A thin film transistor is provided including an active layer, in which a source region and drain region are formed, a first light-shielding film shielding a light incident on the active layer, and a second light-shielding film between the active layer and the first shielding film. A carrier concentration of at least surface portion of the second light-shielding film which opposes the active layer is about 1017/cm3 or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor device, a liquid crystal display unit and a manufacturing method for the same, and more particularly, to a thin film transistor device and a liquid crystal display unit which reduces leakage current of a thin film transistor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as a display unit for OA (Office Automation) equipment, various display units using a liquid crystal display unit have been developed. Among various liquid crystal display units, an active matrix type liquid crystal display unit having a thin film transistor (TFT) used as a switching element, has an advantage over conventional displays in that contrast or response speed is not lower much even when the number of scanning lines is increased. For this reason, for high-grade display units for OA equipment and display units for high definition TVs, active matrix type liquid crystal display unit are often used. Also, when an active matrix type liquid crystal display unit has been used as a light valve for a projection-type display unit such as a projector, there is an advantage that large-screen displays can be easily obtained.
When the liquid crystal display unit is used as a light valve of a projection type display unit, the liquid crystal display unit is arranged between a light source and an optical system for projecting light from the light source. At this time, the liquid crystal display unit is arranged in such a manner that the light source is located on the side of an opposite substrate of the liquid crystal display unit and the optical system is located on the side of the thin film semiconductor device array substrate (TFT substrate) of the liquid crystal display unit. Among light with comparatively high luminance that becomes incident from the light source, the liquid crystal display unit controls intensity of the light that transmits through the optical system side on the basis of screen information. More specifically, the liquid crystal display unit switching-drives the thin film transistor and controls an electric field to be applied to the liquid crystal layer for each pixel to change the transmission factor of each pixel and thereby adjusting intensity of the transmitted light. The light that is transmitted by the liquid crystal display unit is enlarged and projected through the optical system having a lens and the like.
Normally, in the active matrix type liquid crystal display unit, a semiconductor layer such as amorphous silicon and polysilicon is used as an active layer of the thin film transistor. When light becomes incident on this active layer, leakage current (light-induced leakage current) due to optical excitation occurs so that the display performance of the liquid crystal display unit is deteriorated because the contrast becomes lower. Particularly when the active matrix type liquid crystal display unit is used as a light valve of the projection-type display unit, since light with high luminance becomes incident on the liquid crystal display unit, an influence due to light-induced leakage current that occurs becomes great. Also, in this case, since in the liquid crystal display unit, not only the light from the light source, but also light reflected by an optical system for projection becomes incident on the active layer of the thin film transistor, the influence due to the light-induced leakage current becomes even greater. In recent years, miniaturization and higher luminance of the projection type display unit has advanced, and the luminance of light that becomes incident on the liquid crystal display unit to be used as the light valve has increased as well. For this reason, the problem of light leakage current has become more serious.
As a technique for reducing the influence due to the light-induced leakage current, for example, Japanese Patent published application 11-204587A and 11-084422A describe a technique for reducing the quantity of light by intercepting return light that becomes incident on the thin film transistor. FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of such a conventional liquid crystal display unit. A pixel portion of this liquid crystal display unit has a first polysilicon film 452a, a siliside film 452b, a second polysilicon film 453, a dielectric film 454, which have been stacked in order on a substrate 451, and a thin film transistor 456 formed thereon.
The substrate 451 is made of, for example, a quartz substrate or a high strain point glass substrate. The first polysilicon film 452a and the siliside film 452b constitute the first light-shielding film 452. The first polysilicon film 452a is formed at a film thickness of about 50 nm on the substrate 451. The siliside film 452b is made of tungsten (W) that is a high-melting metallic material, and is formed at a film thickness of, for example, about 100 nm on the first polysilicon film 452a. The second polysilicon film 453 is constituted as the second light-shielding film, and is formed at film thickness of about 50 nm on the first light-shielding film 452. The dielectric film 454 is formed at a film thickness of about 380 nm on the entire surface of the substrate 451 on the second polysilicon film 453. The thin film transistor 456 includes the polysilicon layer 455 formed on the dielectric film 454 at film thickness of about 65 nm as the active layer, and is fabricated by a similar method to an ordinary fabrication method for thin film transistor for liquid crystal display units.
In the conventional liquid crystal display unit shown in FIG. 1, due to a stacked film composed of the first light-shielding film 452 and the second light-shielding film 453, light that becomes incident on the polysilicon layer (active layer of thin film transistor) 455 is intercepted. In the first light-shielding film 452, light that becomes incident on the active layer 455 of the thin film transistor 456 from the substrate back surface side is intercepted by the siliside film 452b that has a strong optical reflection property. Also, the second light-shielding film 453 consisting of polysilicon film which has a photo-absorption property absorbs the light that has entered between the first light-shielding film 452 and the active layer 455, that could not be intercepted by the siliside film 452b, and reduces the light that becomes incident on the active layer 455.
In the conventional liquid crystal display unit shown in FIG. 1, the dielectric film 454 is formed at film thickness of about 380 nm. In this case, among light that is reflected by the substrate 451 to return, light to be included in an angular difference β between a critical ray of light L11 and a critical ray of light L12 that are shown in FIG. 1 becomes incident on a channel region directly below the gate electrode of the active layer 455. Particularly when a strength of light from the light source increases, the light-shielding effect for the light that is reflected by the substrate 451 to return becomes insufficient even by the second polysilicon film 453 having photo-absorption property. When light becomes incident on a channel region of the active layer 455, light-induced leakage current occurs on the thin film transistor 456 and deteriorates the performance of the liquid crystal display unit. For this reason, particularly when the liquid crystal display unit is used as a light valve of a projection type display unit, a technique for more effectively shielding the light that becomes incident on the active layer 455 of a thin film transistor is needed.

Thin film transistor, TFT substrate and liquid crystal display unit


A method for forming a protective structure of active matrix triode field emission device is provided. The method comprises the steps of forming a silicon active region; depositing a gate oxide layer over the silicon active region; depositing and patterning a first metal layer over the gate oxide layer; doping impurities into portions of the said silicon active region to form a source/drain in a first conductive type and simultaneously to form a diode having a terminal in the first conductive type; forming ILD layer over the first metal layer and forming a plurality of contact holes thereon; depositing and patterning a second metal layer; forming a passivation layer over the second metal layer and forming a plurality of via holes thereon, depositing and patterning a third metal layer to form a gate and a tip structure.

The newest flat-panel display is the field emission display (FED), which is developed at about 1980. The basic principles of light emission are the same for the FED and the cathode ray tube (CRT). Electrons are emitted from the cathode, and collide with phosphors coated onto the anode to generate light. What is different is the cathode itself. The CRT uses a point electron source, while the FED has an array of fine electron sources. In the CRT the electrons emitted from the source are deflected and scanned across the screen to produce the image, while in the FED several hundred cathodes are used for lighting each pixel. There is no scanning. Electrons from the cathodes sited directly below the phosphors of a pixel create the image, and as a result the panel thickness can be reduced to several millimeters. Further, while the CRT is a hot cathode device, i.e. it heats the cathode to produce electrons, the FED uses a cold cathode that generates electrons with a high voltage instead.
Although the FEDs are welcomed and are ramping up for volume production in the recent years, it is problematic the gates of the field emission devices will easily rub into the air during the transportation so as to induce electrostatic charges. When the charges are accumulated to a certain amount, the huge voltage differences between the gate and the tip structure of the field emission device, ranged from hundreds to thousands Volt, will be generated, causing the tip of the device to emit electrons. However, the tip cannot endure too much electric current in a short time and will burn itself up, resulting in dead pixels in the display. Therefore, how to design a protective structure of FED in order to prevent the tip of the field emission devices from damaging of large electrostatic discharging is becoming the most urgent problem to be overcome in the industry.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is the schematic view showing the cross-section of the field emission device structure according to the prior art for solving the electrostatic discharge problem. In FIG. 1, a PN diode 13 is formed between the gate 11 and the tip 12 of the field emission device 1 to generate a path for electrostatic discharging. However, such structure can only be applied in passive triode field emission device, and can not be applied to other kinds of field emission device. Besides, in order to form the PN diode, a extra anneal process as well as a doping process of two extra mask steps are required, which generates more problems such as increasing mask cost, extra thermal budge, and decreasing throughput, and so on.

Method of forming protective structure for active matrix triode field emission device

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An exercise machine has a pair of laterally spaced apart foot pedals, each of which is independently coupled to a frame by a respective articulated linkage. Each such linkage has a generally vertical arm that is pivotally coupled to the frame and a generally horizontal arm that is pivotally coupled to its respective foot pedal. These arms are pivotally coupled to one another such that each foot pedal is free to move with in a two-dimensional envelope of motion in a vertical plane. The linkage members are arranged so that the envelope of motion has a generally ovate shape, slightly inclined to the horizontal. The exercises performed with this apparatus may have both vertical and horizontal components of motion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of exercise equipment, and particularly to a lower body exerciser that combines elements of both a stepping exercise and a running exercise.
2. Prior Art
A wide variety of exercise devices have been developed for exercising the various muscle groups of the human body. One class of such devices that is particularly adapted for exercising the lower body consists of cycle-type exercisers. These machines generally simulate the exercise experienced when pedaling a cycle. The operator sits in either an upright, semi-recumbent or recumbent position and operates a pair of foot pedals on a crank shaft. The operator's feet travel in a circular path, each foot constrained to move exactly out of phase with the other.
Another class of machines for exercising the lower body consists of treadmills that permit a walking or running exercise. In a treadmill exercise, there is typically no resistance other than the weight of the operator's body, the effect of which may be amplified by elevating the forward end of the treadmill.
Yet another class of lower body exercisers that has become popular in recent years, consists of machines that simulate climbing stairs. These machines typically have a pair of pedals pivotally mounted to a frame for up and down movement in a arcuate path. Operation of the pedals may be either dependent or independent. Typically, resistance is provided only for the downward stroke of each pedal so that the resulting exercise accurately simulates stair climbing.
Each of the above-mentioned classes of lower body exercisers is useful for achieving particular exercise objectives; however, each such class of exerciser is also limited by the inherent mechanical limitations on the range of motion.


A stackable riser having a substantially smooth outer surface has a first open end defined by an edge and a second open end defined by a pair of adjacent channels, so that the edge defining the first open end of a first riser can mate with one of the channels defining the second open end of a second riser. A detachable anchor tab extends radially from the outer surface about the circumference of the riser. A plurality of risers can be stacked one on top of another, with, for example, the bottommost riser embedded in concrete and the risers above it embedded in soil. Preferably, the anchor tab of the bottommost riser remains attached to the riser and the anchor tab of the risers above it is removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to stackable risers. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a system and method of connecting a series of risers in a way that provides improved vertical support, minimizes the effect of frost heaving and other forces due to vertical ground movement, and resists rotational forces resulting from lateral ground movement.
2. Background of the Invention
Meters, splices, junction boxes, and other components of buried utility systems are often located inside hand-holes or manholes to enable easy access by utility workers from aboveground. Often, utility systems provide such access facilities at key points, such as a major bend in an underground cable/conduit run or location of water or gas meters and other equipment subject to frequent servicing or inspection. Such access facilities have been constructed using preformed or poured concrete side retaining walls. Concrete can be expensive, particularly where the application requires a non-standard size or length, in which case setting forms and pouring concrete adds time and expense. Also, over time, the concrete can crack due to forces caused, for example, by freezing and thawing or by heavy vehicles being driven over the top of the manhole. Tiled sidewalls and concrete block are examples of other labor intensive alternatives.
Injection molded, plastic, stackable risers made of high density polyethylene and other rigid, light weight polymeric material are known in the art and provide a less expensive, standardized alternative that lends itself to rapid on site customization. Risers can be manufactured in various heights and diameters and a series of identically sized risers can be stacked to achieve a desired depth.
Depending on the soil characteristics and overhead traffic, the vertical, horizontal, and rotational forces placed upon these risers can be considerable. A major shortcoming of plastic risers lies in their tendency to deform or break when subjected to such forces. The use of vertical and horizontal strengthening ribs to alleviate this tendency is common. When placed along the exterior of the sidewall, however, these reinforcing ribs themselves often are subjected to the same vertical and horizontal forces they are intended to protect against.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,901 for a xe2x80x9cStackable Riser for On-Site Waste and Drainage Systems,xe2x80x9d issued to Meyers illustrates one prior art design of a plastic riser for forming a depth-adjustable, grade-level access for underground components. The Meyers riser forms a rigid structure intended to support heavy loads applied to the grade level access lid. Identical risers reinforced along portions of both the inner and outer walls are stacked one on top of the other utilizing a single tongue and groove connection. A horizontal rib extending outward along the circumference of the external surface of the side wall of each cylindrical riser and a plurality of vertical ribs, also on the external surface of the riser, individually anchor each riser in the ground. A plurality of risers can be stacked to form a vertical, air-tight, liquid-tight, and gas-tight riser and lid system.
The shifting of the ground surrounding the riser stack disclosed in the Meyers patent can twist and move the stacked risers, knocking them out of alignment. Eventually, the shifting can lead to rupture of the stacked risers"" sidewall. The presence of external horizontal and vertical reinforcing ribs extending along the wall of each riser, while strengthening the riser sidewalls, also exacerbates this problem because shifting soil applies force against each exposed rib. The configuration of the tongue and groove arrangement of the risers disclosed in the Meyers patent also precludes the placement of supporting ribs along the full vertical length of the interior riser wall, which lessens the sidewall""s resistance to forces exerted by the shifting of the soil abutting the sidewalls and external ribs.
The stackable riser of the present invention addresses these shortcomings. In the preferred embodiment, the stackable riser of the present invention has a hollow, cylindrical configuration, although configurations other than cylindrical may be used. The sidewall of the riser includes a channel end and a tapered end. In the preferred embodiment, the riser has a nearly smooth exterior surface from which projects outwardly a detachable anchor tab that may run along substantially the full circumference of the riser. The channel end of the riser sidewall includes two adjoining channels which are defined by interior, middle, and exterior walls that project concentrically with, or (in the case of risers having, for example, a square or rectangular cross-section) parallel to, the sidewall. The opposite, or tapered, end of the riser sidewall terminates in a portion tapered to a narrower thickness at the end. A plurality of vertical reinforcing ribs are spaced around the interior surface of the cylindrical sidewall of the riser. Because in the preferred embodiment the ribs extend from near the channel end to the distal end of the tapered end of the riser sidewall, they strengthen the sidewall in the area of the joint between each pair of stacked risers. In the preferred embodiment, the interior surface of the sidewall also includes at least one boss extending vertically from near the channel end to the distal end of the tapered end of the riser. Each boss is adapted to receive a screw, or other fastener, for securing another riser stacked on top of the first riser, or a cover at ground level.
The tapered end of the riser sidewall is configured to mate with the two concentric channels of either another riser or a cover. The radially outer channel is shallower than the inner channel in the preferred embodiment and accepts the tapered end of the sidewall of another riser on which it is placed. The radially inner channel is wider than the outer channel, and accepts the interior vertical support ribs and bosses of a riser on which it rests. An O-ring placed in the outer channel can be used to effect a water-tight and gas-tight seal between two stacked riser sections (or between a riser and a cover). Sealant can be applied to the area where the tapered end of a first riser contacts the outer channel of another riser (or a cover) stacked on top of the first riser to further ensure a water-tight, gas-tight seal between adjacent risers (or between a riser and a cover) beyond that provided by the dual channel design of the present invention.
In the preferred embodiment, a detachable anchor tab on the exterior surface of the riser sidewall serves to anchor the lower-most riser in concrete, for example, a cast-in-place concrete distribution box. The concrete is poured around the riser and its anchor tab, thereby anchoring the bottom riser after the concrete hardens. Another identical riser may be placed on top of the bottom riser, with the tapered end of the bottom riser mating with the channel end of the riser placed on top of the bottom riser. The anchor tab on each of the risers stacked above the bottom riser (i.e., above the riser anchored in the concrete box) in a given stack can be detached by tearing it away from the exterior of the sidewall. In the preferred embodiment, the anchor tab includes a handle for this purpose. Tearing away the anchor tabs on the risers that are not anchored in concrete gives the stack of risers a nearly smooth exterior surface, thereby minimizing the forces exerted on the stack of risers by movement of the soil in contact with the riser stack.
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, the risers may have a square, rectangular, elliptical or other cross-sectional configuration.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved connection configuration that resists rotational forces exerted on one or more risers in an interconnected system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved reinforcement of the sidewalls of risers stacked one on top of the other.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a detachable anchor on the exterior surface of a riser, the anchor being used when the riser is to be anchored in concrete, and removed when the riser is to be in contact with soil.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a riser adapted for being anchored in concrete, while at the same time minimizing the susceptibility of a stack of risers to forces caused by the ground next to the stack shifting.
Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings in which the details of the invention are fully and completely disclosed as part of this specification.

Stackable riser resistant to soil movement


An apparatus for loading and unloading heads from a removable cartridge disk drive. The apparatus comprises a scissoring load ramp that has a pair of pivoting arms. Each arm has a ramped end that pivots between and open and a closed position. In the open position, the ramped ends pivot away from each other and away from the surface of the media providing sufficient space for media to fluctuate during insertion and ejection from the drive. In the closed position, the ramped ends move toward each other and the media to provide a mechanism for loading and unloading the heads to and from the media.

This invention relates to cartridge based data storage systems. More particularly, the invention relates to head load ramps for a removable media disk drive.
Cartridge based tape and disk data storage devices for storing digital electronic information have been in use in the computer industry for several decades. Removable disk cartridges typically comprise an outer casing or shell that houses a disk-shaped magnetic, magneto-optical or optical storage medium upon which information can be stored. The cartridge shell often comprises upper and lower halves that are formed of injection molded plastic and are joined together to house the disk. Magnetic disk media can be either rigid or flexible and are mounted on a hub that rotates freely within the cartridge. When the cartridge is inserted into a disk drive, a spindle motor in the drive engages the disk hub in order to rotate the disk within the cartridge at a given speed. The outer shell of the cartridge typically has a media access opening proximate one edge to provide the recording heads of the drive with access to the disk. A shutter or door mechanism is provided to cover the head access opening when the cartridge is not in use to prevent dust or other contaminants from entering the cartridge and settling on the recording surface of the disk. The shutter is commonly biased to a closed position with a spring bias. To open the shutter and gain access to the media, the drive employs a mechanism that overcomes the bias of the spring.
Disk drives for use with such removable disk cartridges typically employ either a linear actuator mechanism or a radial arm actuator mechanism for positioning the read/write head(s) of the disk drive on the recording surface(s) of the storage medium, or disk. Because the disk cartridges are designed to be removable from the drive, the linear or radial arm actuators must be able to move off, and away from, the storage medium to a retracted position in order to prevent damage to the head(s) when a cartridge is inserted and removed from the disk drive. Moreover, many removable cartridge disk drives employ a pair of opposing read/write heads for recording and reproducing information on both sides of a storage medium. Typically, the opposing heads are disposed on flexible suspension arms at the distal end of an actuator that allow the heads to fly closely over the respective surfaces of the rotating disk. The opposing heads must be spread apart as they approach the edge of the disk during a head loading operation in order to avoid collision with the edge of the disk. Similarly, when the heads are unloaded from the disk, they must again be spread apart to avoid collision with the edge of the disk and each other.
Prior art removable media disk drive mechanism employed load ramps to safely unload the head from the media during cartridge insertion and ejection. Typically, such load ramps move over the edge of the media and capture the heads during cartridge ejection. After capturing the heads, the heads and the load ramp move in tandem away from the edge of the media. During cartridge insertion, these load ramps move back over the edge of the media in tandem with the heads after the media is fully mounted in the drive. Thereafter, the heads are permitted to unload onto the media surface. In this way, the load ramp protects the heads and the media from damage that could result if the heads collided with the edge of the media. However, where it is desirable to make a disk drive as small as possible, surface area of the drive becomes a premium commodity.
The existing load ramp designs pivot in the same plane as the media toward and away from its edge. This movement of the load ramp requires additional space on the drive chassis to accommodate the movement of the head ramps. Thus, a head load ramp that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art is desirable. The current invention is directed to providing such a load ramp.

Scissoring load ramp for a removable media disk drive


Various data storage formats help to efficiently locate, read, and write user data stored on magnetic tape media. A tape is formatted by writing multiple segment-headers, free from any interleaved access of user data Adjacent segment-headers are spaced by a predetermined interval to define multiple data storage segments. Segment-headers all contain a unique key, which is copied into a key index to identify valid segments. After formatting, normal tape accesses can be performed. Without erasing any old headers or data, a new formatting scheme can be established by writing new segment-headers on the tape. The new segment-headers include a new unique key, replacing the previous key in the key index. Previous segment-headers stored on the tape are ignored, since they lack the updated key. Segments may be selectively grouped to provide independently addressable partitions. Mapping between segments and partitions can use a fixed relationship (e.g. one-to-one), or each partition may be variably sized according to the amount of data to be stored therein. Variable-sized partitions may be automatically padded with a selected number of empty segments. Another feature is flexible-capacity scaling, which distributes an ordered set of device blocks on a multi-track magnetic tape medium. The device blocks are bi-directionally stored in a continuous configuration of multiple adjacent stacked serpentine patterns occupying some or all of the tape. This configuration permits sequential access of all device blocks without advancing the tape medium to skip over regions between adjacent device blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the use of magnetic tape media to store data. More particularly, this invention involves various methods and apparatuses employing novel data storage formats to more efficiently and conveniently locate, read, write, and update data stored on magnetic tape media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Partitioning
A few magnetic tape storage systems with limited partitioning are known. "Partitioning" generally involves the establishment of at least one independently addressable data storage region on the tape. One known "two-partition system" uses one partition to store a directory, and another partition to store data. In contrast, a known "stacking" partition system uses multiple partitions, where each partition stores a different set of data. In the stacking partition system, new partitions are sequentially defined and appended to the existing partitions, in effect "stacking" them onto existing data.
Although these partition systems may be adequate for a number of different uses, they may not meet the requirements of certain other applications. Many applications, for example, would benefit by storing data on tape in multiple-fixed sized partitions having regularly spaced positions on tape. Theoretically, having such partitions would enable faster tape positioning, increase data capacity, and permit certain advanced functions such as updating stored data ("update in place"). However, the known partitioning systems do not support multiple, fixed sized, regularly spaced data storage partitions. The two-partition system only uses two partitions where data is only stored in one partition. With the stacking partition system, multiple data storage partitions are used, but the partitions are not fixed in size, and they are not stored in regularly spaced locations. In contrast, the size of each partition depends upon the amount of data to be stored, and the position of each partition depends upon the aggregate size of all preceding partitions.
Serpentine Data Paths & Fixed-Capacity Scaling
Many known tape storage systems store data in "serpentine" fashion, as shown in FIG. 1. Serpentine data storage patterns are one way of storing data on a tape having multiple parallel tracks. With serpentine storage, a set of device blocks are stored in a pattern that bi-directionally traverses the tape's length along different parallel tape tracks. In particular, the data storage path first spans the tape's entire length in one direction along a first track, returns in the opposite direction along an adjacent parallel track, and then continues sweeping back and forth along the tape.
To improve the access time of serpentine-stored data, engineers have developed "fixed-capacity scaling". Fixed-capacity scaling can be employed when the data does not completely fill the tape. In this case, rather than storing the data on several tracks or track groups sweeping the entire length of the tape, the data is congregated on all tracks near the beginning of the tape. In many systems, a multi-track R/W head can read sixteen tracks simultaneously, and the tape is configured into eight groups of sixteen tracks. In such a system, data stored with normal serpentine storage might occupy the entire length of four track groups, leaving the remaining four track groups unoccupied. In a tape 100 using fixed-capacity scaling, however, the data is congregated onto the first halves of all eight track groups 102 as shown in FIG. 1. To follow this data storage path, the tape is advanced such that the R/W head passes over half of the tape's length along a path 104. After "vertically" aligning the R/W head with the path 106, the tape is advanced such that the tape head returns in the opposite direction along an adjacent parallel path 106; the R/W head and tape are cooperatively moved to follow a data path that continues sweeping back and forth along the tape. As an example, the "vertical alignment" between the R/W head and the path 106 may involve physical movement of the R/W head (called "head indexing"), or switching to a different R/W head configured to operate in an opposite direction than the original R/W head. Although the data still occupies the same size region of tape, it is congregated near the beginning of the tape, leaving the last half 108 of the tape blank. As a result, tape head movement is advantageously restricted to the first half of the tape. Fixed-capacity scaling thus offers benefits in efficiently locating data, since the same data can be searched with less tape movement. With fixed-capacity scaling, time consuming tape advancement operations are avoided in favor of small, relatively rapid operations to "vertically" align the tape head and data path (e.g. head indexing or switching to a different tape head).
Although fixed-capacity scaling may be satisfactory in some cases, there are applications for which this approach is not completely adequate. For example, some cost- or efficiency-conscious users may not be willing to sacrifice a significant amount of tape storage capacity 108 in favor of faster tape access. Also, fixed-capacity scaling is inadequate for storage of data that is large enough to occupy the entire tape. In this case, fixed-capacity scaling offers no benefit since the data cannot be rearranged to fit on a smaller length of tape. In a different respect, other users may find fixed-capacity scaling to be lacking because it does not provide any type of partitioning.

Tape pre-formatting with uniform data storage segments selectively mapped to fixed or variable sized independently addressable data storage partitions

International Business Machines Corporation


A Z stage is placed on an XY stage in avoidance of an area to which a mark table is fixed. The mask M is placed on a holding mechanism provided on the Z stage. A middle value of the range adjustable by the focal adjustment mechanism is made coincident with the height of the mark table. The height of the mark table is measured and the heights of plural measurement points of the mask M are measured. The Z stage is moved in such a manner that the height of a middle value between highest and lowest values of the heights of these measurement points coincides with the height of the mark table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron beam writing apparatus that has a holding mechanism for holding a mask at its back surface and irradiates the surface of the mask held by the holding mechanism with an electron beam thereby to write a desired pattern, and an electron beam writing method therefor.
2. Background Art
An upper surface holding mechanism for holding a mask upper surface has heretofore been adopted upon writing of each pattern on a mask by an electron beam writing apparatus. FIG. 7A shows a state in which a mask M is held by the upper surface holding mechanism. The upper surface holding mechanism is provided on an XY stage 104 movable in the direction orthogonal to the direction of an optical axis of an electron beam (not shown) emitted from an electronic optical lens barrel 101 equipped with an electronic optical system and comprises a clamp 102 having a top reference piece, for clamping the upper surface of the mask M and clamp pins 103 which are brought into contact with the back surface of the mask M coaxially with the top reference piece and urged upwardly by urging means provided outside the drawing, and has a structure in which the mask M is interposed between and held by the top reference piece of the clamp 102 and the clamp pins 103 (refer to, for example, a patent document 1).
Since the upper surface holding mechanism minimizes the contact with the mask M, cleanliness of the mask M can be maintained. Further, the upper surface holding mechanism suppresses an influence of an error in the surface of the mask M, which occurs due to the correction of the shape of the back surface of the mask M and is excellent in reproducibility.
Meanwhile, in order to meet a demand for miniaturization of circuit patterns of a recent semiconductor and the like, there is a need to enhance the resolution of an electron beam. To this end, an approximation of the electronic optical lens barrel 101 to the mask M is becoming very important. While the distance between the electronic optical lens barrel 101 and the mask M is now on the order of a few mm or so, the thickness of the top reference piece of the clamp 102 is also on the same order as that. Therefore, when the electronic optical lens barrel 101 is brought close to the mask M to meet the above demand as shown in FIG. 7B, it is becoming difficult to ensure space for the top reference piece of the clamp 102.
In order to solve such a problem, a back surface holding mechanism 105 for holding a mask M at its back surface, such as an electrostatic chuck may be used as a mask holding mechanism as shown in FIG. 8A. When, however, the back surface holding mechanism 105 is used, the thickness of the mask M has a tolerance of the order of 100 μm. Therefore, unlike the case where the upper surface holding mechanism described in FIG. 7A and 7B are used, a vertical position displacement of the surface of the mask M becomes manifest (refer to FIG. 8B).
When the vertical position displacement occurs, focus senility, a position displacement and the like occur upon actual writing even though a focal adjustment to the electron beam and a beam position adjustment are conducted by a mark table, thus causing a disadvantage that such influence is exerted on writing accuracy. If the heights of a mark table 106 and a mask M1 coincide with each other as shown in FIG. 9A by way of example, then writing can be conducted by an electron beam adjusted in advance by the mark table 106. However, when a vertical displacement g1 is taking place because a mask M2 is higher than a mark table 106 as shown in FIG. 9B and when a vertical displacement g2 is taking place because a mask M3 is lower than a mark table 106 as shown in FIG. 9C, there is a need to correct the influences of the vertical displacements.
Here, an electronic optical lens barrel is equipped with a focal adjustment mechanism for varying a focal height of an electron beam in a predetermined adjustable range. It is considered that the correction of the influence of a vertical displacement is performed by the adjustment of the focal height by the focal adjustment mechanism (refer to, for example, a patent document 2). While there is a need to set an adjustable range for the focal height to the order of 100 μm corresponding to a mask's thickness tolerance in this case, it is difficult to ensure such a large adjustable range.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10(1998)-55950    [Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,331

Electron beam writing apparatus and method


This invention encompasses trunk piston engine lubricating oil compositions, comprising a major amount of one or more Group I base oils; and one or more dispersant additives, wherein the concentration of the one or more dispersant additives within the trunk piston engine lubricating oil composition is about 0.2-0.6 wt. % on an actives basis; and methods for making and using the trunk piston engine lubricating oil compositions.

Trunk piston engines typically operate using various types and qualities of diesel fuels and heavy fuel oils. When heavy fuel oils and conventional lubricant oil compositions mix in different temperature regions of trunk piston engines, however, black sludge (such as asphaltene deposits or other deposits) and other asphaltene derived deposits (such as undercrown deposits) tends to form. Such black sludge or deposit formation can adversely affect the service interval and maintenance cost of trunk piston engines.
Several attempts have been made to develop a lubricating oil composition having improved performance within trunk piston engines operating on heavy fuel oils. For example, EP 1154012 discusses a dispersant-free lubricating oil composition comprising an oil of lubricating viscosity, an overbased metal detergent, and an antiwear additive, wherein the composition can contain small amounts of a dispersant provided that the composition does not substantially demonstrate the dispersancy effect of the component. Similarly, EP 1209218 discusses a dispersant-free lubricating oil composition comprising an oil of lubricating viscosity, an overbased metal detergent, and an antiwear additive, where the composition can contain less than or equal to 1 mass % of a dispersant.
A need still remains, however, for an improved trunk piston engine lubricating oil composition having a Group I base oil that both reduces black sludge formation in trunk piston engines using heavy fuel oil, and which is viscosity-stabilized such that it is resistant to oxidation-based viscosity increase.

Trunk piston engine lubricating oil compositions


A wind lift mitigation net for mitigating or preventing wind lift of at least one membrane covering an outdoor aggregation of matter is provided. The wind lift mitigation net comprises a plurality of monofilaments. At least some of the monofilaments may each have a cross-sectional shape that comprises at least one vertex. The cross-sectional shape may, for example, be a non-circular shape such as a tear drop, triangular, square or stellate shape. At least some of the monofilaments may each have at least one substantially planar surface.

Agricultural matter, such as silage for livestock feed, chopped forage or other agricultural products may be aggregated outdoors by ensiling it in pits or stacks on the ground. It may then be compressed and covered with a membrane such as plastic sheeting.
The presence of the plastic sheeting creates an anaerobic environment to allow a lactic acid fermentation which preserves the ensiled matter. It is important for the plastic sheeting to be held in close contact with the ensiled matter during storage to maintain anaerobic conditions. In some circumstances, items such recycled tyres or bags containing sand or gravel are placed on the plastic sheeting to hold it in place.
Use of recycled tyres or bags containing sand or gravel to hold plastic sheeting in place can be inconvenient and unhygienic.


A thick-film resistance 9 with a conductive path 8 of electrically conductive material is provided in the case of a fuel level transmitter for a fuel tank of a motor vehicle. The conductive path 8 is contacted in a sliding manner by a contact element. The material of the contact element exhibits a silver content, which has been reduced in such a manner, that an increase in the resistance of the contact ascribable to the formation of silver compounds, especially silver sulfide, silver sulfite and silver sulfate on the contacting surfaces is negligible.

Level transmitters, as a rule, exhibit an arm for signal transmission, on one end of which a float is placed, while the other end is pivotally secured to a carrier which in turn is anchored to base. Present on this secured end is a rivet contact element, which by at least one contact rivet, stands electrically in slide-contact with an arc shaped conductor path on a thick-film resistance. The conductive path is subdivided into individual stages aligned concentrically toward the center of curvature of the arc. Each stage is electrically connected to a resistance path. In accordance with the angular position, that is, as to the placement of the arm on the arc, the contact finds itself on another stage and thereby at another position on the resistance path, thus exposing the circuit to differing values of resistance. By point by point calibration, the values of resistance are converted to values of the content of the vehicle tank.
The thick-film resistance for the transmission device has a carrier, which is, for instance, made of ceramic material, upon which is imprinted a resistance path and at least one of the arc-like conductive paths contacted by the contact rivet. The conductive paths are constructed of an electrically conductive material.
EP 78 92 31 A2 discloses a tank content transmitter, in which two conductive paths of a thick-film resistance are provided to be contacted by contact fingers. In this case, the fingers are of a material composed of 38 wt % silver, in addition to palladium, platinum and copper.
In recent times, such fuel level transmitters have been, in part, subject to signal transmission error and even total failure, after a short operational life. In failure, the level transmitters deliver no electrical signal. These disturbances occur when the level transmitters are applied in fuel tanks made of fluoridized polyethylene and/or when desulfurized fuels are used.

Transmitter for level in a fuel tank of a motor vehicle

Alfmeier Prazision Ag. Baugruppen und Systemlosungen


A method, apparatus, and computer program product for implementing inspection recipe services are provided. The apparatus includes a test structure including a semiconductor substrate and a number of arrays disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The arrays are linearly arranged and spaced equidistant. Each of the arrays corresponds to a reticle field and includes a number of cells. The test structure also includes a defect programmed into every third array. The defect is programmed in the same location on each third array. The test structure further includes an alignment site defined on the test structure for providing a point of reference upon inspection. The alignment site, in conjunction with a modified reticle pitch extending the distance of one reticle field plus a portion of an adjacent reticle field, are used to perform a random mode inspection of selected arrays in the test structure.

The present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program product for optimizing inspection recipes using a mask with programmed defects.
Determining, optimizing, and monitoring the sensitivity of optical, laser-based, electron-beam and other inspection tools are of great importance for state-of-art semiconductor process technologies. The sensitivity is typically defined by the size of the smallest defect that the inspection can detect.
One approach for optimizing the sensitivity of an inspection tool utilizes an arbitrary production wafer. Initially, an inspection threshold is set to a very low level so that lots of noise is picked up as well as all of the detectable defects based upon the current inspection tool settings. The smallest defect detected may or may not be the smallest defect that exists on the wafer. The inspection may then be optimized by iteratively adjusting the inspection conditions so that the signal of these defects is stronger in order to identify any additional defects. Once optimized, this same production wafer can then be used to monitor the inspection stability by running it again at a later date.
This approach has a number of drawbacks. First, a range of the appropriate sized defects may not exist on every production wafer. As a result, many of these wafers are not good candidates for recipe optimization. If a poor candidate wafer is used, sub-optimal inspections may result. Second, valuable inspection tool time may be consumed evaluating whether a wafer is a good candidate. Finally, each wafer has a finite life for inspection recipe monitoring, making long term monitoring difficult.
One technique for addressing this problem is to utilize programmed defects; that is, intentional defects embedded into the design of a product-like test structure. In a good design, the programmed defects will span the range of interest. Because they are part of the design, they will appear in every reticle field and on every wafer. Therefore, a different wafer can be used every time for long term monitoring.
One disadvantage of this approach is that it is suitable only for array mode inspections, where potential defects are compared to reference sites 2 um to 50 ums away within the same array. Many applications are not suited to array mode inspection and instead require random mode inspection, where the potential defect image is compared to a reference image in the same position on the next die. Logic circuitry is one example where random mode inspection is preferred. Also, for a large area inspection, random mode may be the appropriate choice, since, although some regions within this area have a pattern, no single offset will apply for the entire area. With random mode inspection, however, programmed defects would not be detected because they appear in the same place within each flash field.
One solution to this problem is to utilize two masks for each level of inspection, where the second mask is the same as the first except that it contains the programmed defects. These masks are then alternately flashed across the wafer so that every third reticle field would contain the programmed defects. To differentiate the good die from the bad die, double arbitration may be used. The defective die is compared to its neighbors to the left and right. The main drawback to this approach, however, is that it requires the purchase of an additional reticle per layer of interest which is very expensive. Generating wafers of this type is also expensive in terms of scanner time and only a few wafers would likely be generated.
Another alternative is to place three similar test structures equally spaced across the flash field. One of these structures would contain a programmed defect. Inspection tool sensitivity in random mode could be optimized by using a pitch equal to one third of the reticle field. The disadvantages of this approach are coordination of the reticle layout to get these exact positions in the reticle field and the inspection tool sensitivity is affected by the pitch.
What is needed, therefore, is a cost-effective way to test and optimize sensitivity of inspections tools that leverages the aforementioned benefits of both array mode and random mode inspections.

Method, apparatus, and computer program product for optimizing inspection recipes using programmed defects

International Business Machines Corporation


A fluid control valve for use with apparatus for medical use. Commercially available valves which operate by electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic means are often expensive and bulky. They may require excessive power to operate them and can be noisy during operation due to moving parts and fluid flow through internal pathways. The valve of the present invention has a valve seal (1) mounted between inlet (A) and outlet ports (B), with the seal including a valve closure member (4) operated by means of a control fluid fed through a control port (C) in the valve body. In operation a pressure differential acting to open and close the valve is set up between the inlet and outlet ports and the control port to operate the valve. This design results in cost savings and performance benefits compared with the prior art.

The control of fluid is an essential element in the process and manufacturing industry or in applications where such conditions are utilised for the benefit or well being of mankind such as in medical apparatus.
Valves are commercially available which operate by electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic means to open, close or regulate flow or pressure within acceptable parameters. Such valves are often expensive and bulky, may require reasonable power to operate and can be noisy in operation due to moving parts and fluid flow through internal pathways.


Mixtures of a modafinil compound with a cyclodextrin, methods for their use, and compositions thereof are disclosed, along with complexes comprising a modafinil compound and a cyclodextrin which are taste-masked and suitable for oral consumption in an aqueous solution.

Modafinil (C15H15NO2S), is 2-(benzhydryl-sulfinyl)acetamide, and is also known as 2-[(diphenylmethyl) sulfinyl] acetamide.
Modafinil has been described as presenting a "neuropsychopharmacological spectrum characterized by the presence of excitation with hyperactivity and of hypermotility; and by the absence of stereotypy (except in high doses) and of potentialization of the effects of apomorphine and amphetamine" (U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,290; hereinafter the "'290 patent," which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference). A single administration of modafinil results in increased locomotor activity in mice and increased nocturnal activity in monkeys. Duteil et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 1990, 180, 49. Modafinil has been successfully tested in humans for treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy. Bastuji et al., Prog. Neuro-Psych. Biol. Psych., 1988, 12, 695.
Other uses of modafinil have been presented. U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,745, incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses the use of modafinil for providing a neuroprotective effect in humans, and in particular for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The levorotatory form of modafinil, i.e.,(−)benzhydrylsulfinyl-acetamide, may have potential benefit for treatment of depression, hypersomnia and Alzheimer's disease (U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,855, incorporated in its entirety herein by reference). European Published Application 547952 (published Jun. 23, 1993) discloses the use of modafinil as an anti-ischemic agent. European Published Application 594507 (published Apr. 27, 1994) discloses the use of modafinil to treat urinary incontinence.
Preparations of modafinil having a defined solid particle size have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,845, incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, and preparations of a levorotatory isomer of modafinil was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,855. Heterocyclic derivatives of modafinil are disclosed in U.S. patent 5 application Ser. No. 60/204,789, incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
Modafinil has been approved for use in humans in 100 mg and 200 mg solid unit dose forms in the U.S. It is also desirable to formulate modafinil in liquid compositions. However, formulation of modafinil in liquid compositions is hampered by the low solubility and unpleasant taste of the modafinil compound. It is desirable to formulate compositions that effectively taste-mask the modafinil compound and provide a therapeutically effective amount of the same. It has been found that use of a complexing agent can achieve these goals, thereby enhancing the pharmacological properties of compositions of modafinil compound. The use of cyclodextrins allow for the formulation of a modafinil compound in aqueous solutions suitable for oral administration, and provide for more efficient absorption of the drug by the body.
Cyclodextrins ("CD's") are well-known and are the subject of many reviews.
See for example, J. Szejtli, Cyclodextrins and their Inclusion Complexes Budapest:Akademiai Kiado (1982); Loftsson, T., Pharm. Technol. Eur. 1999, 11(10), 2032 and J. S. Pagington, Chemistry in Britain, 1987, 5, 455–458. They consist of glucose units linked in a ring configuration, and more specifically, they are cyclic oligosaccharides composed of α-(1,4)-linked D-glucopyranosyl units. The cyclodextrin molecules have essentially a toroidal or donut shape, with an interior lipophilic cavity and a hydrophobic exterior. The most common cyclodextrins are the naturally occurring α-, β-, and γ-forms, which consist of 6, 7 and 8 glucopyranose units respectively, with the respective cavities having a diameter of 5.7 Å, 7.8 Å, and 9.5 Å. Inclusion complexes are formed when a guest molecule fits partially or entirely within the lipophilic cavity of the cyclodextrin. The driving force for complex formation is the displacement of water molecules by the more hydrophobic guest molecule. The degree and stability of complexation depends on how well the guest molecule, or portions of it, fit within the cavity of the cyclodextrin. The exterior of the cyclodextrin molecule is hydrophilic, which can enhance the aqueous solubility of the complex, and thereby the solubility of the guest molecule.
Cyclodextrin compositions have found some application in the pharmaceutical industry. See Uekama, K, et al., CRC Critical Reviews in therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, 1987, 3(1), 1–40; Duchene, D, et al., Drug Dev. Ind. Pharm., 1986, 12(11–13) 2193–2215. For example, compositions of Droloxifene in various cyclodextrins are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,871. Solubilization of ibuprofen in cyclodextrin solutions have been described in various patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,997, U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,064 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,162. Pirprofen and cyclodextrin compositions were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,807. A solution of cyclodextrin and modafinil has been reported in Rambert, F. A., et al. Neuropsychopharmacology, 1994, 10(3S), Part 2, 169S. It was reported that 1% and 2% aqueous hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin solutions were prepared for intracerebroventricular injection in rats. However, these solutions were relatively dilute, contain a low concentration of modafinil, and were administered by direct injection into the brain, and not by oral means.
While cyclodextrins have pharmaceutical applications and have been used to solubilize or stabilize many compounds, these uses have had more limited applicability to therapeutic agents and there are many compounds for which cyclodextrin complexation is either not possible, or present disadvantages which render them unsuitable for pharmaceutical use. See J. Szejtli, Pharmaceutical Technology, 1991, 24–38; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,860. In particular, the bioavailability of a drug:cyclodextrin mixture is often unpredictable, and indeed formation of drug:cyclodextrin complexes often result in decreased drug bioavailability. See T. Loftsson, Pharmaceutical Technology, 1999, 12, 40–50; and Uekama, K, et al., CRC Critical Reviews in therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, 1987, 3(1), 1–40.
It has been found by the present inventors that modafinil compound:cyclodextrin mixtures provide for bioavailable delivery of a modafinil compound. While cyclodextrins can increase solubilization of a drug, there is not necessarily a direct correlation to an increase in bioavailability of the drug, or in particular, to bioavailability through oral administration. The mechanisms for drug absorption in these systems are more complicated than a simple correlation to the solubilization profile, as evidenced by the fact that formation of drug-β-cyclodextrin complexes often result in decreased drug bioavailability. The complex itself cannot penetrate a membrane barrier, thus the drug must dissociate from the complex prior to crossing a barrier. The dissociation of the drug is reflected in the stability constant of the drug:complex equilibrium. A stability constant that generally leads to complex formation may also lead to over-lability and premature drug release, while very stable complexes can result in retarded or incomplete release of the drug. Furthermore, a high cyclodextrin concentration or the presence of excipients may additionally hinder complex dissociation, and therefore the absorption of the drug.
The present invention provides for complexes of a modafinil compound and a cyclodextrin particularly inclusion complexes, which provide for enhanced aqueous solubility of the modafinil compound at pharmaceutically useful concentrations, and offer enhanced pharmacological properties. It has been found that such complexes can provide bioavailability of the modafinil compound, in particular, oral bioavailability, as well as effectively taste-mask the modafinil compound thereby providing palatable liquid compositions.

Modafinil compound and cyclodextrin mixtures


There is provided a method of detecting biomolecules using a capacitive touch screen receiving a touch with a conductor as an input signal to perform an output on a display screen, and more particularly to a method of detecting target biomolecules by applying biomolecules having electrical conductivity to a touch panel and detecting a change in capacitance of a surface of a touch panel generated according to the concentration of the biomolecules.

A touch screen is a device that may detect a position when a user's hand or an object is touched to characters or specific positions displayed on a screen without using an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse and perform a specific function.
The touch screen is basically configured of a touch panel, a touch controller, a driver soft ware (SW), and the like. The touch panel serves to determine the presence or absence of touch input, to detect input coordinates, and to transfer a signal to the touch controller, the controller serves to convert the signal transferred from the touch panel to a digital signal and output coordinates on a display, and the driver SW is a program allowing the touch panel to receive the digital signal from the controller to thereby be implemented appropriately for each of the operation systems.
The touch screen is divided into a resistive type touch screen, a capacitive touch screen, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) type touch screen, an infrared (IR) type touch screen, or the like, according to the implementation type of the touch panel.
The resistive type touch screen has a structure in which two substrates including a transparent electrode coated thereon are attached to each other, and operates in a manner of recognizing a position through an electric signal generated when pressure is applied to the resistive type touch screen by a finger or a pen and thus upper and lower electrode layers are touched to each other. This resistive type touch screen is cheap, accurate, and advantageous in miniaturization. The capacitive touch screen operates in a manner of detecting static electricity generated from human body and has strong durability, a short reaction time, and excellent transmittance.
The SAW type touch screen operates in a manner of detecting a decrease in amplitude of an emitted surface acoustic wave when the surface acoustic wave reaches an obstacle and has excellent light transmittance, accuracy, and visibility. Further, in the IR type touch panel, a light emitting device and a light detecting device are disposed so as to face each other to recognize coordinates blocked by touch, and the IR type touch panel may be implemented only by a single sheet of glass without an indium tin oxide (ITO) film, or the like, such that transmittance may be at the highest level (Kwon Ji In et al., Information and Communications Policy, 20, 2008).
Particularly, the capacitive touch screen is an input device recently and widely used in various small-sized terminals such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, or the like (FIG. 1). More specifically, the principle of the capacitive touch screen is as follows. After applying a predetermined voltage from a touch controller to four corners of a touch panel to form a capacitive layer on a surface of the touch panel and touching this panel with a conductor (human body, mainly a finger), or the like, to change capacitance at a touch site, the touch controller detects this change and calculates a touch position to output the detected change amount and the calculated touch position on an external display device.
Meanwhile, currently, an in vitro diagnosis field for analyzing biomolecules associated with various diseases is a field for examining a health state and progression state of a disease in addition to early diagnosis of various diseases and is actively used in disease group selection and disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment monitoring, individual health state examination, and genetic examination, and veterinary medicine, environment management, food management, or the like, as a non-medical field. Recently, a highly infectious disease such as a disease caused by a mutant influenza virus, a foot-and-mouth disease, or the like, has been prevalent, which has generated a national crisis, and a demand for improving quality of life has increased, such that a demand for treatment monitoring or regular health checkup and importance thereof have been highlighted. Therefore, since a technology of analyzing the biomolecules associated with various diseases is economically and technologically significantly important and has a significant industrial ripple effect, the technology of analyzing the biomolecules has been actively studied globally.
Currently, in the in vitro diagnosis field, an assay method such as real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) assay, enzyme-linked immonosorbent assay (ELISA), or the like, has been most prevalently used, but these assay methods require an analysis apparatus having a large volume or high cost or a skilled technique in the art or a long analysis time. Therefore, currently, most of the in vitro diagnosis may be performed only at a university/general hospital or a professional diagnostic center, which is equipped with professional equipments and professionals, and it takes a large amount of time and cost from sampling process to providing information of the result. In order to overcome this limitation, a point-of-care testing (POCT) system capable of being utilized in a local small hospital and a health center, or in home should be implemented. To this end, the development of a cheap and small sized analysis apparatus capable of simply performing in vitro molecular analysis has been demanded.
Therefore, the present inventors have tried to develop a method of detecting biomolecules capable of simply performing in vitro molecular analysis in a home instead of the existing in vitro diagnosis apparatus requiring a professional analysis apparatus and professional technique. As a result, the present inventors confirmed that in the case of touching biomolecules of which electric conductivity is changed according to the concentration to a capacitive touch screen to directly/indirectly measure capacitance of the touch panel changed according to the concentration, the corresponding biomolecules may be detected and quantified, thereby completing the present invention.

Method for detecting biomolecules using a capacitive touch screen

Abstract: A method of detecting biomolecule according to the present invention uses a capacitive touch screen capable of being cheaply manufactured on a large scale, such that the method may have advantages such as cheap cost and a short analysis time and simply detect biomolecules in a personal terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, and the like, on which a capacitive touch screen is mounted, as compared to the existing method requiring an expensive exclusive analysis apparatus based on absorbance or fluorescence having a large volume, a skilled experimental technique such as electrophoresis, or a long analysis time to thereby be performed only in an experimental room equipped with specialists and equipment.

KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


In a natural language, mixed-initiative system, a method of processing user dialogue can include receiving a user input and determining whether the user input specifies an action to be performed or a token of an action. The user input can be selectively routed to an action interpreter or a token interpreter according to the determining step.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of dialogue-based systems and, more particularly, to dialogue-based systems that incorporate natural language understanding technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dialogue systems serve as interfaces through which users can query an information processing system for information or direct an information processing system to perform an action. One variety of dialogue system is a directed dialogue system. A directed dialogue system controls the flow of dialogue with a user through a structured set of menu choices. The user is prompted for a single item of information at each point within the menu hierarchy. The user responds to each prompt, providing responses in serial fashion until the dialogue system obtains the information needed to respond to the user's query or perform the user-specified action. Within directed dialogue systems, the user must proceed through the menu hierarchy, providing requested information in the order in which the dialogue system asks, without deviation.
Another type of dialogue system, which can be referred to as a natural language (or free-form) mixed-initiative dialogue system, a conversational dialogue system, or a conversational natural language system, allows the caller to take control of the dialogue at any point if desired. Otherwise, the dialogue flows in a pre-defined manner with the system prompting the user for one item of information at a time. Control of the dialogue can alternate between the user and the mixed-initiative system, hence the name. A mixed-initiative system also allows a user to phrase a request in a natural manner, providing as much or as little information as the user wishes in the same way the user would interact with a human operator. As a result, a transaction that would take several turns in a directed dialogue system can potentially be completed in a single turn.
A mixed-initiative system typically starts a dialogue by asking the user an open ended question such as "How may I help you?" This starting point of the dialogue is referred to as the Main Menu state. When in the Main Menu state, the user can take control of the dialogue and issue a request for anything within the scope of the information processing system. The following are examples of such user initiated requests in the context of the Main Menu state:
System:How may I help you?User:I'd like to transfer $4000.00 to the Growth fund.System:How may I help you?User:What is my balance in the Growth fund?
When processing a user-initiated request, the mixed-initiative system needs to determine the task or action that the user has requested, in this case transferring money or determining the balance of an account. The mixed-initiative system must also identify any tokens of information that the user has provided with the request, such as the amount to be transferred, the account, or fund for which the balance is to be determined. The mixed-initiative system performs the action if all tokens required for the action have been determined.
If further tokens of information are necessary before the action can be performed, for example the source from which money will be transferred, the mixed-initiative system enters a token gathering state. In the token gathering state, the mixed-initiative system takes control of the dialogue by asking for any missing or ambiguous tokens of information through a series of directed, system-initiated prompts. The system can prompt for one or more tokens of information at that time. When in the token gathering state, the user often responds directly to the system-initiated prompts, providing the token(s) of information that were requested. The following are examples of such system-initiated or context dependent responses in the token gathering state:
System:From which fund would you like to transfer $4,000.00?User:From the Fixed Income fund.System:Confirming your request to transfer $4,000.00 from the FixedIncome fund to the Growth fund. Is this correct?User:Yes.System:From which airport in New York do you want to pick upthe car?User:LaGuardia.System:On what date will you return the car?User:A week from next Tuesday.
Within a mixed-initiative application, the user may choose to take control of the dialogue at any point in time. When in the token gathering state, the user may choose not to respond directly to a system-initiated prompt, and instead, respond out of context, issuing a new user-initiated request for anything within the scope of the information processing system. The following dialogue is an example of such a situation.
System:From which fund would you like to transfer $4,000.00?User:How much do I have in the Fixed Income fund?System:You have $6,700.00 in the Fixed Income fund. Continuing withyour fund transfer, from which fund would you like to transfer$4,000.00?User:What's my balance in the Large Cap fund?System:You have $3,700.00 in the Large Cap fund. Continuing you'reyour fund transfer, from which fund would you liketo transfer $4,000.00?User:From the Fixed Income fund.System:Confirming your request to transfer $4,000.00 from the FixedIncome fund to the Growth fund. Is this correct?User:Yes.Notably, despite the two requests for balance information being asked in the middle of the fund transfer action, the requests are treated as valid requests that could have been asked in the main menu state. Therefore, main menu-like user input received in the token gathering state is another source of user-initiated requests. The following is another example of a user-initiated request received in the token gathering state:
System:From which city would you like to depart?User:I would like to speak to an operator.System:Please hold while your call is transferred.In summary, a mixed-initiative system needs to interpret user-initiated requests at the main menu and interpret token input (system-initiated responses) or user-initiated requests (context independent requests) in the token gathering state.
Conventional mixed-initiative systems attempt to process all user input, that is both user-initiated requests and system-initiated responses, using a single natural language understanding (NLU) module. This NLU module can be implemented as a statistical parser built by manually annotating training data with a set of markers representing the meaning of the sentence. Using a single NLU module in this manner, however, can be problematic.
In particular, when using a single NLU module, the module must be able to interpret user-initiated requests even when the mixed-initiative system is in the token gathering state. In consequence, a complex set of annotation markers is required to coherently represent the meaning of user requests under different contexts. Direct responses to system-initiated prompts also must be represented using the same complex annotation style. This increases annotation time and the skill required to annotate the training corpus.
Additionally, a large amount of training data is required to adequately represent the same user-initiated request under multiple contexts. This increases the amount of time required to annotate the training data and train the NLU module. Further, in the token gathering state, the system is expected to learn to use context information when processing token inputs and ignore context information when processing action requests. This conflict impacts the accuracy of the NLU module, as well as the overall mixed-initiative system, causing mistakes when interpreting simple direct responses in the token gathering state.
Further, the use of a single NLU module necessitates the use of the same annotation style to interpret both user-initiated requests and system-initiated responses. This requires the NLU module to identify the action from the input, even in cases where the user is only specifying a token. Quite often, this can result in an action that does not match the specified context.

Method, system, and apparatus for natural language mixed-initiative dialogue processing


A microwave system having a microwave source that generates microwave signals for regenerating a diesel particulate filter (DPF) includes a sampling device that samples a power level of reflected microwave signals from the DPF and a regulator module that communicates with the microwave source and the sampling device. The regulator module further adjusts operation of the microwave source based on the power level of the reflected microwave signals and a predetermined power threshold.

Diesel engine operation involves combustion that generates exhaust gas. During combustion, an air/fuel mixture is delivered through an intake valve to cylinders and is combusted therein. After combustion, the piston forces exhaust gas in the cylinders into an exhaust system. The exhaust gas may contain diesel particulates generally characterized as soot.
A diesel particulate filter (DPF) can be used to reduce the level of soot in the exhaust gas. The DPF typically includes a separation medium and an inner cavity having small pores that capture soot. Exhaust gas flows through the pores and soot accumulates on the walls. As the accumulation increases, exhaust flow may be blocked and pressure increases inside the DPF. The DPF can be regenerated using microwave radiation to burn off soot and allow the flow of exhaust gas to reduce pressure. DPFs may be coated with a magnetic microwave absorbing material, such as ferrite, to concentrate microwave absorption in areas where soot accumulates.
Microwave systems used to regenerate DPFs typically include a microwave source and a power supply. Microwaves are directed into the DPF cavity and are absorbed by the absorbing material. Heat from the microwaves causes the temperature of the absorbing material to increase, thereby causing accumulated soot to combust. Once combusted, heat from a small amount of soot is leveraged to burn a larger amount. When the temperature of the absorbing material exceeds a Curie temperature, the material loses the ability to absorb. Microwaves that are not absorbed are reflected back toward the microwave source and are dissipated as heat.

Control system for microwave regeneration for a diesel particulate filter


A Fourier-Transform Raman spectrometer was used to collect the Raman spectra of (208) commercial petroleum fuels. The individual motor and research octane numbers (MON and RON, respectively) were determined experimentally using the industry standard ASTM knock engine method. Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression analysis can be used to build regression models which correlate the Raman spectra (175) of the fuels with the experimentally determined values for MON, RON, and pump octane number (the average of MON and RON) of the fuels. Each of the models was validated using leave-one-out validation. The standard errors of validation (SEV) are 0.415, 0.535, and 0.410 octane numbers for MON, RON, and pump octane number, respectively. By comparing the standard error of validation to the standard deviation for the experimentally determined octane numbers, it is evident that the accuracy of the Raman determined values is limited by the accuracy of the training set used in creating the models. The Raman regression models were used to predict the octane numbers for the fuels which were not used to build the models. The results compare favorably with the leave-one-out validation. Also, it is demonstrated that the experimentally determined Reid Vapor Pressures are highly correlated with the Raman spectra of the fuel samples and can be predicted with a standard error of 0.568 psi.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of analysis of physical and chemical properties of mixtures comprising hydrocarbons, preferably petroleum fuels, by use of Raman spectroscopy, preferably FT-Raman spectroscopy.
The instrument can utilize spectrometers of the Fourier-Transform (FT) Raman variety or of the Dispersive Raman variety or can use Hadamard Transform Raman spectrometers or other spectroscopic techniques known in the art.
Hadamard Transform spectroscopy is described in a paper by Hammaker et al. in Vibrational Spectra and Structure, Vol. 15, November 1986, " . . . The purpose of the spectrum analyzer is to disperse the near infrared radiation passing through the body into its spectral components. Selected wavelength ranges are focused on detector cells, which provide an analog signal proportional to the intensity of radiation in the selected wavelength . . . " (taken from U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,764 to Barnes et. al.)
II. Description of the Prior Art
The Clean Air Act of 1989 has mandated radical change in the petroleum refinery industry. Based on seasonal and geographical considerations, commercial gasoline blends must meet stringent environmental requirements while at the same time providing automotive compatibility and efficiency (Rhodes, A. K. Oil & Gas Journal, 17 Jan. 1994, 16). Conventional methods of determining these characteristics of a fuel are time consuming and expensive. Examples include determining total aromatics and olefins via gas chromatography; determining octane numbers via ASTM knock engine methods; and determining vapor pressure via the Grabner method. Legislators realize the need to improve efficiency and lower costs for these measurements and accordingly allow refineries to use alternative methods which are not approved by the EPA if the alternative methods are accepted by the industry.
As early as 1950, Raman spectroscopy was proposed as a method to determine aromatics and olefins in hydrocarbon mixtures (Heigl, J. J.; Black, J. F.; Dudenbostel, B. F.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,122, 24 Oct. 1950). However, until recently, extensive use of Raman spectroscopy in the characterization of hydrocarbons has not been practical. One early limitation to Raman analysis was the absence of a high intensity and stable excitation source. This problem has been overcome with the advent of lasers. Another limitation was the presence of fluorescence in hydrocarbon fuels when excited by visible lasers. The development of Fourier-Transform Raman spectrometers, however, now allows Raman spectra to be collected using NIR lasers (e.g. the Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm) which eliminate or severely reduce fluorescence in petroleum fuels.
Recently, Raman spectroscopy has been demonstrated as a viable quantitative technique in the analysis of analytes which are present in liquid mixtures as minor components (Shope, R.; Vickers, T. J.; Mann, C. K., 42, Appl. Spectrosc., 1988, 468). Chung, Clarke and others have demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy can be used in the qualitative analysis of aviation fuel for the determination of general hydrocarbon makeup, aromatic components, and additives (Chung, W. M.; Wang, Q.; Sezerman, U.; Clarke, R. H., 45, Appl. Spectrosc., 1991, 1527; Clarke, R. H.; Chung, W. M.; Wang, Q.; DeJesus, S.; Sezerman U., 22, J of Raman Spectrosc., 1991, 79). Williams and coworkers have shown that FT-Raman spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics can be used to determine gas-oil cetane number and cetane index (Williams, K. P. J.; Aries, R. E.; Cutler, D. J.; Lidiard, D. P., 62, Anal. Chem., 1990, 2553). In addition, Seasholtz et. al. have demonstrated quantitative analysis of the percentage of each fuel in fuel mixtures containing three unleaded gasolines (Seasholtz, M. B.; Archibald, D. D.; Lorber, A.; Kowalski, B. R., 43, Appl. Spectrosc., 1989, 1067). Despite these investigations, Raman spectroscopy is still not significantly utilized in the industrial analysis of petroleum fuels.
In contrast, NIR absorbance.backslash.reflectance spectroscopy has gained wide acceptance in the industrial analysis of octane number during the blending process (S. M. Maggard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,188, 9 Apr. 1990; S. M. Maggard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,745, 16 Oct. 1990). Multivariate analysis of NIR spectra currently provides real-time feedback for on-line process control of blending operations (as well as other processes) at a number of refineries, including the Ashland Petroleum refineries in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and St. Paul, Minn. Despite the success of NIR spectroscopy in the petroleum industry, NIR also has certain limitations. For example, the overtone absorbances which constitute a NIR spectrum are typically broad and ill-resolved. This results in a decrease in the "chemical information" contained in the spectral data. Applicants have recently shown that fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy with partial least squares analysis is capable of quantifying individual octane numbers and RVP (with standard errors <0.5% vol) in hydrocarbon blends. This advantage over NIR spectroscopy is due to the abundant, yet sharp and well resolved, spectral peaks in the Raman spectra.
Applicants herein describe the use of FT-Raman spectroscopy and the preferred partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis to accurately determine the research octane number (RON), the motor octane number (MON), the pump octane number (PUMP), and the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of 208 commercial petroleum fuel blends produced by the Ashland Petroleum Company.
Kelly et al. used a NIR instrument equipped with fiber-optics to gather spectra for predicting octane after multivariate treatment. See F. X. Garcia, L. D. Lima, and J. C. Medina, 47, Appl. Spectrosc., 1036 (1993). Williams et al. have shown that NIR FT-Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistics can be used to determine the gas oil cetane number and cetane index. See J. B. Cooper, K. L. Wise, J. Groves, and W. T. Welch, Anal. Chem., 16 (22), Nov. 15, 1995. Garcia et al. used mid-IR absorption spectroscopy and partial least squares regression analysis to model percent oxygenates in fuel samples. See J. B. Cooper, K. L. Wise, W. T. Welch, R. R. Bledsoe and M. B. Sumner, Appl. Spectrosc. 50 (7), July 1996. Fiber-optic NIR reflecto-absorbance spectroscopy in tandem with multiple linear regression is used at Ashland Petroleum to monitor the concentration of aromatics and octane number in real time. Applicants have also recently demonstrated that FT-Raman and PLS regression analysis can be used to predict oxygenate concentrations, octane numbers, and Reid vapor pressure in commercial gasolines with a degree of accuracy similar to NIR methods. See 1988 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 05.04.

Process and apparatus for octane numbers and reid vapor pressure by Raman spectroscopy

Old Dominion University Research Foundation


A semiconductor device includes a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuits bonded to a structure body in which a fibrous body is impregnated with an organic resin. The plurality of semiconductor integrated circuits are provided at openings formed in the structure body and each include a photoelectric conversion element, a light-transmitting substrate which has stepped sides and in which the width of the projected section on a first surface side is smaller than that of a second surface, a semiconductor integrated circuit portion provided on the second surface of the light-transmitting substrate, and a chromatic color light-transmitting resin layer which covers the first surface and part of side surfaces of the light-transmitting substrate. The plurality of semiconductor integrated circuits include the chromatic color light-transmitting resin layers of different colors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a photoelectric conversion element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among a variety of sensors, sensors which detect visible light with a wavelength of 400 to 700 nm are referred to as optical sensors or visible light sensors. Optical sensors or visible light sensors are known to be used for, for example, detecting optical signals to read data, detecting ambient brightness to control operation of electronic appliances, and the like.
For example, in cellular phones or television units, optical sensors are used for adjusting the luminance of display screens in accordance with the ambient brightness of places where they are set.
Such a semiconductor device typified by the optical sensor or the visible light sensor is formed in such a manner that transistors are formed over a substrate such as a glass substrate or a wafer substrate, and then the substrate is cut (divided).
In general, a step of cutting a substrate is performed as follows: a groove is formed on a surface of a substrate (referred to as scribing) with a scribing device and the substrate is cut along the groove. As a scribing method, a method using a laser is given as well as a mechanical method using a diamond cutter or the like. In the case of the method using a laser, after local application of heat with a laser, an irradiated region is rapidly quenched, so that the substrate is cracked due to thermal stress generated in  the substrate. Further, a method is proposed, in which a short-pulse laser is used as a laser and a rapid quenching step is omitted to prevent the substrate from being thermally strained in the rapid quenching step (for example, see Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2007-331983).

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Provided herein are wearable laser devices that provide an intuitive visual indication of a fixed radius around the wearer. Some embodiments include optical detectors that detect when two or more persons are in proximity with one another. The wearable laser devices may be used in a variety of applications, including, but not limited to, infection control, sports and entertainment.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, public health officials have recommended, and many governments have required, that certain persons, e.g., persons from different households, maintain a minimum distance from one another, e.g., 6 feet (˜1.8 m). This rule is easy to understand in theory but may be difficult to implement in practice. Many people do not reliably estimate their distances from others; others become distracted or are simply inattentive. These problems are especially present in children and are of substantial concern where many children are gathered, e.g., at a school or place of public recreation.

Wearable laser distance indicator for infection control


Receiver assisted channel access may be used during a channel occupancy time (COT). A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that is a member of a first group may receive a preamble in a first time slot set, and determine a group associated with the first time slot. On a condition that the group associated with the first time slot set is the first group, the WTRU may monitor the channel for a request-to-send (RTS) signal in the first slot set. On a condition that the RTS signal is received, the WTRU may perform listen-before-talk (LBT) on the channel. On a condition that the LBT is successful, the WTRU may transmit a clear-to-send (CTS) on the channel and access the channel in the first time slot. On a condition that the LBT is unsuccessful, the WTRU may not access the channel in the first time slot set.

Recent Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards discussions define several deployment scenarios such as indoor hotspot, dense urban, rural, urban macro, and high speed. Based on general requirements set out by International Telecommunication Union Radio communication Sector (ITU-R), Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) and 3GPP, a broad classification of the use cases for emerging Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) systems may be classified as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC) and ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC). These use cases focus on meeting different performance requirements such as higher data rate, higher spectrum efficiency, low power and higher energy efficiency, and/or lower latency and higher reliability. NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum is part of the New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U or NRU) study item. NR-U is concerned with NR numerology on unlicensed spectrum, including sub 6 GHz and above 6 GHz unlicensed bands (e.g., 5 GHz, 37 GHz, 60 GHz).
Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) was introduced in 3GPP release 13 (R13) as part of LTE Advanced Pro. LAA may use LTE carrier aggregation (CA) technology to aggregate carriers across licensed and unlicensed bands, and includes downlink (DL) LAA operation. Enhanced LAA (eLAA), introduced in 3GPP release 14 (R14), and further enhanced LAA (feLAA), introduced in 3GPP release 15 (R15), include UL LAA operation. In NR-U, scenarios may be considered where NR Licensed Assisted Access (NR-LAA) is anchored to an LTE carrier by dual-connectivity (DC) as well as carrier aggregation (CA) with a 5G NR anchor channel (e.g., a channel to carry control and configuration information). NR-U may also consider standalone operation of NR in unlicensed spectrum.


A skirtboard system for a conveyor belt or line comprising at least two skirtboards mutually opposed to one another. Each one of the skirtboards is positioned near the perimeter of the conveyor. Each one of the skirtboards comprises a support plate, a plurality of elements, each one of the elements mutually coupled with the support plate, a liner formed in interstices between the plurality of elements, a beveled nose formed along an edge of the skirtboard panel, the beveled nose complementary to the angle of the conveyor.

In material handling, many materials are transported or conveyed along a conveyor line or belt, such as in the coal mining industry or mail or package handling facilities. Given the limited space in such settings, economizing the footprint of a conveyor line is essential, thus, conveyor lines usually are limited to a defined width. Without skirtboards aligned along the sides of the conveyor, material would bound or fall from the conveyor line, which could result in processing inefficiencies and other undesirable consequences, such as blocking ingress and egress of workers or machines. Thus, it is desirable for a conveyor line to include a skirtboard system comprising a plurality of individual skirtboard panels. The skirtboard panels are stationary panels mounted above the conveyor belt, arranged in a laterally adjacent configuration to form a functional channel for the materials transported along the belt. Thus, it is advantageous to have an apparatus or device having the elements and features disclosed herein.
Several products and inventions have been proposed in order to achieve these goals. The art includes many such attempts and improvements. However, the art does not appear to disclose the combination of elements and features disclosed herein, including the novel combination of elements and/or materials disclosed hereinafter. In particular, the art includes several skirtboards that utilize a rubber or synthetic wear-liner. Significantly, rubber wear-liners are subject to quick exhaustion, as the material batters the rubber material repeatedly over the course of transportation. The exhaustion rate is exacerbated by the rubber materials susceptibility to chipping and failure as the materials becomes thinner, especially along the bottom edge of the wear-liner. As such, an improvement to the wear-liners and skirtboards presently available is desirable and useful.
This application presents claims and embodiments that fulfill a need or needs not yet satisfied by the products and inventions previously or presently available, including the example of the art presented above. In particular, the claims and embodiments disclosed herein describe a skirtboard system and skirtboard panels comprising the system that provide an unanticipated and nonobvious combination of features distinguished from the products and inventions preexisting in the art, including combinations of materials used for reinforcing the wear-liner of the skirtboard, extending the useful life of the skirtboard and minimizing down-time for replacement or repair. A beveled nose is incorporated into each skirtboard, thereby sealing the surface at the belt interface, inhibiting or preventing the escape of dust and smaller particles into the area around the conveyor, and further inhibiting or preventing spillage of materials. Although not exhaustive, controlling, reducing and minimizing spillage of materials (i) reduces the loss of material production during transport, (ii) reduces the build-up of material on the conveyor structure and its attendant components, thereby reducing the likelihood of damage or early fatigue or exhaustion of the conveyor or components; (iii) improves safety by reducing obstructions in the walkways and improving access to the conveyor; and (iv) improves the environment in and around the conveyor, and especially inhibits the build-up of material on the ground below the conveyor. The claims and embodiments disclosed herein reduce the spillage of materials, and therefore, achieve some or all of the aforementioned results. The applicant is unaware of any product, disclosure or reference that disclose the features of the claims and embodiments disclosed herein, and as more dully described below.