A thermoplastic composition is provided, comprising (a) an acid copolymer, (b) a salt of a high molecular weight, monomeric organic acid; (c) a thermoplastic resin; (d) a cation source; and (e) optionally, a filler. Also provided are one-, two- and three-piece golf balls, and multi-layered golf balls comprising the composition of the invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to highly resilient thermoplastic polymer blend compositions, their manufacture and their use as a substitute for thermoset and other materials, particularly in the manufacture of one-, two-, three-piece, and multi-layered golf balls. These compositions are also useful as foamed materials in footware and in other sport balls such as softballs.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, thermoset materials such as polybutadiene rubber, cross-linked EVA, cross-linked SBS, and cross-linked urethanes have been used in applications where properties such as resilience, durability, and low hardness are needed. For example, polybutadiene rubber has traditionally been used in the cores and centers of golf balls.
There currently exist several types of premium golf balls, particularly three-piece balls, two-piece balls and multi-layered balls. "Three-piece" balls typically have a spherical molded center, having an elastomeric thread-like material wound around it, covered with either a thermoplastic or thermoset material. "Two-piece" balls typically have a spherical molded core covered with a thermoplastic material. "Multi-layered" balls typically have a core and one or more intermediate layers or mantles between the core and a cover.
The material used to mold the three-piece centers and the two-piece and multi-layer cores has traditionally been a thermoset rubber such as polybutadiene rubber. There are, however, major disadvantages in using thermoset rubbers such as the inability to recycle scrap materials and the need for complex multi-step manufacturing processes. There has been only limited success in attempts to replace the thermoset materials with more-easily-processed thermoplastic materials, the scrap of which can be recycled.
Also, three-piece balls, two-piece balls, and multi-layered balls are by their very nature more complicated and costly to manufacture than the long sought after one-piece golf ball. Attempts to make a premium one-piece ball have heretofore not been successful. Limited-flight range balls, however, have been produced from thermoset rubber and from certain thermoplastic material as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,157.
U.K. Patent Application 2,164,342A describes one attempt to replace centers and cores and achieve a one-piece golf ball. It teaches moldable compositions comprising ionic copolymers (or potentially ionizable acid copolymers) blended with certain thermoplastic materials such as a polyether block copolyamide, polyether block copolyester and the like. Those compositions are said to be useful as three-piece centers, two-piece cores and one-piece solid golf balls, but they lack properties such as durability. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,157 describes a thermoplastic material for cores, centers and one-piece balls. The resins described in this patent can be molded into golf ball parts but the resulting balls are too hard and not resilient enough to perform as a premium golf ball and they are probably too expensive.
There still exists the need for a thermoplastic material that is resilient and durable enough with a low enough hardness or compression to be useful as a three-piece center, two-piece core, a one-piece golf ball, and in cores and mantles in a multi-layered golf ball in premium golf balls. In particular, there is a need for a thermoplastic material that provides economic advantages relative to the materials now known in the art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A text compression technique used in a transmitter subsystem (126, 148) and a receiver subsystem (132, 158) for compressively encoding and decoding a text portion of a message by using tokens having at least two data symbol lengths. During encoding, a quantity of fill symbols are added to a sequence of secondary tokens, wherein the quantity of fill symbols is determined such that a total quantity of the data symbols in the sequence is equal to an integral multiple of the quantity of the data symbols having a first data symbol length. Delimiting characters such as spaces which precede a sequence of characters corresponding to a primary token are indicated by setting one data symbol in each primary token to a predetermined value. Sequences of capitalized characters are indicated by predetermined command tokens.

Known techniques of compressively coding text messages include fixed dictionary techniques and adaptive dictionary techniques, in which a table of tokens is maintained at both a transmitter and a receiver. The table of tokens, or token table, associates a word of data symbols with a character or sequence of characters in an alphanumeric, or text, message. In both the fixed and adaptive dictionary techniques, frequently used sequences of characters, including all the necessary single characters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation characters, are included in the token table or tables. During compression encoding, sequences of characters in the text messages are sought which match a sequence within the token table and the matching sequence of characters is replaced by the token, with the expectation of shortening the number of data symbols needed to communicate the text message. The process is repeated in reverse at the receiver.
Fixed dictionary techniques have been used for many years, while adaptive dictionary techniques have proliferated extensively in the last several years during the continued burgeoning of data communications. Although fixed dictionary techniques have been successfully used for long data files, they are not as efficient as adaptive dictionary techniques for the transfer of long data files, which explains the investigation and success of adaptive compression techniques in recent years
Some communication systems, such as paging systems, provide message communication of messages which are quite short on the average, in comparison to many other systems. For these systems, the overhead involved in an adaptive compression coding technique is typically not as efficient as using a fixed dictionary technique. However, existing fixed dictionary techniques themselves have not evolved significantly in the last decade and have been oriented towards longer messages.
Thus, what is needed is an improved fixed dictionary technique for compressively encoding and decoding short text messages. Such a technique would, of course provide compression of a long message as well

Text compression transmitter and receiver


Indium-tin oxide is selective etched relative to silicon, molybdenum, aluminum, titanium, silicon oxide and silicon nitride using an organic radical and oxygen containing plasma which contains sufficient oxygen to prevent deposition of undesirable films on non-etching portions of the component being etched and on the reactor surfaces. The plasma lacks halogenated gases. A minimum differential etch rate of 8:1 of indium-tin oxide to silicon results with the other materials etching slower than silicon or not at all.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of patterning indium-tin oxide films, and more particularly, to the patterning of such films by plasma etching.
2. Background Information
Indium-tin oxide, also known as ITO, is widely used in the electronics industry as a transparent electrode. It has particular application in liquid crystal displays where one of the electrodes which controls the state of the display is disposed between the viewer and the liquid crystal material. It is also used where a transparent electrode is needed in a solid state imager where that electrode is disposed between the light sensitive portion of the structure and the source of the light.
It is known that indium-tin oxide can be wet etched using hydrochloric acid, however, such etching of indium-tin oxide is not widely used because the HCl tends to undercut the photoresist mask pattern while it is etching the indium-tin oxide with the result that poor resolution is obtained.
It is also known to etch indium-tin oxide films in a plasma containing chlorine ions or other halogenated ions. This process does not suffer from the undercutting and occasional residual conductive spots which are characteristic of wet etching processes for etching indium-tin oxide.
It is well known in the electronics arts that etching processes which are used to pattern a layer on top of a substrate, must either not etch the substrate material or must etch the substrate material at a much slower rate than they etch the material being patterned. This is in order to ensure that the etching process can be reliably stopped at a point where the etching of the material being patterned has gone to completion, and the substrate is still unaffected or has been only minimally affected by the etching process. An etchant which has this characteristic is referred to as a selective etchant. It is generally accepted that, for etch stop purposes, a selective etchant must etch the material it is desired to remove at least five times faster than it etches the underlying material it is desired to leave in place. A preferred selective etchant is one which is selective for the material to be patterned and against all other materials which it may be desired to have underneath that material-to-be-patterned.
Indium-tin oxide, in electronic applications, typically is disposed on a substrate whose exposed surface includes one or more of silicon, molybdenum, aluminum, titanium, silicon nitride, silicon oxide (typically silicon dioxide), which it is desired to retain in the final structure. Thus, to be truly selective in electronics applications, an etchant for indium-tin oxide would have to leave all of these materials essentially undisturbed. In a HCl plasma, silicon etches essentially ten times faster than indium-tin oxide; molybdenum etches more than six times faster than indium-tin oxide; aluminum etches at essentially two-thirds the rate of indium-tin oxide; silicon oxide and silicon nitride each etch at substantially one-half the rate at which indium-tin oxide etches and titanium etches at substantially one-third the rate at which indium-tin oxide etches. Use of other halogenated etchants results in similar non-selective etching of indium-tin oxide. Even when a halogenated etchant contains a source of organic radicals, the much faster etch rates of the halogenated compounds predominate and substantially no etching results from the interaction of organic radicals and the metal being etched.
Accordingly, plasma etching of indium-tin oxide using halogenated gases is not a desirable process in the electronics arts where any one of these materials underlies the indium-tin oxide.
It has been reported in the literature that indium and tin can be individually etched in discharges containing methane or acetone. In each of these cases, the effective etching species is assumed to be the methyl radical. Unfortunately, this process results in the deposition of carbon containing films, typically polymers, on all exposed surfaces in the reactor which do not etch in the discharge. This is undesirable from a number of viewpoints. First, it results in the formation of undesired layers on the remainder of the component being etched. Such additional layers would have to be removed as part of the process of forming the device being produced. Second, the formation of these films on the surface of the reactor is undesirable because of the potential to contaminate other devices being etched in the reactor with other plasma compositions. Third, film deposition on the chamber surfaces necessitates frequent cleaning, leading to a loss of productivity. Because of these etching characteristics, this chemistry is not used in the electronics arts to pattern indium-tin oxide.
As a consequence, an alternative process known as lift-off is used to pattern indium-tin oxide films. In the lift-off process, a photoresist layer is deposited on the substrate and patterned with a re-entrant profile to expose the underlying substrate in those locations where the indium-tin oxide film is desired. The indium-tin oxide film is then deposited over that structure, which includes the exposed portions of the substrate and the remaining photoresist. After the desired thickness of the indium-tin oxide film has been deposited, the remaining photoresist is removed from the substrate using a solvent in which the photoresist is soluble, leaving in place that portion of the indium-tin oxide which was deposited directly on the substrate surface. While this lift-off process is generally effective for small areas, it becomes cumbersome and less reliable where large areas of patterned ITO film are required as in large area liquid crystal displays. This is because the photoresist dissolves at the edge of the substrate and then progressively inward. This lift-off process also has a disadvantage in that the presence of the photoresist prevents the use of an effective back sputtering immediately before ITO deposition to clean the substrate surface to remove incidental surface films such as air reaction oxides, oils or other low concentration contaminants which increase the resistance of the ITO-to-substrate contacts.
For large area structures and where finer detail is also required, an improved process for patterning indium-tin oxide is needed.

Patterning of indium-tin oxide via selective reactive ion etching


A method for forming a median crack and an apparatus for forming a median crack are provided, where the formation of a deep, straight median crack is possible, and an excellent broken surface of a brittle substrate can be gained as a result of breaking. In the method for forming a median crack in a brittle substrate, the brittle substrate is irradiated with a laser beam along a laser-scribe line to be formed with median cracks on the brittle substrate so as to be heated to a temperature that is no higher than its melting temperature, and thereby, a median crack is created along the laser-scribe line to be formed with median cracks and expanded starting from a notch that has been formed in the brittle substrate, and this method for forming a median crack in a brittle substrate is characterized in that high temperature portions that receive intense radiation from a laser beam, and low temperature portions that receive faint radiation from a laser beam are alternately formed along the laser-scribe line to be formed with median cracks.

In order to laser-scribe a brittle substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and break it, a glass substrate or a ceramic substrate, a method for forming a median crack (or vertical crack) is used where a laser beam and a brittle substrate are relatively moved along a laser-scribe line to be formed with median cracks on the substrate so that the substrate is heated while a refrigerant is supplied to the heated portion on the substrate.
In accordance with such a method for forming a median crack by means of a laser beam, a median crack (blind crack) is formed due to a difference between the compressive stress that is created around the heated portion and the tensile stress that is created around the cooled portion.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method for laser-scribing a substrate having predetermined properties and for breaking it, where cooling conditions and laser beam parameters which relate to the rate of laser-scribing and breaking of the substrate are appropriately selected when a median crack is formed by irradiating the substrate with the beam, and thereby, a blind crack having a required depth is formed in the substrate.
Patent Document 1:Japanese Patent No. 3027768
Patent Document 2 discloses a cutting apparatus and a cutting method for cutting a brittle material where a laser beam is partially blocked within a region irradiated with the laser beam that is formed on the surface of the brittle material, that is to say within a beam spot, using a light blocking plate, and thereby, a region where the laser beam is blocked is formed in such a manner that thermal stress is caused by a temperature gradient in the vicinity of the border between the region irradiated by the laser beam and the above described region where the laser beam is blocked, and thus, the brittle material is cut. This document discloses that a brittle material is irradiated with a laser beam of which the energy intensity is discontinuous so as to be cut.
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2001-212683
It is preferable for a crack to be formed as deep as possible in the perpendicular direction in order for the division of a brittle material to be carried out easily, and in order for the quality of the brittle material on the broken surfaces to be excellent after the division in a breaking process, where the brittle material is divided by applying force to the left and right of the formed crack after the surface of the brittle material is inscribed by radiation from a laser.
Thermal strain within a substrate that may hinder the formation of such an excellent median crack is described in the following.
FIGS. 21 to 23 are cross sectional diagrams of a brittle substrate for illustrating thermal strain that is created within the brittle substrate when the brittle surface of the brittle substrate is scanned and irradiated with a laser beam so that a median crack is formed in the brittle substrate. In the figures, the laser beam continuously moves outward from the paper.
As shown in FIG. 21, the compressive stress as shown by broken line arrows in the figure is created in a portion 100 that is heated by radiation from a laser beam. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 22, when a coolant is supplied to the vicinity of portion 100 that has been heated by radiation from the laser beam so as to form a cooled spot 120, the tensile stress is created as shown by solid arrows in the figure.
As a result of this, as shown in FIG. 23, median cracks 130 extending to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate is formed in the direction perpendicular to the tensile stress in accordance with the difference between the compressive stress and the tensile stress.
However, even when cooled spot 120 is formed, a sufficient difference in stress for forming a crack is limited in a surface portion of the brittle substrate. When the sufficient difference in stress for forming a crack, that is to say a difference in temperature, disappears between the heat that spreads to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from cooled spot 120 and the heat that spreads to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from heated portion 100, excessive heat that has spread to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from heated portion 100 is considered to remain in compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature. Compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature is defined as relative thermal strain within the brittle substrate.
As shown in FIG. 23, compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature prevents median crack 130 from extending straight to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate, and therefore, the depth of the crack to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate is limited to approximately 20% to 40% of the thickness of the brittle substrate, in the case where the surface of a brittle substrate is scanned with a laser beam at a practical rate at a mass production site.
FIG. 24 is a photograph taken in the direction along one of the broken surfaces of a brittle substrate showing the broken surface that was exposed as a result of breaking after the brittle substrate was broken along the formed median crack.
FIG. 24 shows the state where the formed median crack has been bent in the middle. This is caused by the above described compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature (compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature is added and indicated by a broken line in the photograph for the purpose of illustration).
As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature that remains prevents the formation of a deep, straight median crack, and as a result, the quality of the broken surfaces of the brittle substrate which are formed as a result of breaking is lowered. Concretely speaking, a phenomenon where the broken surfaces, including the locally broken surfaces, are formed diagonally instead of perpendicular to the surface of the brittle substrate occurs and this is referred to as "chipping."
In the above described Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the vicinity of a prearranged broken line (prearranged line where a median crack is formed) is continuously irradiated with a beam spot which is not interrupted in the direction of its progress, and therefore, compress-stressed region of a high temperature remains inside a glass plate.
The present invention is provided in view of the described problem, and an object of the invention is to provide a method for forming a median crack and an apparatus for forming a median crack where the formation of a deep, straight median crack is possible, and an excellently broken surface of a brittle substrate can be gained as a result of breaking. Here, the term "substrate" in this invention means a substrate (brittle substrate) formed of a single or a number of substrates made of a brittle material.

Method for forming median crack in substrate and apparatus for forming median crack in substrate


A seat assembly having a seat cushion and a seat back pivotally coupled to the seat cushion for pivotal movement between a generally upright seating position and a folded position overlying the seat cushion. A power return mechanism is operatively coupled to the seat back for automatically returning the seat back from the folded position to the seating position. The power return mechanism includes a support bracket for mounting the power return mechanism to the seat assembly, a slider bracket slidably coupled to the support bracket, a cable connected between the seat back and the slider bracket, and a motor and gear assembly for power driving the slider bracket between a home position when the seat back is in the seating position and a full stroke position pulling the cable to pivot the seat back from the folded position to the seating position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat assembly having a seat cushion and a seat back pivotally coupled to the seat cushion and operable between an upright seating position and a folded position overlying the seat cushion wherein a power return mechanism automatically returns the seat back from the folded position to the seating position.
2. Description of Related Art
Seat assemblies for automotive vehicles include a generally horizontal seat cushion fixedly secured to the floor of the vehicle and a seat back pivotally coupled to the seat cushion. It is commonly known and desirable for the seat back of the seat assembly to be pivotal between a generally upright seating position and a folded position overlying the seat cushion to provide additional storage capacity in the vehicle. A recliner assembly pivotally couples the seat back to the seat cushion to lock and unlock the seat back in each of the seating and folded positions. The seat back may be manually pivoted by a vehicle seat occupant between the seating and folded positions or alternatively the seat back may be automatically power driven by a motor between the seating and folded positions.
It is desirable to provide a simple power return mechanism coupled to the seat back for automatically returning the seat back from the folded position to the seating position. It is also desirable to provide a power return mechanism which may also control the descent of the seat back from the seating position to the folded position.


A resin composition, wherein the composition contains a thermoplastic resin and an aluminum-containing inorganic compound; the thermoplastic resin and the aluminum-containing inorganic compound form a parent phase and a dispersed phase, respectively; and the following inequality (1)0<d≦−0.0997 φ+2.97  (1)is satisfied, in which a wall-to-wall distance of the dispersed phases and a content of the aluminum-containing inorganic compound based on the weight of the resin composition are taken as d (μm) and φ (% by weight), respectively; is produced by melt-blending a thermoplastic resin with an aluminum-containing inorganic compound powder having a BET specific surface area of from 30 to 500 m2/g, a maximum particle diameter of not more than 20 μm, and a pore volume of pores having a radius of from 50 to 1000 nm measured by a mercury porosimetry of not less than 0.3 cm3/g.

Thermoplastic resins such as polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides and polyacetals are superior in their processability, chemical resistance and electrical property, and therefore molded into an injection-molded product, a blow-molded product, a film, a sheet and fiber to be used for various applications. However, if the product is made of only resin, the product is inferior in its stiffness and surface hardness, and has been sometimes limited in its applications.
It is so far known that an inorganic compound is filled to a resin to improve stiffness and surface hardness of a thermoplastic resin molded product (for example, JP-A 5-295190, JP-A 11-310670 and JP-A 2000-109637). However, the stiffness and the surface hardness of the resulting products are not sufficient even in such a manner, and a further improvement has been desired.

Process for producing resin composition using powder of aluminum-containing inorganic compound having specific BET surface area and pore volume and resin composition obtained according to said process


A method of synthesizing multilayer heterostructures including an inorganic oxide layer residing on a solid substrate is described. Exemplary embodiments include producing an inorganic oxide layer on a solid substrate by a liquid coating process under relatively mild conditions. The relatively mild conditions include temperatures below 225° C. and pressures above 9.4 mb. In an exemplary embodiment, a solution of diethyl aluminum ethoxide in anhydrous diglyme is applied to a flexible solid substrate by slot-die coating at ambient atmospheric pressure, and the diglyme removed by evaporation. An AlOx layer is formed by subjecting material remaining on the solid substrate to a relatively mild oven temperature of approximately 150° C. The resulting AlOx layer exhibits relatively high light transmittance and relatively low vapor transmission rates for water. An exemplary embodiment of a flexible solid substrate is polyethylene napthalate (PEN). The PEN is not substantially adversely affected by exposure to 150° C.

High performance barriers to molecular oxygen (O2) and water are beneficial for some products or processes. For instance, organic and thin film photovoltaics (PV) and organic light emitting devices (OLED) require encapsulation by barriers that are highly resistant to transmission of O2 and water. For PV and OLED applications, barriers must also permit transmittance of relatively high proportions of visible light, in addition to exhibiting relatively high resistance to O2 and water transmission.
Heterostructures comprising layers of metal oxides deposited on substrates show promise as high performance O2 and water barriers. However, the metal oxide layers are typically deposited on the substrates by known low pressure deposition processes such as atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and physical vapor deposition.
The known low pressure deposition processes typically require pressure below 1 millibar (mb) and usually below 1×10−3 mb, and also usually require relatively high temperatures that are incompatible with some polymers. The known low pressure deposition processes thus tend to be relatively expensive, slow, and incompatible with some organic polymers, which limits the utility of the low pressure deposition processes for some applications.
The foregoing examples of related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading or study of related art disclosure.

Multilayer heterostructures and their manufacture


A tool for manufacturing molecular electronic devices having a coating unit contained in a controlled ambient environment. The coating unit is coupled to a source of active device molecules in solution. The coating unit is configured to apply a selected quantity of the solution to a surface of a substrate and the process tool processes the coated substrate in conditions that cause the active device molecules to attach to active areas of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to processing methods for memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory. In particular, this invention relates to processing methods that leverage tools and techniques available in the semiconductor industry for the production of molecular memory cells, molecular memory arrays, and electronic devices including molecular memory.
2. Relevant Background
Conventional CPUs, memory devices and data communication mechanisms are mass produced as solid state electronic devices. Although sometimes referred to as "semiconductor devices", solid state electronic devices rely on electrical behavior of solid materials including metals, semiconductors, and insulators. The techniques and equipment for producing solid state devices have improved dramatically over time to enable the production of devices such as switches, capacitors, resistors, and interconnections with sub-micron scale features at higher yields and lower cost.
Advances in semiconductor processing and device design have resulted in memory devices, for example, that implement hundreds of megabits of storage on a single integrated circuit. Such devices include volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM), and non-volatile memory such as electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), Flash RAM, ferroelectric DRAM, and the like. Memory manufacturing processes continue to push the limits of fine-geometry patterning and machining technology.
However, physical limitations on the materials and tools used to manufacture solid state electronic devices will not always support making smaller and smaller devices. Even where smaller geometries can be implemented, device performance may suffer. For example, memory devices with smaller storage capacitors require more frequent refreshing so that the power and time consumed by refresh processes limit overall device performance and can also increase soft error rates. Moreover, the capital and intellectual investment required to continue improving materials, processes and tools so that smaller geometry components can be manufactured is a burden on future development in the solid state manufacturing industries. As a result, alternative technologies for manufacturing computing devices and particularly memory devices are being considered.
Another problem facing memory designers trying to increase information density (e.g., the amount of information that can be stored in a given area of the memory chip) is that each memory cell of a conventional solid state capacitor can only store one bit of information. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have processes for manufacturing memory devices with improved information storage density achieved by having a memory cell that can reliably store a plurality of discrete states.
One area of investigation includes molecular devices that implement some or all components of an electronic device or system with molecular scale structures and components. These molecular scale structures and components exhibit molecular rather than solid state behavior, which can provide enhanced performance in many instances. Moreover, because molecules retain their essential properties down to the individual molecule level, molecular-scale components and device structure can be scaled (or shrunk) as future processing tools and technology are developed.
The approach of using molecules in electronic devices such as switches, capacitors, conductors and the like, depends on the development of attachment chemistries and processes to achieve high yield at reasonable throughputs and costs. Because current technology relies on physical patterning of device structures, chemical approaches to electronic device manufacture have not been used in production environments. To be certain, existing processes in the semiconductor industry rely heavily on a variety of chemical processes, however, these chemical processes are used to deposit, etch, shape, clean and modify materials that make up the devices. The chemicals themselves are rarely left on the finished device, except as contaminants, and are not used to form active device structures.
As such, equipment vendors and tool development engineers have not designed process tools to apply efficient attachment chemistries that can be used in molecular electronic device manufacture. Molecular scale components require repeatable processes that are able to attach desired chemical species to substrates, other device structures, and each other. Robust processes for forming molecular structures enable new types of components such as electrochemical cells to be implemented with semiconductor devices.
While it is desirable for molecular manufacturing techniques to be compatible with existing semiconductor industry processes and to use existing semiconductor industry tools, molecular device structures are sensitive to many variables and conditions that do not trouble semiconductor processes. For example, water is present throughout most semiconductor manufacturing processes as a cleaning fluid and in the form of ambient humidity. However, water can have destructive effects on some molecular processes as water molecules interfere with the attachment chemistry or destroy the active molecules. Similarly, thin native oxide layers and ultra-low contaminant levels are tolerable in semiconductor processes because the bulk effects of these aberrant features are minimal in comparison to the overall device function. In contrast, when devices are manufactured with molecular-scale features, these molecular-scale defects can become significant.
In view of the above, it is apparent that a need exists for processes for manufacturing molecular memory cells, molecular memory arrays, and electronic devices including molecular memory. Further, there is a need for molecular memory devices that can be manufactured using techniques that are compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing practices so that semiconductor devices and interconnections can be manufactured monolithically with molecular memory devices.

Systems, tools and methods for production of molecular memory


Disclosed is a spiral spring hair barrette assembly, useful for holding ponytails and other decorative hair configurations. The barrette consists of the combination of a comb and a flat spiral spring to which the comb is attached. The spiral spring has an inside and outside surface such that when the barrette spring is coiled, the inside surface coils around the ponytail being held. Projecting from the inside surface are combed teeth which also fix the barrette in place relative to the hair. The barrette is decoratively covered with fabric of various designs and materials.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to combs and hair care accessories and more particularly to a hair barrette assembly comprising a comb and a flat spiral spring, used for arranging, and designing hair settings.
2. Description of the Background Art
Archeologists have discovered hairpins, combs and hair ornaments dating back some 10,000 years. Records indicate that the ancient Egyptians, although often shaving their heads for relief from the sun; combed, weaved and curled wigs that were commonly worn and passed from generation to generation. For these thousands of years, combs have provided both utility and ornamentality in the arrangement and containment of hair settings. Historically combs of very intricate and artistic craftsmanship have been items treasured by various societies. These combs have been constructed of a variety of materials, both natural and synthetic.


The present invention relates to a non-human animal deficient in the N-terminal domain of the IL-33 gene. Also provided herein is the use of said non-human animal as an in vivo model of inflammatory diseases, especially with regard to screening methods for anti-inflammatory compounds, and methods for evaluating and optimizing the pharmacological properties of a given anti-inflammatory compound.

The interleukin 33 (IL-33) cytokine is the newest member of the interleukin 1 (IL-1) family. Because of its nuclear localization, it was originally described as "Nuclear Factor from High Endothelial Venules". IL-33 is primarily expressed by fibroblasts and epithelial, endothelial and airway smooth muscle cells. IL-33 is the ligand for the IL-1 receptor-related protein ST2. The ST2 receptor is expressed in almost all innate immune cells (mast cells, basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils, natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages) and in NK T and T helper (Th) 2 cells. The interaction of IL-33 with ST2 on targeted cells can trigger the expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory, Th1, Th2 and Th17 cytokines and expression of chemokines involved in Th1, Th2 and innate immune effector functions (published papers and Hicks et al. manuscript in preparation). IL-33 binds to its specific surface receptor through its pro-inflammatory cytokine domain. In addition, IL-33 also has a N-terminal domain that contains a typical DNA-binding helix-turn-helix motif. In its nuclear uncleaved form, IL-33 interacts with histones 2A and 2B in heterochromatin promoting chromatin compaction and functioning as a potential transcriptional repressor. There is strong support showing that IL-33 is similar to other chromatin-associated cytokines (IL-1α and HMGB1) that appears to exert a dual-function, regulating transcriptional repression in the nucleus and signaling via a classic receptor acting as a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine Thus, it has been proposed that similarly to HMGB1, IL-33 may function as an 'alarmin' belonging to the larger family of damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecules.
The IL-33/ST2 axis plays pivotal roles in the patho-physiology of human inflammatory diseases as confirmed by their high levels of expression in diseased tissues. Elevated levels of either IL-33 and/or its soluble receptor ST2 are observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), psoriatic and ulcerative colitis, acute eosinophilic pneumonia, severe asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrotic diseases, atopic dermatitis, systemic sclerosis, autoimmune and trauma patients. Similar to its role in humans, the IL-33/ST2 axis has been shown to be critical in murine inflammatory models. IL-33 exacerbates collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), allergic conjunctivitis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), Interruption of IL-3/ST2 signaling with antibodies has been shown to be beneficial for the resolution of allergic airway inflammation and bleomycin-induced lung injury. It has also been shown recently that IL-33 is up-regulated in an IBD mouse model of chronic intestinal inflammation (Oboki et al, PNAS 2010 107 (43) 18581-18586).


An electrostatic lens having at least three electrodes and an insulating holder for holding the electrodes, the inner wall of the holder being coated with a silicone carbide film. The silicone carbide film may be formed by means of a vapor deposition method. The energy of an electron beam is set to 1.5 keV or lower. The silicone carbide film may be added with an additive for controlling the electric conductivity of the silicone carbide film. The additive may be nitrogen.

The present invention relates to an electrostatic lens for electron microscopes, focussed ion beam apparatuses, or the like.
Electrostatic lenses have been used as focussing lenses for electron guns, focussed ion beam apparatuses, or the like. In place of an electromagnetic lens of an electron microscope, an electrostatic lens is expected to be used as a focussing lens for apparatuses using electron beams, particularly for semiconductor device inspecting apparatus. The reason for this is that electrostatic lenses can be made compact and light, and in addition, an improved aberration characteristics in the low acceleration voltage range can be expected.
The aberration characteristics in the low acceleration voltage range are required to be improved because it is necessary for semiconductor devices to be protected from damage by electron bombardment and it is necessary to prevent electric charges from being accumulated.
Electrostatic lenses have to meet the following requirements.
First, it is necessary to reduce the accumulation of electric charge. Within the structure of an electrostatic lens assembly, there exist not only electrons passing through a normal orbit along the optical axis, but also stray electrons dispersed by an aperture and the like. These stray electrons are piled up on the inner wall of a holder and charge it up. Therefore, an electric field which should not be otherwise present is generated, lowering the focussing effects of the lens and making the electron orbit unstable.
This phenomenon becomes particularly conspicuous when the energy of electrons is low. Many electrostatic lenses are being used to inspect semiconductor devices. In order to not damage semiconductor devices during inspection, it is necessary to use electrons of a low energy and solve the problem of electric charge accumulation.
Secondly, it is necessary that a holder for holding a lens should not contaminate specimens. In many cases, as the holder material, material generally called machinable ceramic having good machinability is used.
However, this machinable ceramic has many impurities. These impurities are emitted in the form of gas within the vacuumed holder, and attach to a specimen and contaminate it. Generally the holder is baked in order to raise the degree of vacuum. Therefore, the phenomenon of gas emission of impurities is accelerated. As described above, an electrostatic lens is often used in inspecting semiconductor specimens, and so such contamination poses a significant problem.
Thirdly, it is necessary to reduce the optical aberration of a lens. The most important parameter in evaluating the lens performance is an aberration coefficient. An aberration of an electrostatic lens generates locally, and the aberration at this local area determines the whole lens performance.
It has been proposed to smooth a potential change by using a number of lens electrodes and applying voltages having a small difference therebetween to the lens electrodes (Reference Document: M. Szilagyi and L. Szep, "Optimum design of electrostatic lenses", J. Vac. Sci. Technol., B6(3), May/June 1988, pp. 953-957).
However, use of a number of lenses increases the number of electrodes. The lens assembly described in the above Document uses twelve electrodes. There arises the problem of a complicated structure, increased manufacturing cost, and poor utility.
It has been also considered to use a lens of a larger inner diameter to smooth the potential change. However, with a large inner diameter, the outer dimension of an electron optical barrel becomes large, which is quite a disadvantage from the viewpoint of an object of using an electrostatic lens which is essentially smaller than a conventional electromagnetic lens.


This invention discloses a PACAP receptor protein or a salt thereof, a DNA comprising a DNA fragment coding for the protein, a method for preparing the protein, antibody against the protein and use of the protein, DNA and antibodies.

PACAP was first isolated from the hypothalami of sheep as a peptide promoting adenylate cyclase activity of the pituitary glands [Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications, 164, 567-574 (1989)]. PACAP first isolated was one consisting of 38 amino acid residues. However, the presence of PACAP consisting of 27 residues on the N-terminal side was also revealed. Both are nearly equal in adenylate cyclase activating ability to each other. The former is referred to as PACAP38, and the latter is referred to as PACAP27. The expression of a PACAP having the same structure as that of sheep was also proved in humans, which suggested that PACAPs are important peptides conserved beyond species [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 166, 81-89 (1990)]. For the distribution thereof in organs, they are observed not only in the brain hypothalami, but also in the pituitary glands, the testes and the adrenals (Endocrinology, 129, 2787-2789). At present, PACAPs such as PACAP27 to PACAP38 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,242) and PACAP23 to PACAP26 (European Patent Publication No. 0467279A3) have been reported.
Physiological actions of PACAPs diversely varies according to their occurrence sites. Various actions of the PACAPs as described below have hitherto been reported:
(1) Promotion of cAMP production in primary culture cells of the rat pituitary glands [A. Miyata et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 164, 567-574 (1989)]; PA1 (2) Promotion of secretion of GH, ACTH, PRL and LH in the rat pituitary gland superfusion process [A. Miyata et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 164, 567-574 (1989)]; PA1 (3) Production of cAMP in adrenomedullary chromaffinoma-derived cells PC12h and promotion of neurite outgrowth [T. Watanabe et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 173, 252-258 (1990), and K. Okazaki et al., FEBS Letters, 298, 49-56 (1992)]; PA1 (4) Promotion of interleukin-6 production in pituitary gland culture cells [I. Tatsuno et al., Endocrinology, 129, 1797-1804 (1991)]; and PA1 (5) Promotion of cAMP production in primary culture of rat astrocytes and promotion of action preventing nerve cell death [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 168, 1027-1033 (1990)]. PA1 (1) A receptor protein capable of binding a PACAP or a salt thereof; PA1 (2) The receptor protein of (1), wherein the receptor is endogenous to rat, bovine or human; PA1 (3) The receptor protein of (1) which comprises an amino acid sequence containing at least one member selected from the group consisting of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 11 and SEQ ID NO: 12 or a salt thereof; PA1 (4) The receptor protein of (1) which comprises an amino acid sequence containing the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13 or a salt thereof; PA1 (5) The receptor protein of (1) which comprises an amino acid sequence having 90 to 100% homology as determined by sequence analysis with at least one member selected from the group consisting of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 18, SEQ ID NO: 20, SEQ ID NO: 22, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO: 26 and SEQ ID NO: 28 or a salt thereof; PA1 (6) The receptor protein of (1) which comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 18, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 20, SEQ ID NO: 21, SEQ ID NO: 22, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 28 and SEQ ID NO: 29 or a salt thereof; PA1 (7) A receptor fragment containing a sufficient portion of the receptor of (1) to bind PACAP or a salt thereof; PA1 (8) The receptor fragment of (7) selected from the group consisiting of PA1 (9) An isolated DNA coding for a receptor protein capable of binding a PACAP; PA1 (10) The DNA of (9) wherein the receptor protein comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO 18, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO 20, SEQ ID NO: 21, SEQ ID NO 22, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO 25, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO 27, SEQ ID NO: 28 or SEQ ID NO 29; PA1 (11) The DNA of (9) comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 30, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO 32, PA1 (13) A vector containing the DNA of (9); PA1 (14) A transformant containing the DNA of (9); PA1 (15) A method for preparing the receptor protein or the salt thereof of (1) comprising cultivating a transformant containing a DNA encoding said protein under conditions suitable for expression of said protein and recovering said protein; PA1 (16) A method for purifying the receptor protein or the salt thereof of (1) comprising subjecting a sample containing unpurified receptor protein to affinity chromatography using a biotinylated PACAP; PA1 (17) The method of (16) comprising the steps of: PA1 (18) The method of (17), in which the animal tissue is a bovine cerebrum; PA1 (19) A method for preparing the receptor protein or the salt thereof of (1) comprising condensing a partial peptide fragment or a single amino acid corresponding to a portion of the protein as claimed in claim 1 with a residual moiety, and removing a protective group as so desired when the product has the protective group, until said protein is obtained; PA1 (20) A diagnostic composition for neuropathy comprising the PACAP receptor protein or the salt thereof of (1), or the receptor fragment or the salt thereof of (7); PA1 (21) The diagnostic composition of (20) which is a diagnostic composition for Alzheimer's disease; PA1 (22) A gene therapeutic composition comprising the DNA of (9); PA1 (23) The gene therapeutic composition of (22) to be administered to a patient whose an amount of PACAP receptor protein is decreased, to increase the amount of PACAP receptor protein; PA1 (24) A method of diagnosis for neuropathy comprising contacting a sample to be tested with a receptor protein capable of binding a PACAP protein and measuring the amount of PACAP binding to the receptor protein; PA1 (25) The method of diagnosis of (24), wherein the receptor protein is a receptor fragment of (7); PA1 (26) The method of (24) wherein a decrease in PACAP concentration is an indication of the presence of Alzheimer's disease; PA1 (27) A method of using the DNA of (9) to transform a cell; PA1 (28) The method of (27) wherein the cell is transformed in vitro; PA1 (29) The method of (27) wherein the cell is transformed in vivo; PA1 (30) The method of (27), in which the expression of the DNA increases the amount of PACAP receptor protein; PA1 (31) A method for determining PA1 (32) The method of (31) wherein the PACAP receptor is a protein of (1); PA1 (33) The method of (31) wherein the PACAP receptor is a receptor fragment of (7); PA1 (34) The method of (31) wherein the PACAP receptor is a protein produced by cultivating a transformant containing the DNA of (9); PA1 (35) The method of (31) which is a method for screening a compound activating PACAP receptor or a compound antagonizing binding of a PACAP to a PACAP receptor; PA1 (36) An assay for quantifying a test compound's effect PA1 (37) A compound or a salt thereof obtained by the method of (31); PA1 (38) The compound or a salt thereof of (37) which is a compound activating PACAP receptor or a compound antagonizing binding of a PACAP to a PACAP receptor; PA1 (39) A pharmaceutical composition for neuropathy comprising an effective amount of the compound or the salt thereof of (37); PA1 (40) The pharmaceutical composition of (39), wherein the neuropathy is Alzheimer's disease; PA1 (41) An antibody to a receptor protein capable of binding a PACAP, a partial peptide thereof or a salt thereof; PA1 (42) The antibody of (41) which is a monoclonal antibody selected from the group consisting of PRN1-25a, PRN1-109a and PRN1-159a; PA1 (43) Hybridoma which produces a monoclonal antibody of (42); PA1 (44) A signal peptide selected from the group of peptides consisting of a peptide which has 1st to 37th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:15, a peptide which has 1st to 37th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:17, a peptide which has 1st to 19th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:19, a peptide which has 1st to 19th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:21, a peptide which has 1st to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:23, a peptide which has 1st to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:25, a peptide which has 1st to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:27, a peptide which has 1st to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:29, a peptide which has 58th to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:23, a peptide which has 58th to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:25, a peptide which has 58th to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:27 and a peptide which has 58th to 77th amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:29; or a salt thereof; PA1 (45) A DNA which codes for a peptide of (44); PA1 (46) A DNA of (45) which is selected from the group consisting of a DNA which has 1st to 111th nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:30, a DNA which has 1st to 111th nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:31, a DNA which has 1st to 57th nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:32, a DNA which has 1st to 57th nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:33, a DNA which has 1st to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:34, a DNA which has 1st to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:35, a DNA which has 1st to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:36, a DNA which has 1st to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:37, a DNA which has 172nd to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:34, a DNA which has 172nd to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:35, a DNA which has 172nd to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:36 and a DNA which has 172nd to 231st nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:37; PA1 (47) A biotinylated PACAP; PA1 (48) The biotinylated PACAP of (47) which is represented by the following formula: ##STR1## (49) The biotinylated PACAP of (47) or (48), in which the PACAP is PACAP27; and PA1 (50) A method for preparing the biotinylated PACAP of (47) comprising reacting a PACAP derivative in which a cysteine residue is introduced into the carboxyl terminus of a PACAP with a biotinylating reagent.
In order for PACAP to exhibit its action, the presence of a receptor specific for PACAP in target organs and cells is indispensable.
Receptor binding experiments using radioactive iodine-labeled PACAP27 ([.sup.125 I] PACAP27) have proved the presence of a PACAP receptor. Namely, when a membrane fraction prepared from a tissue is mixed with [.sup.125 I] PACAP27 and reacted for an appropriate period of time, binding of [.sup.125 I] PACAP27 to the membrane fraction is observed. This binding is inhibited by unlabeled PACAP27 or PACAP38, but not inhibited by VIP, an analogous peptide of the PACAPs. This result suggests that a substance specifically binding to the PACAPs occurs in the tissue. Such binding activity is highest in membrane fractions of the brain hypothalami, and also observed in the pituitary glands, the adrenals and the like [Endocrinology, 127, 272-277 (1990)]. Further, a body of PACAP binding activity observed in membrana cerebri fractions, namely a receptor, is deduced to be a protein having a molecular weight of 57,000 from a technique (so-called affinity-label experiment) comprising binding [.sup.125 I] PACAP27 to the membrana cerebri fraction, crosslinking [.sup.125 I] PACAP27 and the body of its binding activity with a crosslinking reagent, then subjecting the product to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate, and analyzing by autoradiography [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 171, 838-844 (1990)].
It is expected that clarification of some fundamental properties of this specific receptor allows elucidation of additional various properties of the PACAP receptor to proceed more than before. In particular, cloning of cDNA coding for the receptor protein and structure analysis thereof enable elucidation of the mechanism of its mutual interaction with a ligand, production of receptor-agonists and antagonists and detailed analysis of sites of action by in situ hybridization using said cDNA. Although cloning of the VIP, secretin and growth hormone releasing factor receptor proteins cDNA has been reported, the cloning of the PACAP receptor has not. These three kinds of bioactive peptides have also showed a capital similarity in the structures of their receptor proteins. For the PACAP receptors, however, cloning of cDNA has hitherto not been carried out.
Recently, the following five documents reported amino acid sequences for a rat PACAP receptor protein and nucleotide sequences of DNAs coding for the protein [Document 1: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 194, 1, pp. 133-143, 1993; Document 2: Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), 329, 1 and 2, pp. 99-105; Document 3: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 90, pp. 6345-6349, 1993; Document 4: Nature, 365, pp. 170-175, 1993 and Document 5: Neuron, 11, pp. 333-342, 1993). Among them, the amino acid sequences and the nucleotide sequences described in the Documents 1, 2, 4 and 5 are identified with the amino acid sequence for a rat PACAP receptor protein and with the nucleotide sequence for a DNA coding for the protein. The amino acid sequence described in Document 3 is different from the amino acid sequence of the present invention for a rat PACAP receptor protein in one amino acid, and the nucleotide sequence of Document 3 is also different from the nucleotide sequence of the present invention in one nucleotide. All of the five documents were published after Jun. 24, 1993 which is one of the priority dates of the present invention.
In general, when specific binding substances such as receptors are purified, affinity column chromatography applying its mutual interaction with the specific binding substance (for example, ligands for receptors) are frequently used. A process using an affinity column in which a ligand is fixed on a carrier is simplest. However, many successful examples of complicated affinity chromatography are known in which the specific mutual interaction between avidin and biotin is utilized for purification of receptors. This process comprises synthesizing a biotinylated ligand in which biotin is bound to an appropriate site, and specifically capturing a receptor on a carrier on which avidin is fixed through the biotinylated ligand [Methods in Enzymology, 184, 244-274 (1990)]. This process suffers from the problem of designing the biotinylated ligand having affinity for both the receptor and avidin, and examination is required in purifying PACAP receptor.
PACAP38 and PACAP27 are peptides represented by the following amino acid sequences, respectively:
PACAP38 His Ser Asp Gly Ile Phe Thr Asp Ser Tyr Ser Arg Tyr (SEQ ID NO: 46-NH.sub.2) 1 5 10 Arg Lys Gln Met Ala Val Lys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Ala Val 15 20 25 Leu Gly Lys Arg Tyr Lys Gln Arg Val Lys Asn Lys-NH.sub.2 30 35 PACAP27 His Ser Asp Gly Ile Phe Thr Asp Ser Tyr Ser Arg Tyr (SEQ ID NO: 47-NH.sub.2) 1 5 10 Arg Lys Gln Met Ala Val Lys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Ala Val 15 20 25 Leu-NH.sub.2

PACAP receptor protein, method for preparing said protein, and use thereof


A method of preventing corrosion of metals such as stainless steel, carbon steel and chrome plated flatware in automatic dishwashers through the use of a corrosion inhibitor in an automatic dishwashing detergent composition.

Corrosion inhibitors have been utilized for many years to protect corrosion of metal parts. The corrosion inhibitors are compounds that form an extremely thin film over selected metal surfaces. As corrosion is an electrochemical process, the formation of the thin film of the corrosion inhibitors acts as an electron acceptor and the metal surface, containing an oxide coating, acts as an electron donor. See also, An Overview: Corrosion Inhibitors; Subramaniam, A. et al., Corrosion Vol. 56, No. 2, pages 144–155.
Metals exposed to the environment of an automatic dishwasher endure corrosive conditions such as high electroyte concentration, high humidity, high pH, high temperature, contact with bleach, shear stresses from foreign matter such as soils, different aeration and concentrations based on the shape of the dishware and relatively long and repeated periods of exposure to the discussed elements.
Stainless steel, comprising an alloy of chromium, nickel and steel, is often the alloy of choice for cookware, flatware and other cooking utensils. Carbon steel cooking surfaces and chrome plated cookware and cooking utensils also are prevalent in consumers' kitchens. Many consumers utilize automatic dishwashers to clean cookware, flatware and cooking utensils. However, stainless steel is relatively susceptible to corrosion under the described automatic dishwasher conditions. The properties and corrosion factors of stainless steel are distinct from that of sterling silver and traditional solutions utilized for sterling silver do not prove to be useful for stainless steel. Like sterling silver, tarnishing of stainless steel as well as rusting is often identified as corrosion in stainless steel.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide protection to stainless steel metals in automatic dishwasher conditions while continuing to provide acceptable levels of cleaning and spotting. The corrosion inhibitor must be able to be formulatible in an automatic dishwashing composition comprising such additives as bleach and enzymes as well as be safe to use on dishware.

Automatic dishwashing composition with corrosion inhibitors


Provided is an organic EL device having high efficiency and high driving stability while being driven at a low voltage. The organic electroluminescent device includes one or more light-emitting layers between an anode and a cathode opposite to each other. At least one of the light-emitting layers contains a host material and a light-emitting dopant, and (i) a first host formed of an indolocarbazole compound having one or two indolocarbazole rings, and (ii) a second host formed of a carbazole compound having a plurality of carbazole rings and having a bond structure represented by the following general formula (3) are used as the host material.

In general, an organic EL device includes a light-emitting layer and a pair of counter electrodes interposing the light-emitting layer therebetween in its simplest structure. That is, the organic EL device uses the phenomenon that, when an electric field is applied between both the electrodes, electrons are injected from a cathode and holes are injected from an anode, and each electron and each hole recombine in the light-emitting layer to emit light as energy.
In recent years, progress has been made in developing an organic EL device using an organic thin film. In order to enhance luminous efficiency particularly, the optimization of the kind of electrodes has been attempted for the purpose of improving the efficiency of injection of carriers from the electrodes. As a result, there has been developed a device in which a hole-transporting layer formed of an aromatic diamine and a light-emitting layer-cum-electron-transporting layer formed of an 8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum complex (Alq3) are formed between electrodes as thin films, resulting in a significant improvement in luminous efficiency, as compared to related-art devices in which a single crystal of anthracene or the like is used. Thus, the development of the above-mentioned organic EL device has been promoted in order to accomplish its practical application to a high-performance flat panel having features, such as self-luminescence and rapid response.
Investigations have also been made on using a phosphorescent light-emitting material rather than a fluorescent light-emitting material as an attempt to raise the luminous efficiency of a device. Many kinds of devices including the above-mentioned device in which a hole-transporting layer formed of an aromatic diamine and a light-emitting layer formed of Alq3 are formed use fluorescent light emission. However, by using phosphorescent light emission, that is, by using light emission from a triplet excited state, luminous efficiency is expected to be improved by about three times to four times, as compared to the case of using related-art devices in which fluorescent light (singlet) is used. In order to accomplish this purpose, investigations have been made on adopting a coumarin derivative or a benzophenone derivative as a light-emitting layer, but extremely low luminance has only been provided. After that, investigations have been made on using a europium complex as an attempt to use a triplet state, but highly efficient light emission has not been accomplished. Among the investigations involving using phosphorescent light emission, many investigations on a phosphorescent light-emitting dopant centered on an organometallic complex, such as an iridium complex, have been made, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, and ones capable of highly efficient light emission have been found.

NIPPON STEEL CHEMICAL & MATERIAL CO., LTD.


A dark field surface inspection tool of the invention includes an illumination source for directing a light beam onto a work piece. The tool includes a scanning element for enabling selected inspection points on the work piece to be scanned by the light beam. During scanning, the light scattered by each inspection point generates light scattering patterns associated with the surface characteristics of the scanned inspection point. The tool includes a photo detector array having photosensitive elements arranged to receive light from the light scattering pattern, thereby capturing an image of the light scattering pattern for each inspection point. Comparison circuitry is included for comparing light scattering patterns with a reference image to enable the identification of defects at the inspection point. The invention also includes a dark field surface inspection method comprising illuminating an inspection surface with a light beam, capturing images of light scattered from the inspection surface and comparing those images with suitable reference images to detect defects in the inspection surface.

For many years, dark field scanning methodologies have been used to scan surfaces. Dark field scanning makes use of light scattered by the surface features to characterize and examine features of the surface. FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of an illuminated surface used to illustrate aspects of dark field scanning. An illumination source 101 projects a light beam I (also referred to herein as the incident beam) onto the surface 102 being examined. A portion of the incident beam I is reflected by the surface as the reflected beam R. If the surface 102 was perfectly reflective, the entire incident beam I would be reflected. However, most surfaces have a variety of characteristics which cause a portion of the light from an incident beam I to be scattered. Dark field scanning makes use of this scattered light.
One particular surface feature that causes light scattering is referred to as a defect. The detection and quantification of defects are important in many areas. In particular, defect detection and analysis are important in semiconductor processing. In semiconductor processing, defects are frequently scattering features. Such defects typically occur in only one of the many dies on a wafer. Consequently, their detection is aided by systems that can compare the scattering patterns from multiple dies on a wafer and identify features which occur only in an isolated die. This method is called die-to-die comparison. Defects include, but are not limited to, pits, bumps, scratches, and a number of other features which mar the surface 102. Thus, the light of an incident beam I is often subject to some degree of scattering. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical incident beam I having a light scattering pattern schematically depicted by a plurality of scattered light rays 103, 104, 105, 106, and 107 which are scattered by a surface defect 108.
The dark field method places a single discrete light detector (not shown) so that it is not in the path of the reflected beam R. Thus, the background (the field) is dark. The scattered light received by the detector provides a representation of the surface 102 whereby the surface defects show up as lighter regions against the dark background or field. Hence, the name dark field scanning.
FIG. 2 is another cross-section view of a surface being scanned using dark field scanning. The surface 102 is illuminated by an incident beam I, a portion of which is reflected as reflected beam R. Another portion of the light of the incident beam I is scattered. Here, the scattered light is schematically depicted by the scattered light rays S1, S2, and S3. Each of the scattered light rays S1, S2, and S3 have scattering angles associated therewith. Because FIG. 2 is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional reality, only one scattering angle is depicted for each of the scattered light rays S1, S2, and S3. In the depiction of FIG. 2, the scattering angles are measured from the illuminated surface 102. Thus, scattered light ray S1 is associated with scattering angle A1. Scattered light ray S2 is associated with scattering angle A2. Scattered light ray S3 is associated with scattering angle A3, and so on. The scattering angles S1, S2, S3 depicted here are determined from the surface 102. However, scattering angles can be described using other methods and coordinate systems. For example, the scattering angles can be determined from a line normal to the surface 102.
FIG. 3 is a schematic three-dimensional view of an incident light beam I and a scattered light ray 301. The depicted coordinate system is an x, y, z coordinate system with the surface lying in the x-z plane. One scattering angle is depicted as φ, which is the angle from the x-z plane. The other depicted angle is θ, which is the angle from the y-z plane. As was previously stated, many other ways of referring to scattered light ray angles are known and can be used.
One type of conventional dark field surface inspection device 400 is depicted in FIG. 4. An ellipsoidal mirror 420 is positioned over an inspection surface 402. An incident light beam 401 is directed onto an inspection surface 402. Schematically depicted are a reflected light beam 403 and many scattered light beams 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, and 416. The device includes a first single discrete photodetector element 421 (for example a PMT) and a second discrete photodetector element 422 positioned above the ellipsoidal mirror 420. A portion of the scattered light (depicted here by scattered light beams 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, and 416) passes through an opening 0 in the ellipsoidal mirror 420. The center portion of the scattered light beams (schematically depicted by beams 415, 416) passes through a lens 423, which directs the light onto a central mirror 424, which reflects the central beams 415, 416 so they converge at a side focal point 425. The second discrete photodetector element 422 is positioned at the side focal point 425 to receive the central beams 415, 416. At the same time, an outer portion of the scattered light beams (schematically depicted by beams 410, 411, 412, 413, 414) passes through the opening in the ellipsoidal mirror 420 and is reflected by the ellipsoidal mirror 420 onto a top focal point 426. The ellipsoidal mirror 420 is specifically designed to concentrate the outer portion of the scattered light beams 410, 411, 412, 413, 414 onto the top focal point 426. Also, the first discrete photodetector element 421 is specifically positioned at the top focal point 426. Frequently, the discrete photodetector elements 421, 422 include optical fibers that convey the focused light to a single discrete photodetector element (commonly, a single photo multiplier tube (PMT)). Such conventional discrete photodetector elements are commonly very sensitive to light intensity, but have no way of generating two-dimensional images that characterize scattered light from the inspection surface. Other related conventional approaches use discrete photodetector elements without the added optical fiber. By integrating light information from the first discrete photodetector element 421 and the second discrete photodetector element 422, the presence of a defect can be determined.
A problem with such discrete photodetector element systems is that they have difficulty discerning defects in patterned surfaces. Frequently, when patterned surfaces (e.g., the patterned surfaces of semiconductor wafers) are scanned, the resulting scattering pattern is detected as a "defect" by the discrete photodetector element. Even in systems which employ die-to-die comparison, small variations in the surface pattern and the resulting variation in scattering can mislead the system into falsely identifying a defect. Thus, portions of the (otherwise defect-free) patterned surface give false readings, as if they had defects in the surface. Conventional devices have attempted to circumvent this problem by so-called Fourier filtering. Under plane wave illumination, the intensity distribution at the back focal plane of a lens is proportional to the Fourier transform of the object. Further, for a repeating pattern, the Fourier transform consists of a pattern of light areas which remain constant as the wafer is scanned. By placing a filter in the back focal plane of the lens, these areas can be blocked (filtered). Thus, artifacts of the repeating circuit pattern can be filtered out and leave only non-repeating signals from particles and other defects. Such Fourier filtering is a common technology employed in wafer inspection machines from many manufacturers.
One of the limitations of Fourier filtering based instruments is that they can only inspect areas with repeating patterns (for example, arrays of memory cells) or blank areas. Critically, Fourier filtering of the type describe is not useful for inspecting non-uniform surfaces like random logic areas. These are some fundamental limitations of the technology.
For example, in the Hitachi Model IS-2300 inspection machine, darkfield Fourier filtering is combined with die-to-die image subtraction to effectuate wafer inspection. Using this technique, non-repeating pattern areas on a wafer can be inspected by the die-to-die comparison. However, even with such die-to-die comparison, conventional technologies still need Fourier filtering to obtain good sensitivity in the repeating array areas. For example, in dense memory cell areas of a wafer, a darkfield signal from the circuit pattern is usually so much stronger than that from the circuit lines in the peripheral areas that the dynamic range of the sensors are exceeded. As a result, either small particles in the array areas cannot be seen due to saturation, or small particles in the peripheral areas cannot be detected due to insufficient signal strength. Fourier filtering equalizes the darkfield signal so that small particles can be detected in dense or sparse areas at the same time.
Common disadvantages to such techniques include the following limitations. First, such machines can detect particle defects relatively well, but their sensitivity to pattern defects is very poor. Second, since the filtered images are usually dark without circuit features, it is not possible to do an accurate die-to-die image alignment, which is necessary for achieving good cancellation in a subtraction algorithm. One solution is to use an expensive mechanical stage of very high precision, but even with such a stage, due to the pattern placement variations on the wafer and residual errors of the stage, the achievable sensitivity is limited roughly to particles that are 0.5 μm and larger. This limit comes from the alignment errors in die-to-die image subtraction. Additionally, the filtering makes it difficult to detect defects in certain regions of the surface. Moreover, as surface patterns become more complicated (as is the case in modern VLSI circuit structures), the patterns become more complex, and more filtering must be implemented. As a result, less and less of the surface can be effectively scanned for defects. Additionally, although Fourier filtering can be extremely effective in filtering light scattered by array areas (e.g., memory cells), there is currently no similar technique that can be applied to areas of the wafer where the surface pattern is not regular and repeating. Examples of such areas include random logic areas. In these areas, the scattering pattern at the Fourier transform plane of a lens is not constant as the wafer is scanned. As a result, it is no longer practical to insert a fixed filter to selectively block light scattering caused by the surface pattern.
What is needed are dark field inspection tools and methodologies that can achieve adaptive filtering of surface pattern effects and address some of the foregoing difficulties.

Surface inspection system and method for using photo detector array to detect defects in inspection surface


Systems, methods, and software for authorizing an application in User Equipment (UE) for direct discovery. In one embodiment, an authorization mechanism receives information (e.g., application ID) for a discovery request sent by an application in a UE. In response to the discovery request, the authorization mechanism challenges the UE for information regarding security parameters that are mapped to the application ID. Based on the information provided by the UE, the authorization mechanism determines whether the application is authorized for direct discovery.

Mobile communications have primarily involved a mobile station (i.e., User Equipment (UE)) communicating with a base station that is in turn connected to a core network. The control and user plane traffic was routed through the core network. Proximity services or proximity-based services refer to services provided between UEs being in proximity to each other. Proximity services utilize the radio technologies of the UEs so that the UEs in close proximity can exchange communications directly with one another without going through the core network, which is also referred to as device-to-device (D2D) communications.
The Third Generation Partnership Program (3GPP) has defined Proximity Services (ProSe), which allows for D2D communications as an underlay to a cellular network. In D2D communications, UEs transmit data signals to each other over a direct link using the cellular resources instead of routing the data signals through the core network. Therefore, D2D communications involve directly transmitting traffic between UEs that are in the vicinity of one another instead of routing the traffic over a core network, such as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Because there is direct communication between UEs that are in close proximity, D2D communications offload traffic from the EPC network without additional infrastructure. D2D communications may also offer higher data rates, lower transfer delays, and better power efficiency within a UE.
Proximity services generally include discovery, direct communication, and UE-to-network relay. Discovery is a procedure that identifies UEs that are in proximity with each other. Direct communication is a procedure where UEs in proximity are able to communicate using local radio resources. UE-to-network relay is a procedure where a UE can relay traffic from a remote UE to the network, or from the network to the remote UE. For example, if a UE (referred to as a remote UE) is outside of the coverage area of the base stations for a network, then the UE-to-network relay procedure allows the remote UE to transmit traffic to a relay UE that is in the coverage area of a base station through a direct communication with the relay UE. The relay UE in turn forwards the traffic from the remote UE to the network by communicating with a base station of the network.
The 3GPP has defined some procedures for authorizing a UE during a discovery procedure. However, present authorization procedures may be insufficient to detect malicious applications that attempt to use proximity services.

Authorization of applications for direct discovery


In a method for forming a hole for fitting an optical fiber only at a core portion without having to precisely match or accord the focus of a laser beam with the end surface of an optical waveguide, when a laser beam is irradiated onto the end surface of the optical waveguide, the focus of the laser beam is turned away from the end surface of the optical waveguide and a region of the irradiation includes the core and the periphery thereof. Thereafter, the energy of the laser beam is increased step by step, and a few pulses thereof are radiated with the intensity fixed when ablation occurs at the core portion, so that the hole is formed only at the core portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a hole for fitting for example, an optical fiber at a core of an optical waveguide by a laser beam.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical communication can transmit a mass of information at high speed. Therefore, it is used in various fields as basic circuits for telephone communications, LAN (local-area network) circuits, data communications between devices, or the like. An optical fiber is a medium of transmitting signals in optical communications, and the networking (branching and joining together) of light beams occurs through combining the optical fiber with an optical waveguide.
For effectively introducing a light beam into an optical fiber via an optical waveguide or for effectively introducing a light beam from an optical fiber into an optical waveguide, it is necessary that the core of the optical fiber and that of the optical waveguide be precisely matched, or accorded.
However, though the diameter of the core of the optical fiber depends on the kind thereof, it is a few or several .mu.m in the case of a single mode optical fiber of quartz, for example. Therefore, a stage device which moves with a very fine accuracy and a relative long time is necessitated for adjusting the core onto the core of an optical waveguide.
Then, in the prior art, methods for adjusting the core of an optical fiber and that of an optical waveguide by using convexo-concave insertion are already known, as disclosed for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Nos. Hei 5-11134 (1993) and Hei 2-33105 (1990). Further, methods for forming a hole for fitting the core of an optical fiber at a focus position are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Nos. Hei 7-244222 (1995) and Hei 7-248428 (1995).
In the disclosure of Japanese Laid-open Patent No. Hei 5-11134 (1993), a hole for fitting is formed at the core portion of an optical waveguide with a micro drill, a micro end mill and an electrodeposition sharpening stone.
In the disclosure of Japanese Laid-open Patent Nos. Hei 7-244222 (1995) and Hei 7-248428 (1995), a concavity is formed through pressing a heated conic diamond pressure member to the end surface of a lens and a convexity which is formed at the point surface of an optical fiber is fitted into the above concavity.
In the disclosure of Japanese Laid-open Patent No. Hei 2-33105 (1990), by transmitting a monitor beam incident into the core layer from one end surface of the core layer of an optical waveguide and by referencing the monitor beam emitted from the other end surface of an optical waveguide, a CO.sub.2 laser is superposed on the monitor beam so as to form a concavity for inserting an optical fiber into the core portion.
All of the methods disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Nos. Hei 5-11134 (1993), Hei 7-244222 (1995) or Hei 7-248428 (1995) are not suitable for mass production since they require fine machining processes.
In the method which uses a laser beam, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. Hei 2-33105 (1990), it is necessary to ascertain a focus position by referencing a monitor beam and to process by finely adjusting the position of an optical waveguide on the stage device by very fine movements etc. Therefore, it takes a long period of time, resulting in a poor yield.

Laser processing method to an optical waveguide