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The present invention relates to a process of removing sulfate, i.e., sulfate anions, from aqueous alkali metal chlorate solutions containing chromate and sulfate. More particularly, this invention relates to the removal of sulfate from aqueous chromate-containing sodium chlorate solutions without simultaneous removal of significant quantities of chromate. Aqueous alkali metal chlorate solutions, e.g., sodim chlorate solutions, are conventionally produced by electrolysis of alkali metal chloride brines in electrolytic cells, usually bipolar electrolytic cells. A cell liquor containing both the alkali metal chlorate and alkali metal chloride is recovered from the cells. It is conventional to add chromate, e.g., sodium dichromate, to the solution in the cell, because chromate improves the current efficiency of the cell during conversion of sodium chloride to sodium chlorate. By the term "chromate" is meant a chromium-containing species such as a chromate ion (CrO.sub.4.sup..dbd.), a monobasic chromate ion (HCrO.sub.4.sup.-) or a dichromate ion (Cr.sub.2 O.sub.7.sup..dbd.), the particular species being determined primarily by the pH in the solution. The alkali metal chloride brine used as feed for these cells can be obtained by dissolving solid salt, for example, by solution mining of rock salt. Brine formed from dissolving solid salt can contain various impurities including sulfate salts. While complete removal of sulfate from the brine is unnecessary, electrolysis of brine having sulfate levels above 25 grams per liter (g/l) can damage the anode coatings. In a typical process for producing the alkali metal chlorate, the cell liquor is recovered from the cell, a portion of the alkali metal chlorate product is crystallized and separated from the liquor, the liquor is resaturated with alkali metal chloride and the liquor is then recycled to the electrolytic cell. Without removal of some sulfate, sulfate levels would rise above acceptable levels. Sulfate levels may be reduced to acceptable levels by adding calcium chloride to precipitate calcium sulfate. Such sulfate removal can be achieved by treatment of a sidestream of the aqueous chlorate liquor. It has been found that chromate ions within the chlorate liquor tend to precipitate with the calcium sulfate. Such precipitation can result in calcium sulfate precipitates having chromium levels in the range of several thousand parts per million (ppm). It is desirable to minimize the chromium level in the sulfate-containing precipitate thereby reducing toxic waste problems with the precipitate.

With the rise of deep submicron CMOS technologies, integrated circuit designs are becoming more complex incorporating more and more of a system onto a single chip. System interconnects (i.e., signal lines), previously accessible to standard test and measurement equipment, such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and the like, are no longer observable. Advanced BIST (Built-In Self-Test) and DFM (Design For Manufacturing)/DFT (Design For Test) approaches are required to verify that the silicon is designed and operating properly. Several companies, such as LogicVision (a part of Mentor Graphics Corporation in Wilsonville, Oreg., USA), are actively attempting to supply solutions to this problem by providing embedded test IP (Intellectual Property). However, this solution cannot solve a problem of not providing a signal to and from an inter-chip signal line to and from an outside test and measurement instrument. At the same time, speed and signal densities are driving package manufacturers to use advanced technologies such as MCM (Multi-Chip Module) with ceramic and Silicon-Carrier substrates. The MCM can incorporate several dies or bare ICs (Integrated Circuits) as DUTs (Devices Under Test). FIG. 1 shows a magnified perspective view of a conventional MCM 10. It should be noted that the scales of the elements are not the same in FIG. 1. Two dies 12 and 14 as DUTs are mounted on an upper surface of a module substrate 16 made of ceramic and these dies are connected together via one or more conductive paths (shown by dotted lines) in the module substrate 16. The conductive paths may be on surface traces or buried traces, connected with through-holes so as to transmit signals for the DUTs 12 and 14. A lower surface of the ceramic substrate 16 is mounted on an upper surface of an ECB (etched circuit board) 18 having plural electrodes (or pads) 20 so that the conductive paths of the ceramic substrate 16 are electrically connected to the corresponding electrodes 20 of the circuit board 18 via bumps 22. These electrodes 20 are electrically connected to contacts or pins of a MCM package. A specific kind of cover 23 over the dies 12 and 14 would be a hardened liquid, sometimes called “glob”. Other standard kinds of covers can be a single IC cover, epoxied to the package, or a multichip module cover, epoxied, bolted or screwed to the module. The above described configuration shown in FIG. 1 allows for significant portions of the system to be pulled together into a single package. This creates the same problem for signal assessability and observability as seen with advanced CMOS designs. To date, no one has offered a solution to observability for package integration. JTAG architecture was standardized by IEEE std. 1149.1-1990 as Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture. FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram of a conventional IC 30 using JTAG architecture. The IC 30 comprises an inherent IC function block 32, “PIN Test” blocks 34 each inserted between a terminal of the inherent IC function block 32 and a respective contact “I/O PIN”, test logic blocks 36 and 38 each connected between contacts “Test Data In” and “Test Data Out”, and a test access port controller 40 connected to contacts “Test Clock”, “Test Reset” and “Test Mode Select”. The contacts “Test Data In” and “Test Data Out” are connected to both of the lowest “PIN Test” blocks 34. In a normal operation of the IC 30, each “PIN Test” block 34 connects its respective contact “I/O PIN” to the inherent IC function block 32, so that the blocks 36-40 do not operate. In BST (Boundary Scan Test) mode, test data at the contact “Test Data In” is applied to a selected terminal of the inherent IC function block 32 via the “PIN Test” blocks 34 and an output from a selected terminal of the inherent IC function block 32 is applied to the contact “Test Data Out” via the “PIN Test” block 34 under control of the test access port controller 40 that is controlled by a signal from the contact “Test Mode Select”. However, this test mode is difficult to program and needs skilled test engineers. In addition, the test circuits, such as the test logic block and the test access port controller, should be contained in the IC 30 as the DUT. Recently, JTAG architecture has used not only the boundary scan test mode but also a communication method. Therefore, a signal at a desired terminal of the inherent IC function block 32 can be provided from the contact “Test Data Out” to circuitry external to the IC 30 under control of the “PIN Test” blocks 34. In this manner, the contact “Test Data Out” acts as a JTAG interface port. Applying JTAG architecture to the MCM 10 shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of specified electrodes 42 of the circuit board 18 are connected via the signal paths to specified terminals of the die 14 and are further connected to a JTAG interface port. This is shown in the drawings as a simple, generic, interface and called out as “JTAG or other interface ports”. The JTAG implementation takes more than one physical path of connections. In the prior art shown in FIG. 2, five extra pins involved to implement JTAG would be more typical. In order to avoid this complexity, FIG. 1 is simplified. One skilled in the art will recognize that another appropriate interface port may be used instead of the JTAG interface port. Therefore, the desired signals of the dies 12 and 14 can be read from the JTAG interface port. Since the JTAG architecture is implemented, the dies 12 and 14 should include the test circuit. Moreover, integration of systems onto single die and multi-chip modules make observability and accessibility of system signals difficult. What is needed is a method and device for measuring inter-chip signals by leading such signals to the outside of the module and measuring such signals with a conventional test and measurement instrument, recognizing that such methods and circuits will also lend themselves to applying stimulus signals to the DUT.

At a website, colors perform various functions, such as conveying a certain impression on a website and to cause an idea associated with a specific service through a combination of colors. Various tools have been developed that extract colors used in a website to acquire a color arrangement. For example, some web services provide the ability to analyze colors of a site based on a URL only using a simple operation of inputting a URL. In organizational activities of companies, organizations or schools, e.g., colors (also referred to as corporate colors, symbol colors or school colors) perform important functions. These colors are often used to symbolize a corporation, organization, or school. In addition, image colors or package colors of products or services themselves perform important roles for causing consumers to recognize products or services. Thus, for advertising corporations or their products or services, in all fields including websites, the corporations and the like tend to use an integral color scheme (also called a theme color). For instance, colors of logotypes of corporations and colors of packages of products are used as color schemes of websites.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic chuck and a manufacturing method therefor. In particular, the invention relates to an electrostatic chuck suited to holding a plate specimen, such as a semiconductor wafer, a metallic wafer, a glass substrate or the like, using an electrostatic force, which is used in production lines for semiconductor devices, liquid crystal devices, hybrid ICs and the like, and a manufacturing method therefor. 2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, in production lines for semiconductor devices, liquid crystal devices, hybrid ICs and the like, in order to hold a plate specimen, for instance a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer, a metallic wafer such as a thin copper plate, a glass plate or the like, for example a vacuum chuck that can suck and hold such plate specimens physically using vacuum force, or a clamp that can hold these plate specimens mechanically has been used. However, in a conventional vacuum chuck, since under vacuum conditions there is no pressure difference between the external atmosphere and the vacuum chuck, there is a problem in that a plate specimen cannot be held. Furthermore, in a conventional clamp there are problems such as; the location where the clamp makes contact with a plate specimen cannot be used for a device, partial distortion occurs in the plate specimen, and stray particles are produced by raising and lowering of the clamp. Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, an electrostatic chuck is proposed that enables a plate specimen to be held by using electrostatic force. This electrostatic chuck is constructed with a circular thin internal electrode and a pair of insulating members positioned on opposite sides of this internal electrode as its main components. A plate specimen is mounted onto the mounting surface of one of the pair of insulating members, and a prescribed DC voltage is applied to the internal electrode, thereby enabling the plate specimen to be held on the mounting surface using electrostatic force. There are two types of this electrostatic chuck, depending on the difference of electrostatic force. One type is an electrostatic chuck using the Johnson-Rahbek effect (referred to hereunder as a Johnson-Rahbek type electrostatic chuck) as an electrostatic force, and the other type is an electrostatic chuck using the Coulomb force (referred to hereunder as a Coulomb type electrostatic chuck) as an electrostatic force. In the abovementioned Johnson-Rahbek type electrostatic chuck, there are problems in that leakage current is great, the electrostatic attraction force varies depending on the type of plate specimen, and detachment of plate specimens is not good after removing the DC voltage. On the other hand, the Coulomb type electrostatic chuck has characteristics in that the electrostatic attraction force hardly varies regardless of the type of plate specimen, and disattachment of plate specimens is good after the DC voltage is removed. However, in the case of executing plasma cleaning and the like, since charging up of the attachment surface occurs easily, large plasma marks accompanying this charging up are likely to occur. Therefore, there is a problem in that resistance to corrosive gases is not sufficient.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a pulse width modulation digital-to-analog converter for converting input digital data into a pulse width modulated waveform for conversion into corresponding analog signals. 2. Prior Art Various types of digital-to-analog converters are known in the art for converting input digital signals into corresponding analog signals, such as a pulse width modulation or PWM system for converting input digital data into a pulse width modulated waveform, or a pulse amplitude modulation or PAM system for converting input digital data into a pulse amplitude modulated waveform, for conversion into corresponding analog signals. On the other hand, in digital audio signal processing systems, such as CD or DAT, several techniques have been proposed for reducing quantization noise at the time of decoding analog audio signals from digital data. These include an oversampling technique for converting digital data with a sampling frequency fs according to Nyquist's theorem into data having a sampling frequency which is a multiple (n.multidot.fs) thereof, and a noise shaping technique which changes the frequency distribution characteristics of the noise for improving the S/N ratio. For example, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication 61-177819 (1986), digital data which have been subjected to oversampling or noise-shaping, as mentioned above, are converted into analog form by a digital-to-analog converter producing analog audio signals having a reduced quantization noise level. Meanwhile, although it is possible in principle with the above mentioned PAM digital to analog converter to produce analog output signals with excellent linearity and reduced distortion, it has the drawback that high accuracy resistance summation or current summation circuits, accurately registered with the weights of the input digital data bits, are required. If it is desired to improve resolution, the circuit scale must be increased and the circuit as a whole must be designed to provide high accuracy. On the other hand, the above mentioned PWM digital-to-analog converters have a less complex circuit organization. In a conventional PWM digital-to-analog converter, as shown in FIG. 1, pulse width modulated waveforms having pulse widths W.sub.7, W.sub.6, W.sub.5, W.sub.4, W.sub.3, W.sub.2 and W.sub.1, corresponding with 3-bit 7-value input digital data D.sub.7, D.sub.6, D.sub.5, D.sub.4, D.sub.3, D.sub.2 and D.sub.1 are generated and freed of high frequency components in a low-pass filter to produce analog output signals. However, as shown in the spectral distribution diagram of FIG. 2, which illustrates the results of an FFT analysis of a pulse width modulated waveform generated with the use of the conventional circuit from a 10kHz sinusoidal signal, the even-number order distortion components, and above all, the second order distortion components HD, are large.

To improve a surface of plastics lenses that have been used increasingly frequently in recent years, metal oxide sols having a high refractive index are used as a component of a hard coat agent applied to the surface thereof. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-37142 describes a molded part having a transparent cover layer containing fine inorganic substance particles comprised by at least one metal oxide selected from Al, Ti, Zr, Sn and Sb having a particle size of 1 to 300 nm. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-27168 discloses crystalline titanium oxide-tin oxide sol having particles with a particle size of 50 nm or less. This is obtained by a method in which a water-soluble titanium compound and a water-soluble tin compound are reacted with an alkali metal hydroxide or its carbonate and/or an ammonium compound and hydrothermally treated. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 5-29363 discloses a cosmetic having incorporated therein a titanium oxide-cerium oxide composite sol obtained by adding hydrogen peroxide to a dispersion of titanium oxide hydrate and cerium oxide hydrate to dissolve the titanium oxide hydrate and cerium oxide hydrate and heating the solution. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 2-178219 and Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-45453 disclose a method for producing a titanium oxide-iron oxide composite sol. In the above-mentioned prior art, the metal oxide particles comprised by Al, Ti, Zr, Sn, Sb, etc. having a particle size of 1 to 300 nm described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-37142 are undesirable since where they are coated on a plastics substrate and cured, the resulting coating film has insufficient water resistance even when they are used each alone as a component of a hard coat agent. Also, when high refractive titanium oxide is used in this application, its primary particle size must be 20 nm or less, preferably 15 nm or less in relation to transparency. However, a problem arises that it is colored to blue color when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. In the case where the sols described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-45453, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 2-178219 and Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 5-29363 are used, addition of a small amount of iron oxide or cerium oxide to the titanium oxide can inhibit the discoloration attributable to the irradiation of ultraviolet rays. However, because of the iron oxide or cerium oxide added in such an amount as can inhibit the coloration, the sols themselves are colored to brown or yellow and coating films prepared from them are also colored to and are undesirable. Also, the crystalline titanium oxide-tin oxide sol described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-27168 is undesirable in that hydrothermal treatment at 100.degree. C. or higher is essential to convert it into a composite form, with the result that firm and stable secondary flocculates are generated to considerably decrease the transparency of the resulting sol. Whereas plastic molded products are used in large amounts making the best of their advantages such as lightness in weight, ready processing, and impact resistance, on the contrary, they have defects that their hardness is insufficient and they tend to be marred, corroded by solvents, electrically charged to adsorb dusts, have insufficient heat resistance and so on, so that they are less sufficient in practical use as lenses for glasses windowpanes, etc. than inorganic glass molded parts. Accordingly, it has been proposed to provide a protective coat on plastic molded parts. So many kinds of coating compositions have been proposed for use as a coat and for example, a coating composition containing an organosilicon compound or its hydrolysates as a main component (resin component or coating film-forming component) has been used as a hard coat for lenses for glasses. However, this coating agent has insufficient marring resistance. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho 53-111336 discloses use of a coating agent containing colloidal silica particles obtained by addition of silica sol as a hard coat for lenses for glasses. Conventionally, plastic lenses for glasses have mostly been produced by cast polymerization of diethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate in the state of monomer. The lens thus produced has a refractive index of about 1.50, which is lower than the refractive index of glass lens being 1.52, so that there arises the problem that in the case of lenses for glasses for short sight the thickness of frame increases. For this reason, recently, the development of monomers having a higher refractive index than that of diethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate have been promoted. Such high refractive resin materials are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-opens No. Sho 55-13747, No. Sho 56-166214, No. Sho 57-23611, No. Sho 57-54901, No. Sho 59-133211, No. Sho 60-199016 and No. Sho 64-54021. In contrast to high refractive lenses using the above-described high refractive resin materials, Japanese Patent Application Laid-opens No. Sho 62-151801 and No. Sho 63-275682 disclose coating agents containing a colloidal dispersion of fine particles of an oxide of a metal such as Sb or Ti. The coating agent containing colloidal silica by addition of a silica sol has such a problem that a film obtained by coating and curing the coating agent generates interference fringes, making the appearance of the lens unacceptable. Also, in the case of lenses, it is often the case that an antireflection film (a multilayer structure film comprising inorganic oxide thin films based on the optical interference theory) is provided on the coating film. In this case, there has been such a problem that the antireflection film has a reflection color, for example, very pale green, and the reflection color varies and is uneven depending on the position on the surface of the lens. In a coating agent containing colloidal tin oxide by addition of a tin oxide sol, the tin oxide sol has low compatibility with organosilicon compounds such as silane coupling agent or silicon-containing substances such as the hydrolysates of organosilicon compounds and therefore, it has decreased stability, with the result that films obtained by coating and curing the coating agent have insufficient water resistance. In the coating agent containing colloidal titanium oxide by addition of a titanium oxide sol, the titanium oxide sol has also low compatibility with organosilicon compounds such as silane coupling agent or silicon-containing substances such as the hydrolysates of organosilicon compounds and therefore, it has decreased stability, with the result that films obtained by coating and curing the coating agent have insufficient water resistance. Also, there has been the problem that it is discolored to blue by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. The coating agent containing colloidal antimony oxide by addition of an antimony oxide sol has improved stability because compatibility between the antimony oxide sol and organosilicon compounds such as silane coupling agent or silicon-containing substances such as the hydrolysates of organosilicon compounds is high. However, there is such a problem that films obtained by coating and curing the coating agent have insufficient refractive index. The present invention is to provide a coating composition that gives rise to a film showing no interference fringes and having no irregularity in reflection color, the film being obtained by coating and curing the coating agent on a high refractive optical element that uses a high refractive resin material having a high refractive index of n.sub.D =1.54 to 1.70 and an optical element utilizing the coating composition. Also, the present invention is to provide a coating composition for plastics that is excellent in marring resistance, surface hardness, wear resistance, flexibility, transparency, antistatic properties, dyeability, heat resistance, water resistance, chemical resistance, etc. and an optical element utilizing the coating composition. In particular, the present invention is to provide a coating agent that gives rise to a film that is excellent in marring resistance, adhesion, water resistance, transparency, light resistance and generates no interference fringe. The present invention provides a method for producing composite sols, coating compositions utilizing such composite sols, and optical elements that can obviate the above-mentioned problems.

Butachlor is the common name for the active herbicide ingredient 2-chloro-2',6'-diethyl-N-(butoxymethyl)acetanilide. The preparation and use of this compound to control the growth of undesired plants is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,945. Other active herbicide ingredients described in this patent include 2-chloro-2'-tert. butyl-6'-methylacetanilide and 2-chloro-2'-tert. butyl-6'-methyl-N-(butoxymethyl)acetanilide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,746 describes the preparation and use of the active herbicide ingredient N-(2-butoxyethyl)-N-(2,6-dimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-.alpha.-chloroacetami de. Molinate is the common name for the active herbicide ingredient S-ethyl hexahydro-1H-azepine-1-carbothiolate, whose preparation and use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,786. Benthiocarb is the common name for the active herbicide ingredient S-(4-chlorobenzyl)N,N-diethylthiolcarbamate, whose preparation and use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,332. Butralin is the common name for the active herbicide ingredient N-sec. butyl-4'-tert. butyl-2',6'-dinitroaniline, whose preparation and use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,866. In the treatment of rice, it is often desirable to use relatively high rates of the active herbicide ingredient to achieve more rapid or more complete control of the undesired grasses which compete with the crop. Such higher rates, however, can create a significant problem because of the increased level of the detrimental herbicidal effect on the rice crop. The effect of 3-phenacyl phthalide on root geotropism in various plants is discussed in the literature. Tests of this compound on cress and ryegrass are described in Pesticide Science, Vol. 4, pgs. 473-84 (1973).

The present invention relates to a golf club set comprising a plurality of golf clubs having various different loft angles and a golf club shaft set used for the golf club set. An iron golf club set is constituted of about 10 golf clubs from long irons to short irons, where club length and a loft angle differ for each club number so that different flying distance can be obtained for each club number. In the foregoing golf club set, it is preferable to establish harmony on height of trajectory of a hit ball by a golf club among the club numbers. As a yardstick to evaluate the height of trajectory of a hit ball by a golf club, a kick point and the like are generally used. However, since the kick point only indicates the top position of bending of a golf club shaft, it has been difficult to show the height of trajectory of a hit ball by a golf club exactly with the yardstick. Therefore, even when a golf club set is designed to establish harmony on the height of trajectory of a hit ball by a golf club among the club numbers based on conventional yardstick, it is the present situation that harmony on actual height of trajectory of a hit ball by a golf club is not established among the club numbers. In addition, in the foregoing golf club set, it is preferable to establish harmony on flexibility of a golf club shaft actually felt by a person among the club numbers. As a yardstick to evaluate flexibility of a golf club shaft, frequency (cpm) and the like are generally used. However, when flexibility of a golf club shaft is evaluated based on such a yardstick and even when the value is large, a person did not always actually feel stiff. Specifically, depending on the difference of a kick point, the result based on the foregoing yardstick is sometimes different. For example, in two golf club shafts having kick points different from each other, reversal phenomena that one golf club shaft indicates higher frequency than the other golf club shaft while the latter one is felt stiffer than the former one, is occurred. Therefore, even when a golf club set is designed to establish harmony on flexibility of a golf club shaft based on conventional yardstick among the club numbers, it is the present situation that harmony on flexibility of golf club shafts actually felt by a person is not obtained among the club numbers.

It is known, in the construction industry, to use cranes, both fixed and truck-mounted, to move and lift weights, even hundreds of tons, to heights that can exceed several dozen meters. Such cranes are normally provided with an extendable arm, which can be formed by one or more segments connected to each other in an articulated or telescopic manner. In the latter case they are called telescopic cranes, or extendable or telescopic arm cranes. In some particular applications, in which supplementary performances are required of the crane, it is known to use, to increase the performance of the crane in terms of maximum reachable height, an auxiliary extension device, also known as jib, attached to the free end of the extendable arm. Normally, the auxiliary extension device is made of steel, and generally has a reticular latticed structure. The auxiliary extension device can be made with one or more segments or sections, connected or interconnected to each other. Known auxiliary extension devices can be assembled by means of pivoting coupling on the free end of the corresponding extendable arm. This allows them to fold back on the extendable arm during transport, and then to be put in their working position, that is, cantilevered with respect to the extendable arm, by means of a rotation carried out on site. Known auxiliary extension devices can be assembled and positioned both with manual procedures and also using a support crane. One disadvantage of known auxiliary extension devices is that they are normally very heavy, even in the order of a ton. This can cause a heavier weight of the crane in its entirety, so that moving it by truck can be inconvenient and costly. The weight of known auxiliary extension devices as above also penalizes the performance of the cranes in terms of the mass of movable load, since this must be added to the weight of the auxiliary extension device itself, already weighing on the extendable arm of the crane. Another disadvantage connected to the weight of the auxiliary extension device can affect the horizontal distance to which the load can be moved, a distance which is connected to the forces acting on the attachment zone of the auxiliary extension device to the extendable arm of the crane. Another limitation due to the weight of the auxiliary extension device affects the actual maximum height the arm can reach to position the load. Another disadvantage of known auxiliary extension devices is connected to the complexity and time needed for the operations to assemble and produce the auxiliary extension devices themselves, since generally, as stated above, they have a latticed structure. Another disadvantage of known auxiliary extension devices is that they are difficult to assemble on the end of the extendable arms of the cranes, since normally they need one or more support cranes. It is also known from WO-A-96/26887, EO-A-2012/156807, EP-A-1.361.189, and EP-A-1.090.875 the use of segments of an extendable arm of a crane made with a composite material. The documents WO-A-96/26887, WO-A-2012/156807 and EP-A-1.361.189, in particular, disclose an extendable arm in which, each segment is reciprocally connected to another segment and cannot be disassembled easily, without removing substantially parts of the extendable aim, such as actuation means able to move telescopically the segments. The document WO-A-96/26887 discloses a crane for lifting a load, such as a platform. The crane comprises a telescopic aim formed by sections made of composites material. The sections cooperate with each other in sliding so as each section can slide internally or externally with respect to another section. One of the sections, in particular the section defining the free end of the telescopic arm, is provided with an arm. The arm is also made with a composite material and is designed to support a platform to accommodate a load or people. The arm has only the function of connection between the extendable arm and the platform, and is provided with regulation means configured to maintain the platform horizontal. This arm, however, is not suitable to be connected to attachment devices, such as a hook to which a load can be attached. One purpose of the present invention is to obtain an auxiliary extension device for a crane with an extendable arm which has a limited weight compared with known auxiliary extension devices, which is easy and quick to produce and which allows, given the same performance, to limit, the overall weight of the crane on which it is mounted. Another purpose of the present invention is to simplify the selective connection operations between an auxiliary extension device and an extendable arm of a crane. Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an auxiliary extension device that has optimized mechanical resistance in relation to the stresses to which it is subjected. Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an auxiliary extension device for a crane with extendable arm that allows to increase the mass of load movable by the crane on which it is mounted, given the same height that can be reached. Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an auxiliary extension device which allows to increase the horizontal distance to which the load can be moved by the crane on whose extendable arm the auxiliary extension device is mounted, given the same mass of the load and the same length of the auxiliary extension device. Another purpose is to obtain an auxiliary extension device which, given the same weight as a known auxiliary extension device, allows the crane on which it is mounted to reach a greater maximum height at which to position the load. Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an auxiliary extension device which, with the same sizes as a known auxiliary extension device, is easier to transport and easier to mount manually on the extendable arm of the crane and which does not need a support crane. The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

Throughout this application, various publications and patents are referred to by an identifying citation. The disclosures of the publications and patents referenced in this application are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. Almost any cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to eject blood suffers a progression toward an inexorable deterioration of cardiac structure and function, producing the complex clinical syndrome of heart failure, which is a common medical condition that afflicts approximately 1.5 to 2.0% of the population (4.8 million people in the United States) and which has a risk of death of 5 to 10% annually in patients with mild symptoms and increases to as high as 30 to 40% annually in patients with advanced disease, as, for example, described in 1998 Heart and Stroke Statistical Update by the American Heart Association, Dallas, Tex., 1997; Am. Heart J., Vol. 133, pages 703 to 712 (1997) by Massie et al.; J. Heart Lung Transplant, Vol. 13, pages S107 to S112 (1994) by O'Connell et al.; and Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 22 (Suppl. A.), pages 6A to 13A (1993) by Ho et al. Annual direct expenditures for heart failure in the United States have been estimated at $20 to 40 billion, twice that for all forms of cancer, as described in the above-mentioned references by Massie et al. and O'Connell et al. The core of the altered cardiac function in heart failure is a depression of cardiac contractility, as, for example, described in Lancet, Vol. 352 (Suppl. I), pages 8 to 14 (1998) by Bristow. Therefore, an adequate assessment of cardiac contractility has important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Patients with acute heart failure, particularly as a complication of acute myocardial infarction or as an acute exacerbation of a previously compensated chronic heart failure, have a high mortality rate of about 30% within the first 12 months. In this clinical condition, a proper evaluation of cardiac contractility is extremely important for diagnostic purposes to assess the severity of the process and as a guide for the inotropic therapy. Typically, ejecting phase indices are used to evaluate ventricular function with the serious limitations that these parameters have, especially in this clinical setting where frequent and prominent hemodynamic load changes occur, as, for example, described in Arch. Mal. Coeur. Vaiss., Vol. 91, pages 1349 to 1358 (1998) by Bosio et al.; Rev. Prat., Vol. 47, pages 2146 to 2152 (1997) by Garot et al.; and Fortschr. Med., Vol. 115, pages 30 to 34 (1997) by Schwinger et al. In regards to chronic heart failure, perhaps as many as 20 million individuals in the United States have an asymptomatic impairment of cardiac function and are likely to develop symptoms in the next 1 to 5 years. At this stage of heart failure, a reliable index of cardiac contractility is required for an early identification and appropriate treatment to achieve the greatest impact on individual and public health, as, for example, described in Am. J. Cardiol., Vol. 83, pages 1A to 38A (1999) by Parker et al. In more advanced stages of heart failure, ventricular function parameters are measured to identify the severity of the cardiac abnormality. In this setting, ejection fraction is widely used. However, it has no good correlation with the physical capacity of the patient, as, for example, described in Circulation, Vol. 87 (Suppl. VI), pages VI-88 to VI-93 (1993) by Smith et al.; and Am. J. Cardiol., Vol. 47, pages 33 to 39 (1981) by Franciosa et al. There is debate about the value of repeated measurement of ejection fraction to evaluate the course, prognosis or therapeutic response, as, for example, described in the above-mentioned reference by Parker et al. It is expected that a more refined assessment of cardiac contractility, together with a better knowledge of the peripheral circulation and the neuro-endocrine axes, will improve the evaluation and treatment of these patients. In severe valve diseases with striking modifications in cardiac loads, adequate information in relation to cardiac contractility, but different to the typically used ejection phase indices, is most important to choose the proper time for surgical treatment, as, for example, described in Heart Disease, Braunwald (ed.), W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1977, pages 1007 to 1076, by Braunwald. Contractility or inotropic state of the heart refers to a fundamental property of cardiac tissue and represents the intensity of the active state of the muscle. The level of the inotropic state is given by the interaction of calcium ions and the contractile protein reflecting the level of activation and the formation and cycling of the cross bridges between actin and myosin filaments, as, for example, described in Heart Disease, Brunwald (ed.), W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1977, pages 421 to 444 by Little et al. This interaction is able to be widely modified by multiple and simultaneous factors such as force-frequency relation, circulating catecholamines, sympathetic nerve impulses, anoxia, hypercapnia, acidosis, pharmacologic intervention, etc., as, for example, described in J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol., Vol. 26 (Suppl. 1), pages S1 to S9 (1995) by Opie. However, no absolute measure of myocardial contractility exists. Many indices have been proposed as measures of left ventricular contractile function, analyzing the behavior of changes in pressure and/or volume during the isovolumetric or ejection phase of the left ventricular systole. Some of these indices are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1Indices of Cardiac ContractilityI.Isovolumetric Phase Indices1. Rate of rise of ventricular pressure (dP/dt): a. maximum b. dP/dt/P c. dP/dt DP40 d. VPM (dP/dt/28P)2. VmaxII.Ejection Phase Indices1. Stroke volume or work/diastolic volume2. Ejection fraction (EF)3. Velocity of circumferential shortening (Vcf)4. Mean normalized systolic ejection rate (MNSER)5. FE or Vcf/end-systolic stress Most of these indices of cardiac contractility, such as maximum rate of rise of dP/dt, EF, and Vcf, are highly sensitive to acute inotropic changes, as, for example, described in From Cardiac Catheterization Data to Hemodynamic Parameters, F. A. Davis Company, Philadelphia, 1988, by Yang et al.; J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 41, page 80 (1962) by Gleason et al.; Am. J. Cardiol., Vol. 31, page 415 (1973) by Krayenbuehl et al.; Circ. Res., Vol. 56, page 808 (1985) by Little; and Circulation, Vol. 76, page 1422, by Kass et al. However, these indices are markedly modified by preload or afterload alterations, as described, for example, in the above-mentioned references by Gleason et al., Little, and Kass et al. To overcome these limitations, some modifications of these indices have been proposed, such as for dP/dt/P, dP/dt/DP, VPM, stroke volume, MNSER, and FE or Vcf/end-systolic stress, which make them less sensitive, though still sensitive, to changes in loads, as, for example, described in Circulation, Vol. 44, page 47 (1971) by Mason et al.; Cardiovasc. Res., Vol. 8, page 299 (1974) by Davidson et al.; Circulation, Vol. 53, page 293 (1976) by Quinones et al.; Am. J. Physiol., Vol. 240, page H80 (1981) by Carabello et al.; Ann. Intern. Med., Vol. 99, page 750 (1983) by Borow et al.; J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 4, page 715 (1984) by Colan et al.; Circulation, Vol. 73, page 47 (1986) by Wisenbaugh et al.; Circulation, Vol. 78, page 68 (1988) by Mirsky et al.; Ann. Intern. Med., Vol. 108, page 524 (1988) by Lang et al.; and J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 20, page 787 (1992) by Borow et al. Even Vmax, which was originally proposed as being independent of load index of cardiac contractility, has theoretical and practical limitations, and it is no longer used for clinical purposes, as, for example, described in Ann. Rev. Physiol., Vol. 34, page 47 (1972) by Ross et al. Another way to assess cardiac contractility is by analyzing the end-systolic pressure/volume relation (ESPVR or ESP/ESV). The generation of variably afterloaded beats allows determination of several relationships. The slope of this line, usually known as Ecs or Emax, denotes the maximum stiffness or elastance of the left ventricle, as, for example, described in Circ. Res., Vol. 35, pages 117 to 126 (1974) by Suga et al.; and Circulation, Vol. 69, pages 1058 to 1064 (1984) by Carabello et al. The slope and/or position of the ESPVR respond to changes in myocardial contractile state, as for example, described in Circulation, Vol. 69, pages 1058 to 1064 (1984) by Carabello et al.; and Cardiovasc. Res., Vol. 9, pages 447 to 455 (1975) by Mahler et al. This index is independent of preload, and afterload is the controlled variable, as, for example, described in the above-mentioned reference by Suga et al. However, it is not possible to know the resting value of the relationship since alterations in the afterload are required to obtain the slope of the ESPVR. This slope behaves as a straight line for only part of the range of the physiologic values of afterload, as, for example, described in Am. J. Physiol., Vol. 252, pages H1218 to H1227 (1987) by Burkhoff et al.; and Circulation, Vol. 79, pages 167 to 178 (1989) by Kass et al. Additionally, no normal value of this slope has been established, and this technique is less sensitive than the isovolumetric and ejection phase indices to assess changes in the inotropic state of the heart, as, for example, described in Circulation, Vol. 76, pages 1115 to 1126 (1987) by Crottogini et al.; and Circulation, Vol. 76, pages 1422 to 1436 (1987) by Kass et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,793 to Wesseling describes a method of determining the stroke volume and cardiac output of the human heart from a pulse-type blood-stream pressure signal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,615 to Frank et al. describes a method and apparatus for continuous measurement of cardiac output by analyzing the blood pressure signal. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,535,753 and 5,647,369, both to Petrucelli et al., describe apparatus and methods for non-invasively measuring cardiovascular system parameters involving sensing a time varying arterial pressure pulse waveform. U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,298 to Kabal describes a noninvasive method for calculating stroke volume and cardiac output of a human heart using computerized algorithms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,652 to Nikolic describes a system and method for measuring the heart condition of a patient by utilizing blood pressure signals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,884 to Chio describes a method for determining the cardiovascular condition of a patient by determining peripheral resistance and diastolic flow velocity of the patient. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,679 and 5,797,395, both to Martin, relate to a cardiac output determining device and method which senses an arterial pressure waveform and compares the sensed waveform to a plurality of stored waveforms representative of known states. U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,826 to Blank describes an apparatus and method for assessing the cardiovascular status of a mammal by utilizing arterial pressure waveforms and systolic and diastolic pressures. In summary, there are no simple and reliable indices of cardiac contractility, since they are not load independent. The most precise indices (dP/dt, Vmax, or Ees) require invasive and/or sophisticated techniques and usually no normal values have been defined. These indices have been more useful in assessing directional changes in cardiac contractility during acute interventions.

The use of multiple computing devices having differing capabilities together in a collaborative manner by a single person has become commonplace. Specifically, it has become commonplace for one person to make use of such a group of computing devices as a work computer system, a home computer system, a smartphone, a tablet computer and a computer system in their car together, along with ancillary computing devices such as a digital wireless communications headset and/or wrist-worn device displaying textual information. It has become expected that information (e.g., emails, appointments, contact information, document, music audio files, maps, digital photos, etc.) associated with that one person will be automatically synchronized and made available among multiple computing devices in such a group such that the one person is able to access and make use of that information using any of them. An integral part of such collaborative use of a group of computing devices is arranging secure network communications (usually via wireless networks) among them. Each of these computing devices must in some way be configured to share information associated with that one person only with other computing devices of that group. Stated differently, each of those computing devices must be configured to enable relatively seamless sharing of information among them while avoiding sharing that information with other computing devices that are not part of that group. The most widely accepted and used approach to configuring computing devices to operate in this manner is commonly referred to as “pairing” where that one person brings one of the computing devices that has already been configured for such secure collaborative use in that group into close proximity with another computing device that they wish to add to that group as a new “member.” In current incarnations of pairing, wireless signals are exchanged between those two devices over a relatively short range form of wireless communications to convey information from the one computing device that is already a member of that group to the other computing device that is being added. The short range of those wireless communications is often relied upon to ensure security by precluding the possibility of unauthorized devices intercepting those signals. However, this approach does necessitate having possession of at least one of the computing devices that is already a member of that group available to bring into that close proximity to that other computing device to be added as a new member. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the embodiments described herein are needed.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the “scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate. It is well-known in the art of lithography that the image of a mask pattern can be improved, and process windows enlarged, by appropriate choice of the angles at which the mask pattern is illuminated. In an apparatus having a Koehler illumination arrangement, the angular distribution of light illuminating the mask is determined by the intensity distribution in a pupil plane of the illumination system, which can be regarded as a secondary source. Illumination modes are commonly described by reference to the shape of the intensity distribution in the pupil plane. Conventional illumination, i.e. even illumination from all angles from 0 to a certain maximum angle, requires a uniform disk-shaped intensity distribution in the pupil plane. Other commonly-used intensity distributions are: annular, in which the intensity distribution in the pupil plane is in the shape of an annulus; dipole illumination, in which there are two poles in the pupil plane; and quadrupole illumination, in which there are four poles in the pupil plane. To create these illumination schemes, various methods have been proposed. For example, a zoom-axicon, that is a combination of a zoom lens and an axicon, can be used to create annular illumination with controllable inner and outer radii (σinner and σouter) of the annulus. To create dipole and quadrupole type illumination modes, it has been proposed to use spatial filters, that is opaque plates with apertures where the poles are desired as well as arrangements using moveable bundles of optical fibers. Using spatial filters may be undesirable because the resulting loss of light reduces the throughput of the apparatus and hence increases its cost of ownership. Arrangements with bundles of optical fibers may be complex and inflexible. It has therefore been proposed to use a diffractive optical element (DOE) to form the desired intensity distribution in the pupil plane. The diffractive optical elements are made by etching different patterns into different parts of the surface of a quartz or CaF2 substrate. The choice of materials from which lenses useable with deep ultraviolet radiation (DUV), e.g. at 248 nm, 193 nm, 157 nm or 126 nm, can be made is quite limited and even the best materials have significant coefficients of absorption of this radiation. This means that the lenses in the projection system absorb energy during exposures and heat up, leading to changes in their shape, separation and refractive index which introduce aberrations into the projected image. Therefore, many lens systems are provided with one or more actuated lens elements whose shape, position and/or orientation in one or more degrees of freedom can be adjusted during or between exposures to compensate for lens heating effects. If an illumination mode, such as dipole, in which the energy of the beam is strongly localized in a pupil plane of the illumination system is used, then the energy of the beam will also be strongly localized in and near the pupil plane(s) of the projection system. Lens heating effects are more severe when such localized illumination modes are used because the temperature gradients in the lens elements affected are greater, leading to localized changes in shape and/or refractive index which cause large phase gradients in the beam. These effects are often not correctable by existing actuated lens elements, which generally effect corrections described by only lower order Zernike polynomials e.g. up to Z5 or Z6. Similar effects can be caused by the use of a slit-shaped illumination field, as is common in a scanning lithographic apparatus, but these effects are generally of lower order, and more easily correctable. Past attempts to deal with the problem of non-uniform lens heating include the provision of additional light sources, e.g. infra-red, to heat the “cold” part, i.e. the part not traversed by the intense part of the beam, of elements of the projection system. See, e.g., Japanese patent application publication JP-A-08-221261, which addresses non-uniform heating caused by zonal or modified illumination. The provision of such additional light sources and guides to conduct the additional heat radiation to the correct place increases the complexity of the apparatus and the increased heat load in the projection system necessitates the provision of a cooling system of higher capacity. Another proposal to deal with non-uniform heating caused by a slit-shaped illumination field is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,530, which describes a special “lens illumination mark” provided in the reticle stage outside of the reticle area which diverges radiation so that the illumination of the lens elements in the projection system is rotationally symmetric. The lens elements are thermally saturated by illumination through the special mark before production exposures so that the non-rotationally symmetric heating caused by a slit-shaped illumination system does not cause non-rotationally symmetric aberrations. The problem of non-uniform lens heating caused by localized illumination modes is addressed in WO 2004/051716. In one proposal described in this document, “dummy irradiation” is performed during wafer exchange to heat the cold parts of the lens elements affected by non-uniform heating in production exposures. During the dummy irradiation, the illumination mode is set, using a diffractive optical element or an adjustable diaphragm, to be the inverse of the illumination mode used for production exposures so that the heating effects of the dummy irradiation are the inverse of the heating effects of production exposures and the net heating is more uniform. Another proposal of this document is to use additional infra-red radiation to locally heat selected lens elements.

It is known to use in-line measuring devices containing a magneto-inductive, measurement pickup for measuring the flow velocity and/or volume flow, e.g. volume flow rate, of an electrically conductive fluid flowing in a stream direction through a measuring tube of the measurement pickup. For this, the magnetically inductive sensor uses, mostly, diametrically facing, field coils of a magnetic circuit arrangement electrically connected to an exciter electronics of the in-line measuring device, to produce a magnetic field, which passes through the fluid within a given measuring volume at least sectionally perpendicularly to the direction of flow and which closes on itself essentially externally of the fluid. The measuring tube is composed, for such purpose, usually of non-ferromagnetic material, so that the magnetic field is not unfavorably affected. Due to the movement of the free charge carriers of the fluid in the magnetic field, an electrical field is produced in the measuring volume that runs perpendicularly to the magnetic field and perpendicularly to the direction of flow of the liquid, according to the magneto-hydrodynamic principle. An electrical voltage induced in the fluid is therefore measurable by means of at least two measurement electrodes spaced from each other in the direction of the electrical field, and by means of an evaluation electronics of the in-line measuring device connected to these electrodes. The induced voltage is, in turn, a measure for the volume flow rate. Serving for sensing the induced voltage can be, for instance, fluid-contacting, galvanic, or fluid-non-contacting, capacitive measurement electrodes. For conveying and coupling the magnetic field into the measurement volume, the magnetic circuit arrangement generally includes coil cores surrounded by the field coils. The coil cores are separated from each other, especially diametrically, along a periphery of the measuring tube, and are arranged with, in each case, a free end face located especially at positions where each is, in effect, a mirror image of the another. In operation, the magnetic field created by the field coils connected to the exciter-electronics is so coupled via the coil cores into the measurement tube, that it passes through the fluid flowing between the two end faces at least sectionally perpendicularly to the stream direction. Because of their high measuring accuracy, on the one hand, and the versatile applicability on the other hand, especially also in almost all usual nominal diameters, in-line measuring devices with such measurement pickups have become established over decades in almost all domains of industrial measurement technology. In-line measuring devices that measure flow velocities, and/or volume flow rates, of flowing fluids acoustically by means of ultrasonics, are often used as an alternative to such in-line measuring devices with magneto-inductive measurement pickups, at least in the case of non-conductive media. Due to the required high mechanical stability demanded for measuring tubes used in such measurement pickups, the former—both for magneto-inductively, as well as for acoustically, measuring, measurement pickups—comprise most often an outer, especially metal, support tube of predetermined strength and diameter, coated internally with an electrically non-conductive, insulating material of predetermined thickness, the so-called liner. For example, the magneto-inductive measurement pickups described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,069, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,315, U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,727, U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,442, U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,340, U.S. Pat. No. 3,213,685 or JP-Y 53-51 181 comprise, in each case, a measuring tube insertable fluid-tightly into a pipeline, and having a first, inlet end and a second, outlet end. The measuring tube, in each case, is comprised of a non-ferromagnetic support tube, as an outer casing of the measuring tube, and a tubular liner, accommodated in a lumen of the support tube and made of an insulating material, for conveying a flowing liquid isolated from the support tube The liner, which is usually made of a thermoplastic, thermosetting or elastomeric plastic, or synthetic material, serves to chemically isolate the support tube from the fluid. In the case of magneto-inductive measurement pickups, wherein the support tube has a high electrical conductivity, for example through the use of metal support tubes, the liner serves also as electrical isolation, or insulation, between the support tube and the fluid, in order to prevent a short circuiting of the electrical field through the support tube. By a suitable design of the support tube, it is thus possible to adapt the strength of the measuring tube to the mechanical loads in particular application cases, while an adaptation of the measuring tube to the chemical and/or biological requirements of particular applications can be realized by means of the liner. Because of its good workability, on the one hand, and its good chemical and mechanical properties, on the other hand, polyurethane in particular has become established as a material for liners of in-line measuring devices, in particular those with magneto-inductive measurement pickups. This is in addition to hard rubber or fluorine-containing plastics such as PTFE or PFA. Furthermore, liners of polyurethane have mostly good biological properties, in particular also in bacteriological regard, and are, as a result, also suitable for application in the case of aqueous fluids. The polyurethanes used for the production of liners of the described kind are mostly elastomeric plastics, that are made on the basis of a flowable, especially liquid, multi-component system formed, directly before the processing, of reactive starting components. After the mixing, the obtained, multi-component system is applied onto the inner wall of the support tube pretreated with adhesive agent and left there to harden, or cure, to the liner within a predetermined reaction time. It is well known that polyurethanes are made by the polyaddition method from di- and poly-isocyanates and di- or poly-valent alcohols, for example butanediol. In such case, prepolymers, developed from aliphatic and/or aromatic ether- and/or ester-groups, as well as glycol- and isocyanate groups, can, for example, serve as a primary components that can react with the di- or poly-valent alcohol, supplied as a further primary component. As required, color-giving fillers, especially powdery or pasty ones, for example soot, pigments or reactive dyes can be added. Used for the manufacture of liners of polyurethane is a so-called ribbon flow method, in which the previously prepared, flowable, multi-component system is evenly distributed on the appropriately moved, inner wall of the support tube by a corresponding pour, or spray, head of an application device, for example a low pressure or high pressure metering/mixing/pouring device. The necessary reaction time for the subsequent solidifying and hardening of the multi-component system can be set by the dosage of the starting components, and also, to a large extent, by a suitable controlling of the processing temperature. However, short reaction times of less than a minute, which are necessary for cost-effective production of the liner with a processing temperature of about room temperature, are obtained usually only through addition of a suitable catalyst, usually one containing heavy metal and/or amine, to the multi-component system. Here, in particular, tertiary amines and/or mercury are used as catalysts. Considering that the catalyst itself remains essentially unchanged in the finished polyurethane, the latter has, as a result, inevitably also toxic, or at least physiologically not completely harmless, characteristics. Numerous investigations have also shown that especially such catalysts can, to a significant degree, be dissolved out of the liner, at least in the presence of water. As a result, the polyurethanes prepared with such catalysts used at present in in-line measuring devices are only suitable conditionally for applications with high hygienic requirements, e.g. for measurements in the field of drinking water, since high requirements for the chemical resistance of the fluid-touching components in the drinking water field and the physiological compatibility can, without more, no longer be fulfilled. Special attention in the drinking water field is placed on, among other things, meeting the maximal tolerable rate of migration (Mmax, TOC) regarding a total organic carbon content (TOC) and/or the specific migration limit values (SML) defined for toxicologically critical substances. Equally strict are the requirements regarding the effect of the liner on the external properties of drinking water, especially regarding the taste-, color-, turbidity- and/or smell-neutrality of the liner in the presence of water, as well as regarding the maximally tolerable chlorine demand rates (Mmax,Cl). Fortunately, beyond that, the possibility exists, as for example suggested in the not before-published German patent application DE 102005005195.2, to use as catalysts metal-organic compounds such as e.g. di(n-octyl)tin dilaurate. This has, among other things, the advantage that the polyurethane manufactured therewith has good physiological, organo-leptic and bacteriological characteristics and can thus also be quite suitable for applications in the drinking water field. Because of the short reaction time set by means of the catalyst, the final blending of all the components used for the production of the multi-component system can thus however inevitably take place only immediately before the application of the multi-component system onto the support tube, for example through the use of in-line mixers. Considering, however that the catalyst, based on the entire multi-component system, generally constitutes only a very small volume, or mass, fraction of less than one percent, in the fabrication of such polyurethane liners, in an intermediate step of the manufacturing process, generally the catalyst, which, at least as regards quantity, serves as a secondary component, is mixed into the alcohol in concentration figured on the basis of the entire multi-component system, whereby a catalyst-alcohol mixture serving practically as an intermediate component of the multi-component system is formed from the two starting components alcohol and catalyst. The mixture, composed, at least, of the alcohol and the catalyst, formed in this way, is placed for subsequent use, in an appropriate storage container of the application apparatus specified above and held there in an amount, for example 20-50 liters, sufficient for the actual manufacturing of a series of liners. In the production of the described measurement pickups in small and medium numbers, the output rate can lie for example in an order of magnitude of approximately 50-100 pieces per day, from which would result, depending on nominal width of the measuring tube, approximately 0.5-3 kg of the multi-component system per measurement pickup, a daily requirement for such catalyst-alcohol-mixtures between approximately 0.5 kg and about 2 kg. Due to the stored mixture of alcohol and catalyst, it is thus achieved that also the catalyst, especially also in the case of application of only very small amounts of the multi-component system, can be precisely measured in the final blending of all components with defendable technical complexity. Further, the multi-component system can in this way be mixed using a reduced number of storage containers compared to the total number of nominally used starting and/or intermediate components and by means of less branched, and, as a result, more simply built in-line mixers. It has, however, been found that, in the use of such catalyst-alcohol-mixtures manufactured in advance, depending on composition, the case can arise that these can be quite highly reactive, and, as a result, chemically unstable, especially when using organo-metallic catalysts. This can especially be attributed to alcoholysis and/or solvolysis reactions occurring in such mixtures, as elaborated, for instance, in the article “Solvolytic Degeneration of Aliphatic Polyesteroligomers: Poly(Tetramethylene Adipate) Diol”, Mormann W., Wagner J., Laboratorium für Makromolekulare Chemie der Universität-GH Siegen (Laboratory for Macromolecular Chemistry, Siegen University-institute), FB (Faculty Branch) Aug. 8, 1987. Thus, for example, corresponding decay times of less than two days were experimentally determined for catalyst-alcohol-mixtures based on butanediol and di(n-octyl)tin dilaurate. Therefore, charges of such catalyst-alcohol-mixtures correspondingly mixed in advance for the production of polyurethane cannot always be kept over longer timeframes of preferably more than two weeks, technologically meaningful for the manufacturing process of liners. Inversely, the recurring daily requirement of such catalyst-alcohol-mixtures, for example in the production of the initially mentioned magneto-inductive measurement pickup, can be estimated only very inaccurately. This in particular also, because, for example, measurement pickups of the described kind are essentially manufactured “just-in-time” and thus the respective production process, especially also the manufacturing of the liner, is often done in the realm of short deadlines. Consequently, the production rate of measurement pickups per day and thus also the quantity of multicomponent system to be processed each day can vary to a significant extent, wherein the spread can, by all means, lie in the range of 100% or more. Thus, it can be a problem with the production and processing of multicomponent systems of the described kind using catalyst-alcohol-mixtures to have, on the one hand, always a charge of a sufficient quantity of the utilized catalyst-alcohol-mixture for the started production is always available, and, on the other hand, however, to consume this charge within a few days, in order, surely, to be able to avoid a decomposition while in the application apparatus and to prevent a rejected production otherwise caused thereby. In view of the fact that the production process for such measurement pickups must be flexible to a high degree and consequently the daily requirement for the multicomponent system can be exactly assessed in advance only on a short timeframe, a disadvantage of catalyst-alcohol-mixtures of the described kind is to be seen in the fact that the available charge is measured almost inevitably either too large, wherein the surplus resulting from it is very complex and accordingly expensive to ultimately dispose of as hazardous waste, or as a result of insufficiently measured charge size an increasing need of measurement pickups in a short timeframe cannot be covered without special effort. Furthermore, a further disadvantage of such catalyst-alcohol-mixtures consists also of the fact that the application apparatus is to be cleaned unavoidably before each filling with a new charge, and thus is to be cleaned with much effort practically every day, in order to avoid an influencing of its chemical characteristics by possible residue of the expired catalyst-alcohol-mixture.

The antiarrhythmic pharmaceutically active compound, (+)-N-[1'-(6-Cyano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-napthalenyl)-3,4-dihydro-4-hydroxy spiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,4'-piperidin]yl]methanesulfonamide (Formula I) is a potent potassium channel blocker for treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia and the prevention of sudden cardiac death. It is currently undergoing intensive clinical trials. In order to support the on-going clinical study, a practical, asymmetric bioreduction of 6-bromo-2-tetralone (Formula II) to (S)-6-bromo-2-tetraol (Formula III) is highly desirable. The synthesis of the chiral alcohol of Formula I is challenging because it contains a unique spiro-fused ring system and two remote chiral centers which must be controlled independently. ##STR1## As an alternative to asymmetric chemical synthesis of the intermediate (S)-6-bromo-2-tetraol, a bioconversion process, employing the yeast strain Trichosporon capitatum (MY 1890) and the substrate 6-bromo-2-tetralone is presented. This asymmetric bioreduction process yields to rapid process improvements, including rebalancing the cultivation medium and optimizing the bioconversion conditions. The use of 5 to 10% (v/v) ethanol to solubilize the substrate was found to be critical in maintaining high optical purity of the (S)-6-bromo-2-tetraol. Glucose present in the cultivation medium was found to have a negative effect on optical purity and was replaced by glycerol. When this process was scaled up to production size quantities, (S)-6-bromo-2-tetraol with an enantiomeric excess greater than 98% was obtained.

The invention relates to the field of semiconductor etching, and in particular to a process of crystallographic wet chemical etching of III-Nitride material, and in particular gallium nitride. The III-Nitride materials system, gallium nitride (GaN) and its indium- and aluminum-containing alloys, shows great promise for producing high-speed electronic devices that operate efficiently at high temperatures. III-Nitrides are the material of choice for producing light-emitting devices including LEDs and lasers that operate at wavelengths throughout the visible and UV parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. These materials are extremely stable, allowing them to be used in high temperature and corrosive environments. Because of this stability, it is difficult to find methods for etching of III-Nitrides. Most processing of the III-Nitrides is currently done by dry plasma etching. There are several disadvantages to dry etching, including rough surface profiles, ion-induced damage in the exposed surface areas and difficulty in obtaining smooth etched sidewalls, which are required for lasers, the expense of the equipment required. Photoenhanced electro-chemical (PEC) wet etching has also been used for etching of GaN. PEC etching has the advantage of low surface damage and relatively low equipment cost, but there has not yet been found a method for producing smooth etched vertical sidewalls, which are required for lasers. Even what seems to be a very small roughness can have a large effect on the reflectivity of a laser facet. FIG. 1 illustrates this point, showing a graph of the maximum reflectivity of a laser facet as a function of surface roughness in a typical InGaN/GaN laser structure. The best published roughness results from several different experimental groups are indicated by arrows in the figure. Note that most etching techniques produce a roughness of approximately 50 nm, allowing a maximum specular reflectivity of less than 1%. Production of laser facets using an etching technique is preferable to using cleaving or polishing because an entire wafer of several thousand lasers can be produced at one time by etching, but cleaving must be done on individual rows of devices, and polishing is an even more labor-intensive technique. Recently, researchers at Xerox Coxp. fabricated a laser using chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE), producing sidewalls with a roughness of 4-6 nm. This is the lowest sidewall roughness ever reported for etching in the III-Nitride material system, but even with this roughness the reflectivity is only 60-70% of the ideal reflectivity, and the roughness is enough to cause interference fringes in the emitted laser beam. It would be very beneficial to take advantage of the crystal structure of the III-Nitride material itself to produce atomically smooth crystallographic planes without damaging the surface. Such crystallographic planes would have reflectivities greater than 99% of the ideal reflectivity, given by the well known Fresnel formula, as compared to the above values of 1% and 60-70% for plasma etching and CAIBE, respectively. Improvement in facet reflectivity corresponds to higher output power and a better defined laser spot. Wet chemical etching has been used for producing atomically smooth crystallographic planes in other semiconductor materials systems, such as silicon, gallium arsenide, and gallium phosphide. Previously, prior to the invention, this had never been achieved in the III-Nitride materials system.

1. Field of Invention Relates to a tubular key controlled operation of a terminal based on the coded interruption of a light stream therein as read by a counter adapted therewith to make operational a computer program in circuit therewith, the program being identified by said code as read by said counter. 2. Description of the Previous Art There is not known presently to be any terminal providing access to secured data in a computer by a coded interruption of a light stream generated within the terminal and read by a counter having access to a program in a computer to make the same operational. The applicant in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,719 disclosed a coded solid state entry device by the use of a tubular coded key engaging a plurality of switches to energize a circuit to unlatch tumblers of which a code is read which functions to match with an electronic circuit to allow access or entry. Known also are terminals which are operated by coded plastic cards which require card reading machines which in turn are adapted to put a computer into an operational mode to perform a specified task.

With the advent of transmission of multimedia content such as video over the Internet and other communications networks, there is any ever-increasing need for increased data rate capacity on communication networks. Often, optical communication signals are used in backbones of communications network, where the increased traffic at the edges of the network aggregates to several gigabit of network traffic. Therefore, there is an increasing need for optical communication techniques to meet the demand on communications network data capacity. However, laying down additional optical transmission media such as fiber optics often requires large amount of capital expenditure and may not always be a suitable options due to the expenses involved and other regulatory issues. Techniques for improved optical transceiver operation are needed.

In the computer world, there is a constant battle occurring between bad actors that want to attack computing platforms and good actors who try to prevent the same. Unfortunately, the complexity of such computer attacks in constantly increasing, so technology needs to be employed that understands the complexity of these attacks and is capable of addressing the same. Additionally, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has revolutionized the manner in which large quantities of content may be processed so that information may be extracted that is not readily discernible to a human user. Accordingly and though the use of AI/ML, the good actors may gain the upper hand in this never ending battle.

This invention relates generally to the storage and subsequent recovery of compressed air energy and more specifically to the retrofit of simple cycle gas turbine engines for compressed air energy storage application. It will be appreciated that there exists a significant daily variation in the total amount of power required from a baseload power plant. However, it would be most costly and wasteful to provide for the peak demands of short duration with the same expensive, although efficient, baseload power plant machinery which is justified for baseload power generation. In the past, power utilities have addressed the problem of providing additional non-baseload peaking power in an overall economical manner through the use of simple cycle gas turbines (SCGTs). Simple cycle gas turbines (SCGTs) are state-of-the-art turbomachinery designed for peaking duty operation. Their main elements are an air compressor, a turbine and a combustor. To meet consumer demand, SCGTs are coupled to electric generators to provide additional power to baseload power plants during peak loads. Most recently, power utilities have addressed the aforementioned problem of supplying peaking power in an overall cost effective manner through the use of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) systems. CAES plants store off-peak energy from relatively inexpensive energy sources such as coal and nuclear baseload plants by compressing air into storage devices such as underground caverns or reservoirs. Underground storage can be developed in hard rock, bedded salt, salt dome or aquifer media. Following off-peak storage, the air is withdrawn from storage, heated, combined with fuel and expanded through expanders, i.e., turbines, to provide needed peaking or intermediate power. Since inexpensive off-peak energy is used to compress the air, the need for premium fuels, such as natural gas and imported oil, is reduced by as much as about two-thirds compared with conventional gas turbines. In such circumstances, utilization of non-peak energy for the subsequent production of peak energy is clearly desirable, especially since non-peak energy can often be obtained for far less than the cost of obtaining peak energy. Compressors and turbines in CAES plants are each connected to a synchronous electrical machine such as a generator/motor device through respective clutches, permitting operation either solely of the compressors or solely of the turbines during appropriate selected time periods. During off-peak periods (i.e., nights and weekends), the compressor train is driven through its clutch by the generator/motor. In this scheme, the generator/motor functions as a motor, drawing power from a power grid. The compressed air is then cooled and delivered to underground storage. During peak/intermediate periods, with the turbine clutch engaged, air is withdrawn from storage and provided to a combustor. The combustor combines the pre-heated compressed air with a fuel, such as No. 2 fuel oil, and expands the mixture of fuel and compressed air in a turbine, which provides power by driving the generator/motor. In this scheme, the generator/motor functions as a generator, providing power to a power grid. To improve the CAES heat rate, waste heat from a low pressure turbine exhaust is used to pre-heat high pressure turbine inlet air in a recuperator. For a more complete discussion of CAES systems, see Nakhamkin, M. et al. "Compressed Air Energy Storage: Plant Integration, Turbomachinery Development", ASME International Gas Turbine Symposium and Exhibition, Beijing, Peoples' Republic of China, 1985 and Nakhamkin, M. et al. "Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES): Overview, Performance and Cost Data for 25 MW to 220 MW Plants", Joint Power Generation Conference, Toronto, Canada 1984, both incorporated herein by reference. Unfortunately, SCGTs require the use of significantly more fuel than CAES systems in order to provide a like quantity of peaking power. Additional considerations such as that of fuel quality required for proper operation and efficient use of previously stored energy also tend to favor CAES systems. However, numerous SCGT peaking power plants are presently in existence and do provide a means for supplying peaking power, albeit at considerable expense. Due to the considerable expense in constructing new CAES plants it is most desirable to convert existing simple cycle gas turbine plants to CAES plants. Unfortunately, direct use of SCGTs in the compression and expansion trains of CAES systems such as those described in the cross-referenced applications presents difficulty due to SCGT maximum cycle pressures which are generally too low for typical underground storage depths and corresponding compressed air storage pressures required in typical CAES air storage and operation. An additional difficulty encountered in direct use of SCGTs in CAES systems relates to pressure losses generally occurring in underground air storage devices.

Take-away and delivered food is extremely popular around the globe, particularly in the UK and USA. Customers increasingly favour the convenience of being able to enjoy their favourite food either delivered out to them by car, motorbike, scooter or bicycle or collected by themselves to then be enjoyed in the comfort of their own homes, workplaces or offices. Whilst once primarily the domain of Pizza restaurants, the takeaway industry is now moving towards many types of cuisine such as Chinese, Indian, Burgers and hot sandwiches. Unlike other cuisines, the nature of burgers and sandwiches make them much harder to transport from the kitchen or restaurant's premises to the customers' homes. The multiple layers of food in a burger often come apart as the food is shaken. Furthermore, when subject to impact, traditional packaging solutions deform causing subsequent deformation and deterioration to the food. Upon arrival the bread may well be soggy or ‘steamed’, and the food can become so disturbed by the journey that it is no longer recognisable or appetising, and barely edible.

People have long been encouraged to take photographs for reasons of comparison. Although the difference between age spots and moles are not visible to an untrained home-user, moles grow and the age spot cannot grow. Therefore, the layperson does not need to be able to diagnose the difference. All they have to detect is a lesion getting larger. The challenge is not in the ability of doctors diagnosing individual moles, but the gross problem of having patients unable to discover the suspicious lesions when they are located where they cannot be seen. This is most of the body when looking for pale lesions. In their early stages, melanomas can be blond. The purpose is not to diagnose but to focus the end-users attention on possible melanomas and give them documentation of growth that may allow them to receive earlier treatment. Prior art is also what occurs in the 15 minutes doctors skin inspection. Size of lesions larger than 6 mm or one-quarter of an inch is used to indicate growth. This method does not require growth to that size before the suspicion of likely melanoma because growth can be quantitatively demonstrated to the dermatologist. The patient's vague anecdotal recollections of previous size are not always given credence. This evidence forms a basis for the dermatologists to remove the pre-melanoma earlier since the existence of a rapidly changing mole is a strong indicator of melanoma. Moles in contact with a scanner's glass platen are automatically at the same scale, unlike photographs. Handheld scanners intended for dermatologists are expensive for home-users. If a patient is not in possession of their own data, their baseline may be unavailable in 20 years. Handheld spot-only scanners for consumers do not document bare mole-free areas. None of the prior art that only documents and analyzes lesion-by-lesion offers this advantage. Many moles generally are found on skin with no pre-existing mole. Photo enclosures do whole-body scans but are not a home-user solution. This embodiment is not as quick, but some people may prefer it since it is less expensive, less intrusive and more private. Suspicious lesions can be monitored frequently at very high magnification at any time. The baseline record does not depend on finding the same business decades later. The difference between this and fractal analysis, fractal analysis is not making a record of the entire body for baseline purposes. It diagnoses a particular mole as melanoma or non-melanoma. This prior art does not function as a baseline record, nor as a body wide survey of the current condition. U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,143 uses a computer to scan for irregular growth. Selfscan uses fractal analysis. This method images and leaves detection to the user and diagnosis to their dermatologist; it may generate more found suspicious lesions for submission to these services. Cameras The FAQs on the website of DermAlert (U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063) states that the method cannot be done without a partner. This makes sense since a partner is required to align the images in the camera's viewfinder. A person cannot be in front of and behind a camera at the same time. Since the scanner method can be done solo, this shows that it is not a direct substitution. With a scanner, only one person is required to align his or her own body. The scanner allows solo usage because the person does not need to be both behind and in front of the device at the same time. Since one method requires two people and the other requires only one person, it cannot be considered to be done in the same way. Another difference is that the image on the viewfinder does not become part of the camera's digital image. Whereas U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063's semi-transparent image on a scanner would become part of the digital image obscuring the skin. This is a different result. Taking photographs of moles has a long history in the traditional method. The camera methods require calibration, scaling, between the baseline and current, while the scanner does not because it innately scans the images at the same scale. Another problem with the camera for a solo user is the foreshortening. U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 describes downloading from the camera to the computer. A scanner does not download because it is integral with the computer system. Its images are not stored on a memory card from which it needs to be downloaded. The information from the scanner goes directly into the computer's 1 memory 108 without being subjected to lossy JPG compression. This is why such very high-resolution images and large non-compressed non-lossy files are possible with the scanner. COMPRESSION. JPG is a lossy format. A faint yellowish blond pre-melanoma, or its fractal dots, may be lost as a subtle difference during a camera's compression to the JPG file format. JPG compression is designed to look for light/dark contrast appropriate for landscapes and portraits. Camera manufacturers try to store as many photos per storage card as possible. Amateur cameras automatically compress into lossy jpgs in order to load many images on to the card in the camera. Therefore, even if a camera offers a TIFF or bitmap option often that is just a change of format from a JPEG that has already degraded (blurred) the details of the image. Many cameras' software does not even offer the option to convert to TIFF or bitmaps. What is of interest here is the details not the overall image. Subtle color shifts differentiate pale-blond colored pre-melanomas from the skin color. Simplification could obscure fractal patterns at the edges. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 requires alignment for each mole on the view thereby realigning and rotating these lossy jpg images many times. Each alignment degrades the image further, whereas the scan taken natively as a bitmap does not degrade from realignment. Better Magnification. The scanner can produce higher resolution images so this is a different result. The high-resolution images give better magnification which is very important for people with reduced visual acuity. An advantage of scanners over cameras is that they optionally allow just a small rectangle to be scanned. This reduces the detail's file size, yet allows magnification. The 4× magnification is very useful for a suspicious mole with a developing fractal pattern at its edges. This is a very bad sign. A fractal pattern is an organized “scattered” pattern of dots. The size of the dots is a third of the size of a period or larger. If the pre-melanoma is pale-blond, these tiny dots are blond too. This makes them harder to see. As the melanoma forms, tiny precise pinpricks of jet black can appear. The high-risk age group, middle aged to elderly, typically includes those with bad close vision. Even old scanners can be set to scan at higher samples per inch (i.e. more magnification) than even people with visual acuity problems would need. Although most users would not choose to use such very high resolution for all scans, it is helpful to have that option for suspected lesions FIG. 1 shows the overlaid outlines of three images taken by a 12-megapixel camera, a scanner at 300 spi, and a scanner at 1200 spi. All are shown at 100% resolution. The true size of the mole is shown to the left. Note the camera view (as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063's back of a standing person) tries to shoot a large area so that those 12 megapixels have to cover many square inches of skin. The images seem larger on a monitor only because it is a coarse surface like a mosaic or a rough impressionist canvas, which only seems as good as a photo because we view it from a distance. If the scanner were set to only 300 spi (samples per inch), it would print a full size photo at 100% magnification. A 3.2 mm or ⅛-inch mole would be shown as 3.2 mm or ⅛ inch in the printed photo. If the scanner were set to 1200 spi, it would print a full size photo at 400% magnification. A 3.2 mm or ⅛-inch mole would be shown as 12.8 mm or a half-inch in the printed photo. That 2.54 cm or one inch of skin would appear on that monitor as 31.8 cm or 12.5 inches. The scanner allows just a small rectangle to be scanned. This is useful for a suspicious mole with a developing fractal pattern at its edges or for the visually impaired. Many scanners can be set to scan at higher samples per inch (i.e. more magnification) than even people with visual acuity problems would need. Although most users would not choose to use such very high resolution for all scans, it is helpful to have that option for suspected lesions. View Confusion. When the pre-melanomas are pale yellow instead of black, they can get lost in the confusion of an overly large complex image. What if a camera tried to take scan-sized images? Using cameras to take close-up photos of body parts to improve resolution, at the risk of overexposure, loses the context of the body part. Not all images contain a frame of reference. For example: a section of a forearm. FIG. 2. Even though software in U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 names the image file, it is up to the user to sort and identify the image. If one tried to shoot too close trying to get a scan size image, the flash could wash out the exposure and the details of moles, as well as entire pale moles, could disappear. The scanner has a less bright light on the scanning head that moves with the scanner's internal camera, preventing it from overexposing the image. Professional cameras with controlled lighting such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,359,748 high-resolution cameras probably give excellent results. However, this is not a solo home-user solution. Home-user solutions must consider the typical knowledge of photography and the effects of close flash exposure by the home-user. Automatic exposure on camera is not intended to feature spots on skin but of faces and landscapes. MIRROR CONFUSION is shown in FIG. 3. When a monitor displays the front view of a shoulder then the image appears to represent the opposite shoulder. If the user went to a mirror to compare, they would compare the body part from the wrong side. FIG. 3. The body part may not be identifiable since people are used to looking in mirrors. Seeing oneself on a computer display one subconsciously anticipates the image one would see looking into a mirror. The body part may not be recognizable since people are used to looking in mirrors. Is it the right arm or the left arm? If a surface, is it the outer surfaces or the inner surface? This is true with a camera image also. Even contextual views may not help camera users if taking the front or sides of the body. FIG. 2. Then the right arm is shown on the left side. From the back view, the right arm is on the right side. FIG. 3. Professional workers do not find the location on the body using mirrors, so the unlabeled images are not confusing to them. Unexpected difficulties of recognizing left or right side body parts when imaged from the front and sides is an unexpected problem for home-users accustomed to mirrors. For a front view, they see the right side of their body displayed on the left half of the screen rather than a mirror that would display the left half on that same side of the mirror. When taking an image of the back the right side of the body will appear on the right half of the display. For different views, the orientation will change. This can be very confusing for users of digital images taken by cameras or scanners. It is necessary for the user to be able to locate actual locations on the body from these images. They need to inspect the original site, and to point it out to the doctor. However, baseline and current images can be compared for growth without any reference to actual location. A person cannot look directly at many portions of the body. These they can only see in a mirror. When a monitor displays a front view of a shoulder then the image appears to represent the opposite shoulder. If the user went to a mirror to compare, they would compare the body part from the wrong side. Further confusion: some body parts such as forearms or hands are compared without mirrors since they can be seen directly. This is confusing if one tried using a mnemonic such as ‘back views seem normal, but front & side views seem reversed’. This confusion could also be partially solved by automatically converting images to mirrored images for only the views the user would need to use a mirror to see. However, this has the disadvantage of producing confusing images for the dermatologist who would not be using a mirror. Advantages Unique difficulties that the method solves are: Solo operation to image areas the solo user cannot see or photograph. It eliminates the need for a second person, the photographer, in an embarrassing situation. Parts of the body that cannot be seen directly can be easily scanned. The unusual method of using the scanner makes it easier and quicker than expected. It solves the need to make affordable, high quality, scaled images and to be able to do it solo at home and as frequently as desired. This method solves an unrecognized problem. The prior art camera methods' images are not easily recognized on a computer monitor because people are used to using mirrors. It is the old “my left or your left” conversation when standing face-to-face. To compensate camera views must show only the back view for Left-Right uniformity. To show body context they are forced to show large areas of the body. These distant views reduce the possible magnification. This method allows higher magnification close-ups that avoid body part confusion. FIG. 2. Unlike cameras, it utilizes the scanner's inherently self-scaled images that are independent of user error. This is reliable proof of growth the dermatologist can trust. It is an affordable in-home method in a field of mostly large expensive professional devices. It allows a high-risk home-user, to monitor their own skin on their own schedule. Using a scanner instead of a camera provides an option for very high-resolution images that can be displayed greatly magnified on-screen for people with visual problems. The home-user has the advantage of deciding which scans to do. They feel empowered by being in control of the process. This meets the long felt need for solo in-home operation offering privacy, convenience, and private long-term access to the baseline images. It avoids the need to be photographed in scanty clothing by a friend. It avoids the need to coordinate schedules with that friend. This method allows for solo operation whereas camera methods do not. Practical and affordable body digital images for solo home-users. In the High-risk middle age to elderly age group, a partner may not exist. The older user may not feel comfortable being photographed in scanty clothing by a friend or a child. This method allows for aligned imaging of areas that would not be possible for the solo individual with a camera. These areas include: The front, back and sides of the torso, The back and sides of the thighs, The back of the calves, Front, back and sides of the upper arms, Back of the neck, Front and sides of face. A method using an economical standard flatbed document scanner that people may already own. Document scanners older than 10 years old have excellent resolutions and features. Even old scanners have the option of at least 1200 dpi, which have excellent resolution FIG. 1. Mirror Confusion and View Confusion Aids. This solo home method meets the needs of the high-risk users: diagnosed melanoma patients, the middle aged, and the elderly. Diagnosed patients require four times more frequent monitoring by their dermatologist due to their increased risk of forming additional melanomas. This disease tends to strike people 40 and older when close visual acuity declines. Advantages over the two mirror solo home method: Presents adequate magnification of almost all skin even if not directly visible. Thereby compensating for any loss of near vision to see fractal patterns and irregular edges, mimicking a high quality magnifying glass. In addition, this magnification is applied not only spot by spot, but the comparison between baseline and current images can be displayed at great magnification. This makes it easy to examine the entire body at magnification in a timely manner, rather than laboriously using a magnifying glass to focus on the entire surface. For visual inspection of areas that cannot be viewed directly, it is recommended to use a mirror. However, by viewing in a mirror, one views from a distance equal to the distance to the mirror plus from the mirror, which is too far for close examination. It is difficult to compare previous size taken at a different distance between mirrors. The innate size calibration of the scanner, independent of user error, eliminates the need to guesstimate the size of moles when using a magnifying glass with a distant wall mirror. Compensates for memory loss in remembering previous size, or even if mole previously existed, or false memory of previous existence during last inspection. The traditional two-mirror method makes it impossible to judge size changes. The two mirrors are held at different distances resulting in different size reflections. A 6-month-old memory of the size of a reflection of a mole may not be accurate. In not directly visible areas: Loss of agility to use mirrors, or only distant views in mirrors, are a problem. As is difficulty to focus mirrors with magnification for each lesion. In this age group, a partner may not exist, or their eyesight or memory may be not any better. Documents Mole-free Areas. All surfaces including bare skin without moles are imaged. Since most people over 18 years form few, if any, new benign moles, the images function as an inventory of pre-existing moles and their sizes, shape, color, and edges. In addition, they are an inventory of areas that contained no moles. Approximately one-third of melanomas form from skin with no moles. Spot by spot methods which only examine moles in isolation, do not document areas of skin that are free of moles. Another embodiment records only baseline views. These act as a baseline reference even without continued scanning in order to identify future formation of melanomas even decades later. Since the images include areas that could not be viewed directly, the observer without this historical reference would have no remembrances of previous size, or even whether a mole previously existed, or whether they have a false memory of a previous existence. Demonstrated growth is an important symptom for Physicians. Data Permanence Data Permanence is another feature that is unique over all other prior art for digital images aligned with baseline images. This method creates baseline images that will probably be durable over decades despite changing operating systems. The data is in the possession of the home-user. The baseline images are standard common file formats that the user can convert to new file formats, along with their other data, if the old file format becomes obsolete. The images can be manipulated in a manual mode with basic simple operating system functions, which may change syntax, but will probably always exist. There is a manual method independent of any particular operating system. Some of the other prior art sells CDs of customer's data to them for storage; however the customer independently cannot create more for comparison. Therefore, the images would not be aligned. Others, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063, use computer programs to sort, rename, and display but describe no manual method. A person's baseline may be made when they are eighteen and they may still be using that same baseline when they are 60. In the intervening years, they may not have felt themselves to be at sufficient risk to make any current comparisons. They may find themselves at age 60 discovering a lesion and wanting to check if that existed decades earlier. Unlike spot-by-spot methods, the comparison method does not require identifying individual moles. This makes it faster to inspect the images, which makes it practical to inspect the entire surface of the body. It not only compares existing moles, but also verifies mole-free areas (in which one-third of melanomas develop) are still mole free. The Ignored Scanner If a device in contact with the skin such as a flatbed document scanner is so good for this, why did the prior art not use this before? It is because a person is not a sheet of paper. They are heavy, not as thin as a piece of paper and cannot easily hover above a flatbed document scanner, which will chatter if too much weight is applied. Prior Art in US20020065456 does not use this type of flatbed document scanner for other than the few obvious lightweight, easily positioned parts: hands, only two sides of the forearm, and the face. This is because other body parts would cause the flatbed document scanner to lug the motor, strip gears, produce unrecognizable images, or otherwise damage the flatbed document scanner. In addition, it would require bizarre body positions not suitable for older high-risk individuals. One might think to enclose the flatbed document scanner in a protective case. However, unless that case were as big as a bed that would be a painful and slow way to scan the outer side of an upper thigh. A bed-sized case would not be practical for a home-user. Some prior art uses a flatbed document scanner to create digital images from film photos or photo prints. This does not have the advantages of this method because: unless it is a professional quality close-up 8×10 film photo, it would not contain the same information as a true scan. Even then, the magnification would be limited. If it is a printed up version of a digital camera it has the same low quality image problems as the original. FIG. 1. This is not a simple adaptation of the traditional recommendation to patients to periodically take photos for inspection. Most flatbed document scanners 13 must be used in very different ways not mentioned in the prior art using cameras. In addition, a flatbed document scanner can produce different results not possible with a camera. Most significantly, it is what allows one person solo to take aligned images of parts of their body they cannot even see. In addition, camera close-up images are difficult to interpret for orientation while the flatbed document scanner can provide easily sorted unambiguous close-ups. This method of the first embodiment sounds easy and obvious, but some difficulties that it solves are: It is hard to figure out how to scan some difficult views of one's body solo. Furthermore, those must be safe and convenient positions for people over 40. Views need to be consistent for body position and for alignment. That is much more difficult than it would seem. A unique feature quickly informs the occasional home-user how to scan consistent images of each view of the body. This consistency allows these images to be taken in “good enough” alignment for rapid checking. If not carefully aligned a few may need one conventional photo editing software alignment to allow for rapid inspection. Verses multiple realignments required for images of large portions of the body containing a confusing multitude of lesions. A seeming disadvantage of the first embodiment is one scans more views than if one stood back with a camera. However, this is actually an advantage for these reasons. When one includes too much information in a picture, one reduces the resolution of the skin in that image and can no longer zoom in to see detail. In addition, it is a very difficult to align hands, forearm, upper arm, and both sides in one image. In taking images of large areas of the body, it is hard to know if one has every view angle of arms and legs. By having more views, the problem of realigning digital images is reduced. Realigning a digital image takes longer than making a scan. The method of the first embodiment uses a flatbed document scanner 13. Solo home-users can align and examine moles they cannot directly see. The advantage of this is the scale is innately calibrated by the flatbed document scanner 13. Thus, growth of lesions can be detected over time by the non-medical user. Therefore, the user can seek earlier preventive treatment.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coated cemented carbide member which is applied to a cutting tool or the like and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, it relates to a coated cemented carbide member which is excellent in toughness and wear resistance and to a method of manufacturing the same. 2. Description of the Background Art A coated cemented carbide member, which comprises a cemented carbide base material and a coating layer of titanium carbide or the like vapor-deposited on its surface, is generally applied to a cutting tool of high efficiency for cutting a steel material, a casting or the like, due to toughness of the base material and wear resistance of the surface. Cutting efficiency of such cutting tools has been improved in recent years. The cutting efficiency is determined by the product of a cutting speed (V) and an amount of feed (f). When the cutting speed V is increased, the tool life is rapidly reduced. Therefore, improvement of the cutting efficiency is attained by increasing the amount of feed f. In order to improve the cutting efficiency by increasing the amount of feed f, it is necessary to prepare a base material of the cutting tool from a tough material which can withstand high cutting stress. In order to improve the cutting characteristics of a cutting tool by implementing inconsistent characteristics of wear resistance and chipping resistance, various proposals have been made in general. For example, there have been proposed cemented carbide base materials which are provided on outermost surfaces thereof with a layer (enriched layer) containing an iron group or family metal in a larger amount than that in the interior, a layer (.beta. free layer) consisting of only WC and a binder metal, and a region (low hardness layer) having lower hardness as compared with the interior, in order to improve wear resistance and chipping resistance. In an insert shown in FIG. 1, however, absolutely no .beta. free layer is formed particularly in each cornered insert edge portion 1, while the thickness of the as-formed .beta. free layer is extremely reduced in a peripheral portion of such a corner. Further, the insert edge portion 1 has higher hardness than the interior due to reduction of a binder phase and increase of a hard phase, and hence it is impossible to attain sufficient wear resistance and chipping resistance. When generally known chemical vapor deposition is applied as a coating method in such a coated cemented carbide, a fragile .eta. phase is formed in the cornered insert edge portion 1 by reaction with carbon forming the base material during formation of the coating layer. Thus, chipping resistance is lowered and the coating layer fails with the .eta. phase portion, to increase the progress of wear. In order to improve the strength of a cemented carbide, there is a method of increasing the amount of the binder phase contained in the cemented carbide. In this case, however, plastic deformation is caused in the insert when used under high cutting speed conditions due to a high temperature applied thereto, although the toughness is improved by such increase of the amount of the binder phase. On the other hand, there is a method of increasing the amounts of additives such as Ti and Ta in the cemented carbide to improve heat resistance, thereby improving the tool life. In this case, however, strength of the cemented carbide is extremely reduced.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for machining electrically resistant materials such as Mn--Zn ferrite by means of electric discharge in a dielectric fluid. Workpieces made of metallic materials such as stainless steel, iron and aluminum have conventionally been worked into small shapes by performing electric discharge machining with a dielectric fluid placed between a discharge machining electrode (made of tungsten or a sintered hard alloy and used as negative electrode) and the workpiece (positive electrode). However, this conventional method has presented considerable difficulty in machining workpieces that are made of electrically resistant materials such as Mn--Zn ferrite. Non-conductive materials such as ceramics are worked electrically by a method generally known as "electrolytic discharge machining" and that is described in a prior art reference such as H. Tsuchiya, "Kikai Gijutsu (Machine Technology)", 32-12 (1984), p. 77. However, the electrolytic discharge machining method presents difficulty in handling since it customarily uses NaOH and other strong alkali fluids as electrolyte. With a view to solving this problem, a method that adopts arc discharge in a neutral salt electrolyte such as NaNO.sub.3 or NaCl has been proposed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 63-229225. This method, however, is hardly suitable for practical applications since the consumption of the tool electrode is rapid and the precision of machining is low. A Mn--Zn ferrite as a hard and brittle material can be worked by a cutting method but the applicability of this method is limited to machining the workpiece to simple shapes such as flat plate and a round bar. Ultrasonic machining can be applied using grain particles and this approach takes advantage of the brittle nature of the Mn--Zn ferrite. However, cracking tends to occur upon contact with the working tool and it has been difficult to machine the workpiece to a solid shape having a plate thickness of less than 0.5 mm. Further, the Mn--Zn ferrite has an intrinsic resistance of about 5 to 10 .OMEGA.cm and can hardly be worked by the conventional methods of electric discharge machining. Even if discharge machining proceeds to some extent, cracks will readily develop on account of thermal shock and commercially satisfactory working can hardly be accomplished.

A digital asset editing computer program is computer program software or other computer-executable instructions for loading, editing, or otherwise processing digital assets. One non-limiting example of a digital asset editing program is the Adobe® Photoshop® computer program, available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif. Typically, a digital asset editing program provides a graphical user interface with which a user can command the editing program to load, edit, or otherwise process a digital asset. For brevity, a digital asset editing computer program is referred to hereinafter as just an “editing program”. A digital asset is information that can be loaded, edited, or otherwise processed by an editing program. Examples of digital assets include, but are not limited to, digital images, digital video, digital audio, digital documents, and other types of digital information. A digital asset typically conforms to a particular digital media type. One non-limiting example of a digital asset media type is the Adobe® Photoshop® Document format, also known as the .PSD format. For brevity, a digital asset is referred to hereinafter as just an “asset” and a digital asset media type is referred to hereinafter as just a “media type”. It can difficult, tedious, and time consuming for a user to accomplish certain tasks with some editing programs. For example, to load an asset for editing in an editing program, the user typically uses a file browser application to browse through a file system file-folder hierarchy to locate the file containing the asset of interest. To find the file quickly using the file browser application, the user must remember the location in the file system file-folder hierarchy where the file is stored. Even if the user does remember the exact location, using a file browser application to locate the file can still be tedious, requiring the user to navigate through multiple levels of the file-folder hierarchy to finally arrive at the file. The file browser application-based loading process can be even more frustrating, for example, if the user does not know or remember where in the file system the file is stored. In this situation, the user may guess at different possible storage locations and use the file browser application to navigate to each guessed location individually until the file is found. This can be frustrating to the user, for example, if the user navigates to multiple file system locations before finding the file or even overwhelming, for example, if there is a large number of files and folder the user must consider. Further, it is often the case, that in order to find the right file using a file browser application, the user is required to recognize the file of interest by its file system file name. If the user does not know or recall the file name, then the user may resort to loading assets from different files until the asset of interest is loaded. Overall, current approaches for loading an asset for editing in an editing program are inefficient. 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.

In one aspect, the present inventions described and illustrated herein relate to an integrated circuit device having a memory cell array including error checking and correcting (ECC) circuitry and/or column redundancy, and techniques for programming, configuring, controlling and/or operating such device. More particularly, in one aspect, the present inventions relate to an integrated circuit having random access memory (“RAM”) array having a plurality of memory cells (for example, memory cells having an electrically floating body in which an electrical charge is stored) arranged in a matrix of rows and columns wherein the integrated circuit includes an ECC architecture and/or a column redundancy architecture including at least one redundant column to substitute or replace a column of memory cells having at least one defective memory cell. Briefly, with reference to FIG. 1A, memory cell array 10 typically includes a plurality of memory cells 12 arranged in a matrix of rows 14 (each typically having a common word line 16) and columns 18. A row address decoder 20 enables one or more rows to be read by sensing circuitry 22 (for example, a plurality of sense amplifiers). A column decoder 24, in response to an address, selects one or more of the outputs of the sensing circuitry 22. One technique to improve the reliability of the data stored and/or output by dense memories is to employ ECC techniques. ECC techniques (for example, techniques to correct or reduce the impact of alpha particle induced soft error rate and/or errors caused by random defects in memory structures due to, for example, various complex fabrication processes) generally require the implementation of exclusive OR gates (“XOR”) to calculate the parity of the ECC word. A longer ECC word requires the calculation of parity of more bits and hence requires “wider” XOR gates. Conventional schemes for parity calculation using wide XOR gates must address the challenges associated with wiring the various bits (sometimes from across the width of memory array 10) to the inputs of XOR gates. Notably, conventional techniques tend to employ a XOR tree in the read path (Read XOR Tree) and write path (Write XOR Tree). (See, FIG. 1B). In addition, conventional implementations of the Single Error Correction (SEC) scheme using Hamming code often have a critical path for speed that begins from the bits read from the memory array (data and check bits), through the wide XOR gates to calculate the “syndrome” vector, which is then decoded to identify the position of the erroneous bit in the “ECC word”. This information is used to correct the error during the read operation. During the memory write operation, wide XOR gates are used to calculate the parity and produce the “check bits” for the ECC word, which are then written into the array along with the data. In order to improve, enhance and/or maintain a predetermined manufacturing yield of a memory cell array and/or device, one or more redundant columns 18r are often incorporated into memory array 10 to logically “replace” one or more columns 18 having one or more defective memory cells 12 and/or sense circuitry 22. In one conventional technique, column redundancy is implemented by including a redundant column address decoder 24r which is programmed or mapped to logically replace a defective column (i.e., a column of memory cells having one or more defective memory cells and/or defective sense circuitry 22) with spare, replacement, redundant or another column 18r of memory cells 12r in memory array 10 (i.e., redundant column 18r of memory cells 12r). The individual address comparators (not illustrated) of redundant column decoder 20r are programmed to “enable” spare or redundant data sense circuitry 22r when the “applied” address matches the address of the defective column (which is fixed/stored in redundant column address decoder 24r). In this regard, the address of the defective column 18 is programmed into address comparators of redundant column decoder 24r during wafer testing. In this way, the redundant column address comparators enable a spare or redundant data sense circuitry 22r to be active when a set of column address signals match the address of a defective column 18 which is programmed into redundant column address decoder 24r. One conventional redundancy technique employs a set of fuses to program or configure redundant column decoder 24r. In this regard, spare or redundant columns are programmed by selectively “blowing” fuses (not illustrated) within redundant column decoder 24r to “match” or correspond to the address of the columns having defective memory cells. Such fuses are often programmed prior to packaging, during the wafer testing stage, or immediately after packaging, during the device testing stage. In this way, spare or redundant data sense circuitry 22r (and data output path corresponding thereto) is enabled when the address matches the address programmed into redundant column decoder 24r. A multiplexer may be employed in the data output path that responsively selects between the data from normal column and a spare column. Under normal operation, the multiplexers select the data from normal column. The multiplexer associated with the defective column may be enabled to select the data from the spare column which thereby incorporates the data from the spare or redundant column into the output path. A multiplexer may also be implemented on the write input path, where the data slated to be written into the defective column is “steered” to the spare or redundant column. Notably, disabling circuitry may be implemented in memory array 10 to disable the data sense circuitry corresponding to the defective column when the address matches the address programmed into redundant column decoder 24r. As such, in response to a “match” between the applied column address and the address programmed in redundant column decoder 24r, normal data sense circuitry 22 (and data output path corresponding thereto) associated with the defective column is disabled and redundant data sense circuitry 22r (and data output path corresponding thereto) is enabled.

The field of this invention relates to antennas, and more particularly to an antenna for picking up a radio signal. An antenna is a device for transmitting or receiving radio waves. The transmitting antenna converts the electrical signals from a transmitter (radio, television or radar) into an electromagnetic wave which spreads out from the transmitter. A receiving antenna intercepts this wave and converts it back into electrical signals; that can be amplified and decoded by a receiver such as a radio, television or radar set. A radio transmitter produces its signal in the form of an alternating electric current, that is, one which oscillates rapidly back and forth along its wire. The rate of this oscillation can be anything from tens of thousands of times a second to thousands of millions times a second. The rate is known as a frequency and is measured in kilohertz or kilocycles and for higher frequencies in MegaHertz or Megacycles. The oscillating current in the transmitting antenna produces an electromagnetic wave around it, which spreads out from it like ripples in a pond. This wave sets up electric and magnetic fields. The lines of the electric field run along the antenna and those of the magnetic field around it. Both the electric and magnetic fields oscillate in time with the electric current. Whenever this wave comes into contact with the receiving antenna, it induces a small electric current in the antenna. This small electric current alternates back and forth along the antenna in time with the oscillations of the wave. The air is full of radio waves at all frequencies which the antenna picks up indiscriminately. Each radio set has a means of selecting a narrow band of frequencies at any one time. This is what happens when a particular signal is tuned in. Each radio set can be tuned within a certain frequency range and will respond to signals only in that range. Electricity travels along a wire at a speed close to the speed of light. It will greatly increase the efficiency of an antenna if its length is correctly correlated to the wavelength of the signal it received or transmits. Ideally, antennas are normally selected to be one-half or one-quarter of the wavelength that they are designed to receive with the addition of a small amount of length to compensate for loss within the antenna itself. An AM radio signal is over one thousand feet in length. An FM radio signal is substantially shorter and is approximately one hundred eight inches in length. Therefore, within conventional radio sets, it is difficult to design an antenna which is any significant percentage in length of either AM or FM. Clearly, AM would be more difficult since the quarter wave length in AM would be over two hundred fifty feet in length. A quarter wavelength for FM would require an antenna approaching thirty inches which is still too large in size for most radio sets which would result in a rather unattractive appearance. A typical antenna for a radio set will usually take the form of some form of coil or wound wire which is mounted on some form of a stand which is placed on or near the radio set.

A map is both a beloved and bewildering companion to those who choose to navigate an unfamiliar city or traverse across country to find a blissful vacation spot. Map navigation becomes even more difficult for those who retreat into the wilderness, some becoming lost, unable to traverse the unfamiliar terrain with a map. Countless children, stuffed into the backseats of vacation-bound station wagons, sport utility vehicles and Volkswagen bugs, have pleaded to know if “we are there yet.” Befuddled parents search for convincing answers as they unfold yet another map. In some circles, orienteering and adventure racing rise to the level of competition, drawing crowds of participants and network audiences. Such competitions force participants to navigate through mountains, streams, and deserts, often guided only by a compass and map. Many young geography students, when presented with a world or area map, struggle to accurately place themselves within a map to determine their relationship to various area or world locations. Commercial and recreational boats and aircraft often travel through unfamiliar areas and must skillfully navigate in order to reach their intended destinations. Global positioning systems (GPS) have improved navigation by providing accurate location feedback. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, military and civilian water, ground, and airborne vehicles often use GPS systems for navigation. GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system capable of providing continuous position, velocity, and time information. GPS receiver units receive positioning signals from a constellation of satellites deployed in various orbits about earth (e.g., 12-hour orbits). The satellites continuously emit electronic GPS signals (or telemetry) for reception by ground, airborne, or watercraft receiver units. By receiving GPS signals from a plurality of satellites, a properly configured receiver unit can accurately determine its position in three dimensions (e.g., longitude, latitude, and altitude). There are many known GPS systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,826 discloses an interbuilding and urban canyon extension solution for global positioning systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,841 discloses a compact GPS receiver/processor. The GPS system including an antenna to receive Global Positioning System (GPS) signals from two or more GPS satellites and a credit card size GPS signal processing Smartcard. The Smartcard is attached to the antenna that receives the GPS signals and determines and displays the present position of the antenna. U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,821 discloses a navigation system for offering navigational assistance to a mobile user. The navigation system receives GPS position information signals, which are processed to determine current position latitude and longitude coordinates and direction of travel. Of course, there are many other GPS systems known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Some embodiments employ digital watermarking techniques to even further ease navigation and map orientation. In some embodiments, digital watermarking techniques are combined with GPS systems. Applications of the present invention include implementations in fields such as government work and field reconnaissance, commercial or recreational boating, hiking, mountaineering, travel, orienteering, geography, education, exploration, entertainment, sight seeing, etc. Digital watermarking, a form of steganography, is the science of encoding physical and electronic objects with plural-bit digital data, in such a manner that the data is essentially hidden from human perception, yet can be recovered by computer analysis. In physical objects, the data may be encoded in the form of surface texturing, or printing. Such marking can be detected from optical scan data, e.g., from a scanner, optical reader, input device, digital camera, or web cam. In electronic objects (e.g., digital audio or imagery—including video), the data may be encoded as slight variations in sample values. Or, if the object is represented in a so-called orthogonal domain (also termed “non-perceptual,” e.g., MPEG, DCT, wavelet, etc.), the data may be encoded as slight variations in quantization values or levels. The assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,403 and U.S. application Ser. No. 09/503,881 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914) are illustrative of certain watermarking technologies. Digital watermarking systems typically have two primary components: an encoder that embeds the watermark in a host media signal, and a decoder that detects and reads the embedded watermark from a signal suspected of containing a watermark (e.g., a suspect signal). The encoder embeds a watermark by altering the host media signal. The decoder component analyzes a suspect signal to detect whether a watermark is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information, the decoder extracts this information from the detected watermark. The analysis of the detected data can be accomplished in various known ways. Presently, most steganographic decoding relies on general purpose microprocessors that are programmed by suitable software instructions to perform the necessary analysis. Other arrangements, such as using dedicated hardware, reprogrammable gate arrays, or other techniques, can of course be used. Determining orientation of embedded data can be discerned by reference to visual clues. For example, some objects include subliminal graticule data, or other calibration data, steganographically encoded with the embedded data to aid in determining orientation. Others objects can employ overt markings, either placed for that sole purpose (e.g. reference lines or fiducials), or serving another purpose as well (e.g. lines of text), to discern orientation. Edge-detection algorithms can also be employed to deduce the orientation of the object by reference to its edges. In one example, subliminal graticule data can be sensed to identify the locations within the image data where the binary data is encoded. The nominal luminance of each patch before encoding (e.g., background shading on a map) is slightly increased or decreased to encode a binary “1” or “0.” The change is slight enough to be generally imperceptible to human observers, yet statistically detectable from the image data. Preferably, the degree of change is adapted to the character of the underlying image, with relatively greater changes being made in regions where the human eye is less likely to notice them. Each area thus encoded can convey plural bits of data (e.g., 16-256 bits). One problem that arises in many watermarking applications is that of object or positioning corruption. If the object is reproduced, skewed, or distorted, in some manner such that the content presented for watermark decoding is not identical to the object as originally watermarked, then the decoding process may be unable to recognize and decode the watermark. To deal with such problems, the watermark can convey a reference signal. The reference signal is of such a character as to permit its detection even in the presence of relatively severe distortion. Once found, the attributes of the distorted reference signal can be used to quantify the content's distortion. Watermark decoding can then proceed—informed by information about the particular distortion present. The assignee's U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/503,881 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914) and 09/452,023 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,082) detail certain reference signals, and processing methods, that permit such watermark decoding even in the presence of distortion. In some image watermarking embodiments, the reference signal comprises a constellation of quasi-impulse functions in the Fourier magnitude domain, each with pseudorandom phase. To detect and quantify the distortion, the watermark decoder converts the watermarked image to the Fourier magnitude domain and then performs a log polar resampling of the Fourier magnitude image. A generalized matched filter correlates the known orientation signal with the re-sampled watermarked signal to find the rotation and scale parameters providing the highest correlation. The watermark decoder performs additional correlation operations between the phase information of the known orientation signal and the watermarked signal to determine translation parameters, which identify the origin of the watermark message signal. Having determined the rotation, scale and translation of the watermark signal, the reader then adjusts the image data to compensate for this distortion, and extracts the watermark message signal as described above. Such watermarking techniques, and many others known to those skilled in the art, may be suitably employed to improve navigation, easy road journeys and enhance education, among other benefits. The foregoing and other features and advantages will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The invention pertains to methods for modifying inner-layer circuit features of printed circuit boards. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) used in the electronic industry comprise a number of layers. Some of the layers comprise conductive traces, while other layers are non-conductive but for, perhaps, conductive vias joining traces found on other layers. Together, the layers of a PCB serve to route electrical signals between the various electrical components that are mounted to the PCB. The layers may also route signals to and from the PCB via traces that terminate at edge connectors, flex connectors, and other various contacts and connectors). The layers of a PCB, as well as the pattern of conductive traces formed within each layer, are typically based on Computer Aided Design (CAD) data. The CAD data, in turn, is based on various design requirements and constraints that a designer inputs to the CAD system. A significant problem with newly designed PCBs is that there is no easy way to test their functionality until their layers are fully assembled. Thus, in situations where an inner-layer layout error is detected during test, any repair effort must not only repair the inner-layer defect, but do so without endangering other surrounding circuit features. Unfortunately, this limits the available repair options. When a choice is made to repair an inner-layer defect, the defect is typically repaired by means of a cutting tool such as a diamond cutter or laser. In order to position the cutting tool over the defect, two quantities must be estimated: 1) the coordinates of the defect, and 2) the depth of the defect. Unfortunately, PCB manufacturing variances make both of these quantities difficult to estimate. Estimating the coordinates of a defect can be difficult due to manufacturing variances in the alignment of layers, the tight spacing of traces within a layer and variations therein, etc . . . Manufacturing variances can also make it difficult to map the coordinates of a defect to a visible reference marker that can be used for the purpose of navigating a cutting tool over the defect. Estimating the depth of a defect is difficult in that the layers of a PCB are very thin and also subject to manufacturing variances. If a cutting tool penetrates a PCB too deep, or at the wrong location, it is likely that other circuit features of the PCB will be damaged. In light of the above limitations of current PCB repair methods, there is no feasible way to repair an inner-layer defect of a PCB in significant quantities (i.e., when a large number of PCBs are found to carry the same inner-layer defect). As a result, the defective PCBs are typically scrapped; the inner-layer defect is fixed at the CAD level; a new lot of PCBs are assembled; and the test process is then repeated. One can therefore appreciate that an unanticipated inner-layer defect in a PCB is often associated with significant product development delays, and significant losses of time and money. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for modifying an inner-layer circuit feature of a printed circuit board commences with the identification of a trimming point on the inner-layer circuit feature using an x-ray inspection system. The coordinates of the trimming point are then related to the coordinates of a visible reference marker on the printed circuit board. Next, the relationship between the visible reference marker and the trimming point is used to position a cutting tool over the trimming point. Finally, the cutting tool is used to make one or more cuts into the printed circuit board, until the inner-layer circuit feature is acceptably modified at the trimming point.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to automobile lamps positioned at the automobile's front end and/or rear end. More specifically, this invention relates to an automobile headlamp or taillamp housing that is capable of elastic deformation, yet is rigidly, directly or indirectly, attached to a fixed chassis component or body component (i.e. trunk, fenders, rear quarter, etc.) of the automobile. The flexible lamp mounting arrangement is able to withstand substantial flexure when the automobile bumper sustains an impact by an object and, therefore, the flexible lamp arrangement is particularly well suited for use with impact-absorbing bumpers that automatically rebound from a frontal impact. 2. Description of the Prior Art Generally, automobile designers or stylists would like to create aerodynamic body shapes. Their motivation is not merely to reduce drag, but to create contemporary sculpted shapes that appeal to the marketplace. The automobile designers or stylists, however, are hampered by a variety of functional, economical, and other restraints. With the advent of energy or impact-absorbing bumpers, front and rear ends of an automotive vehicle have been required to undergo significant design changes in order to accommodate the stroke of the bumper, that commonly can be as much as three to four inches. Generally, with respect to the front and rear end of a vehicle, designers would like a clean, convex transition from the front edge of the bumper rearward to the hood area and from the rear edge of the rear bumper forward to the sheet metal associated with the trunk area and rear deck lid. However, when viewing most vehicle designs currently available in the marketplace, this transition is normally an inward, concave box shape as shown in FIG. 1. The front bumper protrudes forward from the vehicle body, or the rear bumper protrudes rearward from the rear sheet metal in order to provide compliance with federal and automotive original equipment manufacturer's vehicle impact standards. These standards generally state that no damage can occur to non-bumper components or safety items, such as headlamps or taillamps, during 5 miles per hour barrier and front impacts, or 3 miles per hour pendulum impacts. Therefore, to achieve this objective, the original equipment manufacturing engineers have brought the bumper out away from the front and rear body panels, headlights, taillights, hood and grille, so that the bumper may stroke, thereby absorbing the impact energy without allowing intrusion into the components with subsequent damage. The clear result from such design is that the vehicle appears boxy, non-aerodynamic, and antiquated. A closely related problem to the ability to absorb the impact energy of these federal and automotive vehicle impact standards concerns the location of the engine within the engine compartment. For example, in an attempt to obtain more passenger space within a vehicle, recent practice has been to push the mounts of the engine further and further towards the front of the vehicle. Accordingly, the ability to provide additional passenger compartment space is directly affected by the space available in front of the engine to enable moving the engine forward to obtain the maximum passenger compartment space. However, since the overall length of the vehicle is subject to limits dictated by the original equipment manufacturer, bringing the bumper forward away from the body, headlight, hood and grille intrudes into the maximum length, and the front end space of the vehicle becomes extremely valuable in that it directly affects the ability of automotive engineers to move the engine forward in an attempt to create additional passenger compartment space. Similar problems existed with respect to automobile grilles, and such problems were solved by the use of a grille that is mounted substantially flush with the surrounding automobile body panels and bumpers, while also being capable of deflecting with the stroke of the impact-absorbing bumper during impact, thereby obviating the need for the grille to either pivot about an anchor point or to be mechanically displaceable with the additional hardware. Such a grille is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,597, owned by the common assignee hereof. The use of the teachings of this earlier invention, however, allowed the grille to be brought into the impact zone and absorb impact without damage. Unfortunately, while this helped to achieve a more aerodynamic and contemporary look in the grille area, the transformation is incomplete because along either side of the grille the fragile headlight system still requires protection, resulting in the boxy, non-aerodynamic situation as depicted in FIG. 1. Several automotive equipment manufacturers have attempted specific solutions to this problem, but in doing so have failed to take into consideration the original equipment manufacturer's limitations set forth above, as well as the availability of space between the front bumper and the front of the engine in an engine compartment where the headlight system must be appropriately mounted. As set forth above, the traditional solution is to position the headlamps or taillamps entirely out of the path of the bumper during recoil after impact. This approach generally entails placing the automobile's headlamps rearward of the bumper or taillamps forward of the bumper, resulting in an extremely square looking profile that has little appeal according to modern design trends as depicted in FIG. 1. In addition, clearly such a design is not aerodynamic, but this approach has been generally followed for lack of a better solution. Another solution recently attempted by some of the original equipment manufacturers, is to require the headlamp and/or taillamp to be displaceable such that it can either pivot or otherwise move out of the path of the bumper during energy absorbing impact. Preferably, this approach allows the headlamp and/or taillamp to be mounted flush with the surrounding hood, front end, body panels and bumper, to enhance the styling and aerodynamics of the automobile by proving aesthetically pleasing, continuous smooth contour surfaces between the hood, bumper and headlamp lens surfaces. Such an approach is illustrated in Tomforde, U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,148, wherein the headlamp upper and lower housing compartments 3, 6, are pivotably mounted to a fixed component 4, at axis 5, to allow resilient cushioning of an impact in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to minimize property damage and personal injury. This approach allows the top of the headlamp to pivot rearward when the headlamp is contacted at the bottom edge so as to reduce or prevent property damage in a collision with the vehicle and/or a stationary obstacle, as well as to avoid injury to a pedestrian by yielding in a longitudinal direction about pivot point 5. This approach appears extremely impractical as bumper heights are standardized on passenger vehicles, and an impact on the lower portion of the headlamp would not cause enough rotation to prevent the headlights from becoming severely damaged in case of an impact in a minor collision with another vehicle or a stationary obstacle. Another example of an attempt to solve the above problems relating to the location of headlamps or taillamps in the impact zone is taught by Delmastro et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,646. In this reference the lamp assemblies are mounted to an impact bar by the use of U-shaped springs to permit the lamp assembly to swing from its illustrated operating position to a protected position within the confines of the impact bar assembly in response to predetermined frontal impacts. The bumper fascia is mounted to an impact energy absorbing unit and its associated impact bar to absorb side or frontal impacts, store the energy in the impact bar and to avoid transmitting the energy into the vehicle frame, bodywork, or other vehicle components. Any frontal or side impact will permit the hinge assembly limited side and compound movement of the lamp assembly, so that it will not be damaged by any material of the energy absorbing unit crowding the headlamp assembly on corner impacts. After the impact load is removed, the impact bar and end section recover at predetermined rates to their original positions. The lamp assembly, of course, being connected to the U-shaped spring member, will likewise recover to its original position. Note that although this type of solution is proposed for fog lamps and signal lamps, the reference completely fails to set forth any solution, whatsoever, for avoiding damage to the headlamp in a frontal zone collision. Clearly, the design criteria to avoid damage to headlamps requires the headlamps to be set rearward a sufficient amount to allow the bumper to properly stroke during frontal impacts. Another attempt to protect fog and taillamps mounted in the impact zone is shown in Vogelgesang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,177, wherein a fog lamp and turn signal lamp are mounted to the elastic bumper covering to allow the fog and turn signal lamp unit to move backwards in the case of a 30.degree. pendulum impact after it has been acted upon by the impact and to return to its original position. The fog lamp and turn signal housing are attached to a bumper covering that, when impacted, moves towards the rear of the vehicle by pivoting about a fixed pivot mounted on the chassis that provides appropriate support for the fog lamp and turn signal housing, and allows the housing to pivot rearwards to absorb the impact and return to its original position thereafter. The supporting element is mounted at one end at a fixed member attached to the wheel housing and to the fog lamp and turn signal housing to allow the supporting element to pivot rearwards. After impact, the elastic bumper covering with the lamp units and the supporting element are returned to their original positions by the restoring force of the pneumatic impact absorbing devices. In Roschinski et al., German patent publication DE 3802104 A1, the lighting unit is mounted in the area of the impact zone. Through the use of spherical balls mounted in a spherical socket the lighting unit is allowed to be removed from the socket upon impact in the longitudinal direction, and returned into the spherical socket by two compression coil springs located between the housing and the body of the vehicle. Because of the use of two spherical sockets that are mounted respectively in an upper and lower zone, the reference further teaches that a shock load acting obliquely from one side only will cause only one of the spherical balls to be displaced from the spherical socket and resume its original position through the use of one coil spring providing sufficient force to again engage the spherical ball with the spherical socket upon removal of the impact force. A similar arrangement is proposed for the fog and turn signal lamps, as well as for the rear lamps of the vehicle. As an alternative to the coil springs, a hydraulic, pneumatic or magnetic system that generates an appropriate force for restoring the position of the housing is also contemplated. A further attempt to allow headlamps to be mounted forward, flush with the front fascia of the vehicle, is discussed in Kodama et al., Japanese Patent JP3-208738-A2, wherein the headlamp is mounted to a guide rail spaced a predetermined distance from side frame members, and interconnected with a connecting bar whose lower end is connected to the side member and upper end to the movable frame containing the headlamp, and adapted for sliding on the guide rail. The torsion bar system has a front part mounted in close proximity to the bumper fascia so that upon impact the bumper fascia collapses and retreats, activating the crank portion of the torsion bar system whereby the connecting bars are pivoted to slide the headlamp in a rearward direction away from the area of the impact zone to prevent damage thereto. After restoration of the bumper fascia to its original position, through the use of impact absorbing material such as foam, the torsion bar system utilizes its stored energy to return the headlamp along the guide rails to its original forward position. An alternate embodiment discloses the use of a scissor-like two bar mechanism that operates in combination with a torsion bar system to retract the headlamp in a rearward direction upon impact and through the stored torsional energy in the torsion bar system return the headlamp to the original position upon release of the impact with the bumper fascia. As can clearly be observed from a review of the prior art, with the exception of German Patent DE 3802104-A1 and Japanese Patent 3-208738-A2, the prior art addressing of this problem only concerns fog lamps or turn signal lamps where damage criteria after impact, as established by government entities or original equipment manufacturers, is very low, or nonexistent. The proposal disclosed in the German reference relies mostly on a complex spring system to return the housing to its original position while the Japanese reference teaches that the bumper impact absorbing material will allow the pivoting mechanism cooperating therewith to return the lamp to its original position Since none of the bumper impact absorbing materials are required to return a headlamp to its original position by any automotive regulations, it is not possible to rely on such a system to permit controlling the headlamp to return to its original position after a bumper impact due to the strict regulations and tight tolerances on headlight aim patterns that would not allow any misalignment of aim pattern after impact outside of the tolerance limitations. Further, both the teachings of the German and Japanese patents have completely neglected the value of the space considerations surrounding the headlamp mounting area that directly reflects upon the forward placement of the engine and, in turn, the amount of space available in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Accordingly, none of the systems provided in the prior art are adaptable to headlamps or taillamps that have strict regulations concerning damage after bumper impacts. Therefore, what is needed is a simple, cost effective headlight and/or taillight system that can be brought into the impact zone to provide designers the freedom to create flush, convex-shaped, aerodynamic front end systems for vehicles that after impact return to their original positions without damage and continue to operate within the limits of the specifications set forth for headlamps and taillamps for automotive vehicles.

Indirect light is a pleasing manner of providing the light required for various tasks. With indirect light, less foot-candles (quantity of light) is required to provide the same illumination levels as with direct light. The infinite reflector series allows you the possibility of indirect illumination in the most unique and innovative way. Reflectors permit you to redirect light. The IRS (Infinite Reflector Series) offers the opportunity of infinite lighting design. You have a choice of reflective surfaces and shapes of reflectors to provide you infinite bouncing beams of light to illuminate various objects. You can with one source illuminate infinite objects or you can with infinite sources illuminate one object. You can redefine existing spaces with interceptors (reflectors) portable or fixed. The method of fixing to floors, walls or ceilings can be accomplished with clamps, suction cups, mounting plates, cables (stainless steel, nylon, rubber, rope, etc.), or tubes, as well as other means. Interceptors (reflectors) can be placed in inaccessible places while the lamp source is placed in an accessible location and obtain the same results as if the source were in an inaccessible location. As an example, in a ceiling of 30 feet or more, which might normally have recessed fixtures, you can place reflectors. The light source could be mounted on walls at 6 or 8 feet in height (easily accessible). The light would be directed towards the reflectors, which would in turn redirect the light in a similar manner of a downlight. The reflector, therefore, replaces the source of illumination. As a result, high ceilings no longer present a relamping problem. In addition, wiring cost savings can be achieved, as it may no longer be necessary to run wiring in the ceiling.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a production system that is configured by disposing, downstream of a supply device for supplying foodstuffs or other such articles, a plurality of constituent devices including a weighing machine for weighing articles, a packaging machine, and a seal checker or another such quality inspection device. 2. Background Information In conventional practice, production systems in use include a weighing unit for weighing foodstuffs or other such articles supplied from a supply unit, a packaging unit for packaging the weighed articles, a quality inspection unit for detecting the quality of the packaged articles, and other various devices. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9301327 (published Nov. 25, 1997) discloses a management method and a management device (production system) for a production line that varies the set capacities of certain devices according to the processing capacities (yield rate) of other devices disposed downstream when operation is initiated or during operation. Since the set capacities of these devices are varied on the basis of the processing capacities (yield rate) of the other devices, the yield rate of the entire production line can be improved, and higher capacities can be elicited from the devices to improve production efficiency. However, this conventional production system has the following problems. Specifically, in the production system disclosed in the aforementioned publication, the set capacities are varied on the basis of the processing capacities (yield rate) of the devices, making it impossible to deal with problems such as a lack of uniformity in the rates at which articles are fed from the supply unit in the weighing unit during operation and halted operation of one weighing unit in a plurality of weighing units. For example, when articles are supplied from the supply unit at non-uniform rates while the set capacities of the supply unit for supplying articles to the weighing unit are kept constant, the set capacity of the weighing unit is set in accordance with the setting of the supply unit. Therefore, fluctuations in the supply rates cannot be appropriately dealt with merely by performing control based on the processing capacities or the yield rates of the devices, and production cannot be carried out efficiently. When the operation of a single weighing unit among a plurality of weighing units is halted due to a malfunction, a control procedure is performed to increase the set capacities of the other weighing units because the operating rate of the single weighing unit is zero. However, in such cases as well, merely allocating a processing rate that is proportionate to the operating rate reduction to the other weighing units brings the operating rate of the other weighing units closer to the maximum set capacities, and may instead result in a lower yield rate and reduced production quantities. In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved production system in which high production efficiency can be maintained in the entire production line, even in cases in which the articles are actually supplied from the supply unit at non-uniform rates, some of the weighing units, packaging units, quality inspection units, and other constituent units stop operating, and/or other problems occur. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Mobile devices (e.g., smartphone, tablets, etc.) often include different types of applications. For example, a single mobile device may include enterprise applications (e.g., enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise email, and/or other applications), personal applications (e.g., games, social networking apps, personal email applications, and/or other applications), and/or other types of applications. In some cases, an enterprise administrator may wish to limit use of certain applications (e.g., sets/groups of applications) in certain scenarios.

In recent years, a flash device has been widely employed to an optical apparatus such as, for example, a camera. Particularly when the flash device is employed in the photographing, the light is the important component. In an automatic light adjusting device which is employed in the photographing, the flashlight is ceased when the reflecting light from an object to be photographed attains to a predetermined value. The reflected light from the object to be photographed is, however, few in case that color of the object is black or in case that distance from the object to be photographed to the flash device is long, and an automatic light adjusting device was inactivated, and therefore a photographer could not judge easily how to the distance between the object and the flash device or to adjust the diaphragm. To contrary, the object to be photographed is white, the quantity of the reflected light becomes much, and the quantity of the reflecting light becomes much when the distance from the object to the flash device is very short. Accordingly, the automatic light adjusting device does not activate correctly. It is also impossible for the photographer to alternate the distance or to adjust the diaphragm. A flash device which can produce multiple flashlight during a predetermined time interval is so called a multi-flashing device. Thus multi-flashing device can produce the multiple flashlight momentarily and periodically. By using the multi-flashing device, it is possible to photograph a rotating substance or a moving substance at the stationary state by means of the flashlight which is repeated momentarily and periodically. In this kind of prior art multi-flashing device, the quantity of the flashlight in short distance photographing was same value with that of the flashlight in long distance photographing in spite that the few quantity of the flashlight is adequate in short distance photographing, since the multi-flashing device has not been provided with a light quantity control device which can automatically control the quantity of light. It was, accordingly, impossible to increase the flashing times and to make repetition of the flashing of the flash device particularly employing a battery as a power source faster in short distance photographing, and, therefore, it was impossible to obtain the suitable exposure.

With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues. In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming apparatus that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators. In addition, it is important that a player be able to understand the operation of a game quickly so that the player can start to quickly play the game and therefore extract maximum entertainment from the game. One method that has been used with gaming machines is to offer a progressive prize. The progressive prize is contributed to through gaming activity on the gaming machine, for example by taking a percentage of all wagers placed on the gaming machine. The progressive prize is awarded on the occurrence of a progressive prize winning event. Various methods of contribution to a progressive prize and determination of when the progressive prize has been awarded have been developed. A problem with progressive prizes is finding an appropriate method of determining how to award the progressive prize. Taking the example of a gaming machine that implements a spinning reel game, if the progressive prize winning event is the spinning up of a particular combination of symbols on a pay line that has been purchased through the placing of a wager in the form of a number of credits, then this combination can be expected to occur with the same frequency no matter how many credits are wagered on that outcome. For other winning combinations of a pay line, the award may be multiplied by the amount of credits that were wagered on that pay line. However, multiplication of a progressive prize in this manner is not viable. The result is that the contribution to the expected return to player of the progressive prize is higher for players that only wager a single credit per pay line than for players that wager multiple credits per pay line. An ongoing problem faced in the field is how to develop new ways of offering progressive prizes that adequately address variations in the expected return to player.

1. Field of the Invention The invention disclosed here relates generally to remote control of computerized equipment and more specifically to remote control of the power supply of a computer system and/or other electrical devices. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELEVANT ART The advantages of being able to turn on and off the power supply of a computer system located at a remote site are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,444 "Remote Power Controller Utilizing Communication Lines" issued June 3, 1980 to Ferlan, for example, discusses the advantages of reducing power consumption and the danger of unintended turn-on. The Ferlan disclosure is incorporated herein by reference. According to the Ferlan patent, a comparator is interposed at the remote site between a modem and a gate activated power relay. The comparator scans through incoming serial signals from the modem searching for a predetermined sequence, and when this sequence is detected, the gate controlled relay is turned either on or off to thereby supply electrical power to a computer power unit. A disadvantageous aspect of the Ferlan design is that incoming messages to the modem must be restricted so that the predetermined power turn-on or turn-off sequence is not included when such turn-on or turn-off is not desired. It is possible for binary bit stream to randomly include this sequence, and if such a sequence is randomly generated, an undesirable activation of the power controlling relay may take place. Another disadvantage of the Ferlan design is that the receiving modem at the remote site needs to be closely placed to the power control unit and to the computer which is to be turned on or off. This limits the flexibility of users in being able to move their computer equipment from one location to another within the remote site without having to also move the receiving modem and its adjunctive telephone wires. Other works in the field of remote control which Applicant is aware of include U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,946 "Device for Controlling the Application of Power to a Computer" issued Oct. 20, 1987 to Oliva, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,269 "Method and Apparatus for Power-Up of Unattended Computer" issued Feb. 2, 1988 to Summerlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,721 "Telephone Activated Power Controller" issued Mar. 3, 1987 to Busam, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,163 "Computer System with Power Control Based on the Operational Status of Terminals" issued Feb. 28, 1989 to Hirosawa, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,963 "Plural Cooking Computer Communication System" issued Mar. 14, 1989 to Albrecht, et al.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an adjustable joint for coupling two segments of a positionable arm. More specifically, this invention relates to a joint for coupling two segments forming a positionable arm that can be fixedly positioned and repeatedly repositioned. 2. Description of Related Art Various types of positionable arms are known. These arms typically use motors or mechanical friction caused by, for example, the tightening of screws or bolts, to maintain the orientation of the arm. Such arms may include a plurality of arm segments connected by adjustable joints, thereby providing multiple degrees of freedom with which to arrange the arm. Positionable arms can be used in any number of applications, such as where a workpiece or tool is attached to the end of the positionable arm and the user must reposition the tool periodically during use. In such an application, it is important that the arm, when positioned, fixedly retain that position during use, while still allowing for relatively easy repositioning when desired. Positionable arms which maintain their positions using friction created between arm members by tightening screws are disadvantageous because in order to reposition the tool, the frictional retaining force must be overcome by the repositioning force applied by the user. This type of apparatus is impractical where the tool being suspended is sufficiently heavy that the downward force caused by the weight of the tool is roughly equivalent to or greater than the force that is applied by the user. Thus, the necessary amount of friction required to prevent movement of the heavily-weighted arm interferes with the user""s ability to easily reposition the tool. Accordingly, there is a need for a positionable arm which can fixedly maintain a position while under load, but is easily repositionable by hand. In accordance with the present invention, an adjustable joint is provided, comprising a first member having an inner surface and an end portion defining a first connector opening, a piston having a first end and a second end, a chamber within the first member defined by the first end of said piston and the inner surface of the first member, a rotatable connector received in the first hollow member between the second end of said piston and the end portion of the first hollow member such that an increased pressure in the chamber urges the piston towards the first connector opening, thereby clamping the rotatable connector between the first connector opening and the second end of said piston, and a pressurized fluid source in fluid communication with the chamber. A spring may be provided in the chamber, said spring providing a force against said piston such that said piston presses against said rotatable connector, thereby providing a frictional resistance to rotation of said rotatable connector. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for locking and unlocking a joint is provided. This method comprises providing a first member having an inner surface and an end portion defining a first connector opening, a piston in said first member, said piston having a first end and a second end, said first end of said piston and said inner surface of said first hollow member defining a chamber, joining said first member with a second member using a rotatable connector, arranging said rotatable connector in said first member between said second end of said piston and said end portion of said first member, increasing a fluid pressure in said chamber, said increased fluid pressure urging said piston towards said first connector opening, thereby clamping said rotatable connector between said first connector opening and said second end of said piston, and decreasing said fluid pressure in said chamber, thereby decreasing the clamping applied to said rotatable connector by said first connector opening and said second end of said piston.

The present disclosure relates to an image signal processing device and method for performing interpolation of pixel signals of three primary colors output from an imaging device including a color filter of a Bayer array. A pixel signal of each of three primary colors output from an imaging device including a color filter of a Bayer array is only one of pixel signals of R (red), G (green) and B (blue) per pixel. Pixel signals of two colors other than a pixel which is output as a pixel signal among three pixels are required to be produced by interpolation processing. Processing for producing pixel signals which are not output as pixel signals by interpolation processing is called demosaicing. An example of the easiest method of demosaicing is a bilinear method for performing linear interpolation using pixel signals of peripheral colors which are the same as a color to be produced by interpolation. However, the interpolation processing by the bilinear method is not used in general because the method has the disadvantages of, for example, causing false colors at edges of images because of incorrect interpolation and causing great deterioration in resolution. There is known an adaptive color plane interpolation (ACPI) method commonly used for resolving the disadvantages of the bilinear method. The ACPI method is used for performing interpolation of a pixel signal with reference to pixel signals of colors different from a color to be produced by the interpolation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,734 (Patent Literature 1) discloses interpolation processing by the ACPI method. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-099903 (Patent Literature 2) discloses interpolation processing by a method obtained by improving the ACPI method.

Because of the increasing number of malicious worms hidden inside electronic mail (email) attachments, computer networks typically operate in a restricted mode. For example, a gateway server within a computer network may control access to the computer network from a public network or other private networks. The gateway server may be used to block emails that include attachments with particular file types. The emails that are blocked generally include those types of attachments that are identified as potentially transporting and hiding malicious code (Mal-Ware) or internet based worms or viruses. For example, a computer network may operate to automatically block all emails that include .exe, .scr. .pif, zip files, or other executable attachments and files. The blocking of the emails prevents the malicious files from being executed or opened, which in turn prevents the activation of the worm or virus. In the restricted mode, the gateway server may operate to block, or quarantine, emails with such types of attachments when entering or leaving the computer network. In some cases, neither the email nor the attachment is ever received by the desired recipient. In other cases, the gateway server may strip the email of the attachment before sending the email to the desired recipient. While some of the attachments may contain viruses, others may contain legitimate business-related software or data. Thus, conventional modes of restricting email attachments simply by stripping all files of a certain type, may impede the communication of genuine business or other legitimate email. For these and other reasons, a need exists for the present invention.

As a prior art relating to the present invention, for example, in German (DE) Patent No. 11 62 359, Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Eng.), 2688 (1963), Chim. Ind. (Milan), 46, 875 (1964), German (DE) Patent No. 12 05 089, Bulletin de la Societe Chimique de France (Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr.), 10, 2833 (1965), Italian (IT) Patent No. 720514, Journal für Practische Chemie (J. Pract. Chem.), 33, 282 (1966), Japanese Patent Publications No. Sho. 43-16124 and Sho. 44-3815, there are description about hydrogen reduction of 2-halogenocycloalkenone oxime compounds including 2-chlorocyclododecadienone oxime using a palladium catalyst. However, main products in these reactions are cycloalkanone oxime in which not only carbon-carbon double bond(s) but also a chloro group are also reduced. Also, in Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr., 10, 2833 (1965), an example of obtaining 2-chlorocyclododecanone oxime from 2-chlorocyclododecadienone oxime using platinum oxide has been described but the yield is extremely low as 10%, so that it is not satisfied. Also, since a platinum oxide catalyst is dissolved during the reaction, so that there is a problem that it's recovery and reuse are not so easy. Thus, the halogen group of the 2-halogenocycloalkenone oxime compound is extremely easily reduced, so that it has not been known a method of selectively reducing carbon-carbon double bond(s) of the 2-halogenocycloalkenone oxime compound in good yield. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a process for preparing a 2-halogenocycloalkanone oxime in high yield by selectively reducing carbon-carbon double bond(s) of a 2-halogenocycloalkenone oxime compound with good efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field) This invention relates to apparatuses for ultrasonic imaging of angioplasty or atherectomy catheters; and methods for their use. 2. Background Art Standard percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, atherectomy, dilatation, and stenting techniques of the peripheral vascular system have traditionally required the use of iodinated contrast media and radiographic guidance for the proper positioning of the dilatation balloon across an arterial stenosis. There is a known incidence of allergy to iodinated contrast dye as well as unpredictable reactions to contrast dye, including various degrees of anaphylaxis and renal failure. The ionizing radiation utilized during the procedure is also a hazard to the patient and the medical staff. Ultrasonographic imaging, on the other hand, presents no known irradiation hazard and requires no use of radiopaque contrast medium, yet provides excellent visualization of the arterial lumen and walls. The correct placement of the angioplasty balloon during an angioplasty or atherectomy procedure is not only facilitated by the use of radiographic contrast medium to determine the location of the arterial stenosis, but also by radiographic markers, usually small bands of radiopaque material (metal), which mark the proximal and distal limits of the balloon. The present invention allows for the correct placement of an angioplasty balloon catheter across an arterial stenosis utilizing ultrasonographic imaging alone, for example, B-mode imaging, thereby obviating contrast reactions and ionizing radiation exposure. The concept of marking catheters with metallic elements is not new. Devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,252, to Martin, entitled X-Ray Scaling Catheter, utilize metallic foil rings embedded in the walls of an angiography catheter at a set distance apart in order to calculate distances within the heart and correct for errors due to x-ray magnification. These markers are radiopaque and designed for use with radiographically guided cardiac angiography procedures. The concept of acoustically modifying catheters for enhanced visualization with ultrasound imaging is not per se novel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,124, to Guess, et al., entitled Reflection Enhancement of a Biopsy Needle, disclose a diffraction grating comprising parallel grooves etched into the tip of a biopsy needle for enhancing the reflection coefficient when used in conjunction with pulse-echo ultrasound imaging. Similarly, Elkins in U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,259 entitled Echogenically Enhanced Surgical Instrument and Method for Production Thereof discloses an acoustically enhanced surgical needle having a roughened surface with pits and erosions of the order of 50 microns in depth. The resultant roughness increases the density of reflected ultrasound beams to the piezoelectric sensor, resulting in enhanced echogenicity of the treated portion of the needle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,006, to Trimmer, et al., entitled Passive Ultrasound Needle Probe Locator, teaches a sonically conductive needle which conveys ultrasonic energy to an external transducer. Divisional U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,637,401 and 4,674,336, to Johnston, entitled Volumetric Flow Rate Determination in Conduits Not Directly Accessible, both teach ultrasonic energy reflection in combination with a Doppler circuit for measuring blood velocity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,061, to Fry, entitled Needle with Ultrasonically Reflective Displacement Scale, teaches a body puncturing device comprising a plurality of cavities or grooves for trapping gas, thereby improving acoustic reflection. U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,595, to Breyer, et al., entitled Ultrasonically Marked Cardiac Catheters, discloses a plurality of piezoelectric transducers embedded in a catheter to establish catheter location. U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,240, to Samson, et al., entitled Catheter Having Encapsulated Tip Marker, discloses a catheter comprising a broad metallic band at one end thereof for fluoroscopic use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,294, to Vilkomersas, entitled Ultrasound Tissue Probe Localization System, teaches an ultrasound imaging system comprising at least three transducers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,637, to Mueller, Jr., entitled Flexible Metal Radiopaque Indicator and Plugs for Catheters, discloses a radiopaque coiled metal spring which provides a catheter plug and indicator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,762, to Spears, entitled Method of Treatment of Atherosclerosis and a Balloon Catheter for Same, discloses a light-emitting balloon catheter for treatment of atheromatous plaque. The current invention utilizes the placement of a fine wire monolayer, for example, 5 mm long, proximal and distal, at the limits, or within the angioplasty balloon itself, in order to be detected acoustically by ultrasonographic imaging. The proper detection of the proximal and distal limits of the angioplasty balloon by ultrasonographic imaging results in the ability to correctly position the balloon across an arterial stenosis without the use of radiographic contrast medium or ionizing radiation. Hence, angioplasty can be accomplished by non-radiographic ultrasonic guidance obviating the risks inherent to the traditional use of contrast agents and ionizing radiation.

SSLs use semiconductor light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”), polymer light-emitting diodes (“PLEDs”), organic light-emitting diodes (“OLEDs”), or other types of solid state emitters (SSEs) as sources of illumination. Generally, SSLs generate less heat, provide greater resistance to shock and vibration, and have longer life spans than conventional lighting devices that use filaments, plasma, or gas as sources of illumination (e.g., florescent or incandescent lights). SSL devices are increasingly in demand for many purposes because such devices efficiently produce high-intensity, high-quality light. Mobile phones, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, MP3 players, and other portable devices use SSLs, such as white light SSLs, for background illumination. The possible applications for SSL devices extend beyond portable devices and include ceiling panel lights, desk lamps, refrigerator lights, table lamps, street lights, automobile headlights, and many other lighting applications. White light is desirable for many applications, but current SSLs cannot directly produce white light. One conventional technique for emulating white light from an SSL includes depositing a converter material (e.g., a phosphor) on a light emitting material. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, a conventional SSL device 10 includes a support 2 carrying an LED die 4 and a converter material 6 deposited on the LED die 4. The LED die 4 can include one or more light emitting components. For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, the LED die 4 can include a silicon substrate 12, an N-type gallium nitride (GaN) material 14, an indium gallium nitride (InGaN) material 16 (and/or GaN multiple quantum wells), and a P-type GaN material 18 on one another in series. The LED die 4 can also include a first contact 20 on the P-type GaN material 18 and a second contact 22 on the N-type GaN material 14. Referring to both FIGS. 1A and 1B, in operation, the InGaN material 16 of the LED die 4 emits a blue light that stimulates the converter material 6 to emit a light (e.g., a yellow light) at a desired frequency. The combination of the blue and yellow emissions appears white to human eyes if matched appropriately. Another conventional construction of an SSL device 20 is shown in FIG. 2. The device 20 has a support 23 upon which an LED 24 is mounted. The device 20 also includes a phosphor well 26 containing a converter material and a lens 28 formed over the LED 24. This configuration produces light primarily focused in a direction 29 perpendicular to the LED 24. The lighting distribution from this arrangement is suitable for some lighting applications. However, many other applications can benefit from a more dispersed angular distribution of light. Accordingly, there remains a need for SSL devices that produce multi-directional light patterns.

The invention relates to an apparatus for counting numbers of microscopic fine particles such as blood corpuscles, and more particularly to an apparatus which ensures a more accurate counting of such fine particles with ease in operation. Apparatus which have been used conventionally to this end are generally based on an impedance method or a photoelectrical scanning method. The apparatus based on the impedance method usually suffer from unfavorable disturbance caused by noises, and an opening in its detector is apt to be soon clogged with impurities or fine particles to be counted. The other known apparatus for the photoelectric scanning are highly complex in view of its mechanism for driving a sample holder and its photoelectrical or electrical mechanism, so it is difficult to operate the apparatus which unavoidably costs too much. A more frequent blood counting is recently being required by physicians. However, blood cells in blood samples will coagulate or be broken as time passes so that correct measurements of them become difficult. Such circumstances have given rise to a demand for a better apparatus which will enable the physicians to perform an easy rapid blood count soon after a sampling of blood. Such improved apparatus is also needed in many other fields of science and industry in which a rapid counting of fine microscopic particles must be correctly conducted.

1. The Field of the Invention This invention relates to the continuous monitoring of the effluent of a filter. The meter measures the quality of the filter discharge and controls the filter cycle. This, in turn, maximizes the quality of the filter effluent. 2. Background of the Invention Filters are used to remove solids of varying composition, concentration and size distribution from flowing fluids. Therefore, various types of filters are used to remove these solids. Differential pressure across a filter increases as the filter collects contaminants from the fluid runs. Most filters have cycles where they filter, backwash to remove the collected contaminants and filter again. It is an indication of length of the filtration stage because harmful by-pass of solids occurs at high differential pressure. Solids by-pass results in poorer water quality, which is one of the problems of inefficient filter operation. One approach has been to measure the solids concentration of the filter effluent regardless of the size distribution or the composition of the solids. Solids concentration alone is not solely indicative of water quality related to injectivity into a producing formation in a waterflood. Common contaminants, such as oil and scale, can cause poor water quality, yet they remain undetected by solids meters. This often indicates that filtration alone is adequate for achieving water quality which will protect water injection wells from damage. Inadvertent damage by oil droplets and scale would have been overlooked.

Air conditioning systems sometimes play an unintended role as a source of pathogenic microorganisms. Under certain conditions frequently common in the evaporator section of an air conditioning system, mold can grow on the evaporator coil and drain pan surfaces, thereby affecting overall air quality. As a viable method to control the microbial growth, UltraViolet Germicidal Radiation (UVGR) sterilization has gained public acceptance. More specifically, ultraviolet C-band (UVC) radiation within the evaporator assembly provided by a UVC lamp improves air quality and maintains system efficiency by keeping the evaporator mold-free. However, UVC can cause eye injury and therefore must be carefully integrated with the evaporator assembly. To prevent such injury, a safety interlock mechanism is often integrated with UVC lamp units preventing illumination of the lamp unless it is completely installed in its intended position. One system relies upon a spring biasing a switch depressing lever away from the switch when the mounting assembly is not installed in a proper aperture of a duct. This can be defeated readily by installing a UV lamp into the mounting assembly, and then depressing an exposed portion of the switch depressing lever. Another approach is similar with a mounting base that must be in contact with the duct to energize the electrical circuit. It appears that this interlock could be defeated in much the same way as the previous art because it only requires contact with a “depressing surface.” Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a more positive interlock that prevents electrical circuit activation when the lamp holder is not installed in the base.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to heart-assist devices and, more particularly, to such devices incorporating balloon pumps. 2. Prior Art During the past thirty years there has been an ever-increasing frequency of heart surgery and greater study and knowledge of the functions of the heart. One of the product groups which has resulted from this increased activity in the knowledge of the function of the heart has been what are known as temporary circulatory-assist devices. The purpose of such devices is to stabilize, hemodynamically, a failing circulatory system resulting from a failure in the pumping action of the heart. Beneficial results have been realized by the use of heart-assist devices in patients with cardiogenic shock and in severe acute myocardial ischemia. Further, in the critical moments before or after a heart transplantation or after open heart surgical procedures, temporary support of the cardiocirculatory system is crucial. These heart-assist devices are intended to give the heart muscle the necessary time to rest and optionally to recover. The best known of the circulatory-assist devices is the intra-aortic balloon with its counterpulsation capability. With the development of percutaneous techniques for the balloon insertion (for example, through the femoral artery) it is possible to give immediate response to a critical heart condition. However, with the intra-aortic balloon, the cardiac output is increased approximately thirty to forty percent. It is clear that a more effective heart-assist device is necessary, particularly in the first moments of intervention, to prevent deterioration of the circulatory system of the patient. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a heart-assist device which is compact, is easily handled by a single specialist, is completely a traumatic both to the ventricular chamber and to the blood volume constituents, and is highly effective so as to achieve nearly normal physiological conditions during its use.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a method and structure for conductively coupling electrical structures to a semiconductor device located under a buried oxide layer. 2. Related Art An electrostatic discharge device (ESD) located within a substrate and above a buried oxide layer is surrounded by thermally insulative material in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures. For example, the ESD device may be surrounded by the buried oxide layer on the bottom, small trench isolations on the sides, and interlevel dielectric on the top. An electrostatic discharge device must be able to handle large electrical currents that result from static discharge, from a human body or the environment onto an integrated circuit coupled to, or integral with, the substrate. Such large electrical currents generate substantial heat which cannot be effectively dissipated away from the ESD device, because of the surrounding electrically and thermally insulative material. A method and structure is needed for effectively dissipating heat during an electrostatic discharge event on SOI. The present invention provides an electronic structure, comprising: a bulk semiconductor substrate having a semiconductor device, wherein the semiconductor device includes M diffusions, wherein M is at least 2, wherein a first diffusion of the M diffusions is a P+ diffusion, and wherein a second diffusion of the M diffusions is a N+ diffusion; a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure on the bulk semiconductor substrate, wherein the SOI structure includes an insulator layer on the bulk semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer on the insulator layer; and M conductive plugs self-aligned with the M diffusions and extending through a portion of the SOI layer such that an end of each conductive plug is in conductive contact with a corresponding diffusion of the M diffusions. The present invention provides a method for forming an electronic structure, comprising the steps of: providing a bulk semiconductor substrate; forming a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure on the bulk semiconductor substrate, wherein the SOI structure includes an insulator layer on the bulk semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer on the insulator layer; forming a trench structure through the SOI layer, wherein an end of the trench structure is interfaced with the bulk semiconductor substrate; forming a semiconductor device in the bulk semiconductor substrate by use of the trench structure, wherein the semiconductor device includes M diffusions, wherein M is at least 2, wherein a first diffusion of the M diffusions is a P+ diffusion, and wherein a second diffusion of the M diffusions is a N+ diffusion; and forming M conductive plugs self-aligned with the M diffusions and extending through a portion of the SOI layer such that an end of each conductive plug is in conductive contact with a corresponding diffusion of the M diffusions. The present invention provides a method and structure for effectively dissipating heat during an electrostatic discharge event.

In the document entitled “New Gate Control Unit for Automotive Synchronous Rectifiers”, authors Stephan Rees and Ulrich Ammann, published by the Institute of Power Electronics and Control Engineering, University of Stuttgart, there is shown a control device for suitably controlling the transistors of the bridge rectifier in order to correctly rectify the sinusoidal induced current. A control device is connected to each transistor of the bridge rectifier/inverter. The control device comprises an operational amplifier for controlling the associated transistor. One of the drawbacks of this device is that it is subjected to the leakage currents coming from the battery. Because of this, the transistors of the bridge rectifier/inverter may be damaged because of these leakage currents and, when the vehicle is stopped, the bridge rectifier/inverter continuously consumes current, which may discharge the battery.

Members of the integrin family recognize a variety of spatially-restricted extracellular ligands. Classically, ligation of integrins activates cytoplasmic signals in the integrin-expressing cell and contributes to cell adhesion, migration, proliferation and survival. At least two members of this family, αvβ6 and αvβ8, perform an additional function, activation of latent complexes of transforming growth factor β. In effect, this process allows integrins on one cell to activate signals on adjacent (in the case of αvβ6) or nearby cells (in the case of αvβ8). Integrin-mediated TGFβ activation has been shown to play roles in, for example, modulating tissue fibrosis, acute lung injury and pulmonary emphysema.

(1) Field of the Invention This invention relates to an electronic typewriter for printing text data stored in a memory system on a sheet of paper when printing signals are produced. (2) Description of the Prior Art In known electronic typewriters, many of them are capable of printing information on a printing sheet both directly at the time the keys are actuated and after a predetermined time or an arbitrarily selected time has elapsed after the keys are actuated by storing the information in a memory system of a desired capacity. To this end, electronic typewriters known in the art comprise a memory system built therein which includes a read-only memory (hereinafter ROM) which may be a program memory to which a predetermined program is written or a pattern memory for storing patterns of characters and symbols, and a random-access memory (hereinafter RAM) enabling the information written thereto to be replaced by new one. Thus, the electronic typewriters are capable of performing a variety of functions by virtue of the memory system and a central processing unit (hereinafter CPU) for controlling the memory system. One of these functions is to prepare a text not only by the operation of the electronic typewriters themselves but also by storing in the memory system those data which are transmitted from similar equipment or other external devices to the electronic typewriters, so that the contents of these texts can be printed on a printing sheet when it is necessary to do so. Electronic typewriters of the prior art of the above-noted construction have suffered some disadvantages. One of them is that when a text carrying data stored in the memory system differs in size from a printing sheet, the operator would experience difficulties in judging whether the contents of the text could all be printed on a single printing sheet or it might become necessary to replace the printing sheet by a new one while printing is in progress. This has often led to the printed sheets being unacceptable in appearance.

The goal of plant breeding is to combine, in a single variety or hybrid, various desirable traits. For field crops, these traits may include resistance to diseases and insects, resistance to heat and drought, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield, and better agronomic quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination, stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, plant height and ear height, is important. Traditional plant breeding is an important tool in developing new and improved commercial crops.

1. Field of the Invention The instant invention relates generally to cribs and playpens and more specifically it relates to an adjustable child stand. The adjustable child stand will hold a child, so that a primary care giver performing an activity such as in a kitchen, will have both hands free to tend to the activity, while the child can also participate in assisting with the activity. 2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous cribs and playpens have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 156,307 to Perkins; U.S. Pat. No. 181,743 to Thompson; U.S. Pat. No. 955,076 to Janes and U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,951 to Wright all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the manufacture of a continuous sheet of flat glass by supporting molten glass on a pool of molten metal and advancing it along the surface of the pool of molten metal while cooling it to form a continuous sheet of flat glass. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for selectively adjusting and maintaining the condition of the glass at different locations across its width to stabilize the path of movement of the glass as it advances along the surface of the pool of molten metal. 2. Description of the Prior Art Flat glass may be produced in many different ways. Several methods have been disclosed in the past which involve floating or supporting glass on the surface of a pool of molten metal as it is advanced along that surface and cooled to form a continuous sheet of flat glass. For example, molten glass may be delivered onto a pool of molten metal and formed into a continuous sheet or ribbon or glass according to the teachings of Heal, U.S. Pat. No. 710,357 or of Hitchcock, U.S. Pat. No. 789,911 or according to the methods disclosed in the patents of Pilkington, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,083,551 and 3,220,816 or according to the teachings of Edge and Kunkle found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,346. These patents describe processes in which molten glass delivery techniques vary, yet they share the common disclosure that a continuous sheet of flat glass may be formed by advancing a layer of glass along the surface of a pool of molten metal while cooling the glass until it assumes a final width and thickness as a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass. In the method of Heal, molten glass is delivered over a refractory bridge and then flows slightly downwardly onto the surface of a pool of molten metal confined between two side walls of a forming chamber. This layer of glass advances along the surface of the pool of molten metal between the side walls and remains in contact with them as it is advanced and cooled to form a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass. In the method of Hitchcock, molten glass is delivered through a slot in a refractory wall and flows horizontally onto the surface of a pool of molten metal in a forming chamber. The glass advances along the surface of the pool of molten metal as a layer of constant width and is cooled and advanced at a sufficient speed to form a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass of desired thickness. In the method described by Pilkington, molten glass is delivered through a long, narrow canal and over a refractory lip and then falls freely downwardly onto the surface of a pool of molten metal. It then spreads laterally, outwardly and rearwardly in an unhindered fashion. An advancing layer of glass is drawn along the surface of the pool of molten metal from this laterally, outwardly moving body of molten glass. This layer of glass is advanced as its width diminishes and as it is cooled to form a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass of desired thickness and width. In the method disclosed by Edge and Kunkle, molten glass in a pool of molten glass is conditioned to establish a region of forward flow near its surface, and this forwardly flowing glass is delivered over a threshold member substantially horizontally onto the surface of a pool of molten metal maintained at or near the elevation of the threshold over which the glass is delivered. This flowing molten glass is advanced along the surface of the pool of molten metal as it is initially cooled either having its marginal edges free of contact with side members or having them in contact with selected side members for a short distance. The glass is thereafter advanced along the surface of the pool of molten metal while being further cooled to form a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for steering and stabilizing an advancing layer or ribbon of glass supported on molten metal in a forming chamber to avoid the persistent tendency of advancing glass to drift from side to side when the glass is delivered and formed in the manner disclosed by Pilkington. Meanwhile, the present method and apparatus provide for a further improvement in the flattening of the velocity for the flow of molten glass immediately following its delivery for forming. This assists in the making of glass having excellent optical quality extending throughout the width of the glass. In the practice of this invention a continuous sheet of flat glass is produced by a method including the following steps: A layer of molten glass is delivered onto the surface of a pool of molten metal maintained within a forming chamber. The molten metal is preferably tin, an alloy of tin or some other metal having a specific gravity greater than the glass and having a melting point lower than the glass to be formed while being substantially nonreactive to the glass at its melting temperature. The layer of molten glass is advanced along the surface of the pool of molten metal and is cooled during such advance to form a dimensionally stable, continuous sheet of glass. Forces are applied to the glass while it is advanced along the surface of the pool of molten metal. Forces are applied to the glass which are aligned substantially along its path to cause it to be advanced. These forces may be sufficient to cause the glass to be attenuated to a thickness less than an equilibrium thickness during its advance. These forces are characterized as longitudinal tractive forces and may be applied to the glass at any location along the length of the glass sheet. They are preferably applied to the glass at locations well along its path of advance, preferably beyond the supporting pool of molten metal, and are transferred to the hot or more fluid glass primarily due to the surface tension of the glass. Other forces may be applied to the glass in a manner such that they are aligned substantially across or transverse to the path of glass advance. These forces are characterized as transverse forces. The resultant forces caused by the application of the described forces in combination with the reactive surface tension and gravity forces acting on the glass cause the glass to be formed into a continuous, flat sheet of desired thickness. After the glass has been cooled sufficiently to become dimensionally stable (that is, if it has reached its final width and thickness) it is advanced farther along the surface of molten metal and then is lifted from the surface of the pool of molten metal and conveyed from the forming chamber. It may be lifted slightly and conveyed along a substantially horizontal path from the forming chamber, or it may be lifted and conveyed upwardly from the pool of molten metal in the manner described by Gerald E. Kunkle in his copending, commonly assigned patent application, Ser. No. 483,508, filed June 27, 1974, which is incorporated by reference herein. The glass is cooled sufficiently prior to lifting it from the surface of the pool of molten metal so that its width and thickness remain unchanged during lifting and conveyance from the forming chamber. As the glass is being formed during its advance along the surface of the pool of molten metal and as it is conveyed from the pool of molten metal, it is controllably cooled. The cooling is coordinated with the rate of glass advance to form a continuous sheet of glass of desired width and thickness. If the layer of glass is permitted initially to spread laterally outwardly in an unhindered manner, the cooling and rate of glass advance are advantageously coordinated to simultaneously attenuate the thickness and the width of the glass in the manner disclosed by Charnock in U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,657 and by Dickinson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,859. Nevertheless, a preferred practice involves maintenance of the width of the glass equal to or less than the width of the initially delivered layer of glass for this in and of itself helps to stabilize the path of advance of the glass.

The primary process used to generate electricity is the combustion of a fossil fuel to heat air. This high temperature air, or thermal energy, is then used to heat a liquid power generation medium (typically water) in a boiler to create a gas (steam) that is expanded across a steam turbine that drives an electrical generator. The measure of the thermal energy is the British Thermal Unit (BTU). Other sources of energy used to heat air and/or water to generate electricity in this manner include: heat from nuclear reactions; heat from the exhaust of gas turbines; heat from the combustion of refuse or other combustible materials in incinerators; and others. Steam turbine systems used to generate power are generally closed loop systems in which pressurized water is vaporized in a boiler or heat exchanger; expanded in the steam turbine where the pressure levels are reduced as power is generated; condensed back to water in a condenser or cooler; and pumped back to pressure and returned to the boiler to repeat the cycle. In the process of making steam in this closed loop system, there are two major sources of wasted energy. The first is the waste heat exiting the boiler in the form of high temperature flue gas (typically heated air) due to the inherent design and thermodynamic characteristics of the water to steam conversion process that prevents using all the useful thermal energy (heat) in the flue gas. The second is the latent heat of vaporization or the amount of energy required to convert water to steam that is dissipated to the atmosphere during the process of condensing the steam back to water. In the first instance of wasted heat, the boiler heat source must provide thermal energy (in the form of high temperature flue gas) not only to deliver 1000 BTU/LB to convert water to steam but also sufficient thermal energy to superheat the steam to high enough energy levels to provide sufficient excess energy to drive a steam turbine to generate power. The thermodynamic requirements of the steam cycle limit the temperature differential available to produce superheated steam to the difference between the original heat source temperature and approximately 400 to 500° F. This results in wasted heated flue gas exiting the boiler at temperatures of about 400 to 500° F. Although a portion of the energy in the flue gas exhaust may be recaptured by, for example, using it to heat the power plant, using it to pre-heat the boiler water, or by other known means, the amount of useful energy recovered is limited. In the second instance of wasted heat, the energy in the form of heat required to change the state of a liquid to a gas is controlled by the thermodynamic characteristics of the liquid. The pressure and associated temperature at which a fluid begins to become a vapor is defined as the vapor pressure of the fluid. For a given liquid there is a specific range of pressures and temperatures at which the liquid becomes a vapor. The BTUs required to change a liquid to a gas at the vapor pressure is defined as the “heat of vaporization”. The heat of vaporization for water is approximately 1000 BTU/LB. At the vapor pressure at which water turns to steam, the amount of energy resident in the vapor is only that amount required to maintain a vaporous state and is defined as the “latent heat of vaporization”. At the vapor pressure point, if the vapor is cooled in a condenser or the pressure is reduced through an expansion process, the vapor will change states back to a liquid by discharging the latent heat of vaporization, or 1000 BTU/LB to the environment as an increase in thermal energy or temperature of the cooling medium. As such, little, if any, useful energy can be extracted from a vapor that only contains the latent heat of vaporization because such vapor will immediately condense upon expansion in a turbine, causing dramatic inefficiencies and possibly damaging the turbine. The physical phenomenon of the heat of vaporization causes waste heat in conventional power generation cycles because this amount of heat must be imparted into the liquid water before it changes into a useful gaseous state but this heat can not be extracted as useful energy. Upon cooling the medium back to a liquid so that it can be pumped to the desired pressure, this latent heat is discharged without being recaptured in the form of useful energy. Thus, the thermal energy discharged to the atmosphere through the cooling medium that returns the water to the liquid state is waste heat. Converting heat to useful power and developing power in a more efficient manner from the combustion of fossil fuels are of paramount importance as fuel costs rise and energy sources are depleted. In addition, the negative effects on the environment caused by pollution generated from the combustion of fossil fuels dictates that power plants be designed to reduce the pollutants generated per unit of energy produced. These factors create a need to improve power plant efficiency and recover energy from waste heat generated by power plants, waste heat from various manufacturing processes, and thermal energy from renewable energy sources. Various methods and processes are used to improve the efficiency of power systems that convert fossil fuels to usable energy. These efficiency-enhancing systems include gas turbine combined cycle plants, cogeneration plants and waste heat recovery systems. Cogeneration and combined cycle systems generate useful energy from the waste heat of gas turbine exhausts or other fossil fuel heat sources, including low grade heating value fuel sources, by using the heat of combustion to generate steam. In systems that use water as the primary power generation medium, the temperature of the heat source (typically flue gas heated by combusting fossil fuels) must be high enough to vaporize the water to create steam in a heat exchanger (boiler). The resulting steam is expanded in a steam turbine to produce power. Steam boilers are generally limited to recovering the thermal energy associated with the differential temperature between the initial temperature of the heat source and about 500° F. or higher because this is the temperature required to achieve efficient thermal energy transfer to water to produce steam. Further, the available heat for transferring energy to the steam is limited by the temperature differential restrictions imposed by the vapor pressure versus temperature characteristics of steam, and using a heat source with a temperature close to about 500° F. can lead to inefficient and minimal steam production. In a typical steam power generation system, the low temperature (˜500° F.) exhaust of the heat source exiting the boiler can be used to pre-heat the boiler feed water using a separate heat exchanger. However, only a limited amount of the heat in the discharge air is recoverable, and this heat is generally restricted to the temperature differential between the ˜500° F. discharge temperature of the heat source exhaust and about 300° F. or above due to the vapor pressure and temperature characteristics of water. Using the exhaust heat to pre-heat the boiler feed water in this manner increases the overall efficiency of the system, and may provide about a 10% increase in efficiency in some cases. Some cogeneration and combined cycle systems also envision incorporating an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system in combination with the steam turbine system to capture additional power output from the low temperature exhaust stream of the heat source as it exits the boiler. Methods are known in the prior art that utilize an ORC cycle to generate useful power. Typical methods are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,570,579 and 5,664,414, which are incorporated herein by reference. These prior art systems use a conventional ORC medium such as normal pentane, iso-pentane, toluene, fluorinated hydrocarbons and other refrigerants. These conventional ORC media have pressure and temperature limitations and can not sustain high temperatures due to their respective auto ignition temperatures and vapor pressure versus temperature characteristics. For example, prior art ORC systems that utilize refrigerants or toluene are restricted to operation with heated water since the ORC medium can not absorb energy at elevated temperatures. Other prior art ORC methods require an ORC medium with a vapor pressure near atmospheric pressure to be efficient. Other prior art systems are restricted to a specific power output range while others require spraying a fluid ORC medium into the heat exchanger for efficient operation. These limitations reduce their effectiveness and efficiency thereby restricting the circumstances under which they can be employed, and limiting the useful energy output that may be obtained from them. In addition, although the majority of energy is generated using closed loop systems (i.e., systems in which the power generation medium, such as water/steam is constantly recirculated) such as those described above, other methods of generating power have been created to take advantage of open loop power sources that require constant replenishment of the power generation medium. For example, where the pressure of light hydrocarbon supplies in petrochemical plants or on gas pipelines must be reduced before being sent to consumers, it is known to generate useful power by expanding the high pressure gas in an expansion turbine that operates an electrical generator, pump or compressor, rather then reducing the gas pressure in a valve where no energy is recovered. Examples of this type of technology are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,711,093 and 4,677,827, which are incorporated herein by reference. These systems are open loop systems that require constant replenishment of the power generation medium, and depend on the pressure level of the process design.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply for positive and negative output voltages, which is enabled to generate a predetermined negative output voltage together with a positive output voltage converted from a power supply voltage by using a switching power circuit that employs a coil. 2. Description of the Related Art In a related-art, a switching power supply employing a coil as a DC-DC converter for generating a voltage differing from a power supply voltage has been used. In a case where the switching power supply is of, for example, the step-up type, a high voltage is obtained from a DC input voltage by turning on and off electric current, which is fed to a coil, through the use of a switch. Then, the high voltage is rectified and smoothed. Thus, a raised output voltage is obtained (see M. Suzuki, “Teihon Zoku Toransistor Kairo No Sekkei”, CQ Publishing Co., Ltd., Jul. 1, 1997, p. 250–p. 253). To generate a voltage (a negative output voltage) of a polarity differing from a power supply voltage, a negative output voltage is generated from a power supply voltage by using a negative output voltage charge pump circuit. In a case where the voltage is changed to a constant voltage, it is necessary to obtain a predetermined negative output voltage from the generated negative output voltage by using a series regulator or the like (see JP-A-2000-91503). In recent years, the number of electronic devices (for instance, CCD cameras), which individually require a predetermined positive output voltage power supply and another predetermined negative output voltage power supply, has been increased. However, a related switching power supply circuit, which employs a coil and is generally used as a DC-DC converter, can get only a positive output voltage. When not only a positive output voltage but a predetermined negative output voltage is needed, a negative output voltage obtained by the combination of the related negative output voltage charge pump circuit and the series regulator has been additionally provided. In the case that a positive output voltage power supply circuit and a negative output voltage power supply circuit are separately provided, the number of components increases, and a required space increases. Also, the related art has a problem that the cost increases.

Since various kinds of steel contain chemical elements selected in accordance with the use of the steel, refratory parts used for casting the steel, such as a nozzle, can be improved in such a manner that they have a higher chemical stability with respect to the various elements. A sintered body with a chemical stability which is improved over that of a conventional sintered body must also be so flexible that it can absorb in itself any radial expansion force occurring in the sintered body due to the intense heat applied thereto when it is used, to prevent the sintered body from breaking. In addition, it is necessary that such a sintered body has a sufficient heat-insulating capacity to prevent the molten steel or non-metallic inclusions therein from being deposited on the surface thereof. Providing a nozzle for steel casting with this chemical stability is very important in improving its corrosion resistance. Improving the chemical stability of a nozzle with a texture which can withstand the high frictional force generated by the molten steel of a high specific gravity, causes the toughness thereof to decrease, so a nozzle with an improved chemical stability is not suitable for practical use. The chemical stability of a nozzle, which prevents melting losses which could be caused by molten steel, includes the capacity of preventing the deposition of molten steel onto the superficial layer of the nozzle to increase the thickness thereof and thereby block the nozzle. In any case,the nozzle must have a chemical stability that prevents the occurrence of reactions between the nozzle and the components of the molten steel, inasmuch as these reactions would result in degeneration of the nozzle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,060 is directed to an improvement in conventional Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiC refractory material. The improved refractory material is obtained by adding pulverised Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 to Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 SiC, which is known as refractory clay, and mixing them together, molding the mixture thus obtained, drying the resultant molded product, and finally calcining the dried product in an atmosphere of CO and CO.sub.2. The final product contains 2-35% by weight of corundum and SiC. U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,075 concerns Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiC refractory material containing TiN (titanium nitride). This refractory material necessarily has a high thermal resistance and a high corrosion resistance, which are properties peculiar to TiN. These properties of TiN are identical with the characteristic properties of SiC. However, SiC oxidizes readily, and the properties thereof are easily lost. Therefore TiN is utilized as a component to compensate for the loss of the properties of SiC. U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,264 concerns a nozzle of a refractory material for continuous casting, which has a second layer of a refractory material containing 70-90% by weight ZrO.sub.2 formed on the outer surface of a refractory nozzle body, to increase the life of the nozzle.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications technologies. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to coordination of communications of different types of devices on a wireless network.

1. Field The present disclosure relates generally to drilling and, in particular, to an automated system for identifying laser signatures. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for automated drilling using a laser signature vision system. 2. Background Automated drills may utilize a vision system to target a pilot hole or a visible mark on a workpiece used as a hole location designator. Laser projection has also been demonstrated as an effective way to locate where holes are to be drilled on a workpiece. Visible laser projection may require a line of sight between the laser projection and the workpiece. When the drill is moved into position to drill a hole, the drill head may block access for the laser projection to the surface of the workpiece. In order to alleviate line of sight issues, non-optimal projection angles can be used to project the laser onto the surface from a different angle than the drill angle or at low incidence angles. Significant accuracy penalties may be incurred for the laser projection and the resulting drilled hole when using non-optimal projection angles. Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.

Recently, besides a monochrome machine including a scanning optical system employing a single light source, a tandem color machine is also proposed. In the tandem color machine, for the purpose of realizing an increase of speed of scanning on the surfaces of photoconductive drums, plural light sources are provided in one laser unit. A method of increasing the number of laser beams for performing scanning once (a multi-beam method) is used. In the tandem color machine, a large-capacity cassette feeder (LCF) that can store a large volume of sheets is provided. The large-capacity cassette feeder feeds sheets to a sheet conveying path as required. If sheets are stacked in left and right independent cassettes in the large-capacity cassette feeder, in order to designate a stacking range of the sheets or in order to prevent the stacked sheets from extending beyond a predetermined stacking range, shutters are provided for each of the cassettes. However, power is required for the opening and closing of the shutters. Therefore, in the past, the number of electronic components such as solenoids used for the opening and closing of the shutters increases. It is possible to reduce the number of shutters in order to hold down the increase in the electronic components. However, if the number of shutters is reduced, the sheets extend beyond the stacking range.

The present invention relates generally to memory devices and, more particularly, to a memory bar for use in expanding the capacity of, for example, a high density multichip module (MCM). For the past several years, substantial attention has been directed to the field of memory modules including, for example, single inline memory modules (SIMMs) and dual inline memory modules (DIMMs). Such modules are useful, for example, in expanding the memory of a personal computer or other computing system, and the market for such modules is extremely competitive. In short, there is intense pressure within the memory module market to provide modules with increased capacity for less cost. In view of the competitiveness of the memory module market, it is believed that those skilled in the art would find systems and methods for expanding the capacity of memory modules to be quite useful.

Wound healing involves a series of complex biological processes whereby injured tissue is repaired, specialized tissue is regenerated, and new tissue is reorganized. The healing of wounds is generally divided into three phases: the inflammatory phase, the proliferative phase, and maturation and remodeling phase. In the inflammatory phase, the clotting cascade is initiated in order to stop blood loss. In addition, various factors, such as chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors, are released to attract and activate cells that phagocytize debris, bacteria, and damaged tissue. The proliferative phase is characterized by angiogenesis and rebuilding of the extracellular matrix architecture which includes collagen deposition, granulation tissue formation, and epithelialization. The formation of new blood vessels, such as capillaries, and the formation of extracellular matrix enable activated satellite cell to proliferate, differentiate, and fuse into new muscle fibers. Typically, the maturation and remodeling phase of wound healing is said to begin when the levels of collagen production and degradation equalize. During maturation, type III collagen, which is prevalent during proliferation, is gradually degraded and the stronger type I collagen is laid down in its place. The originally disorganized collagen fibers are rearranged, cross-linked, and aligned. In addition, the newly regenerated muscle matures and contracts with the reorganization of the scar tissue. An impairment in any of these complex phases leads to complications in wound healing. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide methods for promoting wound healing and/or muscle regeneration.

In general, a vehicle generates power by mixing fuel and air and combusting the mixture of fuel and air. That is, fuel stored in a fuel tank of a vehicle passes through various types of fuel supply devices, is mixed with air introduced from the outside, and then is injected into a cylinder of an engine, and at the same time, the engine is operated by repeating intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust strokes, and thereby, the vehicle obtains power. As described above, a predetermined amount of air is needed to drive the engine, and air is supplied from the outside of the vehicle. That is, air flows into an air cleaner housing from the outside of the vehicle, flows toward an intake manifold through an air intake hose that is connected to the air cleaner housing, and then is supplied into the engine. That is, the intake manifold is formed so that air sucked from the outside passes through a filter and then flows toward the opposite side via the air cleaner, and purified air is supplied into the engine after filtering dust and impurities included in the air using the filter, thereby supplying air required for combustion. FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating an air cleaner 1 in the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, the air cleaner 1 in the related art includes a body portion 10 which has an air inlet 12 formed at one side of the body portion 10, a cover portion 20 which is coupled to an upper portion of the body portion 10 and has an outlet 22 formed at one side of the cover portion 20, an element 30 which is interposed between the body portion 10 and the cover portion 20. In the air cleaner 1 having the aforementioned configuration, air flows into the air cleaner 1 through the air inlet 12 formed in the body portion 10, the air flowing into the air cleaner 1 passes through the element 30 so as to filter impurities, and thereafter, the air is supplied into the engine through the outlet 22 formed in the cover portion 20. There is a problem in that when the air cleaner 1 is used for a long period of time, a large amount of impurities is attached to the element 30, and thereby, the air cleaner 1 does not properly perform a filtering function. Therefore, in order to filter air, the element 30, which is installed in the body portion 10 and the cover portion 20, needs to be replaced by a new element after a predetermined time has passed. However, because the body portion 10 and the cover portion 20 of the air cleaner 1 in the related art are coupled to each other by bolts, the bolts, which fix four corners of the body portion 10 and the cover portion 20, needs to be removed to replace the element 30, and therefore, there are problems in that it is inconvenient to replace the element 30, and it takes a long time to replace the element 30. In addition, because in the air cleaner 1 in the related art, the element 30 is positioned such that the element 30 merely lies on an upper side of the body portion 10, there are problems in that when air flows in from a lower portion of the element 30, that is, through the air inlet 12 of the body portion 10, the element 30 is shaken by flow pressure of the air, and the body portion 10 and the cover portion 20 collide with each other, which causes vibrating noise. Accordingly, in order to resolve the aforementioned problem in the related art, the present applicant filed Korean Patent Laid-Open Application No. 10-2013-0061599, entitled “Air Cleaner for Vehicle”. However, the aforementioned technology has a merit in that the air cleaner 1 is mounted in an air cleaner housing so as to be detachable like a drawer structure such that the air cleaner 1 may be easily and conveniently replaced, but has a problem in that because an element is not securely fixed when flow pressure occurs in the housing, which causes vibrating noise. Therefore, the present applicant has studied an air cleaner for a vehicle, which may resolve the aforementioned problems in the related art.

Ultrasound contrast agents (USCA) are used for improving diagnostic accuracy on ultrasound imaging. USCA have also been used as cavitation nuclei for therapeutic procedures such as sonothrombolysis useful for treating stroke and heart attack. At the current time, however, the main use of USCA is for diagnosis. A prior art ultrasound contrast agent is sold in commerce under the trademark DEFINITY. DEFINITY is a phospholipid-based ultrasound contrast agent comprising dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (“DPPC”), dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine-PEG(5,000) (“DPPE-PEG5,000”), and dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (“DPPA”). DEFINITY has a shelf-life of two-years at 4-8° C. Hydrolysis of the lipids is primarily responsible for degradation of the product. Clinical use of DEFINITY is known to cause back pain as a side-effect. The prescribing information for DEFINITY expressly discloses that back pain occurs in about 1.2% of patients. When such back pain does occur, that side effect can be very unpleasant for the patient and last up to 30 minutes or one hour.

The present invention is generally directed to ink jet printing devices. More particularly, the invention is directed to determining optimum characteristics of energy pulses provided to resistive heating elements in an ink jet print head, and to determining optimum characteristics of the resistive heating elements. A thermal ink jet printer forms an image on a print medium by ejecting small droplets of ink from an array of nozzles in an ink jet print head as the print head traverses the print medium. The ink droplets are formed when ink in contact with a resistive heating element is nucleated due to heat produced when a pulse of electrical current flows through the heating element. Typically, there is one resistive heating element corresponding to each nozzle of the array. The activation of any particular resistive heating element is usually controlled by a microprocessor controller in the printer. Once a bubble of ink begins to form due to heat energy transferred from the heating element into the ink, the ink is thermally isolated from the surface of the heating element. Thus, after the bubble forms, any additional energy provided to the heating element does not transfer into the ink, but is dissipated in the print head heater chip. This results in undesirable overheating of the chip. One solution to this problem is to provide to the heating element only the minimum amount of energy necessary to nucleate the ink. This requires that the printer controller precisely control characteristics of the energy pulses provided to the heating element. Since the amount of heat energy transferred from the heating element into the ink depends upon characteristics of the ink and characteristics of the heating element, the characteristics of the minimum energy pulse should be determined taking into account the ink and heating element characteristics. Therefore, a need exists for an ink jet printer that determines characteristics of a minimum energy pulse to be provided to a resistive heating element based on characteristics of the ink and the heating element. The foregoing and other needs are met by a system for providing an optimum energy pulse to a resistive heating element in an ink jet print head. The optimum energy pulse generated by the invention provides an optimal energy density at a surface of the resistive heating element to cause optimal nucleation of ink near the surface of the resistive heating element. The system includes (a) storing in memory at least one heating element dimensional value that describes at least one physical dimension of the resistive heating element, (b) storing in memory at least one heating element electrical value that describes at least one electrical characteristic of the resistive heating element, and (c) storing in memory an expression that provides a mathematical relationship between the heating element dimensional value, the heating element electrical value, and a current value representing an optimum value of electrical current flowing through the heating element to generate the optimum energy pulse. The system also includes (d) retrieving from memory the heating element in dimensional value, the heating element electrical value, and the expression, (e) determining, based on the expression, the current value representing the optimum value of electrical current flowing through the heating element to generate the optimum energy pulse, (f) generating the optimum energy pulse corresponding to the value determined in step (e), and (g) providing the optimum energy pulse to the heating element. In another aspect, the invention provides a system for providing an optimum energy pulse to a resistive heating element covered by a protective overcoat layer in an ink jet print head. The optimum energy pulse generated by the invention provides an optimal energy density at a surface of the resistive heating element to cause optimal nucleation of ink that is adjacent the surface of the protective overcoat layer. The system includes (a) storing in memory at least one protective overcoat dimensional value that describes at least one physical dimension of the protective overcoat, (b) storing in memory at least one heating element electrical value that describes at least one electrical characteristic of the resistive heating element, (c) storing in memory at least one ink-related coefficient that relates to at least one characteristic of the ink, and (d) storing in memory an expression that provides a mathematical relationship between the protective overcoat dimensional value, the heating element electrical value, the ink-related coefficient, and an optimum time duration of the optimum energy pulse. The system also includes (e) retrieving from memory the protective overcoat dimensional value, the heating element electrical value, the ink-related coefficient, and the expression, (f) determining, based on the expression, the optimum time duration of the optimum energy pulse, (g) generating the optimum energy pulse corresponding to the optimum time duration determined in step (f), and (h) providing the optimum energy pulse to the heating element. Thus, by proper adjustment of the amplitude and duration of the energy pulse provided to the resistive heating elements in the print head, the present invention provides an optimum energy density at the surface of the heating elements. This optimum energy density is just large enough to cause the ink near the heating elements to form a bubble and a droplet. Little or no energy is wasted in excess energy that cannot be transferred into the ink after the bubble is formed. To adjust the amplitude and duration of the energy pulse in providing the optimum energy density, the invention takes into account several factors related to characteristics of the print head, characteristics of the resistive heating elements and the protective overcoat layer, and characteristics of the ink. By storing these factors in memory on the print head and on ink cartridges, and by expressing in mathematical form the relationship between these factors and the optimum pulse energy density, the invention can determine and provide the optimum pulse energy density for practically any combination of ink type and print head design. In another aspect, the invention provides a system for determining a maximum optimal thickness of a protective overcoat layer covering a print head resistive heating element so that energy is optimally transferred into the adjacent ink. The system is implemented by a computer that includes a processor and a memory. The system includes (a) inputting one or more heating element dimensional values that describe one or more physical dimensions of the resistive heating element, (b) inputting one or more heating element electrical values that describe one or more electrical characteristics of the resistive heating element, (c) inputting one or more ink-related coefficients that relate to one or more characteristics of the ink, (d) inputting one or more print head thermal values relate to a thermal characteristic of the print head. The system also includes (e) retrieving from the memory an expression that provides a mathematical relationship between the one or more heating element dimensional values, the one or more heating element electrical values, the one or more ink-related coefficients, the one or more thermal values, and the maximum optimal thickness of the protective overcoat. The system further includes (f) determining, based on the expression, a thickness value representing the maximum optimal thickness of the protective overcoat.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains to containers used for packaging, shipping, and displaying goods. More particularly, the invention relates to containers having a bottom container section for holding goods therein, and an upper cover section for covering the goods held within the bottom section. 2. Description of the Related Art Display ready containers have become very popular, particularly in retail stores where goods for sale are displayed in the container in which they were shipped. A typical display ready container has separate top and bottom sections formed from separate blanks. The bottom section has side walls and flaps for forming the container bottom. The upper section has side walls and flaps for forming the container top. The upper section typically fits over the side walls of the bottom section to enclose the interior of the container and protect the goods inside, although other configurations are possible. The upper and bottom sections can then be secured together for shipping. Once the container is at the retailer, the upper section can be removed to display the goods within the bottom section. Display ready containers are particularly useful as shipping-display containers. Used to package and ship goods for retail, the outside face of the bottom section can be printed and/or designed with promotional information suitable for display on the retail floor. The retailer, after removing the upper section of the container, places the bottom container section containing the goods on the retail floor. A previous disadvantage of such two piece containers was the number of steps necessary to assemble the container. This disadvantage was overcome with the development of display ready containers that allow for the automation of the set up, packaging and sealing of such containers. One such display ready container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,368 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This patent provides a container assembly having an unopened outer sleeve (that forms the outer cover section when erected), and an unopened inner sleeve (that forms the inner container section when erected) positioned inside the outer sleeve. The inner and outer sleeves, in a flat unopened form also known as a knockdown, are adhered together relative to one another in the positional relationship of the final erected container assembly which allows the top forming flaps of the container assembly to be closed. This allows the container to be assembled and filled with goods with the outer cover section (upper section) already secured to the bottom container section. Once the container is filled with the goods, the top forming flaps attached to the outer cover section are folded over and sealed shut to enclose the container for shipment, thereby eliminating the step of placing the outer cover section over the bottom section, and thereby improving the automation of the packaging process. The retailer then separates the two container sections by breaking the adhesive joints between the two container sections, discarding the upper cover section, and using the bottom container section to hold and display goods on the retail floor. A major advantage of display ready containers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,368 is the ability to automate much of the manufacture, assembly, and filling of the container with goods, thereby minimizing costs. In particular, automation of the manufacturing process has allowed major improvements in minimizing costs and manufacturing time. Previously, older machinery required the lower/inner section of a knockdown to be formed separately, folded from a blank and glued. This lower/inner section was then combined with the blank of the upper/outer section which was glued to and folded around the lower section. Moreover, older machines require greater tolerances between the component sections of the container during manufacture. If the sections are slightly misaligned, the greater tolerances allow for completion of the container, but this also produces a higher percentage of containers that functioned improperly. This is particularly problematic with auto bottom containers where a slight misalignment of the two sections relative to one another may prevent the container from opening properly. Modern machinery, on the other hand, can combine, glue and fold the upper and lower container sections from flat blanks in a single pass through the machinery to make a completed knockdown ready for use, thereby reducing the number of steps needed to make the completed knockdown form of the container. Modern machines can also assemble the various components more precisely, allowing the construction of containers with smaller tolerances, thereby minimizing the percentage of containers that will fail, e.g., not open properly. As modern machines run faster and faster using less steps and with smaller tolerances, however, there is less room for misalignments of the two sections relative to one another when the two sections are combined. It has been found that existing containers are not capable of obtaining the full benefits of the new machinery as the higher production speeds may cause problems, and the tighter tolerances are difficult to obtain with current container configurations. Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved display ready container that can be manufactured using high speed automated equipment. Another object is to provide an improved container made with smaller tolerances to minimize the percentage of non-functioning containers. Other advantages will be obvious or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The present invention relates to methods of increasing abiotic stress tolerance and/or biomass in plants and, more particularly, to plants expressing exogenous abiotic stress-tolerance genes. Abiotic stress (also referred to as “environmental stress”) conditions such as salinity, drought, flood, suboptimal temperature and toxic chemical pollution, cause substantial damage to agricultural plants. Most plants have evolved strategies to protect themselves against these conditions. However, if the severity and duration of the stress conditions are too great, the effects on plant development, growth and yield of most crop plants are profound. Furthermore, most of the crop plants are very susceptible to abiotic stress (ABS) and thus necessitate optimal growth conditions for commercial crop yields. Continuous exposure to stress causes major alterations in the plant metabolism which ultimately lead to cell death and consequently yield losses. Thus, despite extensive research and the use of sophisticated and intensive crop-protection measures, losses due to abiotic stress conditions remain in the billions of dollars annually (1,2). The following summarizes the implications of exemplary abiotic stress conditions. Problems associated with drought. A drought is a period of abnormally dry weather that persists long enough to produce a serious hydrologic imbalance (for example crop damage, water supply shortage, etc.). While much of the weather that we experience is brief and short-lived, drought is a more gradual phenomenon, slowly taking hold of an area and tightening its grip with time. In severe cases, drought can last for many years and can have devastating effects on agriculture and water supplies. With burgeoning population and chronic shortage of available fresh water, drought is not only the number one weather related problem in agriculture, it also ranks as one of the major natural disasters of all time, causing not only economic damage, but also loss of human lives. For example, losses from the US drought of 1988 exceeded $40 billion, exceeding the losses caused by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Mississippi River floods of 1993, and the San Francisco earthquake in 1989. In some areas of the world, the effects of drought can be far more severe. In the Horn of Africa the 1984-1985 drought led to a famine that killed 750,000 people. Problems for plants caused by low water availability include mechanical stresses caused by the withdrawal of cellular water. Drought also causes plants to become more susceptible to various diseases (Simpson (1981). “The Value of Physiological Knowledge of Water Stress in Plants”, In Water Stress on Plants, (Simpson, G. M., ed.), Praeger, N.Y., pp. 235-265). In addition to the many land regions of the world that are too arid for most if not all crop plants, overuse and over-utilization of available water is resulting in an increasing loss of agriculturally-usable land, a process which, in the extreme, results in desertification. The problem is further compounded by increasing salt accumulation in soils, as described above, which adds to the loss of available water in soils. Problems associated with high salt levels. One in five hectares of irrigated land is damaged by salt, an important historical factor in the decline of ancient agrarian societies. This condition is only expected to worsen, further reducing the availability of arable land and crop production, since none of the top five food crops—wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, and soybean—can tolerate excessive salt. Detrimental effects of salt on plants are a consequence of both water deficit resulting in osmotic stress (similar to drought stress) and the effects of excess sodium ions on critical biochemical processes. As with freezing and drought, high saline causes water deficit; the presence of high salt makes it difficult for plant roots to extract water from their environment (Buchanan et al. (2000) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants, American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, Md.). Soil salinity is thus one of the more important variables that determines where a plant may thrive. In many parts of the world, sizable land areas are uncultivable due to naturally high soil salinity. To compound the problem, salination of soils that are used for agricultural production is a significant and increasing problem in regions that rely heavily on agriculture. The latter is compounded by over-utilization, over-fertilization and water shortage, typically caused by climatic change and the demands of increasing population. Salt tolerance is of particular importance early in a plant's lifecycle, since evaporation from the soil surface causes upward water movement, and salt accumulates in the upper soil layer where the seeds are placed. Thus, germination normally takes place at a salt concentration much higher than the mean salt level in the whole soil profile. Problems associated with excessive heat. Germination of many crops is very sensitive to temperature. A gene that would enhance germination in hot conditions would be useful for crops that are planted late in the season or in hot climates. Seedlings and mature plants that are exposed to excess heat may experience heat shock, which may arise in various organs, including leaves and particularly fruit, when transpiration is insufficient to overcome heat stress. Heat also damages cellular structures, including organelles and cytoskeleton, and impairs membrane function [Buchanan et al. (2000) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants, American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, Md. Heat shock may produce a decrease in overall protein synthesis, accompanied by expression of heat shock proteins. Heat shock proteins function as chaperones and are involved in refolding proteins denatured by heat. Heat stress often accompanies conditions of low water availability. Heat itself is seen as an interacting stress and adds to the detrimental effects caused by water deficit conditions. Evaporative demand exhibits near exponential increases with increases in daytime temperatures and can result in high transpiration rates and low plant water potentials [Hall et al. (2000) Plant Physiol. 123: 1449-1458]. High-temperature damage to pollen almost always occurs in conjunction with drought stress, and rarely occurs under well-watered conditions. Thus, separating the effects of heat and drought stress on pollination is difficult. Combined stress can alter plant metabolism in novel ways; therefore understanding the interaction between different stresses may be important for the development of strategies to enhance stress tolerance by genetic manipulation. Problems associated with excessive chilling conditions. The term “chilling sensitivity” has been used to describe many types of physiological damage produced at low, but above freezing, temperatures. Most crops of tropical origins, such as soybean, rice, maize, and cotton are easily damaged by chilling. Typical chilling damage includes wilting, necrosis, chlorosis or leakage of ions from cell membranes. The underlying mechanisms of chilling sensitivity are not completely understood yet, but probably involve the level of membrane saturation and other physiological deficiencies. For example, photoinhibition of photosynthesis (disruption of photosynthesis due to high light intensities) often occurs under clear atmospheric conditions subsequent to cold late summer/autumn nights. For example, chilling may lead to yield losses and lower product quality through the delayed ripening of maize. Another consequence of poor growth is the rather poor ground cover of maize fields in spring, often resulting in soil erosion, increased occurrence of weeds, and reduced uptake of nutrients. A retarded uptake of mineral nitrogen could also lead to increased losses of nitrate into the ground water. By some estimates, chilling accounts for monetary losses in the United States (US) behind only to drought and flooding. Water deficit is a common component of many plant stresses. Water deficit occurs in plant cells when the whole plant transpiration rate exceeds the water uptake. In addition to drought, other stresses, such as salinity and low temperature, produce cellular dehydration (McCue and Hanson (1990) Trends Biotechnol. 8: 358-362). Salt and drought stress signal transduction consist of ionic and osmotic homeostasis signaling pathways. The ionic aspect of salt stress is signaled via the SOS pathway where a calcium-responsive SOS3-SOS2 protein kinase complex controls the expression and activity of ion transporters such as SOS1. The pathway regulating ion homeostasis in response to salt stress has been reviewed recently by Xiong and Zhu (2002) Plant Cell Environ. 25: 131-139. The osmotic component of salt stress involves complex plant reactions that overlap with drought and/or cold stress responses. Common aspects of drought, cold and salt stress response have been reviewed recently by Xiong and Zhu (2002) supra). Those include: (a) transient changes in the cytoplasmic calcium levels very early in the signaling event (Knight, (2000) Int. Rev. Cytol. 195: 269-324; Sanders et al. (1999) Plant Cell 11: 691-706); (b) signal transduction via mitogen-activated and/or calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs; see Xiong et al., 2002) and protein phosphatases (Merlot et al. (2001) Plant J. 25: 295-303; Tahtiharju and Palva (2001) Plant J. 26: 461-470); (c) increases in abscisic acid levels in response to stress triggering a subset of responses (Xiong et al. (2002) supra, and references therein); (d) inositol phosphates as signal molecules (at least for a subset of the stress responsive transcriptional changes (Xiong et al. (2001) Genes Dev. 15: 1971-1984); (e) activation of phospholipases which in turn generate a diverse array of second messenger molecules, some of which might regulate the activity of stress responsive kinases (phospholipase D functions in an ABA independent pathway, Frank et al. (2000) Plant Cell 12: 111-124); [0026] (f) induction of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) type genes including the CRT/DRE responsive COR/RD genes (Xiong and Zhu (2002) supra); (g) increased levels of antioxidants and compatible osmolytes such as proline and soluble sugars (Hasegawa et al. (2000) Annu. Rev. Plant Mol. Plant Physiol. 51: 463-499); and [0028] (h) accumulation of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals (Hasegawa et al. (2000) supra). Abscisic acid biosynthesis is regulated by osmotic stress at multiple steps. Both ABA-dependent and -independent osmotic stress signaling first modify constitutively expressed transcription factors, leading to the expression of early response transcriptional activators, which then activate downstream stress tolerance effector genes. Based on the commonality of many aspects of cold, drought and salt stress responses, it can be concluded that genes that increase tolerance to cold or salt stress can also improve drought stress protection. In fact this has already been demonstrated for transcription factors (in the case of AtCBF/DREB 1) and for other genes such as OsCDPK7 (Saijo et al. (2000) Plant J. 23: 319-327), or AVP1 (a vacuolar pyrophosphatase-proton-pump, Gaxiola et al. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 11444-11449). Developing stress-tolerant plants is a strategy that has the potential to solve or mediate at least some of these problems. However, traditional plant breeding strategies used to develop new lines of plants that exhibit tolerance to ABS are relatively inefficient since they are tedious, time consuming and of unpredictable outcome. Furthermore, limited germplasm resources for stress tolerance and incompatibility in crosses between distantly related plant species represent significant problems encountered in conventional breeding. Additionally, the cellular processes leading to ABS tolerance are complex in nature and involve multiple mechanisms of cellular adaptation and numerous metabolic pathways (4-7). Genetic engineering efforts, aimed at conferring abiotic stress tolerance to transgenic crops, have been described in the prior art. Studies by Apse and Blumwald (Curr Opin Biotechnol. 13:146-150, 2002), Quesada et al. (Plant Physiol. 130:951-963, 2002), Holmström et al. (Nature 379: 683-684, 1996), Xu et al. (Plant Physiol 110: 249-257, 1996), Pilon-Smits and Ebskamp (Plant Physiol 107: 125-130, 1995) and Tarczynski et al. (Science 259: 508-510, 1993) have all attempted at generating stress tolerant plants. In addition, several U.S. patents and patent applications also describe polynucleotides associated with stress tolerance and their use in generating stress tolerant plants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,462 and 5,356,816 describe transforming plants with polynucleotides encoding proteins involved in cold adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana, to thereby promote cold tolerance in the transformed plants. U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,528 describes transforming plants with polynucleotides encoding polypeptides binding to stress responsive elements, to thereby promote tolerance of the transformed plants to abiotic stress. U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,477 describes transforming plants with a polynucleotide encoding a signal transduction stress-related protein, capable of increasing tolerance of the transformed plants to abiotic stress. U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/938,842 and 10/342,224 describe abiotic stress-related genes and their use to confer upon plants tolerance to abiotic stress. U.S. application Ser. No. 10/231,035 describes overexpressing a molybdenum cofactor sulfurase in plants to thereby increase their tolerance to abiotic stress. Although the above described studies were at least partially successful in generating stress tolerant plants, there remains a need for stress tolerant genes which can be utilized to generate plants tolerant of a wide range of abiotic stress conditions. While reducing the present invention to practice, the present inventors have identified through bioinformatic and laboratory studies several novel abiotic stress-tolerance genes, which can be utilized to increase tolerance to abiotic stress and/or biomass, vigor and yield in plants.

All-wheel drive vehicles are known, and have the advantage that, under difficult operating conditions, such as snow, ice, sand or the like, the traction available for the vehicle is substantially improved. In order to avoid starting difficulties of the vehicle if the wheels slip or are difficult to turn, it has been customary to provide lock-up elements for one or all of the differentials; the rear wheels, particularly, were often supplied with locking-type differentials in which the respective wheels are securely connected together so that spin of one wheel with respect to another is eliminated. Non-slip or low-slip differentials or lock-up differentials may be used in the position of any of the differentials in the drive system. Lock-up differentials, or low-slip or non-slip differentials have a disadvantage; critical operating conditions may occur upon application of braking, so that the control of the vehicle can be impaired. This is particularly so if, in addition to the four-wheel drive and the no-slip or locking differentials, the vehicle has an automatic brake control system (ABS) in which the braking pressure, typically hydraulic pressure, applied to the respective wheels is controlled in accordance with slip of the wheels. Such ABSs are well known.

Many vehicles having level compensation for traversing uneven terrain are known. With regards to vehicles for ascending stair cases different solutions are proposed. For instance, CA 2,227,955 discloses a motorized armchair having two serially connected wheel pairs. A seat may pivot around an axis to maintain a level position in one direction. The large number of serially connected wheels may provide for an increased grip when ascending a stair case, however at the cost of a bulky solution, e.g. when ascending a narrow passage in a stair case. An issue with prior art vehicles is high weight, in order to provide stability of the vehicle, in particular with a payload of large weight. This limits the practical use of such vehicles, e.g. when wanting to travel in an elevator which has limited surface and load capacity available. Lighter vehicles also need less propelling energy, which is a desired advantage. U.S. Pat. No. 7,631,380 discloses a spine board having an opposing set of wheel assemblies comprising three wheels for manually maneuvering in stairs. SU 1833182 discloses a wheel chair for manually surmounting stairs having front driving wheels on a balance arm being pivotable with respect to the wheel chair frame. The front driving wheels are off-set to each other. U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,533 discloses a recreational motor vehicle for use in rough terrain. The front wheels are offset longitudinally to provide a more stable stance for the vehicle and greater driving traction. A further issue with prior art is the lack of level compensation that keeps the ride smooth, even when driving in stairs. When ascending or descending the stair each step produce a corresponding zic-zac or rocking motion in the vertical and horizontal directions at the seating position of the vehicle. The lack of level compensation in such terrains also result in an inefficient power transfer and thereby use of energy, as traction is repeatedly lost. Furthermore, another issue with prior art is the lack of adjustability to different terrains. The user of a personal vehicle may encounter different obstacles, e.g. stairs having varying step dimensions, on a daily basis when moving around in the home environment or a public environment. If the vehicle would be optimized to traverse a staircase at home, it may not be suitable for other obstacles. The need for adjustability of the vehicle is thus important in order to safely and comfortably traversing such varying obstacles. Otherwise several vehicles would be needed, each especially adapted to a particular terrain, due to lack of adjustability, and the user would have to switch vehicles regularly, which may not be possible for a user without help. The degree of freedom and independence could accordingly be improved for the vehicle user. Hence an improved vehicle and/or method providing a safe and comfortable ride across obstacles having different dimensions would be advantageous and in particular allow for a flexible solution to travel across such varying obstacles.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a process for the preparation in high yield of a polybutadiene having at least 70% cis-1,4 and in many cases more than 95% cis-1,4 microstructure. More specifically this process involves the polymerization of 1,3-butadiene in the presence of a novel catalyst composition. 2. Related Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,424 discloses the preparation of 1,2-polybutadiene which is syndiotactic in character and uses for the polymerization of 1,3-butadiene a catalyst composition comprising (a) a soluble cobalt compound, (b) an AlR.sub.3 compound in which R is a hydrocarbon radical of 1-6 carbon atoms, and (c) CS.sub.2. The soluble cobalt compound is defined as including, among various other compounds, (1) a cobalt salt of an organic carboxylic acid of at least 6 carbon atoms, such as cobalt octoate and cobalt naphthenate and (2) a complex of a cobalt halide, such as CoCl.sub.2, with "a tertiary amine, e.g. pyridine, triethylamine, tributylamine and dimethylaniline, . . . ; and an N,N-dialkylamide, e.g., N,N-dimethyl formamide, N,N-dimethyl acetamide and N,N-diethyl formamide." The products described are highly syndiotactic-1,2.

Hydrotreating of petroleum feedstocks to remove heteroatoms, particularly sulfur, is critical to modem refiners in order to meet ever more demanding environmental regulations. A major source of air pollution worldwide is the exhaust from hundreds of millions of motor vehicles due to fuel combustion. Fuels containing sulfur produce sulfur dioxide and other pollutants leading to a host of environmental concerns, such as smog and related health issues, acid rain leading to deforestation, water pollution, as well as other environmental problems. To help reduce or eliminate these environmental problems, the sulfur content of fuels has been, and will continue to be, restricted to increasingly smaller concentrations. Hydrodesulfurization is one of the fundamental hydrotreating processes of the refining and petrochemical industries. The removal of feed sulfur by conversion to hydrogen sulfide is typically achieved by reaction with hydrogen over non-noble metal sulfides, especially those of Co/Mo and Ni/Mo, at fairly severe temperatures and pressures to meet product quality specifications, or to supply a desulfurized stream to a subsequent sulfur sensitive process. Some naphtha fractions contain olefins, such as, for example, cracked naphthas or coker naphthas, which typically contain over about 20 wt. % olefins. At least a portion of the olefins are hydrogenated to saturated hydrocarbons during the hydrodesulfurization operation. Since the olefins are high octane components, for some motor fuel use, it is desirable to retain the olefins rather than to convert them to saturated compounds. Conventional fresh hydrodesulfurization catalyst have both hydrogenation and desulfurization activity. Hydrodesulfurization of cracked naphthas using conventional naphtha desulfurization catalysts under conventional startup procedures and under conditions required for sulfur removal, produces a significant loss of olefins through hydrogenation. This results in a lower grade fuel product which needs more refining, such as isomerization, blending, or other refining, to produce higher octane fuel, adding significantly to production expenses. Selective hydrodesulfurization to remove sulfur while minimizing hydrogenation of olefins and octane reduction by various techniques, such as selective catalysts, have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,132,632 and 4,140,626 disclose selective desulfurizaton of cracked naphthas by using specific catalysts having particular amounts of Group VI and VIII metals on magnesia support. U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,965 discloses a process for starting-up naphtha hydrodesulfurizaton using partially deactivated hydrotreating catalyst under relatively low pressure of less than 200 psig. The catalyst is partially deactivated using a substantially non-metals containing hydrocarbonaceous oil for a time ranging from about 10 hrs to about 20 days. U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,669 discloses a processes for treating petroleum having a high sulfur content using fractionation and hydrodesulfurization. It is suggested in this '669 patent that the hydrodesulfurization catalyst be one that does not readily promote hydrogenation, such as a partially spent catalyst. Hydrodesulfurization catalysts age, losing activity during use by collecting deposits of carbonaceous material and/or impurities, such as metals, from the treated feedstock. Eventually, with increased deposition, the catalyst is no longer able to provide effective hydrodesulfurization. The deactivated catalyst may be regenerated and reused, but is generally less effective than fresh catalyst by requiring higher temperature to give the desired activity and becoming deactivated more quickly than fresh catalyst. Although hydrodesulfurization catalysts can usually be repetitively regenerated, they eventually become irreversibly deactivated, or spent, essentially losing their intended hydrodesulfurization utility. It is known to hydrodesulftirize an olefinic naphtha by adding a nitrogen compound to the feed in order to deactivate the catalyst for the hydrodesulftirization reaction. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,405. It is also known to hydrotreat a straight run fuel oil at a pressure not greater than 150 psig and at a temperature from 400.degree. to 500.degree. F. in the presence of a catalyst that had been employed in a prior hydrotreating process operated at a higher pressure than the pressure of the fuel oil hydrotreating step until the catalyst had been substantially permanently deactivated for the purpose of said high pressure process, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,626. Spent hydrodesulfurization catalysts have been used in hydrodesulfurization. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,532 discloses a process for hydrodesulfurizing middle distillate, virgin oils using spent hydrotreating catalysts under extremely mild conditions to reduce acid and mercaptan content, to remove sulfur below 0.2 wt. %, or 2,000 ppm. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,102 discloses the use of spent hydrodesulfurization catalyst to transform nitrogen- or oxygen-containing compounds to sulfur-containing compounds followed by mild hydrodesulfurization treatment. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,373 discloses a process for selectively hydrodesulfurizing naphtha by contacting the naphtha, which contains olefins and thiohydrocarbons, with hydrogen under vigorous hydrodesulfurization conditions in the presence of essentially deactivated hydrodesulfurization catalyst which selectively produces hydrogen sulfide and desulfurized hydrocarbons and resulting in a relatively high olefin content. Although some of the above processes have met with commercial success, there still remains a need in the art for improved activation process for cat naphtha desulfurization catalysts that do not require the use of an additional deactivation step.

The present invention relates to silos in general, and, in particular, to unloading chutes designed to fit within the access chute of a silo so that silage may be unloaded from the silo down through the unloading chute without fouling the access chute.

1. Field of the Invention The invention concerns a flap valve for a trocar system according to the preamble of a patent 1. 2. Description of the Related Art Trocar systems are being used in minimally invasive surgery to enable entrance to a body cavity, for example, into the visceral cavity. For this procedure, a guide tube (trocar cannula) with a trocar (obturator) inserted therein is passed through the abdominal wall. Subsequently, the trocar is removed and the guide tube remains as an access canal to the visceral cavity. In order to perform surgical procedures in the visceral cavity, it typically is insufflated. To avoid gas leakage from the visceral cavity, a valve is placed at the extracorporeal remaining proximal end of the guide tube, which closes automatically if no instrument is inserted. To enable the insertion of a delicate instrument and avoid the entanglement of instruments during extraction, flap valves are used that can be manually opened. The flaps on the flap valves include part of a valve that closes, spring-biased, on an aperture, which aligns axially with the guide tube. The flap is pivotally operated against a spring force, perpendicularly to the exocentric pivoting axis of the lead-through opening. From U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,030 it is known to affix a valve non-rotatingly (torque-proof) upon a pivot axle, and to provide a pivot lever on the end of the axle projecting out from the valve body for the manual actuation of the valve. The manipulation of the flap valve is unfavorable, because the surgeon has to support the trocar system with one hand and use the other hand for pivoting the valve. In DE 3923243 C2, a flap valve of the previously mentioned type is disclosed. This flap valve is pivoted into the open position with the aid of a sliding rod. The sliding rod is slidable parallel to the axis of the releasable lead-through-opening. To operate the flap, the housing-inner end of the sliding rod engages the flap between the valve part and its pivoting axis. The space needed to operate the slide rod enlarges the radial and axial measurements of the body of the flap valve. Because of spatial reasons the slide rod must be attached very close to the middle axis of the body, so the handling of the slide rod is ergonomically unfavorable. The object of the invention is to provide a flap valve for a trocar system with a compact configuration that allows an ergonomically favorable handling of the tool. This task is inventively accomplished by a flap valve having the characteristics of Patent 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer and an SOI wafer fabricated by the same, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a nano SOI wafer with a device region having a nano thickness and a nano SOI wafer fabricated by the same. 2. Description of the Related Art In a bulk silicon substrate used for a general silicon integrated circuit, since a junction breakdown occurs in a junction isolation under a supply voltage of plus or minus 30 V when proper doping amount and dimension are provided, it is improper to apply a high voltage. In addition, the junction isolation is not effective under a high radioactivity environment due to a transient photocurrent generated in a p-n junction according to gamma rays. Accordingly, a silicon on insulator (SOI) technique where an insulator completely surrounds a device is developed instead of the p-n junction. A circuit fabricated in such an SOI substrate requires a simpler fabricating process and a simpler resultant structure compared to a circuit fabricated in a bulk silicon substrate so that a chip size may be reduced. In addition, a parasitic capacitance is reduced along with the chip size so that the operation speed of the circuit increases. Such an SOI technique includes a silicon on sapphire (SOS) technique, where a hetero epitaxial silicon layer is grown on a sapphire, a separation by implanted oxygen (SIMOX) technique, where oxygen ions are implanted into a silicon substrate and annealed to form a buried silicon oxide layer, and a bonding SOI technique, where at least one wafer having a dielectric on a surface and the other wafer are bonded. A well known example using the bonding SOI technique is a smart-cut process which is used for fabricating a unibond wafer. In the smart-cut process, hydrogen ions are implanted into one of the wafers to be bonded, a fine bubble layer is formed, and a wafer is cleaved with respect to the bubble layer by a thermal process. FIG. 1 illustrates processes for fabricating an SOI wafer using a conventional smart-cut process. Referring to FIG. 1, a base wafer and a bond wafer, that will be bonded in a subsequent process, are prepared in step S10. The base wafer, referred to as a handling wafer, physically supports an SOI wafer. The bond wafer is a wafer, referred to as a device wafer, on which channels of a semiconductor device will be formed. Thereafter, a thermal oxidization process is performed on the bond wafer formed of mono-crystalline silicon to form an oxide layer, i.e., a silicon oxide layer, on the surface of the bond wafer in step S12. The silicon oxide layer performs as a buried oxide layer (BOX) in the SOI wafer. Here, the silicon oxide layer may be formed to a thickness of about tens to thousands of A when necessary. Hydrogen ions of high voltage are implanted into the bond wafer in step S14. Here, the acceleration voltage of the hydrogen ions is about 125 KeV, and a hydrogen dose amount is about 6×1016 cm−2. Accordingly, a hydrogen ion implantation unit having a projection range distance (Rp) is formed under the surface of the bond wafer, beneath the silicon oxide layer, to a predetermined depth. Next, the base wafer and the bond wafer are cleaned to remove contaminants from the surfaces of the wafers and the wafers are horizontally bonded in step S16. Here, the base wafer is horizontally laid and the silicon oxide layer portion of the bond wafer is placed above the base wafer to be parallel with the base wafer. Thereafter, the bond wafer is lowered at a room temperature so that the surfaces of the wafers simultaneously contact each other and bond together. Here, the wafers are bonded by a hydrogen bond under a hydrophillic condition. Subsequently, the hydrogen ion implantation portion is cleaved by a thermal process performed at a high temperature in step S18. The thermal process is performed under a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of about 550° C. for about one hour. Accordingly, bubbles in the hydrogen ion implantation portion are interacted in the thermal process to form a sufficient amount of blisters and the blisters are spread to generate a flake occurrence so that the cleavage occurs. After the cleavage process, the amount of root mean square roughness (rms) value on the surface of the silicon layer remaining on the bond wafer is about 100 to 120 Å and the thickness of the remaining silicon layer is about 9000 Å. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is performed on the cleaved surface of the silicon layer in step S20. Here, the CMP is performed until the thickness of the device region, on which channels of the semiconductor device will be formed, becomes a desired thickness. Meanwhile, as it is required for a semiconductor device formed on an SOI wafer to be highly integrated and operated at a high speed, and use a low amount of electric power, the thickness of a device region or a channel region of a semiconductor device in the SOI wafer becomes smaller. In addition, the thickness of a BOX becomes smaller. Accordingly, a thick SOI wafer with a device region or a channel region in the silicon SOI wafer having a thickness to about more than 1000 nm is used for forming MEMS, sensors, photodiodes, or bipolar power devices, and a thin SOI with a device region having a thickness to about 50 to 1000 nm can be used for forming micro displays or partially depleted CMOSs. However, a fully depleted CMOS, a nano CMOS device, or a single-electron device requires a nano SOI wafer with a device region having a thickness of about less than 50 nm. A method of fabricating a nano SOI wafer by using a conventional smart-cut process has a plurality of disadvantages as follows. In the conventional method, a hydrogen ion implantation unit of a bond wafer has to be cleaved, a cleaved surface has to be planarized, and a CMP has to be performed on the cleaved surface until a device region has a desired thickness. However, a CMP is a time and money consuming process, and the thickness of a central portion and the thickness of a peripheral portion of a wafer are deviated by the CMP. In addition, the CMP may generate cracks. Since hydrogen ions are implanted into a bond wafer in a high-energy voltage environment, the projection range distance of the hydrogen ions remarkably increases so that a thick silicon layer having a thickness of about 9000 Å is remained after a subsequent cleavage process. Accordingly, the CMP requires large amounts of time and silicon layer to fabricate a nano SOI wafer with a device region having a thickness of about 50 nm, i.e., 500 Å. In addition, a conventional horizontal bonding process, in which a bond wafer and a base wafer are bonded, generates defects such as voids on a bonding surface.

Many systems require digital processing even when the input and/or output signals are analog signals. This is often the case, for example, in the context of conventional speed or transmission (e.g., engine transmission) sensing systems. In at least some such conventional sensing systems, speed is sensed by detecting zero crossings of a magnetic field that occur as magnetic teeth on a wheel rotate past a magnetic sensor (e.g., a Hall sensor, an anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) sensor, a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor, or a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor) and induce change(s) in the output voltage of the magnetic sensor. In such embodiments, after each zero crossing, the supply current of the sensor is set to a new level. Additionally, in such embodiments, all calculations on the incoming signal are performed digitally, so the supply current can only change after an edge of the internal clock signal. This limits the accuracy of the zero-crossing detection, and the quantization in the time domain adds to the overall jitter of the system. Referring to FIG. 1, a first graph 100, second graph 102, and third graph 104 collectively illustrate how variations in the timing of a clock signal relative to the timing of an input signal 106 can result in significantly different output signals and corresponding jitter. More particularly, the first graph 100, second graph 102, and third graph 104 respectively illustrate a first clock signal 108, second clock signal 110, and third clock signal 112, respectively. Although the first, second, and third clock signals 108, 110, and 112 share in common the same frequency, the three clock signals are slightly out of phase relative to one another. Consequently, as shown in the first, second, and third graphs 100, 102, and 104, the first, second, and third clock signals 108, 110, and 112 respectively have first, second, and third values 114, 116, and 118, respectively that differ from one another at a time 120 at which the input signal 106 crosses zero occurs. More particularly, the first value 114 of the first clock signal 108 is a minimum value of that clock signal at the time 120, the third value 118 of the third clock signal 112 is a maximum value of that clock signal at the time 120, and the second value 116 of the second clock signal 110 is a transitional (downward edge) value of that clock signal at the time 120 that can be considered to be in between (e.g., a zero value) of the second clock signal 110. Because of this variation in the relative timing of the first, second, and third clock signals 108, 110, and 112 relative to one another and relative to the input signal 106, as further illustrated in FIG. 1 virtual phase error is introduced into output signals generated based upon the interplay of the input signal 106 and the clock signals 108, 110, and 112. More particularly, in the first graph 100, it can be seen that a first output signal 122 is step-shaped and includes a series of steps 124 that are each of equal height and width relative to the preceding step, that a first step 126 of the series of steps 124 occurs a first time differential 128 after the time 120, and that the series of steps has an effective slope represented by a dashed line 130. By comparison, in the second graph 102, it can be seen that a second output signal 132 also is step-shaped and includes a series of steps 134 that are each of equal height and width relative to the preceding step, that a first step 136 of the series of steps 134 occurs a second time differential 138 after the time 120, and that the series of steps has an effective slope represented by a dashed line 140. Additionally by comparison, in the third graph 104, it can be seen that a third output signal 142 also is step-shaped and includes a series of steps 144 that are each of equal height and width relative to the preceding step, that a first step 146 of the series of steps 144 occurs a third time differential 148 after the time 120, and that the series of steps has an effective slope represented by a dashed line 150. In view of these considerations, as further illustrated in FIG. 1, the first, second, and third output signals 122, 132, and 142 are not in phase within one another even though the three output signals are all generated based upon the same input signal, namely, the input signal 106. More particularly, it can be seen from the first graph 100 that a first virtual starting point 152 of the first output signal 122, namely, the point at which the dashed line 130 crosses an initial (e.g., zero) level 154 of the first output signal, occurs a first time amount 156 in advance of the time 120. By contrast, it can be seen from the second graph 102 that a second virtual starting point 162 of the second output signal 132, namely, the point at which the dashed line 140 crosses an initial (e.g., zero) level 164 of the second output signal, occurs a second time amount 166 in advance of the time 120 that is less than the first time amount 156. And further by contrast, it can be seen from the third graph 104 that a third virtual starting point 172 of the third output signal 142, namely, the point at which the dashed line 150 crosses an initial (e.g., zero) level 174 of the third output signal, occurs a third time amount 176 in advance of the time 120 that is less than each of the first time amount 156 and the second time amount 166. Accordingly, because of the differences in the timing of the clock signals 108, 110, and 112, the output signals 122, 132, and 142 are out of phase relative to one another, and such differences correspond to the producing of jitter in the overall output signal during operation in which a given clock signal varies in its phase over time. Although efforts have been made to develop modified systems and methods for signal processing to alleviate such concerns, such modified systems and methods have other disadvantages. For example, one manner of addressing the above-discussed problems relating to jitter and associated inaccuracy involves increasing the clock frequency to a level at which the clock is no longer the dominant jitter source. However, this strategy can result in increased total power consumption and necessitate higher timing constraints on the digital signal processing, neither of which are desirable. For at least these reasons, therefore, it would be advantageous if one or more improved systems and methods for signal processing could be developed that addressed one or more of these concerns or disadvantages relating to jitter, and/or one or more other concerns or disadvantages.

The invention relates to a packaging box obtained through a related method and to the blank for obtaining this box.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, there began a phenomenon known as the information revolution. While the information revolution is a historical development broader in scope than any one event or machine, no single device has come to represent the information revolution more than the digital electronic computer. The development of computer systems has surely been a revolution. Each year, computer systems grow faster, store more data, and provide more applications to their users. A modern computer system is an enormously complex machine, usually having many sub-parts or subsystems. Typically, the system comprises one or more central processing units (CPUs) which form the heart of the system, and which execute instructions contained in computer programs stored in memory. The system further includes data storage devices, such as rotating disk drives, and hardware necessary to communicate with the outside world, such as input/output controllers; I/O devices attached thereto such as keyboards, monitors, printers, and so forth; and external communication devices for communicating with other digital systems. Computer systems, and particularly large multi-user computer systems, typically have many components which can be configured to operate or interact in a variety of different ways. Various configuration parameters specify modes of operation, resource allocation, operating speeds, limits, and so forth, of these components. These configuration parameters are subject to change, sometimes as a result of automated processes, sometimes through manual intervention by a system administrator, user, or other person. One example of configuration variability is logical partitioning. Conceptually, logical partitioning means that multiple discrete partitions are established in a single hardware system, and the system resources of certain types are assigned to respective partitions. For example, processor resources of a multi-processor system may be partitioned by assigning different processors to different partitions, by sharing processors among some partitions and not others, by specifying the amount of processing resource measure available to each partition which is sharing a set of processors, and so forth. Memory or other resources may also be partitioned. In general, tasks executing within a logical partition can use only the resources assigned to that partition, and not resources assigned to other partitions. Nearly any configuration parameter of a computer system may affect how executing tasks perform, and ultimately the efficiency of the system as a whole. These effects may be severe, causing drastic loss of system efficiency and/or unacceptable response time. Different components interact in many complex ways, so that a parameter with respect to one component may affect the performance of many others. It is extremely difficult to model or predict in advance the effect of configuration changes or the performance of hypothetical configurations. Moreover, the computer system and its environment are very dynamic. Some configuration parameters are subject to frequent change by automated processes. Workload changes, randomly, periodically, and as a result of long-term trends. User expectations change. Managing system configuration parameters for optimum efficiency in a large computer system can therefore be a daunting task. Conventional methods for managing configuration parameters often involve gathering substantial amounts of performance data over relatively long intervals and analyzing that data to model the system, identify probable sources of system inefficiency, and predict the effect of configuration changes. This analysis is often performed manually by human experts, although there are analytical programs which can be used for this purpose, either alone or in conjunction with human expertise. The use of human experts necessarily means that considerable cost is involved in this process. Moreover, the need to collect a large amount of data and perform complex analysis generally means that the analysis and consequent actions are performed well after the data collection, and can not respond to rapid changes in real time. Finally, modeling of hypothetical configurations is difficult to perform reliably and accurately for all possible permutations of system hardware and software, workload, and configuration parameters. With increasing complexity of computer systems, there is a need for improved techniques for managing configuration parameters in a computer system.

Automated grille shutters for regulation of louver angle and thus air flow are increasingly important constituents of automotive engine thermal management systems. Regulation is conveniently accomplished by means of electromechanical actuators. The actuators turn the louvers of the grille shutter, generally through a gear train, to vary the size of the opening for air to flow to cool the radiator. Open loop operation of stepper motor actuators is a reliable state of the art technique. In case of power failure or in any situation of incorrect louver positioning at shut down, however, a fail safe mechanism must be integrated in the grille shutter actuator. A return spring can for instance bring the louvers to an initial position (open or closed, whatever is required). In that case, when in operation, the actuator has to work permanently against the spring force plus any additional forces due to intense air flow when the vehicle is traveling at high speed. Normally that would require an over dimensioned or over powered electromagnetic motor to deliver the maximum torque at the extreme open (or closed) position. It also means high electric power consumption, which is not in accordance with an efficient environmentally-friendly or “green” system. Hence there is a desire for an actuator for a vehicle grille shutter system, in which the output of the motor is more closely matched to the required output of the actuator. The present invention solves this problem by means of a progressive gear which compensates for the variable torque requirements. Progressive or variable gears have been known for a long time. A comprehensive description of a progressive gear can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,322 or U.S. Pat. No. 8,196,487. In automotive applications progressive gears frequently appear in steering systems.

In recent years, in the field of display devices such as liquid crystal displays and organic electroluminescent displays, due to the demands for reduction in weight and thickness, improvement in flexibility, resistance to breakage and the like, glass substrate and cover glasses have been replaced to plastic substrates. Particularly, in personal digital assistants such as mobile phones, smart phones and tablet PCs, there is a strong demand for plastic substrates. Moreover, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) which is taking advantage of the characteristic features such as long service life and low power consumption, have been expanding their range of use to various applications including general household lighting, automotive lighting and backlights of liquid crystal displays. In response to the demand for miniaturization of information terminal devices such as mobile phones, smart phones and tablet PCs, LED elements are increasingly surface-mounted on circuit boards. In those cases where LED elements are surface-mounted on a circuit board, for the efficiently extracting the emitted light from the LEDs to the front, a reflective layer is commonly formed on the circuit board surface. The material of the reflective layer used in such cases is obtained by filling a white pigment into a transparent resin at a high concentration. However, many kinds of the transparent resins that are conventionally used have problems in that they induce yellowing when exposed to a high-temperature condition for a prolonged period and their reflectance is thus decreased with time. In association with increase in the brightness of LEDs, There is an ever increasing trend for the calorific value of LEDs; therefore, it is in urgent need to improve such thermal yellowing. It is strongly demanded that developing a resin material which has not only heat resistance and mechanical properties that conform to these market requirements but also, excellent transparency from the viewpoint of design properties as well as to realize the high visibility and is possible to highly inhibit the yellowing caused by exposure to heat and light. Among organic materials, polyimides are known as polymeric materials that have the highest levels of heat resistance, chemical resistance and electrical insulation properties. In the electrical and electronic industries, for example, “KAPTON (registered trademark)” manufactured by DuPont, which is polymerized from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl ether (pDADE), and “UPILEX (registered trademark)” manufactured by Ube Industries, Ltd., which is polymerized from biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and p-phenylene diamine (pPD), have been widely used as heat-resistant insulating materials. However, these polyimides have a disadvantage in that they are colored in yellowish brown under a steady state due to intramolecular conjugation and formation of charge transfer complexes. In order to solve this disadvantage, a number of methods have been proposed so far. Specifically, there have been proposed, for example, a method where a fully aliphatic polyimide entirely constituted by an aliphatic and/or alicyclic compound without any aromatic compound being used as a polyimide constituent is utilized for inhibiting coloration caused by intramolecular conjugation (see, for example, Patent Document 1); a method of obtaining a semi-aliphatic polyimide satisfying both heat resistance and transparency by using an aromatic compound as either an acid anhydride or diamine component and an aliphatic and/or alicyclic compound as the other component (see, for example, Patent Document 2); a method of utilizing a flexible polyimide in which the formation of intermolecular charge transfer complexes is inhibited by incorporating, as constituents, an acid dianhydride and/or a diamine that contain a sterically bulky substituent(s) and/or have a flexible structure (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4); and a method of providing transparency by utilizing the structural distortion of a 7-membered cyclic acid dianhydride to force node formation in π-conjugated system and to thereby localize π-electrons (see, for example, Patent Document 5). In the method where an aliphatic and/or alicyclic compound is used as a constituent of a polyimide, there are problems that the aliphatic material causes deterioration in the heat resistance and mechanical strength and that yellowing occurs due to oxidation in a heat-treatment process. The problem of heat resistance can be improved by incorporating a rigid aromatic material into the resin structure; however, such a polyimide usually has a decreased transparency and is often hardly soluble to solvents. Therefore, a coating film is formed using a polyamic acid solution which is a precursor, and the resulting film is subsequently thermally or chemically imidized. However, the polyamic acid solution is easily affected by the humidity, handling and storage thereof are difficult. Meanwhile, in the method of utilizing a flexible polyimide, although excellent solubility to organic solvents and excellent transparency are attained, the polyimide is not possible to ensure sufficient heat resistance by a reduction of the glass transition temperation (Tg) caused by the flexible structure. Further, in the method of providing transparency by utilizing the structural distortion, it is required to use a special material which is an acid dianhydride having a 7-membered ring structure and the 7-membered ring is an unstable as a constituent; therefore, the resultant is likely to have insufficient mechanical strength, long-term heat resistance and thermal yellowing resistance.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an elevator information communication system for notifying an elevator entrance or the cage of an elevator of information. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, in an elevator information communication system, two types of data are communicated. One of them is information-system data communication, i.e., notification data, such as a message, and the other is control-system data for communicating a notification command for selecting notification data depending on the state of an elevator, to supply the notification data at a good timing. Since the information-system data includes a message or the like, the information-system data is large in amount, and the time required to change the information-system data may be relatively long. The control-system data consists of predetermined code data or the like. The control-system data is small in amount, and the control-system data is allowed to be delayed slightly. For this reason, in a conventional elevator information communication system, two types of cables, i.e., a control-system data communication cable and an information-system data communication cable extending to an elevator entrance or the cage of an elevator are arranged according to data which are different in quality, and the different data are communicated through these cables. A conventional elevator information communication system will be described below with reference to FIG. 33 and FIGS. 34A and 34B. FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of the elevator information communication system, and FIGS. 34A and 34B are time charts of communication path data of a control-system cable 6 and an information-system cable 5 of the conventional elevator information communication system. Here, an information input device 1 is constituted by a notebook computer or the like. Data can be input with a keyboard or the like (e.g., a CE connects the personal computer to the information-system cable 5 to perform updating or the like of notification data). In FIG. 33, notification data 200 input by the information input device 1 is input to notification devices 3-1 to 3n through the information-system cable 5 and stored by storage means 31-1 to 31-n. In FIG. 41, the notification data 200 consists of a selector 210 for selecting the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n, a command 220 for message updating, time correction, and the like, and data 230. The data 230 in message updating consists of a message number 231, a text length 232, and text data 233. A serial communication scheme using a start-stop transmission scheme is used as a communication scheme to add BCC data or the like for checking the rationality of communication data. With respect to a notification command, for example, it is assumed that a message number 3 is defined as a crowded condition notification (corresponding to the message number 231 and the concrete example thereof), an elevator control device 2 detects a crowded condition to output a notification command 100 in which the selector 101, the command 102, and the data 103, are defined as the notification device 3-1 of the cage, a message display, and the message number 3, respectively. This notification command 100 is input to the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n through the control-system cable 6. Since the notification device 3-1 of the cage is defined as the selector 101, the message of the message number 3 is displayed by a display means 32-1. On the other hand, the notification command 100 is also input to the notification devices 3-2 to 3-n of the elevator entrance. However, since each of the notification devices 3-2 to 3-n do not correspond to the selector 101, the notification devices 3-2 to 3-n neglect the notification command 100 and do no t perform any operation. Here, when the information input device 1 and each of the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n are connected to each other at a ratio of 1 : 1, the selector 210 is not necessary, and each of the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n returns a reply representing whether reception is normally performed. Data is generally re-output from the information input device 1 to the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n in which reception is not normally performed. However, in the configuration in FIG. 40, when replies are given by the notification devices 3-1 to 3n, a plurality of replies conflict with each other. For this reason, the replies cannot be identified by the information input device 1. In the conflict of replies, a method of changing the response timings of the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n from each other or a method of selecting one of the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n from the information input device 1 to check them may be used. However, a cumbersome setting must be performed, and a long communication time is disadvantageously required. For this reason, the replies from the notification devices 3-1 to 3-n are eliminated, and data is repeatedly output from the information input device 1 twice, so that the reliability is assured. An example of the system in which a serial transmission cable in an elevator way is eliminated will be introduced. As described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-87580, a packet transmission control device is installed, notification data from an information input device is stored in the packet transmission control device, and the notification data is transmitted from the packet transmission control device to a notification device when the operation of the elevator is idle. As described in Japanese Patent No. 2700404, fixed information is transmitted as the first series of data, and a block of arbitrary information divided into a plurality of fixed-length blocks is transmitted as the second series of data. In the conventional elevator information communication system, an information-system cable for transmitting a large amount of notification data such as image data, character data, and audio data and a control-system cable for transmitting a notification command having a small amount of data must be installed in the elevator way. For this reason, the system is very expensive, disadvantageously. In order to output notification data from the information input device to each notification device, the notification data must be repeatedly output twice in vain although transmission error rate is very low. The scheme described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-87580 is expensive because a packet transmission control device must be additionally installed, and disadvantageously requires a long time to input notification data output from an information input device to notification devices. In a scheme in Japanese Patent No. 2700404, a notification command and notification data are transmitted in a fixed length. For this reason, even if the notification command is not required to be output, the notification data cannot be efficiently transmitted. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to obtain an elevator information communication system in which the number of communication cables can be reduced with a simple configuration without arranging a dedicated device such as a packet transmission control device to efficiently perform communication at a low cost. In consideration of the object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system including a notification device arranged in the elevator system, an information input device for forming notification data to the notification device to input the notification data, and an elevator control device connected to the notification device to output a notification command and having relay means connected to the information input device to relay the notification data input from the information input device to the notification device. According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to the first aspect wherein the elevator control device includes switching means for adding non-transmission time and identification data to data and outputting the data in order to identify a notification command from the elevator control device and the notification data from the information input device by the information device. According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to the first or second aspect wherein the elevator device includes command means for, when a notification command is generated during outputting of notification data from the information input means, interrupting the outputting of the notification data. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to one of the first to third aspects wherein the elevator control device changes notification data into a packet to output the packet, and the notification device includes restoration means for restoring interrupted notification data into original notification data. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to one of the first to fourth aspects wherein the notification device includes reply means for generating a resending request when input notification data is abnormal, and the information input device includes resending means for resending the notification data according to the resending request. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to one of the first to fifth aspects wherein the information input device includes scanning means for checking a notification device which is powered off and broken, and the notification device includes response means for making a check response to the check. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to the sixth aspect wherein the information input device detects the notification device added by the scanning means, and includes re-output means for further outputting un-output notification data to set necessary notification data in the added notification device. According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system including a notification device arranged in the elevator system, an elevator control device connected to the notification device to output a notification command, and an information input device connected to the notification device to form notification data for the notification device and to input the notification, wherein the notification device includes relay means for generating a resending request when the input notification data is abnormal, and the information input device includes resending means for resending the notification data according to the resending request. According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system according to the eighth aspect wherein the information input device includes scanning means for checking a notification device which is powered off and broken, and the notification device includes response means for making a check response to the check. According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator information communication system wherein the information input device detects the notification device added by the scanning means, and includes re-output means for further outputting un-output notification data to set necessary notification data in the added notification device.

Text-based or term-based searching, wherein a user inputs a word or phrase into a search engine and receives a variety of results is a useful tool for searching. Term based queries require a user to explicitly provide search terms in the form of words, phrases and/or other terms. Sometimes a user may wish to locate a particular desired document, rather than just information about relevant to one or more query terms. In such instances, locating that desired document using a term based query may require typing a long query string, such as an entire sentence without mistakes, or composing a combination of terms that the user thinks occur in the desired document but in relatively few other documents. Accordingly, a system that can receive a visual query such as a picture of the document, or a portion of the document, and use it to locate a canonical source document would be desirable.

This invention relates to a grater and more particularly to a grater for grating food. Graters for grating food are well known. Examples of food graters, such as cheese graters and the like, are disclosed in GB 704,503, GB 245,367, GB 1,161,257 and GB 2,293,754. These graters are not entirely satisfactory since their design is overly complicated and expensive to manufacture. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to seek to provide a simple and cheap way to manufacture a food grater. Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention provides a grater for grating food comprising a container for housing food to be grated, the container having an inner surface with a non-circular cross-section, the inner surface inhibiting rotation of the food to be held in the container, and a substantially circular grating portion for grating food held in the container, the arrangement being such that the extremities of the non-circular inner surface lie on the periphery of the circular grating portion, the circular grating portion being adapted to rotate relative to the container. It is particularly advantageous to provide a disposable food grater or a disposable container for a food grater. Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention provides a disposable food container for use with a food grater embodying the present invention. These and other features, advantages and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims and appended drawings.

This disclosure generally relates to decoding links in a storage network, and specifically, but not by way of limitation, to providing secure content links for mobile devices. Hotlinking (also known as inline-linking, leaching, or direct linking) involves linking a content object stored on a server by a first party to a webpage belonging to a second party. In one common scenario, the first party can provide webpage information via a web server that links to content objects stored by a Content Delivery Network (CDN). The content objects may include large media files, such as images and videos that can be more efficiently distributed by a CDN than by the first party's web server. The links in the webpage will direct the user's browser to the CDN, which can then retrieve the content objects to be displayed/played in the user's browser. The CDN will typically charge the first party for both the storage and delivery of its content. The more bandwidth that is used to provide content to users, the more the first party will be charged by the CDN. When the second party engages in hotlinking, it copies the links from the first party's webpage and embeds the links in its own webpage. When users display the second party's webpage, the users' browsers will be directed to the content stored in the CDN by the first party. The CDN will record the transmission of the content belonging to the first party without being able to distinguish between users following the original link of the first party and users following the copied link of the second party. This results in the first party being charged to source and provide content for the webpage of the second party. In some cases, approximately 30% of the first party's CDN costs may go to sourcing content for other parties webpages that are hotlinking the first party's content.

This invention is concerned with spacers for flexible razor blade units comprising two blades in tandem, with flexible razor blade units comprising such spacers, and with safety razors comprising such blade units. Tandem razor blade units which are flexible, in response to forces encountered during normal use, about an axis or axes parallel with the plane of the blades and extending substantially perpendicularly to the cutting edges of the blades have been described in a number of patent specifications, for example, British Specifications 1589591 and 2119690. The flexibility of such a blade unit can be assured by the design of the moulded plastics housing in which the blades and spacer are mounted, by the use of blades which are thinner than conventional, and by the design and material of the blade spacer. The spacers which are conventionally used in non-flexible blade units are formed of 0.02 inch (0.51 mm) thick aluminum; the use of such a spacer in a blade unit which was, in other respects, flexible would stiffen it to such an extent that it would not flex in shaving and it has accordingly been recognised that in a flexible blade unit, the spacer should be made of a flexible, preferably plastics, material. We have now developed spacers which provide tandem razor blade units with improved flexibility.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for changing the optical characteristics of a display field on a carrier by releasing erase energy in the region of the display field. 2. Background of the Invention Increasingly, for cashless payment of goods and services, credit payment means in the form of tokens, cards or similar carriers which have a number of units of value ave being used. If the units of value ave present on the carriers in the form of value characters which can be recognised optically and by machine, optical reading devices are also needed to read the data stored on the credit payment means and to check their authenticity, and cancelling devices are needed to cancel the respective number of units of value needed for payment from the credit means. To cancel the value character, energy usually has to be supplied while, for example, sufficient thermal energy is conducted to the location of the value character to locally soften the carrier material and destroy the value character in question. CH-PS 635 949 discloses a credit payment means wherein the value characters ave contained in the form of optical markings on a card in accordance with the DIN standard 9781, Part I. For cancelling, an erase head according to CH-PS 640 075 is used which is brought directly to the value character to be cancelled and which is heated by an electrical current impulse in order to increase the temperature locally in the credit card in such a way that the optical character beneath it is destroyed. With this solution, the entire energy to be expended for erasure purposes has to be supplied from the outside in the form of thermal energy. With solutions of this kind, great losses occur. Thus, a large part of the thermal energy is lost by heating the erase head and by the conduction of heat from the erase head into the surroundings. Further losses occur in overcoming the thermal contact resistance. Approximately ten times the energy has to be expended as is needed for cancelling a value character. A credit payment means is also disclosed in CH-PS 604 279, wherein the carrier material which contains the value characters in the form of optically recognisable markings has a form reminder capacity which can be excited by the supply of energy and which produces a change in the form of the carrier material and also of the markings. By way of this solution, the optically recognisable markings are, admittedly, able to be erased using a lesser amount of externally supplied energy. However, special materials have to be used which have a form reminder capacity.

Molten salt batteries (“liquid sodium” batteries) that use liquid sodium as the anode have been studied for the powering of electric vehicles and most recently for energy storage and load-balancing of environment-dependent power plants (solar, wind, etc.). However, due to the high operating temperatures (e.g., >300° C.) needed to maintain good kinetics in the solid electrolyte and solid cathode (NiCl2) materials, they encounter problems of thermal management and safety, and also impose stringent requirements on the rest of the battery components.

Vehicle headlamp systems employing a plurality of beam patterns offer a unique and attractive viewing experience and to address multiple lighting and visibility functions. It is therefore desired to implement a plurality of dynamic beam patterns in automotive vehicles for various lighting application and vehicle functions.

In the related art, a configuration is known in which an ISOFIX anchor as an attachment tool for fixing a child seat is provided in a rear seat surface of a vehicle seat (JP-A-2015-085730). The ISOFIX anchor is provided in the state of being embedded in a hole which is formed though a portion formed in a rear end portion of a seat cushion and bulging in a bank shape. The embedded hole of the ISOFIX anchor is normally configured such that a front-side opening is covered with a cover member which is openable and closable. When the child seat is mounted, the cover member is opened so that the ISOFIX anchor therein is exposed to a front side. In the above-described related art, the child seat is slid to be pushed in the hole in a state where the cover member is opened, thereby maintaining a position of the cover member in a state where the hole is opened. However, with such a configuration, a space for accepting the cover member in the hole, and a mechanism which maintains the cover member in the hole in an opened posture are provided necessarily, and the hole is increased in size and is complicated.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a steam flooding process for the recovery of hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation. More particularly, this invention relates to a recovery process in which hydrocarbons driven toward a production well by means of a fluid, such as steam or a mixture of steam and carbon dioxide, which is injected into the formation via an injection well are coproduced from a lower horizon of the formation via the production well along with water introduced into the upper horizon of the formation. 2. Prior Art and Background The production of hydrocarbon products is usually achieved by drilling into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation and employing one of the art-recognized recovery methods for the recovery of hydrocarbons therein. Present recovery techniques, however, usually result in the recovery of only a minor portion of the petroleum materials present in the formation and this is particularly true with reservoirs of viscous crudes. Even when employing improved secondary recovery practices as much as 50-75 percent of the original hydrocarbon may be left in place and even more in the case of viscous hydrocarbon reservoirs. A variety of processes well known in the art, such as water flooding, steam flooding, miscible flooding, etc. have been employed after natural drive of the reservoir has been depleted in order to recover additional oil from the formation. The application of these techniques which are sometimes referred to as secondary recovery methods permits additional hydrocarbons to be removed from the partially depleted formations. One of the more widely practiced secondary recovery methods is that of the so-called steam flooding process. Steam flooding is notably well-suited for secondary recovery operations since the energy contained in the fluid effectively reduces the viscosity of the hydrocarbons and permits production thereof. In order to realize the maximum viscosity reduction of the hydrocarbons, the injected steam should impart the maximum heat to the formation, as is consistent with economical steam generator design, and provide a uniform penetration of the formation. Despite the advantages of steam flooding operations, under certain circumstances present-day steam flooding techniques fail in many instances to permit recovery of large quantities of hydrocarbons contained in the formation. As a result, a number of modified steam injection processes have been proposed including a "push-pull" technique and throughput methods which have resulted in some instances in additional significant recoveries of crude oil from the reservoirs. One of the main problems faced in the recovery of hydrocarbons by steam flooding is early breakthrough of steam into the production well since at that time no more oil is produced. Breakthrough generally is caused by the tendency of the steam to move updip and to flow only through the upper part of the formation. There is a definite need in the art, therefore, for a steam flooding process in which steam breakthrough into the production well is prevented thus greatly increasing the amount of oil recovered. Another disadvantage of steam flooding is that some distillation in the formation takes place with the result that lighter, more volatile solutions of the in-place hydrocarbons are recovered leaving behind the more viscous oil with an increased asphaltene and aromatic content. Thus, the nature of the residual oil left behind after an initial period of steam flooding of a formation is probably different from that of the original oil composition in place because of distillation effects, etc. and the efficiency of the removal process gradually declines. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art steam flooding process by providing an efficient, improved steam flooding method for hydrocarbon recovery.