Disclosed is a capacitor and method for forming a capacitor in a semiconductor. The method includes the steps of: (a) forming a lower electrode pattern on a silicon semiconductor substrate; (b) etching a portion of the lower electrode pattern to a predetermined depth to form a step in the lower electrode pattern; (c) forming a dielectric layer and a upper electrode layer on an entire surface of the substrate including the lower electrode pattern; and (e) patterning the upper electrode layer and the dielectric layer to form a upper electrode pattern and a dielectric pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a fabrication method thereof, and more specifically, to a capacitor and a method for forming the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of methods have been developed to implement simultaneously logic such as a CPU having a data processing function and memory having a data storage function. Furthermore, design techniques including analog, RF, etc., have been integrated into modern semiconductor manufacturing as well as logic and memory techniques.
Many elements including a transistor, a capacitor, and a resistor are integrated on a single chip in a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC). Efficient methods for implementing these elements have been diversely developed.
Capacitors, such as a PIP (Polysilicon/Insulator/Polysilicon) capacitor or a MIM (Metal/Insulator/Metal) capacitor, is often used in logic circuits such as CMOS logic. Such capacitors may be used in analog or digital circuits. Among these capacitors, a PIP capacitor is widely used for noise protection and frequency modulation. The bottom electrode and the top electrode of a PIP capacitor are manufactured using polysilicon. Polysilicon is also frequently used as a gate electrode material of a logic transistor so that the electrode of a PIP capacitor can be fabricated during the gate electrode's manufacturing.
FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor device having a PIP capacitor and a logic circuitry according to a conventional approach. As shown in FIG. 1, the device is divided into three parts i.e., a resistance region A, a capacitor region B, and a logic transistor region C.
A field area 3 determining an active area is defined in a substrate 1. A resistor 7 is formed in the resistance region A on the substrate. A PIP capacitor including a lower electrode 9, a dielectric layer 13, and an upper electrode 15 is formed in the region B. The MOS transistor including a gate electrode 11 and source/drain regions 10 is formed in the region C. The gate electrode 11 is formed on a gate insulating layer, while source/drain regions 10 are formed in the active area adjacent to the gate electrode.
A first ILD (Interlevel Dielectric) layer 17 and a second ILD layer 19 cover the top of the resistor, the PIP capacitor, and the transistor formed on the substrate. The contact plugs 21, 23, and 25 interconnect metal lines 27 and the elements on the substrate by penetrating these ILD layers 17 and 19. In a semiconductor device having the above-referred structure, the capacitance of a PIP capacitor is determined by the surface size of the dielectric layer disposed between a lower electrode and an upper electrode.
FIG. 2 shows a PIP capacitor according to a conventional art. Referring to FIG. 2, a PIP capacitor is formed from a lower electrode 9, a dielectric layer 13 and an upper electrode 15. The capacitance of the capacitor is determined by the surface size of the dielectric layer 13 between the upper electrode 9 and the lower electrode 15. A desired high capacitance can be obtained only by a relatively large line-width of polysilicon in the lower and the upper electrodes because the contact surface size of both electrodes determines the capacitance. For these reasons, currently, an analog device having a variety of characteristics in a substrate may have a lower cell density than other devices.

Method for forming a capacitor in a semiconductor and a capacitor using the same


An alignment key of a semiconductor device includes: a material layer formed at a scribe region of a semiconductor substrate, a first dummy hole and a second dummy hole passing through the material layers, a first channel insulation layer formed inside the first dummy hole, a second channel insulation layer formed inside the second dummy hole, a first capping layer formed on a side wall of an upper portion of the first dummy hole and an upper portion of the first channel insulation layer, and a second capping layer formed on a side wall of an upper portion of the second dummy hole and an upper portion of the channel insulation layer, having a height of a lower surface portion greater than that of a lower surface portion of the first capping layer.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to an alignment key of a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an alignment key of a semiconductor device capable of detecting a stable alignment signal and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In manufacturing a semiconductor device, various conductive patterns including contact holes are created by forming a predetermined thin layer on a wafer and progressing a lithography process to establish a desired circuit pattern.
The lithography process includes applying a photoresist layer on a to-be-etched layer, exposing the photoresist layer by using a photomask, and developing the exposed photoresist. Various conductive patterns including contact holes are formed by etching the to-be-etched layer by using the formed photoresist pattern.
It is necessary to accurately align the wafer and the photomask in order to perform the lithography process, since there is demand for semiconductor devices with a multi-layered structure with high accuracy of overlay between upper and lower layers.
Accordingly, in a conventional process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, an alignment key is inserted in order to recognize the accuracy of overlay between upper and lower layers.
The alignment key, which is a kind of pattern formed on a wafer for aligning a photomask called a reticle at an accurate position, is formed on a scribe region of a wafer that does not exert influence on a cell region, and a process of forming the alignment key is simultaneously performed with a process of forming an actual pattern on the cell region before the lithography process.
However, in the implementation of the three-dimensional device, due to an increase in the number of stacks, a laser beam incident as an alignment signal and a laser beam reflected from a semiconductor substrate 10 are offset, thereby weakening a measured signal. Accordingly, an error of alignment accuracy may be generated.

Alignment key of semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


A process for automated monitoring of faults occurring in textile webs. At least one marking is worked into the web under manufacture. The marking permits incremental measurement of the textile web and facilitates the determination of particular positions thereon. Web faults and other events are detected during manufacture and their positions stored electronically. Detected faults can then be efficiently located and examined using the electronically stored location coordinates and the marking. Since the marking is worked into the web, the location of the fault can be efficiently determined even at later stages in the manufacturing process.

The faults which occur during the manufacture and finishing of textile webs are not completely avoidable. At the Textile Mill Colloquium, held in Denkendorf on Oct. 20-21, 1993, G. Besenreuther asserted that even today a textile web with a length of 120 meters, which exhibits from 12 to 15 faults, is considered the first choice. The fault number refers to a web coming from the mill, as supplied to a finisher for further processing. From the ready-made goods industry comes the requirement, however, that the number of faults for such a web must be reduced to less than 10.
The greater part of the faults arises during production of the web structure. The machine must be stopped immediately, if it produces a fault. This has already been achieved through extensive monitoring equipment: warp-thread monitors and woof checking during weaving, monitoring of the course of the yarn and needles in the case of knitting as well as the halting of the machine with an optical alarm belong to the state of the art. The machine operators remove the fault at the machine. The fault in the textile web can as a rule be removed only later, however, because it at the moment is not located at a point in the machine accessible to interventions. Although the information that a fault has occurred as well as its position are known, this information is however lost in the case of present-day manufacturing processes. Sometimes corresponding marking threads are of course inserted at those positions which stopped the machine, thus making finding them again easier.
In a special testing step, the so-called goods inspection, the web is checked by eye over its entire length on the show table. The faults are thereby removed insofar as possible, for example, by removing thread ends, trimming away knots, cleaning up stains and the like. The search for faults on the web imposes great demands upon the attention of the personnel.
A system is marketed under the name Wisotex by the firm, Zellweger AG, to automate the search for faults. This system includes a video camera with optical image recognition, which marks the faults discovered. The marked positions are then checked during the goods inspection and removed insofar as possible. All the markings are then removed, and the corresponding information is thus lost. The markings must be removed, however, in order not to cause later faults during the finishing of the web. Due to the high cost factor and deficient reliability, this system has not however been successful in the marketplace. This is not astounding, if one is acquainted with the multitude of possible web-fault types which can occur. Reference is made in this context to the Katalog der Gewebefehlerarten im Rohgewebe Catalogue of the Types of Web Faults in the Raw Weave!, published by the International Textile Service, Ltd., Schlieren, Switzerland, 1989.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,061 (Nissan Motor Corporation) is concerned with the faults occurring at the loom. The detection of faults is limited to breaks in the warp and fill threads, which are determined by the loom itself. In addition, length markings are woven into the web edge, which are based upon the absolute length measurement. The resulting data can be reproducibly employed during the first goods inspection and are thereafter lost.
In the layer processing stages of finishing, the following steps are repeated: stopping the machine at a process fault, removal of the operational disturbance, goods inspection on completion of the process, with removal of faults according to the best option. The effort devoted to this depends upon the type of process step and the value of the web. As a rule, but at least before delivery to the stage where tailored articles are produced, another goods inspection is carried out. In each subsequent goods inspection, the faults present and the additional ones must be reevaluated and removed if possible.
Of immediate importance is also the direct measurement of the change in the length of the web during finishing. The shrinkage or stretching of the textile surface is a significant parameter and a sensitive indicator for the consistency of many processes during finishing. A measurement of the current length of the web at any arbitrarily selected point in the process permits a series of improvements in processing precision.
A significant amount of scrap arises during the processing of the textile surface on the cutting table. With an efficient layout of the individual pieces, it is possible to keep the quantity of scrap to a minimum. This layout, according to the current state of the art, presupposes a textile web which is free of faults. If the textile surface contains a fault, various options arise, for taking it into account. If the cut is not adjusted, the spot with the fault must be discarded after cutting.
An entire series of parts thus becomes unusable, and the parts in question must be identified and found. It is also possible to submit the cutting with the fault to further processing and remove the finished product from the line to be sold as a second. Most widespread is that method where the faulty part of the web is cut out over its entire width. But if cutting is adjusted to leave the zone with the fault outside the area used, the quantity of scrap is significantly reduced. This option would be indeed feasible in the case of completely automated and computerized layout procedures, but requires precise information relative to the position of the fault in the textile web.

Process for monitoring faults in textile webs


Provided are a normal fault simulation experiment device with an adjustable angle and an adjustable fracture initiation position and a method of using the same, which relate to the technical field of normal fault simulation experiments. The device includes a base, a column, a baffle plate, a hydraulic lifting apparatus, a lower angle adjusting apparatus, a push rod apparatus, an upper loading apparatus, an upper angle adjusting apparatus, a front baffle plate and a transparent side plate. The hydraulic lifting apparatus and the lower angle adjusting apparatus are disposed below an experimental body, the upper loading apparatus and the upper angle adjusting apparatus are disposed above the experimental body, the transparent side plate is disposed on a rear side surface of the experimental body, and a plurality of strip-shaped front baffle plates are disposed on a front side surface of the experimental body. When a normal fault is simulated by using the device, an inclined plate of the lower angle adjusting apparatus and an inclined push plate of the upper angle adjusting apparatus are at the same inclination angle, and the upper loading apparatus loads downward to form the normal fault. The technical problems that a non-practical mechanical formation mechanism is formed due to a single condition during simulation of the normal fault and the dip angle and the fracture initiation position of the fault are inconveniently adjusted are solved, bringing simple operation.

Tectonophysical simulation experiment is an important and effective method of studying geological structure as well as an important approach for geological workers to study a stratum deformation process and a fault formation mechanism. An existing method of making a fault by using a simulation experiment device does not conform to a fault formation mechanism of the geological structure, and there is no method for flexibly controlling the position and the angle of the fault formation. Therefore, a device and a method for conveniently controlling a dip angle and a position of a simulation fault are needed.
At present, Chinese patent 2018102561390 discloses a device of simulating a ground fracture propagation and a method of using the same to solve problems such as a single basement movement type, an unchangeable movement dip angle and a significant boundary effect in a general simulation experiment. However, the entire structure is too complex with excessively high cost, a movable baffle plate is used to eliminate boundary effect, and a fault plane is produced artificially rather than in a stress environment, which is not compliant with actual formation situation of a fault.
Chinese patent 2010102463419 discloses a simulation experiment push plate for simulating a fault in a geological structure, that is, an experimental device for simulating fault formation and development processes by performing stress loading for an experimental material. The experimental device includes a bench seat and a bench surface, and further includes a model loading area, and power loading mechanism and is provided with a peripheral frame. The model loading area is formed by an upper combined push plate, a lower combined push plate, a left side plate, a right side plate, and the like. The power loading mechanism includes a power unit including a manual power loading apparatus. The power unit includes an electric cylinder and its supporting rollers, and the apparatus is provided with a detachable combined push plate with a guiding chute. The device is provided with a movable side plate mechanism and a triangular splicing module. The triangular splicing module includes a left part and a right part, where each part is provided with a dovetail groove and a rectangular groove, and a guiding contact surface is movably connected through an inclined surface between the two parts. With the above structure, geological simulations of a single fault and a combined fault may be achieved, loading simulation of a geological stress such as squeezing, stretching and bending and twisting may be achieved for the experimental material with certain plasticity, and the power combined push plates may be arbitrarily spliced in a building-block form. Therefore, the entire structure is simple, and the movement is flexible. The device includes the triangular splicing module connected with the push plate through the dovetail groove and the rectangular groove. However, only two modules are disposed to simulate the single fault. For a complex fault zone simulation, a plurality of experiments are required to achieve a desired purpose. Further, the final simulation accuracy is not satisfactory due to a large theoretical error, even resulting in inability to evaluate the actual situations. In addition, with the combined push plate and so on, the entire structure is excessively complex, resulting in too high experimental costs.
Chinese patent 201710153425X discloses an experimental device for simulating normal and reverse fault movements of a rock-soil body and a method thereof. According to the device and the method, a dislocation dip angle of a fault may be arbitrarily adjusted within a range of 30-90 degrees, and a door hole is opened on a side wall of a model box to facilitate removing the soil body so as to simulate deformation and damage of the overlying soil body resulting from dislocated movement of the normal and reverse faults. However, it does not conform to a mechanical mechanism of fault formation, and a fracture initiation position of the fault cannot be adjusted, which are also the problems of the experimental device.
To reduce the experimental costs, it is required to fabricate a fault simulation experiment device which is simple in structure, conforms to a mechanical mechanism of fault formation, and convenient to operate.

Normal fault simulation experiment device with adjustable angle and fracture initiation position and method of using the same

SHANDONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


An electromagnetic fuel injection valve (I) is provided that includes a fixed core (5) made of a high hardness ferrite magnetic material, and a movable core (12) that has fixed thereto by press-fitting a stopper element (14) that is nonmagnetic or is more weakly magnetic than the movable core (12), the stopper element (14) abutting directly against the fixed core (5) so as to maintain an air gap (g) between the two cores (5) and (12) when a coil (30) is energized. In this way, high abrasion resistance and responsiveness can be imparted to the fixed core and the movable core without subjecting the two cores to a troublesome abrasion resistance treatment to provide a plating layer, etc., and without providing a valve body stopper plate, thereby contributing to a reduction in the cost of the electromagnetic fuel injection valve.

Conventionally, it is known that, in such an electromagnetic fuel injection valve in which the movable core is attached directly onto the fixed core upon energization of the coil and a valve-opening limit for the valve body is thereby defined, since a large impact is imposed on the attached surfaces when the cores are attached to each other, a Cr, Mo, or Ni plating layer is formed in order to ensure abrasion resistance, as is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Furthermore, in order to avoid the two cores making contact with each other when the coil is energized, providing a stopper plate on the valve housing in order to define a valve-opening limit for the valve body is also known as disclosed in Patent Document 2.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-125875
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-89400
Such plating layers on the movable and fixed cores as disclosed in Patent Document 1 have to be formed by a plating step, which requires a long processing time; moreover, since the thickness of the plating layers is variable, it is necessary to correct the dimensions by polishing the plating layers, the number of steps increases, and it is difficult to reduce the cost of the electromagnetic fuel injection valve. Furthermore, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, providing the stopper plate on the valve housing results in increases in the number of components and the number of assembly steps, and this is also disadvantageous in terms of reducing the cost.
Patent Documents 3 to 5 below also disclose art related to electromagnetic fuel injection valves.
[3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-4013
[4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-221456
[5] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-303230
Patent Document 3 teaches a valve member having a movable core provided at one end thereof, the movable core abutting directly against an attracting face of a fixed core, and a valve portion provided on the other end of the valve member is housed in a valve seat member housed in a valve housing. There is no arrangement for alleviating the impact when the two cores are attracted to each other and, furthermore, a lengthwise hole is formed only in an upper part of the interior of the valve member, and there is no arrangement shown for reducing the weight and thus improving the responsiveness by means of this design.
Patent Document 4 shows a structure in which parts of a fixed core and a movable core that are attracted to each other are each press-fitted to a ring formed from a ceramic, etc., and when a valve is opened the ring projecting from the movable core is made to abut against the ring fixed to the fixed core. It is necessary to individually carry out mounting and fixing of the ring to the fixed core and the ring to the movable core, and forming such rings from a ceramic, etc. makes the structure complex and the assembly difficult and complicated. There are many factors that influence valve characteristics, such as adjustment of the amount of the ring projecting from the movable core and adjustment of the gap between the two rings, and the influence on the flow rate is a problem. Since the valve body does not have a journal portion for restricting movement thereof, the centering is poor, and the valve closing characteristics are variable.
Patent Document 5 teaches an arrangement in which a lengthwise hole is provided within a cylindrical valve body, and a lateral hole communicating with the lengthwise hole is formed in the vicinity of a valve portion of the valve body. Since the valve portion is conical, the centering is poor, and the valve closing characteristics are variable.


An engine control system that regulates operation of an engine includes an intake valve that regulates air intake into a cylinder of the engine and an exhaust valve that regulates exhaust from the cylinder. A control module determines a cylinder volume at intake valve closure and a cylinder volume at intake valve opening and calculates an intake pumping torque based on the cylinder volume at intake valve closure and the cylinder volume at intake valve opening. The control module determines a cylinder volume at exhaust valve closure and a cylinder volume at exhaust valve opening and calculates an exhaust pumping torque based on the cylinder volume at exhaust valve closure and the cylinder volume at exhaust valve opening. The control module calculates a net pumping torque based on the intake pumping torque and the exhaust pumping torque and regulates engine operation based on the net pumping torque.

Internal combustion engines combust an air/fuel mixture to produce drive torque. More specifically, air is drawn into cylinders of the engine and is combined with fuel therein. The air/fuel mixture is compressed by a piston and is ignited to drive the piston within the cylinder. The combustion product or exhaust is exhausted from the cylinder and a fresh air/fuel mixture is prepared for subsequent combustion. Engine pumping work is required to drive the intake and exhaust, which detracts from the engine torque output. Therefore, engine pumping work must be considered when regulating engine operation.
A valvetrain regulates air intake and exhaust to and from the cylinders. Traditional engines include fixed valvetrains, whereby intake and exhaust valve opening and closing occur relative to respective crankshaft angles. Thus, traditional engine control systems incorporate calibrated look-up tables that provide engine operation information including, but not limited to, engine pumping work. In this manner, engineers calibrate look-up tables for a specific engine type, and the engine control system regulates operation of the engine based on the look-up table.
However, more modern engine control systems have become increasingly complex. For example, engines can include variable lift and valve timing mechanisms that adjust intake and exhaust valve opening and closing relative to the crankshaft angle based on engine operating conditions. As a result, look-up calibration for adjustable valvetrain engines has been compounded, which increases overall system cost. Alternatively, the look-up tables have been simplified. This, however, decreases accuracy of engine operation.

Dynamic engine pumping work estimation algorithm


The present invention relates to methods of purifying proteins having surface active, electron-rich amino acids using an aqueous two phase system. The methods include the use of salts and inert hydrophobic molecules, such as polymers, to produce the aqueous two phase system and the use a polymer-chelator-metal complex to purify the target proteins.

Metal affinity partitioning (Johansson, G. 1985. Partitioning of proteins, pp. 161-219. In: H. Walter, D. E. Brooks, and D. Fisher (eds.), Partitioning in aqueous two-phase systems. Academic Press, Orlando) exploits the affinity of transition metal ions for electron-rich amino acid residues, such as histidine and cysteine, accessible on the surfaces of some proteins. When the metal ion is partially chelated and coupled to a linear polymer, such as polyethylene glycol ("PEG"), the resulting polymer-bound metal chelate can be used to enhance the partitioning of metal binding proteins into the polymer-rich phase of a PEG-salt or PEG-dextran aqueous two-phase system. Since most proteins favor the salt-rich heavy phase of an aqueous two-phase system, metal affinity partitioning may be a very efficient and selective means of isolating and purifying a metal-binding protein from a crude mixture, although, prior to the instant invention, this was not done.
The application of a metal affinity ligand for the isolation of proteins is set forth in Porath, et al. (Porath, J., Carlsson, J., Olsson, L., Belfrage, G. 1975. Nature 258:598-599) who demonstrated that histidine- and cysteine-containing proteins could be chromatographically separated from each other using a support that had been functionalized with a chelator, such as iminodiacetic acid ("IDA"), which is attached to a polymer spacer and bound to a metal such as copper, zinc or nickel. Immobilized metal affinity chromatography ("IMAC") has evolved into a very powerful tool for protein chromatography and a number of IDA-based IMAC resins are now commercially available (Sulkowski, E. 1985. Purification of proteins by IMAC. Trends Biotechnol. 3:1-7).
Metal affinity partitioning of previously purified proteins has been reported by Wuenschell, et al. (Wuenschell, G. E., Naranjo, E., Arnold, F. H. 1990. Bioprocess Eng. 5:199-202) who studied the partitioning of selected purified heme-containing proteins in an aqueous two-phase system of PEG and dextran using Cu(II)IDA-PEG as the affinity ligand. They showed that protein partitioning was affected by the number of accessible histidine residues on the protein surface.
Birkenmeier, et al. (Birkenmeier, G., Vijayalakshmi, M. A., Stigbrand, T., Kopperschlager, G. 1991. J. Chrom. 539:267-277) investigated the relative affinities of several transition metal ions by comparing the partitioning of purified .alpha..sub.2 -macroglobulin, tissue plasminogen activator, superoxide dismutase, and monoclonal antibodies using IDA-PEG chelated with Cu(II), Ni(II), Zn(II) and Fe(III) in an aqueous two-phase system of PEG and dextran. Their findings suggested that copper is the most effective transition metal ion for metal affinity partitioning. However, the use of copper may be problematical. Cu(II)-catalyzed oxidation of heme-proteins has been well-characterized by Rifkind (Rifkind, J. M., 1974. Biochemistry, 13:2475-2481) who showed that, in the absence of a strong chelator such as EDTA, autoxidation of heme proteins occurs rapidly, within 1-3 minutes, with as little as 10.sup.-3 molar equivalents of Cu(II). Hemoglobin undergoes rapid oxidation by Cu(II) but is unaffected by Ni(II), Zn(II) and other common transition metal ions. Heme oxidation is initiated by the binding of Cu(II) to a high affinity copper binding site followed by the dissociation of the sixth liganded position of the heme (Rifkind, JM 1976. Biochemistry 15: 5337-5343). Oxidation of the heme iron from Fe(II) to Fe(III) can result in an irreversible loss of oxygen binding ability. Furthermore, unchelated Cu(II) in a protein solution can cause protein precipitation (Nagel, R. L., Bemski, G., Pincus, P., 1970. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 137: 428-434). Metal catalyzed oxidation ("MCO") reactions during immobilized metal affinity chromatography with Cu(II)IDA-linked resins have been recently reported (Krishnamurthy, R., Madurawe, R. D., Bush, K. D., Lumpkin, J. A. 1995. Biotechnol. Prog. 11:643-650).
Protein partitioning has been shown by Suh and Arnold (Suh, S.-S., Arnold, F. H. 1990. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 35:682-690) to depend on ligand concentration, pH, number and pK.sub.a of accessible surface histidines, and the association constant for the binding of the metal ligand to the unprotonated histidine side chains. They used these observations to develop a comprehensive model for metal affinity partitioning. Arnold and her coworkers have partitioned other purified proteins using IDA-PEG including recrystallized human hemoglobin with Cu(II)IDA-PEG as the metal ligand (Plunkett, S. D., Arnold, F. H. 1990. Biotechnol. Tech. 4:45-48) and phosphoproteins, such as egg yolk phosvitin, with Fe(III) IDA-PEG as the metal ligand (Chung, B. H., Arnold, F. H. 1991. Biotechnol. Let. 13:615-620).
Enhanced partitioning of a protein also depends on the spatial arrangement of electron-rich amino acid residues on the protein surface. For example, two histidines separated by three amino acids on an .alpha.-helix exhibit a particularly high metal binding affinity (Sulkowski, E. 1987. pp. 149-162. In Protein purification: micro to macro, R. Burgess (ed.), A. R. Liss, Inc. New York). Metal binding sites containing the His-X.sub.3 -His motif have been engineered onto the surface of iso-1-cytochrome c (Todd, R. J., Van Dam, M. E., Casimiro, D., Haymore, B. L., Arnold, F. H. 1991. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics 10:156-161) and into hirudin (Chung, B. H., Sohn, J. H., Rhee, S.-K., Chang, Y. K., Park, Y. H. 1994. J. Ferm. Bioeng. 77:75-79) a 65-amino acid peptide, to enhance partitioning with Cu(II)IDA-PEG in aqueous two-phase systems. All of the studies listed above involved single-protein partitioning using protein that was previously isolated and purified by conventional methods.
While the ability of metal chelates to recognize and partition metal-binding proteins has been well-documented in artificial settings such as those described above, development of metal affinity partitioning into a useful technology for the isolation and purification of proteins from crude solutions was not done prior to the present invention. There are many problems to overcome in using metal chelates to purify a target protein from a crude preparation. In particular with heme-containing proteins, there is the oxidation problem referred to above and the question of how selective the ligand is for the target protein. There also is a problem of nitrogen-containing compounds in the crude system inhibiting ligand binding to the target protein. Finally, there is a problem relating to protein solubility and potential precipitation of proteins by the salt used in an aqueous two-phase partitioning system. Applicant has overcome these and other problems to develop a functional aqueous two-phase metal affinity partitioning system for purifying target proteins from crude protein solutions.

Aqueous two-phase metal affinity partitioning protein purification system


An inflatable air mattress system comprises an inflatable air mattress defining an air chamber and including an inlet passageway, an inflation valve mounted to the inflatable air mattress, and a connector. The valve defines a passageway that includes a lip and a valve member. The valve member includes a seal movable between a closed position wherein the valve member is at least partially covering the lip. In an open position, inflation air can pass through the passageway and into the air chamber of the mattress. The inflatable air mattress system includes an inflating bladder including an interior portion defined by at least one wall of flexible fabric having a first end and a second end. The first end includes a wide opening securable by a closing spring, the second end includes an outlet adapted to connect to the connector.

Often times, inflatable consumer goods, such as pool toys, inflatable mattresses, etc., require that a consumer use lung-power to inflate the product. Alternatively, some inflatables are compatible with a pump. Suitable pumps may be separate from the inflatable or integrated therein. Regardless, pumps take up space, add weight, and require a power source, such as batteries and/or an electrical connection. A separate pump is stored with and/or transported with the inflatable for use therewith, while lung-powered inflatables often require the mouth of the user to be placed on the product. Pumps fill the inflatable quickly and with relative ease for the user, and lung-powered inflation may be slow and tiring for the consumer. A conveniently transportable inflation mechanism that is easily operated by the user represents an improvement in the art.


A three-piece all-aspheric adapter fisheye lens includes a negative meniscus lens, a biconvex lens, and a biconcave lens positioned between the negative meniscus lens and the biconvex lens. The lenses are coaxial and are arranged with an exit pupil to cooperatively generate an image with a camera lens that has greater field of view than the camera lens alone when the exit pupil is coplanar and coaxial with an entrance pupil of the camera lens. Each lens has an aspheric object-side surface and an aspheric image-side surface.

Digital camera modules are used in a variety of consumer, industrial and scientific imaging devices to produce still images and/or video. These devices include mobile telephones, digital still image and video cameras, and webcams. The field of view of a camera module is typically between 60 degrees and 70 degrees. The field of view can be increased by attaching an adapter lens in front of the camera module. The resulting imaging system of the adapter lens and camera module has a wider field of view than the camera module alone. A wide field of view is valuable in applications such as autonomous vehicle navigation, car parking monitor systems, and gesture recognition.

Three-piece all-aspheric adapter fisheye lens


An encoding includes: obtaining, by an encoder, data to be encoded, where the data to be encoded is at least one LCU; determining, a quantization depth parameter of the LCU according to a preset bit rate control algorithm, and adding the quantization depth parameter into the data to be encoded; determining, a QP of each CU according to a size of a minimum picture block and a size of each CU included in the LCU; calculating, by the encoder, a QP difference of each CU according to the QP of each CU and a QP prediction value of each CU; for each CU that satisfies a preset condition, carrying, by the encoder, the QP difference of the CU in the CU; and encoding, by the encoder, the quantization depth parameter, the QP difference of the CU that satisfies the preset condition, and each CU to obtain a bit stream.

In a video picture encoding process in the prior art, an encoder needs to perform a spatial transform for original picture block data or predicted picture block difference data, perform a quantization operation for a transform coefficient, and then perform entropy encoding for the quantized coefficient. A decoder performs an inverse quantization operation for the coefficient obtained after entropy decoding, reconstructs the coefficient to obtain a transform coefficient, and then performs an inverse transform operation to obtain the original picture block data or picture block difference data.
To perform an inverse quantization operation, the decoder needs to obtain a quantization step (QStep) used in the quantization process at the encoder. Therefore, the encoder needs to write information about the used Qstep into a bit stream. Because different Qsteps may be indicated by different quantization parameters (QP, Quantization Parameter), the encoder may encode the QP and transmit it to the decoder.
In a high efficiency video coding test model (HM, High efficiency video coding test Model), a picture is divided into largest coding units (LCU, Largest Coding Unit) of an equal size, where, each LCU may include one or more CUs of non-fixed sizes.
In a picture encoding method in the prior art, a minimum block allowed to have an independent QP is an LCU, that is, each LCU corresponds to a QP.
During encoding, the encoder describes QP related information in a picture parameter set (PPS, Picture Parameter Set) as follows:
pic_parameter_set_rbsp( ) { ... pic_init_qp_minus26 /* relative to 26 */ ...}
The description in a slice header (SH, Slice Header) is:
slice_header( ) { ... slice_qp_delta ...}
The description in an LCU is:
coding_tree( x0, y0, log2CUSize ) { ... if( !skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )   lcu_qp_delta ...}
After the encoder completes encoding in the preceding manner, the encoded data is sent to the decoder. For each LCU, the decoder calculates the quantization parameter QPLCU of the current LCU in the following manner:QPLCU=lcu_qp_delta+slice_qp_delta+pic_init_qp_minus26+26.
The decoder may perform decoding after obtaining the QPLCU of the current LCU.
As may be seen from the solution of the prior art:
In the prior art, each LCU corresponds to a QP; when performing bit rate control by adjusting the QP, the encoder can only use the LCU as the finest granularity for control. Because the LCU in actual applications is usually set to a large size, for example, 64*64 pixels (which is hereinafter abbreviated to 64*64 for ease of description; other data is similar to this), the solution of the prior art affects the precision of bit rate control.
In another picture encoding method in the prior art, each CU in an LCU carries qp_delta information of the CU, so that the precision of bit rate control may be improved.
However, in the prior art, because the minimum CU may be set to 8*8, if each CU carries the qp_delta information of the CU, the encoding overhead is greatly increased, and hence the overall compression efficiency in picture encoding is affected.

Method and device for encoding/decoding with quantization parameter, block size and coding unit size


A projection exposure lens system has an object side catadioptric system, and intermediate image and a refractive lens system. The refractive lens system from its intermediate image side and in the direction of its image plane has a first lens group of positive refractive power, a second lens group of negative refractive power, a third lens group of positive refractive power, a fourth lens group of negative refractive power, and a fifth lens group of positive refractive power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection exposure lens in a projection exposure apparatus such as a wafer scanner or a wafer stepper used to manufacture semiconductor elements or other microstructure devices by photolithography and, more particularly, to a catadioptric projection optical lens with an object side catadioptric system, an intermediate image and a refractive lens system for use in such a projection exposure apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,966 to Friedman gives an early example of such a lens, however the catadioptric system being arranged on the image side. Its development starting from the principle of a Schupmann achromat is described. It is an issue of this patient to avoid a second lens material, consequently all lenses are of fused silica. Light source is not specified, band width is limited to 1 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,763 to Singh (EP 0 475 020) is another example. Here it is relevant that odd aberrations are substantially corrected separately by each subsystem, wherefore it is preferred that the catadioptric system is a 1:1 system and no lens is arranged between the object and the first deflecting mirror. A shell is placed between the first deflecting mirror and the concave mirror in a position more near to the deflecting mirror. All examples provide only fused silica lenses. NA is extended to 0.7 and a 248 nm excimer laser or others are proposed. Line narrowing of the laser is proposed as sufficient to avoid chromatic correction by use of different lens materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,802 to Takahashi is another example, where a first optical element group having positive refracting power between the first deflecting mirror and the concave mirror is requested. This is to reduce the diameter of the mirror, and therefore this positive lens is located near the first deflecting mirror. All examples show a great number of CaF2 lenses.
EP 0 736 789 A to Takahashi is an example, where it is requested that between the first deflecting mirror and the concave mirror three lens groups are arranged, with plus minus plus refractive power, also with the aim of reducing the diameter of the concave mirror. Therefore, the first positive lens is located rather near to the first reflecting mirror. Also many CaF2 lenses are used for achromatization.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,334 to Takahashi is a further example of the background art.
DE 197 26 058 A to Omura describes a system where the catadioptric system has a reduction ratio of 0.75 less than /xcex21/ less than 0.95 and a certain relation for the geometry of this system is fulfilled as well. Also many CaF2 lenses are used for achromatization.
For purely refractive lenses of microlithography projection exposure system a lens design where the light beam is twice widened strongly is well known, see e.g. Glatzel, E., Zeiss-Information 26 (1981), No. 92 pages 8-13. A recent example of such a projection lens with + xe2x88x92 + xe2x88x92 + lens groups is given in EP 0 770 895 to Matsuzawa and Suenaga.
The refractive partial objectives of the known catadioptric lenses of the generic type of the invention, however show much simpler constructions.
The contents of these documents are incorporated herein by reference. They give background and circumstances of the system according to the invention.
It is an object of the present invention to obtain a catadioptric optical system of new construction principles allowing for large numerical aperture, large image field, sufficient laser bandwidth, solid and stable construction, which takes into account the present limitations on availability of CaF2 in quantity and quality. This holds for a DUV projection lens and gives the basis for a one material only lens for VUV (157 nm).
A further object of the invention is to provide a projection exposure apparatus that includes a projection exposure lens system according to the invention.
A further object of the present invention is a method of producing microstructured devices by lithography that includes a catadioptric optical system according to the invention.
The first object of the invention is achieved by a projection exposure lens system, comprising: an object side catadioptric system, an intermediate image and a refractive lens system, with lenses made of a first material and lenses made of a second material, in which no more than four lenses are made of the second material.
The second object of the invention is achieved by a projection exposure apparatus comprising: a projection exposure lens system according to the invention, an excimer laser light source, an illuminating system, a mask handling and positioning system, and a wafer handling and positioning system.
The third object of the invention is achieved by a method of producing microstructured devices by lithography comprising using a projection exposure apparatus according to the invention.
The present invention will be more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and are not to be considered as limiting the present invention. Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description
Advantageous features of the present invention described in the specification (Summary and Detailed Description) and set forth in the claims may be usefully employed in various combinations within the teachings of the present invention.

Catadioptric optical system and exposure apparatus having the same


A vehicle provides a comfortable space for a wide range of passengers. The vehicle (1) includes a plurality of seats (31) arranged in a fore and aft direction in a cabin (5) of the vehicle, each seat being supported in the cabin so as to be rotatable around a vertically extending rotational axis. Preferably, at least one of the seats includes a support column (32) extending vertically from a floor (6) of the cabin, and a seat cushion (33) supported at an upper end of the support column so as to be rotatable around the vertically extending rotational axis.

In an autonomous driving vehicle, the driver is not required to be facing forward at all times, and therefore, the front seat may be selectively turned rearward so as to face the rear seat. See JP2017-039400A, for instance. Thus, the introduction of autonomously driving vehicles has created new possibilities for seat arrangement.
Also, ride share is receiving a growing attention from the view point of reducing traffic congestion and CO2 emission. In a ride share, groups of people sharing common destinations share common vehicles. Oftentimes, people sharing a ride may be strangers to one another. Therefore, some consideration may be desired in seating the people sharing the ride so as to maximize privacy and minimize stress. On the other hand, people sharing the ride may know one another. In such a case, it may be desired that the passengers are seated so as to facilitate mutual conversation.


An embodiment of the invention relates to a frictional clutch for a hand-held device for transferring a film from a backing tape onto a substrate. The frictional clutch in this embodiment includes a supply reel and a take-up reel rotatably mounted coaxially to each other, one of the reels including a free space bordered by a circular ring surface of the other reel, a spring element being disposed in the free space, with the spring element pressing elastically against the circular ring surface. In one embodiment of the frictional clutch, the free space is located radially outside the convex circular ring surface and the spring element is biased radially towards inside against the circular ring surface.

Such a frictional clutch serves for creating drive adjustment for a take-up reel of a hand-held device for transferring a film from a backing tape onto a substrate, said take-up reel being driven so forcedly that the backing tape portion being supplied to the take-up reel is always slightly tensioned. In doing so, the frictional clutch ensures that the predetermined tension is not exceeded and the backing tape does not rupture.
A frictional clutch as indicated in the foregoing is described in document DE 4217295A1. In said previously-known embodiment, the frictional clutch is disposed between a supply reel and a rotating member, which is connected with the supply reel of an appertaining device by rotational drive connection. The frictional clutch comprises a sleeve-like spring element in the form of an open spring ring, which is disposed in a ring slot between two coaxially disposed sleeve-like bearing members and thereby constitutes a bearing member whose inner generated surface is on the outer generated surface of the inner bearing member, while the outer bearing member is on the outer generated surface of the sleeve-like spring. By radial bending, the spring ring presses elastically against the cylindrical inner generated surface of the outer bearing member, as a result of which the frictional clutch is formed due to cumbersome running.
In said previously known frictional clutch, it is difficult to manufacture the spring ring in a form and size so as to form a circular ring-shaped bearing surface on which the reel can slide over a large surface. There is a danger of the spring ring to relieve primarily into two opposite directions, so that it cannot offer a bearing surface in circular form to the reel located thereon. As a result thereof, support of the reel can be impaired, for instance, by excessive movement clearance due to wear of the relatively small bearing surface portions. As a result thereof, chattering can occur upon rotation of the reel, which is undesirable.

Frictional clutch for torque-restricted torsional power transmission between two reels of a hand-held device


The invention relates to a drive circuit for providing a drive signal (S3) for a switch in a switching converter in a manner dependent on a control signal (S2), the drive circuit comprising at least two groups (22, 30) of circuit components, each group having at least one circuit component, and the circuit components being coupled to one another and designed to provide the drive signal (S3) from the control signal (S2). In this case, voltage is supplied to the circuit components of the first group by means of the control signal, while voltage is supplied to the circuit components of the second group (30) by means of a supply voltage at a supply terminal (K2).

Many electronic devices, for example computer peripherals, notebooks, portable devices appertaining to entertainment electronics or musical instruments do not have a built-in power supply unit, but rather are supplied with a low-voltage DC voltage via an adapter. Although the device itself usually has an on/off switch, the latter is situated downstream of the power supply unit, so that, even when the load is switched off, current is taken by the power supply unit as long as this is connected to the electrical network.
At the present time, legislators are endeavoring to reduce the current consumption of such power supply units in the standby mode, that is to say when the load is switched off, from at the present time about 2 W to 0.5 W and then further to 0.1 W, which makes considerable requirements of the control circuits used in the power supply units since, even in the standby mode, the power supply unit is intended to output a regulated output voltage and, in particular, is intended to be able to momentarily output sufficient power after the load is switched off.
In order to provide drive signals for a switch in a switched-mode power supply, a control signal dependent on the output voltage provided is fed to the drive circuit. In the case of flyback converter switched-mode power supplies, in which the switch is connected in series with the primary coil of a transformer and in which output terminals for providing the output voltage are coupled to the secondary winding of the transformer, the feedback of the control signal on the secondary side to the drive circuit arranged on the primary side necessitates potential isolation, which is usually ensured by means of an optocoupler. It is precisely when a connected load has a low power consumption that such optocouplers contribute considerably to the power consumption of the switched-mode power supply and thus to the power loss, as is explained briefly below with reference to a switched-mode power supply according to the prior art.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional flyback converter switched-mode power supply which is described for example in Köstner/Möschwitzer: "Elektronische Schaltungen" [Electronic circuits], Karl Hanser Verlag Munich, 1993, pages 286 to 288.
The power supply unit houses input terminals EK1, EK2 for applying a power supply voltage Un, and a rectifier arrangement—coupled to the input terminals EK1, EK2 with a bridge rectifier BG and an input capacitor Cin, across which a rectified voltage Uin is present. In order to convert said rectified input voltage Uin into a regulated output voltage Uout available at output terminals AK1, AK2, a converter with a transformer TR is available, in the primary coil Lp of which is connected in series with a switch T formed as a semiconductor switch, the input voltage Uin being present across this series circuit. A secondary coil Ls of the transformer TR is inductively coupled to the primary coil Lp, said secondary coil Ls being connected to the output terminals AK1, AK2 via a rectifier arrangement D1, C2. The power consumption of this power supply unit and thus the output voltage Uout are dependent on the duty ratio of a drive signal S3 which comprises a sequence of drive pulses and drives the semiconductor switch T. In the case of a fixedly clocked switched-mode power supply, in which the switch T is closed at regular time intervals, the power consumption rises as the duty cycle rises, the duty cycle representing the ratio between switch-on duration of the semiconductor switch T and the drive periods determined by the interval between two switch-on instants.
The drive signal S3 is made available by a drive circuit 12, to which a control signal S2 dependent on the output voltage Uout is fed. In order to generate the control signal, a controller 10 is provided on the secondary side, which controller is connected to the output terminals AK1, AK2 and provides a control signal S1, which is transmitted to the primary side by means of an optocoupler 11. In this case, the control signal S1 on the secondary side and the control signal S2 on the primary side are ideally proportional to one another. The controller 10 has for example an integral action (I controller) or a proportional-integral action (PI controller)
Owing to the relatively simple interconnection of the controller, it is customary to operate the optocoupler 11 with a negative control sense, i.e. to generate a control signal S1 or S2 which is all the greater, the lower the power that is to be output to the output terminals AK1, AK2. In the standby mode, that is to say in the case of an open circuit at the output terminals AK1, AK2 or when a load Z illustrated by dashed lines in FIG. 1 has only a very low power consumption, the control signal S1 is thus particularly large and the current consumption of the optocoupler 11 is thus particularly high.
For the voltage supply of the drive circuit 12, a supply voltage Vcc is generated internally, said supply voltage being provided for example by an auxiliary coil (not specifically illustrated) coupled to the primary coil Lp with a rectifier circuit connected downstream, as is described for example in Köstner/Möschwitzer, loc. cit. In this case, the supply voltage Vcc must be large enough to be able to ensure driving of the semiconductor switch T even in the standby mode. A reduction of the supply voltage Vcc, which would also result in a reduction of the power loss of the optocoupler 11, is thereby limited.
A known drive circuit for driving the semiconductor switch in a switched-mode power supply is a drive circuit of the ICE2AS01 type, from the Applicant. A switched-mode power supply in accordance with FIG. 1 is likewise elucidated in the data sheet of this drive circuit. In the case of this drive circuit, the maximum optocoupler current is about 1.5 mA, which, given an internally generated supply voltage Vcc of 15 V, results in a power loss brought about by the optocoupler of 22.5 mW.
The Applicant's control circuit of the TDA 16850 type uses control with a positive control sense, so that, when a load has a low power consumption, a small control signal is transmitted to the drive circuit via the optocoupler. However, this is associated with higher complexity of the circuit, in particular of the controller 10.
EP 0 585 789 B1 discloses using the optocoupler current of the control loop for the current supply of the control circuit in order thereby to reduce the number of terminals of the drive circuit and to be able to accommodate the circuit in a cost-effective TO-220 housing with just three terminal pins. In the case of this circuit, however, the optocoupler must be dimensioned such that a current sufficient for supplying the control circuit always flows through said optocoupler. In the case of a negative control sense, the optocoupler current in the standby mode is in this case a multiple of the current consumption required for the control circuit. A low standby power consumption is thus not possible in the case of this circuit.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a drive circuit for a switch in a switched-mode power supply which has a low power consumption in the standby mode.

Drive circuit for a switch in a switching converter


A substantially water-free, non-dusting and flowable composition comprising an organic peroxide, a hydrocarbyl phthalate, and at least one phlegmatization agent is provided wherein the phlegmatization agent is selected from the group consisting of a polyester and a glycol-based aliphatic carboxylic acid ester, and mixtures thereof. The composition is prepared by: (1) substantially dissolving the hydrocarbyl phthalate and phlegmatization agent in a solvent to form a plasticizer mixture; (2) substantially dissolving the organic peroxide in the plasticizer mixture to form an organic peroxide-plasticizer mixture; (3) cooling the organic peroxide-plasticizer mixture whereby a crystallized composition is formed; and (4) recovering the crystallized composition.

Organic peroxides such as, for example, dibenzoyl peroxide are useful as, among others, initiators in polymerization processes. Because of the flammable and explosive nature as well as high shock-sensitivity of organic peroxides, organic peroxides generally are diluted with inert substances such as, for example, plasticizers. See Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition, Vol. 18, pages 111-183 (1982). Also because of the dangerous properties of the organic peroxides, the United States Department of Transportation requires yellow organic peroxide labels for organic peroxide compositions having greater than 35 weight % of organic peroxide levels. A phlegmatization process to reduce the organic peroxide levels in the compositions to lower than 35% so that no yellow labels are required for shipping and storage is very desirable.
However, attempts to reduce the organic peroxide levels to below 35% by increasing a plasticizer such as, for example, dicyclohexyl phthalate were unsuccessful because the resulting compositions were found to yield parts with splotchy areas and brittleness. In others words, an organic peroxide composition which does not require yellow labels cannot be produced by increasing the concentration of the plasticizer.
Organic peroxide compositions are also commercially available in paste forms containing butyl benzyl phthalate or dibutyl phthalate as plasticizer. These paste forms have a tendency to separate into phases and are difficult to accurately measure. Dibenzoyl peroxide is commonly available as a wetted granular material in which the water acts to reduce the shock-sensitivity. However, for some polymerization processes such as, for instance, the curing of polymers, the presence of water in the peroxide is often unacceptable because water can often react with the polymers in the polymerization process causing undesirable results.
It would therefore be a significant contribution to the art if an organic peroxide composition that is substantially water-free, non-dusting, flowable, and safe during storage, shipping and handling (i.e., does not require yellow labels), can be developed.

Organic peroxide compositions and process therefor


A method for creating an oxide coating on the surface of a component formed from austenitic stainless steel or nickel alloy steel is set forth. The component has a naturally formed oxide film at the surface. The naturally formed oxide is enhanced through a process comprising at least two steps. In the first step, the component is heated in the presence of circulating dry air for a first period of time at a temperature of approximately 300 degrees centigrade. In the second step, the component is heated in the presence of static dry air at an elevated pressure for a second period of time at a temperature that is higher than the temperature during the first period. The exterior portion of the enhanced oxide coating is removed with an oxidizing treatment whereby an oxide coating having a high ratio of chromium to iron is exposed at the surface of the stainless steel.

The present invention relates to a method for creating an oxide coating on certain metals wherein the oxide coating is highly resistant to corrosion and ionic leaching. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for creating a protective coating on the surface of austenitic stainless steel or nickel alloy steel. The oxide coating is both resistant to corrosion and to leaching of molecules from the steel into material that is in contact with the metal.
Austenitic stainless steel and nickel alloy steel are commonly used for piping, vessels, and equipment used in processes in which the purity of the material being processed is a critical consideration. Such steels are also used in processes in which a strong solvent or other corrosive material is present. Many such processes are carried out at elevated temperatures. The presence of very pure materials, strong solvents, or corrosive materials, particularly at elevated temperatures, makes prevention of corrosion of the steel and/or control of infusion of various contaminating components from the steel difficult. Examples of processes for which prevention of corrosion, control of infusion, or both are critical considerations include chemical, food, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor processing.
Components used for such processes are generally polished to eliminate small surface protrusions from which ions may leach into the material being processed, or which may provide locations at which corrosion may begin. The oxide coating that naturally forms on the surfaces of austenitic stainless steels and nickel alloy steel is inadequate in many applications to prevent corrosion or unacceptable leaching of ions from the steel into material in contact with steel, particularly when the components are irregularly shaped or contain welds.
The oxide film that naturally forms on austenitic stainless steel and on nickel alloy steel contains both iron and iron oxides as well as chromium and chromium oxides. Oxide films that have a high ratio of chromium-to-iron have resistance to leaching that is superior to that of films having a lower chromium-to-iron ratio. Existing methods for enhancing the oxide film are not able to reliably create oxide films on austenitic stainless steel and nickel alloy steel components which have acceptable performance or durability in difficult applications. This is particularly true when the existing methods are applied to components having surface irregularities such as crevices of sharp angles and those formed by welding.

Method for developing an enhanced oxide coating on a component formed from stainless steel or nickel alloy steel


A method for automated scripting includes providing a first menu corresponding to a first object, wherein the first object is a message queue (MQ) object. A first parameter for the first object is received. A second parameter is also received, wherein the second parameter is entered by a user in the first menu. The method further includes creating the first object based on the first parameter and the second parameter.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems. More specifically, but without limitation, the present disclosure relates to methods and media for automated script generation.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system (IHS). An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Message Queue (MQ) scripting is a method that may be utilized by companies to transport messages between applications (A2A) and in some cases, between applications which reside on multiple IHSs. Software engineers have found it time consuming to create MQ scripts and security scripts to deploy new MQ infrastructures. Because these scripts may be quite lengthy, some engineers may use techniques such as copying and pasting from other scripts to decrease the time needed to create a new script. However, such techniques may make the script extremely vulnerable to reproduction errors, which may cause the scripts to fail when executed.
Thus, a need exists for methods and media for automated scripting, particularly for streamlining and automating the creation of MQ scripts with minimal input from the user.


A wave guide or an assembly of wave guides, characterized in that each wave guide meets the conditions that: 1) at least one of the characteristics of the wave guide is of the same order of magnitude as the largest absolute value of the de Broglie wavelength .lambda..sub.b of a particle or a collectivity of particles moving or able to move through the wave guide; 2) the dimensions of the irregularities of the wall of the wave guide are small with respect to .vertline..lambda..sub.c .vertline., the absolute value of the cutoff wavelength .lambda..sub.c of the wave guide, with the property that for each particle with de Broglie wavelength .lambda..sub.b that moves in the wave guide, holds .vertline..lambda..sub.b .vertline..ltoreq..vertline..lambda..sub.c .vertline.; and 3) .lambda..sub.c has a limited value, and can be found with the aid of the solutions of a relevant wave equation which has been solved by meeting fitting boundary conditions; in that, for the case of photons or luxons, the conditions is met that 4a) the relation between the wavelength .lambda. of the electromagnetic waves and the wavelength .lambda..sub.b of the de Broglie waves, which corresponds with these photons, is given by .lambda.=.lambda..sub.b ; and that, for the case in which the particles are neither photons nor luxons, the following conditions are met; 4b) that the energies of these particles are discrete and the physical phenomena in the wave guide and/or caused by the wave guide can not be described in good approximation without using quantum mechanics, i.e. that the results of these calculations then do not exclusively correspond within 5% with the observations; wherein a characteristic dimension is the distance in between two neighbouring pieces of boundary layer, between which a particle or a collectivity of particles can move, when .vertline..PSI..vertline., the absolute value of the wavefunction .PSI. of one particle or a collectivity of particles moving in the wave guide, as a function of the space coordinates, takes an constant value .vertline..PSI..sub.k .vertline..

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to at least one wave guide for de Broglie waves and material comprising wave guides for de Broglie waves, and its applications and manufacture, and more particularly to an apparatus comprising at least one wave guide for de Broglie waves and at least one particle interacting with one or more wave guides for de Broglie waves.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention concerns production means for the manufacturing of a wave guide, a bundle of wave guides, material consisting of wave guides, a screen consisting of wave guides together with the materials, the screens and the products which are made from these screens, or the above mentioned material. One of these products is a mirror with a very high reflectance. Mirrors with a somewhat lower reflectance are known form the literature.
A. F. Harvey states on page 236 of "Coherent Light", published by Wiley-Interscience in London in 1970, that mirrors with a high reflectance can be made by vapour deposition on a insulator of 1/4-.lambda. layer of two dielectric media with different refractive indexes. Such multilayer mirrors do have the following 5 disadvantages:
1) Their bandwidth is limited. Harvey comments: Let n.sub.i be the refractive index of a layer of medium i and .DELTA..lambda. the width of the band, at a distance of the media 1 and 2 of (1/4) .lambda., .DELTA..lambda./.lambda.=(4/.pi.) arc sin {(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)/(n.sub.1 +n.sub.2)} yields. The bandwidth can be enlarged by varying the thickness of the layers. Harvey gives as an example the fact that a multilayer mirror consisting of 35 layers, in the wavelength domain 300 nm.ltoreq..lambda..ltoreq.830 nm, can have a reflectance greater than 0.9.
2) The power that these mirrors absorb is too much for some applications e.g. in high power lasers.
3) They do not reflect exclusively according to Snellius' law and thus scattering of light occurs. Harvey gives as an example a 15 layer mirror designed for a wavelength of 1.06 .mu.m, which transmits 0.05%, reflects 99.34% and absorbs or scatters about 0.6%. Jeffrey W. Griffin et al show in Applied Optics (see vol. 25, no.10, page 1532, 1986), that the scattering arises from two sources which cause surface scattering and volume scattering respectively. They state that volume scattering increases with the number of layers and they mention a 15 layer mirror, designed for a wavelength of 0.633 .mu.m having a reflectance of 99% and a volume scattering of 1%. Therefore in practice the reflectance as a function of the number of layers has a maximum which is smaller than 1.
4) They do not have a sharply determined cutoff wavelength. Therefore it is impossible to use these mirrors e.g. to cut off the spectrum of Nd-YAG laser in such a way that a smaller domain of the spectrum would be available in order to sharpen the focus of the Nd-YAG laser light.
5) Their applicability with respect to short wavelengths is limited due to the fact that at a certain wavelength the reflective ability of the normal reflection decreases as a function of the frequency.
The said invention, in most cases, does not have these disadvantages, or if so, to a lesser degree.

Wave guide and material comprising wave guides, and its applications and manufacture


Solid phase extraction devices including a plurality of packed nominally aligned capillary-channeled polymeric fibers for use as stationary phase materials are disclosed. A plurality of fibers are packed together in a casing so as to provide good flow characteristics through the fibers and high surface area contact between a sample and the fibers. Different polymer compositions of the fibers permit the “chemical tuning” of the extraction process. The fibers can be physically or chemically derivatized to target specific analytes for separation from a test sample. Use of the fibers allows a wide range of liquid flow rates with very low backpressures. The fibers are easily packed into a micropipette tip or a conduit for use with a fluid flow device such as an aspirator or a pump. The devices can be used for isolation and pre-concentration of analytes from samples, for instance for proteins from buffer solutions or extraction of pollutants from remote locations.

The ability to extract a targeted analyte from a fluid sample has proven to be of great assistance in a variety of analytical applications. For instance, the ability to assay the contents of test samples has proven extremely useful in the testing and examination of biological samples, in particular as analytical testing of biological samples often calls for a wide variety of tests and examinations from a starting sample of a very small volume. In general, micropipettes are used for the handling of these small sample volumes.
The formation of micropipette tips to include a variety of chemistries by packing, coating, or embedding a suitable phase in the tip or on the tip walls has led to the development of micropipette solid phase extraction (SPE) techniques including affinity interactions, hydrophobic interaction, hydrophilic interaction, ion exchange, reverse phase, and the like. This, in turn, has led to improved processing of the samples. For instance, proteins and peptides are often found in buffered solutions that can also contain components such as inorganic salts, low molecular weight organics, urea and detergents. Micropipette SPE tips have been successfully used to isolate the targeted polypeptides from such components prior to characterization and thereby improve the detection limits and the sensitivity of the characterizations.
Problems exist with known devices, however. For instance, many phases that are proposed for use with micropipette tips are limited in possible chemistries. In addition, the sorbent media are often very expensive to prepare and can be quite fragile and easily damaged. Moreover, in designing the devices, e.g., the micropipette SPE tips, there is often a necessary trade-off between surface area available for reaction and efficient fluid transport through the device, i.e., in order to increase available reactive surface area, fluid transport is detrimentally effected, and vice versa. Existing SPE media are often packed into micropipette tips via a porous bead or a monolithic stationary phase. Flow through such media is inefficient, however, and a series of successive aspiration steps is usually required to improve removal efficiency of the process. These additional steps add to the time of sample preparation as well as the complexity of the equipment required.
What is needed in the art are improved sorbent media for SPE applications that can address these and other problems in the art.

Capillary-channeled polymeric fiber as solid phase extraction media


A machine and process to compress ambient air using natural swell of ocean waves to store energy. The devise is a bi-directional air pump operated by ocean wave power of water buoyancy as well as earth gravity in a pressure vessel using a piston. The machine uses a large surface area as float connected by a rod to a small area as piston, housed in a pressure vessel to multiply compression of air. The compression of air is directly proportional to the respective surface areas of float to the piston attached with a rod inside the pressure vessel. An array of similar machines can be employed to multiply potential energy output.

The background description provided herein gives context for the present disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art.
There have been many attempts to find a viable option to harness sea wave energy, none of which have yet proved to be cost-effective. Universities and government institutions with access to large amounts of public funding have most frequently tried, boxing wave energy in several different ways.
Private industry has pursued several variations of closed loop systems of non-viable efficiencies, in large part because the required pressure cannot be achieved by simply covering the wave raised area to gain air pressure. The pressure distributes evenly in all directions, and thus, the pressure at the exit side diminishes significantly therefore air velocity is used as a last resort. Moreover, during inflation and deflation cycles, a major portion of incoming energy is cancelled out by the outgoing deflating energy.
These pioneers have thus only been using a small portion of a half curve of the sea wave which has resulted in little success.
Known classifications for existing wave technologies include: attenuator, point absorber, oscillating wave surge converter (OWSE), oscillating water column (OWC), overtopping, submerged pressure differential, bulge wave, rotating mass, water mass gravity force, and tidal energy devices. Specific wave energy conversion devices include the device of commonly-owned U.S. Pre-grant Pub. No. 2007/0130929, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, as well as those other devices referenced therein.
Whist significant technological advances have been made in the conversion of energy from some of these alternative areas such as wind and solar, the majority of wave powered generation systems proposed to date has not been physically practical and/or economically viable.
In this regard, numerous different types of wave powered generation systems have been proposed, most of which are founded on the basic principle of using the vertical motion inherent in the movement of waves to effect a corresponding displacement of a component of the generating system. However, all of the systems proposed so far have had their limitations.
For example, one such system utilizes oscillating floating paddles, the motion of which is converted directly or indirectly to electrical power. However, these floating paddle systems generally have low energy conversion efficiency and are unable to withstand adverse weather conditions.
Other systems include those based on the concept of channeling the waves through water displacement pumps, or alternatively into large accumulators or reservoirs, the hydrostatic pressure of the stored water subsequently being used to drive a turbine generator or the like. Again, the overall energy conversion efficiency is relatively low given the associated capital costs.
One of the alternative types of systems proposed so far, is that in which the vertical movement of the waves is translated to rotary movement to directly or indirectly drive a generator. In these systems the rising and falling sea water is channeled toward and harnessed within an air compression chamber. The chamber has at its exit an outlet duct or venturi, in which is located a wind turbine of a kind operable to rotate unidirectional under the periodically oscillating air flows induced by the wave motion.
Again, the main deficiencies with these wave driven air turbine systems is the restricted overall achievable energy efficiencies. This is due primarily to the limitations in the means of focusing the wave energy to maximize the wave displacement amplitude, and secondarily due to the operating efficiencies inherent in the turbine design.
Most of the prior art wave focusing devices have relied on planar reflection of the wave front and/or channeling of the wave front through a narrowed opening such that the vertical displacement or amplitude of the wave is magnified. Others include various means to alter the formation of the sea bed to controllably disrupt the wave propagation, so as to thereby maximize the wave amplitude at a predetermined location. Once again these types of systems have been limited so far in respect of the maximum achievable wave amplification for a given level of capital expenditure.
Most prior art turbines are designed for constant velocity rotation in response to fluid flow in one direction only, and as such are unable to operate continuously in response to the reversing fluid flow conditions present in wave powered applications of the kind discussed above. However, a number of specially configured unidirectional turbines have been designed for these reversing flow conditions, the most commonly used devices being based on what is known as the "Wells" turbine.
The original Wells turbine had a monoplane axial fan type structure with radially extending blades of an airfoil section that were generally symmetrical about the chord line where the blades are fixed with their planes of zero lift normal to the axis of the rotor.
These early turbines were known to suffer from stalling, often resulting in the shutdown of the wave energy harnessing plant. This stalling occurs due to the fact that such a turbine needs to be designed around anticipated levels of air flow. The size of the waves entering the turbine chamber cannot be controlled for all occasions. Therefore, when a larger sized wave enters the chamber, the momentum of the wave causes a correspondingly greater air flow rate through the turbine blades. As the rate of rotation of the blades is increases correspondingly to counter this increased airflow, the angle of attack of the airflow to the blades increases beyond the stalling angle and the turbine shuts down.
Some later prior art devices have attempted to overcome this problem by effectively installing two monoplane Wells turbines in series resulting in a bi-plane turbine. While this modified system solves the stalling problem, it does so at a penalty to the overall efficiency. This is because it sacrifices the first set of blades by allowing them to correspondingly stall and shut down, the second set of blades then continuing operation at a reduced pace and efficiency. This is due to the total air flow rate having now been decreased and smoothed out by the stalling and interruption of the air flow by the first turbine.
These prior art turbines usually rely on a low revving high mass construction in order to ensure smooth continuous rotation under periodically reversing driving air flows of the kind contemplated. These prior art turbines are often quite complex in design and usually have severe limitations in relation to operating conditions and/or efficiencies.
Most wave energy extraction devices were based on spinning motion but they were not effective enough because the frequency of waves and its force is always unpredictable therefore the momentum of spinning revolutions per minute (rpm) cannot be maintained without compromising with its efficiency.
Pumps have been used to compress air but they were designed to take advantage of the half cycle of the wave curve only whereas in the present device both sides of the wave curve is used, half by the buoyancy of the wave and the other half with the kinetic energy as dropping weight of the float to run the rest of the half curve of the wave with twice the outcome of compressed air production.
Some devices use water as a working medium and then convert that energy into to run water powered turbines. However, because water cannot be compressed (also known as "liquid iron" in hydraulics) this can cause problems.
Other devices use compressed air by bouncing movement of water wave. The captured energy is not even half the potential capacity of the falling weight of the wave.
Some devices have tried to keep their air pumps under the sea where the supply of ambient air is not possible and air has to be driven by some mechanical method. Other devices use a single cycle stroke or reciprocal stroke using the bouncing force of the wave but prior art has failed to extract direct energy of the weight of the sinking wave in any prior art. Even some other devices have tried to use both wave cycle energy by compressing the air in a tight vessel and decompression created by the sinking wave to run turbine but their process has a major defect of self-cancellation of two air columns in opposite direction wherein its efficiency is seriously compromised.
Some prior art devices have tried to use tension wires, springs or other mechanical methods to pull the float back but it inversely affects the performance of the compression in the first cycle and because of the resistance it deceases its compression by wasting this energy.
Some devices employ bidirectional pumps with too complex mechanisms. Their complexity is housed inside the pump body which seriously compromises its air volume in its size by taking space due to their design to let the air a passage by internal tubing and that drops its efficiency. Many inventors have tried to complete an electrical system with electrical generators at the site. Because they are designed for deep sea sites, they cannot perform with efficiency at shallow water sites.
Most prior art devices were designed to use compressed air to drive electric turbines directly, that are dependent upon the availability of waves, their strength and a waiting period for the next wave to drive the turbine with another push. They must depend on flywheels to keep the generators in motion.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a single cylinder which captures substantially all of the potential energy available from a falling sea wave, i.e. both sides of the wave curve, including all available air energy, water buoyancy, and kinetic energy. There also exists a need in the art to store compressed air such that it can be used for different applications at will. The collection of this energy should be set to run continuously, uniformly regulated at pre-set pressure without any interruptions, and should operate regardless of the frequency of waves.


A method of inhibiting or reducing occurrence or intensity of pruritus including administering to a patient an effective amount of one or more of the morphinan derivative having a nitrogen-containing cyclic group of the Formula (Ia):

Pruritus (itching) occurs in a variety of dermatoses with inflammation. It is known that pruritus is also sensed in internal diseases, pregnancy and vermination, and the pruritus is sometimes induced by drugs and by psychogenic reasons. Since quantitative and objective evaluation of pruritus is difficult, the study thereof has not been advanced, and the mechanism that induces pruritus has not yet been completely clarified. Reported substances which induce pruritus include histamine, substance P, bradykinin, proteinases, prostaglandins and opioid peptides.
For the treatment of pruritus, antihistamines and antiallergic drugs, which are oral drugs, have been mainly employed. External preparations such as antihistamines, adrenocortical steroid dermatologic preparations, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, camphor, menthol, phenol, salicylic acid, tar, crotamiton, capsaicin, and humectants (urea, Hirudoid, and vaseline) have also been used. However, oral drugs have some problems, e.g. a long lag time before presenting effects, and adverse events such as suppressive effects on the central nervous system (drowsiness and malaise) and impairment of the gastrointestinal system. External preparations also have problems in that the antipruritic effect is insufficient, and especially, administration of steroid drugs for an extended period of time brings about systemic side effects such as decreased adrenal function as well as topical side effects such as rebound phenomenon, skin atrophy, steroid purpura, striae cutis distensae and steroid acne.
As for the findings concerning the relationship between the compounds having morphinan skeleton and pruritus, it has been reported that pruritus was induced when morphine was epidurally or intrathecally administered, opposite to the cases where the compounds used in the present invention are administered (J. H. Jaffe and W. R. Martin. Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Macmillan, N.Y., 1985). On the other hand, it has been also reported the pruritus induced by intrathecally-administered morphine was suppressed by naloxone, an opioid antagonist (J. Bernstein et al. J. Invest. Dermatol., 78, 82-83, 1982), and severe pruritus in cases of cholestasia with hepathopathy was suppressed by nalmefene, an opioid antagonist (J. R. Thornton and M. S. Losowsky. Dr. Med. J., 297, 1501-1504, 1988). Further, morphinan compounds of which 6-position is substituted by a chain group, represented by the following general formula, which have antipruritic actions are also known (PCT International Publication WO 98/23290):

On the other hand, morphinan compounds having a nitrogen-containing cyclic group are known, which are described in J. Bernstein et al. J. Invest. Dermatol., 78, 82-83, 1982 and J. R. Thornton and M. S. Losowsky, Br. Med. J., 297, 1501-1504, 1988. The disclosed uses of the compounds are analgesic and antitussive only (J. Bernstein et al., J. Invest. Dermatol., 78, 82-83, 1982 and J. R. Thornton and M. S. Losowsky, Br. Med. J., 297, 1501-1504, 1988). In G. Simon et al. Tetrahedron. 50, 9757-9768, 1994, C. Simon et al., Synth. Commun. 22, 913-921, 1992 and L. M. Sayre et al., J. Med. Chem., 27, 1325-1335, 1984, only the compounds are described and no use thereof is disclosed (G. Simon et al., Tetrahedron, 50, 9757-9768, 1994, C. Simon et al. Synth. Commun. 22, 913-921, 1992 and L. M. Sayre et al., J. Med. Chem. 27, 1325-1335, 1984) (Use for the treatment of urinary frequency or urinary incontinence was disclosed after the priority date of this application (PCT international Publication WO 04/33457)). However, there is no constant relationship between the structures of these compounds as well as the pharmacological activities through opioid receptors and the like and the antipruritic action according to the present invention, so that the references do not infer the prominent and useful antipruritic action of the antipruritic according to the present invention characterized in that the morphinan structure has a nitrogen-containing cyclic group at its 6-position.
It could therefore be helpful to provide novel antipruritic useful for the therapy of pruritus accompanying various diseases.

Abstract: wherein R1 is cyclopropylmethyl; R2 and R3 are independently hydrogen, hydroxy, C1-C5 alkoxy, C3-C7 alkenyloxy, C7-C13 aralkyloxy or C1-C5 alkanoyloxy; and the Formula (Ia) includes (+), (−) and (±) isomers or the pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salt thereof.


The present invention relates to a method of coupling multiple binding agents to respective areas of a substrate surface by hydrodynamic addressing, using two laminar fluid flows that flow together in the same direction over the substrate surface with an interface to each other to successively couple the binding agents to the substrate areas, wherein each successive coupling of a binding agent to a surface area is followed or preceded by selective deactivation or activation of a selected surface area according to a defined protocol. The invention also relates to the use of such a binding agent-coupled substrate surface for analytical purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of coupling binding agents to a substrate surface by passing a binding agent-containing fluid flow over the surface, and more particularly by using hydrodynamic addressing techniques to selectively direct fluid flows to desired surface areas. The invention also relates to analytical use of the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flow cells are used extensively nowadays in a variety of analytical systems. Typically, the flow cell has an inlet opening, a flow channel with a sensing surface, and an outlet opening. A sample fluid to be investigated is introduced through the inlet opening, passes through the flow channel and leaves the flow cell through the outlet opening. The flow cell may have more than one inlet opening and optionally more than one outlet opening to permit desired manipulations of the flow pattern within the flow cell.
The sensing surface usually comprises a substance layer to which a recognition element for an analyte in the sample is immobilised, typically a biochemical affinity partner to the analyte. When the analyte interacts with the recognition element, a physical or chemical change is produced on the sensing surface that can be detected by a detector, e.g., an optical, electrochemical or calorimetric detector. A flow channel may contain two or more sensing surfaces with different recognition elements.
The sensing surface or surfaces in the flow cell may be functionalized, or sensitized, in situ, i.e., within the flow cell. WO 90/05305 discloses a method for functionalising a sensing surface having functional groups thereon by passing a reagent solution containing a bi- or polyfunctional ligand over the surface, the ligand having a function which immobilizes the ligand on the sensing surface and at least one more function which is exposed on the sensing surface for interaction with the analyte. In a specific embodiment, the sensing surface has a bound carboxymethyl-dextran layer. After activation of the surface through derivatization with N-hydroxysuccinimide, mediated by N-ethyl-N′-(dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, a ligand in the form of aminotheophylline or aminobiotin is coupled to the activated surface.
WO 99/36766 discloses methods and systems using hydrodynamic addressing techniques to allow immobilization of different ligands to discrete sensing areas within a single flow cell channel, as well as to permit controlled sample delivery to such sensitized areas. For a Y-type flow cell, which has an inlet end with two inlet ports and an outlet end with one outlet port, and a sensing surface between the ends, WO 99/36766 describes sensitization of two spaced apart sensing areas with different ligands. This is done by providing a laminar flow of a sensitising fluid adjacent to a laminar flow of non-sensitizing (blocking) fluid such that the fluids flow together over the sensing surface with an interface to each other. By adjustment of the relative flow rates of the two fluids the interface may be positioned laterally such that sensitising fluid selectively contacts a desired area of the sensing surface. More specifically, if the sensitizing fluid initially contains a first ligand capable of binding to the sensing surface and the interface is positioned such that the sensitizing fluid covers, say, about one third of the lateral extension of the sensing surface, and the blocking fluid covers the remaining two thirds, the first ligand will be immobilized to the first-mentioned third of the sensing surface. Then, the sensitizing fluid is replaced by blocking fluid, and the blocking fluid is replaced by a sensitizing fluid containing a second ligand. By positioning the interface such that the sensitizing fluid again covers about one third of the lateral extension of the sensing surface, now, however, at the opposite side of the flow path, the second ligand will be immobilized to that area, thereby providing a sensing surface which, as seen laterally, has about one third immobilized with the first ligand, about one third immobilized with the second ligand, and an intermediate non-immobilized third which only has been in contact with blocking fluid and may suitably be used as a reference area.
For providing more than two differently sensitized sensing surface areas, WO 99/36766 discloses the use of a so-called ψ-type flow cell having three inlets and a single outlet. In this embodiment, a laminar flow of sensitizing fluid is sandwiched between two laminar flows of blocking fluid, and the sensitizing fluid may thereby be displaced laterally to selectively contact a number of sensing surface areas.
A similar use of a ψ-type flow cell is disclosed in WO 00/56444.
While the ψ-type flow cell is advantageous in comparison with the Y-type flow cell in that the former readily permits sensitization with more than two different ligands, the ψ-type flow cell requires the use of an additional pump (one pump for each fluid flow inlet), which considerably complicates the control of the different laminar flows. It would therefore be desired to be able to use a Y-type flow cell to sensitize a sensing surface with more than two different ligands.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method which permits coupling of multiple different ligands, or generally binding agents, to respective surface areas by hydrodynamic addressing using only two adjacent laminar fluid flows, such as e.g., in a Y-type flow cell.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of coupling binding agents to a substrate surface