A sterile individual set for use in a process of manufacturing a biopharmaceutical product. To make it quicker and easier to grasp and use fluidic type functional members, the sterile individual set includes a sterile flexible bag having a peripheral wall defining a sterile internal space and a fluidic type functional member arranged at least partially inside the sterile internal space. The functional member includes one or more communication duct(s) arranged in the sterile internal space. The sterile individual set also includes structural association elements capable of holding together several portions of the communication duct or ducts that are to be bundled together into a bundle. The structural association elements have an external surface with lower static and dynamic friction coefficients so as to make the functional member easier to handle by slippage of the bundle of communication ducts with respect to the peripheral wall of the flexible bag.

It is accepted in the biopharmaceutical field to use sterile individual sets comprising a sterile flexible bag having a peripheral wall defining a sterile internal space within which one or more fluidic-type functional member(s) is arranged, such as containers, tubes, or ports, which are part of more or less complex sets that can comprise a plurality of containers, tubes, and operative means, possibly associated with each other.
By convention, "biopharmaceutical product" is understood here to mean a fluid originating from biotechnology—culture media, cell cultures, buffer solutions, artificial nutrition liquids—or a pharmaceutical fluid or more generally a fluid intended for use in the medical field.
In the technical field of biopharmaceutical production, there are various known prior art solutions to the challenges of orderly and organized retention of fluidic-type functional members within the sterile internal space of a flexible bag, to make it faster and easier to grasp and use these functional members during the manufacture of biopharmaceutical products.
In particular, a sterile individual set according to the preamble of claim 1 is known to the skilled person by the example given in document FR-A1-2,956,092. That document describes a sterile individual set comprising a bag provided with a peripheral wall defining a sterile internal space within which a functional member is arranged, corresponding for example to a distribution means. This distribution means has a plurality of communication conduits also arranged within the sterile internal space of the bag and provided to ensure the sterile fluid transfer of fluid components during the manufacture of a biopharmaceutical product. To ensure proper organization and facilitate the manipulation of these communication conduits within the sterile internal space, the sterile individual set described by FR-A1-2,956,092 comprises structural association means that group a portion of the communication conduits together to form a communication conduit bundle. More particularly, these structural association means are formed by thin straps that are looped to constitute ties which allow defining a communication conduit bundle.
However, such an embodiment has several disadvantages. In particular, due to the composition of the communication conduits and the peripheral wall of the flexible bag, friction forces are generated between the communication conduits and the peripheral wall during the insertion or removal of the bundle of communication conduits into or from the sterile internal space of the flexible bag. These frictional forces have the effect of interfering with operator manipulations of the bundle of communication conduits and therefore lengthen the phases of inserting or removing the functional member into or from the flexible bag. In addition, these frictional forces generate stresses on the peripheral wall of the flexible bag which may damage the bag, thus increasing the risk of a loss of integrity of the sterile internal space of the flexible bag.
One solution for overcoming these adhesion issues consists of a surface treatment to reduce the frictional forces between the outer face of the communication conduits and the peripheral wall. The publication "Traitement plasma et caractérisations de surface des silicones" (Plasma treatment and surface characterizations of silicones) by J. Viard, available on the Internet, concerns creating a fluorine plasma in order to deposit a thin fluorine layer on the outer surface of silicone tubes and thus reducing their adhesion.
However, such a solution changes the composition of the communication tubes. This creates qualification issues in the manufacture of biopharmaceutical products, and requires applying a surface treatment which significantly complicates their manufacture and therefore leads to procurement issues and additional production costs.
In a technical field that is completely different from biopharmaceutical production, such as the handling of electrical cables, prior art structural association means are known that are formed by flexible spiral sheaths. As an illustrative example, an embodiment of such flexible spiral sheaths is commercially available under the brand Pro-Tec-To Wrap® which aims to provide protection for bundled electrical cables that is both flexible and resistant.
However, using such spiral sheaths to form a bundle of fluid communication conduits in the technical field of biopharmaceutical production has never been mentioned, nor has employing such flexible spiral sheaths to reduce—or even eliminate—the adhesion of such a bundle of communication conduits to a peripheral wall of a flexible bag.

Sterile individual set for producing biopharmaceutical products


An interconnect includes a first contact portion including carbon fibers, a second portion including carbon fibers, and a member. The first contact portion is capable of electrically biasing the member and the second portion is capable of sensing an electrical bias of the member. Both portions may provide other electrical functions. Both portions may structurally support the member.

Printing and copying processes use a wide range of contacts and devices for mechanical and/or electrical connection. Printing and copying processes, such as are used in printing and copying machines, extensively employ methods and apparatus using electrical charge to perform many operations. For example, development, transfer and cleaning operations of most printing and copying machines require the transfer of electrical current, e.g., for manipulating electrostatic charge.
A part of a printing process is discussed below. A printing machine may have a photoconductive member that is electrically charged to a uniform potential and thereafter exposed to a light image of a document to be reproduced. The exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface of the member in exposed or background areas and creates an electrostatic latent image on the member, which corresponds to the image contained within the original document. The electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive surface is made visible by developing the image with developer powder, e.g., toner. Many development systems employ developer, which includes both charged carrier particles and charged toner particles, which adhere to the carrier particles. During development, the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charged pattern of the image areas of the photoconductive insulating area to form a powder image on the photoconductive area. The toner image may be subsequently transferred to a support surface, e.g., a sheet of paper, to which it may be permanently affixed.
A specific member, e.g., the photoconductive member discussed above, is electrically charged by transferring an electrical charge to the specific member. This transfer of charge to a member may be referred to as charging or as biasing the member. The bias of a member corresponds to the voltage applied to the member, or to the voltage potential of the member.
A sliding contact may be used as a member to bias, i.e., to transfer an electrical charge to, a rotating member, such as the photoconductive member discussed above. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,225 to Bell, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a charge transfer device that is in electrical contact with end shafts of first and second developer rolls of a copier through a sliding electrical contact. The charge transfer device biases the rolls by transferring an electrical charge from a voltage source to the end shafts of the developer rolls via the sliding electrical contact. Other methods of transferring an electrical charge either to or from a member include placing the member to be biased in rubbing contact with a stationary brush, a flexible electrically conductive sheet, or a metal strip.
As discussed above, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,225 to Bell discloses a charge transfer device including a sliding contact that transfers electrical charge between a voltage source and a developer roll. In Bell, the sliding contact is formed of a polymer composite of multiple electrically conductive carbon fibers. An example of a carbon fiber polymer composite is known by the trade name CarbonConX™. CarbonConX™ has a high concentration (e.g., >60% weight) of electrically conductive, high strength, continuous carbon fiber tow (or optionally metalized carbon fiber tow) compounded within a selected polymer matrix. Carbon fiber polymer composites may be used as an alternative to metal contacts in devices for electrostatic discharge applications as well as other application areas, such as sensor components, moving rotational contacts, motors, electrical switch components, etc. Applying pultrusion methods to produce the carbon fiber composites enables high strength to be obtained and allows many forms of the carbon fiber to be manufactured into various design shapes and configurations, such as, solid rods, tubes, and thin flat sheets. Moreover, the carbon fibers or metalized carbon fibers used in carbon fiber polymer composites are considered, generally, to be of high electrical conductivity as well as high strength and capable of providing statistically regular and evenly distributed electrical contact sites for charge conduction across an interface. Pultrusion methods involve, e.g., (1) pulling continuous lengths of members, such as fibers, through a host matrix material, such as a polymer, to form a composition, (2) pulling the composition through a die to shape the composition, and (3) pulling the composition through a heated region to enable the composition to cure, (e.g. cross-link) or dry.
Moreover, the carbon fibers used in carbon fiber polymer composites are considered, generally, as contact rich and capable of providing statistically regular and evenly distributed electrical contact sites. In addition, because carbon is generally non-reactive and less susceptible to corrosion when compared to other materials, such as, e.g., metal, carbon fiber may be used in harsh environments or corrosive environments, including saltwater, nuclear power environments, space, medical, and biological fields.

Multi-functional electro-mechanical interconnect, sensor, and mounting and method of mounting and biasing of a rotatable member


A guard filter methodology that automatically controls mask screening with the result of improved wafer quality, less scrap, and improved productivity. Upon each assignment of the mask or reticle to a specific piece of equipment, it provides a trigger to automatically check pertinent aspects of a mask related to wafer quality and yield with a guard filter system in combination with a database. The system is integrated into the current manufacturing machine control system and performs its checks quickly and efficiently. Wafer scrap due to the use of wrong scale mask for the specified equipment or a mask that is not usable are avoided. This automated guard filter methodology reduces manufacturing time and cost, checking frequency, and human error.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing using exposed silicon substrates on wafer and, more particularly, to the quality, status, and appropriateness of reticle (mask) during the complicated process of IC development.
2. Description of Related Art
In IC manufacturing, the mask (sometimes called the reticle) is used for exposing silicon substrates on a wafer. This mask in combination with complex photographic equipment plays an important role in the semiconductor IC manufacturing process. Wafer quality and yields are impacted by the mask""s status and quality during the complex wafer-build process. Specifically, the mask""s Piece Of Data (POD) which contains its precise image must be kept without defect and in clean condition, so that the quality of the wafer is not compromised.
Ideally, tool operators thoroughly check the status and quality of the mask as well as making sure the mask is the appropriate one for the specific equipment before assigning the mask to the equipment in an attempt to avoid wafer scrap and reduced yields (These are very costly to the manufacturing process and hinder the overall productivity of the entire wafer-build process.). This manual checking of the mask upon each assigning is time consuming, inefficient, and expensive, and the check itself can lead to mask damage.
Currently, there are several different scales of reticle (ex. 2X, 4X, 8X, etc.) in use in FABS. It is important to assign the correct scale and pellicle for the specific machine (match of capabilities) to avoid wafer scrap. Unfortunately, it is very hard to visually differentiate between the different scales as their appearance is very similar. Because of this, a tool operator might mistakenly manually assign the wrong scale mask to the equipment which undetected leads to scrap.
A new automated method and system to more efficiently reduce reticle errors and avoid scrap in a cost-effective way is required. A process to automatically check to make sure pre-defined mask criteria (including usability, appropriateness of scale for assigned equipment, and last clean time of the POD) are met before allowing the mask to be loaded into the equipment is needed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,944 (Sheng et al.) an overlay matching method that provides alignment of layers of wafers is discussed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,550 (Wu et al.) a manufacturing control method and system for handling semiconductor articles is discussed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,510 (Kraft) a process control system and method using a tuned model control is discussed. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,166 (Maney et al.) a system for storing, transporting, and processing semiconductor articles is discussed.
This invention""s overall objective is to provide a software system and method for the automatic control of mask screening for usability and correctness of reticle scale for the specific equipment with the result of improved wafer quality and less scrap. A more specific objective is for a mask to be assigned to the equipment. Another objective is to provide a database in which to store the mask""s parameters. Still another objective is to define the automatic checking criteria for the mask""s parameters for comparison in the database.
Yet another specific objective is to provide a trigger function that automatically begins the checking of the mask. It is a final objective to allow loading of the mask into the equipment only when the set of parameter checks have been satisfactorily met.

Guard filter methodology and automation system to avoid scrap due to reticle errors

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A novel clock control circuit completely removes the inter-symbol interference (ISI) in the DAC output waveform without any significant increase in power consumption and silicon area of the DAC. The novel circuit does not increase the requirement for slew rate and bandwidth of the amplifier.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to mixed-signal converters of the current steering type, and more particularly, to sigma-delta digital-to-analog converter that employs a continuous-time current-to-voltage circuit in the output stage.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Current steering topology is a commonly used approach in industry to realize digital-to-analog converters. Due to its simplicity and flexibility, this topology is employed in a large combination of high speed or high resolution applications. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical implementation of a 16-level thermometer-code current steering DAC 100. The DAC consists of a bank of current steering cells 102, 104, 106, and 108, amplifier 110, a pair of feedback resistors 112 and 114, and in some cases a pair of capacitors, C1 116 and C2 118. Capacitors 116 and 118 effectively slow down the step output waveform to help reduce the amplifier slew rate requirement. The control bits and their complementary version are, in the simplest form, the Q and QB outputs of a D-flip flop array. The inputs of these D-flip flops are the digital DAC codes. The circuit operation is quite simple in that the digital codes control how many cells will be directed to the appropriate summing junction of the amplifier. A clock which defines the conversion rate of the DAC is used to synchronize all output transitions of the control bits via the D-flip flops.
Sigma-delta digital-to-analog converters (DACs) provide for a means to achieve high resolution and low distortion at a relatively low cost compared to traditional Nyquist converters. In the past, there have been many realizations of these very high resolution DACs which used current steering topology in their output stage. Examples of such implementations can be found in the paper by Douglas Mercer titled "A Low Power Current Steering Digital to Analog Converter in 0.18 Micron CMOS" and in the paper by Adams et al. titled "A 113-dB SNR Oversampling DAC with Segmented Noise-Shaped Scrambling".
The above-mentioned paper by Douglas Mercer teaches a plurality of circuit techniques that address the DC and AC distortion performance of a low-power current steering Digital-to-Analog Converter design. Mercer's techniques resulted in AC distortion equal to high power DACs with dissipation as much as 10 times larger.
The above-mentioned paper by Adams et al. teaches a sigma-delta digital-to-analog converter implemented in a 0.6 micron CMOS and using a 6-bit modulator together with a segmented noise-shaped scrambling scheme to achieve 113-dB A-weighted dynamic range over a 20-kHz bandwidth. Adams' output stage uses a dual return-to-zero circuit that eliminates errors caused by inter-symbol interference (ISI).
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a prior art audio band multi-bit sigma-delta DAC 200 employing current steering output stage. The converter consists of an up-sampler 202 to up-sample the digital input to the designed operating frequency of the system, typically, at 128 times the input sample rate Fs (Fs=48 kHz). The output of up-sampler 202 is input into digital filter 204, which filters the images resulting from the up-sampling process. A sigma-delta modulator 206 then reduces the output word-width of the digital filter, typically from 24 bit, down to a more manageable size, typically 4 to 6 bit. This modulation essentially trades off the out-of-band noise for a smaller word-width by pushing the truncation errors into the higher unused frequency region. Binary-to-thermometer encoder 208 is then used to encode the binary weighted data into thermometer code data. The output of binary-to-thermometer encoder 208 is a set of 2N elements, where N is the designed word-width of the modulator output. Each element of this set will then drive a current cell in the bank of current cells. To ensure the linearity of this bank of current cells, a data selection logic (also called shuffler or scrambler) 210 is then used to select a subset of the 2N elements according to the digital code from the thermometer encoder output. The output voltage is produced by converting the sum of the selected current cells into voltage via a current-to-voltage (I-to-V) converter. The output of element shuffler 210 is fed into thermometer-code DAC 212. To filter out the out-of-band noise, a post-analog filter (not shown) is typically used.
A very well understood problem associated with current steering DAC is the inter-symbol-interference (ISI). This ISI problem is the result of un-equal rise and fall time in the waveform of the current pulse delivered to the output by each current cell. Consequently, the present value of the DAC output depends on its previous value. The net effect is a major degradation in the total harmonic distortion (THD) and noise performance of the DAC.
Prior art techniques such as the return-to-zero (RTZ) technique, was used to minimize the effect of ISI. The principle of RTZ is illustrated in FIG. 3. RTZ forces each current cell to turn off for a duration, typically half of the clock period. Hence, the output of the DAC always starts from zero at the beginning of each clock period. The ISI is thus completely removed. The major drawbacks of this technique include a high slew rate, bandwidth requirement and high power consumption in the amplifier; additional high frequency content introduced as the result of returning to the zero state. Further, the subsequent filtering stage of the DAC will have to be very linear, a challenging task in its own, to avoid distortions that may cause by such a high dynamic output from the DAC.
FIG. 4 illustrates the dual RTZ technique which sums the output of two RTZ waveforms which are delayed by half of the clock period from each other. The previously described paper to Adams et al. and the U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,010 titled, "Dual return-to-zero pulse encoding in a DAC output stage" teaches for such a dual RTZ technique. By the principle of superposition theorem, the sum of two ISI-free waveforms must yield an ISI free output. The major draw back of this technique is the addition of the second current bank used to create the delayed RTZ waveform. This addition doubles the silicon area, consumes twice the amount of power and complicates the clock scheme and data synchronization between the digital and analog interface of the DAC.
Prior art low ISI gate drive circuitries can help reducing the effects of ISI by ensuring that the current cell always sees the same symmetrical disturbance at its drain when the control bits make a transition from 1 to 0, and from 0 to 1. It has been known that this type of circuit cannot eliminate ISI completely. Further, when the logic makes a transition, it draws a large current spike from the supply making it not suitable for low power consumption implementation.
Whatever the precise merits, features, and advantages of the above cited references and techniques, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention.

Return-to-hold switching scheme for DAC output stage


A whole surface driven speaker includes a diaphragm of an insulating plastic sheet carrying a conductor coil pattern. A foamed mica plate is bonded to the diaphragm. Two groups of permanent magnets are arranged on both sides of the diaphragm and oppose each other with pole faces of the same polarity across the diaphragm but with poles faces of opposite polarity adjoining each other on each side of the diaphragm.

This invention relates to whole surface driven speakers in which a diaphragm carrying a strip-shaped coil is disposed between two groups of permanent magnets having opposing magnetic pole surfaces.
The whole surface driven speakers of the kind referred to can be effectively employed in acoustic equipment of a relatively wide frequency band.
Various types of whole surface driven speakers have been suggested, an example of which is the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,504 to Kenichiro Kishikawa et al. According to this U.S. patent, an electro-acoustic transducer comprises a diaphragm formed by providing a series of strip shaped conductor coils on a sheet of insulating material. Two groups of elongated permanent magnets are arranged on both sides of the diaphragm so as to oppose each other. Pole faces of the same polarity pole oppose each other across the diaphragm but pole faces of opposite polarity are adjacent to each other. Each group of permanent magnets is respectively secured to a different support plate having sound-passing perforations, and a support member secured to peripheral edges of the diaphragm to support it in tension is held between the peripheral portions of the support plates. In operation, an electric current signal at acoustic frequencies is made to flow through the coil on the diaphragm. As the coil is disposed in a magnetic field flowing along the plane of the diaphragm between adjacent permanent magnets, the signal causes the diaphragm to be subjected to an electromagnetic force in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the diaphragm to vibrate the diaphragm in response to the magnitude of the signal. The resulting audible sound wave passes through the perforations of the support plates.
In the electro-acoustic transducer according to the above-described U.S. patent, on the other hand, the support member for the diaphragm is to provide thereto with a surface rigidity by means of the tension but it is difficult to render the tension to be uniform over the entire diaphragm, the difficulty being increased as the vibratory area of the diaphragm expands. Accordingly, there have been involved such problems that the surface rigidity and tension of the diaphragm become likely to fluctuate and insufficient, resulting in the generation of abnormal sounds and unstable or unbalanced frequency characteristics, and the transducer is no more suitable for use in the acoustic apparatus and equipments.


The present invention is directed to a clip connector for joining steel ribs together end to end to provide a support for lateral wood or steel beams used to line a tunnel. The clip connector has a generally C shaped cross section with a web section having a width approximately equal to the width of the flange of the steel rib and a length and shape sufficient to overlap the ends of the joined steel ribs. The clip has flanges extending from either side of the web to wrap around the flange of steel ribs and contain the flange of the steel rib.

In a tunneling operations, a machine removes material from the face of the tunnel and moves the removed material rearwardly to be transported to the surface for disposal. As the tunneling machine excavates the tunnel, it is necessary to provide a liner for the tunnel behind the machine. Presently, liners are either wood/steel beams supported by steel ribs, commonly called "rib and lagging", steel panels or concrete panels. The use of a particular liner system is dependent on ground conditions and cost.
Wood/steel beams supported by ribs have the advantages of lower cost than either steel or concrete panels as well as being easier and faster to install. Presently, the steel ribs are provided in three or more sections which, when connected together end to end, provide either a complete circle for the desired tunnel diameter or the desired shape for tunnel dimensions. The ribs generally are made by rolling an I-beam structure along one flange to form a curved cross section that supports the ends of the wood/steel beams which are installed between two adjacent ribs.
Presently the rib ends are generally connected to one another using plates welded onto the ends of the ribs, typically called butt plates. The butt plates are then connected together by bolts. While such an arrangement provides for a secure connection, it does have certain disadvantages. The installation and tightening of the bolts consumes a significant amount of both material expense and time in the operation of installing the tunnel lining. In addition, the butt plates extend into the interior of the tunnel, thus reducing the effective usable diameter of the tunnel.
There thus remains a need for a less expensive, simpler and quicker way of connecting the steel ribs together.

Clip and method for joining steel ribs used as tunnel liner supports


An intervertebral implant for placement in the intervertebral space between two adjacent vertebral bodies is provided. The implant comprises a hollow cage and a porous core received within the cage. The cage comprises a superior surface configured to contact a first vertebral body, an inferior surface configured to contact a second vertebral body, and an outer wall extending between the superior surface and inferior surface. The outer wall comprises an exterior surface defining the outer perimeter of the implant, and an interior surface defining an inner (hollow) space or void. The porous core is received within the inner space or void, and preferably fills the void. The core comprises a carbonaceous matrix comprising a continuous phase having a surface and defining a plurality of open spaces throughout said matrix. Suitable carbonaceous matrices are selected from the group consisting of carbon foam, graphite foam, and combinations thereof. Methods of making and using the same, along with kits to facilitate such use are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved intervertebral implants for spinal fusion.
2. Description of Related Art
Current spine procedures for treating damaged or diseased intervertebral discs are critically dependent upon achieving interbody fusion—the replacement of the diseased disc with a spacer that allows bone growth to fuse the adjacent vertebral bodies. Titanium cages or PEEK spacers containing autograft or allograft bone are currently utilized to achieve this medical outcome, but are frequently unsuccessful due to a poor rate of bone growth that fails to achieve complete fusion. A systematic review of the literature reveals that anterior interbody fusion rates vary from 47% to 90%, suggesting a less than excellent fusion rate with current technology. Titanium cages appear to provide insufficient lordotic angle and the fused area of local bone inside cages at regions exposed to endplates is insufficient for physiologic load transmission. PEEK devices appear to represent a reasonable alternative but a thick wall construct is required using PEEK to provide sufficient biomechanical strength during the fusion process. The volume of the solid PEEK insert cannot be replaced by bone, as this biomaterial is not degradable and remains within the body indefinitely. Thus, the overall volume of the new bony column is decreased, contributing to less stability and strength. Existing devices also suffer from problems of subsidence into the adjacent vertebral bodies over time.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for intervertebral implants that promote successful interbody fusion and avoid problems of subsidence seen in existing devices.

Reinforced carbon fiber/carbon foam intervertebral spine fusion device


Disclosed embodiments include cover assemblies for baskets of aerial work platforms and methods of fabricating a cover assembly for a basket of an aerial work platform. In an illustrative embodiment given by way of non-limiting example, a cover assembly for a basket of an aerial work platform includes a flexible cover. The flexible cover includes an interior guardrail portion and an exterior guardrail portion. The interior guardrail portion is configured to be received adjacent an interior surface of a guardrail of a basket of an aerial work platform. The exterior guardrail portion surrounds the interior guardrail portion, and the exterior guardrail portion is configured to be received adjacent an exterior surface of a guardrail of a basket of an aerial work platform. A retrieval mechanism is configured to draw the exterior guardrail portion toward the interior guardrail portion.

An aerial work platform is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment to inaccessible areas, usually at height. Aerial work platforms are generally used for temporary, flexible access purposes such as maintenance and construction work, such as among other things painting, applying shotcrete, and the like.
One type of aerial work platform is known as a boom lift (sometimes referred to as a "cherry picker"). A boom lift includes a mobile base unit with a boom extending therefrom. The boom may have any number of sections as desired. The sections may be articulating or telescoping.
A basket is attached to the end of the boom. In a typical boom lift, a mounting bracket is attached to the end of the boom. A vertical member extends vertically downwardly from the mounting bracket. Horizontal members (such as forks) extend horizontally from the vertical member. The basket is attached, such as by being bolted, onto a distal end of the horizontal members.
The basket includes guard rails and a control panel for controlling functions such as raising and lowering the basket, rotating the basket, driving and steering the mobile base unit, and the like. The basket also includes a floor. A foot-operated master switch for the control panel is mounted on the floor. The floor typically is made from an expanded metal grate. Decals are attached to various surfaces of the basket to convey information, cautions, and warnings, and to identify various features. Various hardware and/or tools may be contained in the basket.
However, if paint, shotcrete, or the like were to be sprayed, drift, spilled, applied, or leak into or onto the basket, then the paint, shotcrete, or the like may get onto the basket, control panel, master switch, or decals. In some such cases, the the paint, shotcrete, or the like may cover the decals and may hinder their readability. In some such cases, the paint, shotcrete, or the like may foul the hardware and/or the master switch and may hinder their workability. In some such cases, the paint, shotcrete, or the like may cover the control panel and may hinder its operability. In addition, if any of such materials simply were to get onto the basket, then the mere presence of these materials on the basket could contribute to a reduction in the aesthetic attractiveness of the basket, thereby helping contribute to a reduction in the overall value of the aerial work platform.

Cover assembly for basket of aerial work platform


A salt compound, and methods for mitigating neurodegeneration, effecting neuroprotection and/or effecting cognition enhancement in a subject using the salt compound are described. Neurological or cognitive conditions are treated by administering to a subject an effective amount of a therapeutic salt compound comprising a nitrate ester.

The compound 2-(4-methylthiazol-5-yl)ethyl nitrate:
is known to interact with amino acid neurotransmitter receptors such as the NMDA receptor and the γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor. This compound is also known to stimulate cerebral soluble guanylyl cyclase (GCase). As such, this compound is useful for its neuroprotective properties, and effecting cognition enhancement. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,052. It has been found that new solid forms of 2-(4-methylthiazol-5-yl)ethyl nitrate can be prepared as the maleate salt form. This salt form exhibits new physical properties that can be exploited in order to achieve new properties, making it useful as a drug substance.


A system and method to enable balanced resource utilization during testing of a wireless communications network. The system and method determines the properties, including the status, for resources, and stores the properties for later comparison. Utilization information is calculated from the properties and provided to the user based on criteria from user-specified resource filters. Balanced resource utilization is enabled based on the utilization information.

This invention relates generally to resource utilization when testing a wireless communications network.
Within a multimedia communications network, probes and associated air/wireless interfaces are very costly to the customer. Moreover, the cost also includes software to make the probes and interfaces operational. Therefore, it is important that the probe be utilized in the most efficient manner possible.
Currently, it is not easy or, in some cases not possible to identify under-utilized interfaces and assign more tests to be run on them, or to view resource utilization on a per user basis or to identify which probes are available for ad-hoc testing
What is needed is a product and method that offers the capability to track and report on utilization statistics for each resource, which can include, but is not limited to, an interface (e.g. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), etc) and a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), (e.g. International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI)), to enable balanced resource utilization during a wireless test.

System and method for enabling balanced resource utilization


There are provided a portable terminal 10 to be brought into an airplane for use, an ADS-B receiver 20 for receiving an ADS-B signal of the airplane, and a headset 30 to be used for a communication between an airplane and an air traffic control tower and a conversation in the airplane, and flight information of an own airplane which is detected by a sensor provided in the portable terminal 10, flight information of another airplane which is to be indicated by the ADS-B signal received by the ADS-B receiver 20 and a conversation voice to be input/output to/from the headset 30 are mutually synchronized and are recorded on the portable terminal 10. In addition to information to be collected in the airplane (the flight information of the own airplane and the conversation voice to be exchanged in the airplane), consequently, all of the flight information of another airplane flying around the own airplane and the conversation voice to be exchanged by a communication between the airplane and the air traffic control tower are recorded in a synchronization form. Thus, various situations in a training flight can be reproduced as accurately as possible after the flight.

In flight training of a pilot on an airplane, conventionally, an instructor rides on the airplane together to perform a training flight and executes evaluation on the ground after the training flight. In learning to be performed after the training flight, a trainee performs review while tracing a memory such as a flight situation, his action, a note given by the instructor or the like in a training flight. Referring to the learning method depending on the memory, however, it is hard to perform effective review because a human memory has a limit.
To solve the problem, there is proposed a training support system capable of performing effective post learning when carrying out flight training (for example, see Patent Document 1). Referring to the system described in the Patent Document 1, a portable flight information recording device including a GPS and an inclination sensor is brought into an airframe to record flight information such as a latitude, a longitude, an altitude, an azimuth, an inclination of an airframe or the like. After a training flight, a flight information reproducing device reproduces the flight information recorded in the training flight together with 3D map data and superimposes and displays a flight trajectory on a 3D map.
Moreover, there is also proposed flight test equipment capable of recording and visualizing every type of digital data such as a video, a voice and graphic data to be captured in an airplane (see Patent Document 2, for example). The Patent Document 2 discloses how to synchronize and record video data to be recorded on a video tape recorder, voice data to be recorded on a cassette, meta data on each stream (a voice, a video and a parameter), a time track and the like.
Furthermore, there is also proposed a system capable of converting flight data into analog data and recording the analog data on a CVR without changing hardware and software in an existing CVR (see Patent Document 3, for example). Referring to the system described in the Patent Document 3, a data converter for a CVR is added to an existing CVR for recording voice information in a cockpit in analog data. The data converter for a CVR converts altitude information of an airplane fetched from a pressure altimeter into a digital signal in a predetermined format and outputs the digital signal to a modulating unit, and furthermore, calculates position information and time information about the digital signal based on a GPS signal received from a GPS satellite and outputs them to the modulating unit. The modulating unit modulates the altitude information, the position information and time information into an analog signal in a voice band and transmits the analog signal to a microphone area input terminal of the CVR. Consequently, the CVR can record each analog data on a voice, an altitude, a position and a time in a lump.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-127914
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2010-528925
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-224183

Flight training support system, portable terminal and flight training supporting program


An interlocking drawer or door assembly has a rear panel and a front panel that each have corresponding openings. Perimeter portions around the openings in the two panels are formed to capture an insert panel. An escutcheon plate covers raw edges of the perimeter around the insert opening. The rear panel is fastened to the front panel to create the assembly.

Drawer and door fronts for cabinets, such as kitchen, bathroom or other storage units have traditionally been manufactured from wood, wood by-products, metal and/or plastic. Typically, these fronts are made from multiple pieces, fastened together using mechanical fasteners such as nails, screws, bolts, welds, adhesives, etc. This not only complicates the design of the door or drawer fronts, but adds to the material cost and the labor cost. In situations where metal is used to fabricate the door or drawer fronts, two panels, a front and a rear, are traditionally fastened together to create an assembly by spot-welding or using screw-type fasteners. The problem with each of these fastening methods is that, in addition to high labor costs, they leave obvious and unsightly evidence of their presence on the exterior of the door or drawer front, and that is unacceptable in many markets.
Additionally, when sheet metal is formed to create the panels of the door or drawer front, the juncture at the corners where the vertical walls of the panels meet leaves a gap that is also unsightly and undesirable. Some have chosen to arc or gas weld this joint, and then grind down the weld to attempt to create a visually pleasing joint, but even with the finest craftsmanship, the ground weld leaves evil notice of its presence. This problem manifests itself not only on the outside corners of the panel, but also on inside corners. If one desires to incorporate an opening in the panel, the edges and corners of the opening need to be treated to alter any rough edges for both safety and aesthetics. The usual method is to provide some sort of post-assembly trim or fascia around the border of the opening to mask the cut edges, or to carefully smooth and polish the cut edges, but this requires extra material and/or extra assembly steps, each increasing the end product cost, and obviates the creation of an opening with a clean, modern appearance. It would be a valuable addition to the art if a method to create an opening in a metal drawer or door front could be designed that would obviate the need for these extra trim pieces or extra labor steps, and would have smooth and uniform edges to create an aesthetically pleasing and cost effective panel.

Drawer or door front assembly with integral port


This invention relates to a multiplex PCR assay capable of screening or detecting the relevant microbial organism specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Toxoplasma gondii, pathogenically important fungii and cytomegalo virus (CMV) in a sample, comprising a reaction mixture of a combination of 4 sets of primers, one of said primer for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a second of said primer for detection of Toxoplasma gondii, a third primer for the detection of pathogenically important fungi and a fourth primer for the detection of CMV, said primers being compatible to each other.

Monoplex PCRs is a molecular technique for amplification of a selected gene fragment of the genome of any organism or cell using a specific set of primers specifically designed for that purpose. These primers can recognize and anneal (bind) to their pre-determined (complimentary) sequence on the genome of that cell/organism. Then the reagents including the enzyme, buffers and the nucleotide mix (building blocks) are mixed together in proportion and put at temperature and conditions so that the enzyme can put the building blocks (nucleotides) in pre-specified sequence as per the complementarities to template (parent) strand of DNA.
Such monoplex PCR for diagnosing infections like Cytomegalo virus (CMV), Herpes simplex virus (HSV), Vericella zoster virus (VZV), Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Toxoplasmosis gondii, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Lyme disease and diseases like lymphomas and Whipple disease have been established. Thus, Monoplex PCR for any infection is known in the art. However, one major impediment to this technique is that one needs to perform a separate PCR reaction for each pathogen that could be time consuming and prohibitively expensive especially if one needs to test for a large number of potential pathogens. Also the monoplex examination would tax the available sample volume that might be very small in situation like intraocular samples.
Multiplex PCR assay is capable of screening various microbial organisms simultaneously or identify different alleles of one organism. In a multiplex PCR, a different cocktail of reagents is used for carrying all other ingredients of a reaction mix as in monoplex PCR situation in addition to the specifically designed primers for all the organisms which are to be identified or detected. However, in Multiplex PCR, the primers and the conditions that are applicable in a monoplex setting no longer produce same results because the primers for different organisms interfere with each other and reduce the sensitivity as well as specificity of assay. Thus both primer selection as well as optimization of conditions and concentration of reagents used need to be standardized, keeping in view the 'nature' of each and every primer as well as requirement of the sensitivity in that particular situation.
Dabil and coworkers have published earlier a technique of multiplex PCR assay, by using novel set of primers for a panel of common pathogens including CMV, HSV, VZV and Toxoplasma gondii (Ref: Dabil H, Boley M L, Schmitz T M and Van Gender R N. Validation of a diagnostic multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for infectious posterior uveitis. Archieves of Opthalmol 2001; 119:1315-22). Persson and Oslen have published Multiplex PCR reaction for identification of Campylobacter Coli and Campylobacter jejuni from pure cultures and directly on stool samples (Persson S and Oslen K E. J Med Microbiol. 2005; 54:1043-7).


The present invention relates to the surprising finding that enamel matrix, enamel matrix derivatives and/or enamel matrix proteins induce dentin regeneration. The invention thus relates to the use of a preparation of an active enamel substance for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the formation or regeneration of dentin following dental procedures involving exposure of vital dental pulp tissue. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method of promoting the formation or regeneration of dentin following dental procedures involving exposure of vital dental pulp tissue, the method comprising applying an effective amount of an active enamel substance on exposed vital dental pulp tissue after dental procedures.

Enamel matrix proteins such as those present in enamel matrix are well-known as precursors of dental enamel. Enamel matrix proteins and enamel matrix derivatives have previously been described in the literature to induce enamel formation (U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,032, Slavkin) or binding between different types of mineralised tissue such as cementum and bone (EP-B0 337 967 and EP-B-0 263 086). Furthermore, enamel matrix proteins and derivatives have been disclosed to promote wound healing in soft tissues such as skin and mucosa (WO 99/43344). The use of enamel matrix proteins or enamel matrix derivatives for dentin regeneration has not, to the inventors' knowledge, been reported previously.
Exposure of vital dental pulp is a common complication, either accidentally or by design, during normal dental restorative and prosthodontic procedures and also following crown fractures, trauma, and caries. Traditionally minimal exposures of dental pulp are treated either by applying a Ca(OH)2 paste or a filling material (e.g. composites) directly onto the pulp to induce superficial necrosis sometimes followed by sclerotisation and reactive dentin formation deeper down in the pulp tissue. This strategy, however, seldom restores a mineralised barrier between the pulp and the restorative material(s) and in frequent cases the dental pulp becomes inflamed and has to be treated by pulpectomy (removal of the entire pulp) or pulpotomy (removal of a large portion of the pulp) and subsequent endodontic filling with synthetic materials (e.g. guttapercha). In the cases where a larger part of the pulp is exposed treatment always includes a pulpectomy and endodontic filling.
Endodontically treated teeth lose their blood supply, innervation and ability to produce reactive hard tissue (secondary dentin). As a result, these teeth become brittle and are also more prone to masticatory induced trauma and grave caries (due to lack of sensibility patients do not feel pain). This makes the lifespan of endodontically treated teeth much shorter than that of vital teeth and thus less useful as pillars for prosthodontic tooth replacements.
If a way to induce new dentin formation that efficiently can cover and seal off exposed dental pulp could be found, it would constitute a major breakthrough in conservative dentistry.

Matrix protein composition for dentin regeneration


A temperature sensor includes a plastic bottom shell, a plastic cap mating the plastic shell, and a temperature responsive element mounted to the plastic cap and received in a cavity of the plastic bottom shell. The temperature responsive element is positioned in the plastic bottom shell by the cap. An insulating coating is applied to the temperature responsive element. The insulating coating and the plastic bottom shell provide dual electrical insulation for the temperature responsive element.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
A temperature sensors for household appliance applications are typically required to meet certain industry safety standards, such as the IEC 60335-1 safety of electrical household appliances standard.
Generally speaking, such temperature sensors include a dielectric housing and a temperature responsive element that is received in the housing. In order to meet industry-accepted standards for such a construction, the housing must have a minimum wall thickness of at least 2 mm around the temperature responsive element and all components that can or will come in contact with the sensing medium. This construction requires increased material costs and slows down the thermal time constant for the temperature sensor.
Alternatively, to meet industry-accepted standards, a "dual insulation" construction can be used. In such a configuration, in addition to a dielectric housing, which may have a wall thickness of only 1 mm, a second and separate insulative coating of any thickness is applied to the temperature responsive element and all components that can or will come in contact with the sensing medium before they are assembled into the housing. Such a construction, however, requires time consuming and costly manufacturing operations of pre-coating and curing the temperature responsive element and other components with the secondary insulator.


To provide a musical instrument holding angle adjusting apparatus and a musical instrument holder including the same, which involve small number of components and which are simply structured. With the musical instrument holding angle adjusting apparatus, not only the top to bottom tilt angle but also the axial rotation angle can be adjusted, and excellent operability is exhibited. Even more, excellent durability is exhibited without incurring impairment of the function even through a long period of use. Further, the tilt angle and the rotation angle having undergone adjustment and setting can be retained with a strong force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical instrument holding angle adjusting apparatus suitable for holding percussion instruments such as cymbals, tom-toms, snare drums, and the like, and a musical instrument holder including the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
As a holding angle adjusting apparatus of this kind, what is conventionally proposed is, for example, an apparatus including: a fixed member, a movable member, and a plurality of friction plates alternately stacked between the fixed member and the movable member. Pressing members for pressing the nails of corresponding friction plates against the inner face of notches formed at respective members are provided. Each pressing member is fixed to the fixed member and the movable member along a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the rotary shaft. The corresponding friction plates are fixed in a state that the friction plates are interposed under pressure between inside wall surfaces of the notches and the pressing members (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2006-154716). However, with this adjusting apparatus, though the top to bottom tilt angle of the movable member can be adjusted, the axial rotation angle cannot be adjusted.
On the other hand, particularly in connection with the holding angle adjusting apparatus used as the musical instrument holder such as a tom-holder, what is conventionally proposed is an apparatus including: a ball member held so as to be capable of swivel in a unit body, and a holding bar slidably inserted into a hole of the ball member, in which a side drum is held by the holding bar (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2007-79437, U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,747, and United States Application No. 2005-0172782). With such an adjusting apparatus, the attitude of the holding bar can be adjusted relatively freely. However, the ball member is normally made of synthetic resin so that it can be fixed at a prescribed angle by frictional force. Therefore, through a long period of use, the ball may deform and the initially expected frictional press-attaching force may not be exhibited. Further, though it is possible to allow the holding bar inserted into the ball member to axially rotate, the ball member does not exhibit full attaching force for preventing the rotation moment applied to the holding bar of a relatively small diameter, and the operability is also reduced. Therefore, such an axial rotation is not preferable in terms of design.
Accordingly, taking into consideration of the circumstances described above, the present invention is directed to provide a musical instrument holding angle adjusting apparatus and a musical instrument holder including the same, which require smaller number of components and are simply structured. Further, with the musical instrument holding angle adjusting apparatus and the musical instrument holder including the same, not only the top to bottom tilt angle but also the axial rotation angle can be adjusted and excellent operability is exhibited. Still further, the function is not impaired even through a long period of use, and excellent durability is exhibited. Still further, the adjusted and set tilt angle and the rotation angle can be maintained with strong force.

Adjustment device of an angle for supporting musical instruments and a device for supporting musical instruments having the same


A system to digitally scan an object in three dimensions is disclosed. The system includes a server system, a memory system, a website and a scanner that scans an object and transfers any number of scanner data to the memory system, the scanner data resides on the digitally scan an object in three dimensions non-transitory storage media and includes any number of object dimensions such as length, width and height of the object, a three-dimensional object file and any number of raw video or any number of images of the object. The system includes a corresponding method for digitally scanning an object in three dimensions and a non-transitory computer storage media having instructions stored thereon which, when executed, execute the method for digitally scanning an object in three dimensions.

Warehousing and shipping companies currently measure incoming cargo to determine the most efficient way to pack cargo for transport. In lieu of increasing insurance premiums, these companies also have a need to document the condition of inbound cargo before accepting it into their facility. Currently, this measuring and documentation is done manually by workers who physically measure the cargo and take pictures of it. Since the nature of warehousing is storage space, the sheer size and scope of these facilities and operations makes this process time consuming, physically demanding on employees, and expensive in overhead costs. Adding visual documentation via photos and video to this process further complicates this issue.
Accuracy is the key in this process. A seagoing container has a set dimension that freight has to be consolidated into. A half-inch discrepancy across approximately 40 pallets worth of freight loaded into one container can lead to an approximate 20 inch overage of freight that won't fit in the container. Weight is also a key element of loading these containers. Bridge laws and state highway regulation only permit so many pounds per axle as well as an overall gross weight of container, chassis, truck, driver, and freight. Currently this problem grows as highway regulation comes under more scrutiny and increases every year.

System and method for digitally scanning an object in three dimensions


A zinc-containing antitartar oral product substantially free of astringency, containing as the essential agent, a zinc/polyphosphate complex having at least about a 50% water solubility, formed by the reaction or interaction of a zinc compound with a potassium or sodium polyphosphate by dissolving a zinc salt in a polyphosphate solution such as pyrophosphate, tripolyphosphate, hexametaphosphate and combinations thereof.

The incorporation of zinc salts into oral dental care products to provide beneficial effects such as antiplaque, anticalculus (that is, antitartar), and deodorant properties is well known in the prior art, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,138,477, 4,416,867, 4,425,325 and 4,568,540. However, the extreme astringency of water soluble zinc salts such as zinc chloride is a major drawback in its use in oral dental care products. In addition to the unpleasant astringent taste in the mouth, the efficacy against plaque, calculus and odor inhibition is short-lived. Usually the complex formation of zinc with anionic liquids such as citrate reduces its astringency but also reduces its solubility.
Accordingly, sparingly soluble zinc salts such as zinc citrate, zinc C.sub.14 -alkyl maleate, zinc benzoate, zinc caproate, zinc carbonate, etc. have been used in dentifrice formulations to prolong the anti-calculus and antiplaque effectiveness of the zinc ions due to the slow dissolution of the zinc salts in the saliva. The sparingly soluble characteristic of these zinc salts promotes longevity of action against plaque and calculus at the expense of initial or immediate efficacy.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,425,325 and 4,416,867 have solved the astringency problem associated with zinc compounds in oral compositions, by adding glycine and adjusting the pH within the range of 4.5 and 9.4 in order to maintain the zinc in solution which is less astringent than a pH below 4.5.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,477 also discloses a non-astringet oral composition containing a zinc-polymer complex having a pH of 4.5 to 6, formed by the chelation or reaction of a zinc compound with an anionic polymer containing carboxylic, sulfonic and/or phosphonic acid radicals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,540 discloses oral compositions effective in controlling mouth odor, calculus, plaque and caries, containing active zinc ions and fluoride ions, said zinc ions being provided by zinc salts selected from the group consisting of zinc chloride, zinc sulfate and zinc thiocyanate, and a specific buffering agent to maintain a pH of 3.5 to 6.0 in order to permit the fluoride ions and zinc ions to remain in solution and not precipitate out.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,269 discloses an anticalculus dentifrice containing a substantially insoluble zinc compound having a solubility not exceeding about 0.5 to 1% by weight (based on the amount of dissolved zinc ion) at 20.degree. C., in order to avoid astringency. The abrasive with said anticalculus dentifrice compositions must not interact with the zinc compound. Therefore, the commonly used phosphate abrasives or polishing agents cannot be used.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,977 an anticalculus oral composition is disclosed containing a water soluble alkali metal polyphosphate salt, a fluoride ion source, and a water soluble alkali metal or ammonium anionic linear polymeric polycarboxylate salt having a molecular weight of 1,000 to 1,000,000.
None of the above cited prior art discloses low astringent oral care products including mouthwash, dentifrice, lozenge, etc., containing a complex of zinc and a polyphosphate which is unusually effective in reducing the astringency of the zinc and simultaneously provide anti-plaque, anti-tartar and anti-odor efficacy.

Zinc-containing oral products with reduced astringency


The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for treating and/or preventing arthritis, which comprising, as an active ingredient, a gene delivery vehicle into which an IK factor or a fragment thereof, or a nucleic acid encoding thereof is inserted. IK factor or the fragment thereof, and the nucleic acid encoding thereof, which are the active ingredient of the pharmaceutical composition according to the present invention, are derived from an organism and therefore, show no side effects in administered into a subject for a long time. Accordingly, they ensures safety and are expected to effectively treat arthritis by being involved in the upstream mechanism for suppressing arthritis.

Arthritis is a disorder accompanied by joint stiffness and continuous periarticular pains caused by one or more joint inflammations. Arthritis can be classified into an acute arthritis and a chronic arthritis. The chronic arthritis such as gouty arthritis, polyarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis deformans caused by aging of bones or joints results in continuous periarticular pains.
Rheumatoid arthritis among the chronic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown cause characterized by polyarthritis. The exact cause of the rheumatoid arthritis has not been known up to date. But, it has been generally considered that a hereditary tendency, bacterial or viral infections and the likes induce the rheumatoid arthritis to develop and inferred that hormones are concerned in developing the rheumatoid arthritis. The rheumatoid arthritis has harmful influences on not only joints but also other organs of the body. Accordingly, patients who have induced rheumatoid arthritis cannot walk and use their own hands or feet, and frequently feel tired or unpleasant. Furthermore, rheumatoid arthritis cause weight loss, lack of sleep and the likes, and continuous rheumatoid arthritis results in limitation of physical activity of the patients caused by muscular weakening, and thereby, considerably influencing on private and social activities of the patients. Also, when the physical activity of the patients is limited caused by rheumatoid arthritis, it is highly likely that the patients become obese and suffer from heart disease resulted from high cholesterol level and get the blues.
Rheumatoid arthritis has been occurred 0.2 cases for every 1,000 people for men and 0.4 cases per 1,000 persons for women per year, and prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis is 0.4-1.4%, which shows relatively even distribution in worldwide. As the aging population has increased gradually, it is expected that the market of therapeutic agents for rheumatoid arthritis grow sharply.
Currently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID); steroids; non-biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatoid drugs (DMARD) such as anti-malarial drugs, hydroxychloroquinone (HCQ), sulfasalazine, methotrexate (MTX), leflunomide; and biological anti-rheumatoid drugs such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors or IL-6 inhibitors have been used as therapeutic agents for rheumatoid arthritis.
As the biological anti-rheumatoid drugs, tumor necrosis factor (TNE) inhibitors such as etanercept, adalimumab, infliximab, golimumab and certolizumab; monoclonal antibody Rituximab as a B-cell inhibitor; Abatacept blocking immune responses between antigen-presenting cells and T-cell; Tofacitinib blocking selectively JAK (Janus activated kinase) as a small molecule inhibitor and the likes have been developed.
But, most of those therapeutic agents for rheumatoid arthritis induce severe side effects. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have caused gastrointestinal side effects, and some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including selective COX-2 inhibitors may induce severe side effects in cardiovascular system. Besides, it has been known that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs induce side effects such as decline in renal function, interstitial nephritis, an acute renal failure and the likes. When administering steroids for a long term, they cause atrophy of hypothalamus-pituitary gland-adrenal gland so that adrenal insufficiency may be occurred, and they induce other side effects such as glaucoma, cataract, osteonecrosis, osteoporosis, hypertension, hypokalemia, and the likes. Particularly, because the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids do not suppress of the progression of arthritis in reality, but only alleviates inflammation, they show little effects with regard to preventing joint damages.
Meanwhile, currently developed anti-rheumatoid drugs can suppress of the progression of early rheumatoid arthritis, but they cannot cure completely rheumatoid arthritis. Also, it has been reported that anti-rheumatoid drugs can induce some side effects. For example, some non-biological anti-rheumatoid drugs can induce side effects such as visual disturbance, retinopathy, skin rash, hepatic dysfunction, nausea and the likes. Also, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors of biological anti-rheumatoid drugs have problems such as blood abnormality, heart failure, hepatic dysfunction and opportunistic infection and IL-6 inhibitors can cause side effects such as hepatic dysfunction, leucopenia and the likes. It has been reported that other biological anti-rheumatoid drugs can induce infection problems as well as side effects such as a risk of tumorigenesis, gastrointestinal perforation and hyperlipidemia.
Particularly, most of the biological anti-rheumatoid drugs have a fatal defect that they can be administered only through subcutaneous injection or intravascular injection, and induce response decline to the drugs owing to immunogenicity by the human body by lapse of time. Also, since the currently developed biological anti-rheumatoid drugs suppress general immune system, they are exposed to the vulnerability of opportunistic infections and cancer suppression. Furthermore, those biological anti-rheumatoid drugs are very expensive, which causes financial burdens of patients considerably. Particularly, not a few patients with rheumatoid arthritis do no react to monoclonal antibodies which have been used as a representative biological anti-rheumatoid drug.

Method for treating arthritis using IK factor or nucleic acid encoding IK factor

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION


A method of producing atomic or quantum fuel includes the steps of providing a plurality of spinning bodies having mass, angularly accelerating the spinning bodies so as to spin each spinning body at angular velocities approaching the speed of light to thereby store energy in the spinning bodies, and in one embodiment so as to cause time dilation, triggering a conversion of the stored energy from an angular momentum of at least parts of the spinning bodies so as to convert the stored energy to translational or radiation energy.

There are four known fundamental forces which control matter and energy; namely: strong nuclear forces, weak nuclear forces, electromagnetic force, and gravitational force. In the 1970s, physicists realized that there are very close ties between two of the four fundamental forces—the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force. The two forces can be described within the same theory, which forms the basis of the Standard Model. This "unification" implies that electricity, magnetism, light and some types of radioactivity are all manifestations of a single underlying force, known as the electroweak force.
The basic equations of the unified theory correctly describe the electroweak force and its associated force-carrying particles, namely the photon, and the W and Z bosons, except for one issue: all of these particles emerge from the equations without a mass. While this is true for the photon, we know that the W and Z bosons have mass, nearly 100 times that of a proton. The answer to this issue is the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism, proposed by the theorists Robert Brout, Francois Englert and Peter Higgs. This mechanism gives a mass to the W and Z bosons when they interact with an invisible field, called the "Higgs field", which pervades the universe. Immediately after the big bang, the Higgs field was zero, but as the universe cooled and the temperature fell below a critical value, the field grew spontaneously so that any particle interacting with it acquired a mass. The more a particle interacts with the Higgs field, the heavier it becomes. Particles like the photon that do not interact with the Higgs field are left with no mass at all. Like all fundamental fields, the Higgs field has an associated particle the Higgs boson.
For years, scientists unsuccessfully attempted experiments to observe the Higgs boson in order to confirm the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism. Then a breakthrough occurred on Jul. 4, 2012, when the ATLAS and Compact Muon Solenoid ("CMS") experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider ("LHC") announced they had each observed a new particle in the mass region of approximately 125 GeV. While the observations of the new particle are consistent with the Higgs boson, it will take further work to determine whether or not it is the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model. The Higgs boson, as proposed within the Standard Model, is the simplest manifestation of the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism.
The CMS and ATLAS detectors are used to investigate a wide range of physics, from the search for the Higgs boson to extra dimensions and particles that could make up dark matter. On 8 Oct. 2013 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded jointly to Franøois Englert and Peter Higgs for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's LHC. (The above excerpts were obtained from an article entitled "The Higgs Boson", published on the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) website at https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson; last accessed on Feb. 12, 2020).
NASA's Gravity Probe B ("GP-B") mission has confirmed two key predictions derived from Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which the GP-B spacecraft was designed to test. The experiment, launched in 2004 and decommissioned in 2010, used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the hypothesized geodetic effect (the warping of space and time around a gravitational body), and frame-dragging (the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates). The GP-B determined both effects with unprecedented precision by pointing at a single star, IM Pegasi, while in a polar orbit around Earth. If gravity did not affect space and time, GP-B's gyroscopes would point in the same direction forever while in orbit. However, in confirmation of Einstein's theories, the gyroscopes experienced measurable, minute changes in the direction of their spin, while Earth's gravity pulled at them. (The above excerpts obtained from a NASA news release no. 11-134, dated May 3, 2011 and published on NASA's website at https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/may/HQ_11-134_Gravity_Probe_B.html; last accessed on Feb. 12, 2020).
A black hole is an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it. A black hole's "surface," called its event horizon, defines the boundary where the velocity needed to escape exceeds the speed of light, which is the speed limit of the cosmos. Matter and radiation fall in, but they can't get out.
Two main classes of black holes have been extensively observed. Stellar-mass black holes with three to dozens of times the Sun's mass are spread throughout our Milky Way galaxy, while supermassive monsters weighing 100,000 to billions of solar masses are found in the centers of most big galaxies. A stellar-mass black hole forms when a star with more than 20 solar masses exhausts the nuclear fuel in its core and collapses under its own weight. The collapse triggers a supernova explosion that blows off the star's outer layers. But if the crushed core contains more than about three times the Sun's mass, no known force can stop its collapse to a black hole. Once born, black holes can grow by accreting matter that falls into them, including gas stripped from neighboring stars and even other black holes.
It has been observed by Albert Einstein that time travels slower the faster an observer travels. This is referred to as time dilation, or gravitational time dilation. This phenomenon is also seen in black holes where the flux (accretion disk) separates out and is compressed into almost a disc where, in the poles, time moves the slowest.
A black hole may be visualized slowing down time and storing all that energy but just before a mass hits the center or the zero point (event horizon) and everything disappears, imagine there is a transfer. Instead of losing the energy in the poles, the transfer breaks the gravitational ties and releases all that energy back into the present timeline.
Energy exists in two states; it's either being stored in time or released.

Synthetic atomic fuel and a method of producing same


The present invention relates to semiconductor-on-insulator structures having strained semiconductor layers. According to one embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor-on-insulator structure has a first layer including a semiconductor material, attached to a second layer including a glass or glass-ceramic, with the strain point of the glass or glass-ceramic equal to or greater than about 800° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor structures, and more particularly to semiconductor-on-insulator structures and methods for making semiconductor-on-insulator structures.
To date, the semiconductor material most commonly used in semiconductor-on-insulator structures has been silicon. Such structures have been referred to in the literature as silicon-on-insulator structures and the abbreviation "SOI" has been applied to such structures. The present invention relates to semiconductor-on-insulator structures in general, including silicon-on-insulator structures.
For ease of presentation, the following discussion will at times be in terms of silicon-on-insulator structures. The references to this particular type of semiconductor-on-insulator structure are made to facilitate the explanation of the invention and are not intended to, and should not be interpreted as, limiting the invention's scope in any way.
The SOI abbreviation is used herein to refer to semiconductor-on-insulator structures in general, including, but not limited to, silicon-on-insulator structures. Similarly, the SOG abbreviation is used to refer to semiconductor-on-glass structures in general, including, but not limited to, silicon-on-glass structures. The SOG nomenclature is also intended to include semiconductor-on-glass-ceramic structures, including, but not limited to, silicon-on-glass-ceramic structures. The abbreviation SOI encompasses SOGs.
2. Technical Background
Silicon-on-insulator technology is becoming increasingly important for high performance thin film transistors, solar cells, and displays, such as, active matrix displays. The silicon-on-insulator wafers consist of a thin layer of substantially single crystal silicon (generally 0.1-0.3 microns in thickness but, in some cases, as thick as 5 microns) on an insulating material.
Various ways of obtaining such a wafer include epitaxial growth of Si on lattice matched substrates; bonding of a single crystal silicon wafer to another silicon wafer on which an oxide layer of SiO2 has been grown, followed by polishing or etching of the top wafer down to, for example, a 0.1 to 0.3 micron layer of single crystal silicon; or ion-implantation methods in which either hydrogen or oxygen ions are implanted either to form a buried oxide layer in the silicon wafer topped by Si in the case of oxygen ion implantation or to separate (exfoliate) a thin Si layer to bond to another Si wafer with an oxide layer as in the case of hydrogen ion implantation. Of these three approaches, the approaches based on ion implantation have been found to be more practical commercially. In particular, the hydrogen ion implantation method has an advantage over the oxygen implantation process in that the implantation energies required are less than 50% of that of oxygen ion implants and the dosage required is two orders of magnitude lower.
Exfoliation by the hydrogen ion implantation method was initially taught in, for example, Bister et al., "Ranges of the 0.3-2 MeV H+ and 0.7-2 MeV H2+ Ions in Si and Ge," Radiation Effects, 1982, 59:199-202, and has been further demonstrated by Michel Bruel. See Bruel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,564; M. Bruel, Electronic Lett. 31, 1995 pp 1201-1202; and L. Dicioccio, Y. Letiec, F. Letertre, C. Jaussad and M. Bruel, Electronic Lett. 32, 1996, pp 1144-1145. Each of the above-referenced publications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The method typically consists of the following steps. A thermal oxide layer is grown on a single crystal silicon wafer. Hydrogen ions are then implanted into this wafer to generate subsurface flaws. The implantation energy determines the depth at which the flaws are generated and the dosage determines flaw density. This wafer is then placed into contact with another silicon wafer (the support substrate) at room temperature to form a tentative bond. The wafers are then heat-treated to about 600° C. to cause growth of the subsurface flaws for use in separating a thin layer of silicon from the Si wafer. The resulting assembly is then heated to a temperature above 1,000° C. to fully bond the Si film with SiO2 underlayer to the support substrate, i.e., the unimplanted Si wafer. This process thus forms a silicon-on-insulator structure with a thin film of silicon bonded to another silicon wafer with an oxide insulator layer in between.
Cost is an important consideration for commercial applications of SOI structures. To date, a major part of the cost of such structures has been the cost of the silicon wafer which supports the oxide layer, topped by the Si thin film, i.e., a major part of the cost has been the support substrate. In discussing support substrates, some of the above references have mentioned quartz glass, glass, and glass-ceramics. Other support substrate materials listed in these references include diamond, sapphire, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, ceramics, metals, and plastics. Although the use of quartz as a support substrate has been mentioned in various patents (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,140,209; 6,211,041; 6,309,950; 6,323,108; 6,335,231; and 6,391,740), quartz is itself a relatively expensive material
As the present inventors discovered, it is not at all a simple matter to replace a silicon wafer with a wafer made out of a less expensive material in an SOI structure. In particular, it is difficult to replace a silicon wafer with a glass or glass-ceramic of the type which can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost, i.e., it is difficult to make cost effective SOG structures. This is so because prior to the present invention, the art has not had practical techniques for using glass or glass-ceramics as support substrates in semiconductor-on-insulator structures
To fulfill this need U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/779,582, co-assigned to the current assignee, discloses SOI structures, that have one or more regions composed of a layer of a substantially single-crystal semiconductor (e.g., doped silicon) attached to a support substrate composed of an oxide glass or an oxide glass-ceramic. The oxide glass or oxide glass-ceramic is preferably transparent and preferably has a strain point of less than 1000° C., a resistivity at 250° C. that is less than or equal to 1016 Ω-cm, and contains positive ions (e.g., alkali or alkaline-earth ions) which can move within the glass or glass-ceramic in response to an electric field at elevated temperatures (e.g., 300-1000° C.).
Although these oxide glass or an oxide glass-ceramic based SOI structures were an improvement over the aforementioned prior art SOI structures, the glasses utilized in this oxide glass oxide glass or an oxide glass-ceramic based SOI structures can not withstand the high temperature processing utilized in high performance display or electronic applications without a resulting deformation of the substrate; e.g. the growth of high temperature thermal gate oxides which are used to allow high performance TFTs to be fabricated on the silicon film.
It is known in the art that high purity fused silica or fused quartz can be used as the SOI substrate for high performance display applications, however these materials, as mentioned earlier, are expensive to process and somewhat size-limited. Furthermore, these fused silica/quartz-based substrates exhibit a thermal expansion that is much lower than that of silicon which typically results in a significant thermal expansion mismatch and subsequent spalling of the silicon film and thus further limiting the device size.
The present invention provides for novel SOI structures which are capable of being used in these high performance display or electronic applications, yet are significantly lower to manufacture than the prior art silica/quartz-based SOI structures, thus satisfy an as yet unmet demand in the high performance display or electronic fields for lower cost SOI structures and resultant devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High strain glass/glass-ceramic containing semiconductor-on-insulator structures


A screw tightening tool includes a case body, a tool member, and a switching portion. The case body includes a guide portion configured such that a head portion of a screw is inserted therein. The tool member includes an engaging portion including a bit portion configured to engage with the head portion. The switching portion supports the tool member. The switching portion is configured to switch a position of the tool member among a first position, a second position, and a third position. The first position is a position in which the bit portion protrudes to an outside from the case body. The second position is a position in which the bit portion protrudes to the outside from the case body and that is different from the first position. The third position is a position in which the case body houses the bit portion.

The present disclosure relates to a screw tightening tool.
A screw tightening tool is provided in which a base end of a tool member is rotatably provided on one end of a main body case. The tool member is configured to adjust an angle of the tool member with respect to the main body case by the tool member rotating around its base end. More specifically, the tool member can be switched among a housed position, a first protruding position, and a second protruding position. The housed position is a position in which the main body case houses the tool member. The first protruding position is a position in which the tool member protrudes from the main body case in a direction orthogonal to an extending direction of the main body case. The second protruding position is a position in which the tool member protrudes from the main body case in the extending direction of the main body case. A user may switch the position of the tool member between the first protruding position and the second protruding position in accordance with a position of a screw. The user may engage a bit portion, which is attached to a leading end of the tool member, with a head portion of the screw. The user may grip the main body case and rotate the screw tightening tool. In this way, the user may tighten or loosen the screw using the screw tightening tool.


A method for compensating for environment induced variations in structural health monitoring data is described. The method includes imparting a vibration onto a structure first location, the structure at a first temperature, receiving a comparison signal resulting from the vibration at a second location, accessing data representing a reference signal previously received at the second location, based on vibration at the first location, the reference signal received when the structure was at a second temperature, dividing the signals across multiple time windows, performing a cross correlation between the signals in each window to maximally correlate the signals within each window, performing a weighted regression on time to estimate time shift, the weights based on reference signal energy in each window, to determine a relationship between time and time shift, and using the relationship between time and time shift of the comparison signal to reduce the effects of environment on the comparison signal.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to structural health monitoring, and more specifically, to systems and methods for providing temperature compensation in structural health monitoring.
Many structural health monitoring (SHM) systems operate by producing a vibration signal, for example by exciting a piezo-electric (PZT) actuator bonded to a structure, and then reading that signal with a PZT sensor bonded at a separate location. Any damage that has occurred between the two PZT transducers will change the characteristics of the transmitted signal, as compared to the characteristics of a transmitted signal where no damage has occurred between the two transducers.
Many SHM algorithms work in the time domain by comparing a reference, or baseline, signal with a comparison signal that may be indicative of damage. In a properly operating SHM system, the degree of difference between the two signals is proportional to the size of damage in the structure. Examples of damage in such structures include a crack having a length or a delamination area within the structure.
Although there are many ways to measure the difference between two signals, normalized RMS error is one very common measure. The RMS error is calculated by subtracting the comparison signal from the reference signal forming an error signal. Each sample of this error signal is squared and summed. The result is divided by the number of samples to get the mean square value and the square root of this value is taken. This is the Root Mean Square or RMS of the error signal. This number is then normalized by the RMS value of the reference wave.
Unfortunately damage is not the only variable that can change a signal. A real world effect that strongly affects a signal is the temperature of the structure when the PZT actuator produces the signal and the PZT sensor measures the signal. One effect of temperature change is to stretch (heating) or compress (cooling) the signal with a secondary effect of distorting the shape of the signal. Due to this effect, the mean squared error between two waveforms recorded at temperatures only a few degrees apart is of the same order of magnitude as the mean squared error between waveforms recorded from a structure before and after damage.

Systems and methods for providing temperature compensation in structural health monitoring


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a data prefetching method, a node, and a system. The method includes: a first storage node receives a read request sent by a client, determines a to-be-prefetched data block and a second storage node where the to-be-prefetched data block resides according to a read data block and a set to-be-prefetched data block threshold, and sends a prefetching request to the second storage node, the prefetching request includes identification information of the to-be-prefetched data block, and the identification information is used to identify the to-be-prefetched data block; and the second storage node reads the to-be-prefetched data block from a disk according to the prefetching request, and stores the to-be-prefetched data block in a local buffer, so that the client reads the to-be-prefetched data block from the local buffer of the second storage node.

As the network develops, information has an explosive increase. A pear to pear (Pear to Pear; P2P) storage system based on the distributed hash table (Distributed Hash Table; DHT) technology has an extremely high extendibility, and can support massive data storage. However, in a P2P storage system, a segment of consecutive data is partitioned into several blocks, and stored in several nodes in the system, so that a client cannot consecutively read data from the system, thereby causing a low data read efficiency.
In an existing data prefetching method for a DHT storage system, a client determines content and a storage location of data to be used next according to an access rule of an application program, and then the client reads data from each relevant storage unit and stores the data in the client, so that when an upper layer application needs the data, the upper layer application can directly acquire the data from the client without transmission through the network, thereby improving the read efficiency. However, the executing, by the DHT storage system, the data prefetching operation, must depend on the client, so that the prefetching method merely improves the communication efficiency from the client to each node, but the data read efficiency of the system is still not changed, that is, the data read efficiency of the system is still low.

Data prefetching method for distributed hash table DHT storage system, node, and system


Driving power is transmitted to an output shaft, via driving and driven bevel gears, to a cutter blade. A gearbox supports the output shaft via first and second bearings. The second bearing is engaged by an engaging member to be prevented from axial movement, toward the blade, relative to the gearbox and supports the output shaft near the cutter blade. The output shaft is connected to the driven bevel gear such that it is prevented from rotation relative to the driven bevel gear but allowed to move axially. When the engaged state, by the engaging member, of the second bearing is canceled, the shaft is allowed to axially move toward the cutter blade until the shaft becomes rotatable relative to the driven bevel gear, at the same time of which a retaining stopper prevents the shaft from further axial movement.

Generally, in the bush cutters, a drive shaft passed through a pipe-shaped operating rod is driven by a drive source, provided on a rear end portion of the operating rod, to rotate a cutter blade provided on a front end portion of the operating rod. Among the conventionally-known types of bush cutters are the shoulder-hanging type and backpack type. In the case of the shoulder-hanging type, a human operator slings the bush cutter over one of the shoulders in such a manner that the operating rod extends from near the operator's waist obliquely forward and downward, and cuts grass by swinging the operating rod up and down, back and forth and left and right while grabbing an operating hand provided on an intermediate portion of the operating rod. One example of such a shoulder-hanging type bush cutter is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2005-237265 (hereinafter referred to as "the patent literature").
The bush cutter disclosed in the patent literature, a gearbox is provided on the front end portion of the pipe-shaped operating rod, and a bevel gear unit is provided within the gearbox. Driving power of the drive source is transmitted from a drive shaft to an output shaft via driving bevel gear and driven gear, so that the cutter blade provided on the front end portion of the output shaft can be rotated by the driving power. The gearbox has one end portion opening toward the cutter blade, and the output shaft and bevel gear unit are built into the gearbox through this open end portion. The output shaft is supported in the gearbox via a pair of upper and lower bearings, and the cutter blade is attached, via a fastening member, to a lower end portion of the output shaft projecting downward through the one end portion. The lower bearing adjacent to the cutter blade is fastened to the gearbox via a retaining ring. A labyrinth mechanism is provided between the surface of the open end portion and the fastening member, and this labyrinth mechanism serves to prevent foreign matters, such as cut grass and pebbles, from entering the gearbox during bush cutting work using the bush cutter.
The labyrinth mechanism comprises an extremely narrow maze-like gap. If the bush cutter is used for a long time, foreign matters would undesirably bite into the labyrinth mechanism and wind around the surface of the open end portion, so that the surface of the open end portion tends to be worn. As the wear of the surface of the open end portion progresses, the retaining ring fastening the lower bearing, located adjacent to the cutter blade, to the gearbox may be undesirably detached downward from the gearbox. As a consequence, the lower bearing and the output shaft may be detached downward from the gearbox.
To avoid such unwanted detachment of the lower bearing and output shaft, an extra or backup retaining ring is attached to an upper end portion of the output shaft remote from the one end portion having the cutter blade provided thereon. The backup retaining ring is held in contact with the upper surface of an inner race of the upper bearing, and thus, even when the above-mentioned retaining ring fastening the lower bearing to the gear box (i.e., main retaining ring) has been detached from the gearbox, the backup retaining ring can still retain the output shaft. Because the output shaft is prevented from moving downward by the backup retaining ring, it will not be detached downward from the gearbox. Because the driving power of the drive source can continue to be transmitted from the bevel gear unit to the output shaft even after the detachment of the main retaining ring, the cutter blade can continue to rotate. However, to permit timely and prompt maintenance and checkup of the bush cutter, it is desirable that a human operator be allowed to recognize a state in which the main retaining ring fastening the lower bearing to the gearbox is detached from the gearbox.


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device including a self-aligned top via includes subtractively etching a conductive layer to form at least a first conductive line on a substrate. After the subtractive etching, the method further includes forming a barrier layer along the substate and along the first conductive line, planarizing at least portions of the barrier layer to obtain at least an exposed first conductive line, recessing at least the exposed first conductive line to form a first recessed conductive line, and forming conductive material in a via opening on the first recessed conductive line.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to top via formation.
Generally, semiconductor devices can include a plurality of circuits which form an integrated circuit fabricated on a substrate. A complex network of signal paths can be routed to connect the circuit elements distributed on the surface of the substrate. Efficient routing of these signals can include the formation of multilevel or multilayered interconnect schemes (e.g., single or dual damascene wiring structures) during the back-end-of-line (BEOL) phase of manufacturing. In addition to signal paths, power can be distributed by interconnect structures from the top-most metallization levels in the BEOL stack down to the device level.
Within an interconnect structure, conductive vias can run perpendicular to the substrate and conductive lines can run parallel to the substrate. In a typical dual damascene approach to forming interconnects, vias are generally patterned below conductive lines, rather than above conductive lines, which can make via patterning difficult.

Top via on subtractively etched conductive line

International Business Machines Corporation