Breast support and other breast area covering articles are provided that protect from detrimental interaction of electrostatic fields with breast area tissue. In a preferred embodiment, electrically conductive electrostatic field-concentrators are adapted to ionize air molecules and cancel electrostatic charges in the vicinity to help prevent detrimental electrostatic field influence on breast area tissue of the wearer.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to female breast support articles. More particularly the invention relates to breast area covering articles that minimize detrimental influence of electrostatic fields on breast area tissue.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The female breast is susceptible to several diseases of unknown origin. Worst among these diseases is breast cancer. There has been a huge, and unexplained, increase in breast cancer incidence in United States females over the past 20 years. Also, the rate of incidence continues to increase. A female in the United States today is 2.7 times more likely to incur breast cancer than her great grandmother was, and this is despite the beneficial diet and lifestyle changes that have occurred. The cause of this increase in breast cancer has not been understood, but the rate of increased cancer incidence in general is so large that the United States Department of Health and Human Services has speculated that xe2x80x9cU.S. citizens face a growing cancer risk from some as yet unidentified environmental factorsxe2x80x9d.
The inventor has discovered, and conducted numerous rodent studies to confirm, that exposure to environmental electrostatic fields (different from environmental electromagnetic fields) can directly promote cancer growth, and can also strongly increase the detrimental affect of chemicals on living tissue. This affect may be a large factor in the increased cancer incidence rates the U.S. is experiencing. Modern synthetic materials commonly used in the U.S., for example a nylon bra rubbing against a polyester blouse, can easily generate thousands of volts of electrostatic charge. Then, because of the extensive use of air-conditioning, which keeps humidity levels low, electrostatic fields from this charge can connect with the breast tissue for hours at a time. Methods of protecting breast and adjacent tissue from detrimental effects caused by exposure to electrostatic fields forms the basis of the present invention.
It is known that magnetic fields, and the magnetic portion of electromagnetic fields, can easily penetrate living tissue. This has been of concern over the past 18 years, with many studies conducted to evaluate the possibility of a causal link between electromagnetic fields and cancer. Yet, despite these years of research, very little affect from exposure to electromagnetic fields has been confirmed. Recent large studies in this area have again found no risk from exposure to these fields at the levels we commonly encounter them (Panel Finds EMF""s Pose No Threat, Science 274:910, 1996, and Magnetic Field-Cancer Link: Will It Rest In Peace?, Science 277:29, 1997).
On the other hand, little consideration has been given to the possibility of electrostatic fields (which are different from electromagnetic fields) exerting influence inside a living body. The electrostatic charges which produce these fields commonly occur when two materials rub together, for example when our clothing rubs together or against another surface. Even rubbing natural materials together creates electrostatic fields, but usually at lower levels than synthetic materials. As a result, humans are almost constantly exposed to electrostatic fields in our normal environment everyday. Also, the field influence is typically very strong because of the close proximity of the charges to the body. For example, under conditions of low ambient humidity, rubbing a shirt sleeve against a shirt, getting up from a chair, walking across a floor, can generate charges with potentials in the 30,000 volt range; however voltages in the 5,000 to 15,000 volt range are more common. Lower electrostatic potentials are almost always present around a person, even with moderate to high humidity.
However, unlike electromagnetic fields, electrostatic fields do not have a magnetic component and do not oscillate, so they have been assumed incapable of having influence inside living tissue. Quite to the contrary, the inventor has conducted numerous studies, using live animals, which leave no doubt that electrostatic fields can exert strong, and detrimental, influence inside living tissue.
As a result of the assumption that electrostatic fields do not have biological effects inside living organisms, there has been little research in the field. Several non-biological effects are known, however, and they have led to techniques for reducing electrostatic charges in certain situations.
One example of an undesirable non-biological effect of electrostatic fields is a tendency for a person who walks across a carpet when the humidity is low to generate and store electrostatic charges on the body. These charges can then be discharged into a computer or other piece of equipment that is touched, resulting in damage to the equipment. It is known that this problem can be reduced by coating the carpet fibers with an anti-static compound or by incorporating conductive materials within the carpet in order to allow charges to quickly flow back together, or to ground, as the carpet is walked upon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,433 is an example of this technology.
Another undesirable non-biological effect is that the field from an electrostatic discharge may ruin modern electronic components during equipment manufacture. Some semiconductor devices can be damaged by an electrostatic discharge as low as 30 volts, and as a result the electronics industry is a leader in using the broadest range of electrostatic charge prevention methods. The Electrostatic Discharge Association, 200 Liberty Plaza, Rhome, N.Y. 13440, an electronics industry association xe2x80x9cdedicated to advancing the theory and practice of electrostatic discharge avoidancexe2x80x9d, has many publications available on electrostatic charge generation, elimination, and test standards for the electronics industry. One known technique for reducing damage from electrostatic discharge is for assembly workers and others who handle sensitive components to wear conductive work garments (such as lab coats or jump suits) with grounding leads to drain off electrostatic charges. Similarly, conductive lab coats, etc., are used to prevent electrostatic sparks in areas where explosive gases are present. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,422,483 and 4,590,623 show examples of this technology.
Another technique for reducing damage from electrostatic discharge is to use ion generators to cancel electrostatic charges on surfaces. Generators of this type use high-voltage corona discharge, or nuclear (alpha particle) energy, to ionize air molecules. These systems typically produce and blow negative and positive ions into the air, where they are attracted to combine with and cancel electrostatic charges in the vicinity. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,008,594 and 5,017,876 show examples of this technology.
Attempts to protect the body from electric fields in general are also shown in the prior art. The methods generally involve covering the body area desired to be protected with a shielding layer in the form of metal or other conductive material. UK patent GB 2,025,237, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,825,877, 5,621,188 and 5,690,537, show examples of this technology. Some of these references principally address shielding electromagnetic fields, which are completely different from static electric fields. The references that mention electrostatic fields make the erroneous assumption that a conductive shielding layer will stop electrostatic field influence as well as it does electromagnetic field influence.
The requirements for preventing influence from electrostatic fields are totally different than that required for electromagnetic fields. A conductive shielding layer will block passage of an electromagnetic field because as the oscillating field impacts the conductive layer it induces currents that produce electric and magnetic fields in the layer. As these fields are created, they reinforce the electromagnetic field on the incident side of the layer, but are out of phase with, and oppose and cancel, the field on the other side of the layer.
To the contrary, simply placing a conductive layer between an electrostatic charge and a body area to be protected will not stop electrostatic field influence from reaching the body. Electrostatic fields do not oscillate so they do not produce oscillating electric current that opposes the impacting field. The passage of electrostatic fields through a conductive material is shown by the physics xe2x80x9cSuperposition Principlexe2x80x9d which states that xe2x80x9cThe net electric force on a charged object is the vector sum of the individual electric forces on the object due to all other charged objects. Each individual interaction is unaffected by the presence of other chargesxe2x80x9d. A good explanation of this principle and its ramifications can be found in the book Electric and Magnetic Interactions, R. W. Chabay and B. A. Sherwood, John Wiley and Sons publishers, 1995. As shown by the Superposition Principle, the presence of conductive material between an electrostatic charge and an object (the human body for example) does not stop electrostatic field influence from reaching the object.
This can be demonstrated by placing a solid aluminum or steel plate between a piece of charged cloth and an electrostatic field meter, with the meter serving as the body area to be protected. Even a 2.5-cm (1-inch) thick intervening conductive plate will at best reduce the field influence by only around one-half to two-thirds. It does not stop the field and its influence is still detected by the electrostatic field meter (body). We of course cannot wear 2.5-cm thick steel plates on our body, but even reducing common electrostatic field intensity by two-thirds cannot be expected to protect the body from detrimental electrostatic field influence. For example, a 5,000 volt electrostatic charge (which is common) on a 1-cm diameter area of a clothing article 0.5-mm from the body of the article wearer exposes the body area next to the charge to an electrostatic field intensity of over 900,000 volts per meter (V/m). Reducing this field by even two-thirds would still expose the body to a field intensity of 300,000 V/m. The inventor""s animal studies have shown that an electrostatic field just one-fourth as intense as 300,000 V/m can strongly promote cancer growth.
Also, electrically connecting an intervening conductive plate, or other conductive material as noted in the prior art, to the body of a wearer, cannot be counted on to stop electrostatic field influence. Electrically, this simply creates a static conductive object (the conductive material) in contact with a dynamic conductive object (the body of the wearer) so that one side each of the combination of static object/conductive object is exposed. Electrostatic field influence will then pass through the static conductive object and dynamic conductive object as it continually tries to bring the charges in each to a point of static equilibrium.
It is also important to note that wearing a protective article that simply drains static electric charges cannot be counted on to stop electrostatic field influence. For example, if a woman wore bra incorporating an electrically conductive material to simply drain static electric charges from the bra to the body, charges would be removed from the bra surface. However if a blouse or other nonconductive article worn next to the bra became charged, these charges would not be removed. Electrostatic field influence from these charges would then pass through the bra and connect with the breast tissue. This also would not protect the conductive bra wearer""s breast tissue from static electric fields generated on other nearby clothing articles, such as from charges generated as a blouse and sweater rub together for example.
In summary, although the prior art teaches conductive shielding placed next to the body (including the breast area), or dissipating static charge by draining, etc., the prior art does not teach breast support articles and other breast coverings that minimize detrimental influence of electrostatic fields on breast area tissue by creating air ions to cancel electrostatic charges at the source generating the fields on both the breast support article and other charged surfaces in the vicinity.
The inventor has used in vivo studies to conclusively demonstrate that electrostatic fields can exert strong influence inside a living body, directly affecting cell operation and also strongly increasing the detrimental effect of chemicals on cells. Protecting the female breast area, which is particularly prone to cell damage, from these fields is very important. This can result in reduced breast disease, and lives saved.
The inventor has conducted animal studies that demonstrate that electrostatic fields can strongly influence cells inside living tissue, and has shown a direct connection between these fields and cancer growth. These are the same fields created when our clothes rub together or against other surfaces and create the static electric charges that generate electrostatic fields. All commonly used clothing material can generate electrostatic charges and fields, but popular synthetics like polyester, nylon, acrylics, and polyolefins are much better electrostatic generators than materials from natural fibers.
Wearing two layers of clothes can further enhance the generation and trapping of electrostatic charges, and thus increases exposure of nearby body areas to electrostatic fields from these charges. Significantly, the areas of the human body where cancer incidence is increasing most are almost all areas where two layers of clothes are normally worn. In breast cancer for instance, almost two-thirds of the tumors occur in the upper/outer quadrant and nipple area of the breast, even though the tissue is substantially the same in the other quadrants. This is the exact area where a bra and outer garment, such as a blouse or jacket for example, are in most intimate contact and where the surfaces of the bra and outer garment, or the surfaces of other outer garments, rub together most during normal movement to generate static electric charges and thus fields.
The inventor""s research as shown that the present invention is important in regard to cancer growth promotion, however it may well be just as important in regard to disease prevention. It is now known that more than half, and possibly as much as 80%, of all disease, ranging over such diverse areas as diabetes to cancer, is caused by genetic damage. The human genome in each cell is estimated to contain over 100,000 genes connected end-to-end, with the DNA of each constructed of around 3.3 billion base pairs. The specific DNA sequence is duplicated each time the cell divides. The gene damage responsible for disease occurs because of a point mutation, deletion, translocation or rearrangement in the DNA sequence of normal genes. For example, researchers have found that there can be up to 38 such mutations in the BRCAl gene, which results in an 85% chance of developing breast cancer. The fact that all genes are first assembled, and then connected together in the DNA strand, by natural electrostatic fields within the cell points to the real possibility that electrostatic fields exerting influence from sources outside the body may be able to alter the force of the bodies natural electrostatic fields enough to cause a miss, or missed, connection as the DNA strand is assembled.
III. Biological Degradation Theory
The following theoretical discussion is offered in an effort to aid in understanding and practicing the invention. However, it must be recognized that our knowledge of cellular operation at the molecular level is incomplete. The theoretical discussions contained herein are therefore not intended to be limiting on the invention in any manner.
The findings of the inventor""s studies involving electrostatic field influence inside living tissue are surprising and not predicted. As shown by Gauss""s law, there can be only zero electric field inside a conductive object in static equilibrium. It has therefore been easy to assume that the conductive nature of a mammalian body acts as any simple conductive object, with external electrostatic fields causing polarization and a shift in charges to achieve a point of equilibrium resulting in zero field influence inside the object. The inventor""s study findings demonstrate that a mammalian body reacts with an electrostatic field in a much different way than with a simple conductive object. In retrospect, Gauss""s law actually points to this because a mammalian body is known to contain and use countless continually changing internal electric fields as it constantly adds, releases, binds, and moves charged molecules to cause and control normal cell operations. It therefore cannot be considered to be a simple conductive body addressed by Gauss""s law. Also a mammalian body is highly nonhomogeneous and not a perfect, or uniform, electrical conductor. In fact the electrical resistivity of mammalian tissue varies enough that electrical impedance tomography is now being developed as a non-invasive imaging and diagnostic method
It may be that one, or a combination, of these two factors is the key to the electrostatic field effects in the inventor""s animal studies. The dynamic nature, and nonuniform conductivity, of a mammalian body may prevent the body from ever reaching a point of true static equilibrium. Therefore an imposed electrostatic field would not fall to zero at the surface as it would for a simple static conductive object. The electrostatic field would of course be reduced, but unless it drops to zero it could attract or repel normal cell charges and fields inside the body enough to affect cell operation.
As a direct example, the circulatory system continuously moves ionic fluid through the space between cells. Although the bulk of this movement can be relatively fast, it is known that a layer of fluid, which can extend 50 xcexcm or more out from cell membranes, remains almost xe2x80x9cunstirredxe2x80x9d. Ions influenced by the applied electrostatic field to slightly move from the bulk fluid to this stagnant layer would accumulate there, and would be very close to the cell membrane. Their combined field influence could then alter the existing transmembrane potential and surface charge density, thus opening a number of possibilities for reaction, migration of cell surface macromolecules, and transport of material across the lipid bilayer. It is likely that the electrostatic field influence applied to molecules of the moving interstitial fluid would be extremely small. However, movement of ions from the bulk fluid to the stagnant layer next to cell membranes would be accomplished by changing the direction of the velocity of the ions without directly changing the magnitude of the velocity. Thus no expenditure of energy (work) would be required from the field.
It is also known that the effect of migration of cell surface macromolecules may be transferred to the cell nucleus via microtubules and intermediate filaments spanning to the nucleus from many of these molecules. This identifies another danger from exposure to electrostatic fields. We now believe that almost all cancer is the result of a mutation in cellular DNA. As a cell prepares to divide, its DNA is duplicated so the original and progeny cells both end up with DNA strands. Cell cycle times vary, but consider a rather common time of 27 hours between cell divisions. During this period the cell goes through four phases in preparation to divide. DNA is replicated during the S phase of the cycle, in this case a time interval around 10 hours. During this period over 100,000 genes are moved from compartments in the cell and assembled, in the proper end-to-end sequence, to form the duplicate DNA strand. This is a high speed assembly line driven by natural electric charges and fields within the cell, and also the DNA is held together by natural electric charges. An unnatural electrostatic field influence (and that is what the inventors studies have demonstrated) could result in a miss, or missed, connection in the DNA strand. Of additional interest, it has been speculated that the majority of all major noninfectious disease is the result of DNA abnormalities. This includes a broad range of disease types, from Alzheimer""s to obesity for example.
IV. Environmental Electrostatic Fields
The inventor""s in vivo studies leave little doubt that electrostatic fields can promote cancer growth. There is also reason to believe these fields may be able to initiate cancer, either by directly causing DNA damage, or by increasing the effect of environmentally encountered chemicals on cells. Protecting body areas known to be particularly susceptible to damage, such as the female breast, from uncontrolled exposure to these fields is very important. Yet, our modern world has created an environment that favors generating and holding the static charges that create these fields. The United States has led the world in the increasing use of synthetic materials in our clothes and on other surfaces around us, and these are the dominant materials with which we now live. Polyester, nylon, acrylic and polyolefins, for example, are much better static charge generators than natural fibers. Also, unlike natural fibers, synthetic materials are hydrophobic and do not wick moisture from the air, or our skin, to provide conductive paths through which the charges can drain. In addition, over the past 20 years, the United States has led the world in the increasing use of air conditioning. This keeps the humidity of our environment low and favors the generation and holding of static charges over long periods of time. Humans are therefore almost constantly exposed to electrostatic fields from both our clothes and other surfaces around us.
As an example, the inventor has measured electrostatic charges generated by various activities at 50% relative humidity, and has found for example that removing a nylon jacket, while wearing a polyester shirt can leave a 1,980 volt charge on the center of the shirt""s front surface, and a 6,000 volt charge on the center of the shirt""s rear surface; that removing a rayon lined jacket, while wearing a silk blouse, can leave a 600 volt charge on the center front of the blouse, and a 4,300 volt charge on the center back of the blouse; and that getting up from between two cotton bed sheets while wearing polyester pajamas can leave a 3,100 volt charge on the front center chest area of the pajamas, and a 4,600 volt charge on the back center of the pajamas.
The fact that these electrostatic charges are typically very close to the garment wearer""s body exposes the body to very strong electrostatic fields. For example the inventor has demonstrated that rubbing a polyester blouse against a nylon bra can easily generate over 5,000 volts of electrostatic charge that can be less than 0.5 mm from the breast. A 5,000 volt electrostatic charge of just 1-cm diameter, 0.5-mm from the breast, exposes the breast tissue to an electrostatic field intensity over 900,000 V/m. This is a field 3 xc2xd times stronger than the field the animals in the following Study Example D were exposed to.
Without doubt, electrostatic charges ranging from hundreds to thousands of volts are almost always present on the surface of clothes we are wearing, and on surfaces we are rubbing against, even under relatively high humidity conditions. Charges on human skin are not of concern because they are able to disperse or drain along the relatively conductive surface of the skin, whereas charges generated on the surface of clothes, plastic covered chairs, etc. are trapped on the relatively nonconductive surface of the material. These charges can remain in place very near the body, with their electrostatic fields connecting to the body, for hours at a time.
The present invention is directed at protecting the breast area from detrimental influence from electrostatic fields by the use of specially constructed bras that react to impinging electrostatic fields by creating ions in the air that move to cancel electrostatic charges creating the detrimental field. Bras in the present invention utilize electrically conductive electrostatic field-concentrators (sometimes referred to herein simply as xe2x80x9cfield-concentratorsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cconcentratorsxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cconcentratorxe2x80x9d), at spaced-apart locations that operate to generate ions in the air that then move to cancel electrostatic charges in the vicinity. A conductive body, or bodies, comprising a plurality of field-concentrators exists on or within the structure of the bra. The field-concentrators are formed as a plurality of spaced-apart salient areas on one or more conductive bodies of material, on or within the structure of the bra. Outermost boundaries of each concentrator are characterized by a surface, typically a end, terminating at a distance at least greater than, and preferably 2 times or more greater than, the axial radius of the largest cross-sectional width of the concentrator body. In an alternate method, the ends of the concentrators are salient from the surface of the bulk of the conductive material by a distance at least greater than, and preferably 2 times or more greater than, the axial radius of the bulk of the conductive material at the immediate surface the concentrator is salient from.
These field-concentrators attract impinging electrostatic fields to preferentially connect with the conductive material of the concentrators. This causes the fields to crowd closely together on the concentrators, which in turn increases the field intensity to a point that causes nearby air molecules to separate into positive and negative ions. The ions carrying a charge opposite that of the charges generating the electrostatic field are then attracted to those charges, and the ions combine with and cancel the electrostatic charges generating the field. Thus bras under the invention can stop electrostatic fields at their source even if the source is not directly on the material of the bra, but is instead on another surface such as a blouse for example. This can help protect both tissue covered by the structure of the bra, and also even adjacent tissue not covered by the bra, from detrimental influence from these fields. This is important because many popular bra designs do not cover all of the breast tissue.
Bras in a preferred method of the invention will be principally formed from nonconductive material for comfort and low cost, but will incorporate a plurality of conductive electrostatic field-concentrators at spaced-apart locations. The nonconductive material may be any material suitable to construct bras or other breast coverings of the desired design. Such materials are well known in the garment industry, and examples would include fabrics as well as nonwoven, molded, cast, and extruded materials. Bodies of conductive material comprising electrostatic field-concentrators may be incorporated on or within the nonconductive material of the bra. In some methods of the invention, the bodies of conductive material comprising electrostatic field-concentrators may be supported by nonconductive material placed on or within the bra.
The inventor has used in vivo studies to conclusively demonstrate that electrostatic fields can exert strong influence inside a living body, directly affecting cell operation and also strongly increasing the detrimental effect of chemicals on cells. Protecting the female breast area, which is particularly prone to cell damage, from these fields is very important. This can result in reduced breast disease, and lives saved.
Accordingly, the method of the present invention has several objects and advantages. For example:
(a) to provide, for women in general, inexpensive, comfortable, and non-obtrusive breast support garments which can minimize detrimental effects on tissue caused by exposure of the breast area to electrostatic fields;
(b) to aid women who have already been a victim of breast disease in protecting their breast area from detrimental effects caused by exposure to electrostatic fields. In this regard, bras constructed under the methods of the present invention can be particularly important for women who have undergone partial or complete mastectomy because of their high risk of a return of disease.
(c) to aid people who have a familial predisposition to breast disease in protecting their breast area from detrimental effects caused by exposure to electrostatic fields.
(d) to minimize the ability of electrostatic fields to increase the detrimental effect of environmentally encountered chemicals on breast area tissue.
These objects, as well as other objects which will become apparent from the discussion that follows are achieved, according to the present invention, by providing specially constructed breast or breast prosthesis support articles, or other coverings such as brassiere inserts for example, herein collectively referred to as bras, which react to impinging electrostatic fields by creating air ions to cancel electrostatic charges on the bra, and also on other surfaces in the vicinity, to protect breast area tissue from detrimental electrostatic field influence.

Brassiere protecting against eletrostatic field induced tissue degradation


The present invention concerns an auto-saving circuit for programming configuration elements of non-volatile memory cells organized in a cells matrix in a memory device integrated on a semiconductor. The auto-saving circuit is inserted between a first and a second power supply reference voltage and is powered also by programming voltages generated inside the memory device to produce at an output programming signals of the configuration elements. The auto-saving circuit includes a first and a second circuit portion, one for each signal output and each powered by a respective programming voltage and each including a switching network with at least one high threshold transistor and decoupling elements to give inertia to the circuit against electrostatic discharges or accidental power supply variations.

As known, in the provision of non-volatile memory devices, e.g., of the EPROM and flash EPROM type, there are used certain techniques to obviate the low yield of the production process.
These techniques consist of providing a non-volatile memory cells matrix with additional rows or columns--termed redundant--which can be used to replace defective rows or columns which display malfunctions subsequent to testing of the memory device.
The function of the redundant elements is basic for the reliability of the memory device.
Those skilled in the art know the design methodology and the use of redundant rows and columns, of trimming networks and propagation control and of UPROM cells and the related selection circuitry. The latter allows readdressing the memory in such a manner as to replace the addresses containing defective bits with those containing functioning bits present in the redundant rows or columns.
For example, a UPROM cell is programmed in the testing phase, i.e., at the time the memory devices are subjected to an EWS (Electrical Wafer Sort). Before performing any kind of operation on the memory device the cells of the UPROM circuitry which will permit correctly addressing the memory addresses to be replaced are read.
The redundant elements are necessarily of the non-volatile type and are divided in two large groups, i.e., those modifiable as needed, e.g., EEPROM, and those modifiable only once such as, for example, electrically programmable fuses, PROM cells, etc.
The redundant elements thus allow reconfiguration of a non-volatile memory displaying malfunctions and may be defined as configuration elements. It is clear however that to fulfill their function the configuration elements must be whole and not display defects in turn.
It may happen that such configuration elements undergo accidental modifications due to undesired and unforeseeable events such as, for example, falls or overshoots of the power supply voltage or electrostatic discharges. These phenomena are known as `soft writing` of the configuration elements, for example the UPROM cells.
It is clear that if a configuration element of the modifiable only once type is damaged by an electrostatic discharge the characteristics of the related memory device can even be modified permanently and its functionality is compromised.

Auto-saving circuit for programming configuration elements in non-volatile memory devices


An FM audio system has an FM tuner, a CD player, a stereo modulator for modulating an audio signal from the CD player to produce a composite signal so as to be received by the FM tuner, for reproducing the audio signal. A notification system has a controller and a muting circuit. The controller produces a control signal in response to the changing of function of the CD player. The muting circuit attenuates the audio signal from CD player in accordance with the control signal. Speech information is generated in response to the changing of the function of the CD player. The speech information is added to an attenuated audio signal and applied to the stereo modulator so as to reproduce the audio signal together with the speech information.

It is preferable to a user that the CD player can be connected to an FM tuner mounted on the user's car and CDs can be reproduced through the FM tuner without using a CD reproducing device.
To meet such a requirement, it has been proposed to provide an audio signal modulating system connected to the FM tuner, where an audio signal from a CD player is modulated so as to be received by the FM tuner for reproducing the CD through the FM tuner.
In such a system used in the car, it is desirable to notify the driver of information by voice, for example selected music number, selected number of movement of classical music, number of selected disk in a multi-disk player which has a magazine for storing a plurality of CDs one of which is selected by manual operation.
However, if the speech information mixes with the sound of the music during the reproduction of the CD, it is difficult to listen to the information, and the mixed sound is unpleasant to the listener.

Notification system with voice in an audio system


The present invention relates to a liquid composition comprising an enzyme and a phenyl boronic acid derivative enzyme stabilizer of the following formula: ##STR1## wherein R is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkenyl and substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkenyl.

Storage stability problems are well known with liquids containing enzyme(s). Especially in enzyme-containing liquid detergents a major problem, in particular if the detergent contains protease, is that of ensuring enzyme activity over time.
The prior art has dealt extensively with improving the storage stability, for example by adding a protease inhibitor.
Boric acid and boronic acids are known to reversibly inhibit proteolytic enzymes. A discussion of the inhibition of one serine protease, subtilisin, by boronic acid is provided in Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry 51, 1983, pp. 5-32.
Boronic acids have very different capacities as subtilisin inhibitors. Boronic acids containing only alkyl groups such as methyl, butyl or 2-cyclohexylethyl are poor inhibitors with methylboronic acid as the poorest inhibitor, whereas boronic acids bearing aromatic groups such as phenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl or 3,5-dichlorophenyl are good inhibitors with 3,5-dichlorophenylboronic acid as a particularly effective one (see Keller et al, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com. 176, 1991, pp. 401-405).
It is also claimed that aryl boronic acids which have a substitution at the 3-position relative to boron are unexpectedly good reversible protease inhibitors. Especially, acetamidophenyl boronic acid is claimed to be a superior inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes (see WO 92/19707).
The inhibition constant (K.sub.i) is ordinarily used as a measure of capacity to inhibit enzyme activity, with a low K.sub.i indicating a more potent inhibitor. However, it has earlier been found that the K.sub.i values of boronic acids do not always tell how effective inhibitors are (see for instance WO 92/19707).

4-substituted-phenyl-boronic acids as enzyme stabilizers


In one embodiment, a traffic analysis service receives payload data from packets sent by a sensor tag in a network. The service forms a payload signature for the sensor tag, based on the payload data. The payload signature is indicative of one or more bytes in the payload that vary across the packets. The service identifies a portion of the payload data as potentially including a sensor measurement, based on the payload signature. The service uses a machine learning classifier to assign a sensor measurement type to the identified portion of the payload data.

An emerging area of interest in the field of computer networking is the "Internet of Things" (IoT), which is used to refer to uniquely identifiable objects/things and their virtual representations in a network-based architecture. In particular, the next frontier in the evolution of the Internet is the ability to network more than just computers and traditional communications devices, but rather the ability to connect "objects" in general, such as lights, appliances, vehicles, window shades and blinds, doors, locks, etc.
As the number of IoT devices continues to grow, the number of device manufacturers has also grown considerably. This is particularly true in the case of wireless sensor tags that simply report sensor readings via the IoT network. For example, an IoT deployment may include any number of tags that repeatedly measure and report the temperature at their corresponding locations.
Unfortunately, very little standardization has occurred with respect to wireless sensor tags, meaning that there are many proprietary data formats in use today. Consequently, sensor measurements from a sensor tag from one manufacturer are often incompatible with applications and devices from another manufacturer, since there is no way for those applications and devices to extract out the measurements from the traffic from the sensor tag.

Vendor agnostic sensor telemetry detection, processing, and identification


This invention is a system and method for managing one or more data storage networks using a new architecture. A method for handling logical to physical mapping is included in one embodiment with the new architecture. A method for handling errors is included in another embodiment with the new architecture.

Computer systems are constantly improving in terms of speed, reliability, and processing capability. As is known in the art, computer systems which process and store large amounts of data typically include a one or more processors in communication with a shared data storage system in which the data is stored. The data storage system may include one or more storage devices, usually of a fairly robust nature and useful for storage spanning various temporal requirements, e.g., disk drives. The one or more processors perform their respective operations using the storage system. Mass storage systems (MSS) typically include an array of a plurality of disks with on-board intelligent and communications electronics and software for making the data on the disks available.
To leverage the value of MSS, these are typically networked in some fashion, Popular implementations of networks for MSS include network attached storage (NAS) and storage area networks (SAN). In NAS, MSS is typically accessed over known TCP/IP lines such as Ethernet using industry standard file sharing protocols like NFS, HTTP, and Windows Networking. In SAN, the MSS is typically directly accessed over Fibre Channel switching fabric using encapsulated SCSI protocols.
Each network type has its advantages and disadvantages, but SAN's are particularly noted for providing the advantage of being reliable, maintainable, and being a scalable infrastructure but their complexity and disparate nature makes them difficult to centrally manage. Thus, a problem encountered in the implementation of SAN's is that the dispersion of resources tends to create an unwieldy and complicated data storage environment. Reducing the complexity by allowing unified management of the environment instead of treating as a disparate entity would be advancement in the data storage computer-related arts. While it is an advantage to distribute intelligence over various networks, it should be balanced against the need for unified and centralized management that can grow or scale proportionally with the growth of what is being managed. This is becoming increasingly important as the amount of information being handled and stored grows geometrically over short time periods and such environments add new applications, servers, and networks also at a rapid pace.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for managing storage networks and providing virtualization of resources in such a network


A polishing apparatus has a plurality of polishing stations for polishing materials to be polished and a plurality of cleaning stations for cleaning the materials being polished, the polishing stations and the cleaning stations being alternately arranged; and an arm for holding the materials being polished and transferring the materials being polished between the polishing stations and the cleaning stations successively. The arm includes a polishing head for holding the material being polished. Each of the cleaning stations comprises a retainer stand on which the material being polished is placed, and a cleaning device for cleaning the material being polished in a state held by the polishing head, cleaning the material being polished in a state placed on the retainer stand, and cleaning the polishing head in a state where the material being polished is separated from the polishing head. A polishing method is used in a polishing apparatus having a plurality of polishing stations for polishing materials to be polished and an arm for holding the materials being polished and transferring the materials being polished between the polishing stations successively, each of the polishing stations including a platen having a polishing pad affixed to a surface of the platen, the arm including a plurality of polishing heads, each of which holds the material being polished and brings one surface of the material being polished into contact with the polishing pad, the material to be polished being polished by the polishing pad with relative movement between the polishing head and the platen. The polishing method comprises the steps of fitting a spindle for supporting the polishing head in a horizontally rotatable manner into each of fitting portions formed in each of a plurality of spindle housings provided in the arm; rotating the material being polished and the polishing pad relatively while keeping the material being polished and the polishing pad contacted with each other; and adjusting an axial position of the polishing head and changing a position of the polishing head relative to the arm by an adjusting mechanism provided on the spindle, whereby the materials to be polished are each polished while being adjusted in position thereof

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for polishing a material such as a semiconductor wafer, and a method of conditioning a surface state of a polishing pad used for polishing the material to be polished.
This specification is on the basis of Japanese Patent Applications (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-244120, No. 2000-004058, No. 2000-093834, and No. 2000-099648), and the disclosures of these Japanese Patent Applications are incorporated herein as a part of this specification by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor wafer cut out of a silicon ingot, for example, from which a semiconductor device is formed, must be polished for realizing fine device structures, in such a manner that the wafer surface acquires a mirror surface free from defects and having high accuracy. A chemical mechanical polishing process (CMP process) capable of providing a high degree of planarity has been employed to polish surfaces of materials for which high polishing accuracy is required, including semiconductor wafers and wafers having devices formed thereon (hereinafter referred to simply as wafers).
The CMP process chemically and mechanically polishes and flattens surfaces of materials to be polished by employing, for example, an alkaline slurry using SiO2, a neutral slurry using CeO2 or an acid slurry using Al2O3.
A known polishing apparatus 1 for polishing a wafer surface using a CMP process is schematically shown in FIG. 23 which is an enlarged perspective view of principal part of the apparatus. As shown, a polishing pad 4 made of hard urethane, for example, is affixed to a disk-shaped platen 3 attached to a central shaft 2, and a polishing head 5 holding a wafer W is from the central shaft 2 of the platen 3. The polishing apparatus 1 polishes one surface of the wafer W by moving the polishing pad 4 and the wafer W relative to each other, while the polishing head 5 holds the wafer W in contact with the surface of the polishing pad 4, and a slurry S is supplied between the wafer W and the polishing pad 4.
Another known example of a apparatus for polishing a wafer surface with the CMP process is shown in FIG. 24. In the following description, components in FIG. 24 having essentially the same construction as those of the polishing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 23 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Referring to FIG. 24, a polishing apparatus 10 comprises a polishing head 5 holding a wafer W to be polished, and a polishing pad 4 affixed to an upper surface of a disk-shaped platen 3. A plurality of polishing heads 5 are attached to the underside of a carousel 11 serving as a head driving mechanism. The polishing heads 5 are each supported by a spindle 16 to rotate on the polishing pad 4 in planetary motion. In this connection, the center of the platen 3 may be positioned offset from the center about which the polishing heads 5 revolve.
The platen 3 is horizontally disposed at the center of a base 12 and rotated about its own axis by a platen driving mechanism (not shown) provided within the base 12. Posts 13 are vertically provided on both side portions of the base 12, and an upper attachment plate 14 is disposed between the posts 13 to support a carousel driving mechanism 15. The carousel driving mechanism 15 has the function of rotating the carousel 11 provided below the carousel driving mechanism 15 about its own axis.
Abutment portions 17 are disposed on the base 12 to project upward therefrom, and a gap adjusting mechanism 18 is provided at a top of each of the abutment portions 17. Above the abutment portions 17, engaging portions 19 are provided in one-to-one opposite relation. The engaging portions 19 are fixed to the upper attachment plate 14 and project downward from the upper attachment plate 14. By regulating the gap adjusting mechanisms 18 and bringing the engaging portions 19 into contact with the abutment portions 17, the distance between the polishing head 5 and the polishing pad 4 is set to an appropriate value. The wafers W are then polished by rotating the carousel 11, the polishing heads 5 and the platen 3 while the wafers W held by the polishing heads 5 are kept in contact with the surface of the polishing pad 4.
In any of such polishing apparatuses employing the CMP process, properties of the polishing pad and the slurry, polishing time, etc. are changed depending on the wafer polishing conditions, to adjust those parameters so that wafers are polished under the optimum conditions. Here, the term xe2x80x9cproperties of the slurryxe2x80x9d means the material characteristics and size of abrasives forming the slurry, properties of a solution (such as pH and concentration of the solution) in which the abrasives are suspended, etc.
Furthermore, in the polishing apparatuses described above, a step of polishing a wafer surface is divided into several stages, for example a rough polishing stage for eliminating roughness on the wafer surface, a fine polishing stage for flattening the wafer surface, and a finish polishing stage for finishing the wafer surface to a mirror surface. In each stage, the wafer is polished under the respective optimum conditions.
In addition, thin films such as an oxide film and a metal film are formed on a wafer surface to form a circuit on the wafer. Therefore, the polishing conditions are also changed depending on material characteristics of the thin films formed on the wafer surface.
To enable a wafer to be polished successively under plural sets of different polishing conditions, there is known a polishing apparatus comprising a plurality of polishing stations, each of which includes a platen provided with a polishing pad and a driving device for driving the platen for rotation.
In such a polishing apparatus designed to move a wafer between the polishing stations operated under the different polishing conditions, if the slurry adhering to the wafer and the polishing head is not completely removed, the polishing station to which the wafer is transferred from a preceding one is contaminated with the slurry adhering to the wafer and the polishing head, because the properties of the slurry, i.e., the material characteristics and size of abrasives, properties of a solution, etc., differ between the polishing stations. Such mixing of slurries having different properties not only changes the polishing conditions in the polishing station of subsequent stage, but also may bring the slurry into a cohered or gelled state, thereby damaging the wafer surface, or may cause abnormal corrosion of the wafer.
For preventing such drawbacks, a cleaning device has been hitherto provided between the polishing stations to clean the wafer and the polishing head when the wafer and the polishing head are moved from one polishing station to another. However, the cleaning is usually carried out with the wafer kept supported by the polishing head, and the slurry having intruded into, e.g., between the wafer and the polishing head, cannot be completely removed. The remaining slurry is therefore caused to flow out and mix with a new slurry while the wafer is polished in the subsequent polishing station. As a result, the above-described drawbacks cannot be avoided using the present methods.
Further, in any of the polishing apparatuses described above, a number of fine holes, grooves or the like are formed in the polishing pad 4 to hold a slurry, and a wafer is polished with the slurry held on the surface of the polishing pad 4 with the aid of those holes, grooves or the like. However, repeating the wafer polishing gives rise to a problem of reducing the polishing accuracy and the polishing efficiency of wafers, because the slurry and other foreign matter (such as chips or debris particles of the polishing pad 4 and the wafer) adhere to the surface of the polishing pad 4, and the polishing pad 4 is loaded with them. Also, there is a risk that properties of the foreign matter may be changed with the lapse of time and may cause scratches in the wafer.
In view of the above problems, a conditioner 21 (loading eliminating device) shown in FIG. 23, for example, has been hitherto provided in the polishing apparatus to separate the foreign matter deposited on the polishing pad 4 from it and to prevent the polishing pad 4 from being loaded with the foreign matter (this operation is called conditioning). Additionally, though not shown, the conditioner 21 is also provided in the polishing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 24.
As seen from FIG. 23, which is an enlarged perspective view of a principal part of the polishing apparatus, the conditioner 21 comprises a disk-shaped dresser 22 having a dressing portion (not shown in FIG. 23) formed on one surface, a rotating/driving mechanism (not shown) for rotating the dresser 22 about its own axis, and an arm 23 for holding the dresser 22. The conditioner 21 further comprises a moving mechanism 24 for moving the dresser 22, which has been carried onto the polishing pad 4, parallel to the polishing pad 4 while keeping the dresser 22 in a state where a surface of the dressing portion of the dresser 22 is contacted with the polishing pad 4 and the dresser 22 is pressed against the polishing pad 4. Instead of being positively rotated with the rotating/driving mechanism as described above, the dresser 22 may be constructed so as to rotate by frictional forces developed between the dresser 22 and the rotating polishing pad 4 during the conditioning.
The moving mechanism 24 comprises, for example, an X-axis rotating/driving mechanism 25 for rotating the arm 23 about an X axis (substantially perpendicular to the surface of the polishing pad 4), and a Y-axis rotating/driving mechanism 26 for rotating the arm 23 about a Y axis (substantially parallel to the surface of the polishing pad 4). Also, the moving mechanism 24 further comprises, though not shown, a mechanism for adjusting an inclination angle of the dresser 22 relative to the arm 23 so that the dresser 22 is held parallel to the polishing pad 4 when the dressing portion surface of the dresser 22 is brought into pressure contact with the polishing pad 4.
During the conditioning of the polishing pad 4, the conditioner 21 shown in FIG. 23, by way of example, operates as follows. First, the dressing portion surface of the dresser 22 is brought into pressure contact with the polishing pad 4 by the moving mechanism 24. Then the dresser 22 is rotated about its own axis, and at the same time it is reciprocally swung on the rotating polishing pad 4 by the X-axis rotating/driving mechanism 25. In this way, the dressing portion of the dresser 22 slightly chips off the surface of the polishing pad 4 to separate foreign matter deposited on the surface of the polishing pad 4. The polishing pad 4 is thereby given a fresh surface free from loading and dulling to restore the polishing ability of the polishing pad 4 (to achieve the so-called dressing).
In addition to the above-described conditioner 21, there are also known other loading eliminating devices, for example one wherein a cleaning liquid is sprayed under high pressure toward the polishing pad 4 by a cleaning-liquid jetting means to wash foreign matter out of the surface of the polishing pad 4, and wherein the foreign matter is beaten and scrubbed out of the surface of the polishing pad 4 with a rotating brush.
Even after use of the loading eliminating device, if foreign matter still remains on the surface of the polishing pad 4, it may cause scratches, etc. in the wafer being polished by the polishing pad 4 or may vary the polishing rate. To avoid the above problem, in the conventional loading eliminating device, the slurry and other foreign matter (including abrasives scraped off the dresser 22), which have been separated from the polishing pad 4, are removed from the polishing pad 4, for example by supplying a cleaning liquid (including pure water), a slurry, etc. to the surface of the polishing pad 4 so as to wash out the remaining foreign matter. However, the amount of the supplied cleaning liquid or slurry is not large, and hence the removal efficiency of the foreign matter is low.
In a method of washing out the foreign matter with a slurry, the slurry supplied for the washing-out cannot be used to polish a wafer because of a fear that the foreign matter can remain mixed in the slurry. Also, even in a method of washing out the foreign matter with a cleaning liquid (e.g., pure water), a part of the cleaning liquid remains on the polishing pad 4, and therefore the concentration, pH, etc. of a slurry newly supplied to the surface of the polishing pad 4 for polishing the wafer are changed, whereby the wafer polishing conditions are also changed. Thus, the above-described conventional methods are disadvantageous because the slurry or cleaning liquid remaining on the polishing pad 4 must be replaced by the newly supplied slurry for polishing the wafer, and so the amount of the slurry used and the cost are increased.
Further, because the conventional loading eliminating device employs a rotating dresser or brush, a cleaning liquid sprayed under high pressure, or the like, there has been a risk that the foreign matter may scatter to the surroundings and remain on the polishing pad 4, or may adhere to the polishing apparatus 1 and then drop off onto the polishing pad 4 from the polishing apparatus 1, thereby contaminating the polishing pad 4. In addition, there has been a risk that the scattered foreign matter may intrude into moving parts of the polishing apparatus 1 and eventually impede the normal operation of the polishing apparatus 1.
Further, in the conditioner 21 shown in FIG. 23, by way of example, materials such as chips of the polishing pad 4, debris particles of the wafer and the slurry having the changed properties, for example, are deposited primarily on the dressing portion surface of the dresser. If those deposits are solidified or gelled to have their properties changed, the deposits having the changed properties are scaled off and drop onto the polishing pad 4 when the polishing pad 4 is subjected to conditioning. This has raised a problem that the dropped scales damage the wafer surface, to produce scratches, etc. during the subsequent wafer polishing. Also, even when the dressing portion surface of the dresser is immersed in a cleaning liquid, the deposits cannot be removed from the dressing portion surface because of sticky adhesion to it, and a problem similar to that described above has been caused.
In any of the above-described polishing apparatus, grooves are formed beforehand in the surface of the polishing pad 4 to introduce air between the wafer and the polishing pad 4, so that the wafer will not adhere to the surface of the polishing pad 4 and will not be left on the polishing pad 4 when the polishing head 5 is elevated after completion of the wafer polishing. The presence of such grooves prevents the wafer from adhering to the polishing pad 4 and ensures proper progress of the polishing step.
The grooves each have a depth of about 0.5 mm. In addition to the above effect, the grooves also hold the slurry which is used for the wafer polishing on the polishing pad 4, and receive the chips, debris particles, etc. generated during the wafer polishing, thereby preventing the occurrence of scratches in the wafer surface.
In this connection, the surface of the polishing pad 4 is usually conditioned for each cycle of polishing so that the polishing ability is adjusted to fall within the appropriate range, as described above. The conditioning of the polishing pad 4 is performed, for example, by chipping off the surface of the polishing pad 4 in a thickness of about 1-2 xcexcm by the dresser 22 of the conditioner 21 and forming a fresh surface of appropriate roughness.
Because the surface of the polishing pad 4 is chipped off bit by bit whenever it is subjected to the conditioning, the depth of the grooves formed in the surface of the polishing pad 4 is gradually reduced. The shallower the grooves, the less effective is the polishing pad 4 in the step of polishing wafers. Therefore, at the time when the groove depth is reduced to a certain value, the polishing pad 4 is judged as having finished its useful life and is replaced by a new one. In other words, the polishing pad 4 is a consumable member and its useful life is determined depending on the remaining depth of the grooves. Since the cost of the polishing pad 4 takes a large proportion of the running cost of the polishing apparatus, there has been a desire for prolonging the useful life of the polishing pad 4 in order to reduce the production cost of wafers.
However, if the grooves are too deep, an amount by which the surface of the polishing pad 4 is projected from bottom surfaces of the grooves is so increased that the surface of the polishing pad 4 is more easily susceptible to elastic deformation. With such elastic deformation, the state of contact between the polishing pad 4 and the wafer is changed, which in turn changes the wafer polishing conditions. Thus, because of a restriction on the groove depth, the useful life of the polishing pad 4 cannot currently be prolonged as desired.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a polishing apparatus and a polishing method, which can polish a material to be polished under a plurality of polishing conditions in a satisfactory manner.
To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a polishing apparatus comprising a plurality of polishing stations for polishing materials to be polished and a plurality of cleaning stations for cleaning the materials being polished. The polishing stations and the cleaning stations are alternately arranged, and an arm is provided for holding the materials to be polished and transferring the materials being polished between the polishing stations and the cleaning stations successively. The arm includes a polishing head for holding the material being polished, each of the cleaning stations comprising a retainer stand on which the material being polished is placed and a cleaning device for cleaning the material being polished while being held by the polishing head, cleaning the material being polished while placed on the retainer stand, and cleaning the polishing head where the material being polished is separated from the polishing head.
With the polishing apparatus thus constructed, when the material being polished is moved between the polishing stations, it is transferred to the cleaning station and cleaned therein before being moved to the next polishing station.
In the cleaning station, the cleaning device cleans the material being polished while held by the polishing head, cleans the material being polished while placed on the retainer stand, and cleans the polishing head where the material being polished is separated from the polishing head. Accordingly, a slurry having intruded into between the material being polished and the polishing head can also be removed. As a result, even in the case of polishing the material to be polished under plural sets of polishing conditions, the risk that slurries having different properties may mix with each other can be reduced, and the material to be polished can be satisfactorily performed under plural sets of polishing conditions.
Also, the present invention provides a polishing method for use in a polishing apparatus comprising a plurality of polishing stations for polishing materials to be polished and an arm for holding the materials being polished and transferring the materials being polished between the polishing stations successively, each of the polishing stations including a platen having a polishing pad affixed to a surface of the platen, the arm including a plurality of polishing heads, each of which holds the material being polished and brings one surface of the material being polished into contact with the polishing pad, the material to be polished being polished by the polishing pad with relative movement between the polishing head and the platen, the polishing method comprising the steps of fitting a spindle for supporting the polishing head in a horizontally rotatable manner into each of fitting portions formed in each of a plurality of spindle housings provided in the arm; rotating the material being polished and the polishing pad relatively while keeping the material being polished and the polishing pad contacted with each other; and adjusting an axial position of the polishing head and changing a position of the polishing head relative to the arm by an adjusting mechanism provided on the spindle, whereby the materials to be polished are each polished while being adjusted in position thereof.
With the polishing method of the present invention, the position of each polishing head is adjusted by the adjusting mechanism provided on the spindle, and the material to be polished is polished in the state where it has been thus adjusted in position. Therefore, the materials to be polished can each be polished under individual appropriate polishing conditions, and the polishing of the material to be polished can be performed with satisfactory results.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for conditioning a polishing pad, which can quickly and efficiently remove foreign matter from the polishing pad and can keep the foreign matter from scattering to the surroundings.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of conditioning a polishing pad for polishing a material to be polished, the method being used with a conditioner comprising a loading eliminating unit for separating foreign matter which is deposited on the polishing pad, from the polishing pad, a cover for covering surroundings of the loading eliminating unit to form a space isolated from the outside between the cover and a surface of the polishing pad, and a sucking unit connected to the space formed between the cover and the surface of the polishing pad for sucking the foreign matter on the polishing pad. The method comprises the steps of separating the foreign matter which is deposited on the polishing pad, from the polishing pad by the loading eliminating unit; sucking the foreign matter on the polishing pad by the sucking unit; and continuing operation of the sucking unit after the step of separating the foreign matter by the loading eliminating unit has been stopped, thereby sucking the foreign matter left on the polishing pad.
With the above method of conditioning the polishing pad, the foreign matter is separated from the polishing pad by the loading eliminating unit, and the separated foreign matter is sucked by the sucking unit and quickly removed from the polishing pad.
Also, since the loading eliminating unit eliminates the loading of the polishing pad in the space formed between the cover and the polishing pad, the separated foreign matter is not scattered to the surroundings.
Further, in parallel to the work of separating the foreign matter from the polishing pad by the loading eliminating unit, the foreign matter on the polishing pad is sucked by the sucking unit and quickly removed from the polishing pad.
Additionally, since the foreign matter left on the polishing pad is removed by the sucking unit even after stopping the operation of the loading eliminating unit, the foreign matter left on the polishing pad is minimized.

Polishing apparatus, polishing method and method of conditioning polishing pad


Described herein are compositions and methods related to use of cardiosphere-derived cells and their extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes and microvesicles, for achieving anti-aging and rejuvenation. This includes discoveries for effects on heart structure, function, gene expression, and systemic parameters. For animal studies, intra-cardiac injections of neonatal rat CDCs was compared to in old and young rats including evaluation of blood, echocardiographic, haemodynamic and treadmill stress tests. For in vitro studies, human heart progenitors from older donors, or cardiomyocytes from aged rats were exposed to human CDCs or cardiosphere derived cell (CDC) derived exosomes (CDC-XO) from pediatric donors. CDCs and CDC-XOs were capable of effectuating youthful patterns of gene expression in the hearts of old, along with a variant of physiological and function benefits, including elongation of telomere length. Together, these results indicate capacity of CDCs and CDC-XO to ward off the effects of aging through rejuvenation.

Aging is characterized by progressive decline in physiological functions and increase in mortality that is often accompanied by the onset and progression of diseases. Although the underlying molecular mechanisms of aging remain largely elusive, many studies have provided supporting evidence that telomere shortening together with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are important factors contributing to the aging process. Cardiovascular disease increases markedly in prevalence with aging, creating a huge economic burden.
As described, cell senescence is tightly connected with the aging process, and is characterized by progressive shortening of telomeres. Critical shortening of these protective 'caps' on the ends of linear chromosomes is associated with heart dysfunction and hypertrophy, impaired cardiomyocyte proliferation, and reduced regenerative capacity. The aged heart exhibits abnormal relaxation and/or increased stiffness, along with interstitial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Among rejuvenating strategies tested to date, parabiosis and cellular reprogramming seem promising, but none has addressed age-related heart dysfunction. Thus, there is a great need in the art for methods and compositions related to treating and modulating age-related disorders, including age-related heart dysfunction.
Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) are cells which can differentiate into the three major cell types present in the heart, including cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. These cells work primarily indirectly, including through paracrine effects mediated by secretion of extracellular vesicles such as exosomes and microvesicles.
Described herein are methods and compositions for use of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) and their extracellular vesicles, including exosomes and microvesicles, for biological rejuvenation and treatment of age-related disorders. CDCs improve age-related diastolic function and induced systemic functional improvements (notably, increased exercise tolerance) in old animals. Rejuvenating effects were likewise evident in human heart cells from older donors, co-cultured with young CDCs. CDCs and their extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes and microvesicles, open new therapeutic avenues for anti-aging effects and rejuvenation.

Cardiosphere-derived cells and their extracellular vesicles to retard or reverse aging and age-related disorders


The present invention relates to particle stabilizing compositions suitable for use in fabric care products, home care products, diapers, incontinence articles, feminine care products, pharmaceuticals, oral care products, antiperspirants, deodorants, personal cleansing products, skin care products and hair care products comprising: a) an emulsion comprising from about 1% to about 99% by weight of the emulsion of an internal phase and from about 1% to about 99% by weight of the emulsion of an external phase; b) a charged species that is present in the emulsion; and c) charged insoluble solid particles which are dispersed in the emulsion wherein the charged species possesses a charge which is opposed to that of the charged insoluble solid particles and wherein essentially all of the charged species and charged insoluble solid particles accumulate at the interface of the emulsion and wherein Brownian motion is not exhibited by the charged insoluble solid particles.

Foundation products are typically applied to the entire face to mask perceived imperfections in skin texture (e.g., fine lines and wrinkles), pigmentation or vascularization. It is desirable for foundations to mask these imperfections and yet still allow for a natural appearance of the skin. In other words, consumers want good coverage from a foundation product, but do not want the appearance of too much make-up, e.g., a cakey appearance.
Pigmented oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsion foundations are a popular type of foundation product available on the market today. These products are relatively inexpensive and are easy to apply to the skin. Moreover, the pigmented oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsion foundations lend themselves to variation in pigment type and level to give different degrees of color coverage and albedo of the face.
It is believed, however, that, in order to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and to avoid a cakey appearance when utilizing a foundation product, it is important to deposit the pigment from the foundation product uniformly on the skin. Unfortunately, the tendency of the pigment is to agglomerate (i.e., flocculate) in the foundation product and, upon application of the foundation product to the skin, to either collect in the fine lines and wrinkles or agglomerate on the skin, thereby accentuating, rather than minimizing, the appearance of the fine lines or wrinkles, and further delivering a cakey, unnatural appearance to the skin.
Preventing agglomeration or flocculation of the pigment both in a foundation product and upon its application to the skin can be very difficult. One way to improve the stability of the pigments in foundation products is to "coat" the pigment, e.g., by adsorbing certain materials onto the surface of the pigment, wet ball milling or plasma treatment. See, e.g., Driscoll, P., "Treated Pigments in Decorative Cosmetics", Cosmetics and Toiletries, Vol. 104 (July 1989), pp 43-45. For example, foundation and other personal care products containing hydrophobically- or hydrophilically-coated pigments are known in the art. (See, for example, Lee, J. et al., "Preparation of Ultra Fine Fe3O4 Particles by Precipitation in the Presence of PVA at High pH", J. Colloid Interface Sci., 177, p. 490 (1996) and European Patent Application 504,066, published Mar. 13, 1992). There is, however, an ongoing need for cosmetic foundations that exhibit lesser agglomeration of pigments in the product itself and when applied to skin. More importantly, there is a need to provide products that meet consumer needs with respect to the natural appearance of the skin when the product is applied.
It has now surprisingly been found that foundation products, wherein agglomeration of the pigment contained therein is minimized, can be formulated using the technology hereinafter described. Moreover, when the foundation products of the present invention are applied to the skin, the pigment remains essentially unagglomerated and is therefore capable of being uniformly deposited on the skin. Accordingly, good coverage of the skin and a natural appearance of the skin is provided. This is a surprising development, given that the use of oppositely charged particles in cosmetic formulations is typically avoided due to interactions which create negative effects.
It has also now been surprisingly found that products useful in fabric care products, home care products, diapers, incontinence articles, feminine care products, pharmaceuticals, oral care products, antiperspirants, deodorants, personal cleansing products, skin care products and hair care products, wherein agglomeration of the composition contained therein is minimized, can be formulated using the technology hereinafter described. Moreover, since the claimed composition remains essentially unagglomerated, it can also be utilized in the above disclosed consumer fields deposited on a substrate. Accordingly, good coverage of the substrate with the uniformly dispersed composition allows for enhanced improvements in the care of fabrics, skin, hair, and teeth.


The present invention provides a compound having a steroid C17,20-lyase-inhibitory activity and useful for the therapy and prophylaxis of tumor such as prostatism, breast cancer and the like, and a method for efficiently separating an optically active compound of this compound from a mixture of optical isomers thereof, a compound of the formula:

Androgen and estrogen, which are sex hormones, show a great diversity of physiological activities inclusive of differentiation and proliferation of cells. On the other hand, it has been clarified that androgen and estrogen act as an exacerbation factor in certain diseases. It is known that steroid C17,20-lyase is responsible for the final stage of the biosynthesis of androgen in the body. That is, steroid C17,20-lyase produces dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione using, as a substrate, 17-hydroxypregnenolone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone, which are generated by cholesterol. Therefore, a pharmaceutical agent inhibiting steroid C17,20-lyase suppresses production of androgen, as well as production of estrogen synthesized using androgen as a substrate. Such pharmaceutical agent is useful as an agent for the prevention and therapy of diseases wherein androgen and estrogen are exacerbation factors. Examples of the diseases, in which androgen or estrogen is an exacerbation factor, include prostate cancer, prostatic hypertrophy, masculinism, hypertrichosis, male-type baldness, male infant-type prematurity, breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, mastopathy, hysteromyoma, endometriosis, adenomyosis of uterus, polycystic ovary syndrome and the like.
Steroid type compounds and non-steroid type compounds are already known as steroid C17,20-lyase inhibitors. Steroid type compounds are disclosed in, for example, WO92/15404, WO93/20097, EP-A-288053, EP-A-413270 and the like. As non-steroid type compounds, for example, JP-A-64-85975 discloses (1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl-substituted benzimidazole derivatives, WO94/27989, WO96/14090 and WO97/00257 disclose carbazole derivatives, WO95/09157 discloses azole derivatives, U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,161 discloses 1H-benzimidazole derivatives and WO99/18075 discloses dihydronaphthalene derivatives.
In general terms, when a compound contained in a pharmaceutical preparation as an active ingredient has an optical isomer, pharmacological actions and pharmacokinetics may be different depending on optical isomers. In this case, only one of the optical isomers is used as an active ingredient for the purpose of potentiating the activity, and therefore, for reducing the dose, or avoiding unpreferable side effects and the like. For this end, a method for selectively and efficiently producing an optically active compound is desired, wherein the most convenient method is optical resolution of racemate by liquid chromatography using an optically active column filler. When the objective compound is a basic or acidic compound, optical resolution comprising forming a diastereomeric salt by an acid-base reaction with an optically active acid or amine, and separating the salt based on the differences in properties of the both is known to be one of the industrial methods, because this method can achieve a high optical purity comparatively easily and affords production in a large scale.
The optically active acid and amine used here are reported in number as optical resolution reagents. Tartaric acid monoanilides as acidic optical resolution reagent are among them and are known to be effective for optical resolution of many basic compounds [J. Org. Chem., 33, 3993 (1968), JP-A-50-41870, JP-A-51-54566, JP-A-61-7238, JP-A-4-108773, JP-A-5-32620, JP-A-6-100502, JP-A-6-107602, JP-A-6-107604 and the like]. Tartaric acid monoanilide derivatives can be prepared by, for example, the methods described in J. Am. Chem. Soc., 70, 1352 (1948), J. Org. Chem., 33, 3993 (1968), JP-A-10-218847, JP-A-2001-89431 and the like.

Imidazole derivatives, production method thereof and use thereof

Abstract: wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification, a salt thereof or a prodrug thereof, and a method for obtaining an optically active compound by optically resolving a mixture of optical isomers by the use of a resolving agent such as tartranilic acid and the like.


A system and method provide for content-based authentication of binary graphs. The method includes the step of receiving an electronic file having a graphical content. An object level representation of the graphical content is then generated and authentication information is added to the electronic file based on the object level representation. The method further provides for authenticating the object level representation with a text authentication algorithm. Thus, by building a bridge from graphs to text at the character level, the present invention allows authentication of graphs using suitable text document authentication algorithms. When pixel level precision of the graph is required, a pixel level authentication can be added. This layer lets the owner detect as well as localize changes in the graph at the pixel level. Both levels of authentication are optional depending on the application.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to document authentication. More particularly, the present invention relates to the authentication of graphs at the object level as well as the pixel level.
2. Discussion
For as long as humans have communicated with one another, there has been concern over maintaining confidentiality. As a result, verbal, written, and electronic messages have all been the subject of substantial technological efforts to maintain security. For example, document authentication techniques are commonly used to ensure the integrity of a wide variety of electronic documents such as, presentations, contracts, military orders, and databases. Authentication involves the task of making the determination that the document has not been tampered with and that it originated with the presumed transmitter. Authentication using digital watermarks is a particular technique that has been studied by many researchers in the last ten years. For example, digital watermarking has been successfully applied to digital documents such as digital color/gray scale images and plain text. While electronic document authentication efforts have experienced considerable success, it is important to note that these efforts have typically centered around the protection of textual documents and images.
Recently, however, more and more documents are using graphs in addition to images and text for system and idea illustration. In contrast to images, graphs are more difficult to watermark because of low capacity of additive noise. This is due to the binary nature of graphs. The term "binary nature" relates to the fact that most graphs have one bit per pixel, whereas most images have multiple bits per pixel to indicate varying shades and colors. Binary pixels make it particularly hard to insert watermarks due to the low capacity for perceptual invisible noise. In other words, a minimal alteration of bits in a binary graph can result in a substantial change in the appearance and content of the graph. Furthermore, the critical information of a graph is often contained at the object level rather than the pixel level. For example, a useful application for document copying and copyright protection is to provide different levels of access to different users. In such a case it would be very desirable to detect alteration of the original document as well as localize the alteration on the object level. For example, it is more important to detect a substantive change in a document, such as "10%" to "70%", than it is to detect an increase in the size of an arrow by one pixel. Thus, the sensitive information in a document is often contained on the object level rather than the pixel level.
Pixel level authentication may also result in less flexibility. For example, if the annotation font of a graph changes but the content of the graph does not, pixel level authentication will alert the owner that the annotations have been altered. The owner has no way of determining, however, that the content of the graph matches the original. Object level authentication, on the other hand, would assure the owner that the "content is authentic" in such a case. If the font is marked as sensitive information, object level authentication could also alert the owner to font alterations. In many applications, however, it would be highly desirable to provide a mechanism for returning an "authentic" determination if the font is not marked as sensitive information.
Conventional methodologies for content-based text authentication mainly rely on altering the word/line spacing or the length of character vertical serif strokes. While text documents are often referred to as binary images and share the same binary nature of graphs, these methodologies can hardly be extended to authentication of graphs. This is because even on the pixel level graphs generally do not exhibit the same characteristics as text. For instance, in a graphical flowchart the shape of each node may be very important, whereas the nodes often have substantially fewer characters as compared to a paragraph of text. In such a flowchart the number of objects that exhibit a vertical serif can be as low as a few percent of the total number of objects. Here, an object is referred to an alterable line, character, or curve. In fact, other kinds of graphs may not exhibit alterable line spacing or vertical serif at all. It is therefore desirable to bridge text-based authentication techniques to the authentication of graphs.

Content-based authentication of graph presented in text documents

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor is provided, wherein a piezoelectric/electrostrictive body contains an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal, and a sulfide and the main component of terminal electrodes are contained near the surface of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body. A voltage equal to or higher than a withstand voltage is hardly applied to the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body, and consequently, the sensor is prevented from dielectric breakdown. In addition, the sensor is hardly electrostatically charged, and thus prevented from electrostatic discharge damage and attraction of dust, dirt or the like.

A piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor can be used for measuring fluid characteristics such as viscosity, density and concentration by use of the mechano-electric transduction of a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element in which a membranous piezoelectric/electrostrictive body disposed in the sensor is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. When the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor (the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element) oscillates in a fluid, the sensor receives a mechanical resistance due to the viscosity resistance of the fluid, and the electric constant of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element changes in a constant relation with respect to the mechanical resistance. Therefore, the sensor can detect the electric constant to measure the viscosity of the fluid or the like.
It is to be noted that any prior document having the same theme as or a theme in common with the theme of the present invention discussed later does not seem to be present, however, Patent Documents 1 to 6 can be given as examples of a prior document for reference of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor:
Patent Document 1: JP-A-8-201265
Patent Document 2: JP-A-5-267742
Patent Document 3: JP-A-6-260694
Patent Document 4: JP-A-2005-164495
Patent Document 5: JP-A-2-51023
Patent Document 6: JP-A-8-98884
In recent years, the above piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor (hereinafter referred simply as the sensor) has the following problems in the same manner as in a semiconductor integrated circuit chip (IC, LSI) or the like.
First, there are such problems that a membranous piezoelectric/electrostrictive body (an insulator) causes dielectric breakdown and that the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor cannot operate. In a chip made of silicon, there is a known problem that to speed up the operation, it is essential to form a thin membrane and apply a high voltage (electric field), and hence an oxide membrane (the insulator) easily causes the dielectric breakdown. Similarly, in the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor, sometimes the applied voltage is made high by thinning the membrane of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body, for example, in case of a longitudinally effective oscillating element. This is because the oscillation becomes larger when the applied voltage to the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body made of a thin membrane is increased; thereby the sensitivity of the sensor is effectively increased. However, in this case, the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body easily causes the dielectric breakdown. Consequently, the deterioration of the reliability of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor is incurred. Therefore, the prevention of the dielectric breakdown in this case still remains a theme to be solved.
Moreover, in association with the above dielectric breakdown, breakdown due to static electricity (electrostatic discharge damage) has raised a problem. All matter has electrons in atoms. When articles constituted of such matter, or a person and the article come in contact with (including friction, collision, etc.) or peel from each other, the electrons move, and an electrically unstable state is supposedly brought to generate the static electricity. When the static electricity is generated, with the movement of the electrons, the article or the person receiving the electrons forms a minus pole, and the article or the person discharging the electrons forms a plus pole. In the case of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive membrane sensor, the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body as an insulator receives the electrons from another article, the person or air on the surface of the body, and can be brought into a charged state with the minus pole. Moreover, when the body discharges the electrons (discharges electricity) to the other article, the person or the air from this state, a voltage of several kVs is applied during the discharge, and the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body is sometimes damaged (the electrostatic discharge damage). Furthermore, when dust, dirt or the like charged with the plus pole is attracted to adhere to the surface of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body in the charged state with the minus pole, a pair of electrodes sandwiching the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body therebetween thus causes short circuit, any desired voltage is not applied to the piezoelectric/electrostrictive body, the oscillation of the sensor becomes unstable. Alternatively, the resonance frequency of the sensor deviates owing to the mass of the dust or the like to cause wrong detection or the like. The characteristics of a fluid or the presence of the fluid can not correctly be measured.


A method for testing protocol converters is presented, which permits the achievement of a test of all commands, independently of a corresponding test system. A modified protocol converter itself is used for the test. With the help of this method, a test for conversion of data structures can be carried out, of a slow protocol into the corresponding data structures of a fast protocol in the original speed.

Data exchange protocols (generally named protocols), represent a set of formal rules which describe how data can be transferred, particularly within networks. Thus protocols which occupy themselves with monitoring electrical and physical standards, arrangement of bits and bytes, as well as the transmission, establishment of errors and definition of the correction of a bit current, are defined as so-called "low-level" protocols. "High-level" protocols occupy themselves with formatting the data including the syntax of the signals, dialogue between terminal and computer, character sets, the sequence control system of signals, etc.
A protocol converter consists of a device or a programme which serves the same purposes, between translating different, non-identical protocols. Thus data structures of a protocol A are converted in a corresponding data structure into the other protocol B. Especially in computer systems, the data are thereby transported over bus lines.
The increasing processing speeds of computer systems resulting in the necessity of improvement of data transmission to peripheral equipment, sets high requirements to the protocol converter, which has to be incorporated in the data circuit between computer system and peripherals. Problems then arise if available slow input-/output (I/O)-systems must be adapted to newly developed, optimized, faster bus systems.
This generally occurs by means of special semi-conductor modules, so-called Bridge-Chips, which undertake the conversion of a slow protocol A into the fast protocol B.
In order to make certain that the newly developed protocol converters also function free of faults, it is necessary to test them before actual use, and if necessary rectify any defects and imperfections thus arising. Normally for this purpose, a test run is undertaken with a test software, in order to determine whether the new converter translates all data correctly. The data in the faster protocol B must therefore be generated (Bringup) from the conventional I/O test data. A protocol partner for the fast protocol B is therefore necessary (Bringup-Adapter), which prepares the test data for the new converter. For example, this can be a new faster computer system.
From the purpose of inserting the converter it arises that specified commands go in the one transmission direction (e.g. from the memory to the peripheral equipment) and are meaningful, but however not in the reverse direction. On this account, selection means are provided in many protocol converters to ensure that such commands which run in the "wrong" direction, are additionally suppressed, in order to guarantee a higher operational safety. This results in an intentionally implemented asymmetry in the protocol conversion between both protocols.
Typically, a test of the converter is first carried out, if the complete new system is ready for operation, and only then can the new chips be tested inside their normal ready for operation environment. If the complete system is however not yet available, the new converter should be tested independently of the corresponding system, and thus, as has already been indicated above, an external Bringup Adapter is required for the test data.
A possibility of achieving such a Bringup, is the design of a special environment by specially developed test environment chips which generate the test data of new faster protocols. This however has the disadvantage that additional chips must be manufactured, giving rise to correspondingly higher costs.
Another possibility exists in reconstructing the Bridge-Chip with primitive, slow and free-programmable logic modules, in order then to test them with the corresponding test programmes. This method is however costly. In addition, the primitive Bridge-Chip is slow, so that on this account, no kind of test can be carried out at the original speed.
A further possibility of testing an already designed protocol converter, consists of a software simulation of the converter for use to test the correct functionality. The preparation of such a simulation is already mainly necessary for the development process of the chip. Test data in the one protocol is fed in for testing the simulation protocol. The simulation protocol translates this output data into the second protocol, and the data thus resulting can be checked for its correctness.

Method of testing a protocol converter with the help of an identical converter and deactivating selection means for preventing asymmetry conversion

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for improving communications in a digital collaboration environment by receiving a communication directed to a first user, determining that the first user is unavailable, in response to determining that the first user is unavailable, determining a second user based on an attribute, and notifying the second user about the communication directed to the first user.

Today, communications in a digital collaboration environment allow users to interact with each other in different ways, including through voice, video, and messaging. Users have become so accustomed to contacting each other through these various means of communication that general user unavailability is often overlooked.
For example, users often go on vacation, take off several days to attend conferences, or take a business trips to areas with little to no Internet connectivity, resulting in the user's general unavailability through digital communications. While automated messages are available to notify others of the user's inaccessibility, an unavailable user often forgets to set these automated messages across one or more of their various communication platforms. Consequently, other users who try to reach the unavailable user through a chat message or email message that does not have away notifications set up can wait indefinitely for a response. Even when others are notified that the user is unavailable, the lack of response from the unavailable user creates problems when the unavailable user's input is needed to complete a project in a timely manner, make a critical decision, or otherwise provide necessary feedback. Therefore, there is a need for an improvement in directing communications within a communication environment.

Methods and systems for directing communications