Techniques are described herein for analyzing textual responses to questions by evaluating the responses according to varying sets of rules. The text of a response is analyzed against the sets of rules and a series of values are generated as a result of, and based upon, the analysis. These values are calculated to determine a score value for the response, which is compared to a threshold value and/or to the scores of other responses to the same or a different question. The score value of the response is used to determine the likelihood of the response containing useful information in response to the question. Also, based on the third numerical value, the text of the response is displayed on a web page according to a specified format or order.

The growth of the Internet has allowed people from all parts of the world to communicate with each other at a rapid pace. This capacity for immense sharing of knowledge has led to the creation of websites devoted to enabling people to tap into the expertise of others in ways never before imagined. These knowledge-sharing social sites are designed to allow users to ask questions and receive answers from other users.
A drawback to the wide availability of users able to post answers to questions is the increased amount of noise to signal; that is, the more answers posted to a question, the greater the amount of uninformed guesses, banter, and otherwise irrelevant user contributions that must be waded through in order to find quality responses.
For example, in response to a question about automobile repair, there may be one hundred responses, or "answers". Of these one hundred answers, if only ten percent are worthwhile, that means a user must read 90 answers that either give wrong information, no information, or incomplete information. The more difficult it becomes for a user to find quality answers to her questions, the less likely the user is to frequent the web site. If this occurs on a large enough scale, then fewer users will visit the website, thereby reducing the audience available to answer questions and lessening the scope of knowledge.
One approach to filtering out lower-quality answers is human interaction. Humans may read answers and manually remove or identify answers that are deemed uninformative. A drawback to this approach is that it is time- and labor-intensive, and requires a large number of people to continuously monitor answers. Also, human moderation of answers may be prone to personal biases, either about what is considered an "appropriate" answer to a question in a particular subject or about the individual answering the question.
Therefore, an approach for determining the quality of posts on a web site or message board, which does not experience the disadvantages of the above approaches, is desirable. The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


Methods for depositing a kesterite film comprising a compound of the formula:Cu2−xZn1+ySn(S1−zSez)4+q,wherein 0≦x≦1; 0≦y≦1; 0≦z≦1; −1≦q≦1, generally include contacting a hydrazine-based solvent, a source of Cu, a source of Sn, a source of Zn carboxylate, a source of at least one of S and Se, under conditions sufficient to form a solution substantially free of solid particles; applying the solution onto a substrate to form a thin layer; and annealing the thin layer at a temperature, pressure, and length of time sufficient to form the kesterite film. Also disclosed are hydrazine-based precursor solutions for forming a kesterite film and a photovoltaic device including the kesterite film formed by the above method.

The present disclosure relates to a method of depositing a kesterite film. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method of depositing a kesterite film from a precursor solution.
Large-scale production of photovoltaic devices requires high-throughput technologies and abundant environmentally friendly materials. Thin-film chalcogenide-based solar cells provide a promising pathway to cost parity between photovoltaic and conventional energy sources.
Currently, only Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 and CdTe technologies have reached commercial production and offer over 10 percent power conversion efficiency. These technologies generally employ (i) indium and tellurium, which are relatively rare elements in the earth's crust, or (ii) cadmium, which is a highly toxic heavy metal.
Copper-zinc-tin-chalcogenide kesterites have been investigated as potential alternatives because they are based on readily available and lower cost elements. However, photovoltaic cells with kesterites, even when produced using high cost vacuum-based methods, at best only <6.7 percent efficiencies, see Katagiri, H. et al. Development of CZTS-based thin film solar cells; Thin Solid Films 517, 2455-2460 (2009).
The commonly owned applications: U.S. Pub. App. No. 2011/0094557A1, and PCT App. No. WO 2011/051012 to Todorov et al. and a publication by T. Todorov, K. Reuter, D. B. Mitzi, Advanced Materials, (2010) Vol. 22, pages 1-4, generally describe a hydrazine-based deposition approach of depositing homogeneous chalcogenide layers from mixed slurries containing both dissolved and solid metal chalcogenide species dispersions of metal chalcogenides in systems that do not require organic binders. Upon anneal the particle-based precursors readily react with the solution component and form large-grained films with good electrical characteristics. Recently, this process achieved world-record efficiency for this class of materials of 11.1% (T. Todorov, J. Tang, S. Bag, O. Gunawan, T. Gokmen, Y. Zhu, D. B. Mitzi, "Beyond 11% Efficiency: Characteristics of State-of-the-Art Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells", Advanced Energy Materials, early view: DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201200348).
A major challenge in hydrazine-based copper-zinc-tin-chalcogenide kesterite processing including copper-zinc-tin-sulfide (CZTS), copper-zinc-tin-selenide (CZTSe), and copper-tin-zinc-sulfur-selenium (CZTSSe), is the poor solubility of the zinc chalcogenide-hydrazinates that generally form a solid phase in the ink. Unlike the various soluble chalcogenides compounds, zinc compounds such as ZnS and ZnSe, together with most transition metals and metal chalcogenides, show negligible solubility in hydrazine-based solvent systems. The morphology and dispersibility of the solid phase of these zinc compounds are difficult to control resulting in poor reproducibility of the hydrazine-based copper-zinc-tin-chalcogenide kesterite slurries that may cause micro-scale compositional non-uniformities, thereby potentially deteriorating device performance. Furthermore, particle-based inks may have poor compatibility with liquid-coating equipment such as slit-casting and spin coating due to non-Newtonian liquid properties of these slurries.
A pure solution precursor ink formulation for copper-zinc-tin-chalcogenide kesterite based on DMSO solutions was previously reported (W. Ki, H. Hillhouse Adv. Energy Mater. 2011, 1, 732-735). However, maximum efficiency reached only 4.1% possibly due to difficult to eliminate impurities introduced with the selected precursors. Another example employing sol-gel solutions in methoxyethanol reports 2.2% efficiency.

Solution processing of kesterite semiconductors

International Business Machines Corporation


A chromium-based reflective coating for a polymeric substrate, wherein the coating has a thickness of 200 nm or less and is an alloy of chromium and a dopant material, the dopant material being selected from the hexagonally close-packed transition metals, the alloy having a crystal structure of a primary body-centered cubic phase in coexistence with a secondary omega hexagonally close-packed phase.

Polymeric materials have many advantages in both commercial and industrial applications compared to traditional materials such as glass. Typically they afford their user design freedom and advantageous properties such as decreased weight and reduced cost of production. An interesting area of application for the surface engineering of polymeric substrates is the design of ultrathin coatings for use in 'everyday' environments, such as easy-clean coatings on smart phones to mirrors and decorative (colourful) coatings in the automotive industry. Prolonged exposure to these 'everyday' environmental conditions requires such ultrathin coatings to possess a level of robustness against factors such as acidic or caustic environments, temperature variations from as low as −80° C. to highs of +80° C., variations in relative humidity, as well as abrasive conditions inflicted by everyday wear and tear.
Additionally, in almost all applications employing such coatings, there is a need for the coating to maintain its integrity over extended periods of operation under varying environmental conditions. That is, the coating should not significantly change reflectivity or colour within this time, nor should it delaminate or break away from the underlying substrate.
However, the application of appropriate coatings to polymeric materials is particularly difficult given that traditional coating methods generally require substrates that can withstand high temperatures (often >150° C.). As most common polymeric materials have relatively low softening temperatures, there is a paucity of appropriate coatings for these substrates.
To date the majority of work on the development of robust abrasion-resistant ultrathin coatings has thus focussed on the deposition of hard compounds such as borides, carbides and nitrides to hard/heat-resistant substrates such as metal and ceramics. However, the high temperatures used in the deposition techniques are inappropriate for use on polymeric substrates. Therefore, there is a need for ultrathin coatings that can be applied to polymeric substrates with relatively low softening temperatures, which are still capable of delivering desired physical properties such as abrasion resistance, reflectivity (preferably with a R % greater than 50%) and neutral (or a desired) colour.
With specific regard to colour, reference throughout this specification to a "neutral" colour is reference to a colour that is defined by measured L*, a* and b* values in accordance with the 1976 CIE L*a*b* Space (or CIELAB) colour model, which is an approximately uniform colour scale organised in cube form. In the orthogonal a* and b* colour axes, positive a* values are red, negative a* values are green, positive b* values are yellow and negative b* values are blue, while the vertical scale for lightness (or greyscale) L* runs from 0 (black) to 100 (white), allowing the positioning of a total colour E in three points. The Chroma (C*) of the colour is defined as V(a*+2+b*+2), and is used to quantify the magnitude of the colour independent of its lightness. Ideally, for the colour E to be neutral, the C* value will be less than or equal to 1 and the colour E will thus be close to the neutral L* axis.
The above discussion of background is included to explain the context of the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge at the priority date of any one of the claims.


An active noise control apparatus for reducing noise from a noise source includes a microphone for detecting noise produced by the noise source, and a generalized finite impulse response (FIR) filter for receiving noise signals of the detected noise from the microphone and generating control signals for reducing the noise from the noise source. A speaker produces sound based on the control signals from the generalized FIR filter for substantially canceling the noise from the noise source.

Sound is an undesired result of many desirable functions. The control of undesired sound is important in any number of devices. Without some control of sound emitted, for example, by modern devices, many modern environments would be largely intolerable to people. Be it the household, the office, the inside of a vehicle, a manufacturing plant, everyday devices produce noise that must be controlled.
One aspect of noise reduction is to make devices and systems that inherently produce less noise. For example, in computers a solid state memory produces little to no noise when compared to a disk drive. Similarly, an LCD display produces little to no noise when compared to a CRT.
In many instances, however, noise creating features cannot be eliminated. Examples of noise producing devices include motors and fans, both of which are often necessary to provide desirable operations. Similarly, power supplies, transformers, and other device components produce noise. Circulating liquids, in fluid or gas form, also create noise. Component heating and cooling create noise, such as noise emitted when plastic and metal parts cool from high temperature. Accordingly, canceling noise after it is created is often important.
Passive noise cancellation includes sound absorbing materials. These are highly effective. However, for many reasons, there is an increased interest in active noise cancellation. An active noise cancellation system may be, in some instances, more efficient and less bulky than passive noise cancellation. There remains a need for an improved active noise cancellation.
Many systems that require noise control exhibit two types of disturbances: periodic and non-periodic. Recently, work in the area of repetitive control has produced good results in the rejection of periodic disturbances. Repetitive controllers can be viewed as an extension of the internal model principle. An internal model, often called a memory loop, is placed in the feedback loop in order to cancel the repetitive disturbance. Since the standard memory loop is marginally unstable, it is impractical to implement without modification. Typically, two filters are used to modify the memory loop. One filter is used to create a stable model, and one filter is used to eliminate high frequency components. This method results in a high order internal model that is designed on a trial and error basis. Additionally, non-periodic effects are often left out of the analysis, and the resulting controller can over amplify these components.
The invention is directed to methods and systems to address these needs.

Active noise control method and apparatus including feedforward and feedback controllers

The Regents of the University of California


An application for a method of making a candle includes providing a candle core and adding a base layer of wax to the candle core. Next, an image area is cut out of the base layer large enough to contain an image and the base layer is peeled away from the candle core in the image area. An adhesion layer of wax is added to the candle core. An image is installed in the image area. A clear layer of wax is added to the candle core, also covering the image. An outer layer of wax is added to the candle core, also covering the image area then the image area is cut out of the outer layer and the outer layer is peeled away from the candle core in the image area.

Paraffin waxes have been used to make candles for hundreds of years. Early candles were made by dipping a wick in molten paraffin ladled into molds. Upon cooling, the candle was ready for use. Additives were added to molten paraffin to color the wax, but many of the early additives interfered with the burning of the candle or caused toxic fumes, contaminating the air in which the candles burned. Subsequently, pigments of either mineral or organic origin were developed which did not interfere with candle burning or contaminate the air around the burning candle. With such discovery, it was not long before candle makers started decorating candles such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,817,225; 2,841,972; 4,096,299; and 6,450,802. Many different colors in a single candle provide more decorative patterns and is highly desirable. Dipping candles into a colored wax, then directly into another colored wax, and blowing on the surface of the candle as it comes out of the colored wax has been a traditional way of making decorative patterns on candles. However, this procedure causes the wax to blend and separate giving a marble like effect. This procedure contaminates one color with another, losing the original color in time and the color becomes muddied. Current techniques cannot produce candles that are free from the bleeding of one color layer into another. In addition, attempts have been made in the prior art to add pigmented waxes of one color over a pigmented wax of another color. However, this has previously proved unsatisfactory in that the outer pigmented layer sticks to the lower pigmented layer and therefore, cannot be cleanly peeled off.
A solution to these problems is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,752 to Weathersbee. This patent teaches a method of forming a candle with multiple peelable layers of wax. This patent does not show how an image would be inserted into a candle using these peelable layers.
What is needed is a method of forming a candle containing one or more images using peelable layers.

Method of forming a candle with imbedded images


A new and distinct grapevine variety characterized by possessing elliptic shaped, medium sized green-yellowish seedless grapes having a crisp flesh texture. The grapes have a mild neutral flavor, medium and up sugar content, and excellent eating quality. The new variety possesses exceptional late-ripening characteristics. Additionally, the bunches have the ability to stay on the vine for a month or more, while maintaining commercial harvest quality.

This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new variety of grapevine as herein described and illustrated. The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' was first hybridized by David W. Cain and Michael J. Striem in Wasco, Kern County, Calif., the variety being originated by controlled hybridization and subsequent culture of seed traces and embryo rescue procedures.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' is characterized by producing late-season ripening, green-yellowish, seedless grapes with mild neutral flavor. The berries have a naturally medium size and an elliptic shape, crisp flesh texture, medium and up sugar content and excellent eating quality. The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' is exceptional with its late ripening habit, as the grapes ripen after any other seedless grape cultivars grown and marketed commercially in California. Furthermore, the bunches are able to stay on the vine for a month or more, while still maintaining commercial harvest quality.
The seed parent is the varietal selection '92147-050-238' (unpatented) and the pollen parent is the varietal selection '92187-055-030' (unpatented). The parent varieties were first crossed in May, 1999, by David W. Cain and Michael J. Striem. The new variety was created by hybridization of two "seedless" grapes possessing small, abortive, vestigial ovules. From the initial population of hybrid ovules, embryo rescue methods were used to produce a population from which the present variety was selected. The date of first sowing was August, 1999, and the date of first flowering was May, 2001.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' was first asexually propagated in December, 2001, in Wasco, Kern County, Calif., by Dr. Michael Striem using hardwood cuttings.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' resembles its seed parent '92147-050-238' in characteristics such as berry color and shape. However, 'Sugrathirtythree' has a much larger natural berry size (approximately 4.55 grams) as compared to the natural berry size of the seed parent (approximately 3.35 grams). Additionally, the seed trace of 'Sugrathirtythree' is very small and soft, whereas the seed parent '92147-050-238' has a noticeable, dark and hard seed trace.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' resembles its pollen parent '92187-055-030' in characteristics such as berry color and shape. However, 'Sugrathirtythree' has a much larger natural berry size (approximately 4.55 grams) as compared to the natural berry size of the pollen parent (approximately 4.26 grams). Furthermore, while the berries of the pollen parent turn brown when exposed to direct sunshine, the berries of the new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' remain light-green with a milky-creamy/opaque look, turning slightly yellowish at the end of the harvest season.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtythree' resembles the comparable variety 'Sugraone' (U.S. Pat. No. 3,106) in its appearance, bunch structure and berry shape. However, 'Sugrathirtythree' ripens about 7-9 weeks later than 'Sugraone'. In addition, the new variety 'Sugrathirtytree' develops higher sugar levels than 'Sugraone' at harvest.
The new 'Sugrathirtythree' variety has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations by, for example, cuttings.
It is to be understood that variations of the usual magnitude from the described above may occur with changes in growing conditions, irrigation, fertilization, pruning, management and climatic variations.

Grapevine plant named ‘Sugrathirtythree’


A solution for deploying a software image comprising a target operating system on a target computing machine is proposed. A corresponding method comprises mounting the software image as a storage device, identifying each software program comprised in the software image, downloading a configuration logic for configuring each software program, applying each configuration logic against the software image, and booting the target computing machine from the target operating system.

Deployment of software images is a commonplace activity in modern computing systems; generally speaking, a software image is a structure that encapsulates the content of a mass memory of a computing machine. The software images are suitable to be moved, copied, replicated, protected and profiled in a very simple way. These advantages are clearly perceived when the software images are used in virtual (computing) machines, i.e., emulations by software of physical (computing) machines provided by a virtualisation layer; indeed, in this case whatever virtual machine may be provisioned on-demand by simply instantiating and then booting it from a desired software image. For example, this is particularly useful in cloud (computing) environments, wherein users of a network are allowed to access computing resources (comprising virtual machines) on-demand as services. In this way, the users are relieved from the management of the actual physical resources that are needed to implement the cloud resources (for example, their installation and maintenance); particularly, this provides economies of scale, improved exploitation of the physical resources, and high peak-load capacity. Moreover, the users are now allowed to perform tasks (for example, on a pay-per-use basis) that were not feasible previously because of their cost and complexity (especially for individuals or small companies). The de-coupling of the cloud resources from their implementation provides the illusion of an infinite capacity thereof; moreover, the de-localization of the physical resources implementing the cloud resources enables the users to access them from anywhere.
However, every cloud environment generally requires specific configurations of its virtual machines; a typical example is the setting of their operating systems (for example, with respect to network parameters). Therefore, different software images may be required for deploying a same structure on different cloud environments, even if they use the same virtualization layer.
Alternatively, the same software image may be deployed on different cloud environments, and then specifically configured with a process know as re-activation; the re-activation process may be performed either manually or by means of suitable scripts that are executed automatically at a first bootstrap of the computing machines.
For example, it is possible to boot a (pristine) computing machine from a network. More specifically, a boot loader launches a network boot loader (for example, the PXE) embedded in a network adapter thereof since it does not find any bootable device; the network boot loader exploits a dynamic address service (for example, the DHCP) to obtain a dynamic address, and then downloads a network bootstrap program (for example, the WinPE by Microsoft Corporation, trademarks thereof) providing a minimal operating system. The network bootstrap program applies the required configurations, and then re-boots the computing machine from the actual operating system of the software image.
A different technique is described in US-A-2012/0204173 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference). In this case, a computing device may configure virtual machines (either before or after their booting) by using configuration commands. Logic associated with reading from and writing to the application and operating system files may be encapsulated in a virtual machine module, which may have an Application Programming Interface (API). The computing device may include a memory storing computer code including an access module to access one or more application files and operating system files included in each of the virtual machine image files; the access module may include an operating system extension provided by a Virtual Machine Management System (VMMS) that mounts a virtual machine image file into an operating system as a drive or a directory accessible by code executing within the operating system.
However, the configuration of each software image is generally performed in the same context of the operating system that is used in a production environment thereof; therefore, configuration and usage of the software image are tightly correlated.
In any case, what is configured in the software image and how this configuration occurs are always mixed together.

Deployment of software images with distinct configuration logic


In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a semiconductor device having voltage output function trim circuitry and a method for the same are provided. In a particular embodiment, the method includes electrically coupling to a main circuit of a semiconductor device a plurality of resistances each operable to determine a different output voltage range of the main circuit, electrically coupling each of the plurality of resistances to a respective one of a plurality of fuses, electrically coupling each of a plurality of fuses to a respective one of a plurality of function trim pads, and electrically decoupling all but one of the plurality of resistances by applying a respective current between the respective function trim pads and an output node sufficient to open the respective fuses.

Semiconductor devices are often produced in families that share a common parent design but differ in terms of a selected output parameter, such as output voltage. In devices such as these, different output voltages are typically produced by coupling the main circuitry of the device with an appropriate resistor value, selected from a bank of resistors that is common to the entire family, to produce the desired output voltage. Although the entire family includes the common resistor bank, each design is produced from its own wafer utilizing a separate metal layer mask that provides an interconnect to the proper resistor value to produce the desired output voltage for that particular design. Despite the flexibility offered by the common parent design, the use of individual wafers for each of the voltage ranges wastes circuit space on the wafer and increases the process cycle time during wafer production. Furthermore, having to shift between the individual child designs during production may add to the production costs of the devices.

Semiconductor device having voltage output function trim circuitry and method for same


The present application describes inhibitors of factor Xa with a neutral P1 specificity group of formula I: ##STR1## or pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms thereof, wherein R and E may be groups such as methoxy and halo.

WO 96/28427 describes benzamidine anticoagulants of the formula: ##STR2## wherein Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 are O, N(R), S or OCH.sub.2 and the central ring may be phenyl or a variety of heterocycles. The presently claimed compounds do not contain the Z.sup.1 linker or the substitution pattern of the above compounds.
WO 95/13155 and PCT International Application US 96/07692 describe isoxazoline and isoxazole fibrinogen receptor antagonists of the formula: ##STR3## wherein R.sup.1 may be a basic group, U--V may be a six-membered aromatic ring, W--X may be a variety of linear or cyclic groups, and Y is an oxy group. Thus, these compounds all contain an acid functionality (i.e., W--X--C(.dbd.O)--Y). In contrast, the presently claimed compounds do not contain such an acid functionality.
EP 0,513,387 depicts active oxygen inhibitors which are oxazoles or thiazoles of the formula: ##STR4## wherein X is O or S, R.sup.2 is preferably hydrogen, and both R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 are substituted cyclic groups, with at least one being phenyl. The presently claimed invention does not relate to these types of oxazoles or thiazoles.
WO 95/18111 addresses fibrinogen receptor antagonists, containing basic and acidic termini, of the formula: ##STR5## wherein R.sup.1 represents the basic termini, U is an alkylene or heteroatom linker, V may be a heterocycle, and the right hand portion of the molecule represents the acidic termini. The presently claimed compounds do not contain the acidic or basic termini of WO 95/18111.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,071, Himmelsbach et al depict cell aggregation inhibitors which are 5-membered heterocycles of the formula: ##STR6## wherein the heterocycle may be aromatic and groups A-B-C-and F-E-D-are attached to the ring system. A-B-C-can be a wide variety of substituents including a basic group attached to an aromatic ring. The F-E-D-group, however, would appear to be an acidic functionality which differs from the present invention. Furthermore, use of these compounds as inhibitors of factor Xa is not discussed.
Baker et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,103, discuss 5-HT.sub.1 agonists which are indole substituted five-membered heteroaromatic compounds of the formula: ##STR7## wherein R.sup.1 may be pyrrolidine or piperidine and A may be a basic group including amino and amidino. Baker et al, however, do not indicate that A can be a substituted ring system like that contained in the presently claimed heteroaromatics.
Baker et al, in WO 94/02477, discuss 5-HT.sub.1 agonists which are imidazoles, triazoles, or tetrazoles of the formula: ##STR8## wherein R.sup.1 represents a nitrogen containing ring system or a nitrogen substituted cyclobutane, and A may be a basic group including amino and amidino. But, Baker et al do not indicate that A can be a substituted ring system like that contained in the presently claimed heteroaromatics.
Tidwell et al, in J. Med. Chem. 1978, 21(7), 613-623, describe a series of diarylamidine derivatives including 3,5-bis (4-amidinophenyl)isoxazole. This series of compounds was tested against thrombin, trypsin, and pancreatic kallikrein. The presently claimed invention does not include these types of compounds.
Activated factor Xa, whose major practical role is the generation of thrombin by the limited proteolysis of prothrombin, holds a central position that links the intrinsic and extrinsic activation mechanisms in the final common pathway of blood coagulation. The generation of thrombin, the final serine protease in the pathway to generate a fibrin clot, from its precursor is amplified by formation of prothrombinase complex (factor Xa, factor V, Ca.sup.2+ and phospholipid). Since it is calculated that one molecule of factor Xa can generate 138 molecules of thrombin (Elodi, S., Varadi, K.: Optimization of conditions for the catalytic effect of the factor IXa-factor VIII Complex: Probable role of the complex in the amplification of blood coagulation. Thromb. Res. 1979, 15, 617-629), inhibition of factor Xa may be more efficient than inactivation of thrombin in interrupting the blood coagulation system.
Therefore, efficacious and specific inhibitors of factor Xa are needed as potentially valuable therapeutic agents for the treatment of thromboembolic disorders. It is thus desirable to discover new factor Xa inhibitors.

Inhibitors of factor Xa with a neutral P1 specificity group


Tumor formation and reduced transcription of both sFRP1 gene and sFRP2 gene were found in Dlg gene knock-out mice, and thereby the following has been provided: an agent for enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP, containing a compound having an effect of enhancing the expression and/or function of Dlg; an agent for inhibiting tumor formation or an agent for preventing and/or treating a tumor disease, containing the agent for enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP; a method of enhancing the expression and/or function of sFRP, comprising enhancing the expression and/or function of Dlg; a method of inhibiting tumor formation or a method of preventing and/or treating a tumor disease, comprising using the aforementioned enhancing agent or the aforementioned enhancing method; a non-human mammal that is deficient in one or both of Dlg alleles; a cell originating in the mammal; a method of identifying a compound, comprising using the mammal or the cell; and a method of examining a tumor tissue or a tumor cell, comprising measuring the expression and/or function of Dlg.

Dlg gene is found to be expressed ubiquitously in many tissues and cells. Dlg gene encodes a protein (hereinafter, may be referred to Dlg) which is reported to bind to APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) via the C-terminal XVT motif of APC (Non-Patent Reference 1). APC gene was isolated as a responsible gene for familial adenomatous polyposis (hereinafter, may be referred to FAP). An abnormal APC gene has been detected in FAP and also in many cases of sporadic colorectal tumor. This suggests that the abnormal APC gene may be an important factor for onset of colorectal cancer. In addition, over-expression of APC blocks cell cycle progression. The expression of both Dlg and APC was found in rat colon epithelial cells and at the synapse in cultured hippocampal neurons. These findings suggest that the Dlg-APC complex may participate in regulation of both cell cycle progression and neuronal function.
APC gene encodes a large protein of 300 kDa (hereinafter, may be referred to APC) which forms a complex with β-catenin and negatively regulates Wnt/Wingless signal (hereinafter, may be referred to Wnt signal) transduction pathway. The Wnt signal was found as a signal transduction system involved in regulation of morphogenesis, and is known to participate in numerous events including development, regulation of stem cell differentiation, and tumor formation. Recently, the Wnt signal was reported to be an important factor for stem cell in its proliferation regulation and survival (Non-Patent References 2 and 3).
The Wnt signal induced by Wnt ligand is transduced into a cell via a frizzled membrane receptor (hereinafter, may be referred to Fz) on the cell membrane.
In recent years, a secretory protein that binds to both Fz and Wnt, namely sFRP, was found out (Non-Patent Reference 4). sFRP binds to Fz and Wnt outside a cell and works as an antagonist of the Wnt signal, and thereby participates in regulation of the Wnt signal (Non-Patent Reference 5). In addition, it was reported that the sFRP function was reduced in a colorectal cancer cell due to methylation of sFRP gene and that restoration of the sFRP function in a colorectal cancer cell induced reduction of the Wnt signal in the cell (Non-Patent Reference 6).
Non-patent Reference 1: Matsumine, A. et al., Science, 1996, Vol. 272, p. 1020-1023.
Non-patent Reference 2: Willert, K. et al., Nature, 2003, Vol. 423, p. 448-452.
Non-patent Reference 3: Reya, T. et al., Nature, 2003, Vol. 423, p. 409-414.
Non-patent Reference 4: Kawano, Y. et al., Journal of Cell Science, 2003, Vol. 116, p. 2627-2634.
Non-patent Reference 5: Jones, S. E. et al., BioEssays, 2002, Vol. 24, p. 811-820.
Non-patent Reference 6: Suzuki, H. et al., Nature Genetics, 2004, Vol. 36, p. 417-422 (published online on Mar. 14, 2004).


A fabric resistant to degradation of strength and elastomeric properties upon exposure to ultraviolet irradiation is provided. The fabric includes an elastomeric fiber component which makes up not less than 40 percent by weight of the fabric. This elastomeric fiber component exhibits a tensile strength of not less than about 8 pounds force and retains at least 80 percent of its tensile strength following accelerated exposure to ultraviolet irradiation.

Upholstery fabrics which are used in automotive applications are exposed to substantial amounts of ultraviolet irradiation due to the intrusion of sunlight into the automotive interior through the wind screen, windows and other viewing surfaces which are necessary to permit operation of the vehicle. While fading and other aesthetic degradation arising from such ultraviolet exposure has been dealt with primarily through the development of improved dyeing practices and materials, strength degradation of the fabrics arising from ultraviolet exposure has remained a substantial issue. This issue is becoming increasingly important as consumer expectations regarding the long term performance of such fabrics continues to grow.
Materials useful in the construction of previous fabrics for automotive interior applications have generally been synthetic woven materials as are well know in the art. The use of synthetic orientated thermoplastic elastomers in support members for automotive seats has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,738 to Himelreich, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,739 to Gretzinger et al. (both incorporated by reference). Although such elastomeric materials were previously available it is believed that such materials lacked sufficient ultraviolet stability to be used in surface fabrics. Hence, it is understood that such materials were designated primarily for use as underlying support materials when used in automotive seating applications. The present invention provides a textile structure which incorporates elastomeric components which are substantially resistant to ultraviolet irradiation and thus do not undergo substantial strength reduction upon prolonged exposure to such irradiation. The fabric thus produced is thereby suitable for use as a surface material in automotive seating applications and thereby represents a useful advancement over the state of the art.


A photomask includes a transparent substrate, a light shielding film formed on the substrate, and a transparent film formed on the light shielding film and the substrate. The light shielding film has a bottom in contact with the substrate, a side face at an acute angle to the bottom, and an upper face in parallel with the bottom and at an obtuse angle to the side face. According to the light shielding film having such a configuration, a phase shift portion of a predetermined width and thickness can be formed accurately in the periphery of the light shielding film. The inferior influence of reflecting light with respect to the pattern resolution can be reduced if films of low reflectance are provided in the upper and lower portions of the light shielding film to improve the pattern resolution. The method of manufacturing this photomask includes the steps of patterning the light shielding film having a trapezoid configuration in which the upper base is shorter than the lower base on a transparent substrate, and forming a transparent film at a temperature of not more than 250.degree. C. on the substrate and the light shielding film. The thermal distortion in the light shielding film can be suppressed effectively by the formation of a transparent film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photomask and a method of manufacturing thereof, and more particularly, to a photomask of high pattern resolution that can have a phase shift portion formed easily and with precision, and a method of manufacturing thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
The remarkable advance in larger scale integration and miniaturization in semiconductor integrated circuits has also called for a drastic progress of miniaturization in circuit patterns formed on a semiconductor substrate (referred to as "wafer" hereinafter). The photolithography technique is particularly widely recognized as the basic technique in pattern formation. Various developments and improvements have been carried out regarding the photolithography technology. However, there is still a great pressure to scale the patterns to a higher density with the need of improvement in resolution.
The resolution R (nm) in photolithography using the reduction exposure method is typically expressed as R=K.sub.1 .multidot..lambda./(NA), where .lambda. is the wavelength of the employed light (nm), NA is the numerical aperture of the lens, and K1 is a constant depending on the resist process. It can be appreciated from the aforementioned equation that the resolution can be improved by reducing K1 and .lambda., and by increasing NA. In other words, the constant depending on the resist process should be lowered, as well as shortening the wavelength and increasing the NA. However, it is technically difficult to make improvements to the light source and the lens. Also, reduction in the wavelength of light and increase of the NA will cause a more shallow depth of focus of the light, resulting in the problem that the resolution is degraded. To date, various improvements are made to photomasks.
A reduction projection aligner for photolithography employing the reduction exposure method will be described hereinafter. FIG. 15 schematically shows a structure of the optical system of a conventionally used reduction projection aligner. Referring to FIG. 15, the reduction projection aligner includes a light source 10, a focused lens 11 beneath the light source 10 with a predetermined distance therebetween, a photomask 12 having a mask pattern formed therein which is to be written on a wafer, a reduction projection lens 13 for reducing light transmitted from the photomask 12, and a wafer stage 16 on which a wafer 15 to which the pattern is written is mounted. The wafer stage 16 is provided with a motor 14 for moving the wafer 15 to write a pattern on a predetermined position of the wafer 15 mounted on the wafer stage 16. In the reduction projection aligner of the above-described structure, light issued from the light source 10 is directed to a predetermined position on the wafer 15 mounted on the wafer stage 16 via the focused lens 11, the photomask 12, and the reduction projection lens 13, whereby the pattern formed on the photomask 12 is written. The photomask used in the above-described reduction projection aligner will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 16, (a) shows a sectional view of a conventionally used photomask, (b) shows the amplitude of light right after passing the photomask, (c) shows the amplitude of light in the proximity of the wafer, (d) shows the light intensity on the wafer, and (e) a sectional view of a resist after being patterned using the photomask 20.
Referring to FIG. 16(a), the photomask 20 includes a glass substrate 21, and a mask pattern 22 formed of a metal such as chromium on the glass substrate 21. Light will not pass through the portion of the photomask 20 where the mask pattern 22 is formed. Therefore, the amplitude of the light directly after passing the photomask 20 is substantially 0 in the region corresponding to the mask pattern 22, as shown in FIG. 16(b). In the case where a fine pattern exceeding the aforementioned resolution (R) is to be transferred for the formation of a minute pattern, the light passing through the photomask 20 and the optical system therebeneath is subjected to light diffraction and interference to be enhanced in the overlapping region in adjacent pattern images in the proximity of the wafer, as shown in FIG. 16(c). The difference in intensity of light on the wafer will become smaller, as shown in FIG. 16(d), to result in a lower resolution. Therefore, there was a problem that a desired pattern configuration could not be obtained because sufficient patterning of a resist and the like could not be carried out.
A phase shift exposure method using a phase shift mask is proposed for obtaining a photomask without the above-described problems in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 57-62052 and Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 58-173744. FIG. 17 shows a photomask using the phase shift mask disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 58-173744, in which (a) shows a sectional view of the photomask, (b) shows the amplitude of the light just passing the photomask, (c) shows the amplitude of the light in the proximity of the wafer after passing through the photomask, (d) shows the intensity of light on the wafer, and (e) shows the configuration of a sectional view of a resist after the resist is patterned using the above photomask.
Referring to FIG. 17(a), a transparent insulating film 23 formed of a silicon oxide film and the like is provided between predetermined mask patterns 22 formed on the surface of a glass substrate 21. The thickness of the transparent insulating film 23 is set so that the light passing through the transparent insulating film is inverted 180.degree. (in this specification, the portion inverting the phase of light by 180.degree. is defined as the "phase shift portion"). Regarding the amplitude of the light right after passing through the photomask, the light passing through the region where the transparent insulating film 23 is formed has its phase inverted 180.degree. with respect to that of the light passing through the portion where the transparent insulating film 23 is not formed, as shown in FIG. 17(b). Because the phases of the light are inverted with respect to each other in the portion where adjacent pattern images overlap, as shown in FIG. 17(c), the light will cancel each other by the interference effect. The difference in light intensity will be sufficient on the wafer to improve the resolution, as shown in FIG. 17(d). Thus, when patterning was carried out of a resist using the above-described phase shift mask, the patterning accuracy was improved, as shown in FIG. 17(e). In the present specification, a photomask including a phase shift portion is defined as a "phase shift mask".
Although such a phase shift mask is very efficient for a regular pattern, it was difficult to apply it to an arbitrary pattern. Thus, a phase shift mask was proposed which is applicable to the formation of an arbitrary pattern. FIG. 18 shows such a phase shift mask disclosed at the IEDM Conference in 1989, in which a sectional view thereof, the light intensity on a wafer where photolithography is carried out using this phase shift mask, and the manufacturing steps thereof, are shown.
Referring to FIG. 18, the phase shift mask includes a glass substrate 21, a mask pattern 22 formed on the glass substrate 21, and a resist film 24 formed on the mask pattern 22. The width of the resist mask 24 is larger than that of the mask pattern 22, in which the difference in the width (edge enhancement width) 25 serves as the phase shift portion. In the phase shift mask of the above-described type, light passing through the proximity of the edge of the mask pattern 22 has its phase inverted by 180.degree.. Light each having an opposite phase will overlap each other beneath the proximity of the edge of the mask pattern 22. Therefore, the light in the proximity of the edge of the pattern image will cancel each other on account of interference to increase the difference in light intensity on the wafer. As a result, a favorable resolution for an arbitrary pattern could be obtained.
However, such a phase shift mask had a problem that will be described hereinafter. The method of manufacturing this phase shift mask will first be described, followed by the problem thereof, with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20.
Referring to FIG. 18(a), a metal film, for example a chromium film 22a, is formed on a transparent glass substrate 1 by a sputtering method. An electron beam (referred to EB hereinafter) resist is applied all over the chromium film 22a to be subjected to thermal treatment, followed by depicting a desired pattern with an EB writing apparatus. Then, developing is carried out to form a resist pattern 24. Using this resist pattern 24 as a mask as shown in FIG. 18(c), the chromium film 22a is etched anisotropically or isotropically to result in a mask pattern 22. Then, using the same resist pattern 24 as a mask, the sidewall of the mask pattern 22 is etched by isotropic etching, for example wet etching. Thus, a mask pattern 22 will be formed that has its edge removed by the edge enhancement width 25.
This phase shift mask had the following problems due to its formation carried out in the above-described manner. The proximity of the edge portion of the resist pattern 24 must be thick enough to invert the phase of the light passing through the resist pattern 24 in order to function as a phase shift portion. However, the resist pattern 24 is used as a mask in the etching step for forming the mask pattern 22, resulting in decrease in thickness. Even if a predetermined film thickness of t was required of the resist pattern 24, only a film thickness of t1 could be obtained due to the film decrease in the etching process, as shown in FIG. 19. There was a possibility that the function of the phase shift portion could not be sufficiently provided. Accurate control of a film thickness to obtain a predetermined film thickness sufficient for a phase shift portion was also not easy.
With the structure of a phase shift mask where the mask pattern 22 is sandwiched, as shown in FIG. 18(d), it was difficult to control precisely the dimension of the edge enhancement width 25. There may be some cases where only a width of W1 of the mask pattern could be obtained with respect to a desired width of W on account of overetching of the sidewall. There was variation in the edge enhancement width 25, resulting in a problem that a transfer of a pattern according to the design could not be carried out. The mask pattern 22 and the resist pattern 24 of the photomask of FIG. 18 had a concaved and convexed configuration, so that contaminants could not be thoroughly removed in the cleaning process of the photomask. Contaminants remaining in the concaved and convexed portion of the photomask resulted in a problem that the pattern formation after the transfer was degraded.
Taking into consideration the foregoing, various improvements of the photomask have been proposed to carry out accurate control of the film thickness and width of the phase shift portion and to reduce the concaved-convexed stepped portion on the substrate. Photomasks disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 4-6557, 4-40455, and 4-3412 will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 21(a), FIG. 21(b), and FIG. 21(c), respectively.
Referring to FIG. 21(a), the phase shift mask disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-6557 has a mask pattern 22 formed on a glass substrate 21. A typical material of the mask pattern 22 includes Cr, MoSi, Si and the like. By subjecting this mask pattern to thermal oxidation, an oxide film 26 is formed to cover the mask pattern 22. The proximity of the periphery of the mask pattern 22 in the oxide film 26 functions as the phase shift portion. It is possible to control the thickness of the phase shift portion more accurately than a conventional one by appropriately adjusting the thermal oxidation condition in the present phase shift mask. Furthermore, the problem of contaminants remaining in the photomask can be avoided effectively because the stepped portion of the substrate and the oxide film 26 is not so complicated.
The phase shift mask of FIG. 21(b) has an opaque mask pattern 22 formed on a glass substrate 21 such as of crystal. Using a CVD method, a transparent film 27 is deposited on the glass substrate 21 and the mask pattern 22. The thickness of the mask pattern 22 and the transparent film 27 is adjusted so that the periphery of the mask pattern 22 is thick enough to function as a phase shift portion. Because a phase shift portion 27a can be formed just by depositing a transparent film, the control of film thickness can be carried out in accuracy in comparison with a conventional one. Also, the stepped portion in the phase shift mask can be reduced.
The phase shift mask of FIG. 21(c) has a film formed of ITO, Ta and the like serving as an etching stopper film 29 provided on a glass substrate 21. A mask pattern 22 is formed on the etching stopper film 29. A sidewall 28 formed of a silicon oxide film, for example, is provided at the sidewall of the mask pattern 22. This sidewall 28 functions as the phase shift portion. The sidewall 28 is formed by providing a silicon oxide film by a CVD method on the mask pattern 22 and the substrate 21, followed by anisotropic etching, referring to FIG. 21(b). By leaving the sidewall 28, it is possible to control the thickness of the phase shift portion by adjusting the thickness of the mask pattern 22. It is therefore possible to control more accurately the film thickness of the sidewall 28 which functions as the phase shift portion, and to reduce the concaved and convexed stepped portion of the photomask.
Thus, the three improved examples of a photomask allowed a more precise control of a film thickness and reduction in the stepped portion, so that the resolution could be improved in comparison with a conventional one.
However, the above-described improved examples had the following problems. In the phase shift mask of the FIG. 21(a), the formation of the oxide film 26 including the phase shift portion was carried out by thermal oxidation. This means that a thermal treatment of high temperature was applied, leading to a possibility of thermal expansion which generates thermal distortion in the mask pattern 22 formed on the substrate 21. If thermal distortion is generated, a mask pattern in conformity with the design could not be obtained, resulting in degradation in the dimension and position accuracy of the pattern. Further more, this phase shift mask had a relatively wide width of the portion functioning as the phase shift portion. Therefore, the width of the portion where light intensity is 0 is increased when the pattern is transferred to the wafer. Therefore, there was a problem that the mask pattern had to be formed taking into consideration the expansion of the portion at the design stage.
In the phase shift mask of FIG. 21(b), the transparent film 27 was formed using a CVD method to result in thermal distortion in the mask pattern 22, as in the above case. Therefore, there was a problem that the dimension and position accuracy of the pattern was degraded. In the phase shift mask of FIG. 21(c), if the silicon oxide film was deposited by a CVD method prior to the formation of the sidewall 28, thermal distortion was generated in the mask pattern 22, as in the above cases. Furthermore, this phase shift mask had an etching stopper film 29 formed on the substrate 21. Therefore, light transmittance is reduced by approximately 80% in comparison with the case where there is no etching stopper film 29, resulting in the problem of reduction in the intensity of the transmitted light. The etching stopper film 29 also had a problem that it has low tolerance to chemicals. More specifically, it was easily damaged by solutions such as alkaline based types in the cleaning process. There was a possibility of the etching stopper film 29 being removed after the cleaning step where the etching stopper film 29 is exposed. In this case, a portion of the etching stopper film 29 will remain beneath the sidewall 28 to modify the film thickness of the sidewall 28. More specifically, the film thickness of the phase shift portion may be changed.

Photomask and a method of manufacturing thereof comprising trapezoidal shaped light blockers covered by a transparent layer


A successive deposition apparatus by which a reduction in the luminous efficiency of a light-emitting element can be suppressed even in high-speed deposition of a light-emitting layer thereof is provided. The apparatus includes: a second deposition chamber; a third deposition chamber coupled to the second deposition chamber; a transfer unit for transferring a substrate from second deposition chamber to third deposition chamber; plural third deposition sources arranged in the substrate transfer direction in the second deposition chamber; and a fourth and fifth deposition sources alternately arranged in the transfer direction in the third deposition chamber. In the third deposition chamber, the fourth deposition source is placed nearest to the second deposition source. The fourth deposition source contains a host material, and the fifth deposition source contains a dopant material. The HOMO level of a material of the third deposition source is adjusted to that of the host material.

As a conventional apparatus for manufacturing light-emitting elements, there is an in-line successive deposition apparatus (e.g. Patent Document 1). The in-line successive deposition apparatus has a plurality of deposition chambers which are arranged and coupled in a line and a transfer unit for transferring a substrate in the plurality of deposition chambers. Each deposition chamber has a plurality of linear deposition sources arranged in a line in a direction in which the substrate is transferred, and respective longer directions of the linear deposition sources are perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction and parallel to each other. With such an in-line successive deposition apparatus, an EL layer can be consecutively formed over an anode over a substrate with the plurality of deposition sources while transferring the substrate in the plurality of deposition chambers. The EL layer at least includes a light-emitting layer, and may further include a hole-injection layer, a hole-transport layer, an electron-transport layer, an electron-injection layer, etc. stacked as appropriate.
As for the structure of the light-emitting layer, a structure in which a dopant material which is a light-emitting substance is mixed with a host material is preferably employed to improve the luminous efficiency. As the host material, it is preferable to use a host material whose highest occupied molecular orbital level (hereinafter referred to as "HOMO level") is lower than that of the dopant material (or a light-emitting substance which emits visible light). The properties of the dopant material differ form those of the host material; thus, respective deposition sources need to be separately controlled in order to adjust the mixture ratio to deposit the light-emitting layer. In view of the above, in the above-descried in-line successive deposition apparatus, the linear deposition source of the dopant material and the linear deposition source of the host material are alternately disposed, so that the host material and the dopant material from respective linear deposition sources adjacent to each other are mixed to be deposited.
As the material of the anode, a metal, a metal oxide, or the like whose conductive property is higher than that of an organic compound is preferably used. This is because power loss can be suppressed. However, the work function of the metal, the metal oxide, or the like is higher than the HOMO level of any material of the light-emitting layer, and a difference therebetween makes it difficult to inject holes from the anode to any material of the light-emitting layer.
Hence, a structure is known in which a hole-transport layer is formed using a material whose HOMO level is lower than the work function of the anode and is higher than the HOMO level of any material of the light-emitting layer between the anode and the light-emitting layer to attenuate the difference between the work function of the anode and the HOMO level of any material of the light-emitting layer. Owing to the hole-transport layer, holes are transported readily via a material whose HOMO level is relatively high (e.g., light-emitting substance) of the light-emitting layer from the anode to the light-emitting layer.
However, in the in-line successive deposition apparatus, a single layer of the light-emitting substance, which is the dopant material, or a single layer of the host material whose HOMO level is the lowest in the materials of the light-emitting layer tends to be formed in, the interface between the hole-transport layer and the light-emitting layer. The single layer of the light-emitting substance leads to occurrence of concentration quenching of the light-emitting substance. Further, if the difference between the HOMO level of the material of the hole-transport layer and the HOMO level of the host material is large, the single layer of the host material leads to a reduction in hole transport from the hole-transport layer to the light-emitting layer. Accordingly, formation of the single layer causes an increase in the driving voltage of the light-emitting element or a reduction in luminous efficiency. In this specification, the "single layer" is a layer formed of a single material.
Particularly in the mass production of light-emitting elements, which requires efficient manufacturing, the deposition rate of the linear deposition source and the transferring speed of the substrate are set to high, whereby deposition is performed at high speed. However, such high speed deposition has a problem in that the above-described single layer is more likely to be formed in the interface between the hole-transport layer and the light-emitting layer.
[Reference]
    Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2006-261109

Successive deposition apparatus and successive deposition method

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A composition relating to metal-triflamide complexes useful as catalysts for the syndiotactic polymerization of styrene is disclosed.

Syndiotactic polystyrenie is a commercially important material useful in the preparation of articles and objects having an extremely high resistance to deformation due to the effects of temperature. The polymers have very high melting points and low solubility in organic solvents, due to a stereoregular structure, composed of phenyl groups alternating regularly from side to side of the chain.
Transition metal complexes have been used as Ziegler-Natta catalysts for the polymerization of olefins, including stereo specific polymerizations. For example, Group 4 half-sandwich complexes, such as titanocene, zirconocene or hafnocene derivatives, activated with methyl aluminoxane (MAO) are efficient homogeneous catalysts for the promotion of syndioselective polymerization of styrene. More recently, metal complexes of composition CpML.sub.2 +A--, where Cp is substituted or unsubstituted cyclopentadienyl, M is a transition metal, L is an anionic ligand, and A is a noncoordinating, compatible anion of a Bronsted acid salt, for example tetraphenyl borate, are have been used for syndiotactic polymerization of styrene. Formation of these metal-borate complexes requires an additional step in the polymerization process, however, and therefore increases production costs. A need exists for methylaluminoxane cocatalysts which do not require the preformation of the metal-borate complex, and which produce syndiotactic polystyrene in high yield.

The Research Foundation of the State University of New York


A plurality of optical beacons that emit light in respective light emitting patterns containing an ID code are distributed and installed in a space in which of a mobile body are moved. The mobile body is provided with a detection unit. The detection unit identifies at least three optical beacons according to the ID codes of the lights emitted according to the optical beacons and detects the direction of light emitted according to each of the identified optical beacons. Then, it detects the position of the mobile body according to the outcome of detection.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a position detection system for detecting the position of a mobile body in the space in which of the mobile body is moved.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems of arranging a rotary-type laser radar on a mobile body to know the position of the mobile body, anchoring at least three reflectors in a space surrounding the mobile body and scanning the surroundings of the mobile body by means of a laser beam emitted from the laser radar are known (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Publication No. 2003-302469).
With such a system, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of light reflected from each of the reflectors as a result of scanning with a laser beam and also the direction of each of the reflectors as viewed from the mobile body according to the information on the scanning angle of the laser beam. Additionally, it is possible to detect the distance between the mobile body and each of the reflectors by gauging the time spent for the laser beam to be reflected by the reflector and returning to the laser radar. Then, it is possible to detect the position of the mobile body according to the detected direction and the detected distance.
However, with the above-described system, after anchoring the reflectors in a space surrounding the mobile body, it is necessary to emit a laser beam, placing the mobile body at a fixed point, and carry out various operations of calibration/registration relative to the mobile body for initialization according to light reflected from each of the reflectors. The initialization is a cumbersome operation for the operator. The cumbersomeness is multiplied when there is a plurality of mobile bodies because it is necessary to carry out the operations of initialization for each mobile body.
Additionally, the above-described system is accompanied by a problem that the mobile body becomes large, can malfunction and involves large cost because a rotary-type laser radar needs to be arranged on the mobile body.


Determining authorization for actions includes defining a plurality of groups, defining a plurality of action types and corresponding levels of authorization for each of the groups, for at least a subset of the action types, defining a plurality of devices on which corresponding actions may be performed, wherein at least some of the devices correspond to portions of a data storage device, and, for the at least one of the groups, determining authorization for a requested action, where if the action corresponds to one of the devices, authorization is determined by examining the levels of authorization for action types corresponding to the at least one group and by examining the plurality of devices corresponding to the requested action and where if the action does not correspond to one of the devices, authorization is determined by examining the levels of authorization for action types corresponding to the at least one group. The action types may include system calls to the data storage device. The at least one of the devices may include at least one disk storage area of the data storage device. The at least one of the devices may include communication ports of the data storage device. The action types may indicate whether system calls are allowed on the communication ports. In response to a requested action being authorized, a tag may be returned that may be used in connection with subsequent requests that the action be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to the field of computer data storage and more particularly to the field of configuring control system call access to data storage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Host systems may store and retrieve data using a data storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (ports) that communicate with and store and retrieve data on internal storage facilities provided within the data storage device. Such data storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek.
The host systems may be assigned limited access to specific portions of the internal storage facilities, where that access may include reading and writing data and "system calls" that cause the data storage device to execute administrative-like operations (e.g., automatic mirroring, copying, back up). The system calls do not directly read and write data; However even so, system calls may cause one of the user host systems to indirectly access data allocated to another one of the host systems. In addition, remote system calls may be issued to a storage element through a remote storage device (e.g., in a disaster recovery situation) or through a fabric port.
The use of system calls which may provide one host system with unintended indirect access to a memory resource allocated to another host system may not be a problem if all host systems and the entire storage device are controlled by a single entity (i.e., are all owned and operated by a single company) that is capable of coordinating access among different groups within the entity. However, in instances where not all of the host systems are controlled by a single entity (e.g., in instances where a plurality of different smaller companies share use of a single data storage device) and in instances where different groups of the same entity access the host systems in an uncoordinated manner, it may be undesirable to allow such indirect access of internal storage facilities using system calls, especially in instances where the data storage device contains sensitive data of one or more of the entities and/or groups within a single entity. Furthermore, in configurations where a storage device is coupled to additional storage devices to provide backup services therefor, it may be undesirable to allow unintended access to data via system, calls.


A strategic management tool that derives relevant business processes. The tool provides a set of business processes based on information from at least one of a market force and an industry trend and applies a method to identify a subset of the business processes. The method is selected from at least one of transformational strategy method, a business goals and objectives method and a program solutions method.

An industry is typically comprised of business entities that interact with other business entities. The business entities may include market participants who may use software tools to make decisions regarding how best to interact with other business entities.
An industry may include any number of market participants in a value chain. For example, a consumer products industry may have participants including a component supplier, a manufacturer, a distributor, a retailer as well as others. An oil and gas value chain may include participants involved in activities such as exploration and production, refining and service station end consumer as well as others.
The market participants in an industry may interact with other market participants in the industry or participants from other industries. Each interaction may involve business processes that may vary in complexity depending on the relationship between the participants and factors affecting the industry. For example, a manufacturer in a consumer products industry may have a need for a business process to manage an inventory of components from a supplier to reduce the cost of manufacturing a product. The manufacturer in this example may choose to implement a business process such as supply chain management (SCM) or materials resource planning (MRP) to enhance inventory control.
A market participant may have a need for many business processes. The participant may  be desire to select from many processes available a subset that is most relevant and value-adding to the participant's role. For example, retailer in a consumer products industry may determine that a process for enhancing end consumer goodwill is more relevant than a process for managing inventory. In contrast, a wholesale distributor in a oil and gas industry may decide that a process for managing inventory is more relevant than a process for enhancing end consumer goodwill.


A flexible display including a flexible display panel and a flexible hollow supporting structure is provided. The flexible display panel has a first end and a second end opposite to each other. The flexible hollow supporting structure is integrated with the flexible display panel and extends from the first end to the second end of the flexible display panel. In addition, a supporting medium can be infused into the flexible hollow supporting structure so as to stretch and support the flexible display panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a flexible display.
2. Description of Related Art
Different types of displays have been developed along with the advancement of fabricating techniques. Due to the requirements to displays of lightness, sliminess, shortness, smallness, and portability, the design of displays of the next generation is going towards to high flexibility and portability. Generally speaking, a flexible display can be rolled or folded up when it is not in use so that the display can be carried everywhere conveniently. However, the flexible display may have low stability regarding its performance due to its flexibility, and a user has to support the display with his hands or a bracket while using the display.
The current method for supporting a flexible display with a user's hands brings a lot of inconvenience to the user, and the method of using a bracket to support a flexible display increases the weight and volume of the display and makes the structure design of the display very complicated.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a display support apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,762,929. The display support apparatus is applied to a computer 110. While not in use, the flexible display panel 120 is rolled up and stored in a chamber 130 behind the computer 110. The user pulls the flexible display panel 120 out when the user wants to use the computer 110, wherein two metal brackets 140 are disposed behind the flexible display panel 120, and the brackets 140 are moved along the sliding tracks 152 on the frame 150 of the flexible display panel 120 to a determined position for supporting the flexible display panel 120, so that the user can look at the flexible display panel 120 conveniently. According to such design, the frame 150 around the flexible display panel 120 has to be intensified to be supported by the metal brackets 140, while long-time or frequent usages may still cause the brackets 140 and the frame 150 to be worn out. Besides, the metal brackets 140 are difficult to be assembled, and which also increase the weight and volume of the product.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a retractable flexible digital display apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 20050040962. This flexible display has a storage space 210 and a retracting device 220 for retracting the flexible display panel. To use the flexible display, the retracting device 220 is controlled to release the flexible display panel 230, while to retract the flexible display, the retracting device 220 is used for retracting the flexible display panel 230 into the storage space 210. Such design is similar to the typical design of a projection screen; however, because there is no supporting structure provided after the flexible display panel 230 is released, additional brackets are required for supporting the flexible display panel 230.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


In a TAB tape, dummy copper foil patterns are provided on the portions of an adhesive on which neither pads nor leads are provided, thereby flattening the upper surface of solder resist coated on the resultant structure.

This invention relates to a TAB tape and a semiconductor device using the TAB tape, and more particularly to a TAB tape used as a tape-type Ball Grid Array (BGA).
FIG. 3 is a plan view, showing a conventional TAB tape of a three-layer structure. FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view, showing the TAB tape of FIG. 3. The TAB tape shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 comprises a resin tape 35 made of polyimide, an adhesive 34 coated on the resin tape, and copper foil patterns 31 and 32 formed on the adhesive. The copper foil patterns 31 and 32 consist of pads 31a to which solder balls are adhered, and leads 32a for connecting the pads 31a to a semiconductor chip (not shown). The copper foil patterns 31 and 32, the exposed portions of the adhesive 34 are coated with solder resist 33 which protects them. A hole is formed in the portion of the solder resist 33 which is located on each pad 31a. Supposing that each copper foil pattern has a film thickness of 18 .mu.m, the difference in level is also 18 .mu.m between the upper surface of each of the portions of the solder resist 35 which are coated on the copper foil patterns 31 and 32, and the upper surface of each of the portions of the solder resist 33 which are coated on the exposed portions of the adhesive 34.
FIG. 5 shows a stiffener, to which the polyimide tape 35 of the TAB tape is adhered. This stiffener is for a BGA tape, and comprises a metal plate 52 and an adhesive 51 coated thereon.
FIG. 6 is a view, useful in explaining a process for adhering the TAB tape shown in FIG. 4 to the stiffener shown in FIG. 5 by thermo-compression bonding. In FIG. 6, elements similar to those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by corresponding reference numerals, and no explanation is given thereof. As is shown in FIG. 6, the TAB tape and the stiffener are held between tools 61 and 62. In this state, pressure is applied to the TAB tape and the stiffener from the outside of both the tools 61 and 62, while heat is applied thereto. As a result, the tape and the stiffener are adhered to each other by means of the adhesive 51.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7A, the resultant TAB tape 74 is adhered to a semiconductor chip 72, the chip 72 is sealed with a potting resin 71, and solder balls 75 are attached to the pads of the TAB tape 74, thereby forming a semiconductor device. FIG. 7B is a plan view of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 7A.
In the FIG. 6 process for adhering the TAB tape to the stiffener by thermo-compression, the solder resist 33 has great irregularities as described above, and therefore the pressure from the upper and lower tools 61 and 62 does not reach the deep concave portions 63 of the solder resist. Accordingly, the adhesive 51 is not sufficiently pressed at locations below the concave portions 63, and hence may well have an insufficiently adhered portion 81 as shown in FIG. 8.
Thereafter, when the adhesive 51 is heated in a cure or reflow process, a bubble will occur at the insufficiently adhered portion. FIG. 9 is a sectional view, showing the state of the BGA tape in which a bubble 91 occurs therein. As is understood from FIG. 9, the BGA tape is warped due to the bubble 91, thereby degrading the flatness of the package, and it is difficult to make the lights the solder balls equal.

Tab tape and semiconductor device using the tab tape


Surgical instrument (1) comprising a longitudinal shaft (2) with a tip portion (3), a rear portion (4) and a longitudinal axis (5) and rotatable in the clock-wise and in the counter-clockwise direction around the longitudinal axis (5), said surgical instrument (1) further comprising: A) first means (6) for drilling a hole in a bone by rotation of the shaft (2) in one of the two directions; B) second means (7) for crushing bone tissue when the shaft (2) rotates in the other of the two directions; and C) a torque sensor (10) coupled to the shaft (2). Method for measuring the local mechanical resistance of a porous body comprising the steps of: a) drilling a hole to a desired depth into a porous body by advancing and rotating the shaft (2) in a first sense of rotation, preferably clockwise so that said first means (6) are active; b) hammering the shaft (2) gently further into the porous body as far as the tip portion (3) of the shaft (2) has reached a desired measuring position; and c) performing the torque measurement by rotating the shaft (2) in the opposite second sense of rotation, preferably counter-clockwise so that said second means (7) are active.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a surgical instrument, to a method for measuring the local mechanical resistance of a porous body and to the use of the surgical instrument for estimating the quality of cancellous bone.
Known probes for measuring the mechanical resistance of porous bone commonly comprise a cannulated probe that is slid on a K-wire previously inserted in the bone. However, during insertion the K-wire is mostly slightly deformed resulting in a variable contact area between the K-wire and the inner surface of the cannulation of the probe. The larger being the contact area between the K-wire and the probe the more being the K-wire deformed (resulting in a force component normal to the inner probe surface) the higher is the friction between the K-wire and the probe. The higher the friction between probe and the K-wire is the higher will be (artificially) the recorded torque. The lower the bone mineral density is the higher is the weight of this bias. Disregarding this varying frictional torque can lead the surgeon to take a wrong decision.
2. Description of the Related Art
From WO 2008/052367 a device for determining the local mechanical resistance inside of a porous body having a variable density and/or porosity is known. This known device comprises a tool with a shank having a tip with blades that allow to measure the local mechanical resistance of the porous body after pushing the tip into a porous structure at the bottom of a predrilled hole and rotating the tool about its longitudinal axis. Particularly, when measuring the local mechanical resistance of porous bone in the cancellous bone tissue a bore hole has to be predrilled through the harder cortical bone tissue surrounding the cancellous bone tissue. Therefore, this known device shows the disadvantage that a hole has to be previously drilled into the bone by using a separate tool.


A processor and a system are provided for performing texturing operations loaded from a texture queue that provides temporary storage of texture coordinates and texture values. The processor includes a texture queue implemented in a memory of the processor, a crossbar coupled to the texture queue, and one or more texture units coupled to the texture queue via the crossbar. The crossbar is configured to reorder texture coordinates for consumption by the one or more texture units and to reorder texture values received from the one or more texture units.

One of the fundamental operations of graphics processing units (GPUs) is texturing. A texture map is a source array of color values (i.e. texels) that may be mapped to a surface of a graphics object. For each pixel in a digital image, one or more texels in the texture map are sampled and filtered to produce a color value for the pixel. Texturing may be used to generate more realistic computer generated images of a three-dimensional model.
Sampling the texture map typically requires texel values to be fetched from memory. The memory operations may introduce latency into the texture operation, slowing down the graphics processing pipeline. Thus, there is a need for addressing this issue and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

Graphics processing unit with a texture return buffer and a texture queue


In an active hydrogen-containing B-side composition for reaction with a polyisocyanate-containing A-side composition to make a polyurethane, polyurethaneurea or polyurea elastomer by reaction injection molding, the improvement which comprises a mold release composition consisting essentially of (1) the reaction product of a mixture of a phenol compound, a tertiary amine, and a reactive epoxide and (2) a carboxy functional siloxane.

Reaction injection molding (RIM) is a versatile process by which elastomeric and thermoset parts can be fabricated. The RIM process involves high pressure impingement mixing of a polyisocyanate stream (A-side) and an active-hydrogen containing isocyanate-reactive stream (B-side) followed by immediate injection into the closed mold. The primary appeal of this process lies in its inherently high productivity. One factor which limits productivity, however, is the necessity to spray the molds with external mold release prior to each injection. This is a time-consuming task and often has a negative environmental impact. This difficulty can be overcome by the incorporation of an internal release agent into the formulation via one of the two streams to significantly increase the number of molding cycles which can be accomplished between mold release sprayings.
The use of metallic soaps as release agents has been known for a long time. Zinc stearate, in particular, is known to be soluble in aliphatic amines, such as the polyether polyamines and ethylenediamine-initiated polyols. This is the basis for its use as an internal mold release (IMR) agent in RIM. If zinc stearate is simply dispersed as a fine powder in polyol blends, it does not dissolve and does not act as a release agent. Various patents teach that zinc soaps can be compatibilized or dissolved in polyol blends with amines, enamines, ketimines or salts of amidines or guanidines, and that excellent releasability of the subsequent RIM parts will result.
While the IMR approach is commercially applied, there remain significant shortcomings to the currently available IMR systems. The amine-solublized metallic soaps, which are most commonly used in this application, have been implicated in reactivity and/or physical property deficiencies for the RIM elastomers in which they are used. Furthermore, the high melting points and limited solubilities of the metallic soaps make them prone to precipitation in the RIM processing equipment, necessitating replacement of the piping regularly.
The search for IMR agents which are liquids without the possibility of solidifying led to the development of special silicone fluids for this application. U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,695 discloses certain carboxy-functional silicone fluids as IMR agents for RIM, including Dow Corning's commercial carboxy-functional silicone fluid Q2-7119, which has the following general formula: ##STR1##
In general, acids have a deleterious effect on the green strength of aryldiamine-extended polyurethaneurea RIM systems due to a general deactivation of the tin catalyst. Thus, higher than normal levels of tin catalysts are needed when acids are present. Due to the sulfur atom, alpha to the carbonyl group, Q2-711g is a much stronger acid than a typical fatty acid, such as lauric acid. Therefore, when T-12 (dibutyltin dilaurate) and Q2-7119 are in the same polyol blend, the equilibrium reaction involving the two components leads to a gelled silicone salt. This gelation results from a crosslinking reaction between the trifunctional silicone and the difunctional tin salt. The result is that the system exhibits extremely poor green strength which cannot be corrected by the addition of more tin catalyst.
Attempts to solve this problem include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,100 discloses the use of a 3-stream approach to RIM molding where the Q2-7119 is delivered dispersed in polyol containing no tin catalyst. The other two streams are the normal A and B sides of RIM technology. The A side is isocyanate and the B side is a blend of polyol, diamine chain extender, surfactants and tin and amine catalysts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,570 discloses that the tin catalyst can be placed in the A side. Gelation is avoided, but high levels of catalysts are still needed for adequate green strength. Furthermore, placing the tin catalyst in the isocyanate side increases the moisture sensitivity and susceptibility to side reactions, such as allophonate formation, leading to gelation of the isocyanate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,729 discloses replacing the polyether polyol and the tin catalyst with polyether polyamines which require no tin catalyst. The result is polyurea RIM, and Q2-7119 can be used with no chemical modification or 3-stream approach.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,341 discloses that the acid groups on Q2-7119 can be converted to amides by reaction with amines or to esters by reaction with alcohols or epoxides yielding nonacidic IMR silicones. These materials have been shown to cause paintability problems. In addition, they have been seen to interfere with polyol nucleation so that low part densities cannot be achieved. In extreme cases, large voids are found in the parts due to coalescence of bubbles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,366 discloses that Q2-7119 can be dispersed on the isocyanate side by using a nonisocyanate-reactive silicone as a dispersing and inhibiting agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,912 discloses the use of the reaction products of fatty cyclic anhydrides with primary or secondary amines, including distearylamine as IMR agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,803 discloses that salts of Q2-7119 can be made with Group IA, IB, IIA, IIB, aluminum, chromium, molybdenum, iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, lead, antimony or bismuth. These salts are then compatiblized in the B-side blend with certain tertiary amines. In practice, these salts are extremely viscous or gelatinous in nature and do not disperse well into the polyol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,540 and 4,789,688 disclose that salts of Q2-7119 can be made with amidines and guanidines, such as tetramethylguanidine, to yield neutralized forms of the silicone which would not gel tin catalysts. Waxy amidines such as the imidazolines from stearic acid and ethylenediamine derivatives were cited as particularly efficacious for release.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,687; 3,993,652 and 4,116,879 disclose the use of N-hydroxyalkyl quaternary ammonium phenolate salts as catalysts in the production of polyisocyanurates and polyurethanes.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/992,404 filed 16 Dec. 1992 discloses an internal mold release composition consisting essentially of (1) the reaction product of a mixture of a carboxylic acid, a tertiary amine, and a reactive epoxide and (2) a carboxy functional siloxane as an additive to the active hydrogen-containing B-side composition for reaction with a polyisocyanate-containing A-side composition to make a polyurethane or polyurethaneurea elastomer.

RIM polyol blends containing acidic siloxane internal mold release agents and quaternary ammonium phenoxides