panel could display images with a viewing angle of more than 10°. Furthermore, a comparative study was conducted on the fabrication processes and the corresponding holographic results from the large to the small pixel‐pitch panels