Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Electronics Corporation

Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd.

Healios K.k.

Panasonic Corporation

Riken Corporation

Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited

Takao Kuroda

Masayuki Masuyama

Kenju Horii

Katsuya Ishikawa

Satoshi Ando

Yuji Matsuda

Takahiro Yamada

Hiroyoshi Komobuchi

Toshihiro Kuriyama

Masahiko Niwayama

Sumio Terakawa

Keishi Tachikawa

Hiroyuki Mizuno

Shigenori Matsumoto

Shigeru Okamoto

Yoshiki Sasai

Akira Fukumoto

Sei Suzuki

Yoshiaki Sone

Hiromasa Funakoshi

Masaji Asaumi

Akito Kidera

Atsuo Kondo

Hideki Ishida

Yoshiki (deceased) Sasai

The present invention provides a production method of a retinal cell or retinal tissue, including the following steps: (1) a first step of culturing mammalian pluripotent stem cells in the absence of a feeder cell for a period not exceeding 30 days in a medium comprising 1) a factor for maintaining an undifferentiated state and 2) an MEK inhibitor, (2) a second step of culturing the cells obtained in the first step in suspension to form a cell aggregate, and (3) a third step of culturing the aggregate obtained in the second step in suspension in the presence of a BMP signal transduction pathway activating substance to obtain an aggregate containing retinal cells or a retinal tissue.

Method for producing retinal tissue

The invention provides a method for producing a retinal pigment epithelial cell by (1) maintaining and/or expanding human pluripotent stem cells comprising culturing the human pluripotent stem cells in the absence of a feeder cell in a medium comprising a factor for maintaining an undifferentiated state, (2) a first step for culturing the maintained and/or expanded human pluripotent stem cells in a medium comprising a MEK inhibitor in the absence of feeder cells for a period of not less than 2 days and not more than 30 days, wherein the culture condition in the first step is a condition sufficient for inducing gene expression of at least one eye field transcription factor, and (3) a second step for culturing the cells obtained in the first step in the presence of a Nodal signal transduction pathway inhibitor and/or a Wnt signal transduction pathway inhibitor to form a retinal pigment epithelial cell.

Method for producing retinal pigment epithelial cells

The present invention provides a method for more efficiently producing retinal pigment epithelial cells from pluripotent stem cells. The method of the present invention for producing retinal pigment epithelial cells includes the following steps: (1) a first step for culturing a pluripotent stem cell in a medium comprising an FGF receptor inhibitor and/or an MEK inhibitor for a period of not more than 30 days, and (2) a second step for culturing the cell obtained in the first step in the presence of a Nodal signal transduction pathway inhibitor and/or a Wnt signal transduction pathway inhibitor to form a retinal pigment epithelial cell.

The present invention provides a production method of a retinal pigment epithelial cell containing the following steps: (1) a first step for culturing a pluripotent stem cell in a medium containing at least one kind selected from the group consisting of an FGF receptor inhibitor and an MEK inhibitor for a period of not more than 30 days, and (2) a second step for culturing the cell obtained in the first step in a medium containing at least one kind selected from the group consisting of a Rho signal transduction pathway inhibitor and an apoptosis inhibitor to form a retinal pigment epithelial cell. The method can produce retinal pigment epithelial cells from pluripotent stem cells more efficiently and conveniently.

In a semiconductor deviceincluding a structure where transfer electrodestoare disposed on a semiconductor substratevia an insulation layer, a first semiconductor regionof a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor regionof a conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, and a third semiconductor regionof the first conductivity type in a position that overlaps a region of the semiconductor substratedirectly underneath the transfer electrodesto. The second semiconductor regionis formed on the first semiconductor region. The third semiconductor regionis formed on the second semiconductor regionso that a position of a maximal pointof electric potential of the second semiconductor regionwhen being depleted is deeper than a position of the maximal pointin a case where the third semiconductor regiondoes not exist.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing same

A physical quantity distribution sensor is disclosed. The sensor comprises: a plurality of sensor/storage sections each having a sensor element for sensing a received physical quantity and a storage element for storing the information of physical quantity sensed by the sensor element; a selector for selecting at least one of the sensor/storage sections; and a plurality of buffers each capable of detecting and supplying the information stored in at least one selected sensor/storage section. This sensor further comprises at least one selection signal transfer line for transferring an output of the selector. Power supply input portions of the buffers are connected to the selection signal transfer line, and the buffers are operated using, as a power voltage, an output of the selector entered into the buffers through the selection signal transfer line.

Physical quantity distribution sensor, method of driving said sensor and method of producing said sensor

A first bias voltage to be applied to a drain portion of a MOS transistor and a pulse voltage pulsating with a predetermined potential difference are being generated by an apparatus incorporating the MOS transistor. Voltage generation means generates a second bias voltage to be applied to a gate portion of the MOS transistor, based on a value of the predetermined potential difference of the pulse voltage generated in the apparatus incorporating the MOS transistor, a value of the first bias voltage generated in the apparatus incorporating the MOS transistor, and a channel potential of a channel portion provided beneath the gate portion of the MOS transistor. Superposition means generate a voltage to be applied to the gate portion of the MOS transistor by superposing the pulse voltage onto the second bias voltage generated by the voltage generation means.

Solid-state imaging device

In making solid state imaging devices smaller and increasing their number of pixels, it is desirable to increase the charge amount that can be handled per unit area of the transfer portions. It is possible to achieve this by making the insulating film thinner, but this leads to electric fields in the semiconductor substrate that are too strong, and causes problems such as the generation of noise and the deterioration of the transfer efficiency. This invention relaxes potential steps in the transfer region by applying, when a signal chargeis being read out (t=t), a high voltage to the electrodefor reading out the signal charge, a low voltage to at least one of the electrodesfor preventing unnecessary mixing of signal charges, and an intermediate voltage between the high voltage and the low voltage to the electrodesand, which are adjacent to the electrodeto which the high voltage is applied.

Solid state imaging device, method for driving the same and camera using the same

The output voltage of a pixel is held as a reference signal output voltage in a reference signal holding capacitor connected to a positive input terminal of a second subtractor by lowering the potential of a reset voltage to that of a calibration voltage and by activating a reset pulse and a reference-signal-calibrating pulse. Then, the reference signal output voltage is output from the second subtractor. And a corrected reference signal output voltage, obtained by subtracting the reference signal output voltage from a no signal output voltage, is held in a corrected reference signal holding capacitor. Moreover, a divider divides a corrected original signal output voltage, which is held in a corrected original signal holding capacitor, by the corrected reference signal output voltage, which is held in the corrected reference signal holding capacitor.

Amplifying solid-state imaging device, method for driving the same and physical quantity distribution sensing semiconductor device

After the name of a signal line is entered, cells are arranged and, a channel to be wired therein is generated. After the completion of global wiring and minute wiring, a compaction process is performed. Here, the transistor density TD of an integrated circuit device to which the compaction process has been executed is compared with a standard value TDst. The compaction process is repeated unless TD>TDst, and terminated when TD >TDst. The time to terminate the compaction process can be judged from objective standards regardless of the level of a designer's skill, so as to keep the layout design of an integrated circuit device above a certain level.

Integrated circuit device, arrangement/wiring method thereof, arrangement/wiring apparatus thereof, and recording medium

A plurality of pixels, each including a photodiode that can make a transition from a first potential state (reset state) into a second potential state variable with the quantity of incident light or vice versa, are provided. A unit compensator includes first and second storage devices implementable as respective MOS capacitors. The first storage device stores thereon charge in a quantity proportional to a difference between a signal potential &phgr;s corresponding to the second potential state of each pixel and a reference potential &phgr; . The second storage device stores thereon charge in a quantity proportional to a difference between a fixed potential &phgr;d and the reference potential &phgr; . When a reset potential &phgr;r is supplied from an associated pixel, these storage devices are short-circuited with each other, thereby transferring charge in a quantity proportional to a potential difference (&phgr;s&minus;&phgr;r) between these storage devices. After these storage devices have been electrically isolated from each other, the potential difference (&phgr;s&minus;&phgr;r) is sensed based on the quantity of residual charge in the second storage device and then output. In this manner, a variation in threshold voltage among the amplifying transistors within the pixels can be compensated for.

Amplifying solid-state imaging device, and method for driving the same

In a solid state imaging apparatus, a normal function to read a pixel signal and an electronic shutter function are both realized by using a single shift register. The shift register successively transmits a driving signal supplied from a control unit. A selecting circuit is disposed correspondingly to each row of an imaging unit, and when the driving signal is output from a register corresponding to the row, the selecting circuit selectively executes a read operation or a reset operation in pixels belonging to the corresponding row in accordance with outputs of preceding and following registers. The driving signal is set to be differently supplied between the normal mode and the electronic shutter mode, so that outputs of preceding and following registers can be different between these modes. As a result, a read operation and a reset operation can be selectively conducted in the normal mode and the electronic shutter mode, respectively in the imaging unit.

Solid state imaging apparatus and method of driving the same

A physical quantity distribution sensor including a plurality of unit cells. Each unit cell includes an information storage region responsive to a physical stimulus and capable of a transition from a first electrical potential state to a second electrical potential state according to the physical stimulus, a driving element for providing at an output portion thereof an electrical potential according to the electrical potential state of the information storage region, and a switching element for selecting the unit cell. The physical quantity distribution sensor further includes an output adjustment section capable of adjusting the first electrical potential state of the information storage region in order that the output of the selected driving element may substantially equal a reference electrical potential at the time when the switching element is in the conductive state.

Physical quantity distribution sensor and method for driving the same

The necessary information such as chip area A, number of elements, and defect density D is inputted to calculate element density TD and mean element density TDM. The inverse operation chip area A&prime; is calculated from the estimation equation: Y&equals;f(A) such as Stapper's equation showing the dependence of the yield on the defect density D and chip area A. Next, for various kinds of integrated circuit devices in a diffusion process, the functional relation g (TD/TDM) which is considered to be most correct is determined from the data of the relationship between the ratio (A&prime;/A) and the ratio (TD/TDM), and from the relational expression g (TD/TDM), the correction factor K is calculated. Finally, the values of the correction factor K and the chip area A are substituted into Y&equals;f(A&times;K) to calculate the expected yield Y.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Takao Kuroda