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There are many different methodologies for a line startup, process transfer, line conversion, and process upgrade in semiconductor IC manufacturing. In our startup of a 200 mm bulk acoustic wave filter line converted from an existing 150 mm production line, a methodology of copy, scale, develop, and match (CSDM) was introduced. This methodology includes four phases of matching (unit qualification, short flow verification, pathfinder validation, and qualification lot process) between 150 mm and 200 mm process, different failure mode effects analysis (DFMEA) for the risk assessment of the differences between two processes, process flow breakdown with process blocks and sub-blocks, a decide, define, determine, and design method of process evaluation with short loop flow process monitors based on DFMEA assessment. Following this CSDM methodology throughout the conversion process ensures that both electrical and reliability performances of 200 mm product wafers match to those of the 150 mm line. The first 200 mm full flow pathfinder lot with electrical yield on parity to 150 mm line yield. In this paper, the application of this CSDM methodology is discussed in detail.

Background: Although permanent prophylactic Greenfield filters (PPGF) are effective, their use in young trauma patients who may eventually return to active lifestyles is controversial due to concerns about the safety of the devices over a lifetime. This descriptive study was undertaken to provide follow-up on the long-term safety and durability of PPGF. Methods: All patients receiving a PPGF between April 1, 1992 and March 1, 2001 were sought for follow-up. Contacted patients were interviewed regarding known filter-related complications, venous thromboembolic events, and activity levels since the time of discharge from the hospital. Patients were also offered a physical examination focusing on venous thromboembolic sequelae, a plain film of the abdomen (KUB) to assess filter integrity and location, and an ultrasound to assess caval patency. As the original level of filter placement was usually not known, migration was defined as a filter above the first lumbar vertebra (LI). Results: The eligible cohort consisted of 188 patients. Ninety were unable to be located (47.8%), one refused enrollment (0.5%), and 97 patients or next of kin agreed to be interviewed by phone (51.6%) of whom 69 returned for evaluation (36.7%). No filter-related complications were self-reported. KUBs were performed in 68 patients; one filter strut fracture was found (1.5%), whereas no filter migrations above L1 were noted. No instances of caval thrombosis were found in 55 ultrasounds. Two patients suffered interim pulmonary emboli (2.1%), one of which was fatal. Of 15 interim deaths, autopsy or death certificates were available for four patients, nine had their causes of death related by next of kin, and two were unknown. Although 95.4% of nonspinal cord injury patients reported at least some ability to ambulate, only 64.6% could do so ad libitum. Of those patients ambulating without limitation, 28.6% reported a complete inability to run any distance and another 23.8% could run less than one block. Follow-up for patients completing interviews was 105.3 months ± 18.0 months, and for patients undergoing imaging was 104.6 months ± 16.4 months. Interim deaths occurred at 48.2 months ± 26.0 months. Conclusions: PPGF seem to be safe and effective at 105 months of follow-up; most patients report significant limitations in activity level at this same timeframe. PPGF should be the filter of choice for elderly patients in whom this time period can reasonably be expected to cover the patient's remaining life expectancy.

It is known that polar solvents swell coal, break hydrogen-bonds in the macromolecular structure, and enhance coal liquefaction efficiencies. The effects of drying, interaction with supercritical CO2 and degassing on the physical structure of coal have been studied using gas sorption technique and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Both drying and interaction with supercritical CO2 drastically change the micropore and mesopore surface area, absolute volume, and volume distribution in both bituminous coal and lignite. Degassing removes debris in the pore space which allows for better analysis of the changes in the morphology that were induced by drying and exposure to supercritical CO2. SEM reveals that interaction of bituminous coal with supercritical CO2 results in an abundance of carbon structures similar to the maceral collinite.

To the Editor: The article by Gioe et al. [2] is relevant and of great interest to the orthopaedic community. However, as the authors’ conclusions are considered, several issues must be addressed. The current data do not account for the physician bias in device selection, the economic reality of pricing, and key variables that highly correlate to device failure. Potential selection bias between patient groups was not controlled. Differences in age, activity level, rehabilitation potential, etc, can greatly affect device selection. Moreover, selection often depends on the life expectancy of the device and the patient. Differences between the current groups must be acknowledged, as outcomes of a standard implant in young and active patients are unknown. To fully assess value, cost effectiveness, cost utility, and cost benefit must be considered. A more appropriate analysis of “premium”-priced devices would include a full economic cost analysis, along with an agreed value of Quality Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs). It also should be evident that cost depends on more than the just the device. Premium contemporary devices are implanted with relatively advanced surgical techniques and instrumentation, capable of improving patient outcomes and resource utilization. For example, Biasca et al. [1] showed that a combination of computer-guided technology and a minimally invasive surgical technique can result in reduced duration of hospital stay and improved postoperative joint function. Moreover, emerging patient-matched cutting instruments, custom fit to preoperative patient anatomy, may be capable of reducing procedure complexity and surgical time [3, 4]. Technologic advances allow physicians to solve difficult problems associated with unique and complex surgeries. Once all patient and physician needs are fully met, the development of premium devices may become unnecessary. Until that time, it must be understood that innovation inexorably adds to cost. Gioe et al. [2] reported that 40 physicians from five hospitals contributed registry data during the course of 18 years. It would be helpful to know the average number of practicing physicians during that period. If it was half the reported value, the average procedures per physician would be 59.7 per year, or approximately one per week. Device longevity is greatly affected by physician and hospital clinical practice [6]. Neither variable is captured in the current data. Moving past discharge diagnosis to capture comorbid conditions would have provided more transparency to the cumulative revision rate (CRR). Finally, one limitation of analyzing registry data is controlling for loss to followup. The CRR is limited to patients having revision surgery by registry physicians. For patients who moved outside the catchment area, revision outcomes would be lost. Although the Kaplan-Meier analysis accommodates for loss to followup, it overestimates survival in proportion to excluded patients. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis may be less effective over longer periods of time. In a longitudinal study, Utley et al. [5] reported differences in survival curves associated with enrollment date. The study by Gioe et al. has added valuable insight to the current discussion. We thank them for their contribution. However, the assessment of value in healthcare is a very complex task. Additional research using more robust and comprehensive methodologies is required.

Chemical composition and biological role of the surface coat (SC) of the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp. are described. SC proteins of M. incognita race 3 infective juveniles (J2) were characterized by electrophoresis and western blotting of extracts from radioiodine and biotin-labelled nematodes. J2 labelled with radioiodine and biotin released 125I and biotin-labelled molecules into water after 20 hours incubation, indicating that SC proteins may be loosely attached to the nematode. Antiserum to the principal protein reacted with the surface of live J2 and with surface proteins previously separated by electrophoresis. Human red blood cells (HRBC) adhered to J2 of several tylenchid nematodes over the entire nematode body. HRBC adhered also to nylon fibers coated with SC extracted from M. javanica J2; binding was Ca++/Mg++ dependent, and decreased when the nylon fibers were coated with bovine serum albumin, or pre-incubated with fucose and mannose. These experiments support a working hypothesis that RBC adhesion involves carbohydrate moieties of HRBC and carbohydrate-recognition domain(s) (CRD) distributed on the nematode surface. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a surface CRD i the phylum Nematoda. Gold-conjugated lectins and neoglycoproteins combined with silver enhancement have been used for the detection of carbohydrates and CRD, respectively, on the SC of M. javanica J2. Biotin reagents were used to trace surface proteins, specifically, on live J2. The labile and transitory nature of the SC was demonstrated by the dynamics of HRBC adherence to detergent-treated J2, J2 at different ages or fresh-hatched J2 held at various temperatures. SC recovery was demonstrated also by a SDS-PAGE profile. Monoclonal antibodies developed to a cuticular protein of M. incognita J2 gave a slight, but significant reduction in attachment of Pasteuria penetrans spores. Spore attachment as affected by several enzymes was inconsistent: alcian blue, which specifically blocks sulfyl groups, had no afffect on spore attachment. Treatment with cationized ferritin alone or catonized ferritin following monoclonal antibody caused significant decreases in spore attachment. Those results suggest a role in attachment by negatively charged groups.

MICHAEL McCLURE: Stan is a realm buster, and I use "realm" as the word is used in Biology and in Zen. Stan uses his energy and it's almost like moving his shoulders powerfully to break the walls between realms. Some of these realms are the concept of painting, the idea of poetry, the meaning of music, what portrait is, what personal physiology is; other realms that Stan opens up are human and other biology, also the nervous system, ideation--how things are conceived; and then there's the separation between hearing and seeing, sound and silence, and music and sound, which are all explored and more or less brought into one shape in his work. When enough realms are opened, the walls between them torn down or ignored away, then consciousness and concrete experience become one sizeless event in the sizeless event of the Taoist uncarved block which is either the universe or the body, as you see it. Stan likes to say that he was frustrated in his early desire to be a poet and that his hundreds of hours of film are closer to music than to poetry. I can appreciate that, especially in terms of Messiaen or Vivaldi. I also hear his delight in Madrigals, as much as other music. But Stan derives some of the organicity of his huge body of work from the style and thoughts of some liberated poets of today. I'm thinking of the works of Robert Duncan, as they branch like rivers and streams, one from another, lighting the dark of the night or lighting the dark of the body and mind. There's also the sizeless willingness of Charles Olson's spirit in Stan's films--Olson's willingness to let things break, to let things fall down and go boom, and to trust that they will all land on all fours. Further, there's the sheer trusting experimentality of Gertrude Stein in Stan's work and there's Stan's love of the wry, aesthetic wit and intellective delicacy of Louis Zukofsky. I first met Stan in 1954, at which point he has described himself as being "the houseboy of Robert Duncan and Jess Collins," meaning by that that he helped them fix meals, do dishes, and slept in the flat below their place. I had just begun to know Robert Duncan and less Collins through Robert's first poetry workshop at San Francisco State, which included myself and Helen Adam, a balladeer of the strange and haunted, who was in her girlhood in Scotland called the Fairy Poet. On what was perhaps my first visit to Robert and Jess's San Francisco fiat in 1954, Stan came upstairs to visit. My impression was that Stan was inhabiting the floor below Robert and Jess, which was the housing, as I understood it, for the Centaur Press of Kermit Sheets and James Broughton. Stan is the same age as I am, within a few months, and also as I am, Kansas born. When I saw his huge head with dark, tousled hair and intense eyes that were simultaneously focused and staring, I recognized a kindred spirit. I saw Stan visiting Duncan's lectures at the workshop he was teaching on a number of occasions. Stan was absorbing the energetic principles of the concept of field from Olson via Duncan, and he was taking in the intensely biological shaping-ideas of Robert Duncan and the beautiful, unique concepts of collage of less Collins. Stan was a young man who was sui generis and coming up as a member of an artist foster family of sui generis individuals. Stan's myriad-mindedness is both on the surface and below the surface. Surface-wise, Stan is myriad minded in the art of film, and so busy freeing realms from walls between them, that it's impossible to keep up with him. On the less visible field he is tirelessly investigating not only the arts and history with a voracious love for them, but he's also digging through realms of science--particularly the biology of seeing and the neuro-chemical anatomy of the nervous system. Stan agrees with Thoreau that, "One must stand up to live before one sits down to write," or to edit film for that matter. And Stan stands up not only with his travels and his varied adventures and family mountain life and film, but also with the large scale of his passions, his happinesses, his pleasures, his modesties. …

The Need for a Communal Approach to Organ Procurement Its critics to the contrary, the "gift of life" metaphor is not to be blamed for the indebtedness and guilt that organ recipients often experience. It is certainly misused, however, both by post-transplant caregivers, who exploit it to manipulate recipients' behavior, and by the organ procurement system, which has failed to understand that the decision to give the gift of life must be approached communally. The metaphor of the "gift of life" has shaped most public discussions of organ transplantation in the United States. Indeed, until very recently, the overwhelming majority of appeals to recruit organ donors have been framed in terms of this metaphor, and there is evidence that the metaphor is persuasive. According to some surveys, a majority of Americans say they would be willing to donate their organs after death.[1] Nevertheless, the number of organs actually donated is considerably smaller than would be expected given the number of people theoretically committed to donating. Various explanations have been offered for this discrepancy. A recent study in these pages has concluded that one problem is that the metaphor of the gift of life has simply not proven entirely effective in overcoming resistance to donate.[2] According to Laura Siminoff and Kata Chillag, recent studies "have shown that the major limitation to procuring organs is the families' unwillingness to do so when asked in actual donor situations--in fact, less than half donate when asked. Thus while the metaphor may have aided public awareness of the need for organ donation, it has not proven effective in procuring organs for transplantation" (p. 35). Further, Siminoff and Chillag argue, not only is the gift of life metaphor ineffective in organ recruitment, but it has "unexpected and detrimental effects on donor families, as well as on recipients and their caregivers" (p. 40). The gift of life metaphor is itself one of the major problems with the organ transplantation system: it has not overcome donor families' reluctance to give, and it generates problems for those who receive. The clear implication is that the metaphor ought to be abandoned. In our view, we need not abandon the metaphor, indeed we ought not, but certainly if we are to continue to work creatively and constructively with the metaphor of the gift of life, we must take seriously the important criticisms that Siminoff and Chillag have directed at it. Problems with "the Gift of Life" According to Siminoff and Chillag, in order to understand how the metaphor functions, we must set out some of the basic structure of any social institution premised on voluntary and altruistic gifts. The classic work on gift exchange theory is Marcel Mauss's The Girl: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies, and Siminoff and Chillag draw upon that work to help identify some of the problems of organizing the organ procurement system around the image of the gift of life. One serious problem is connected with the nature of debt. Mauss, for example, noted that gift giving typically creates relationships in which there is both debt and the expectation that the debt will be repaid. Indeed, gift giving is a socially useful institution precisely because it creates a network of obligations within a communal context in which the group's welfare is partly dependent upon mutual cooperation. Of course, if within a system of gift relationships the debt created by a gift is not acknowledged or if the debt is not repaid, then the system inevitably breaks down, with significant consequences for both the individual and the group. And this points to two related problems with the organ donor system. Given the way the organ procurement system conceptualizes the transaction, the donor gives the organ to the recipient. At least for cadaveric donation, it is obviously impossible for the recipient to discharge his or her debt, because the nature of the gift is such that the gift giver is inevitably dead. …