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Disclosed are processes for preparing modifiable poly(aralkyl ketone)s having active methylene group(s) in the main chain comprising reacting an aralkanoic acid or mixtures thereof in the presence of one alkane or aryl sulfonic acid and a condensing agent. Also disclosed are novel modifiable poly(aralkyl ketone)s obtainable by the processes of the inventions.

Disclosed is an iron, comprising an aluminum sole plate which is provided with a coating which is provided by means of a sol-gel process and wherein an intermediate layer is present between the aluminum sole plate and the sol-gel coating. The intermediate layer comprises a porous layer of aluminum oxide. Also described is a method of manufacturing such an iron. The method comprises the steps of providing an aluminum sole plate, applying a porous intermediate layer of aluminum oxide by electrochemical treatment of the aluminum sole plate in an electrolyte comprising a solution of phosphoric acid, and providing a sol-gel coating on the treated sole plate. Furthermore, an aluminum sole plate which is suitable for use in an iron is disclosed.

An improved tooth profile for a roller chain sprocket enables noise reduction from impact and polygonal action during the meshing process. The profile of the engaging flank consists of three portions which are the seating, impact and distal portions all three of which are arcs with well-defined radii and arc centers. The profile of the disengaging flank is determined in accordance to a modified form of the JIS standard in which the sprocket pitch is smaller than the roller chain pitch. The impact point is located at the tangent point, thus permitting a gradual change of the roller velocity, thereby lessening the impact level and the effects of polygonal action.

Disclosed are compounds according to formula (I), wherein R' and R'' are selected from the group consisting of R'=SiR1R2R3 and R''=H; R'=SiR1R2R3 and R''=SiR4R5R6; and R'=Ar1SiR1R2R3 and R''=Ar2SiR4R5R6; R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkynyl, arylalkyl, arylalkenyl, and arylalkynyl; Ar1 and Ar2 are independently selected from the group consisting of arylene, arylenealkylene, arylenealkynylene, heteroarylene, heteroarylenealkylene, heteroarylenealkenylene and heteroarylenealkylene; and n is at least 20. Such compounds may be used as an emissive layer in a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED), which itself may be used in electroluminescent devices.

A method of activating and metallising an aromatic polymer film including the steps of: treating a first surface of the film with a basic solution; applying to said first surface of the film an aqueous seeding solution comprising polymer-stabilised catalyst particles; and immersing the film in an electroless plating bath comprising ions of a desired metal so as to deposit a layer of said metal onto the first surface of said film.

A scheme for selecting two beams in a switched beam antenna system for providing downlink communications in a downlink channel, the switched beam antenna system providing uplink reception and downlink transmission is described. The scheme involves selecting a pair of beams based on the uplink reception of the switched beam antenna system, and determining from the pair of beams a corresponding pair of orthogonal beams. The scheme also involves providing the pair of orthogonal beams as a pair of transmit beams for the downlink transmission of the switched beam antenna system.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning solid surfaces like Si substrate, disk or magnetic head slider where contaminants, including organic contaminants, especially particles in the micron or sub-micron scale are effectively remove from the solid surfaces. The invention achieves this by generating a strong laser-induced liquid jet and shock wave near the solid surfaces immersed in liquid. The liquid is a solution of water and other solvents to help reduce adhesion force and enhance cleaning efficiency.

Formation of micro-fluidic systems is normally achieved using a multi-wafer fabrication procedure. The present invention teaches how a complete micro-fluidic system can be implemented on a single chip. The invention uses only dry etch processes to form micro-chambers. In particular, it makes use of deep reactive ion etching whereby multiple trenches of differing depths may be formed simultaneously. Buried micro-chambers are formed by isotropically increasing trench widths using an etchant that does not attack the mask so the trenches grow wider beneath the surface until they merge. Deposition of a dielectric layer over the trenches allows some trenches to be sealed and some to be left open. Micro-pumps are formed by including in the micro-chamber roof a layer that is used to change chamber volume either through electrostatically induced motion or through thermal mismatch as a result of its being heated.

A circuit for controlling a read operation for a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) comprising an array of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) having conducting row and column lines attached thereto. The circuitry comprises a current supply for providing a read current, and a row selector for selecting a row containing a junction to be read and applying the read current to that row with the respective row line. An unselected row switch switches to at least some of the row lines not connected to the MTJ to be read, and a voltage source applies, via the unselected row switch, a voltage to each of the unselected row lines that is substantially identical in level to the voltage on the selected row line. A column selector selects the column line connected to the array containing the MTJ to be read, and a voltage detector for detecting the voltage across the MTJ to be read via the selected column and row lines.

A method of forming one or more composite structures is provided wherein one or more carbon structures is formed from a carbon source via a hydrothermal process. Said carbon source is a biomass material including glucose and glucosamine hydrochloride. In particular, the method further comprises introducing a seeding additive of potassium or phosphate salt, preferably monopotassium phosphate to the carbon source. The method includes introducing iron onto the carbon structures to form the one or more composite structures including carbon and iron.