Relatively lightweight laminate structures having an outer textile layer, a heat reactive material, a middle layer, a flame retardant adhesive material and an inner layer, wherein the flame retardant adhesive material is positioned in a pattern so as to form a plurality of pockets, each of the pockets defined by (a) the middle layer, (b) the inner layer, and (c) a portion of the flame retardant adhesive material. The laminate structures can provide protection from an exposure to an electrical arc.

Provided is a carpet having transmissiveness and capable of retaining quality including the light transmissiveness, where in one embodiment, the carpet comprises a pile layer in which a plurality of pile yarns are tufted on the front face of a primary base fabric; and a backing layer disposed on the back face side of the primary base fabric, wherein the total light transmittance of the carpet is 0.5% or higher; the lightness when the carpet is viewed from the front face side of the primary base fabric is 30 or higher; and the thickness loss rate under dynamic loading accompanied by friction of the carpet is 25% or lower.

A natural leather-like patterned artificial leather is provided which has a pattern with excellent wear resistance, while having an excellently delicate design, where the artificial leather is composed of: a fiber entangled body which comprises, as a constituent, a nonwoven fabric configured from ultrafine fibers that are formed from a thermoplastic resin, while having an average single fiber diameter of from 1 m to 10 m; and an elastomer. At least one surface of the artificial leather is a design surface having at least a piloerection part and a fused part, where the difference between the thickness of the piloerection part and the thickness of the fused part is from 0.05 mm to 0.20 mm; and the formulae (1) to (3) described below are satisfied.
E*.sub.ab5(1)
0H*.sub.ab1(2)
2D150(3)

An aqueous solution includes a polyalkylene glycol terminated poly-carbodiimide of formula 1:

##STR00001##

where: R.sub.1 is an aliphatic group from about 5 to about 12 carbon atoms, an isosorbide moiety, a 1,3-furan moiety, an L-lysine alkyl ester moiety, a rosin moiety, a cycloaliphatic unsaturated moiety, or a cardanol moiety; R.sub.2 is hydrogen or a methyl group; R.sub.3 is a methyl, ethyl, or propyl moeity; and n and m are integers and are each independently between 1 and about 30. The solution is optically clear.