Improvement in thickness uniformity of thick SOI by numerically controlled local wet etching.

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers are promising semiconductor materials for high-speed LSIs, low-power-consumption electric devices and micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). The thickness distribution of an SOI causes the variation of threshold voltage in electronic devices manufactured on the SOI wafer. The thickness distribution of a thin SOI, which is manufactured by applying a smart cut technique, is comparatively uniform.

P2Y12 receptors in spinal microglia are required for neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury.

Extracellular nucleotides have been implicated as signaling molecules used by microglia to sense adverse physiological conditions, such as neuronal damage. They act through purinoceptors, especially the G-protein-coupled P2Y receptor P2Y(12)R. Emerging evidence has indicated that activated spinal microglia responding to nerve injury are key cellular intermediaries in the resulting highly debilitating chronic pain state, namely neuropathic pain.