Tool Reuse Program at Intel®

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-92).The semiconductor industry is characterized by a high cost of capital equipment and fast change in process technology. Therefore Intel ® Corporation as the world's largest semiconductor company has a significant advantage over its competitors in reusing its semiconductor equipments. Not only may the financial impact be considerable, but also Intel ® Corporation can see benefits in process development, equipment reliability, and training. However, demolishing and reusing tools do not go without major difficulties: complexity of the equipments, safety concerns because of the chemical used, reliability of the tool when reused. Consequently, in late 2004, the 6D Program was initiated to preserve Intel's assets during transfer from decontamination through deployment (reuse, resale, part harvesting, donation or scrap) using safe, effective procedure and business processes. In less than 3 years, the 6D Working Group has created procedures, checklists and trainings to assure "best-in-class" performances. This project was set up to support the 6D Working Group's improvement strategy by analyzing gaps that may exist in the system. Especially, the thesis analyzes the challenges faced by the 6D Working Group (a global team) to influence and standardize local practices. By using game theory analysis, recommendations are made to change incentive policy. A new set of metrics is proposed to drive accountability of the sites and foster process improvements. Finally, using a system dynamics approach, the thesis offers insights to answer the question of the adequate level of standardization of processes.by Alain Communal.S.M.M.B.A

Multiresidue determination of 256 pesticides in lavandin essential oil by LC/ESI/sSRM: advantages and drawbacks of a sampling method involving evaporation under nitrogen

The determination of 256 multiclass pesticides in lavandin essential oil has been performed by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry using the scheduled selected reaction monitoring mode available on a quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer. With the aim of improving the limits of quantification (LOQs) of the target molecules, a sampling step based on evaporation of the essential oil under a nitrogen flow assisted by controlled heating was tested. The LOQs determined in this case were compared with the values obtained with the classic dilution preparation method. With sampling by dilution, 247 pesticides were detected and quantified at low concentration, with 74 % of the pesticides having LOQs of 10 μg L-1 or less. With the evaporation method, a global improvement of the LOQs was observed, with lower LOQs for 92 active substances and LOQs of 10 μg L-1 or less for 82.8 % of the pesticides. Almost twice as many active substances had an LOQ of 1 μg L-1 or less when the evaporation method was used. Some pesticides exhibited poor recovery or high variance caused by volatilization or degradation during the evaporation step. This behavior was evidenced by the case of thiophanate-methyl, which is degraded to carbendazim. Figure Sampling method by dilution or evaporation in the multiresidue determination of pesticides in essential oils by LC/M

Anomalies folliculaires cutanées chez le Mouton

Communal René, Adrover Charlotte. Anomalies folliculaires cutanées chez le Mouton. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 106 n°9, 1953. pp. 471-485

Multiresidue Analysis of Multiclass Pesticides in Lavandin Essential Oil by LC/MS/MS Using the Scheduled Selected Reaction Monitoring Mode

In this paper we describe the development of the first multiclass pesticide residue method applied to essential oils. A total of 70 pesticides covering a wide range of polarity and currently used on essential oil crops have been included in the method. The procedure consists of a 10-fold dilution of lavandin essential oil followed by a direct injection analysis by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The system used is an API 4000 QTrap equipped with an electrospray ionization interface and operating in scheduled selected reaction monitoring acquisition mode. Matrix effects were evaluated by comparing the slopes of matrix-matched and solvent-based calibration curves. Weak signal suppression or enhancement (<20%) was observed for most of the compounds. Method sensitivity was determined statistically by the injection of five matrix-matched calibration curves with the distribution’s normality and the variance’s homogeneity checked before establishment of a suitable regression model. Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were then determined using the blank standard’s deviation and the slope of the mean curve. The analytical method has been validated for 67 of the 70 pesticides and meets the following LOQs: ≤1 μg/L for 9 pesticides, ≤5 μg/L for 44, ≤10 μg/L for 9, and ≤20 μg/L for

Transmembrane potential polarization, calcium influx, and receptor conformational state modulate the sensitivity of the imidacloprid-insensitive neuronal insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptor to neonicotinoid insecticides

Neonicotinoid insecticides act selectively on insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Recent studies revealed that their efficiency was altered by the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation process and the intracellular signaling pathway involved in the regulation of nAChRs. Using whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology adapted for dissociated cockroach dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons, we demonstrated that intracellular factors involved in the regulation of nAChR function modulated neonicotinoid sensitivity. DUM neurons were known to express two alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive nAChR subtypes: nAChR1 and nAChR2. Whereas nAChR1 was sensitive to imidacloprid, nAChR2 was insensitive to this insecticide. Here, we demonstrated that, like nicotine, acetamiprid and clothianidin, other types of neonicotinoid insecticides, acted as agonists on the nAChR2 subtype. Using acetamiprid, we revealed that both steady-state depolarization and hyperpolarization affected nAChR2 sensitivity. The measurement of the input membrane resistance indicated that change in the acetamiprid-induced agonist activity was related to the receptor conformational state. Using cadmium chloride, omega-conotoxin GVIA, and (R,S)-(3,4-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxy-isoquinoline-1-yl)-2-phenyl-N,N-di-acetamide (LOE 908), we found that inhibition of calcium influx through high voltage-activated calcium channels and transient receptor potential gamma (TRPgamma) activated by both depolarization and hyperpolarization increased nAChR2 sensitivity to acetamiprid. Finally, using N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide hydrochloride (W7), forskolin, and cAMP, we demonstrated that adenylyl cyclase sensitive to the calcium/calmodulin complex regulated internal cAMP concentration, which in turn modulated TRPgamma function and nAChR2 sensitivity to acetamiprid. Similar TRPgamma-induced modulatory effects were also obtained when clothianidin was tested. These findings bring insights into the signaling pathway modulating neonicotinoid efficiency and open novel strategies for optimizing insect pest control

Random laser action in self-organized para-sexiphenyl nanofibers grown by hot-wall epitaxy

We report on the observation of amplified spontaneous emission and random lasing in self-organized crystalline para-sexiphenyl nanofibers. Using subpicosecond excitation, a lasing threshold is observed on the 0-1 emission band near 425 nm at excitation fluences as low as 0.5 muJ/cm(2) (6x10(16) cm(-3) equivalent density), near the onset of density-dependent recombination processes. The dependence of the nonlinear emission spectrum on both the pump intensity and position of the excitation area are attributed to the interplay between random lasing and amplified spontaneous emission occurring along the nanofibers