Datasets:

haritzpuerto

/

the_pile_00_USPTO_Backgrounds

like 0

Conventional single camera systems are hindered by limited abilities to accurately detect vehicle speed due to limitations associated with viewing a 3D world with 2D imaging devices. Additionally, the quality of evidentiary photos provided by such systems is unsatisfactory due to the retro-reflective properties of license plates, which requires a sensor operating at high dynamic range at night. Moreover, the camera field of view (FOV) conventionally is calibrated for speed detection accuracy, which conflicts with larger FOV requirements in traffic monitoring and incident detection. The performance of systems with such wide FOV in speed estimation tasks typically exhibits a large degree of estimation error unless additional elements and/or features are included, such as multi-view capabilities, structured illumination, stereo-vision, etc. These FOV problems cannot be easily solved with a conventional speed camera. Additionally, classical video-based speed estimate systems based on a single camera exhibit performance and utility that falls short in several areas. For instance, using such systems, the estimated speed is not accurate due to ambiguities introduced by mapping a 3D scene onto a 2D image. There is a need in the art for systems and methods that facilitate video-based speed estimation and vehicle speed limit enforcement with reduced cost and improved accuracy, while overcoming the aforementioned deficiencies.

The present invention relates generally to variable frequency dividers, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for reducing the memory capacity needed to store control codes used to obtain specified frequency values. Conventional music boxes rely on variable frequency dividers to generate melodies. To store melody information, however, these music boxes often require a large memory. If these music boxes use a dual-tone melody generator, the amount of memory needed to store melody information increases significantly. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional music box 100 which includes an oscillation circuit 110, a frequency divider 120, a melody read-only memory (ROM )130, a rhythm control circuit 140, an envelope generator 150, a control logic 160, an address generator 170, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 180, and a speaker 190. Oscillation circuit 110 generates a high-frequency pulse signal. Frequency divider 120 receives and divides the high frequency pulse signal into a melody note pitch tone according to output data from melody ROM 130. Melody ROM 130 contains pitch, tempo and rhythm information for generating a melody. Rhythm control circuit 140 controls the envelope, generated by envelope generator 150, and the duration of a melody. A melody output signal is generated through DAC 180 and sent to speaker 190. The frequency divider output signal determines the speaker output frequency and the output value of the envelope generator determines the amplitude. In the conventional music box of FIG. 1, melody ROM 130 contains all of the melody information. Consequently, melody ROM 130 must be large enough to store all of the melody information. A typical dual-tone melody music box requires a 50 kHz oscillation circuit to generate a high frequency pulse signal. Melody ROM 130 stores an eight bit integer number to divide the high frequency signal into an actual sound pitch tone. Since each pitch tone requires storing eight bits of data, a total of 16 bits of data is needed for a dual-tone melody generator. Moreover, three bits of data storage are needed to control up to eight different rhythms generated by rhythm control circuit 140 and two bits of data storage are needed to control envelope generator 150. Therefore, a 21-bit memory width is required for a typical dual-tone music generator. Of the required 21 bit memory width, more than 70 percent is needed to store frequency divider information. U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,108 to Shiramizu discloses an electronic musical instrument with two variable frequency dividers. The instrument includes a code generator for generating a first code indicating a tone pitch and a second code indicating an octave. The first variable frequency divider is presettable to a first count value as a function of the first code for counting master clock pulses supplied from an oscillator and generating a first divider output when the first count value is reached. The second variable frequency divider is presettable to a second count value as a function of the second code for counting the first divider output and generating a plurality of pulse trains with an octave frequency relationship. While Shiramizu teaches an instrument that generates codes corresponding to pitch tones, it further teaches storing pitch tone data in a ROM as a nine-bit value. Thus, similar to the music box of FIG. 1, the instrument of Shiramnizu requires a significant amount of memory to store pitch tone data and melody information. In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods and apparatus that minimize the required memory for frequency division information storage in music boxes and other devices.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multiphase clock divider, and more particularly, to a multiphase clock divider that can be designed according to timing margin requirements by generating reference clocks. 2. Description of the Prior Art As integrated circuit systems become more complex, system requirements for clock stability and accuracy also become higher. A multiphase clock divider capable of simultaneously generating one or more clocks having a same frequency but different phases is widely utilized in various systems such as data transmission systems in a wired or wireless network, or microprocessor systems. Please refer to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional multiphase clock divider 100. The multiphase clock divider 100 receives N input clocks Sin and generates N divide-by-k output clocks Sout. As shown in FIG. 1A, if frequency of the input clocks Sin is fo, frequency of the output clocks Sout will be fo/k, wherein the N input clocks Sin have N different phases, and the N output clocks Sout also have N different phases respectively corresponding to the phases of the N input clocks Sin. Most systems, however, can only operate with a small number of clocks; hence, another multiphase clock divider has N input clocks corresponding to one output clock. Please refer to FIG. 1B, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional multiphase clock divider 102. The multiphase clock divider 102 receives N input clocks Sin and generates one divide-by-k output clock Sout. As shown in FIG. 1B, if frequency of the input clocks Sin is fo, frequency of the output clock Sout will be fo/k, wherein the N input clocks Sin have N different phases, and the output clock Sout may have N*k different kinds of phases. If the system requires more than one output clock, the structure in FIG. 1B can be duplicated to generate output clocks with a plurality of different phases. A clock divider can be realized by utilizing a divide-by-2 clock dividing circuit. Please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, where FIG. 2A illustrates a divide-by-2 clock divider 20 realized by utilizing a D flip-flop, and FIG. 2B is a waveform diagram of an input clock Sin and an output clock Sout of the divide-by-2 clock divider 20. As shown in FIG. 2B, when the input clock Sin is switched from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level, the output clock Sout may be switched from a lower voltage level to a higher voltage level or from a higher voltage level to a lower voltage level. There are two kinds of different phase relationships between the input clock Sin and the output clock Sout. When the divisor of the clock divider increases, there may be more than two kinds of phase relationships between the input clock Sin and the output clock Sout. For example, when T divide-by-2 clock dividers are connected in series, a divide-by-2T clock divider can be achieved, and the output clock and the input clock of the divide-by-2T clock divider may possess 2T kinds of different phase relationships. A conventional method for calibrating phase of an output clock is detect-and-reset. For a divide-by-2T clock divider, each divide-by-2 clock divider may have an individual detecting circuit, and each detecting circuit utilizes three input clocks with different phases to determine which phase the output clock of each divide-by-2 clock divider has, so as to determine whether to perform a reset. For example, please refer to FIG. 3A, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional detect-and-reset multiphase clock divider 30. The multiphase clock divider 30 generates N output clocks PHO(360°*i/N), wherein i can be any positive integer between 1 and N. As shown in FIG. 3A, for each input clock PHI(360°*i/N) and the corresponding output clock PHO(360°*i/N), the multiphase clock divider 30 needs to utilize input clocks PHI(360°*i/N), PHI(360°*(i+1)/N), and PHI(360°*(i+2)/N) to perform detect-and-reset. Please refer to FIG. 3B, which takes a divide-by-4 clock divider 310 as an example, where the divide-by-4 clock divider 310 includes divide-by-2 circuits 312, 314 and detect-and-reset control circuits 316, 318. As shown in FIG. 3B, an input clock PHI(0°) is divided by the divide-by-2 circuit 312 to generate a medium clock PHM(0°), and the medium clock PHM(0°) is further divided by the divide-by-2 circuit 314 to generate an output clock PHO(0°). The medium clock PHM(0°) and the input clock PHI(0°) may possess two kinds of phase relationships; hence, the detect-and-reset control circuit 316 has to utilize three input clocks with different phases PHI(0°), PHI(360°*1/N), and PHI(360°*2/N) to determine which phase the medium clock PHM(0°) has, so as to determine whether to perform a reset. The output clock PHO(0°) and the medium clock PHM(0°) may also possess two kinds of phase relationships; hence, the detect-and-reset control circuit 318 has to utilize three medium clocks with different phases PHM(0°), PHM(360°*1/N), and PHM(360°*2/N) to determine which phase the output clock PHO(0°) has, so as to determine whether to perform a reset. The medium clocks PHM(360°*1/N) and PHM(360°*2/N) must be further generated by utilizing PHI(360°*1/N) and PHI(360°*2/N) via different divide-by-2 clock dividers, respectively. Therefore, other input clocks and detect-and-reset control circuits are required for ensuring phases of the medium clocks PHM(360°*1/N) and PHM(360°*2/N) are accurate. As a result, when the divisor of the clock divider increases, even if only one output clock is required, the required input clocks and control circuits may still increase significantly. In addition, the detect-and-reset control circuits 316, 318 must utilize double the input frequency for detection, such that an operational speed of the system may be reduced. The industry has further developed a delay type multiphase clock divider. Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional delay type multiphase clock divider 40. As shown in FIG. 4, an output clock of each stage is a delay version of an output clock of the previous stage, where there is a fixed phase relationship between two adjacent output clocks. Since the highest frequency of the control signals in the delay type multiphase clock divider 40 is the same as the input frequency, operational speed of the delay type multiphase clock divider 40 may be higher than the detect-and-reset multiphase clock divider 30. Set-up time of the delay type multiphase clock divider 40, however, is fo/N, wherein fo is frequency of the input clock and N is the number of phases. When N becomes greater, the set-up time will fall accordingly, which may limit the operational speed of the system.

The present invention relates to the use of very low friction material formed into patches or pieces and adhered to the skin or to a surface in contact with the skin (or immediately adjacent material such as a sock) to lower the magnitude of tangential traction of the surface in contact with the skin. The material reduces the likelihood of abrasion, trauma and ulceration in localized areas. In the prior art, there have been efforts to reduce the co-efficient of friction of materials in load bearing contact with the skin, such as the surface of a lining of a shoe, which slides against a stocking. Also the regions where a limb prosthesis is in load bearing contact with a residual limb have been extensively considered for ways of reducing problems. The co-efficient of friction of smooth leather varies, depending on the moisture content, and when it gets wet can be quite high in friction. Moleskin patches have been sold and used for covering corns on the feet, as well as covering calluses, but this also has a relatively high co-efficient of friction against the inner surface of a shoe and the co-efficient of friction increases substantially when the moleskin is wet. Blisters, abrasions, calluses, bursas and even some forms of sub-cutaneous tissue trauma are the result of applications of a combination of forceful contact and tangential tractions to the skin (forceful rubbing/forceful shearing). High shear stresses may cause damage in a single cycle. Low shear stresses may cause tissue damage when the number of cycles is great. Tangential skin tractions relate directly to tissue shear stress and shear strain magnitudes. Shear strain is by its very nature very distortional and, when it exceeds certain levels, results in the tearing of biological tissues such as blood capillaries and interface (skin-subcutaneous) layers. High normal pressures (perpendicular to the skin surface) in the absence of significant tangential tractions are surprisingly well tolerated by skin and underlying tissue, especially when applications are of a short enough duration to avoid ischemic trauma (cell death after an extended period of blood flow blockage). This invention is primarily aimed at reducing and preventing shear trauma from many repetitions of short duration skin loadings, but eliminating shear tractions even in low repetition, long-duration loadings is of value. Research shows that even capillary blood flow is affected strongly by whether or not shear stresses are superimposed on normal pressures. When high shear stresses are present, capillary blood flow has been shown to be occluded at normal pressures only half as great as what are required to occlude flow in the absence of shear stresses and strains. There is some recognition among medical researchers and care-givers that shear plays a role in tissue trauma. However, how and when excessive shear stresses/strains occur and how they damage tissue are hard to visualize. Injury from a normal force (a simple, yet forceful, blow or bump causing injury by crushing tissue) is easier for people to visualize and understand. Shear stresses and how they vary over a given area (and vary with time) are very hard to measure; much harder than it is to measure normal pressure. In addition to the visualization and measurement difficulties just mentioned, there is the fact that few people have better than a vague qualitative awareness of how something called the xe2x80x9ccoefficient of frictionxe2x80x9d (C.F.) relates to blisters, abrasions, and calluses. Tangential traction force magnitudes can be no greater than the C.F. times the magnitude of normal force. Therefore, the simplest, most direct way to reduce shear induced tissue trauma is to choose materials which minimize friction against the at-risk skin surface areas. Until the present invention, there has been little practical awareness of, and attention given to, friction management. Examination and knowledge of products on the market indicate that the opportunities for reducing callusing, blistering and abrasions by friction management has been almost entirely unappreciated by designers of shoes, orthoses, prostheses, and many other objects that come in repeated or prolonged contact with the human body. Thin silk or synthetic fiber sheets have been used by amputees to pull over their residual limbs before pulling on a cotton or wool sock and then donning the limb prosthesis. The co-efficient of friction between the sheet and the sock is reduced under dry conditions and does protect the residual limb to some extent from friction and consequent shear-related trauma. The coefficient of friction increases substantially when the material becomes damp or wet. In most cases, the material used to line shoes and prosthetic sockets, for example, represent high friction choices. Foam products are used to line prosthetic sockets, orthoses, and shoe insoles and represent a particularly poor material from the standpoint of friction management. Damp skin and sock material literally sticks to such foams. Synthetic gel socket liners are available, and these are generally in the range of xe2x85x9 inch {fraction (5/16)} inch thick. The liner cover tends to stick to the skin and other materials in contact with it, so that it does not act as a friction reducer, but does provide cushioning and accommodates small amplitude shear motions without much resistance. The effectiveness of a gel liner is dependent on its thickness, and as it becomes thicker, its weight and bulk are deterrents. Thus, the concept of providing a very low friction interface between the skin and surfaces that contact the skin, particularly in high load and high shear areas, has escaped the workers in the field and the need exists for reduction of trauma to the skin where the skin and tissue are supported. The present invention relates to providing a layer of material that has a very low friction outer surface in both dry and wet conditions to provide an interface with a surface that normally would support the skin either directly or through a cloth covering, such as a sock fabric. In the usual situation, the surface loading or bearing on the skin may be the inner surface of an orthosis, the socket surface of a prosthesis, or inner surfaces of a shoe, especially insoles, but also other inner surfaces. The layer of low-friction material is adhered, preferably, to the surface of the object that bears on the skin and faces the skin, although applying the layer with an adhesive directly on the skin in the affected area with the low friction surface facing the support is also contemplated. The purpose of the low friction material is to lower the magnitude of tangential tractions that the surface of the object can exert against the skin. The use of intervening layers is contemplated in the present invention, so a sock or sheet placed between the low friction pad and the skin does not adversely affect the performance. A low friction surface layer used may be on material in the form of a sheet, or a small patch that is pre-cut, or custom cut to a desired size, and having a pressure sensitive adhesive on the surface of the patch opposite from the low friction surface. The adhesive may be on the outer surface of another layer of material, such as a foam backing cushion layer or a stretch fabric backing bonded to the low friction material. A release paper is placed on the exposed adhesive. When the release paper is removed, the patch or piece of material providing the low friction surface layer can be adhered into a certain desired position of the surface of the skin or on the object that bears on the skin. Made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The PTFE layer is preferably bonded to a fabric layer of a somewhat elastic, flexible material such as Lycra or a Lycra blend. The exposed side of the fabric is covered with a pressure adhesive and a release paper is on top of the adhesive. The thin sheet of PTFE material can be used without any backing sheets by applying adhesive directly to the PTFE layer. Bonding a very thin sheet of PTFE to a stretch fabric without having the PTFE separate from the fabric during use gives the desired low friction characteristics of the outer surface, while permitting the formed patch to conform to irregular shapes or surfaces, because of the stretch fabric underneath the thin layer of PTFE. The stretch fabric also gives the thin layer of low friction material, such as PTFE, xe2x80x9cbodyxe2x80x9d so it can be handled reasonably during the release paper stripping and application of the layer or patch to the desired surface. Very thin layers of PTFE tend to wrinkle or fold and cause problems with getting them very smooth. The elasticity of the backing fabric allows conformance into recesses, over convexities, and onto a combination of compound contoured surfaces. Cushioning material,such as foam can be placed between the patch and the surface supporting the patch, if desired, to provide a cushioning effect, as is known. Various shapes can be made, including shapes which would have the stretch fabric toward the center of the patch or piece so that it was surrounded by an adhesive coated thin low friction material. A preferred method of use includes placement of suitable size pieces or patches of the low friction coefficient material either on the skin or on the surface that will be next to the skin in locations where shear trauma is likely to occur. These patches or pieces can be held in place with suitable adhesive on the back side of the low friction material. Foam or other compressible material for cushioning can be used wherever needed. Another aspect or form of the protective patch is the PTFE film or layer bonded to a calf skin leather hide, textile foam liner, or other material that could be used to line the inner wall of the toe box of a shoe. The composite material can be sewn and applied in the same manner as the lining material now is applied without a PTFE film surface. The usefulness of this material is realized in its ability to shield dorsal and peripheral surfaces of the foot from damaging shear forces. At these non-plantar locations, high tangential tractions can be present, but more often trauma develops from lower forces, that generate excessive callus/corn growth and/or tissue breakdown by the action of cyclic (high frequency) loading. The patches of the present invention offers an easy way to accomplish xe2x80x9cfriction managementxe2x80x9d. The surfaces that a shoe, orthosis, or prosthesis present to the skin vary as to their function and as to the tissue trauma risk they present. It is also true that some areas of the anatomy within a shoe, prosthesis, or orthoses are at greater or lesser risk because of the level of peak forces and/or the amount of soft tissue interposed between skin and bone. Some parts of an orthosis bear only slightly or not at all against the corresponding skin surface. Other parts bear very firmly in order to provide maximum orthopedic support, correction, or weight bearing. Still other surfaces such as the supra-condylar parts of a BK (lower leg) prosthesis socket serve to suspend (during swing-through) or maintain position of the device. All of these just-noted facts are important because they are reasons to vary the friction coefficient depending on the surface function. For instance, there is very little reason to be concerned about the friction coefficient of a surface in only very light contact with the skin (unless the number of repetitions is very high). Forceful cyclical contact against a skin surface is a situation that benefits more from minimizing the friction coefficient. If the area is xe2x80x9cbonyxe2x80x9d minimizing friction becomes more important. In a case like the supra-condylar suspension areas of the BK socket mentioned earlier, high friction (even xe2x80x9cstickyxe2x80x9d) materials may be desired. Applying the low friction patches of an aspect of the invention to certain areas and not others is a way to add friction management to the orthotist""s (prosthetist""s, podiatrist""s, etc.) treatment methods and appliances. In cases where the professional wishes to apply maximum supportive/corrective pressure the near elimination of friction and shear in selected regions means that much greater support can be safely provided without approaching tissue trauma conditions. There are also many consumer (nonprofessional) applications for the present invention. Many people are plagued by excessive callus build-up. A person with excessive calluses under the metatarsal heads might remove the shoe insoles and apply low friction patches to the corresponding surface of the insole. If the excessive callus is in the form of xe2x80x9ccornsxe2x80x9d the person could apply a low friction corn pad to relieve some pressure on a painful corn (by means of annular cushioning material) and greatly reduce the friction and shear which originally generated, and then maintains the corn callus. A similar but much larger patch might be applied by a skater over ankle bones to allow tight (er) lacing with greater comfort and less chance of trauma at the apices of those bony prominences. As an alternative, the skater may choose to adhere the patch to the appropriate locations on the inside surface of the skate uppers. There are a myriad of other possibilities such as on kneeling pads (for cement workers, etc.) or on backpack shoulder straps. A similar (but non-consumer) use of the cushioned patch (continuous, annular, or donut types) is in hospitals for prevention of bed sores. Low friction cushion patches of the present invention applied over healthy bony areas such as sacrum-coccyx, greater trochanter, heels, and elbows as a prophylactic measure act to inhibit the generation of bed sores.

The invention relates to a valve arrangement. Valve arrangements using piston slide valves are known. The disadvantage of these known valve arrangements is that when additional functions are necessary for all or some fluid outlets, this leads to a relatively complex and expensive structure. One of these complex structures is a plate design which requires a plurality of partially very long holes and/or holes which adjoin one another at an angle, as fluid channels and a plurality of sealing sites, etc. Compared to seat valves, piston slide valves have certain advantages, in that with a small structure relatively large flow cross sections can be accomplished, and in this way pressure drops in fluid systems can be reduced. Furthermore, generic type valve arrangements are known in which to achieve a simplified structure, while preserving the basic advantages of piston slide valves, several slide valves or their housings are flanged in series, or without an additional valve plate, directly to a valve arrangement. The object of the invention is to devise a valve arrangement with at least two piston slide valves flanged in series with their valve housings, in which (valve arrangement) the valves have optimum behavior, especially optimum dynamic behavior.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved joystick used for three-dimensional ophthalmic instrument alignment, and more particularly, to a joystick requiring minimal rotational motion. 2. Description of the Prior Art Many ophthalmic instruments require alignment of a test axis with the center of a patient's eye and an element of the instrument to be spaced a chosen distance from the eye. One such instrument, the non-contact tonometer, has been used by practitioners in their ophthalmic practice for more than 20 years. The early non-contact tonometers, manufactured by American Optical Corporation, used a joystick, a handle extending from a ball mounted to provide pivotal motion about the center of the ball, in order to move the instrument in a horizontal (X-Z) plane. To move the test axis horizontally in the X direction toward the center of the patient's eye, the joystick is tilted in a corresponding direction. To move the element in the Z direction toward or away from the eye, the joystick is tilted in a corresponding direction. Obviously, compound horizontal movement can be obtained by moving the joystick in a direction between the aforementioned orthogonal directions. Vertical Y-axis motion in these earlier non-contact tonometers was provided by a separate knob linked by a belt to a threaded shaft mounted for rotation on the carrier and engaging a nut on the support to provide the vertical movement of the test axis. The "firing" button used to actuate the air puff of the early non-contact tonometers was located in the center of the knob used to control vertical, Y-axis, movement. Later models of the non-contact tonometers produced by Reichert-Jung Ophthalmic Instruments (a successor to American Optical Corporation) and Tokyo Optical Company (Topcon) combined the vertical Y-axis control and "firing" button into the joystick. An example of this type of joystick is taught by Japanese Publication No. 4-50562. Such controls have several disadvantages as taught by the above-mentioned Japanese publication. One problem encountered resulted from twisting the wires used to connect the "firing" button to the instrument electronics and the expense associated with eliminating the twisted wire problem. Another disadvantage of rotating the joystick to control vertical motion was that the practitioner could not accomplish vertical motion when grasping the joystick in the conventional manner because the vertical motion frequently required one or more revolutions of the joystick in order to vertically position the test axis in the center of the eye. Also, many practitioners encounter difficulty in maintaining a horizontal location while adjusting the vertical location of the instrument. One system for determining the position of a test axis in relation to the center of the eye, as well as the distance of an element from the eye, is taught in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,807. This patent discloses an optical alignment system having a visual display for indicating the relative position of the test axis, and teaches using a joystick for manually positioning the test axis or using three electric motors controlled by information obtained from the optical alignment system to automatically position the instrument.

A variety of systems and devices have been made and used for treating morbid obesity. Some such systems and devices include adjustable gastric band systems, which are operable to restrict the flow of food from the esophagus into the stomach. Some gastric bands include a fluid-filled elastomeric bladder with fixed endpoints that encircles the stomach just inferior to the gastro-esophageal junction. When fluid is added to the bladder, the band expands against the stomach, creating a food intake restriction or stoma in the stomach. To decrease this restriction, fluid is removed from the bladder. Examples of gastric bands are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,528, entitled “Latching Device for Gastric Band,” issued Aug. 26, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. In some settings, it may be desirable to obtain data indicative of the pressure of fluid in a gastric band. Various examples of methods and devices for obtaining pressure data are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0211912, entitled “External Pressure-Based Gastric Band Adjustment System and Method” published Sep. 21, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Such pressure data may be used to determine whether the amount of fluid in the gastric band needs to be adjusted; and/or for other purposes. While a variety of gastric band systems have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor(s) has made or used an invention as described herein. The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.

On-board features of modern vehicles can have the effect of distracting the driver from safe operation of the vehicle. Such on-board features can include BLUETOOTH telephony, radio, CD, or MP3 audio players, on-board DVD or MP4 video players, mapping and routing features, and on-board voice text messaging or SMS features that enable drivers to read and response to text messages while, at the same time, attempting to safely operate the vehicle in traffic. Such on-board features may further include on-demand television, social media and other content browsing features, calendar scheduling, and voice and video conferencing. As network technology progresses, modern vehicles will continue to evolve into “smart” vehicles capable of providing the user with evolutions of the above-mentioned on-board features that contribute to visual, manual, and cognitive distraction. At the same time, vehicle manufacturers continue to provide evolving safety features that include not only structural and mechanical characteristics (e.g., crumple structures, carbon fiber materials, etc.), but also software-based driving aids that support the driver, for example, in lane-keeping, following, preemptive braking, and collision detection and avoidance. Autonomous vehicle technology seeks to circumvent manufacturer conflict between providing desirable on-board features and maintaining driver awareness for safe driving. Nevertheless, the human brain has significant advantages over current autonomous driving systems, being capable of rapid and intelligent perception, thought, and decision-making. In order to progress from current autonomous capabilities to full autonomy and acceptable trustworthiness in all road conditions and environments, leveraging human cognition may be advantageous in assisting and intervening autonomous vehicle operations in various scenarios.

This invention relates to elastic fibers. In one aspect, the invention relates to bicomponent elastic fibers while in another aspect, the invention relates to biconstituent elastic fibers. In another aspect, the invention relates to bicomponent and biconstituent elastic fibers having a core/sheath construction. In yet another aspect, the invention relates to such fibers in which the polymer that forms the sheath has a lower melting point than the polymer that forms the core. In still another embodiment, the invention relates to methods of forming elastic cellulosic structures from a combination of cellulosic fibers and elastic bicomponent and/or biconstituent fibers having a core/sheath construction. Cellulosic structures are known for their absorbency, and this property makes these structures useful in a wide variety of applications. Typical examples of such applications are diapers, wound dressings, feminine hygiene products, bed pads, bibs, wipes, and the like. The purpose of these products, of course, is to absorb and retain liquids, and the efficiency of these products in performing these tasks is determined, in large part, by their structure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,816,094, 4,880,682, 5,429,856 and 5,797,895 describe various such products, their construction and the materials from which they are made, and each is incorporated herein by reference. Typically, absorbent cellulosic structures are made of materials that do not easily stretch. For example, cellulose fibers are, for all intent and purpose, inelastic and in many cellulosic structures, e.g. a diaper, they are bonded to one another in a relatively inelastic manner, e.g., through the use of a latex. Unfortunately, many of these structures require some degree of elasticity for reasons of comfort and use, e.g., a diaper conforming to the contours of the human body or a wipe having the touch and drape of cloth, and if the structure is not sufficiently elastic, gaps will form within it. Gaps reduce the absorbency of the structure by preventing the migration of the liquid to all parts of the structure. Demand exists for better form-fitting absorbent products. This usually means that not only must the products have improved elasticity, but they must also be thin and light. Elasticity has been chased to date by adding to or replacing some of the cellulose fibers with an elastic fiber. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,542 to Anjur et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes absorbent products made from a wettable staple fiber (e.g., cellulose fiber) and a thermoplastic elastic fiber, e.g., a polyolefin rubber. However, the mere blending of staple fibers with elastic fibers often is not enough to obtain the full benefit of the elastic fiber without compromising the absorbency of the staple fiber. Cellulose fibers (the commonest of the staple fibers) tend to adhere to one another as opposed to adhering with an elastic fiber. As a result, unless a highly uniform mixture of the two fibers is formed during the construction of the absorbent structure, the two types of fibers tend to segregate and the benefit of the elastomeric fibers is reduced or lost. Accordingly, the absorbent product industry has a continuing interest in the design and construction of absorbent products with improved elasticity without a compromise in absorbency. This interest extends to both the nature of the fibers from which the absorbent products are made, and the methods by which these absorbent products are constructed. In one embodiment, the invention is a bicomponent fiber of a core/sheath construction in which the core comprises the thermoplastic elastomer, preferably a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and the sheath comprises the homogeneously branched polyolefin. Preferably, the polymer of the sheath has a lower melting point than the polymer of the core, and more preferably the polymer of the sheath has a gel content of less than 30 percent. In another embodiment, the invention is a biconstituent fiber in which one constituent comprises the thermoplastic elastomer, preferably a TPU, and the other constituent comprises the homogeneously branched polyolefin. Preferably, the constituent that forms the majority of the external surface of the fiber has a lower melting point than the other constituent, and preferably has a gel content of less than 30 percent. In another embodiment, the invention is a blend of fibers (or simply a xe2x80x9cfiber blendxe2x80x9d) comprising (i) an elastic fiber comprising an elastic core and an elastic sheath, and (ii) at least one fiber other than the elastic fiber of (i). The core of the elastic fiber preferably comprises a thermoplastic elastomer, preferably a TPU, and the sheath of the elastic fiber preferably comprises a homogeneously branched polyolefin, more preferably a homogenously branched, substantially linear ethylene polymer. The polymer of the sheath has a melting point below the melting point of the polymer of the core, and preferably the polymer of the sheath has a gel content of less than 30 weight percent. The fiber of (ii) is essentially any fiber other than the fiber of (i), preferably a fiber of cellulose, wool, silk, a thermoplastic polymer, silica or a combination of two or more of these. In another embodiment of the invention, the fibers of (i) are melt bonded to the fibers of (ii), preferably by exposure to a temperature that is at or slightly below the melt temperature of both the fiber of (ii) and the polymer of the core of fiber (i) but above the melt temperature of the polymer of the sheath of fiber (i). In yet another embodiment of this invention, the melt bonded fiber blend is substantially free of any added adhesives, e.g., glue. In another embodiment of this invention, the blends described in the preceding paragraph are used to build elastic, absorbent structures. Such structures include paper with elasticity, e.g., form-fitting labels, and the absorbent padding of a disposable diaper. In another embodiment, the invention is a fabricated article comprising elastic fiber and a nonwoven substrate, the fiber comprising at least two elastic polymers, one polymer preferably a thermoplastic elastomer, more preferably a TPU, and the other polymer a homogeneously branched polyolefin, preferably a homogeneously branched, substantially linear ethylene polymer, in which the fiber is melt bonded to the nonwoven substrate in the absence of an adhesive. Exemplary fabricated structures of this embodiment include the leg cuffs, leg gatherers, waistbands and side panels of a disposable diaper. In another embodiment of the invention, the ratio of nonelastic staple fibers, e.g., cellulose fibers, bonded to elastic fibers versus nonelastic staple fibers bonded to other nonelastic staple fibers, is increased by a method in which the elastic fiber is a hydrophobic fiber grafted with a hydrophilic agent, e.g., a polyethylene fiber grafted with maleic anhydride. In an extension of this embodiment, and in which the hydrophilic agent is an acid or an anhydride, e.g., maleic anhydride, once the agent is grafted to the fiber it is then reacted with an amine. In another embodiment of the invention, for those nonelastic staple fibers that bind to one another due to hydrogen bonding, e.g., cellulose fibers, the ratio of nonelastic staple fibers bonded to elastic fibers versus nonelastic staple fibers bonded to other nonelastic staple fibers is increased by treating the nonelastic staple fibers, prior to or simultaneously with blending these fibers with the elastic fibers, with a debonding agent, e.g., a quaternary ammonium compound containing one or more acid groups. The debonding agent deactivates at least a part of the hydrogen bonding between the nonelastic staple fibers. In another embodiment of the invention, blending of nonelastic staple fibers with elastic fibers is enhanced by blending the fibers in an aqueous media, preferably in the presence of a surfactant and with intense agitation. This procedure enhances the separation of the elastic fibers from one another, and thus makes each fiber more accessible for bonding with a nonelastic staple fiber. This method can be used alone or in combination with one or more other fiber separation embodiments of this invention. In another embodiment of the invention, high intensity air mixing is used to separate elastic fibers from one another prior to blending with staple fibers. This technique also promotes separation of the elastic fibers from one another, and this, in turn, improves their accessibility for bonding with the staple fibers. This embodiment of the invention can also be used alone or in combination with one or more other embodiments of the invention. The three fiber separation and the grafting embodiments described above are particularly useful in the construction of elastic absorbent structures such as diapers, wound dressings and the like.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to coke and lignite gasification. More specifically, disclosed embodiments of the invention relate to preparation of feed slurries prior to gasification. Fossil fuels, such as coal or petroleum, may be gasified for use in the production of electricity, chemicals, synthetic fuels, or for a variety of other applications. Gasification involves reacting a carbonaceous fuel and oxygen at a very high temperature to produce syngas, a fuel containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which burns much more efficiently and cleaner than the fuel in its original state. Different carbonaceous fuels may be gasified with varying success. That is, a higher heat value generally indicates that a fuel is more easily combustible. The heat value of a material is a measure of the energy released by combustion of the fuel with oxygen. For example, petcoke, which is produced from cracking petroleum, has a relatively high heat value and, therefore, is easily gasified. In contrast, lignite, which has high moisture and high ash content, has a very low heat content and is therefore difficult to gasify. In some instances, lignite contains too much moisture and ash to gasify. However, lignite is much less expensive than coke, which must be derived (i.e., cracked) prior to gasification. Accordingly, it may be desirable to develop a system and process by which lignite and coke may be gasified together.

The present invention relates to highly active catalysts for olefin metathesis reactions, and the preparation of the catalysts. The invention also relates to the olefin metathesis reactions catalyzed with the catalysts of the invention. A number of catalysts have been developed recently for initiating olefin metathesis reactions, including ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclo-olefins, ring-closing metathesis (RCM) of dienes to form ring-closed products, depolymerization of unsaturated polymers to form the depolymerized products, synthesis of telechelic polymers by reaction of a cyclic olefin with a functionalized olefin, and synthesis of cyclic olefins by self-metathesis of an acyclic olefin or cross-metathesis of two acyclic olefins. Those well defined catalysts usually have a metal-carbon double bond (metal-carbene or -alkylidene) that can coordinate to the alkene moiety of the olefin and, for example, can initiate readily the ring opening of cyclo-olefin monomers. Most of the metals that exhibit remarkable activity in such catalysts are second-or third-row mid-to late- transition metals. Although the specific reason for their degree of activity has not been clearly established, many theories have been put forward, the most prevalent of which expounds that late transition metals exhibit greater robustness towards the impurities that may inherently be present within a reaction system and consequently resist degradation. Among olefins, cyclic olefins like norbornene (NB) or endo-dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) which possess a strained double bond can readily undergo ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) because the ring opened product is thermodynamically favored. The above-mentioned catalysts are particularly active in catalyzing the ROMP of such ring-strained cyclo-olefins. The catalysts that have received the greatest exposure in the literature by far are those designed by Schrock et al., as reported in Schrock et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1990, 112, 3875, and by Grubbs's group, as reported in Nguyen et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1993, 115, 9858; Nguyen et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1992, 114, 3974; and Grubbs et al., WO98/21214 (1998). The Grubbs catalyst (a ruthenium carbene) is slightly more versatile than the Schrock catalyst (a molybdenum alkylidene) because of its ease of synthesis as well as its utility from a commercial viewpoint. Recently, Cox and co-workers reported in Cox et al., Inorg. Chem., 1990, 29, 1360; Cox, et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1988, 951-953; and Porri et al, Tetrahedron Letters, No. 47., 1965, 4187-4189, the synthesis of a class of metal catalysts based on ruthenium metal. These catalysts consist primarily of a bis-allyl ligand wrapping the metal, along with two or three acetonitrile ligands. Additionally, these catalysts possess a mono- or di-anion that is virtually (i.e., almost) coordinated to the metal center, which is therefore considered to be formally in the +4 oxidation state. These complexes in conjunction with a diazo ethyl acetate have been used by Herrmann's group, as reported in Herrmann et al., Angew. Chem. Int'l. Ed. Engl., 1996, 35, 1087, to investigate the polymerization (specifically the ROMP) of NB. Herrmann has conjectured that the active species in the catalyst system is a metal carbene generated in situ when the ruthenium reacts with the diazo alkyl compound (such as diazo ethyl acetate). A disadvantage of the above catalysts is that for the ROMP of cyclic olefins these catalysts must be used with a co-catalyst such as a diazo alkyl compound, which requires special caution in handling because of the instability of the diazo group.

A well known method of interpolation of intermediate images in a sequence is the use of “motion compensation” in which the changes in position of image features from one image to another are analysed and represented as two dimensional “motion vectors”. Typically a vector is associated with a region in an image and the vector describes the direction and magnitude of the change in position of image features within that region from one image in the sequence to another. Interpolated images are then created by taking weighted sums of information from more than one image in the sequence; and, regions of the pictures are moved in dependence upon relevant motion vectors before the summation so as to avoid multiple images due to motion or change of viewpoint. Although the terms “motion” and “motion vector” are used in this specification it must be appreciated that these terms are intended to relate to differences in position of features in a sequence of images and these difference may not necessarily be due to motion, they could equally be due to changes of viewpoint, or other sources of difference between images in a sequence of images. A region may include more than one visible object and it is not unusual for more than one motion vector to be created for the same image region. The phase correlation method of motion vector creation is particularly able to identify a number of motion vectors within the same picture region. The process of motion-compensated interpolation is made more difficult when objects occlude one another and new features are revealed, or previously-visible features are concealed, as the image sequence proceeds. Where several vectors are identified in a particular picture region it is often necessary to make a decision as to which vector to apply to each pixel in that region. For example, several prior art systems choose one of the applicable motion vectors to determine read or write storage addresses for input pixels, and an inappropriate choice may lead to severe problems. Because motion compensated interpolation involves changing the positions of features in the image in response to measured motion vectors, errors in the motion measurement can lead to highly visible artefacts; these can include unnatural hard edges to image features.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sensor unit with a piezoelectric element for three-dimensionally sensing the magnitude and the direction of a physical quantity applied from the outside. 2. Description of Related Art In the automobile, mechanical, and related industries, there is an increasing need for a sensor capable of accurately detecting a physical quantity such as force, acceleration, magnetic field, or the like. In particular, there is a need for developing a small-sized sensor capable of detecting such a physical quantity for each of two- or three-dimensional components. One known technique to realize such a sensor is to dispose a plurality of piezoelectric sensor elements on a flexible plate provided with an operating member (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-26744). In this sensor, the flexible plate is deformed in response to a physical quantity applied from the outside to the operating member, and the piezoelectric element generates a charge corresponding to the deformation of the flexible plate thereby three-dimensionally detecting the magnitude and the direction of the physical quantity using the single sensor unit (hereinafter, this type of sensor is referred to as a "three-axis sensor"). As an example of a three-axis sensor, an acceleration sensor of the type using a weight as an operating member is described below with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, when an acceleration of a is applied from the outside on the sensor, a weight 1 experiences an inertial force f in a direction opposite to the acceleration a. As a result, a flexible plate 3, which extends in a horizontal direction between the weight 1 and a supporting base 2, has a deformation corresponding to the inertial force f. Depending on the direction and the amount of the deformation 4, corresponding amount of charges are generated in respective piezoelectric elements 5 disposed on the flexible plate 3. By detecting these charges, it is possible to perform a three-dimensional detection of the acceleration applied from the outside. This type of sensor is described in further detail below with reference to FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). In the sensor shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the center of the bottom plane of a cylindrical weight 10 to which a flexible plate 12 is attached is defined as the origin O. The plane extending in parallel to the flexible plate 12 passing through the origin O is defined as an X-Y plane, and X and Y axes are defined in this X-Y plane so that X and Y axes are perpendicular to each other. Furthermore, a Z axis is defined so that it extends in a direction perpendicular to the X-Y plane and passes through the origin O. In this structure, each portion of the piezoelectric material located between one pair of upper and lower electrodes is referred to as a "piezoelectric sensor element". In the specific example of the sensor shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), four piezoelectric sensor elements each consisting of a particular portion of the piezoelectric material and a pair of electrodes are disposed in the X and Y directions on the flexible plate 12, and additional eight piezoelectric sensor elements for use in detection in the Z direction are disposed. In this sensor, the respective components of the inertial force f applied on the weight 1 by the external acceleration a are determined by the amounts of charge generated in the respective piezoelectric sensor elements as described below. That is, the X-axis component f.sub.X of the inertial force is detected by the piezoelectric sensor elements E.sub.1 -E.sub.4 as shown in FIG. 4(a). Similarly, the Y-axis component f.sub.Y of the inertial force is detected by the piezoelectric sensor elements E.sub.5 -E.sub.8 (not shown). On the other hand, the Z-axis component f.sub.Z, shown in FIG. 4(b), of the inertial force is detected by the piezoelectric sensor elements E.sub.9 -E.sub.12 and also by the piezoelectric sensor elements E.sub.13 -E.sub.16. The directions of the respective components are determined on the basis of the charge polarity pattern. For instance, as shown in FIG. 4(a), a charge polarity pattern of "+-+-" appears on the upper surface of the piezoelectric material, while a charge polarity pattern of "+--+" appears on the upper surface of the piezoelectric material in FIG. 4(b), wherein the pattern is seen from left to right in both cases. From the resultant force of the combination of the detected components f.sub.X, f.sub.Y, and f.sub.Z, the direction and the magnitude of the inertial force f (and therefore the magnitude and direction of the external acceleration a) can be determined in a three dimensional fashion using the single small-sized sensor. In order for the three-axis sensor to accurately detect the inertial force f, it is required to accurately detect each component f.sub.X, f.sub.Y, and f.sub.Z in the X, Y, and Z directions, respectively. However, the detection of one component can be influenced by the presence of other components because the three-axis sensor described above detects each component in the X, Y, and Z directions by means of the single flexible plate having a weight and extending in a horizontal direction. That is, the detection limit, which is determined by the spring constant of the flexible plate, is further reduced if the single flexible plate is used for detection in both directions. This results in a reduction in the detection range of the sensor. Although the above problem may be avoided to a certain extent by increasing the hardness or the spring constant of the flexible plate, the result is a reduction in the sensitivity.

The present invention pertains in general to Ethernet transceivers and, more particularly, to an output driver for an Ethernet interface. Local area networks (LAN) are utilized to interconnect computers, terminals, word processors, facsimile and other office machines within a facility. Although a definition of a local area network can encompass many systems, it is typically directed toward systems that provide for high-speed transmission with typical data rates in the range of 50 Kb s to 150 Mb s, which utilizes some type of switching technology and is embedded within some form of network topology. The various technologies necessary to implement a local area network include transmission, switching and networking. Local area network transmission is achieved in many ways, by transmitting over coax, twisted pairs or even optical fibers. Some of these medias, such as the twisted pair medium, are limited in bandwidth. The media is utilized to transmit reference data, with the data being transmitted in the baseband. Typically, data rates as high as 100 Mb s have been transmitted by using baseband coding techniques such as Manchester Coding, the most prominent of which is the Ethernet, which provides for transmission at either a 10 BASE-T or 100 BASE-T. These are well known standards. When transmitting data over an Ethernet Interface, the data is transmitted as a sequence of xe2x80x9csymbolsxe2x80x9d which involve transmission of logic states at different levels. In one technique, a multi-level technique, a symbol can be at a positive level, a zero level or a negative level. The next symbol will be at the same level or will be at a different level yielding a transition between the two symbols. When transmitting the sequence of symbols, bandwidth is a consideration due to interference that occurs over the line from one end to the next. This interference can be due to such things as inter-symbol interference, near-end cross talk, etc. All of this noise will degrade the signal, which degradation must be accounted for. Typical solutions to this signal degradation is to use some type of equalizer, reduce clock jitter, etc. The present invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises a method for controlling the output voltage variation over temperature for an impedance control line driver which comprises a driver having a constant output impedance with an external resistor provided for comparing to an internal resistor and controlling the current provided therefrom as a function of temperature. The driver includes a switched current and driver that generates bipolar currents and circuitry for controlling the current provided therefrom as a function of temperature.

Computer devices such as notebook and/or laptop computers generally comprise a base member coupled to a display member by a hinge. The hinge generally comprises a friction clutch so that when opening the display member, frictional torque can be used to maintain the display at a user-selected viewing angle. However, if the computer device is new or during instances when the display member has not been moved for a period of time, a static “break-away” torque generally makes it difficult to open or move the display member. In some instances the “break-away” torque can cause the base member to tip/lift from a support surface. Further, computer devices having less weight generally have less mass to counter the tipping/lifting effect.

The present invention relates to a brake unit, which has at least two brake shoes, each with a friction lining, and at least one brake disc rotor, the outer surfaces of the brake disc rotor each having at least partially a friction surface composed of a metal/ceramic composite material (CMC) for respective friction linings, and at least one application device, which acts upon the brake shoes during the braking operation. Conventional brake units, especially in motor vehicles, generally have brake disc rotors made from a cast-iron material or grey cast iron. However, the trend is towards using brake disc rotors made from a ceramic/metal composite material or for at least the friction surfaces of the brake disc rotor to be composed of a ceramic/metal composite material. Components of this kind are disclosed by DE 44 38 456 A1, for example. When brake disc rotors of this kind are used in brake units of conventional design, however, the temperatures that occur at the friction surfaces, especially during braking operations that involve a high braking power, are significantly above those at comparable brake disc rotors made of cast iron material and cannot be tolerated by the friction linings of the brake shoes that are normally used. This results in “fading phenomena” and high wear on the brake linings. It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a brake unit of the abovementioned type in which brake disc rotors with friction surfaces made from a ceramic/metal composite material and customary brake linings are combined in a compatible way. The solution comprises the friction linings of the brake shoes covering at least 15% of the friction surface of the brake disc rotor, the at least one application device being designed in such a way that the pressure acting on the brake shoes acts essentially uniformly on the friction surface during the braking operation. Thus, according to the invention, the disadvantage of the relatively poor thermal tolerance of the friction linings of the brake shoes is compensated for by increasing the surface area of the friction linings that acts on the friction surface of the brake disc rotor, the friction linings simultaneously being pressed against the friction surface of the brake disc rotor as uniformly as possible thanks to homogeneous introduction of the application forces, with the result that there is no local increase in the thermal flux density. Advantageous developments will become apparent from the subclaims. An advantageous embodiment of the present invention consists in that the ratio of the mean height to the mean width of each friction lining of a brake shoe is approximately 1:1 to 1:1.6. Another advantageous development envisages that an application device is provided, which acts on at least two brake shoes, at least two pistons being provided per brake shoe. The brake shoes are thus pressed into contact in such a way under the action of two or more, preferably two to four, pistons that uniform pressure is ensured, even under the action of the braking torque. In another embodiment of the present invention an application device is provided, which acts on at least four brake shoes, at least two pistons being provided per brake shoe. These are therefore application devices of comparatively simple configuration with multiple-piston callipers, preferably two-, three- or four-piston callipers. The more pistons are provided for each calliper, the more advantageous it is to provide either compressible friction linings or a compressible intermediate layer between the friction lining and the calliper, in each case preferably with a compressibility of more than 1 μm/bar brake fluid pressure. Another advantageous refinement of the present invention consists in that a plurality of individual friction linings, each with associated individual application devices, is provided. This can be accomplished by means of single-piston callipers or multiple-piston callipers, in which one or more, preferably two to six, particularly preferably four or six, brake shoes are arranged. The friction surfaces of these brake shoes are advantageously large in the radial direction but comparatively small in the circumferential direction. The at least one application device can furthermore have mechanical and/or electronic compensation elements, which are designed in such a way that the application forces are distributed uniformly to a plurality of friction linings using the principle of balanced levers. An improvement in the pressure is achieved by this means. An improvement in the pressure between the brake disc rotor and the brake shoes can also be achieved by using friction linings with a compressibility of over 1 μm/bar brake fluid pressure and/or an intermediate layer, provided between the friction linings and the application device, with a compressibility of over 1 μm/bar brake fluid pressure. Especially when using more than two hydraulically actuated pistons, e.g. eight pistons, in conjunction with four friction linings per application device, it is advantageous if the pistons are arranged in such a way that the pressure acting on the brake shoes is as uniform as possible, in particular for operating friction coefficients of about 0.40 to 0.45. To suppress braking noise, it is furthermore advantageous to configure the way in which the brake disc rotor is acted upon by the friction linings in such a way that both vibration nodes and vibration antinodes of the critical K0/3 vibration of the brake disc rotor are prevented. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that two brake shoes per friction surface of the brake disc rotor are arranged in such a way that their lines of action enclose an angle a of about 110 to 130°. Another advantageous development envisages that at least the friction surface of the brake disc rotor or the entire brake disc rotor or the entire brake disc should be composed of a ceramic/metal composite material, preferably an aluminium/ceramic composite material, e.g. one based on aluminium oxide, titanium dioxide, boron trioxide and/or titanium boride with aluminium, as described, for example, in German patent application 197 06 925.8-45, or a silicon/ceramic composite material, e.g. one based on silicon carbide. A fibre-reinforced composite material that has carbon fibres and/or silicon carbide fibres, for example, as reinforcing fibres is particularly preferred. However, other fibres based on carbon, nitrogen, silicon or boron are also suitable. Long fibres, preferably in the form of woven fibre structures or nonwoven scrims, are suitable as reinforcing fibres. Short fibres, preferably isotropically oriented short fibres (cf. DE 197 11 829 C1), are particularly preferred, ensuring that the friction surface and/or brake disc has isotropic, i.e. uniform, properties both in the longitudinal and in the transverse direction. As the ceramic component, the composite material can contain a silicon carbide ceramic or an aluminium oxide ceramic, for example. However, other ceramics are also suitable. The friction surface of the brake disc rotor and the brake disc rotor are preferably formed in one piece and are composed of the same material, i.e. of a CMC material. It is particularly preferred to produce the entire brake disc in one piece of a CMC material, making manufacture particularly simple and economical.

1. Field of the Invention The field of the invention is that of exercising devices of the type calculated to provide readily usable means whereby individuals can perform physical exercises in a convenient and pleasant way and without having available the facilities ordinarily available in a gymnasium or otherwise. 2. Description of the Prior Art The herein invention is an improvement in the exercising device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,874. other prior art patents include the following: 1,144,085, 2,716,027, Swiss Pat. No. 48.984 and British Pat. No. 334,255. The exercising device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,874 is a highly successful device and has been widely commercialized in the United States and in foreign countries. The herein invention provides specific improvements in the device as specifically detailed and outlined hereinafter.

Heating systems of this nature are, at present, often used to generate electrical energy from waste heat. It is desirable that a generally constant heating pressure or heating temperature is maintained in the boiler. Because the access to waste heat often varies, it is convenient to control the rate of flow of the medium through the expansion device so as to establish desired boiler conditions. The rate of flow of the medium through the expansion device can be controlled effectively by controlling the number of revolutions. However, the control arrangement for carrying out this control involves high investment costs, which cannot be readily justified economically. Alternatively, this control can be achieved by throttling the input flow with the aid of a throttle valve or choke. However, such throttling of the flow lowers the efficiency of the system very significantly.

The present invention relates to a extremely new tuning peg assembly for a stringed instrument adapted to provide the luthier or stringed instrument craftsman the tools needed to design a completely new design for the top end of the instrument. Guitars, mandolins, banjos, ukeleles, etc have utilized single tuning pegs since their inception. This has drawbacks in that it requires one tuning peg assembly to be incorporated onto the top end of each stringed instrument for each string that the instrument has. This has forced each of the stringed instruments to look essentially the same. Even the non musically inclined will agree that each 12 string guitar (aside from color) looks strikingly similar to all other 12 string guitars. The upper and lower bouts, bridges, neck and frets have very limited ranges of physical placement and configurations. Heretofore, the placement and design of single string tuning peg assemblies have also been extremely limited. As such the luthier has limited range of physical configurations that they can incorporate into their instrument design. Henceforth, a multiple string tuning peg assembly would fulfill a long felt need in the stringed instrument industry. With proper marketing these new designs could be the “in look” for modern stringed instruments, uncluttering the instrument's top end and changing the look. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to apparatus and method for determining the rate of flow of a fluid by measuring the potential difference developed in the fluid as it moves through a magnetic field produced by an electromagnet. 2. Background Information In a magnetic flow meter an electrical potential difference developed in the fluid is detected by a pair of electrodes spaced apart from each other along a line generally orthogonal to both the direction in which the flow is measured and a magnetic field. This arrangement is used both in full bore sensors, where the electrodes are typically mounted in electrically insulated liners inside of metal shells, and in insertion probe meters, where the electrodes are mounted on a bottom or side of a probe. In typical operation the magnetic field is periodically energized to provide a stable magnetic field for a period of time during which the difference in the electrode signal is amplified and detected to provide a measure of flow rate. Although various methods, such as the reversal of the magnetic field polarity and referencing to electrode signal potential in the absence of the magnetic field, are employed in the current art to reduce drift and susceptibility to interfering signals, these problems can still be troublesome. These problems are commonly more severe when the sensor is configured as a probe, which has smaller spacing between sensing electrodes than does a full-bore meter, which leads to a reduction in the magnitude of the sensed voltage and thus to a reduced signal to noise ratio.

In the past electromagnetically actuated (EM) relays and switches have been employed for use in higher power rated circuits having power ratings of from a few volts to 5 KV or more and with corresponding current ratings of from 50 amperes to several hundred amperes or greater. These EM relays and switches while satisfactory in many respects are bulky, heavy, slow responding and tend to develop excessive arcing and sparking across the contacts during operation while opening and closing due to their operation in an ambient air atmosphere. For a number of practical reasons, due to their bulk, weight and out gassing properties, known EM relays and switches can only be operated in air and cannot be enclosed within a protective gastight enclosure that is evacuated Operation in air enables prolonged arcing which is induced during opening and closing of the contacts of such EM relays and switches. This is due to ionization of the air gaseous medium in the space between the contacts as they open or close so that the operating life of such EM devices in service is severely reduced and adds greatly to maintenance problems and expense. Further, EM devices dissipate considerable heat and cannot be upgraded in performance since they are not voltage (capacitor) operated. Lastly, operation of EM device contacts in air induces oxidation of the contact surfaces and can greatly increase contact resistance. Relays and switches which use piezoelectric drive elements have a number of advantages over their electromagnetic (EM) driven counterparts. For example, a piezoelectric driven relay or switch requires substantially lower current and dissipates very little power during operation to open or close a set of load current carrying contacts in comparison to an electromagnetic driven device of the same power rating. Additionally, piezoelectric driven switching devices have very low mass, require less space and introduce less weight into circuit systems with which they are used. Lastly, piezoelectric driven switching devices may have very short actuation times and thus respond much faster than do their EM counterparts. Thus, fast acting switching is possible with smaller and lower weight devices which dissipate less power and generate less heat than does an EM relay or switch of the same power rating. A number of different piezoelectric ceramic switching devices have been offered for sale in the past having a variety of different configurations. One of the more popular and prevailing structural approaches in these known devices, is referred to as a bimorph bender-type piezoelectric ceramic switch device which employs two adjacent piezoelectric plate elements mounted side by side and having conductive electrodes coating their outer surfaces and sharing a common conductive inner surface to form a bimorph bender member. A known commercially available bimorph bender-type piezoceramic switch is described in an application note copyrighted in 1978 published by the Piezo Products Division of Gulton Industries, Inc. located in Metuchen, N.J. and Fullerton, Calif. Another such prior art piezoceramic switching device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,166,763 issued July 18, 1939 for a "Piezoelectric Apparatus and Circuits". In the intervening years since 1939, piezoceramic bender-type switching devices have been the subject of widely-spread efforts to improve their characteristics. This is evidenced by a relatively large number of patents which have issued in the intervening years such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,642--issued Aug. 2, 1955 for a "High Speed Relay of Electromechanical Transducer Material"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,883--issued June 6, 1978 for "Piezoelectric Multimorph Switches" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,166--issued Sept. 6, 1983 for "Piezoelectric Relay with Oppositely Bending Bimorph". Such piezoceramic bender-type switching devices also have been described in a textbook entitled "Manual of Electromechanical Devices" by Douglass C. Greenwood, editor, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company and copyrighted in 1965. Heretofore, piezoelectric ceramic bender-type relays have been described as being employed in a variety of circuits which involve switching of low power rated electrical circuits (i.e., signal level circuits with voltages less than 20 volts and corresponding milliamp range currents). Virtually no commercially available relays have been sold. Also, to date no serious effort has been made to increase the power rating of piezoceramic bender-type relays. A key requirement for a bender actuated relay is the ability of the short gap that forms between the bender-actuated switch contacts as they open (or close) to withstand voltages impressed upon it by the external circuit to which the device is connected. To increase the voltage withstandability of this gap between the contacts after extinction of current flow, it is advantageous to choose an ambient atmosphere such as a vacuum or an inert gas or high dielectric strength atmosphere such as nitrogen and argon or sulfur hexafluoride (SF.sub.6), and the like. In such protective vacuum or inert gaseous atmospheres, the gap space between the contacts can attain as high a dielectric as is possible. This is an important consideration regardless of whether the circuit to be switched operates a few volts or 5000 volts since the ability of the contact gap-space to withstand whatever voltage is required after current extinction while the gap spacing is short, translates into a shorter time needed to achieve that gap and consequent higher operating speeds and capability of higher voltage operation. Relays (which were not piezoelectric in nature) have been operated in a vacuum according to a report in a prior publication entitled "High Voltage Switching with Vacuum Relays" by Ronald V. Tetz and Robert W. Hansen in a paper presented in 1965 at a relay conference conducted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In this publication there is no clear disclosure of the mechanical details of construction of the switch or how it was arranged so that the contacts were operated in a vacuum. Further, as of the present date no commercially practical high power vacuum relays have appeared on the market. In addition, at a conference held in 1978 by the IEEE and identified as the Holm Conference, a paper was presented entitled "Electret Driven Electrical Relays" by D. Perino, G. Dreyfus and J. Lewiner--pages 441-446 wherein an electret, not piezoelectric, type relay device operated in a vacuum enclosure and suitable for use at low signal levels (less than 20 volts) is disclosed on page 445. However, electrets due to their nature are hard to bake out during evacuation and further do not hold their charge well so that prolonged usage would not be possible. To the knowledge of the present inventors there has been no previous publication or use of piezoelectric ceramic switching devices mounted and operated within a protective gastight enclosure either in a vacuum or in a protective inert gaseous atmosphere and suitable for operation at higher power levels.

The present invention relates to an optical measurement technology, and particularly to an optical measurement method and instrument for receiving optical signals from a living body to obtain information on the living body. More particularly, the present invention relates to removing noise signals superimposed on the information on the living body to highly precisely obtain desired living body signals. Besides targeted signals, there are also noise signals, which are caused by several factors, included in measurement signals that are obtained by measuring information inside the living body using light (e.g., Patent Document 1). An averaging method, a band-pass filter, and the like are used to reduce the effects from the noise signals. A technique using the averaging method reduces the noise signals based on a precondition that a brain activity responds to the same assignment in the same manner. A technique using the band-pass filter reduces the noise signals based on a precondition that a brain activity signal and a noise signal exist in different frequency bands. These techniques process a plurality of noise signals. However, a technique is also proposed that is specialized in processing noise signals caused by special factors. For example, noise signals caused by pulsations (pulsation noise signals) can be reduced by means of a band-cut filter, because their frequency is readily identified. A technique is proposed that reduces pulsation noise signals included in optical measurement signals based on the pulsation signals measured at an area, such as an ear (Patent Document 2). A technique is also proposed that reduces effects from the pulsation noise signals by extracting the pulsation noise signals from the optical measurement signals themselves (Non-Patent Document 1). Moreover, a technique is also proposed that divides optical measurement signals measured at many points into a plurality of signals by a signal analysis method, and extracts noise signals and target signals (Patent document 3). [Patent Document 1] JP-A-09-135825 [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2004-173751 [Patent Document 3] JP-A-2005-143609 [Non-Patent Document 1] Maria Angela Franceschini et al., NeuroImage 21 (2004) 372-386 [Non-Patent Document 2] Sato et al., NeuroImage 21 (2004) 1554-1562 [Non-Patent Document 3] Hirosaka et al., Physica D 194 (2004), Pages 320-332

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags may be embedded in or attached to items that can store identification information and other details. Tags may be small devices, such as a label, with a miniature embedded antenna. A tag reader may interrogate the tag by transmitting an RFID signal, which energizes the embedded antenna to provide power for the tag to transmit a responsive RFID signal to the reader. Some tags may have a power source and/or circuitry to provide transmissions or broadcasts to be picked up by tag readers. Tag readers may be mobile terminals. Tag readers may receive transmissions from tags and report the transmissions to a server in a network cloud. However, if there are many tag readers in a same location sending frequent transmission reports, spectral bandwidth and battery power of the tag readers may be exhausted more than necessary.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to evacuated flat-panel displays such as those of the field emission cathode and plasma types and, more particularly, to the formation of spacer support structures for such a display, the support structures being used to prevent implosion of a transparent face plate toward a parallel, spaced-apart back plate when the space between the face plate and the back plate is hermetically sealed at the edges of the display to form a chamber and the pressure within the chamber is less than that of the ambient atmospheric pressure. The invention also applies to products made by such process. 2. Description of Related Art For more than half a century, the cathode ray tube (CRT) has been the principal device for displaying visual information. Although CRTs have been endowed during that period with remarkable display characteristics in the areas of color, brightness, contrast and resolution, they have remained relatively bulky and power hungry. The advent of portable computers has created intense demand for displays which are lightweight, compact, and power efficient. Although liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are now used almost universally for laptop computers, contrast is poor in comparison to CRTs, only a limited range of viewing angles is possible, and battery life is still measured in hours rather than days. Power consumption for computers having a color LCD is even greater, and, thus, operational times are shorter still, unless a heavier battery pack is incorporated into those machines. In addition, color screens tend to be far more costly than CRTs of equal screen size. As a result of the drawbacks of liquid crystal display technology, field emission display technology has been receiving increasing attention by industry. Flat-panel displays utilizing such technology employ a matrix-addressable array of cold, pointed, field emission cathodes in combination with a phosphor-luminescent screen. Somewhat analogous to a cathode ray tube, individual field emission structures are sometimes referred to as vacuum microelectronic triodes. Each triode has the following elements: a cathode (emitter tip), a grid (also referred to as the gate), and an anode (typically, the phosphor-coated element to which emitted electrons are directed). Although the phenomenon of field emission was discovered in the 1950""s, only within the past ten years has research and development been directed at commercializing the technology. As of this date, low-power, high-resolution, high-contrast, full-color flat-panel displays with a diagonal measurement of about 15 centimeters have been manufactured using field emission cathode array technology. Although useful for such applications as view finder displays in video cameras, their small size makes them unsuited for use as computer display screens. In order for proper display operation, which requires field emission of electrons from the cathodes and acceleration of those electrons to the screen, an operational voltage differential between the cathode array and the screen of at least 1,000 volts is required. As the voltage differential increases, so does the life of the phosphor coating on the screen. Phosphor coatings on screens degrade as they are bombarded by electrons. The rate of degradation is proportional to the rate of impact. As fewer electron impacts are required to achieve a given intensity level at higher voltage differentials, phosphor life will be extended by increasing the operational voltage differential. In order to prevent shorting between the cathode array and screen, as well as to achieve distortion-free image resolution and uniform brightness over the entire expanse of the screen, highly uniform spacing between the cathode array and the screen must be maintained. During tests performed at Micron Display Technology, Inc. in Boise, Idaho, it was determined that, for a particular evacuated, flat-panel field emission display utilizing glass support columns to maintain a separation of 250 microns (about 0.010 inches), electrical breakdown occurred within a range of 1100-1400 volts. All other parameters remaining constant, breakdown voltage will rise as the separation between screen and cathode array is increased. However, maintaining uniform separation between the screen and the cathode array is complicated by the need to evacuate the cavity between the screen and the cathode array to a pressure of less than 10xe2x88x926 torr so that the field emission cathodes will not experience rapid deterioration. Small area displays (e.g. those which have a diagonal measurement of less than 3.0 cm) may be cantilevered from edge to edge, relying on the strength of a glass screen having a thickness of about 1.25 mm to maintain separation between the screen and the cathode array without significant deflection in spite of the atmospheric load. However, as display size is increased, the weight of a cantilevered flat glass screen must increase exponentially. For example, a large rectangular television screen measuring 45.72 cm (18 in.) by 60.96 cm (24 in.) and having a diagonal measurement of 76.2 cm (30 in.) must support an atmospheric load of at least 28,149 newtons (6,350 lbs.) without significant deflection. A tempered glass screen or face plate (as it is also called) having a thickness of at least 7.5 cm (about 3 inches) might well be required for such an application, but that is only half the problem. The cathode array structure must also withstand a like force without significant deflection. Although it is conceivable that a lighter screen could be manufactured so that it would have a slight curvature when not under stress and be completely flat when subjected to a pressure differential, the fact is that atmospheric pressure varies with altitude and as atmospheric conditions change, such a solution becomes impractical. A more satisfactory solution to cantilevered screens and cantilevered cathode array structures is the use of closely spaced dielectric support structures (also referred to herein as load-bearing spacers), each of which bears against both the screen and the cathode array plate, thus maintaining the two plates at a uniform distance between one another in spite of the pressure differential between the evacuated chamber between the plates and the outside atmosphere. Such a structure makes possible the manufacture of large area displays with little or no increase in the thickness of the cathode array plate and the screen plate. It is interesting to note that a single cylindrical quartz column having a diameter of 25 microns (0.001 in.) and a height of 200 microns (0.008 in.) may have a buckle load strength of about 2.67xc3x9710xe2x88x922 newtons (0.006 lb.). Buckle loads are somewhat less if glass is substituted for quartz. Buckle loads also decrease as height is increased with no corresponding increase in diameter. It is also of note that a cylindrical column having a diameter d will have a buckle load that is only slightly greater than that of a column having a square cross section and a diagonal d. If quartz column support structures having a diameter of 25 microns and a height of 200 microns are to be used in the 76.2 cm diagonal display described above, slightly more than one million spacers will be required to support the atmospheric load. To provide an adequate safety margin that will tolerate foreseeable shock loads, that number would probably have to be doubled. Load-bearing spacer support structures for field emission cathode array displays must conform to certain parameters. The support structures must be sufficiently nonconductive to prevent catastrophic electrical breakdown between the cathode array and the anode (i.e., the screen). In addition to having sufficient mechanical strength to prevent the flat-panel display from imploding under atmospheric pressure, it must also exhibit a high degree of dimensional stability under pressure. Furthermore, it must exhibit stability under electron bombardment, as electrons will be generated at each pixel location within the array. In addition, it must be capable of withstanding xe2x80x9cbakeoutxe2x80x9d temperatures of about 400xc2x0 C. that are likely to be used to create the high vacuum between the screen and the cathode array back plate of the display. Also, the material from which the spacers are made must not have volatile components which will sublimate or otherwise out gas under low pressure conditions. For optimum screen resolution, the spacer support structures must be nearly perfectly aligned to array topography and must be of sufficiently small cross-sectional area so as not to be visible. Cylindrical spacer support structures must have diameters no greater than about 50 microns (about 0.002 inch) if they are not to be readily visible. There are a number of drawbacks associated with certain types of spacer support structures which have been proposed for use in field emission cathode array type displays. Support structures formed by screen or stencil printing techniques, as well as those formed from glass balls, lack a sufficiently high aspect ratio. In other words, spacer support structures formed by these techniques must either be so thick that they interfere with display resolution or so short that they provide inadequate panel separation for the applied voltage differential. A process of forming spacer support structures by masking and etching deposited dielectric layers in a reactive-ion or plasma environment to a depth of at least 250 microns suffers not only the problem of slow manufacturing throughput but also that of mask degradation, which will result in the spacer support structures having nonuniform cross-sectional areas throughout their lengths. Likewise, spacer support structures formed from lithographically defined photoactive organic compounds are totally unsuitable for the application, as they tend to deform under pressure and to volatize under both high-temperature and low-pressure conditions. Techniques which adhere stick-shaped spacers to a matrix of adhesive dots deposited at appropriate locations on the cathode array back plate are typically unable to achieve sufficiently accurate alignment to prevent display resolution degradation, and any misaligned stick which is adhered to only the periphery of an adhesive dot may later become detached from the dot and fall on top of a group of nearby cathode emitters, thus blocking their emitted electrons. What is needed is a new method of manufacturing dielectric, load-bearing spacer support structures for use in field emission cathode array type displays. The resulting support structures must have high aspect ratios, must have near-perfect alignment on both the screen and back plate, must resist deformation under pressure and must be compatible with very low pressure and high temperature conditions. The present invention includes a process for fabricating a face plate assembly for a flat-panel evacuated display. The process includes the steps of: providing a generally laminar glass substrate; providing a generally laminar template having at least one major planar face and an array of mold holes which opens to the major face, each mold hole corresponding to a desired location of a spacer support structure; sealably positioning the substrate against the major face; heating the substrate to a temperature where the glass substrate becomes flowable; and creating a pressure differential between an ambient pressure and a pressure within the mold holes, the pressure within the mold holes being less than that of the ambient atmosphere, the pressure differential causing each of the mold holes to fill with flowable material from the substrate. The invention also includes an apparatus for forming a face plate assembly using the aforestated process. The apparatus includes a laminar template having first and second major planar faces and an array of mold holes perpendicular to the major faces, with each mold hole corresponding to a desired location of a spacer support structure on the laminar face plate; a manifold block having at least one generally planar surface sealably positionable against the first major planar face of the template, the manifold block also having an array of mating ports on its at least one generally planar surface, each such port mating with an adjacent major surface of the template and aligning with at least one mold hole in the template; and vacuum or pressurization equipment, or both, for creating a pressure differential between the ambient atmosphere which surrounds the temporary structure, the pressure prevailing within the mold holes when a generally laminar substrate is sealably positioned in contact with the second major planar face of the template, such that the pressure within the mold holes is less than that of the ambient atmosphere, the pressure differential causing each of the mold holes to fill with material from the substrate as the sealably positioned substrate becomes plastic at the prevailing pressure conditions when heated. The invention also includes a flat-panel evacuated display having a face plate assembly characterized by a glass laminar face plate having spacer support structures which protrude from the laminar face plate, with the spacer support structures being formed from glass material that is continuous with that from which the laminar face plate is formed. The invention also includes an evacuated flat-panel display having a face plate assembly manufactured by the aforestated process.

The present invention relates to trucks rack systems. More specifically, to a convertible truck rack system which require minimal labor to assemble and disassemble. These systems allow a normal sized pickup or utility truck to substantially increase its payload of materials, without a permanent framing. In the transport of goods such as, limber equipment, plumbing implements, and machinery, which either is to long to fit in the bed of a pickup truck or top heavy, has been a continued problem. Tipping, loss of control, and spillage of materials are just some of the driving hazards associated with ill loaded pickup trucks. The body of conventional pickup trucks or trailer racking systems, are useful in supporting small loads however they are woefully insufficient for long or tall loads. By combining runners and rack assemblies together, the bed of the trucks may support the loads on paved, gravel, or rugged surfaces. The present systems have been found to be costly, inadequate, cumbersome, and limited the load size due to the structural weight of the systems. In the available fixed rack systems there is no canopy protection. The racks cannot be collapsed, with drag and high fuel consumption also an ongoing concern. More specifically, wagons or pickup trucks having fixed rack systems are not useful while movably carrying or supporting bulky items. Security is also an issue with both fixed rack and conventional rack systems. Most systems do not provide back panel doors for locking up goods while in the erect position. Therefore, a longstanding need has existed to provide a novel utility multi-use collapsible or folding truck rack with side panels and locking bed cover, which includes a strong and sturdy base for supporting and transporting heavy, bulky and long materials and equipment. This is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,576 issued to James L. Rinkle on Jun. 29, 1971, which discloses a collapsible rack system. In that system only a tarp is contemplated to provide security for the goods. Additionally, the system is configured much like a jig saw puzzle. The system has 38 or more components that must be in their correct position for the system to work. Moreover, in the disassembled position these components are bulky and reduce storage space. Morris, Knaack et al, and Burke et al disclose similar rack frame systems for pickup trucks in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,906,038, 4,509,787, and 4,770,458 respectively. They encounter the same problems as described above. The convertible system as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,717 issued to Clarence F. Garvert patented on Oct. 16, 1973, shows a system which opens to have side panels. However, these panels are not contemplated to provide support for top sided loads. The supply boxes prevent and limit the size and shape of goods that fit into the truck bed. In addition, there is no adequate support for the panels to be raised during transport, nor is there rear and front panel guards. David L. McCray in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,786 patent on Mar. 28, 1989 discloses a convertible camper system that requires the system be cranked into place. This limits the height of the goods that may be transported. The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the systems as disclosed above by providing an improved collapsible, foldable multi-use truck racking system. Additionally, the system in its collapsed position does not prevent normal use or loading of equipment, while acting as a secure locking bed cover. The present invention includes an interlocking frame covered by side panels providing a base for the novel racking system in its assembled position. The front and back ends have detachable main load carrying rails. Foldable pivoting horizontal side rails support the opposite sides of the panels in a locked position. An additional canvas can be stretched across the panels in their upright position to protect the loads from the elements. Therefore, it one of the primary objectives of the invention to provide a multi-use, sturdy, and durable collapsible truck rack system for the transport of materials. It is another objective of the invention to provide a truck loading system to allow standard pick-up trucks to efficiently carry odd shaped or long loads while giving support. Another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible truck framing system. It is an object of the invention to provide a covered truck bed system that converts easily to a top loader. It is a further object of the invention to allow pickup trucks to support and carry top-heavy loads over gravel, smooth, and sandy surfaces without fear of tipping, or loss of control. Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description in which the preferred embodiments have been set forth in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roll feed apparatus of type in which a pair of rolls clamps a strip therebetween to intermittently feed the strip by a constant length into manufacturing machines such as a press machine or the like. 2. Description of the Prior Art A roll feed apparatus of the type referred to above is known, which comprises a drive shaft driven rotatively, a pair of first and second roll shafts and a pair of first and second rolls mounted respectively on the first and second roll shafts for swinging movement therewith. A swingingly driving device is provided for converting the rotative motion of the drive shaft to swinging motion of the first and second rolls. The first and second rolls cooperate with each other to clamp therebetween a strip to transport the same when the first and second rolls are moved swingingly by the swingingly driving device in a strip transporting direction. A roll release device is provided for moving the first and second rolls aways from each other when the rolls move swingingly in a direction opposite to the strip transporting direction, to release a clamping force applied to the strip by the first and second rolls. A strip braking device is provided for applying brake to the strip to fix the same for a period during which the rolls do not transport the strip. Such type of roll feed apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 59-130831 (Utility Model Application No. 58-24892), Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 59-130832 (Utility Model Application No. 58-24893), Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-32510 (Utility Model Application No. 59-114306) and the like. If the roll feed apparatus of the type described above is employed in combination with, for example, a press machine, the first and second rolls become stationary after having fed the strip by a constant strength into a die assembly of the press machine. After having become stationary, that is, for the period during which the rolls do not transport the strip, the rolls are moved away from each other by the roll release device, and the strip is fixed by the strip braking device. Under such condition, the rolls are moved swingingly in the direction opposite to the strip transporting direction. During this period of swinging motion of the rolls, press working is effected on the strip fed into the die assembly while the strip is fixed by the strip braking device. The above-described conventional roll feed apparatus has such a problem that it might not accurately position a strip in manufacturing machines such as a press machine or the like. Specifically, some types of the press machines comprise a die assembly in which pilot pins project downwardly from a lower surface of an upper die, and are adapted to be inserted respectively into receiving holes formed beforehand in the strip when the upper die and a lower die are brought into engagement with each other to perform press working, whereby the strip can accurately be positioned in the die assembly. In the above-described conventional roll feed apparatus, however, since the strip is maintained fixed by the strip braking device when the upper and lower dies are brought into engagement with each other to perform press working, it is impossible for the pilot pins to position the strip if slight positional displacement or shift exists between the pilot pins and the receiving holes in the strip fed into the die assembly. Thus, there are anxieties that the positioning is not performed accurately, causing a deformation of the strip and a damage or breakage of the dies.

A suction cup device includes a suction cup adhering by suction to a window pane. A bracket, attached to the suction cup, can grasp an item such as a candle.

A number of publications as listed at the end of this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for background information and are numerically referenced in the following text. Intracranial aneurysms are the main cause of nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage and are responsible for about 25% of all deaths relating to cerebrovascular events. Autopsy studies show that the overall frequency of intracranial aneurysms in the general population is approximately 5 percent and suggest that 10 to 15 million persons in the United States have or will have intracranial aneurysms [1]. In approximately 15,000 cases (6 cases per 100,000 persons per year), intracranial aneurysms rupture every year in North America [2]. Rupture of intracranial aneurysms leads to subarachnoid aneurysmal hemorrhage (SAH) which has a 30-day mortality rate of 45%, and results in approximately half the survivors sustaining irreversible brain damage [1, 2]. The primary goal of treatments for intracranial aneurysm is prevention of the rupture of the aneurysms, thereby preventing bleeding or rebleeding. At the present time, three general methods of treatment exist. These can be grouped according to their approach: extravascular, endovascular, and extra-endovascular. The extravascular approach involves surgery or microsurgery of the aneurysm. One surgical procedure is to apply a metallic clip or a suture-ligation across the artery feeding the aneurysm (neck), thereby allowing the aneurysm to clot off and hopefully shrink. Another surgical procedure is to “surgically reconstruct” the aneurysmal portion of the artery, by surgically cut out the aneurysm and repairing the vessel by using a natural or synthetic vessel graft. Both of these surgical procedures typically require general anesthesia, craniotomy, brain retraction, and dissection of the arachnoid around the neck of the aneurysm. Surgical treatment of vascular intracranial aneurysm is accompanied by a mortality rate of 3.8% and a morbidity rate of 10.9% [3]. Because of the high mortality and morbidity rates, and because the condition of many patients does not permit them to undergo an open operation, the surgical procedure is often delayed or not practical. For this reason the prior art has sought alternative means of treatment. The development of microcatheters made possible the use of endovascular (catheter-based) procedures. The major advantage of the endovascular procedures is that they do not require the use of open surgery. They are generally more beneficial and have much lower mortality and morbidity rates than the extravascular procedures. Many variations of endovascular procedures exist of which some of the more important are the following: Placement of embolic material, such as metallic microcoils or spherical beads, inside the aneurysm sac in order to form a mass within this sac which will slow the blood flow and generally encourage the aneurysm to clot off and to shrink. To accomplish this procedure, a microcatheter is guided through the cerebral arteries until the site of the aneurysm is reached. The distal tip of the microcatheter is then placed within the sac of the aneurysm, and the embolic material is injected into the sac of the aneurysm. Typical microcatheters suitable for this procedure are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,853,418; 6,066,133; 6,165,198 and 6,168,592. Widespread, long-term experience with this technique has shown several risks and limitations. The method has 4% morbidity and 1% mortality rate and achieves complete aneurysm occlusion in only 52% to 78% of the cases in which it is employed. The relatively low success rate is due to technical limitations (e.g., coil flexibility, shape, and dimensions) which prevent tight packing of the sac of the aneurysm, especially aneurysms with wide necks [3]. Other difficulties are associated with the presence of preexisting thrombus within the aneurysm cavity, which may be sheared off into the parent trunk leading to parent artery occlusion. Also aneurysm perforation may occur during placement of coils into the aneurysm. Additionally, occurrence of coil movement and compaction may foster aneurysm revascularization or growth. 2. Another endovascular technique for treating aneurysms involves inserting a detachable balloon into the sac of the aneurysm using a microcatheter. The detachable balloon is then inflated using embolic material, such as a liquid polymer material or microcoils. The balloon is then detached from the microcatheter and left within the sac of the aneurysm in an attempt to fill the sac and to form a thrombotic mass inside the aneurysm. One of the disadvantages of this method is that detachable balloons, when inflated, typically do not conform to the interior configuration of the aneurysm sac. Instead, the aneurysm sac is forced to conform to the exterior surface of the detachable balloon. Thus, there is an increased risk that the detachable balloon will rupture the sac of the aneurysm. 3. Stent technology has been applied to the intracranial vasculature. The use of this technology has been limited until recently by the lack of available stents and stent delivery systems capable of safe and effective navigation through the intercranial vessels. The use of such stents is particularly difficult with respect to aneurysms in head blood vessels because of the number of perforating vessels in such blood vessels, and thereby the increased danger that one or more perforating vessels may be in the vicinity of such an aneurysm. The same is true with respect to bifurcations of a blood vessel splitting into one or more branch vessels, which may also be in the vicinity of an aneurysm. Where the blood supply to an aneurysm is to be reduced, it is critical that the blood supply to such perforating vessel or branch vessels, in the vicinity of the aneurysm not be unduly reduced to the degree causing damage to the tissues supplied with blood by such perforating or branch vessels. Thus, there is a serious danger that the placement of a conventional endovascular stent within the parent artery across the aneurysm neck to reduce blood flow to the aneurysm, to promote intra-aneurysm stasis and thrombosis [4, 5]. Stents having portions of different permeabilities are disclosed, for example, in McCrory U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,599, Brown et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,199, Wallsten U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,126, and Dubrul U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,115. The McCrory patent discloses a braided stent having a first portion with a relatively high porosity index so as to be highly permeable to blood flow, and a second portion of lower porosity index so as to be less permeable to blood flow. When the stent is deployed, the portion of low permeability is located to overlie the neck of the aneurysm, and the portion of high permeability is spaced from the neck of the aneurysm. A braided stent construction with different porosities is also disclosed in the Dubrul patent. Brown et al, on the other hand, discloses an intraluminal device or stent comprising a diverter, in the form of a low-permeability foam pad, to overlie the neck of the aneurysm, straddled on its opposite sides by a pair of high-permeability coil elements for anchoring the device in the blood vessel. Wallsten U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,126, discloses a braided tube intraluminal device for use in various applications, one of which applications is to apply a graft to treat an aneurysm (FIG. 9). In this case, the complete braided tube would have high permeability with respect to blood flow therethrough since its function is to mount the grafts, but the graft would have low-permeability to decrease the possibility of rupture of the aneurysm. Delivery devices for stents for use in the intracranial vasculature are well known at the art. Typical devices are disclosed, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,496,275; 5,676,659; and 6,254,628. The blood vessels in the brain are frequently as small as several millimeters, requiring that the catheters have an outside diameter as small as 2-8 French (0.66 mm to 2.64 mm). Technically it is very difficult to produce and accurately deploy the stents described in the above McCrory, Brown et al and Wallsten patents for treating aneurysms by using presently available delivery systems. The difficulties include not only in producing such stents of different permeabilities, but also in deploying them such that the portion of low permeability is exactly aligned with the aneurysm neck. When the device is to be implanted in a blood vessel having an aneurysm at or proximate to a perforating vessel or a bifurcation leading to a branch vessel, the portion of high permeability must be precisely located at the perforating or branch vessels in order to maintain patency in the perforating or branch vessels. Additionally, particularly in tortuous, ectatic vessels, existing stiff stents are difficult to introduce and may results in kinking such as to cause the failure of the deployment process. Furthermore, none of the prior art mentioned is suitable for use with a basal apex aneurysm. For these reasons it is apparent that there is a need for a better intraluminal device to treat an aneurysm, particularly an intracranial aneurysm, and more particularly an intracranial aneurysm proximate to a bifurcation.

Gesture and posture capturing devices have become very popular as users of consumer electronics devices learn to appreciate the advantages of natural gestures and postures as alternative to traditional user interface. It is understood that for the purpose of the discussion below, reference to gesture may include posture and vice versa. One type of gesture capturing device is equipped with a content projector so that the display viewed by the user is in a form of a projection surface. The gesture capturing device of this kind is configured to detect a maneuverable object such as the hand of the user in the space between the device and the projection surface. One of the techniques known in the art for detecting the position and the orientation of the maneuverable object is capturing and analyzing reflections of light (usually invisible) having a predefined pattern. The effectively of the gesture capturing process is dependent on a plurality of parameters such as range and angle between device and projection surface and the hand of the user and other metrics such as the illumination conditions and the intensity of the patterned light. One of the disadvantages of the prior art that the user is not aware of these parameters and cannot know at any given time if the sufficient conditions are met. The aforementioned problem is even worse in patterned light directed at 3D applications since and additional dimension which may also be subject to error is added. As a result of not meeting the aforementioned conditions, a user who uses a gesture capturing device as an input device may not be able to use the device properly. This scenario undermines the overall user experience in natural user interface systems which are required to be more forgiving and intuitive than traditional user interface.

The present invention relates generally to a process for producing a grooved foil material that is utilized in the production of a Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) sheet product. In one form, the process produces a MMC sheet product having a continuous spiral groove. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of making a grooved foil sheet material that is utilized in fabricating an internally reinforced metal matrix composite ring. Although the present invention was developed for use in gas turbine engines, certain applications may be outside this field. Many metal matrix composite structures have been designed to provide the required mechanical properties to operate in a hostile environment. Metal matrix composite structures can be fabricated by a number of techniques including foil-fiber-foil, coated fiber, ribbon wound fiber and wire-fiber. The matrix alloy chosen to form the MMC structure generally determines which of the above fabrication techniques is feasible. For example, a Ti-6-4 MMC structure can wire-fiber. The matrix alloy chosen to form the MMC structure generally determines which of the above fabrication techniques is feasible. For example, a Ti-6-4 MMC structure can generally be fabricated by using any of the above described techniques since the material Ti-6-4 is available in foil, powder, ribbon, and wire form. In contrast, certain high temperature titanium alloys such as Ti-22Al-26Nb (orthorhombic titanium) are only available in a sheet or powder form. Therefore high temperature titanium and titanium-aluminide alloy MMC structures are generally fabricated by the foil-fiber-foil method. When fabricating MMC structures with the foil-fiber-foil technique, it is often desirable to utilize grooved foil. A continuous high strength monofilament is laid in the grooved foil and multiple loaded foils are stacked and consolidated to form the structure. The grooving provides a uniform fiber to fiber spacing in the consolidated structure. It is known that grooved foil has successfully been used in producing MMC structures formed of a conventional titanium matrix. One prior technique of producing grooved foil of a conventional titanium material has employed a photolithographic etching technique. However, these photolithographic techniques have proven unsuccessful in producing well-defined grooves in high temperature titanium aluminide alloys such as Ti-22Al-26Nb. The present invention allows for the production of a grooved foil sheet product in a novel and nonobvious way.

The present invention relates to design and operation of high-frequency clocked digital circuit systems, and in particular to method and system for reducing delta I-noise in said digital circuit system. The operation speed of today""s computer systems approach sub-nanosecond cycle times. The average switching activity and therefore the average power supply current I demand can fluctuate, i.e., change within few nanoseconds. E.g., delta-I=140A current fluctuation of the average power supply current is typical for the multiprocessor multi-chip module of the prior art IBM zSeries 900 system. The fluctuation of the average current demand can be periodic or non-periodic. Due to the parasitic inductance along the power distribution path from the power supply to the individual chips the on-chip power supply voltage deviates temporarily from its nominal level in reaction of a switching activity change. The expression xe2x80x9cfluctuationxe2x80x9d is used in here for denoting the rise or drop of a physical quantity, such as current I or supply voltage U, whereas the term xe2x80x9cchangexe2x80x9d will be primarily used for denoting a status transition associated with a given activity unit on the chip, e.g., from xe2x80x9cswitchingxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cquietxe2x80x9d. These power supply voltage deviations are called high- and mid-frequency delta-I noise. In order to reduce the power supply delta-I noise, decoupling capacitors are placed in prior art along the power supply path, on chips, modules, cards and boards. These decoupling capacitors can sink and source extra current and thus reduce the impact of delta-I on the power supply voltage. However, the decoupling capacitors and all parasitic partial inductance of the power supply path also create resonance loops having various resonance frequencies, which may increase the delta-I noise, if a resonance frequency and the frequency of a periodic switching change coincide. This prior art is described in H. B. Bakoglu, xe2x80x9cCircuits, Interconnections, and Packaging for VLSIxe2x80x9d, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1990, pp. 303-325, or in W. D. Becker, et al, xe2x80x9cModeling, Simulation and Measurement of Mid-Frequency Simultaneous Switching Noise in Computer Systemsxe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. Compon., Packaging, and Manuf. Technol., Part B: Advanced Packaging, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 157-163, May 1998, or in D. Herrell, B. Beker, xe2x80x9cPower system design for high performance PC microprocessorsxe2x80x9d, IEEE International Workshop on Chip-Package Codesign CPD""98, pp. 46-47, 1998. Delta-I noise is one contribution to the overall power supply noise budget and can jeopardize system function and reliability. FIG. 1 is intended to illustrate the general problem. It shows the on-chip power supply noise voltage after starting operation, i.e., switching with 1 nanosecond (ns) cycle time, and 140A average power supply current, which represents a delta-I current step from 0 A to 140 A. The power supply voltage behavior has been obtained by simulation and confirmed by measurements, see B. Garben, M. F. McAllister, xe2x80x9cNovel Methodology for Mid-Frequency Delta-I Noise Analysis of Complex Computer System Boards and Verification by Measurementsxe2x80x9d, IEEE 9th Topical Meeting on Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging, pp. 69-72, 2000. High frequency noise (1 ns period) and mid frequency noise (132 ns period) are superimposed. The actual on-chip power supply voltage behaves the same around the nominal voltage level (e.g. 1.2V). The damped mid-frequency oscillation with initially 57 mV peak on-chip power supply voltage noise is caused by the resonant loop consisting of all on-module capacitors, i.e., on-module power supply decoupling capacitors plus capacitance of all chips, all board decoupling capacitors and the effective power supply path loop inductance between the two sets of capacitors. With reference to Plot a) of FIG. 2 the on-chip power supply noise voltage of the same packaging arrangement is shown, but now, switching and non-switching depicted as xe2x80x9cquietxe2x80x9d-time slots repeat every 66 ns. The delta-I repetition rate coincides with the package resonance of 132 ns. The peak on-chip power supply delta-I noise equals 74 mV during the 1st quiet time slot and increases to 103 mV during the 2nd quiet time slot. Both peak noise values exceed the 57 mV, seen during a single switching activity change. The peak mid-frequency on-chip power supply delta-I noise during periodic activity changes saturates at approx. 135 mV beyond 8 periods. The saturated peak on-chip mid-frequency delta-I noise increases with increasing conductivity within the resonance loop. E.g. if the overall conductivity within the loop is doubled, the maximum on-chip noise reaches 202 mV after 10 periodic switching activity changes without any saturation tendency (FIG. 2, curve b). This example demonstrates how the peak on-chip power supply voltage noise of periodic/repeated activity changes can significantly exceed the peak values of a single activity change. In prior art, high performance computer systems such as the IBM zSeries 900 apply the following technical features in order to damp the delta I-noise: 1. many decoupling capacitors on chips, on the Multi-Chip-Module (MCM) and on the board close to the MCM, 2. sandwiching of VDD and GND planes closely to each other, in cards and boards to provide a low effective power supply loop inductance. However, these design efforts also reduce the effective resistance of the resonant loop and therefore increase the power supply delta-I noise sensitivity in case of a resonance condition. Delta-I noise and its increase due to resonant effects is considered in the system noise budget and in signal timing calculations. The following two theoretical approaches are considered today to account for large non-periodic switching activity changes, whereas periodic activity changes are not regarded at all: First, an increase of the chip operation voltage allowing shorter cycle times to avoid resonance. This, however, implies more power dissipation, which is not desired at all. Second, stretching the system cycle time to avoid resonance. This however reduces the system performance, which also is not desired. It is thus an objective of the present invention to provide a method and system for reducing delta I-noise in digital circuit systems. According to the broadest aspect of the present invention a method and respective system is disclosed in a general approach for reducing delta-I noise in a digital circuit system comprised of a plurality of activity units being connected to a DC-supply voltage, in which method and system respectively, the operation of said digital circuit system may excite high-frequency fluctuations of a total supply current I (delta-I), and a respective resulting fluctuation of the supply voltage. Said method is characterized by the steps of: a) maintaining a circuit system-specific catalogue storing the current consumption and delta-I for each of said activity units in its operational state, b) continuously monitoring the actual current consumption of the total of said activity units, c) determining critical operation conditions to be caused by an immediately imminent excess fluctuation of the supply voltage resulting from an immediately imminent delta-I demand, the excess quantity being defined relative to a predetermined set tolerance band for the total current I, d) dependent of the quantity of the imminent delta-I demand selecting a subset of said activity units with a respective current delta-I demand, for either aa) temporarily delaying their begin of activity in case of an imminent supply voltage drop, or bb) temporarily continuing their activity with a predetermined, activity-specific No-Operation (NO-OP) phase in case of an imminent supply voltage rise. During the physical system packaging design various power supply loop resonance frequencies (f_crit), the corresponding critical duty factor ranges (T=1/f_crit) and a maximum allowed single total delta-I demand (i_crit) value are determined by simulation and are coded into a system specific catalogue, i.e., xe2x80x9cdata base (SSDB)xe2x80x9d, then the critical excess voltage states, i.e., dropdowns, and rise peaks, can be supervised and avoided. According to the present invention, throughout the system all major power consuming sub-units, i.e., said activity units, referred to herein as AU, mentioned above, which might be one chip or portion of a chip, or a group of activity units, contain a control element, referred to herein as CE, for monitoring and controlling the actual switching activity within the unit. The control element can force switching activity start delays and NO-OP (dummy) cycles on request within the AU. According to the invention all control elements and thus all sub-units are coordinated by a supervising unit, referred to herein as SU, in a way, which avoids overall periodic switching activity changes of the above mentioned plurality of critical resonance frequencies f_crit and keeps non-periodic switching activity changes and thus delta-I values below i_crit. According to the invention there may be basically one supervising unit throughout the system to coordinate the change of total power consumption, or the system is split into several power domains having several supervising units. The SU decisions are based on the system specific data base. The SU can grant AUs having an actually active state to switch into a xe2x80x9cquietxe2x80x9d state and vice versa while keeping the overall system switching activity state change within particular predetermined bounds. This basic controlling scheme is permanently used to control the delta-I power supply noise, in particular during system power-on, system test and during general system operation. This approach allows to operate systems, which would not be functional/reliable without this control. The controlling scheme can also be used to guide the overall system activity to a mode where functional, delayed and NO-OP switching activities are interlaced or anti-cycled in a way, that the delta-I noise is actively damped. This is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5 curve b. The above mentioned general approach thus basically needs: a kind of supervisor unit performing steps a) to d) and communication between each AU and the supervisor unit which transfers the actual information ON/OFF for each activity unit. Thus, a damped delta-I-fluctuation behavior and thus a nearly constant supply voltage can be obtained over time. Said general approach thus covers more than the more preferred particular request/grant approach which is a special case of the general approach. The delta in generality can be seen in the fact that the general approach includes solutions in which the AUs are treated as immediate command receivers, which must sometimes halt their operation even in cases in which this seems not adequate for sake of system performance. The request grant approach assures that once an AU has begun operation it can continue operation until this is finished. Thus, a weaker intervention to the existing, finely balanced instruction handling in the chip circuit is done, which results in more performance compared to the general approach. The basic method mentioned before, may be further improved, by further comprising a request/grant mechanism between a supervisor means and each of said activity units, whereby the mechanism comprises the steps of: a) an activity unit requesting that its operation is required to begin (Go-request), b) granting the request when this is compliant to the predetermined tolerance band, otherwise not granting said request, c) on a successful grant, beginning operation of the AU, d) an activity unit requesting that operation is required to stop (STOP-request), e) granting the STOP-request when the respective stop of activity operation is compliant to the tolerance band, otherwise not granting said request, f) on a successful grant, stopping the operation of the AU. Here, the advantage is that the degree of intervention with the actual operational (functional) chip logic is quite small which results in robust control and improved circuit performance. In other words, a method is described to reduce delta-I noise and guarantee safe digital system operation despite of critically periodic switching activity changes and/or large non-periodic switching activity changes of CMOS chips, e.g. microprocessors, storage arrangements. The system operation jeopardizing critical conditions are identified by simulation during the physical system packaging design. According to the invention, during system operation the actual switching activity is continuously monitored. In case of a critical, imminent condition built-up, i.e., an excess fluctuation can be identified to be immediately expected, then additional non-switching or switching cycles are executed to de-escalate the critical condition. This approach allows to build and operate systems, which would not be functional and reliable without this control. The following structural features are disclosed: A digital circuit system comprised of a plurality of activity units being connected to a DC-supply voltage, the operation of which may excite high-frequency fluctuations of a total current I, and a respective resulting fluctuation of the supply voltage, is characterized by digital circuit means implemented for performing the steps of the method mentioned before. In particular, the digital circuit system may be preferably characterized by the facts that a) a subset of said activity units comprises a control element for issuing a STOP or GO request and for receiving a respective grant, whereby said grant triggers a begin and stop of operation of said activity units, b) a supervisor control circuit is connected to said control elements via respective control signal lines or other communication means. When the digital circuit system comprises a hard-wired request-grant wiring, then the advantage is that a very robust and high speed signaling scheme is obtained. An activity unit may preferably be one of or a group of the following circuit functional elements: a processor unit, an Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU), an adder stage, a multiplier stage, a bus multiplexer stage, a memory array, a switching stage, a clock tree, Input/Output (I/O) driver unit, or an analogue circuit component, in particular a current source. Of course, the composition of a group my be organized such that closely related working units are comprised of one group, which produce e.g., an intermediate result which is further input in a working unit associated with a different group. An example for a group is an adder plus an adder output comparing stage. Thus, an easy and robust calculating can be obtained when useful grouping of activity units is done.

Many computer devices provide one or more software applications that permit users of such devices to store information regarding their personal connections to individuals or entities, which may be sometimes called “contacts.” For example, personal information management software applications such as Microsoft® Outlook® commonly enable users to store telephone numbers, addresses, electronic mail (or “E-mail”) addresses, images and other information for each of their contacts in virtual “cards” that may be accessed within a subset of a user interface provided by the software. Additionally, many modern mobile telephones permit users to enter and store similar information regarding their contacts into memory, and such information may be displayed to users in a list, typically arranged in an alphabetical order, when such users search for a telephone number. Web-based E-mail clients and like applications often provide similar features for receiving and storing contact information, as well. While a contact list enables a user to access large amounts of information regarding his or her connections, a contact list may grow in size and complexity, and become difficult to use, for a number of reasons. First, many contact lists may include large amounts of outdated information, as users frequently neglect to properly manage their lists, such as by updating revised contacts or deleting irrelevant contacts. Second, because contact lists may be merged across devices and accounts, a user may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of contacts at his or her disposal, and may be forced to scroll through information regarding a large number of contacts within such lists in order to identify a contact. Third, most contact lists treat each contact as having equal value to a user, when in reality, a typical user usually communicates with only a small number or portion of his or her contacts on a regular basis. Although some computer devices and communications applications permit users to maintain lists of contacts that are subsets of full, aggregated lists (e.g., a list of “VIP” contacts), such lists must also be properly filtered in order to ensure that the lists remain of manageable lengths, or that the lists may be easily accessed by such users in order to communicate with their most important contacts.

There has been proposed a traveling device enabling a user to travel standing up by shifting weight (see Patent Document 1, for example). This traveling device includes a frame with a center wheel freely rotatably provided at about the center thereof, a front wheel freely rotatably provided at the front thereof, and a rear wheel freely rotatably provided at the rear thereof. The center wheel is formed with larger diameter than the front and rear wheels. Also, right and left decks are provided at about the center of the frame, and right and left grips are provided at the front of the frame. In use, a user travels by shifting weight back and forth with right and left feet on the right and left decks while gripping the right and left grips with right and left hands. That is, the user shifts the body weight to the front to change a state in which the center and rear wheels contact the ground surface (maintaining the front wheel in a floating state) to a state in which the front and center wheels contact the ground surface (maintaining the rear wheel in a floating state). Shifting the body weight in this manner generates a force in the forward direction to rotate the front and center wheels in the forward direction, moving the frame with the user in the forward direction. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228904

The present invention relates to a glazing tool, and in particular to a glazing tool adapted to provide a smooth bead of putty between a newly inserted window pane and a window frame. Normally, a tool called a putty knife is used to spread putty in the gap between a window frame and a newly inserted pane of glass to secure the pane in the frame. Putty knives traditionally are flat-bladed instruments with a handle having a straight working edge. When forming a putty bead, the putty knife is normally positioned generally perpendicular to the bead and drawn along the putty material to form a flat and aesthetically pleasing seal. Traditionally, the putty knife has been used for glazing purposes since it is an economical, durable, and lightweight tool which can be used with either hand. However, some disadvantages include the fact that the blade will rust and the finish wears off. The blade also bends under slight pressure and requires a considerable amount of skill to maintain it in a precise position in order to form a uniform putty bead. The professional glazer is normally quite proficient in doing this, however, most homeowners or first-time users of a putty knife find it difficult to properly use. Also, conventional putty knives because of their long handles, can be used only in open spaces. In situations where storm windows or other restrictions are present, a putty knife becomes difficult if not impossible to handle because of the lack of sufficient room to manuever the elongated object. Attempts to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties are primarily concentrated on redesigning the known putty knife blade by providing a specific area or edge which is adapted to facilitate applying the putty. Examples are shown in the prior patents to Hall (U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,333), and Strefling (U.S. Pat. No. 2,706,831). The present invention provides a glazing tool which is non-sticking, inexpensive, easy to use, small, durable, and has the ability to establish the proper angle of application of the putty in the space between the window pane and window frame. It is adjustable, and therefore, can bead the putty and set the angle of application from the most delicate of window sashes to large steel industrial frames of commercial buildings. Once the proper angle is set, the glazing tool will maintain this angle throughout the entire application. Specific skills are not required, and a uniform smooth bead of putty is produced. The present invention is formed of a block of solid material preferably including suitable indentations in order to conform with the user's hand. The bottom of the block is designed to accept an inexpensive, field replaceable plate having a smooth, non-stick surface and is used to actually smooth the putty. The bottom also mounts a guide bar which may be adjustably moved across the bottom surface so that when the tool is placed with one side against the window pane, the adjustment bar engages the window frame to maintain the exact precise angle at which the smooth exposed bottom surface sets between the frame and the window frame. Means are provided to adjustably secure the guide bar to the bottom surface of the block so that the guide bar is freely adjustable and yet can be tightened against movement when the tool is being used. Among the objects of the present invention are to provide a glazing tool to lay a uniform bead of putty in the rabbit cut of a window sash; to lay putty in a straight line having the same height from one end to the other of the putty bead, thereby producing putty beads which have a better seal, beads which are more eye appealing, and beads which are comparable to those made by experienced glazers. Another object of the present invention is to provide a glazing tool which allows less skilled, less experienced individuals to install putty in a rapid, flawless manner. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a glazing tool which includes an adjustable means of applying putty to various sizes of windows in order to maintain a smooth uniform putty bead.

1. Field of the Embodiment The embodiment relates generally to a stamping die and more particularly to a method for designing a stamping die and a stamping die for use in producing sheet metal parts. 2. Description of Related Art Stamping dies are used for producing sheet metal parts. A toggle draw die is one type of draw die assembly used to form sheet metal, particularly when the metal part has a complex geometry and requires deep drawing. Toggle draw dies account for approximately 40% of all stamping dies. A toggle draw die assembly usually includes 3 main components, often referred to as a draw punch, a die cavity and a binder ring. It may include other components such as die shoes, guideposts, adaptor plates and wear plates. Each component has a particular function while at the same time interacting with the other components. For example, one function of the binder ring is to control the metal flow by applying pressure to the sheet metal lying between the binder and the lower die cavity during the forming process. In addition, the binder ring also serves as a guide for the punch. During a stamping cycle a draw die assembly often undergoes complex loading conditions, particularly in cases where an unbalanced forming force exists. An unbalanced forming force typically occurs and is often significant when the part is non-symmetrical, which holds true for most parts. An unbalanced forming force occurring during the forming operation can cause the punch to deviate from its vertical position and interact with the binder ring in the lateral direction thus creating a lateral force on the binder ring. Similarly, the binder ring and the lower cavity may also experience contacting interaction in the form of a lateral force. Interacting lateral forces occurring between the various components caused by unstable and undesirable punch motion, can create failure modes for the die structure including cracking or breaking of the die and excessive die deformation. When die cracking occurs, dies have to be removed from production for repair, if repairable. The die may be reconstructed or a new die must be designed and built if the old die or component thereof is not repairable, a process which normally takes months to complete. The new or repaired die must be tried out again before resuming production. Manufacturing losses resulting from such failures, including lost production and market share can be costly. For example, in addition to a manufacturer incurring assembly plant down time and corresponding lost production costs, the manufacturer will also incur additional costs associated with any redesign, repair and rebuild of the die assembly. Lateral forces occurring between the various components can also lead to excessive die deformation. Excessive die deformation can cause issues with stamping quality as die deformation often leads to poor control of the binder pressure and consequently poor control of the metal flow. Since die design is primarily based on generic standards and prior experience of the designer, the performance expectations of many die designs are unknown. Some are under designed while others are over designed. This can lead to prolonged die tryout and setup which can delay production along with increasing costs due to die failure. Accordingly, there are many challenges related to die engineering and design regarding die cost reduction and performance improvement.

When a customer purchases a product composed of a plurality of parts and prepares spares of expendable parts of the product, or the parts break down and hence should be repaired, the customer needs a part catalog in which part numbers are listed for the customer to order the parts. In the case of products composed of a few parts, it is relatively easy to create a part catalog for each product. However, in the case of products, for example, robot products, which are composed of numerous parts, and are required to meet various requirements of customers, and to deal with constantly advancing performance of control parts or the like, in an extreme case, products designed differently with very small difference for each product, the parts vary from product to product. In such products, therefore, it is not easy to create the part catalogs of the parts. In the case of the robot product, part configuration in each robot manufactured based on the customers' requirements varies from customer to customer, and its design cycle is extremely short. Therefore, in order to meet the customers' requirements, it is necessary to frequently create part catalogs containing different contents in a short period, which requires enormous labor and cost. For this reason, the part catalogs of the robot products are created for a representative product in special occasion, for example, in a time period when new products are placed on sale, and thereafter, after services such as revision associated with design change are hardly provided. That is, the catalogs are transiently created. More often than not, the contents of the catalogs become obsolete, and hence become unserviceable. Conventionally, the part catalogs associated with the robot product are created by manually selecting parts of the product from total part list in which all the parts used to manufacture the robot product are listed. Regardless of change in the parts to be used according to design change, there arise problems that part numbers before change are listed by mistake, wrong part numbers are described because of posting error, or optional parts demanded by the customer are not listed. Further, it is virtually difficult to create the part catalogs to have a one to one correspondence with the robot products designed differently for each robot as described above, in view of required labor and cost effectiveness.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and a program for processing a three-dimensional image. 2. Description of the Related Art In a known method, a contact-type position sensor is used as an image processing apparatus for inputting three-dimensional information of an actually present object (such as a shape and a surface attribute). In this method, a probe is put into contact with each point of the object, three-dimensional coordinates of the probe are detected by the position sensor, and the three-dimensional coordinates of each point of the object are input. Since this method of using the contact-type position sensor requires that the probe be put into contact with the points of the object, there is some limitation. For example, the object to be detected must have a certain degree of solidity and it takes some time to measure the coordinates. On the other hand, non-contact-type three-dimensional measurement devices are also known. Because of its high-speed measurement capability, the non-contact-type measurement device is used to input data in a CG (Computer Graphics) system or a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) system, to measure the human body, or to recognize objects visually in a robot system. A slit-ray projection method (or “light chopping” method) or a pattern projection method is known as a non-contact three-dimensional measurement method. These methods are active measurement techniques in which a projector for projecting a particular reference beam to a target object to be measured, and a photosensitive sensor for receiving a beam reflected from the target object are used to obtain three-dimensional data from calculation based on trigonometry. In the slit-ray projection method, a slit ray is projected and deflected to scan the target object. In the pattern projection method, a plurality of two-dimensional patterns are successively directed to the target object. The resulting three-dimensional data is represented as data points, namely, a set of pixels representing three-dimensional positions of a plurality of regions on the target. Such a three-dimensional measurement apparatus occasionally has a function of acquiring a surface attribute to obtain texture information of the target object, besides a function of obtaining the three-dimensional data of the target object. Conventional three-dimensional measurement apparatuses have the function of acquiring texture information of the surface of the object but no function of acquiring data relating to the surface feature or glossiness of the object. When the three-dimensional image is reproduced, the effect of illumination light projected to the object is not accounted for, and an unnatural-looking three-dimensional image results. When the three-dimensional image is reconstructed, the shape, the effect of the position and the color of a light source may need to be changed in a particular image capturing environment. In practice, however, this is not done in any way, and the resulting image becomes much different in appearance from the object. The conventional three-dimensional measurement apparatus is unable to convey glossiness or other surface features of the object.

Devices that assist an individual user in washing his/her back are known in the art. Prior devices, although beneficial to the handicapped and obese who have difficulty reaching all areas of the back, have shortcomings that cause them to be difficult to clean and nearly impossible to sterilize. These devices are largely constructed using water absorbent materials such as terry cloth and sponge which, because of the tightness of the weave or their natural configuration, inherently provide sheltered spaces where dirt and germs can become trapped. These prior devices dry very slowly allowing for the growth of mold and bacteria, and they are very difficult to clean thoroughly after use. The present invention solves the problem associated with cleaning these prior devices by choosing the materials and configuration of the device to promote the desired thorough cleaning.

1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to packing cushions for stabilizing an object when packed. 2. Description of Related Art Many products require to be boxed up for shipping and storage. However, some of these products are frangible and easily damaged during shipping if packed in a box without filler or padding. Therefore, packing cushions are needed in the boxes to protect the products. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Cloud-based, or hosted, computing generally involves executing applications via a web browser or web app, and obtaining information for the applications from a remote server system or service. Cloud computing provides real advantages over traditional desktop software, such as the ability to access documents from various different computers and locations. Office productivity applications are one type of application currently be delivered by the cloud. For example, users can employ their web browsers to edit word processing and spreadsheet documents that are stored on hosted server systems, can access enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, can edit photos, and can perform most other activities that they could previously perform only with desktop productivity software. Web browsers do, however, place a number of limits on programs that run on them, such as JavaScript programs. For example, web browsers may offer programmers HTML elements that are very simple to implement but can be rather inflexible. For example, a browser text box can be a simple way for a programmer to acquire textual input from a user of a browser, but the manner is which the text is presented is relatively bland, and does not come close to providing a WYSIWYG experience. Also, browsers do not provide access to native text rendering capabilities, do not generally permit much flexibility in positioning images on a web page, and cannot natively execute other functions that are expected from a full-featured word processor application.

Liquid crystal display elements have been used in various devices such as measuring equipment, automotive panel, word processor, electronic note, printer, computer, TV, clock, advertisement panel board, and etc., including watch and electronic calculator. The representative of the liquid crystal display method includes TN (twisted nematic) type, STN (super twisted nematic) type, VA (vertical alignment) type using a TFT (thin film transistor), and IPS (in-plane switching) type. The liquid crystal composition used in the liquid crystal display element is demanded to be stable to external factors such as water, air, heat, and light. It is also demanded to exhibit a liquid crystalline phase in as wide temperature range as possible including the room temperature, as well as it is demanded to have a low viscosity and require lower drive voltage. Furthermore, the liquid crystal composition comprises several to dozens of compounds in order to obtain the most appropriate values of dielectric constant anisotropy (Δ∈) or/and refractive index anisotropy (Δn) depending on individual display element. A vertical orientation type display uses a liquid crystal composition whose Δ∈ is negative, which is widely used in e.g., liquid crystal TVs. On the other hand, lower voltage drive, higher response, and wider operating temperature are demanded in all drive types. Namely, it is demanded to have a positive range of Δ∈ with a larger absolute value, having a lower viscosity (η), and higher transition temperature (Tni) between nematic phase and isotropic liquid phase. Also, by regulating the product (Δn×d) of the Δn value and a cell gap (d), it is required to adjust the Δn value of the liquid crystal composition in a suitable range in accordance with the cell gap. In addition, when the liquid crystal display element is applied to TVs, high-speed response is weighed heavily, and therefore, the liquid crystal composition is required to have a small rotational viscosity (γ1). Conventionally, in order to compose a liquid crystal composition having a low value of γ1, it was usual to use a compound having a dialkylbicyclohexane frame (see Patent Reference No. 1). However, although a bicyclohexane compound exhibits a high effect to reduce the value of γ1, generally, it tends to have a high vapor pressure, and especially, such a tendency can be remarkably found in a compound with a short alkyl chain length. In addition, Tni tends to be low. Therefore, as an alkylbicyclohexane compound, it is often to use a compound having a total side chain length with a carbon atom number of 7, and enough examinations have not been made for a compound having a shorter side chain length. A liquid crystal composition was known which uses a dialkylbicyclohexane compound having a short side chain length (see Patent Reference No. 2). This composition balances the physical properties as a whole by using a compound having three ring structures as a negative dielectric constant anisotropy compound as much as possible, using a compound having a difluoroethylene frame. With respect to the difluoroethylene frame used in this composition, however, there is a problem as to its low stability with respect to the light, and therefore, it is demanded to develop a liquid crystal composition without using such a compound. On the other hand, as the application of the liquid crystal display elements has come to spread, there have been large changes in their use and manufacturing method. In order to cope with the changes, it has been demanded to optimize the characteristics more than the basic physical properties as conventionally known. Namely, as the liquid crystal display element using the liquid crystal composition, a VA (vertical alignment) type and an IPS (in-plane switching) type have been widely used, and in addition, a display element having a super large size such as size 50 or more has become available and used. With upsizing the substrate size, as for the injection method to substrate of the liquid crystal composition, the dropping method (ODF=One Drop Fill) has been mainly adopted from conventional vacuum injection method (see Patent Reference 3). Along with this change, a problem comes to the surface when dropping a liquid crystal composition on the substrate, leaving a drop trace and causing deterioration of the display quality. Here, the drop trace is defined as a phenomenon when a trace made by dropping a liquid crystal composition appears white even in a black display. For the purpose of high-speed response of the pretilt angle control of the liquid crystal material in the liquid crystal display element, there have been developing a PS liquid crystal display element (polymer stabilized; polymer stabilization), and a PSA liquid crystal display element (polymer sustained alignment; polymer maintenance orientation) (see Patent Reference No. 4), and therefore, the issue of the problems has been more significant. Usually, these display elements are characterized in that a monomer is added in the liquid crystal composition, and the monomer in the composition is hardened. On the other hand, a liquid crystal composition for active matrix is required to maintain a high voltage retention rate, so that a compound having an ester linkage is restricted from usage, and therefore, there are few kinds of compounds available. As a monomer used for the PSA liquid crystal display element, an acrylate system is mainly used, and such an acrylate compound generally has an ester linkage. Acrylate compounds are usually not used as a liquid crystal compound for active matrix (see Patent Reference 4). When a large quantity of an acrylate compound is included in a liquid crystal composition for active matrix, the generation of drop trace is induced, thereby increasing the problem of the aggravation of the yield of the liquid crystal display element due to the display defectiveness. In addition, aggravation of the yield can also become problematic when the additives such as antioxidant and light absorption agent are added in the liquid crystal composition. As a method to control the drop traces, disclosed is a method to polymerize a polymerizable compound mixed in the liquid crystal composition to form a polymer layer in the liquid crystalline layer in order to control the generating drop trace in relation with the orientational control film (Patent Reference No. 5). However, in this method, there is a problem in which there occurs ghosting in the display which is caused by to the polymerizable compound added in the liquid crystal composition, and therefore, the effect to suppress the drop trace is insufficient. Therefore, it has been demanded to develop a liquid crystal display element in which basic characteristics as liquid crystal display elements are maintained while it is unlikely to cause the ghosting and the drop trace.

The last few decades have seen significant efforts expended in exploring possible uses of D-nucleoside analogs as antiviral agents. Some of this work has borne fruit, and a number of nucleoside analogs are currently being marketed as antiviral drugs, including the HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors (AZT, ddI, ddC, d4T, and 3TC). Nucleoside analogs have also been investigated for use as immune system modulators, (Bennet, P. A. et al., J Med. Chem., 36, 635, 1993), but again with less than completely satisfactory results. For example, guanosine analogs such as 8-bromo-, 8-mercapto-, 7-methyl-8-oxoguanosine (Goodman, M. G. Immunopharmacology, 21, 51-68, 1991) and 7-thia-8-oxoguanosine (Nagahara, K. J. Med. Chem., 33, 407-415, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,426) have been studied over the years for their ability to activate the immune system. These guanosine derivatives show excellent antiviral and/or antitumor activity in vivo. But, these C.sub.8 -substituted guanosines were unable to activate T-cells (Sharma, B. S. et al., Clin. Exp. Metastasis, 9, 429-439, 1991). The same was found to be true with 6-arylpyrimidinones (Wierenga, W. Ann. N. Y. Acad Sci., 685, 296-300, 1993). In other research, a series of 3-deazapurine nucleosides were synthesized and evaluated as immuno-modulating agents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,419 describes the use of 3-deazaadenosine as being an inhibitor of the immune system. The .beta.-D-nucleoside, .beta.-2'-deoxy-3-deazaguanosine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,647) displayed the most potent immunoenhancing potency on activated T-cell response. Antiinflamatory and immunosuppressant activity has also been disclosed for certain 2'-deoxynucleosides (EPO Application 0 038 569). However, these compounds undergo facile in vivo metabolic cleavage of their glycosyl bond, which effectively inactivates their biological potency. Adenosine derivatives disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,888 are also catabolized in vivo by deaminase enzymes. In still other research, Levamisole, a thymomimetic immunostimulant (Hadden et al, Immunol. Today, 14, 275-280, 1993), appears to act on the T-cell lineage in a manner similar to thymic hormones. Tucaresol (Reitz et al, Nature, 377, 71-75,1995), another T-cell stimulant, is now undergoing clinical trials. More recently, 6-substituted purine linker amino acid (Zacharie et al, J. Med. Che., 40, 2883-2894, 1997) has been described as a promising immunostimulant which may be targeted for those disease states which require an increased CTL or Th1 type response. One possible target of immunomodulation involves stimulation or suppression of Th1 and Th2 lymphokines. Type I (Th1) cells produce interleukin 2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF.alpha.) and interferon gamma (IFN.gamma.) and they are responsible primarily for cell-mediated immunity such as delayed type hypersensitivity and antiviral immunity. Type 2 (Th2) cells produce interleukins, IL4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10 and IL-13 and are primarily involved in assisting humoral immune responses such as those seen in response to allergens, e.g. IgE and IgG4 antibody isotype switching (Mosmann, 1989, Annu Rev Immunol, 7:145-173). D-guanosine analogs have been shown to elicit various effects on lymphokines IL-1, IL-6, IFN.alpha. and TNF.alpha. (indirectly) in vitro (Goodman, 1988, Int J Immunopharmacol, 10, 579-88) and in vivo (Smee et al., 1991, Antiviral Res 15: 229). However, the ability of the D-guanosine analogs such as 7- thio-8-oxoguanosine to modulate Type I or Type 2 cytokines directly in T cells was ineffective or has not been described. Significantly, most of the small molecule research has focused on the synthesis and evaluation of D-nucleosides. This includes Ribavirin (Witkowski, J. T. et al., J. Med. Chem., 15, 1150, 1972), AZT (De Clercq, E. Adv. Drug Res., 17, 1, 1988), DDI (Yarchoan, R. et al., Science (Washington, D. C.), 245, 412, 1989), DDC (Mitsuya, H. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S. A., 83, 1911, 1986), d4T (Mansuri, M. M. et al., J. Med. Chem., 32, 461, 1989) and 3TC (Doong, S. L. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 88, 8495-8599, 1991). In this handful of therapeutic agents, only 3TC which contains an unnatural modified L-ribose moiety, the enantiomer of natural D-ribose. After the approval of 3TC by the FDA, a number of nucleosides with the unnatural L-configuration were reported as having potent chemotherapeutic agents against immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and certain forms of cancer. These include (-)-.beta.-L-1-[2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-oxathiolan-4-yl]-5-fluorocytosine (FTC; Furman, P. A., et al, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 36, 2686-2692, 1992), (-)-.beta.-L-2',3'-dideoxypentofuranosyl-5-flurocytosine (L-FddC; Gosselin, G., et al, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 38, 1292-1297, 1994), (-)-.beta.-L-1-[2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-oxathiolan-4-yl]cytosine [(-)-OddC; Grove, K. L., et al, Cancer Res., 55, 3008-3011, 1995], 2',3'-dideoxy-.beta.-L-cystidine (.beta.-L-ddC; Lin, T. S., et al, J. Med. Chem., 37, 798-803, 1994), 2'fluoro-5-methyl-.beta.-L-arabinofuranosyluracil (L-FMAU; U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,688), 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydro-.beta.-L-cystidine (.beta.-L-d4C; Lin, T. S., et al, J. Med. Chem., 39, 1757-1759, 1996), 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydro-.beta.-L-5-fluorocystidine (.beta.-L-Fd4C; Lin, T. S., et al, J. Med. Chem., 39, 1757-1759, 1996), L-cyclopentyl carbocyclic nucleosides (Wang, P., et al, Tetrahedron Letts., 38, 4207-4210, 1997) and variety of 9-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-.beta.-L-arabinofuranosyl)purine nucleosides (Ma, T.' et al, J. Med. Chem., 40, 2750-2754, 1997). Other research on L-nucleosides has also been reported. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,698, for example, describes the synthesis and use of L-adenosine to stimulate the growth of a plant. WO 92/08727 describes certain L-2'-deoxyuridines and their use for treating viruses. Spadari, S., et al, J. Med. Chem., 35, 4214-4220, 1992, describes the synthesis of certain L-.beta.-nucleosides useful for treating viral infections including Herpes Simplex Virus Type I. U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,101 describes the synthesis of .alpha.- and .beta.-L-ribofuranosyl nucleosides, processes for their preparation, pharmaceutical composition containing them, and method of using them to treat various diseases in mammals. A German patent (De 195 18 216) describes the synthesis of 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxy-L-.beta.-arabinofuranosyl pyrimidine nucleosides. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,565,438 and 5,567,688 describe the synthesis and utility of L-FMAU. WO Patent 95/20595 describes the synthesis of 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-L-.beta.-arbinofuranosyl purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and method of treating HBV or EBV. U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,689 describes methods for increasing uridine levels with L-nucleosides. WO patent 96/28170 describes a method of reducing the toxicity of D-nucleosides by co-administering an effective amount of L-nucleoside compounds. Significantly, while some of the known L-nucleosides have shown potent antiviral activity with lower toxicity profiles than their D-counterparts, none of these L-nucleoside compounds have been shown to posses immunomodulatory properties. Moreover, at present there is no effective treatment for the modulation of the immune system where lymphokine profiles (Th1 and Th2 subsets) have been implicated. Thus, there remains a need for novel L-nucleoside analogs, especially a need for L-nucleoside analogs which modulate the immune system, and most especially L-nucleoside analogs which specifically modulate Th1 and Th2.

The present invention is related to a membrane probe card, and, more particularly, to a replaceable modularized membrane probe card, wherein a membrane assembly is replaceable. Integrated circuits are typically formed on a semiconductor substrate by a series of processes, such as deposition, photolithography, and etching processes. The conductive materials, dielectric materials, and semiconductor materials having patterns or non-patterns are formed successively on a major surface of the semiconductor substrate for making an integrated circuit pattern. Recently, significant advances have been obtained to meet the need for the Ultra Large-Scale Integrated (ULSI) circuits. Semiconductor integrated circuits currently being manufactured follow ultra high-density design rules. The performance and integrity of each die circuit must be tested before the dies are cut out of the wafer and package. Testing is typically done by conductive probe card apparatus that makes physical and electrical contact with the die pads. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, side section and bottom plan views of a prior art high density probe card are illustrated. An epoxy ring printed circuit probe card 2 includes an aluminum ring 12, an epoxy resin 14, and probes 4 that are arranged into a lower row 4a and an upper row 4b. The probe wires 4c extend radially outwardly to traces 6 on the lower surface 8 of the probe card 2. The drawback and ultimate density limitation for the probe card 2 is that the traces 6 are formed on the same lower surface 8 and must be located at the same radial distance. The single set of traces carries all of the connections for all of the probes 4. In order for there to be sufficient spacing for radial traces 6, they must be radially spaced from the central opening 10 a sufficient distance to allow for minimum trace width and for insulative spacing between the traces 6. This close proximity leads directly to shorts and to undesirable coupling and electrical interference between the probes 4. Therefore, with the limited size of the probe card and the limited radial distances of the probe traces from center, and with the resultant construction having closeness of adjacent traces, it is extremely difficult to construct a high density probe card of the conventional type. Besides, there are many disadvantages of the above-mentioned probe card. (1) The dimension of the chip shrinks as the density of integrated circuit increases, preventing the pads from being a layout in a matrix mode, limited by the arrangement of the probes. (2) Avoiding shorts and electrical interference between the probes, the pitch between pads is alternatingly wide. (3) The probes scrape the conductive pads after first contact with the conductive pads and cuts through any thin film of aluminum oxide or other metallic oxide. The conductive pads are damaged causing the yields of the subsequent processes to decrease and the testing variations to increase. (4) The vertical positioning of the probe tips of a probe card is not in planarization, thereby all probes make electrical connection at the different times causing different contact forces. Therefore, the ohmic contacts between the probe tips and conductive pads are influenced. (5) The oxidized probe tips of the probe card or the oxide film residue on the surface of the conductive pads are both contaminated influencing the electrical character of the probe card. Therefore, the probe card must be maintained and replaced constantly. (6) The probes of a probe card are conventionally mounted by solder, so that the solder must be removed before the probes are replaced when any probes are damaged. However, this procedure is performed by a number of apparatus, thereby the maintenance of the probe card is difficult and time-consuming. (7) The electric resistance of the conventional probe card is relative high limiting the test frequency, thereby it cannot be applied to a high frequency test. There is a need to provide a modularized membrane probe card to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional probe as mentioned above. A plurality of bumps on the membrane assembly with circuit patterns is used to electrically connect to the pads of the tested wafer. The membrane probe card is replaceable for simply and easily changing membrane assembly on production line by an operator. The operator changes the membrane assembly according to the variable integrated circuit layout without changing the whole probe card, which decreases cost and maintenance time. A general object of the present invention is to provide a membrane probe card, which is a module type for reducing the cost of the apparatus, and saving time for maintenance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a membrane probe card for testing high-density integrated circuits having a matrix type layout. A membrane probe card is disclosed according to the present invention, which comprises a pressure mechanism, a membrane assembly, and a printed circuit board. The pressure mechanism comprises an upper-housing, a spring system, and support block. The upper-housing has a plurality of first oriented openings, a plurality of second oriented openings, and a plurality of third oriented openings. The plurality of first oriented openings is used to connect the pressure mechanism and the membrane assembly to the printed circuit board to constitute the membrane probe card. The plurality of second oriented openings and the plurality of third oriented openings are used to connect the upper-housing, the spring system, and the support block to make up the stable pressure mechanism. The support block is one major feature of the present invention, which comprises a support base, a support ring, and a support block flange. The support ring has slight flexibility for assisting the spring system to result in the support base having a vertically traveling distance. The membrane assembly is one other feature of the present invention, which is replaceable. The membrane assembly comprises a plurality of membrane regions, a membrane probe region, and a plurality of membrane connection regions. A plurality of metal bumps under the membrane probe region is used for an electrical connection to a tested wafer. A plurality of metal bumps under the plurality of the membrane connection regions is used for electrically connecting to the printed circuit board. The plurality of the membrane regions having circuit patterns thereon connect electrically the plurality of the membrane connection regions to the membrane probe region.

There is a demand for increasingly higher input/output (IO) bandwidth on devices and device cables. For example, USB 3.1 includes data throughput speeds up to 10 Gbps, and future device cables increase the speed requirements to 25 Gbps or more. However, existing device cables like USB 3.1 include a differential cable pair and a differential impedance, both of which include conventional transmission lines, which require significant power and voltage swing (e.g., minimum and maximum voltage values) so that the receiving device can operate reliably. Further, as the length of the device cable increases, the transmission loss increases and the data throughput decreases. In an example, for USB 3.1, the loss may be too great beyond a cable length of eight or ten inches that USB 3.1 throughput cannot be maintained. A ten-inch cable distance may be required before a signal leaves a computer housing: a signal may need to be taken out from a central processing unit (CPU) to the edge of the printed circuit board (PCB), then to the computer chassis, then to the cable connector, which may meet or exceed a ten-inch cable maximum. Existing solutions to address this cable requirement may include using re-drivers or re-timers, but these solutions are power-hungry and require PCB board space, which offset the advantages of high-speed lines.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing killed steels, such as Al-killed, Si-killed and Al-Si-killed steels for continuous casting. 2. Description of the Prior Art Conventional methods for producing Al-killed, Si-killed or Al-Si-killed steels comprise controlling the oxygen blowing to a converter so as to obtain a steel composition and temperature predetermined for a specific steel grade, while adding alloying elements to the converter, adjusting the steel composition by adding alloying elements on the basis of sampling results at the finishing stage or the blow-off stage of the oxygen blowing or at the time of tapping, and supplying the molten steel thus obtained to a continuous casting machine through a ladle and a tundish. Therefore, in the conventional methods, the converter is subjected to severe operation conditions for a long period of time, and the operation conditions vary depending on grades of steel to be produced, so that the control of the oxygen-blown refining in the converter is very complicated. For example, for producing of a low-carbon Al-killed steel containing 0.09% or less carbon for continuous casting, the carbon content at the time of blow termination (blow-off carbon content) is maintained in a range from 0.03 to 0.06% in view of the increase in carbon content from addition of Fe-Mn, etc. to the ladle during the pouring so that the total Fe % in the slag exceeds 20%, thus producing excessive oxidized molten steel which causes considerable shortening of the converter and ladle refractory linings, as well as loss of iron yield in the molten steel. The above disadvantages caused by the excessively oxidized molten steel have been regarded as being unavoidable and inherent to the conventional methods, and resulted in considerable fluctuation in the blown-off temperature and the steel composition in the converter operation according to the conventional methods. Further, due to the excessively oxidized condition of the molten steel, the manganese content at the blow-off is 0.13% or less when the blow-off carbon content is from 0.03 to 0.06%. Therefore, in order to obtain a predetermined steel composition, the addition of a larger amount of Fe-Mn (for example 3 kg/ton of molten steel) is required, and for this addition, a low-carbon Fe-Mn is required because the carbon content in the final product very often exceeds its upper limit due to pick-up of carbon from Fe-Mn and causes rejects. However, the low-carbon Fe-Mn, as compared with a high-carbon Fe-Mn, requires a much large power consumption for its production and costs about two times more than the high-carbon Fe-Mn. Therefore, the use of a low-carbon Fe-Mn will cause disadvantages in the production cost of molten steel. Further, the excessive oxidation of molten steel lowers the yield rate of ferro-alloys and increases fluctuation in the steel compositions so that in the conventional methods one is required to predetermine the target values for the final product at a considerably higher level than the actual values and to provide a wider range of tolerance. Thus, the above disadvantages due to the excessive oxidation of the molten steel have been unavoidable and inherent in the production of low-carbon Al-killed or Si-killed molten steels for continuous casting because of the necessity of maintaining the blow-off carbon content in a range from 0.03 to 0.06%. Further, according to the conventional methods, Al or Si is added to the molten steel during pouring after the blow-termination or to the ladle after the pouring, so that in the case of the ordinary addition during the pouring, only less than 25% Al addition yield and about 40 to 80% Si addition yield can be achieved. In the case of a special and complicated addition, such as, high-speed addition in the forms of Al wire or Al bullet, and addition under non-oxidizing atmosphere and/or under stirring, only about 30 to 40% addition yield can be achieved for Al and only about 50 to 80% addition yield can be achieved for Si. Thus in the conventional methods, the loss of Al and Si during their addition to the molten steel is very large. In the case of Si addition, even when Al is added in an amount from 0.001 to 0.008% as the total Al so as to stabilize the Si addition, only 60 to 85% addition yield with considerable fluctuation can be achieved. In this way, a considerable amount of alumina and/or oxide inclusions are produced in the molten steel due to the loss of Al and/or Si during their addition, and these inclusions cause not only deterioration of the molten steel quality, but also difficulties in the continuous casting operation, such as, clogging of the pouring nozzle. Further, according to the conventional methods, addition of elements other than Al and Si has been effected simultaneously with Fe-Mn-Al or Fe-Mn-Si to the molten steel during the pouring or to the ladle after the pouring. In this case, also, just as Fe-Mn, Al or Si, the addition yield of other elements is low and fluctuates considerably due to the excessive oxidation of the molten steel. As another disadvantage of the conventional methods, it is required that the pouring temperature of the molten steel from the converter is set so as to assure a molten steel temperature within the tundish 20.degree. to 40.degree. C. higher than the solidification temperature. Thus, the molten steel temperature within the tundish is not higher than the solidification point by more than 20.degree. C., a large amount of alumina or oxide adhesion is formed around the pouring nozzle, and this causes early clogging of the nozzle and hence difficulties in continuing a smooth casting operation. On the other hand, if the molten steel temperature within the tundish is higher than the solidification by more than 40.degree. C., the solidification speed in the mold is lowered, and this causes slab surface defects, such as, slag or powder entrappment. In order to prevent such surface defects, the casting speed must be limited to an appropriate speed. For this reason, in the case of Al-killed steels, 10 to 30% surface conditioning is required as shown in FIG. 8, and in the case of Si-killed steels about 15% surface conditioning is required. Further, even when the temperature within the tundish is maintained 20.degree. to 40.degree. C. higher than the solidifying temperature and a "bank" is provided within the tundish or the shape of the immersion nozzle is improved so as to remove the alumina or oxide inclusions, a completely satisfactory result can not be achieved and as shown in FIG. 6, the alumina cluster or oxide inclusions segregate in the thickness direction of the slab, and when such slabs are used for production of cold rolled steel sheets, the surfacial portion of the slab is conditioned and removed after the coating. This causes considerable lowering of the iron yield of the slabs. In the case of a continuous casting machine of curved strand type, the alumina clusters or oxide inclusions which segregate at 1/4 thickness portions of the slabs, are exposed as sliver defects on the surfaces of the cold rolled steel sheets produced from such slabs, thus causing considerable lowering of the product yield as shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 6, the solid line (1) represents the distribution of alumina clusters in a slab produced by adding the total amount of Fe-Mn and Al during the pouring, while the chained line (2) represents the distribution of alumina cluster in a slab produced by adding only Fe-Mn during the pouring and adding Al under a non-oxidizing atmosphere after the pouring with stirring. As mentioned above, Al-killed, Si-killed or Al-Si-killed steel products having satisfactory inner and surfacial qualities could not be obtained by the conventional methods. Meanwhile, in order to eliminate the defects of Al-killed, Si-killed or Al-Si-killed steels produced by the conventional methods, various experiments have been tried, including pouring the molten steel under non-oxidized or semi-oxidized conditions to a ladle and subjecting the molten steel to a vacuum degassing treatment. However, the degassing operation has been regarded and established as production means only for production of extremely low-hydrogen and extremely low-carbon steels for high-grade thick plates, and the degassing treatment has been performed under the conditions of 1-5 mmHg vacuum rate and 4-10 circulations (definitions will be set forth hereinafter), so that a large scale of a vacuum generator as well as a long period of treating time has been required, resulting in a considerable temperature lowering during the treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the blow-off temperature in the converter 20.degree. to 50.degree. C. higher as compared with an ordinary non-degassed molten steel in order to maintain the molten steel temperature within the tundish 20.degree. to 40.degree. C. higher than the solidifying temperature as mentioned before. This procedure, however, causes remarkable loss and damage of the refractories of the converter and the ladle, as well as the degassing equipment, and increases the consumption of various energy sources, such as, vapour for the vacuum generator, and power and Ar gas for the degassing equipment, resulting in increased total cost of the degassing treatment. Thus, vacuum degassing of ordinary molten steels, such as, Al-killed, Si-killed or Al-Si-killed steels for continuous casting would result in severe damage of the refractories of the converter, the ladle and the degassing equipment, and a remarkable increase in the degassing cost. Further, in the conventional methods, as most parts of Mn, Si and Al for composition adjustment are added during the pouring, their addition yield is low while the N content in the steel increases considerably. This is not desirable for the production of steel grades which require a low N content. In addition, during the addition of Mn, Si and Al, the hydrogen (H) content in the steel increases due to the water adhering to these additives, so that it is necessary to remove this increased hydrogen content and for this removal, the vacuum degassing is performed under a high degree of operation load. In order to improve the addition yield of the above elements, and to lower the hydrogen (H) and (N) contents in the steel, it has been proposed to pour a molten steel prepared in a converter to a ladle under a non-deoxidized or semi-oxidized condition, and to add the above elements during a high-vacuum degassing treatment. Meanwhile, when non-deoxidized molten steel is subjected to vacuum degassing under conventional conditions, the splash phenomenon, which is caused by a decarburization reaction during the treatment is very remarkable, and particularly in the case of molten steels containing 0.05% or more blow-off carbon content, so that a smooth degassing treatment can not be easily achieved and equipmental troubles result such that the molten steel blows from the degassing vessel into the vacuum exhausting system. Therefore, up to now, the vacuum degassing treatment has not been applied to Al-killed, Si-killed or Al-Si-killed steels for continuous casting because of these great disadvantages.

This invention relates to cancer, and particularly to diagnosing and treating tumors premised on the tumor suppressor status of cancer cells. The invention will have significant applications for cancer diagnosis and therapy. It has been known for some time that a variety of cancers are caused, at least in part, by mutations to certain normal genes, termed xe2x80x9cproto-oncogenes.xe2x80x9d Proto-oncogenes are involved in regulating normal cell growth in ways that are only now beginning to be appreciated at the molecular level. The mutated proto-oncogenes, or cancer causing genes termed xe2x80x9concogenes,xe2x80x9d disrupt normal cell growth which ultimately causes the death of the organism, if the cancer is not detected and treated in time. During normal or cancer cell growth, proto-oncogenes or oncogenes, are counterbalanced by growth-regulating proteins which regulate or try to regulate the growth of normal or cancer cells, respectively. Such proteins are termed xe2x80x9ctumor suppressor proteins.xe2x80x9d A number of such proteins are known. A gene that encodes a tumor suppressor protein termed p53 is frequently mutated in a number of human cancers, and the inactivation of p53 is thought to be responsible for the genesis or progression of certain cancers (Nigro et al., 1989, Nature 342:705-708), including human colorectal carcinoma (Baker et al., 1989, Science 244:217-221), human lung cancer (Takahashi et al., 1989, Science 246:491-494; Iggo et al., 1990, Lancet 335:675-679), chronic myelogenous leukemia (Kelman et al., 1989, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:6783-6787) and osteogenic sarcomas (Madsuda et al., 1987, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:7716-7719). Tumor cells that exhibit p53 are more sensitive to radiation treatment than tumor cells that have little or no p53. Thus, knowledge of the p53 status of tumors has significant practical applications for aiding a physician in the selection of the most appropriate treatment modality. Despite the strong experimental evidence supporting a role for p53 in tumorigenesis, there are currently only a few methods available for determining the presence of wild type or mutant p53 protein in mammalian cells. One widely used method involves time consuming DNA sequencing of the p53 gene itself. A limitation of this approach is that the presence of a normal p53 DNA sequence is not always an accurate predictor of the presence of functional p53 protein in the cells assayed since p53 function can be masked by binding of p53 protein to endogenous cellular or viral proteins (Momand, J. et al. (1992) Cell, 69:1237-1245; Oliner, J. D. et al. (1992) Nature, 358:80-83). Furthermore, this approach is both expensive to perform and time-consuming. Another method used for determining the presence of wild type or mutant p53 involves the use of antibodies capable of distinguishing between these two forms of p53. However, this approach also has several limitations. Firstly, many of the mutations which arise in the p53 protein are point mutations and not all such mutations can be distinguished by a limited number of antibodies. Secondly, since p53 is the most commonly mutated protein identified in human cancers, the number of antibodies necessary to detect all of the different mutant forms of p53 may be quite high; this method would be impractical and costly. Thirdly, by its very nature the use of p53 antibodies, similar to the DNA sequencing method described above, is performed on cell lysates. It is not applicable to living cells. Other methods for determining p53 in cells are shown in the following patent applications. EPA 518 650, inventor Vogelstein, B. et al., describes a method for detecting p53 in cellular extracts using DNA sequences that are specific for p53 binding. WO 94/11533 describes determining the presence of functional p53 in cells by measuring mRNA or protein encoded by a gene termed GADD45, which is an acronym for growth-arrest and DNA-damage inducible gene. It is important to note that all presently used p53 assays require several days to complete and cannot be performed in vivo. That is, they cannot be performed without surgically biopsing, and lysing the tumor cells. Considering the importance that tumor suppressor proteins play in regulating cell growth, and those studies that have shown that their absence is involved in establishing the malignant phenotype, methods have been developed to replace tumor suppressors in cancer cells that lack them. The most studied method centers on the delivery of the appropriate tumor suppressor gene to cancer cells using a viral vector. Perhaps the most studied vector is adenovirus. Partly because of this work, a considerable amount of information exists regarding the genetic properties of adenovirus, and how to construct recombinant forms of the virus. See, for example, Horwitz, M. S. Adenoviridae and their Replication, In: Fields, B. N. and Knipe, D. M., eds., Fundamental Virology, 2nd ed. New York, N.Y., Raven Press, Ltd., pages 771-813 (1991); and Jolly, D. Cancer Gene Therapy, vol. 1, pages 51-64 (1994). Mittal et al., Virus Research, vol. 28, pages 67-90 (1993) shows an adenovirus type 5-luciferase recombinant containing the firefly luciferase gene flanked by simian virus 40 (SV 40) regulatory sequences inserted into the early region 3 of the adenovirus-5 genome. Quantin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. vol. 89: pages 2581-2584 (1992), discloses a recombinant adenovirus containing the beta-galactosidase reporter gene under the control of muscle-specific regulatory sequences. This recombinant virus directs the expression of beta-galactosidase in myotubes in vivo. Akrigg, A., et al., PCT/GB92/01195, discloses recombinant adenovirus for use in the detection of a trans-acting gene function in a target eukaryotic cell. As mentioned above, the tumor suppressor protein p53 has recently been implicated as playing a critical role in causing tumor cell death, or apoptosis, induced by radiation or certain chemotherapeutic agents. See, Lowe et al., Cell, vol. 74; pages 957-967 (1993). Thus, it will be appreciated that an assay for p53 is desired that does not have the limitations of currently used assays. In particular, an assay that permits the in vivo diagnosis of the p53 status of tumor cells, or a more rapid method of assaying a tumor biopsy for p53, would greatly aid a physician in selecting the most effective method of ridding a patient of such tumors. A first object of the invention is to describe a rapid, preferrably in vivo method for determining the status of tumor suppressor proteins in a patient""s tumor cells, which method includes contacting the tumor cells with a first and second polynucleotide sequence such that they are taken up by the tumor cells. The first polynucleotide sequence encodes a reporter molecule that is operably linked to the second polynucleotide sequence which sequence binds the tumor suppressor. Binding of the tumor suppressor causes the expression of the reporter molecule, which is detected or quantitated. A second object of the invention is to describe a method for determining the status of the tumor suppressor protein, p53, in a patient""s tumor cells in vivo, which method includes contacting the tumor cells with a first and second polynucleotide sequence such that they are taken up by the tumor cells. The first polynucleotide sequence encodes a reporter molecule that is operably linked to the second polynucleotide sequence which binds p53. Binding of p53 to the second polynucleotide sequence causes the expression of the reporter molecule, which is detected or quantitated. A third object of the invention is to describe a method, as stated in the first paragraph above, such that contacting tumor cells with the first and second polynucleotide sequences includes using a replication defective virion. A fourth object of the invention is to describe a composition for use in a method for determining the status of tumor suppressor proteins, and preferably the tumor suppressor, p53, in a patient""s tumor, as stated in the second paragraph above, wherein the composition includes a replication defective adeno virus. A fifth object of the invention is to describe a composition for use in a method as stated in the first paragraph above, such that contacting tumor cells with the first and second polynucleotide sequences includes using a lipid complex such that the polynucleotide sequences are encased within, or associated with lipids, preferably in the form of a liposome. A sixth object of the invention is to describe methods and compositions for determining the tumor suppressor status of a patient""s tumor, and preferably the tumor suppressor p53, in conjunction with other diagnostic methods, including magnetic resonance imaging, histology, and other methods known in the art that are routinely used by oncologists. A seventh object of the invention is to describe methods and compositions for determining the tumor suppressor status of a patient""s tumor, and preferably the tumor suppressor p53 in tumors of the head and neck, wherein the first nucleotide sequence referred to above in paragraph one encodes the reporter molecule, Green Fluorescent Protein. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent upon a full consideration of the disclosure presented below.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a storage system and to a storage control apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the environment surrounding information systems is rapidly changing such as the progress of information technology (IT) and measures for the shift to broadband. Along with this, the rapid increase of the amount of data handled is a serious problem in various occasions. To deal with such an increase of the amount of data, storage systems operated in data centers are being subjected to larger capacities and higher performances of the storage control apparatuses such as disk array units. Therefore, for example, in data centers, introductions of and replacements with storage control apparatuses having higher performances and larger capacities are frequently carried out in order to respond to the rapid shift to larger capacities of storage control apparatuses. There are methods for introducing a storage control apparatus, such as the ones in which the operation using the old storage control apparatuses has been completely shifted to the operation using only the newly introduced storage control apparatuses, and the ones in which the operation is carried out where the old storage control apparatuses coexist with the newly introduced storage control apparatuses. As one of the former methods, there is a technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) Publication No. Hei10-508967. In this method, all the data can be operated by the new storage control apparatuses having a higher performance and a larger capacity, however, effective use of the old storage control apparatuses cannot be facilitated. On the other hand, in one of the latter methods, the effective use of the old storage control apparatuses can be facilitated. However, the number of the storage control apparatuses directly connected to networks becomes necessarily increased because both of the new and the old storage control apparatuses coexist, and network structure information must be re-constructed because the new storage control apparatuses have been introduced to the existing networks. Therefore, an increase in management load imposed by the shift and the operation is inevitable.

This invention relates to electric devices which are connected in an electric circuit by plug-in electric connectors which attach to the terminals of the device. Plug-in connectors which are part of an electrical wiring harness such as for vehicle application, are often keyed to insure that the respective wires of the harness are connected to the proper device. In certain instances, the same electrical device may be used in a plurality of applications, the only difference being a requirement for different keying at the plug-in connector body of the device. If the connector body is an integral part of the molded housing of the device, such requirement for different keying in the connector body requires a different device housing and therefore, a different device.

This invention relates generally to radiation-hardened integrated memory circuits or embedded memory circuits, and, more particularly, to a novel technique for permanently programming a pattern into the memory. Radiation is absorbed in materials by two main mechanisms. The primary mechanism is by ionization in which electron-hole pairs are created. If the energy of the radiation is greater than the energy required to create an electron-hole pair, ionization can occur. The energy required to form an electron-hole pair in silicon is 3.6 eV. For each RAD in silicon, approximately 4.0E13 electron-hole pairs are formed per cubic centimeter. The energy required to form an electron-hole pair in silicon dioxide is 17 eV. Because of the difference in ionization energy, approximately 4.7-times more pairs are formed in silicon than in silicon dioxide for a given dose. The secondary mechanism is by damage to the lattice structure of the material. Typically, lattice damage occurs due to radiation in the form of high energy neutrons, protons and heavy ions. The particle must have enough energy to break multiple bonds and to move the lattice atom away from its original site. The interaction of ionizing radiation with materials is fairly complex. But a basic understanding of the effect of the “total dose” radiation on MOS electronics can be gained by examining ionization effects, i.e. the generation of electron-hole pairs the gate and field oxides of an MOS transistor. Ionizing events occur when electrons in the semiconductor's valence band are raised to the conduction band. A fraction of the electron-hole pairs will undergo geminate (or initial) recombination and cause no damage. Geminate recombination decreases as the electric field increases, and the electrons and holes that survive it are free to diffuse and drift within the oxide where they will be swept from the insulator, recombine, or be trapped. The trapped charge, particularly the trapped holes, causes much of the degradation of device parameters by radiation exposure. In device-quality silicon dioxide, the electrons move freely out of the oxide whereas the holes are more likely to become trapped. The trapped holes generate space-charge fields in the underlying silicon substrate, resulting in negative shifts in the threshold voltage. As the threshold voltage shifts negatively, an N-channel transistor biased in the off-state lets more and more current pass. If enough holes are trapped, the N-channel transistor will remain fully conducting even with zero applied gate bias, transforming an enhancement-mode device into a depletion-mode device. A cross-section of an MOS transistor is shown in FIGS. 1-4. FIG. 1 shows the transistor before a radiation burst. The transistor includes a silicon substrate 10, N-type source/drain regions 12, an oxide gate region 14A, and a polysilicon gate 16. In FIG. 2 numerous electron-hole pairs generated in the silicon dioxide gate 14B are shown immediately after a radiation burst. In FIG. 3 the holes remaining in the silicon dioxide gate 14C are shown after electron transport. In FIG. 4 the remaining trapped final charge is shown in silicon dioxide gate 14D. While the generation of trapped holes in an N-channel transistor due to total dose radiation is normally an undesirable effect that must be overcome in radiation hardened circuits, what is desired is a technique for programming an integrated circuit having a memory or embedded memory portion that uses the effect of ionizing radiation to full advantage.

Poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB) and copolymers thereof can be produced using transgenic fermentation methods, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,569 to Williams et al., and are produced commercially, for example, by Tepha, Inc. (Lexington, Mass.). Poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB, TephaFLEX® biomaterial) is a strong, pliable thermoplastic polyester that, despite its biosynthetic route, has a relatively simple structure. The polymer belongs to a larger class of materials called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) that are produced by numerous microorganisms (see, for example, Steinbüchel A., et al. Diversity of Bacterial Polyhydroxyalkanoic Acids, FEMS Microbial. Lett. 128:219-228 (1995)). In nature these polyesters are produced as storage granules inside cells, and serve to regulate energy metabolism. They are also of commercial interest because of their thermoplastic properties, and relative ease of production. Several biosynthetic routes are currently known to produce P4HB: This schematic shows some of the known biosynthetic pathways for the production of P4HB. Pathway enzymes are: 1. Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 2. 4-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, 3. diol oxidoreductase, 4. aldehyde dehydrogenase, 5. Coenzyme A transferase and 6. PHA synthetase. Chemical synthesis of P4HB has been attempted, but it has been impossible to produce the polymer with a sufficiently high molecular weight that is necessary for most applications (see Hori, Y., et al., Polymer 36:4703-4705 (1995) and Houk, et al., J. Org. Chem., 73(7):2674-2678 (2008). U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,245,537, 6,623,748 and 7,244,442 describe methods of making PHAs with little to no endotoxin, which is suitable for medical applications. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,548,569, 6,838,493, 6,867,247, 7,268,205, and 7,179,883 describe use of PHAs to make medical devices. Copolymers of P4HB include 4-hydroxybutyrate copolymerized with 3-hydroxybutyrate or glycolic acid (U.S. patent application No. 2003/0211131 by Martin and Skraly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,262 to Huisman et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,010 to Skraly, et al.). Methods to control molecular weight of PHA polymers have been disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,272 to Snell et al. PHAs with controlled degradation and degradation in vivo of less than one year are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,548,569, 6,610,764, 6,828,357, 6,867,248, and 6,878,758 to Williams, et al. and WO 99/32536 to Martin, et al. Applications of P4HB have been reviewed in Williams, et al., Polyesters, III, 4:91-127 (2002), and by Martin, et al. “Medical Applications of Poly-4-hydroxybutyrate: A Strong Flexible Absorbable Biomaterial”, Biochem. Eng. J. 16:97-105 (2003). Medical devices and applications of P4HB have also been disclosed by WO 00/56376 to Williams, et al. Several patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,555,123, 6,585,994, and 7,025,980 describe the use of PHAs in tissue repair and engineering. In the practice of surgery there currently exists a need for absorbable non-wovens with improved performance. These non-wovens can be used, for example, for soft tissue repair, to reinforce tissue structures, to separate tissues, and to serve as tissue engineering scaffolds, including guided tissue regeneration scaffolds. They may also be used as components of other devices. A number of other absorbable materials have been used to produce non-wovens for use in surgery. For example, non-wovens have been made from polyglycolic acid (PGA) or copolymers containing lactic acid. These materials do not, however, have ideal properties for many procedures and applications. Non-wovens made from polyglycolic acid breakdown too rapidly for many applications, and release acidic degradation products that can cause inflammatory reactions. WO 04/101002 to Martin et al. discloses monofilament and multifilament knitted meshes of P4HB, produced by knitting monofilament and multifilament fibers of P4HB. WO 09/085,823 to Ho, et al. discloses medical devices containing melt-blown non-wovens of poly-4-hydroxybutyrate and copolymers thereof. Notably, the process of melt blowing can limit the utility of this method to produce non-wovens, particularly when it is necessary to produce three-dimensional non-woven fabrics and devices, and apply coatings of non-wovens on scaffolds or other materials. The process of melt extrusion causes a dramatic loss in the molecular weight of the polymer such that the molecular weight of the polymer in the melt blown non-woven is substantially less than in the polymer feed. The lower molecular weight of melt blown non-woven is a particular disadvantage when it is desirable to retain mass and/or mechanical properties, such as burst strength, in vivo, for a prolonged period of time, since lower molecular weight P4HB non-wovens degrade faster in vivo than higher molecular weight P4HB non-wovens. WO 95/23249 to Noda, et al. discloses non-woven fabrics prepared from other polyhydroxyalkanoates, namely, poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV), by dry spinning for use in non-medical applications such as disposable absorbent articles, including diapers, incontinence articles, and sanitary napkins. These materials, however, have substantially different thermal and physical properties than poly-4-hydroxybutyrate and copolymers thereof. For example, P3HB has a melting point and glass transition temperature of approx. 180° C. and 1° C., respectively, and an elongation to break of about 3%, whereas P4HB has a melting point of 60° C., a glass transition temperature of approx. −51° C., and elongation to break of around 1,000%. As such, P3HB is a brittle polymer that has properties resembling polystyrene whereas P4HB is a strong but extensible polymer similar to low density polypropylene. Furthermore, P3HB and PHBV have also been reported to degrade very slowly in vivo, with material still present after 24 months (Duvernoy, et al. Thorac. Cardiovacs. Surgeon, 43:271-274 (1995)), and are therefore not well suited for many in vivo surgical applications. It is an object of the present invention to provide methods to produce dry spun non-wovens of absorbable P4HB and copolymers thereof that have relatively high burst strengths, and without substantial loss of the polymer molecular weight during processing. It is a further object of the present invention to provide continuous processes to produce medical devices comprising non-wovens by dry spinning, including processes to form medical devices by coating other materials and scaffolds with dry spun non-wovens, and processes to dry spin P4HB and copolymers thereof into non-wovens without substantial loss of molecular weight during the spinning process. It is another object of the present invention to provide dry spun non-wovens which are biocompatible and can be used in medical applications, for example, as implants such as devices for soft tissue repair, replacement, and regeneration, temporary tissue support, tissue separation, as well as devices or components of devices for tissue in-growth (or guided tissue regeneration) and tissue engineering. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide continuous processes for dry spun non-woven production, which can be incorporated into or formed into medical devices with excellent physical and mechanical properties for medical applications.

Psychiatric diseases and disorders include, but are not limited to, schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorders, schizoaffective disorders, bipolar disorders (such as bipolar disorders type I, bipolar disorders type II, mania, hypomania), non-bipolar mania, Tourette's syndrome, cyclothymic disorders, rapid cycling, ultradian cycling, personality disorders, attention disorders with or without hyperactive behaviour, delusional disorders, brief psychotic disorders, shared psychotic disorders, psychotic disorders due to a general medical condition, psychotic disorders associated to Parkinson's disease, substance-induced psychotic disorders or a psychotic disorders not otherwise specified, anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorders, panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, impulse control disorders, phobic disorders and dissociative states. Schizophrenia and related disorders (brief psychotic disorders, delusional disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and schizophreniform disorders) are among the most severe and debilitating forms of psychiatric disorders. As used hereinafter in this description and claims the term “schizophrenia” includes schizophrenia related disorders such as brief psychotic disorders, delusional disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and schizophreniform disorders. Schizophrenia is characterized by profound disruption of the most fundamental human attributes: language, thought, perception, affect, and sense of self. The array of symptoms frequently includes psychotic manifestations such as hearing internal voices or experiencing other sensations not connected to an obvious source (hallucinations), assigning unusual significance or meaning to normal events (paranoia) or holding fixed false personal beliefs (delusions) and loss of contact with reality. No single symptom is definitive for diagnosis; rather, the diagnosis encompasses a pattern of signs and symptoms, in conjunction with impaired occupational or social functioning. Generally, symptoms of schizophrenia are categorized as positive, disorganized, negative and cognitive. Positive symptoms are characterized by an excess or distortion of normal functions; negative symptoms, by diminution or loss of normal functions. Disorganized symptoms include thought disorders and bizarre behaviour. Cognitive symptoms are deficits in information processing and problem solving. A person may have symptoms from one or all categories. However, traditional treatments for schizophrenia are not very effective to treat cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. While it has been reported that more recently developed treatments for schizophrenia, known as “atypical anti-psychotics,” may have some effect on cognitive deficits, the effect may not be lasting or not lead to an improvement in daily functioning. In fact there has been little data demonstrating the efficacy of atypical antipsychotics, the most common treatment prescribed for schizophrenia, in the treatment of cognitive impairment, wile psychosocial and cognitive behavioural therapy is still forming the basis of treatment. On the other hand, disturbance in cognition can be associated with a variety of diseases (e.g., schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorders, psychosis, bipolar disorders, anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia, Tourette's syndrome, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and disorders of learning in children, adolescents and adults, Age Associated Memory Impairment, Age Associated Cognitive Decline, Alzheimer's Disease, Down's Syndrome, traumatic brain injury, Huntington's Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), HIV, stroke, vascular diseases, Pick's or Creutzfeldt-Jacob diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) and other white matter disorders, Parkinson's Disease) but cannot be identified with the disease itself. However, it is evident for the person skilled in the art that it is essential to distinguish between curing or alleviating a specific symptom, that can be common to a variety of different diseases, and to treat the disease itself. Different hypotheses have been proposed to try to explain the aetiology of schizophrenia. Various neurotransmitter systems seem to be implicated in the pathology: hyperactivity of the dopaminergic circuits (Baumeister A A, Francis J L, J. Hist. Neurosci.; 2002 September; 11(3): 265-77), imbalance of the gabaergic system (Squires R F, Saederup E, Neurochem. Res., 1991 October; 16(10): 1099-111), NMDA receptor hypo-function state, as well as an impairment of the cholinergic function (Woodruff-Pak D S, Gould T J. Behav. Cogn. Neurosci. Rev. 2002 March; 1(1): 5-20). Despite major research achievements, the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia, including molecular causes and mechanisms, is currently rather incomplete and, in spite of progress in medication of schizophrenia, there are still patients who are resistant to treatments with neuroleptics and mood stabilizers and the unmet medical need is high. By the late 1970s, it was already clear that the key pharmacological action of antipsychotic drugs was their ability to block dopaminergic D2 receptors, specifically in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, in that reducing the hyperactivity in this area that is postulated to cause the positive symptoms of psychosis. Unfortunately it is not possible to block dopaminergic overactivity in that specific area only, thus conventional antipsychotics have severe side effects due to the block of D2 receptors in other areas, such as the nigrostriatal pathway, responsible for the control of movements. More recent compounds, such as atypical antipsychotics, have serotonin receptor antagonism on top of D2 receptor antagonism: these characteristics lead to a better disease control with fewer side effects. On the other hand, even if a decrease in dopaminergic tone is considered essential for antipsychotic activity, the modulation of glutamatergic transmission may be equally important. In support to this hypothesis is the fact that symptoms similar to schizophrenia can be induced in healthy volunteers by NMDA antagonists. For decades it has been recognized that the potent NMDA antagonist, phencyclidine (PCP) produces psychotic symptoms in abusers that are remarkably similar to schizophrenia. See Morgan C J et al., Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004 January; 29(1): 208-18; Large C H, J. Psychopharmacol.; 2007 May; 21(3): 283-301. This data suggests that hypofunction of NMDA receptors might be involved in the generation of negative symptoms of the disease. See also Mouri A et al., Neurochem. Int.; 2007 July-September; 51(2-4): 173-84; Lindsley C W et al., Curr. Top. Med. Chem. 2006; 6(8): 771-85; Thornberg S A, and Saklad S R, Pharmacotherapy.; 1996 January-February; 16(1): 82-93; Javitt D C. Int. Rev. Neurobiol.; 2007 78:69-108. Patients with schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, panic disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders, exhibit deficits in an operational measure of sensorimotor gating: prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI). See Geyer, Dial. Clin. Neurosci.; 2006 8(1): 9-16; Geyer et al., Psycopharmacology; 2001 July; 156(2-3): 117-54. The reduced ability to filter out among irrelevant auditory stimulation is a characteristic thought to contribute to certain manifestations of these conditions including inattention, distractibility, and cognitive deficits. Similar deficits in PPI are produced in rats by different pharmacological or developmental manipulations. These experimentally induced PPI deficits in rats appear to provide models of sensorimotor gating deficits in schizophrenia patients that have face and predictive validity. In rodents, disruptions in PPI of startle can be produced by: stimulation of dopaminergic (DA) receptors, induced by amphetamine or apomorphine; activation of serotonergic systems, produced by serotonin (5-HT) releasers or direct agonists at multiple serotonin receptors, and blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, produced by drugs such as phencyclidine (PCP). Typical and atypical antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, AChE inhibitors and nicotine are effective in restoring PPI disruption induced by the different manipulations. Anxiety and anxiety related disorders, as specified hereinbelow, cover several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears and phobias. Each anxiety related disorder has different symptoms, but all the symptoms cluster around excessive, irrational fear and dread. Anxiety related disorders include panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), social phobia (or social anxiety disorders), specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorders (GAD). The principal medications used for anxiety and anxiety related disorders range from anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazepines and barbiturates), antidepressants to beta-blockers and have different mechanisms of action. However in some cases there is no correspondence between the therapeutical treatment of the disease and the effect on some of the symptoms which may be associated herewith. For instance, with regard to anxiety related cognition impairments, the results of different studies demonstrate instead that the reduction in anxiety shown by anxious patients after diazepam is not accompanied by a reduction in cognitive disorders. This suggests that diazepam fails to reduce anxiety-related cognitive impairments in clinically anxious subjects. See Cognitive Therapy and Research 1991, 15(6):459-467. Among the different classes of drugs currently used for the psychiatric disorders above described, many side effects can be observed and therefore a high unmet medical need is perceived for these pathologies. For instance, lithium salts have a narrow therapeutic index; atypical antipsychotics can cause an increased QTc interval and/or weight gain; anticonvulsants cause sedation and cognitive impairments and antidepressants can cause a swing towards mania. Although the side effect profile of each individual drug differs significantly, it is clear that the side-effect profiles of these drugs are far from desirable. Moreover, there are frequently comorbid psychiatric conditions that are also of clinical importance. Although epidemiological studies report a high prevalence of anxiety and anxiety related disorders in schizophrenia, their clinical relevance is still under recognized. The presence of anxiety in schizophrenia patients has been associated with a greater risk of suicide, poorer social functioning, and an increase risk of relapse. Bayle et al. (Eur Psychiatry 2001; 16-349-353) reported that 47.5% of schizophrenia patients had a lifetime history of panic attacks, that in 31.2% of cases the onset of panic disorder preceded the onset of schizophrenia, and that the treatment of panic disorder improved clinical and social outcome. While comorbid panic and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been investigated in schizophrenia patients, social anxiety in schizophrenia has received much less clinical attention. People with social anxiety suffer considerable impairments in daily life activities, occupational role, and social relationship. Social anxiety is itself a disabling disorder and individuals with social anxiety disorders as comorbid conditions have a more severe level of disability. Subjects with social anxiety have a higher risk of developing substance/alcohol abuse or dependence and in patients with schizophrenia this is associated to a higher impulsivity and suicidality. Therefore the assessment and treatment of social anxiety disorder comorbidity in schizophrenia patients should improve both clinical and social outcomes. See Pallanti S. et al.—Am J Psychiatry (2004) 161:53-58. By way of further background, WO90/14334 discloses substituted alpha-aminoamide derivatives active on the central nervous system (CNS) that are useful in the treatment of epilepsy, of Parkinson's disease and as neuroprotective agents in degenerative processes associated with normal ageing or pathological situations, such as brain ischemia; they can also be used as antidepressants, hypnotics and/or antispastic agents. See also Pevarello P. et al. (1998), “Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of a new class of 2-[(arylalkyl)amino]alkanamide derivatives”, J. Med. Chemistry, 41: 579-590. WO99/26614 discloses substituted alpha-aminoamide derivatives active for the treatment of neuronal damage following global and focal ischemia, for the treatment or prevention of neurodegenerative conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and for treatment, prevention or amelioration of pain, as anticonvulsant, and as antimanic depressants, as local anesthetics, as antiarrhythmics and for the treatment or prevention of diabetic neuropathy. WO07/071,311 discloses 2-phenylethylamino derivatives active as calcium and/or sodium channel modulators and therefore useful in preventing alleviating and curing neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, inflammatory, ophthalmic, urogenital, and gastrointestinal diseases where the above mechanisms have been described as playing a pathological role. EP 1870097 A, published on 26 Dec. 2007 and corresponding to WO 2007/144153, published on 21 Dec. 2007, discloses α-aminoamide derivatives for the treatment of cognitive impairment symptoms associated to a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorders, psychosis, bipolar disorders, anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia, Tourette's syndrome, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and disorders of learning in children, adolescents and adults, Age Associated Memory Impairment, Age Associated Cognitive Decline, Alzheimer's Disease, Down's Syndrome, traumatic brain injury, Huntington's Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), HIV, stroke, vascular diseases, Pick's or Creutzfeldt-Jacob diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) and other white matter disorders, Parkinson's Disease.

Preventing attempted fraud in telephonic or other transactions involving oral communications is typically important to many entities, particularly when the fraud involves financial transactions. For example, when a person loses a credit card and calls the credit card company to obtain a replacement, the credit card company often wants to ensure that the person calling is the true cardholder. If a person attempts to fraudulently obtain a replacement card of a different cardholder, then the person may use the replacement credit card to make fraudulent charges. The credit card company can often incur significant losses due to these fraudulent charges. Therefore, the credit card company typically desires to reduce or eliminate fraud. In that regard, credit card companies often implement certain procedures and install technologies in an attempt to verify the identity of customers who call them. One such technology is the use of an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) service, which attempts to identify the telephone number of an incoming call. A credit card company can maintain a database of area codes from which it has historically received a high number of fraudulent callers. If the telephone number of the person calling is within one of those high fraud area codes, the credit card company can flag the call for additional procedures or investigation to verify the true identity of the caller. However, the ANI service has certain limitations. For example, the ANI service does not easily permit one to pinpoint the exact geographic location of the caller. Also, it is possible that multiple persons can be associated with the same telephone number, which can make it difficult to identify which of those persons is the caller. Ultimately, the ANI service only provides a general indication of whether the caller is from an area known to be associated with a high number of fraudulent transactions. However, if the caller is not calling from one of those high fraud area codes, the ANI service provides no indication to provide additional screening, although the caller may actually be attempting to actually engage in fraud. Aside from credit card companies, many other entities receive calls from customers and desire a way to verify the true identity of the callers. This verification can be useful, for example, in determining whether to execute a particular transaction requested by a caller. Accordingly, a need exists for a more reliable way to minimize fraud in telephonic transactions or other transactions involving oral communications, or to screen callers for other purposes during those transactions.

The following description of the background of the invention is provided simply as an aid in understanding the invention and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention. Vitamin B2 (also known as riboflavin) is one of eight water-soluble B vitamins. It is the central component of the cofactors flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN), and is therefore required by all flavoproteins. As such, vitamin B2 is required for a wide variety of cellular processes. Like the other B vitamins, it plays a key role in energy metabolism, and is required for the metabolism of fats, ketone bodies, carbohydrates, and proteins. Vitamin B2 is also required for the health of the mucus membranes in the digestive tract and helps with the absorption of iron and Vitamin B6. Riboflavin is continuously excreted in the urine of healthy individuals, making deficiency relatively common when dietary intake is insufficient. However, a deficiency of riboflavin may also be due to secondary causes, i.e., the result of conditions that affect absorption in the intestine, the body's inability to use vitamin B2, or an increase in the excretion of vitamin B2 from the body. In humans, signs and symptoms of riboflavin deficiency (ariboflavinosis) include cracked and red lips, inflammation of the lining of mouth and tongue, mouth ulcers, cracks at the corners of the mouth (angular cheilitis), and sore throat. A deficiency may also cause dry and scaling skin, fluid in the mucous membranes, and iron-deficiency anemia. The eyes may also become bloodshot, itchy, watery and sensitive to bright light. Riboflavin deficiency is classically associated with the oral-ocular-genital syndrome. Angular cheilitis, photophobia, and scrotal dermatitis are the classic remembered signs. Methods have been reported for extracting vitamin B from food/drink samples or dietary supplements. See, e.g., Leporati, A., et al., Analytica Chimica Acta 2004, 531:87-95; Zougagh M, et al., Electrophoresis 2008, 29:3213-9; Chen, P., et al., Anal Bioanal Chem 2007, 387:2441-8; Aranda, et al., J. Chromatrogr. A 2006, 1131:253-60; Gentili, et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2008, 22:2029-43; and Grant, D., et al., Anal Bioanal Chem 2008, 391:2811-2818. Additionally, various mass spectrometric techniques for measuring vitamin B2 in a sample have been reported. See, e.g., Leporati, A., et al., Analytica Chimica Acta 2004, 531:87-95; Guo, et al., J. Chromatographic Science 2006, 44:552-6; Midttun, Ø., et al., Clin. Chem. 2005, 51:1206-16; Chen, P., et al., Anal Bioanal Chem 2007, 387:2441-8; and Grant, D., et al., Anal Bioanal Chem 2008, 391:2811-2818.

1. Field of the Invention The present embodiments are directed to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods, in particular to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods having bonus feature games. 2. Description of the Related Art Various types of gaming machines have been developed with different features to captivate and maintain player interest. In general, a gaming machine allows a player to play a game in exchange for a wager. Depending on the outcome of the game, the player may be entitled to an award which is paid to the player by the gaming machine, normally in the form of currency or game credits. Gaming machines may include flashing displays, lighted displays, or sound effects to capture a player's interest in a gaming device. Another important feature of maintaining player interest in a gaming machine includes providing the player with many opportunities to win awards, such as cash or prizes. For example, in some slot machines, the display windows show more than one adjacent symbol on each reel, thereby allowing for multiple-line betting. Some gaming machine games today include one or more progressive prize awards. In some configurations, the progressive prize may have a small probability of a player winning it; thus making it possible to have a larger progressive prize. In other game configurations, the progressive prize may be a small amount; thus allowing the player to win the progressive prize more frequently. In most typical game configurations, the player wins the progressive prize as a result of a specific game outcome within the primary or main game. Feature games of various types have been employed to reward players above the amounts normally awarded on a standard game pay schedule. Generally, such feature games are triggered by predetermined events such as one or more appearances of certain combinations of indicia in a primary game. In order to stimulate interest, feature games are typically set to occur at a gaming machine on a statistical cycle based upon the number of primary game plays. While gaming machines including feature games have been successful, there remains a need for feature games that provide players with enhanced excitement and an increased opportunity of winning.

Materials with simultaneous high electrical conductivity and optical transmittance are essential for numerous optoelectronic devices, such as flat panel displays (TVs and computer monitors), touch screen displays (smart phones and tablets), thin film solar cells, light-emitting diodes and electromagnetic shielding. The predominant material used for such a transparent conductive electrode (TCE) is tin-doped indium oxide (ITO). ITO has optical transmittance greater than 80% in the visible spectrum, and so-called sheet resistance of about 10 ohm/square. Any other material or process that wishes to compete for TCE market share should reach or beat those metrics. There are two major reasons researchers are working to develop a replacement for ITO as a TCE: (1) ITO contains indium, a rare earth metal that is relatively rare and therefore expensive (about $1 per gram), as well as relatively brittle, limiting its use in flexible applications; and (2) fabrication of ITO and related TCE's requires vacuum-based deposition processes, such as physical vapor deposition (e.g. sputter deposition or thermal evaporation) or chemical vapor deposition. The cost of equipment for large scale implementation of these processes adds to the cost of the TCE, and thus to that of the end product. There is ample evidence that an all solution-processed replacement for ITO is desired by many markets. The transparent conductive electrode, or transparent conductive film (TCF) market has been forecast to continue to reach over $5 billion by 2020. Previously, one related process was described in which a film is applied to a substrate (typically a transparent substrate such as glass), the film is cracked by some process, and a conducting material (typically a metal) is deposited onto the cracked film. Some of that conducting material deposits into the voids created by the cracks, thus reaching the substrate. The next step, removing the initial film (which typically has the deposited conducting material on it), is intended to leave only the conducting material that had filled the cracks behind and attached to the substrate, thus forming a type of “metal mesh”. This mesh can be both highly optical transmitting and highly electrically conducting, thus functioning as a TCE. The art currently lacks a process for fabrication of a TCE that contains no indium and for which the deposition processes are all solution-based, addressing both major issues described above for the need to develop a replacement for ITO as a TCE.

Visually impaired individuals may find it difficult to ascertain the content of printed text. Visually impaired individuals may utilize imaging devices to capture images of text. However, it may be difficult for such individuals to move such imaging devices to capture larger areas of text because the individuals may be unable to reliably and accurately image the areas due to unsteady movement of the imaging device relative to the areas to be imaged. It may also be difficult for such individuals to place such imaging devices over text fields to be imaged. Accordingly, a need exists for imaging devices including spacer members and imaging devices including tactile feedback devices.

Receptor protein kinases regulate key signal transduction cascades that control or are involved in the control of a plethora of physiological functions including cellular growth and proliferation, cell differentiation, cellular development, cell division, cell adhesion, stress response, short-range contact-mediated axonal guidance, transcription regulation, aberrant mitogenesis, angiogenesis, abnormal endothelial cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions during vascular development, inflammation, lymphohematopoietic stem cell activity, protective immunity against specific bacteria, allergic asthma, aberrant tissue-specific responses to the activation of the JNK signal transduction pathway, cell transformation, memory, apoptosis, competitive activity-dependent synapse modification at the neuromuscular synapse, immunological mediation of disease, and calcium regulation. Exemplary disease states associated with aberrant regulation of protein kinases include, for example without limitation, acrocephalo-syndactyly type I, acute myeloid leukemia, AIDS-induced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, atopic dermatitis, autoimmune diseases, bacterial infection, bladder cancer, cancer of the breast, cancer of the central nervous system, cancer of the colon, cancer of the endometrium, cancer of the fallopian tube, cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, cancer of the ovary, heart failure, chronic myeloid leukemia, colon carcinoma, colorectal cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Crouzon Syndrome, diabetes, diabetic nephropathy, emphysema, endometriosis, epidermoid cancer, fibrotic disorders, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), glomerulonephritis, Graves' disease, head injury, hepatocellular carcinoma, Hirschsprung's disease, human gliomas, immunodeficiency diseases, inflammatory disorders, ischemic stroke, Jackson-Weiss syndrome, leiomyosarcoma, leukemias, lupus nephritis, malignant melanoma, malignant nephrosclerosis, mastocytosis, mast cell tumors, melanoma of the colon, MEN2 syndromes, metabolic disorders, migraine, multiple sclerosis, myeloproliferative disorders, nephritis, neurodegenerative diseases, neurotraumatic diseases, lung cancer, non small cell lung cancer, organ transplant rejection, osteoporosis, pain, Parkinson's disease, Pfeiffer Syndrome, polycystic kidney disease, primary lymphoedema, prostate cancer, psoriasis, vascular restenosis, rheumatoid arthritis, dermal and tissue scarring, selective T-cell defect (STD), severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), small cell lung cancer, spinal cord injury, squamous cell carcinoma, systemic lupus erythematosis, testicular cancer, thrombotic microangiopathy syndromes, Wegener's granulomatosis, X-linked agammaglobulinemia, viral infection, diabetic retinopathy, alopecia, erectile dysfunction, macular degeneration, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), neurofibromatosis, and tuberous sclerosis. The identification of activating BRAF mutations (primarily missense substitutions for Valine-600 or BRAFV600 in cancer supports a functionally important role for BRAF in the pathogenesis of these malignancies (Davies, H. et al. Nature 417, 949-954 (2002)). Specific BRAF inhibitors including vemurafenib and dabrafenib have demonstrated both objective tumor response and, in the case of vemurafenib, overall survival benefit in mutant BRAFV600 driven melanoma (Flaherty, K. T. et al. N Engl J Med 363, 809-819 (2010); Chapman, P. B. et al. N Engl J Med 364, 2507-2516 (2011); Sosman, J. A. et al. N Engl J Med 366, 707-714 (2012); Hauschild, A. et al. Lancet 380, 358-365 (2012); Bollag, G. et al. Nature 467, 596-599 (2010); and Stellwagen, J. C. et al. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 21, 4436-4440 (2011)). The clinical effectiveness of BRAF inhibitor-based therapy depends on complete abolition of the MAPK pathway output in tumors harboring BRAF mutations (Bollag, G. et al. Nature 467, 596-599 (2010)). However these compounds paradoxically activate the MAPK pathway in cells bearing oncogenic RAS or elevated upstream receptor signaling (Hatzivassiliou, G. et al. Nature 464, 431-435 (2010); Heidorn, S. J. et al. Cell 140, 209-221 (2010); and Poulikakos, P. I., Zhang, C., Bollag, G., Shokat, K. M. & Rosen, N. Nature 464, 427-430 (2010)). This activation can lead to cellular proliferation and has been associated clinically with appearance of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cuSCC) and keratoacanthomas (KAs), sometimes within weeks of initiation of therapy (Hauschild, A. et al. Lancet 380, 358-365 (2012); Bollag, G. et al. Nature 467, 596-599 (2010); Huang, V., Hepper, D., Anadkat, M. & Cornelius, L. Arch Dermatol 148, 628-633 (2012); and Anforth, R. M. et al. Br J Dermatol 167, 1153-1160 (2012)). Accordingly, there is a need in the art for compounds and methods of use thereof for modulation of receptor protein kinases. The disclosure herein meets this and other needs.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid state image pickup apparatus and, more particularly, to a solid state image pickup apparatus having a plurality of photoelectric transducer elements each having a capacitor electrode on a control electrode region of a corresponding semiconductor transistor. The present invention also relates to a solid state image pickup apparatus for selectively reading out a plurality of sensor signals and, more particularly, to a solid state image pickup apparatus capable of eliminating unnecessary components such as variations in dark signals and drive noise.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct Cercis plant, botanically known as Cercis canadensis, commercially referred to as Eastern Redbud and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘JN7’. The new Cercis plant originated from an open-pollination in Belvidere, Tenn. of an unidentified proprietary selection of Cercis canadensis, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Cercis canadensis as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Cercis plant was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a single plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled nursery environment in Belvidere, Tenn. in the fall of 2007. Asexual reproduction of the new Cercis plant by bud grafting onto a proprietary seedling Cercis rootstock in a controlled environment in Belvidere, Tenn. since 2008 has shown that the unique features of this new Cercis plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

1. Field of the Invention: This invention relates to a method of fracturing subterranean formations penetrated by a well bore utilizing carbon dioxide or nitrogen based fluids in which it is possible to carry high proppant concentrations. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of fracturing a subterranean formation with a two-phase treatment fluid capable of transporting high concentrations of a proppant by maintaining a constant internal phase ratio in said treatment fluid. 2. Description of the Prior Art: The treatment of subterranean formations penetrated by a well bore to stimulate the production of hydrocarbons therefrom or the ability of the formation to accept injected fluids has long been known in the art. One of the most common methods of increasing productivity of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation is to subject the formation to a fracturing treatment. This treatment is effected by injecting a liquid, gas or two-phase fluid which generally is referred to as a fracturing fluid down the well bore at sufficient pressure and flow rate to fracture the subterranean formation. A proppant material such as sand, fine gravel, sintered bauxite, glass beads or the like can be introduced into the fractures to keep them open. The propped fracture provides larger flow channels through which an increased quantity of a hydrocarbon can flow, thereby increasing the productive capability of a well. A traditional fracturing technique utilizes a water or oil-based fluid to fracture a hydrocarbon-bearing formation. Another successful fracturing technique has been that known as "foam fracturing". This process is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,136. Briefly, that process involves generation of a foam of a desired "Mitchell quality" which then is introduced through a well bore into a formation which is to be fractured. The composition of the foam is such that the Mitchell foam quality at the bottom of the well is in the range of from about 0.53 to 0.99. Various gases and liquids can be used to create the foam, but foams generally used in the art are made from nitrogen and water, in the presence of a suitable surfactant. The pressure at which the foam is pumped into the well is such that it will cause a fracture of the hydrocarbon-bearing formation. Additionally, the foam comes out of the well easily when the pressure is released from the well head, because the foam expands when the pressure is reduced. Yet another fracturing technique has been that utilizing a liquified, normally gaseous fluid. U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,634, for example, discloses a method for treating a subterranean formation penetrated by a well bore with a composition comprising a liquid-liquid mixture of carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide is present in an amount equivalent to from about 300 to about 1500 SCF at 80.degree. F. and 14.7 psia per 42 gallons of water. The composition is injected into the formation under sufficient pressure to fracture the formation. The composition can include gelling agents and proppant materials. Upon pressure release at the well head, the liquid carbon dioxide vaporizes and flows from the formation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,112 discloses a method of fracturing a subterranean formation penetrated by a well bore comprising introduction of a mixture of liquid carbon dioxide and a propping agent slurried in a suitable vehicle into the well bore at a pressure sufficient to fracture the formation. The liquid carbon dioxide is present in an amount sufficient to provide at least five volumes of carbon dioxide per volume of slurried propping agent. After injection of the mixture of liquid carbon dioxide containing the propping agent slurried in a suitable vehicle, the pressure on the well bore is released. The liquid carbon dioxide normally is heated sufficiently by the formation that upon pressure release, the liquid changes to a gas. A substantial portion of the carbon dioxide then leaves the well and forces or carries out with it an appreciable amount of the oil or aqueous vehicle utilized to transport the proppant. U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,627 discloses a method of treating a formation penetrated by a well bore which consists essentially of injecting down the well bore a fluid azeotropic mixture which has a critical temperature sufficiently high or a critical pressure sufficiently low to remain a liquid at the temperature and pressure existing during injection and treatment of the formation. The fluid mixture has critical properties such that a substantial portion of the injected fluid is converted to a gas upon a release of the pressure applied to the liquid during injection into the formation. The fluid mixture consists essentially of carbon dioxide and at least one C.sub.2 to C.sub.6 hydrocarbon. U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,422 discloses a method of treating a subsurface earth formation penetrated by a well bore comprising injection of a liquified gas together with a gelled alcohol into the formation at a pressure sufficient to fracture the formation. The liquified gas is returned from the formation by vaporization following pressure reduction on the well bore. The gelled alcohol is removed by vaporization during subsequent production from the well leaving only the broken gelling agent in the formation. It would be desirable to provide a method by which a viscous fluid can be created from carbon dioxide and an aqueous fluid which is stable over a broad temperature range and is capable of carrying high concentrations of proppant into a subterranean formation.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are small integrated devices or systems that combine electrical and mechanical components. The components can range in size from the sub-micrometer level to the millimeter level, and there can be any number, from one, to few, to potentially thousands or millions, in a particular system. Historically MEMS devices have leveraged and extended the fabrication techniques developed for the silicon integrated circuit industry, namely lithography, doping, deposition, etching, etc to add mechanical elements such as beams, gears, diaphragms, and springs to silicon circuits either as discrete devices or in combination with integrated silicon electronics. Whilst the majority of development work has focused on silicon (Si) electronics additional benefits may be derived from integrating MEMS devices onto other existing electronics platforms such as silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and, indium phosphide (InP) for RF circuits and future potential electronics platforms such as organic based electronics, nanocrystals, etc. Examples of MEMS device application today include inkjet-printer cartridges, accelerometers, miniature robots, micro-engines, locks, inertial sensors, micro-drives, micro-mirrors, micro actuators, optical scanners, fluid pumps, transducers, chemical sensors, pressure sensors, and flow sensors. New applications are emerging as the existing technology is applied to the miniaturization and integration of conventional devices. These systems can sense, control, and activate mechanical processes on the micro scale, and function individually or in arrays to generate effects on the macro scale. The micro fabrication technology enables fabrication of large arrays of devices, which individually perform simple tasks, or in combination can accomplish complicated functions. The MEMS market is currently projected to exceed US$10 Billion in 2011, doubling from its estimated 2005 revenues of $5 Billion, according to Semiconductor Partners (Phoenix) (“Driving MEMS beyond Automotive” September 2007). Whilst historically the automotive MEMS market has dominated and will still show robust growth as the number of MEMS devices per vehicle increases from an average of 40 per mid-range vehicle to ˜60 MEMS for the same class of vehicle in 2011 it is the potential for growth in the consumer, communication and portable device markets that is more significant. Such applications include monolithic microphones and loudspeakers, oscillators, handheld controls for gaming devices and cellular telephones, hard disk drives, RF switches and ink jet print heads. The MEMS mobile cellular telephone market alone is expected to exceed US$0.5 Billion in 2008 according to Research and Markets (“Mems4Mobile 06: Updated Analysis of the Applications and Markets of MEMS in Mobile Communications” February 2006). Such MEMS devices incorporated into cellular telephones potentially including silicon microphones, 3D accelerometers, gyroscopes for camera stabilization and GPS navigation, microfuel cells, personal weather stations, and biochips for health care monitoring. MEMS have become a successful sensing and actuating technology. Because of their extensive optical, electrical to mechanical functionalities, MEMS devices are suited to applications in many different fields of science and engineering. However, because of this vast range of functionality, MEMS fabrication processes, unlike the microelectronics industry, are difficult to gear towards general applications. As a result most processes are aimed at the fabrication of a few devices, and usually performance of the devices is hindered by process variability. As MEMS devices are typically sensing weak analog signals, for example pressure, acceleration, vibration, magnetic or electric fields, with capacitive based elements, there is considerable benefit in being able to integrate analog front-end electronics to buffer, amplify and process these weak electronic signals and either facilitate their direct processing, such as with RF signals, or their digitization for sensing and measurements applications. Historically CMOS electronics has become the predominant technology in analog and digital integrated circuits. This is essentially because of the unparalleled benefits available from CMOS in the areas of circuit size, operating speed, energy efficiency and manufacturing costs which continue to improve from the geometric downsizing that comes with every new generation of semiconductor manufacturing processes. In respect of MEMS systems, CMOS is particularly suited as CMOS circuits dissipate power predominantly during operation and have very low static power consumption. This power consumption arising from the charging and discharging of various load capacitances within the CMOS circuits, mostly gate and wire capacitance, but also transistor drain and transistor source capacitances, whenever they are switched. The charge moved is the capacitance multiplied by the voltage change. Multiply by the switching frequency to get the current used, and multiply by voltage again to get the characteristic switching power, P, dissipated by a CMOS device, and henceP=CV2f  (1). Historically, CMOS designs operated at supply voltages (Vdd) much larger than their threshold voltages (Vth), for example Vdd=5V and Vth=700 mV for both NMOS and PMOS. However, today CMOS manufacturers have adjusted designs and materials such that today an NMOS transistor may have a Vth of 200 mV and allow operation from voltages as low as Vd=1V offering a significant power reduction which is important in sensing, mobile, chemical and biomedical applications. However, combining CMOS and MEMS technologies has been especially challenging because some MEMS process steps—such as the use of special materials, the need for high temperature processing steps, the danger of contamination due to the MEMS wet etching processes etc.—are incompatible with the requirements of CMOS technology. Thus, strong attention has to be paid to avoid cross contaminations between both process families. Accordingly today MEMS processes exist that are discrete and standalone, such as Robert Bosch's (U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,275 “Method of Producing Acceleration Sensors”, MEMSCAP's “Multi-User MEMS Processes” (MUMPs® including PolyMUMPs™, a three-layer polysilicon surface micromachining process: MetalMUMPs™, an electroplated nickel process; and SOIMUMPs™, a silicon-on-insulator micromachining process), and Sandia's Ultra-planar Multi-level MEMS Technology 5 (SUMMiT V™ Fabrication Process which is a five-layer polycrystalline silicon surface micromachining process with one ground plane/electrical interconnect layer and four mechanical layers). Other processes have been developed to allow MEMS to be fabricated before the CMOS electronics, such as Analog Devices' MOD-MEMS (monolithically integrate thick (5-10 um) multilayer polysilicon MEMS structures with sub-micron CMOS), and Sandia's iMEMS. Finally, processes have been developed to provide MEMS after CMOS fabrication such as Sandia's micromechanics-last MEMS, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (BSAC), and IMEC silicon-germanium processes. Additionally DALSA Semiconductor have a highly publicized “low temperature” micro-machining with silicon dioxide process, see L. Ouellet et al (U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,752 “Fabrication of Advanced Silicon-Based MEMS Devices”, Issued Jan. 9, 2007) wherein low stress structures were fabricated at temperatures between 520° C. and 570° C., being just below the temperature of eutectic formation in aluminum-silicon-copper interconnections. However, the mechanical properties of silicon do not make it the most suitable structural material for MEMS. Recently, silicon carbide (SiC) has generated much interest as a MEMS structural material because of its distinctive properties. SiC boasts better suited mechanical properties such as higher acoustic velocity, high fracture strength and desirable tribological properties. Its ability to sustain higher temperatures, and resist corrosive and erosive materials makes SiC, unlike silicon, a potential candidate material for use in harsh environments. SiC is also being investigated and shows promise as a biocompatible material, see for example “Porous Silicon Carbide as a Membrane for Implantable Biosensors” (A. J. Rosenbloom et al, Biomedical Microdevices, Vol. 6, No. 4, December 2004, Springer), “Biocompatibility of Silicon Carbide in Colony Formation Test in Vitro” (S. Santavirta et al, Archives of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Vol. 118, Nos. 1-2, November 1998), and “SiC Based Artificial Dental Implant” (U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,798, K. Tsuge et al). These factors, along with the maturation of deposition and patterning techniques, make SiC a potential choice for high-performance MEMS processing. However, difficulties with SiC processing have made its use non-trivial as it is non-conductive and difficult to deposit and dope at CMOS compatible temperatures. Stress control is also difficult because of the high intrinsic stresses that can develop in such a material. Because if its intrinsic inertness, selective etching of SiC is difficult. As most materials are etched at a faster rate than SiC, issues arise when masking SiC for patterning and ensuring a reliable etch-stop. Whether it is for doping or for deposition, SiC needs to generally be processed at high temperatures. As such prior art SiC MEMS processes have not lent themselves well to CMOS integration. Further as most MEMS applications require electrical signal processing, integration of MEMS to transistor-able processes, such as CMOS, is paramount. Recently a low temperature SiC processing technique was outlined by F. Nabki et al (“A Low-Temperature (<300° C.) Silicon Carbide Surface Micromachining Fabrication Technology for Micromechanical Resonators”, Hilton Head Workshop 2008: Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop, Paper P23) allowing direct SiC MEMS devices to be fabricated directly atop silicon CMOS electronics. The process outlined providing SiC structures with metallization formed on the upper surface of the SiC, the lower surface of the SiC, and optionally both surfaces. Typical structures with the work of Nabki et al including capacitors, switches, and resonators wherein the structures were anchored at each end with vertical electrostatic actuation. However, in other MEMS devices there are instances of free standing structures wherein only one or no end of the beam is anchored to the silicon, and actuation is laterally performed. Examples of such structures include gears, comb drives, accelerometers, gyros, and hinges. Such structures being referred to as having lateral structure rather than being simple vertically actuated beams. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have MEMS processes that allow for manufacturability and integration of SiC with silicon CMOS electronics, to effectively harness the benefits of SiC, and for these MEMS processes to allow lateral structures to be implemented in a process compatible with the other MEMS structures and directly atop silicon CMOS electronics. Furthermore, this process must allow for efficient electrostatic actuation through actuation nano-scale gap control, and gaps which are metalized on their periphery. Accordingly, the invention provides for a SiC-based MEMS process enabling lateral structures and metalized gaps with the benefits of stress control, conformal coatings, metal interconnects, and low-temperature film deposition. The invention providing further a route to very low-cost and high manufacturability process implementations compatible with CMOS integration.

Radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) communication is one example of backscatter communication. RFID communication generally includes a “base station transceiver” that broadcasts/transmits electromagnetic energy and then interprets data from reflections of the broadcasted electromagnetic energy. A “tag” reflects a portion of the electromagnetic energy back to the base station in order to communicate data to the reader. To encode data (e.g. an identification number) in the reflected portion, a passive (battery-free) tag may harvest power from the broadcasted electromagnetic energy and use the harvested power to modulate the electromagnetic energy reflected back to the base station. In contrast, a battery-powered tag uses a battery to power circuitry that modulates the electromagnetic energy reflected back to the base station. Passive tags generally have a range that is much shorter than battery powered tags. Backscatter communication (including RFID communication systems) is increasingly important as the tags can be manufactured relatively small and RFID communication doesn't require line-of-site between the base station and the tag. As RFID communication systems become more prevalent, demand has increased for sending larger amounts of information in shorter periods of time using backscatter communication.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor thin film having a region substantially regarded as a single crystal (hereinafter called “monodomain region”) which is formed on a substrate having an insulating surface, and to a semiconductor device using such a semiconductor thin film as an active layer. In particular, the invention relates to a thin-film transistor which uses a crystalline silicon film as an active layer. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, techniques of forming thin-film transistors (TFTs) by using a silicon semiconductor thin film (thickness: hundreds to thousands of angstrom) formed on a substrate having an insulating surface attracted much attention. The thin-film transistor is widely applied to various electronic devices such as ICs and liquid crystal display devices. The most important portions, i.e., the heart, of the thin-film transistor are the channel-forming region and the junction portions between the channel-forming region and the source and drain regions. That is, it can be said that the active layer most influences the performance of the thin-film transistor. An amorphous silicon film formed by plasma CVD or low-pressure thermal CVD is commonly used as a semiconductor thin film for constituting the active layer of a thin-film transistor. At present, thin-film transistors using an amorphous silicon film are in practical use. However, when higher speed operation is required, a thin-film transistor using a silicon thin film having crystallinity (called a crystalline silicon film) is needed. Examples of known techniques for forming a crystalline silicon film on a substrate are those described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. Hei. 6-232059 and Hei. 6-244103, which were filed by the present assignee. In the techniques described in these publications, a crystalline silicon film that is superior in crystallinity is formed by a heat treatment of 550° C. and about 4 hours by utilizing a metal element for accelerating crystallization of silicon. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 7-321339 discloses a technique of causing crystal growth approximately parallel with a substrate by utilizing the above-mentioned techniques. The present inventors call this type of crystallized region a lateral growth region. A lateral growth region formed by the above technique is a collection of columnar or needle-like crystals that are arranged in the same direction, and hence is superior in crystallinity. It is known that a thin-film transistor whose active layer is formed by using this type of region exhibits high performance. However, the above technique is still insufficient for formation of thin-film transistors to constitute various arithmetic circuits, memory circuits, etc. This is because the crystallinity is still not sufficiently high to provide the necessary characteristics. For example, peripheral circuits of an active matrix liquid crystal display device or a passive liquid crystal display device include driver circuits for driving pixel TFTs in the pixel area, a circuit handling or controlling a video signal, a storage circuit for storing various types of information, and other circuits. Among those circuits, the circuit for handling or controlling a video signal and the storage circuit for storing various types of information are required to have performance equivalent to that of an integrated circuit formed on a known single crystal wafer. Therefore, to integrate the above circuits by using a thin-film semiconductor formed on a substrate, it is necessary to form on a substrate a crystalline silicon film whose crystallinity is equivalent to that of a single crystal.

The present disclosure relates to a memory device, and more particularly, to a memory device and a memory system having a repair unit modification function. Semiconductor chips are manufactured through semiconductor manufacturing processes, and then tested by a test device in a wafer, a die, or a package state. Defective portions or defective chips are selected through a test, and if some of memory cells are defective, repairs are performed to save semiconductor chips. Currently, semiconductor chips such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) have been continued to be reduced in size through fine processes, and accordingly, possibility of occurring errors during manufacturing processes have increased. Also, if defects are not detected through an initial test process, errors may occur during chip operations. To address the above problems, various test methods and apparatuses have been developed.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a method of making halogen lamps and halogen lamp bulbs, as well as other analogous lamps and objects. The present invention also relates to apparatus used in a method of making halogen lamps and halogen lamp bulbs, as well as other analogous lamps and objects. 2. Background Information During the operation of a halogen lamp, an equilibrium is established between the formation and decay of tungsten halides from the tungsten vapor from the filament and the mixture of halogen and inert glass. The decay reaction thereby takes place at higher temperatures than the formation reaction, so that the tungsten is re-deposited on the filament. If this cycle is disrupted by contaminating components, the tungsten, instead of being deposited on the filament, is deposited on the inside of the glass bulb as a reflective black coating, and the lamp becomes unusable. Darkening or blackening in tungsten-halogen lamps occurs because as a result of reactions of the halogen gas with the glass, the amount of halogen gas that must be present to maintain the halogen cycle is reduced to the extent that the halogen cycle collapses and tungsten is deposited as a black coating on the inside of the glass instead of on the filament. For numerous uses of glass objects, in particular glass tubes or flat glass plates as well as of the shaped bodies formed from the (semi-finished) glass objects, the glass is required to have certain characteristics, in particular of certain surface characteristics, such as for example a high chemical resistance, for example. Some glass objects that require the specified surface characteristics are listed by way of example in the following list: for lighting purposes, e.g. halogen lamps, for discharge lamps, for the construction of chemical plants, in flow meters for chemically aggressive media, for analytical purposes (e.g. test tubes, titration cylinders etc.) for reagent bottles for special purposes, for coating measuring electrodes in aggressive media, for use as components for biotech reactors containers for medical purposes (e.g. ampoules, bottles, injection bottles, cylinder ampoules etc.), as primary packaging for pharmaceutical products, as components for display applications. Of course the prior art describes glass objects, in particular glass objects made of silica glass (quartz glass, SiO2 glass), as semi-finished products for the forming of hollow molded articles which have, among other things, high chemical resistance. However, such glass objects, are very complex and expensive to produce on account of the high melting point of the SiO2 glass. They can also be produced only with limited optical qualities and are less suited for use as mass produced items. Such glass objects can also be transformed only with very special equipment, because on one hand the transformation temperatures are very high, and on the other hand the temperature range in which transformations are possible is very narrow. Therefore semi-finished glass objects made of silica glass cannot be produced with sufficient quality and economy for mass-production applications. Therefore glass with a lower melting point is generally used for products manufactured on an industrial scale, such as borosilicate glass or soda-lime glass. These types of glass can be manufactured and transformed easily. The prior art also discloses methods that modify in particular the surfaces of glass objects made of glass that has a low melting point. For example, the prior art described hot forming methods for the production of glass objects from glass melts in which the surfaces of the glass objects are exposed at least partly during the hot forming to a specified gas atmosphere, and the surface characteristics of the glass can thereby be modified in a controlled manner. U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,607 describes a method for the manufacture of glass tubes in which the glass surface is chemically leached and thereby modified. During the drawing of the glass tube, the inner surface of the glass tube is thereby exposed to a gas mixture of a organo-fluoride gas, e.g. 1,1-difluoroethane, and an oxidizing gas, e.g. air. The fluorine released by combustion of the gas mixture reacts with the alkali and alkaline earth metal ions in the glass surface, forming alkali and alkaline earth compounds that are then exhausted out through the gas tube. The prior art also describes methods in which the surface of the glass is chemically leached by introducing into the still hot glass tube an appropriately aggressive gas, typically SO2 or HCl gas, which leads to surface reactions and a reduction of the alkali content in the surface. Such dealkalization methods are described, for example, in H. A. Schaeffer et al., Glastech.Ber. 54 (1981), No. 8, pp. 247-256. The disadvantage of all these methods is that most of the gases used are toxic, whereby the glass surface can still contain traces of these aggressive reagent gases after the chemical treatment, and the surface structure of the glass can be damaged, which results in a rough surface and the presence of active centers on the surface. The use of such aggressive gases is also undesirable from the point of view of compliance with environmental and occupational health and safety requirements. During the transformation of such leached glass tubes, particles can come detached from the porous, damaged surfaces. Moreover, prior to the use of the leached glass tubes, a washing process is necessary to remove the reaction products. This washing process requires a subsequent drying and disposal of the reaction products, i.e. it increases the costs for the production of the semi-finished glass tubes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,772 discloses another method for the removal of alkaline elements from glass with a low melting point by fluoridation using compounds that contain fluorine, e.g. aqueous HF solutions, which has the same typical disadvantages as the other dealkalization methods described above. To eliminate the disadvantages of the dealkalization methods, the prior art also describes the manufacture of tubular glass containers from glass with a low melting point that are used in particular as packaging for pharmaceutical materials, and are provided on their inner surface with a silicon dioxide (SiO2) coating that makes it as inert as a quartz glass surface (M. Walther, “Packaging of sensitive parenteral drugs in glass containers with a quartz-like surface” in Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, May 1996, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 22-27. The coating of the internal surface of the molded glass objects is thereby done by chemical precipitation of the oxide coating material from its gas phase, in particular by means of a vacuum-assisted plasma CVD method (PECVD=Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition), in particular (DE 296 09 958 U1) and a pulsed plasma (PICVD=Plasma Impulse Chemical Vapor Deposition). For this purpose, the finish-molded containers, i.e. the formed glass objects themselves, are coated internally. To do that, each formed glass container must be individually subjected to a complex, time-consuming and expensive coating process appropriate to its shape.

In a memory, such as a random access memory (RAM), or a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a RAM, a spare memory area (redundancy area), is provided from the outset, for the columns and/or rows in a memory cell array, and failed cells of the memory cell array, detected by a wafer test, for example, are replaced by redundancy cells, thereby repairing failed bits and improving device yield. In order to enable a plural number each of row addresses and column addresses to be repaired, a plural number of redundancy addresses are provided for rows and for columns, respectively. A plural number of redundancy ROM (Read Only Memory) circuits are provided corresponding to a plural number of redundant addresses, respectively. In one redundancy ROM circuit, there is recorded the information of one address, which is a row address or a column address, also termed a repair address, which is to be replaced by a redundant address. In programming the redundancy ROM circuit, those fuses corresponding to bit positions of address bits of the address information in the redundancy ROM circuit, out of a plural number of fuses corresponding to the number of bits of the address information in the redundancy ROM circuit, are blown by a laser beam. For example, the fuse corresponding to the bit with an address value of 1 is blown, while the fuse corresponding to the bit with an address value of 0 is unblown. The value of the fuse circuit blown is read out e.g. to a HIGH level, while that of the fuse circuit unblown is read out e.g. to a LOW level. If, during the use of the memory, a redundancy enable signal is activated by, for example, an external command, the access address supplied from outside, is checked as to whether or not it is coincident with the address information programmed in the redundancy ROM circuit. In case of coincidence, a hit signal (redundancy selection signal) is activated, and the redundant address, associated with the activated redundancy selection signal, is selected. If the redundancy address is selected, address decoding by a row or column decoder is halted and the redundancy address of the row or the column associated with the redundancy selection signal is selected. If the redundancy enable signal has been activated and the accessed address is not coincident with any address information programmed in the plural number of the redundancy ROM circuits, the normal access to the normal memory array is performed. Meanwhile, the general configuration of the redundancy ROM circuit, and the RAM, including the redundancy ROM circuit, is well-known to those skilled in the art. Reference may be made to the description of Patent Publication 1 of the present Assignee as for the overall configuration of a semiconductor memory having a redundancy circuit, a redundancy decoder, a redundancy ROM circuit (fuse ROM) or a decoder killer circuit. Hence, in the present specification, the description of the redundancy ROM circuit based on drawings is dispensed with. Up to now, it has been practiced to check if the input address is to be replaced by the redundant address, using a roll call test and the like. Patent Publication 2 discloses a constitution as a semiconductor memory device for checking if the fuses of a redundancy circuit have been set to correct states, in which the program information of the fuses provided in the redundancy circuit is checked in the second roll call test mode and the results of the check are output to an output terminal. [Patent Publication 1] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2004-296051A [Patent Publication 2] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2006-107664A

This invention relates to an improved process for the recovery of phosphate values from phosphatic-mineral-containing materials; and more particularly relates to chemically leaching phosphate values from any phosphatic-mineral containing material with a novel mixture leach acid. Production of phosphorus-containing products is a long established and commercially important industry and with the demand rapidly rising, especially in the production of food for the growing world population, phosphorus becomes increasingly more important to the overall world need. Thus there is a need for an improved process for the treatment of phosphatic materials, and more particularly to the selective extraction and concentration of phosphate values from a wide range of phosphatic materials, including besides rock, as-mined phosphate ores and phosphatic waste materials regardless of contaminating chemical and mineral impurities such as iron oxide, aluminum oxide, silica, clay, etc. or their quantity in the phosphatic mineral source. Prior processes for the production of most phosphate products require phosphate rock. Phosphate rock for phosphate processes must be relatively free of sand, slimes, and iron oxide, aluminum oxide, and any other impurity that chemically interferes with the solubilizing and separation of phosphate. Also, rock must have removed from it those minerals which interfere with the chemical processing operations such as filtration, crystallization, solubilization, etc. The operations of converting phosphate ore to phosphate rock are costly and produce adverse environmental conditions. Besides contamination of the surrounding area with silts, the removal of slimes (iron minerals, aluminum minerals, and other fines) produces large slime ponds which take years to eliminate. Further, processing losses of phosphate values for rock production can be as much as 40 percent. In addition many sources of phosphatic materials cannot be so processed. The processing of phosphate rock whether by the wet method, that is present day chemical extraction, or the furnace method will also produce problems of contaminating the surrounding environment unless extensive and costly provisions are made to contain the obnoxious chemicals. While there are patents which may deal with a dilute acid alone they have a number of deficiencies. British Pat. No. 938,468 and published Dutch application No. 700,258 allude to some attempt to utilize a dilute acid in a wet method but such require inter alia either great insufficiencies or excesses of acid quantity; overstepping or under-stepping multiple additions to stationary leaching vessels; and obtaining monocalcium phosphate leach liquors. In addition, investigation indicates these processes never achieved any degree of commercial acceptance. This invention both eliminates the need for the production of phosphate rock and its adverse affects such as slime ponds, etc., and also the obnoxious chemical contamination produced by the processing of rock to phosphate products in a commercially feasible process.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a container carrier having a plurality of first receiving openings, at least one second receiving opening and a prominent integral panel. 2. Description of Prior Art Conventional container carriers are often used to unitize a plurality of similarly sized containers, such as cans, bottles, jars and boxes, although other packages or containers may be unitized. Traditionally, bottle and can carriers having a prominent display panel are single-piece paperboard box carriers and not plastic ring carriers. The plastic ring carrier produces a unitized package for containers using little material. However, when used alone has little or no advertising or promotional printing space. Conversely, the box carrier generally has a relatively large amount of area for promotional graphics. Disadvantageously, the box carrier requires a relatively large amount of material, permits containers to fall out if it is not maintained in an upright position, and usually shrouds much of the actual containers. Therefore, there is a need for a package that incorporates the stability and economy of a ring carrier and the promotional area of a box carrier. Wanderer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,004 and Owen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,790 each teach a carrier that is configured to engage a top portion and a bottom portion of each of a plurality of containers. The Owen and Wanderer patents both teach a carrier having a plurality of upper rings and lower rings divided by a handle and by straps, respectively, each upper ring engaging an upper portion of a container and each lower ring engaging a lower portion of a container. Schaich, U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,863 teaches a tubular length of material having opposing apertures for engaging with containers. The carrier taught by the Schaich patent requires an annular extrusion die or other means of manufacture of a continuous tubular length of material.

Cardiac monitoring—particularly ambulatory monitoring—includes long-term monitoring of ECG signals to detect various type of heart rhythm disorders. The amount of ECG data collected, however, precludes (or makes cost-prohibitive) health care professional (HCP) review of the data. Automatic processing of the collected ECG data is utilized to detect and capture ECG segments corresponding with detected heart rhythm disorders. However, while some of the ECG segments captured correspond with an actual heart rhythm disorder (i.e., a true positive event), other ECG segments are incorrectly identified as corresponding to a heart rhythm disorder (i.e., a false positive event). On the other hand, capturing multiple ECG segments corresponding with the same heart rate rhythm disorder is not always diagnostically relevant. For instance, the first tachy150 event captured is diagnostically relevant, but the other tachy150 events captured on the same day may not be. In addition, each captured ECG segment identified as corresponding to a heart rhythm disorder and captured represents a cost. That cost includes the cost of storing the captured ECG segment either on the monitoring device or externally, the cost of power required to communicate the captured ECG segment from the monitoring device to a remote monitoring center, and/or time required for a HCP to review the captured ECG episode and determine whether action is required. Thus, it is beneficial to reduce the ECG segments incorrectly identified as corresponding to a heart rhythm disorder (i.e., minimize false positive events). However, it is also important to ensure that heart rhythm disorders are detected and corresponding ECG segments captured and provided to a human HCP for review (i.e., avoid missing detection of positive events, or false negative). It would therefore be beneficial to provide a monitoring system that balances these concerns to ensure clinically relevant ECG segments are captured while maintaining a low-cost system.

Various vertically extending heat exchangers (e.g., scraped surface heat exchangers) have been provided and utilized for many years in dairy processing plants and the like. Such heat exchangers, while possessed of many virtues, are nevertheless beset with one or more of the following serious shortcomings: (a) tall ladders, high scaffolding, or other external superstructure is needed in order to facilitate the required connecting, disconnecting, or loosening of various elevated, sometimes inaccessible, structural components to permit inspection and/or replacement, or cleaning of certain seals associated with the dasher; (b) proper alignment of the dasher within the chamber is a frustrating, time-consuming operation requiring the talents of highly skilled personnel; (c) various seals are subjected to an inordinate amount of wear requiring frequent replacement; (d) the exchanger was not capable of accommodating a wide variety of products; and (e) the exchanger was not suitable for use in aseptic processing systems.

This invention relates to generation of electric power in stationary power plants. Combined cycle systems are comprised of 1) One or more gas turbines each driving an electric power generator; 2) A steam turbine train comprised of two or more steam driven turbines piped for series steam flow and turning a common drive shaft that drives an electric power generator, and 3) A heat recovery unit in which heat in the combined gas turbine combustion exhaust gas stream is transferred to the steam turbine working fluid. The gas turbines are fired with a fossil fuel gas, usually natural gas. Synthetic natural gas and low BTU gas are also suitable fuels for the gas turbines. Currently, combined cycle units are designed so that the power generated by the gas turbines is about twice the power generated by the steam turbine train. Combined cycle units usually have capability to fire fuel gas in the heat recovery unit. This feature is termed supplemental firing. Firing fuel gas in the heat recovery unit provides additional heat that is used to increase water working fluid circulation rate to increase power output from the steam turbine train. Fuel gas is injected directly into the gas turbine combustion exhaust gas stream in the heat recovery unit, usually close to the gas turbine exhaust gas inlet to the heat recovery unit. The gas turbine exhaust gas streams contain sufficient residual unburned oxygen to support combustion of the fuel gas. The efficiency of fuel gas fired supplementally to generate incremental power is less than the efficiency of fuel gas fired in the gas turbines to generate base load power. Accordingly, supplemental firing is practiced usually during periods of peak power demand, when power prices are high. Supplemental firing in the heat recovery unit is also practiced when the heat available in the turbine gas stream is not adequate to provide all the heat required to raise the temperature of the water working fluid stream to the specified steam turbine train inlet temperature. The combustion air feed rate to a gas turbine required for it to operate properly varies with ambient air conditions and, accordingly, so does the sensible heat in the combustion gas exhaust streams that is available for transfer to the water working fluid in the heat recovery unit. Combined cycles have displaced traditional power units comprised of a steam boiler feeding a steam turbine-generator unit for base load power generation. This has occurred because technical improvements to gas turbines have significantly increased their generation capacity and fuel efficiency and reduced their investment and operating costs. The pressure of steam generated in the heat recovery unit and fed to the inlet to the steam turbine train in current combined cycle units is typically in the range of 1000 psia to 1500 psia, which is well below the critical pressure of water, 3206.2 psia. However, in the process of the present invention the pressure of the water working fluid stream produced in the heat recovery unit and fed to the inlet of the steam turbine train is above the critical pressure of water. The water working fluid going to the steam turbine train is also above the critical temperature of water, 705.4 F. Accordingly the combined cycles of the present invention are termed Super Critical Combined Cycles. Super critical combined cycles of the present invention have several advantages over conventional sub critical combined cycles. These advantages include simpler heat recovery units, capability to generate more incremental power by firing fuel gas in the heat recovery unit efficiently, capability to vary power output quickly to accommodate to changing power demand, higher fuel efficiency, and reduced air pollutant emissions. The power output of the steam turbine train in super critical combined cycles of the present invention can be increased by a factor of up to 10xc3x97 by supplemental firing. Increasing power output by increments of this magnitude is not cost effective with sub critical combined cycles. Of course, the water working fluid circulation system, steam turbines, and generator must be designed to meet the peak rate operating duty experienced when supplementally firing fuel gas at maximum rate. This extra steam train capacity over the base load capacity is idle when supplemental firing is not employed, and therefore adds to the cost of the incremental power produced by supplementary firing. The efficiency of steam turbines does not vary significantly over the one to ten power output range. Currently it is common practice to fire all of the supplementary fuel near the inlet to the heat recovery unit. This raises the gas temperature near the gas inlet to very high values, up to 2000 F. High gas temperatures induce formation of atmospheric pollutants and accelerate corrosion of heat exchanger tubes in the heat recovery unit. Embodiments of the present inject the supplementary fuel gas into the heat recovery unit at multiple selected points to reduce temperature peaks. The fuel requirements of super critical combined cycles are generally marginally higher than for sub critical combined cycles because working fluid pressure and temperatures to the steam turbine train are higher. But the more significant efficiency advantage of super critical combined cycles arise because super critical combined cycles are amenable to and benefit more from certain fuel saving design options that are not practical with sub critical combined cycles. These design options reheat of steam side streams extracted from the steam turbine train and preheat of recycled condensate by steam side streams extracted from the steam turbine train, The power output of super critical combined cycles of the present invention can be varied up and down much more quickly (with less time lag) to respond to changing power demand requirements than can conventional sub critical combined cycles. Operators value this flexibility of super critical combined cycles to adapt to changing power demand. The flexibility advantage of super critical combined cycles derives ultimately from the physics of super critical fluids. When water that is below its critical pressure is heated to form steam it exhibits all the usual physical phenomena associated with boiling phase change. Condensate temperature rises to the saturation temperature, the condensate boils at constant temperature to form saturated steam consuming latent heat of vaporization, and then the saturated steam is superheated. When water that is above its critical pressure is heated it behaves differently from sub critical pressure water. The temperature of water above its critical pressure increases steadily and smoothly with no discontinuities due to phase change from condensate inlet temperature which is typically between about 100 F to 200 F to the turbine train inlet temperature which is typically about 1000 F. About 40% of the heat transferred to the super critical water working fluid is absorbed as the condensate stream is heated from 100 F to 600 F (0.080% per degree F.). About 45% of the heat transferred is absorbed between 600 F and 800 F (0.225% per degree F.). And about 15% of the heat is absorbed between 800 F and 1000 F (0.075% per degree F.). The enthalpy-temperature curve of super critical water exhibits an inflection point near its critical state point. Accordingly, super critical combined cycle unit do not require a steam heads drum to separate saturated steam from boiling water whereas sub critical combined cycles do require a large steam heads drum. The steam heads drum contains a large quantity of liquid water hold up. This water hold up induces long temperature response time lags when boiler feed water circulation rate is changed to raise or lower the power output of the steam turbine train in sub critical combined cycles. The overall fuel efficiency of a fossil fuel fired power unit or station is expressed as a heat rate: BTU""s (British Thermal Units) released by total combustion of the fuel divided by the net kilowatt-hours of power produced using that released heat, BTU""s/KWH. There are two ways to express the heat content of a fuel when computing heat rate: the lower heating value and higher heating value. The lower heating value (LHV) of the fuel is measured with the water in the combustion product stream formed by oxidation of hydrogen in the fuel not condensing and not giving up its heat of vaporization. The higher heating value (HHV) is measured with the water vapor condensing and giving up its heat of vaporization. Heat rates herein are computed using the lower heating value of fuel. Operators strive to minimize heat rate for the unit or station to reduce fuel costs and atmospheric pollutants emitted to the atmosphere. The present invention comprises combined cycles wherein the pressure and temperature of the water working fluid for the steam turbine train exiting the heat recovery unit is above the critical pressure of water, which is 3206.2 psia and the critical temperature of water which is 705.4 F. In one preferred embodiment of the super critical combined cycles of the present invention steam side streams are extracted from the steam turbine train, reheated in the heat recovery unit with sensible heat transferred from the gas turbine exhaust gas, and fed back into the steam turbine train. In another preferred embodiment of the super critical combined cycles of the present invention a fuel gas is fired in the heat recovery unit to supplement the sensible heat in the turbine gas stream to heat working fluid for the steam turbine train. The supplemental heat released is used to increase the working fluid flow rate to the steam turbine, which increases the power output of the steam turbine train generator. In some embodiments fuel gas is injected into the gas turbine exhaust gas stream several points in the gas stream as it flows through the heat recovery unit. One of the points is usually near the gas inlet to the heat recovery unit. In another embodiment of the super critical combined cycles of the present invention part of the condensate stream is bypassed around the economizer tubes in the heat recovery unit and is heated in heat exchangers external to the heat recovery unit. The heat sources are steam side streams extracted from the turbine train. The diverted and preheated condensate stream is fed into the primary heating tubes in the heat recovery unit where it joins the main condensate stream that has been heated in the economizer tubes.

1. Field of the Invention The field of the invention is that of digital radio. To be more precise, the invention concerns a dual mode portable transceiver, i.e. a transceiver able to operate in either of two transmission systems, firstly a terrestrial radio network, for example a cellular network, and secondly a satellite radio network. One specific field of application of the invention is to GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) DCS 1800 terrestrial radio and Globalstar/Inmarsat satellite radio. 2. Description of the Prior Art These two radio networks naturally have to use different frequency bands. The GSM DCS 1800 terrestrial system uses transmit frequencies in the 1 710 MHz to 1 785 MHz band and receive frequencies in the 1 805 MHz to 1 880 MHz band. The Globalstar satellite system uses the 1 610 MHz to 1 625.5 MHz transmit frequency band and the 2 483.5 MHz to 2 500 MHz band. These different frequency bands require the presence, in a dual mode transceiver, of transmit and receive means specific to each mode of operation (terrestrial or satellite). This increases the cost, the overall size, the weight, and the power consumption of the receiver. These features are crucial to the design of a portable device, and a constant preoccupation is to reduce them. If the frequency bands in question are close together, it may be possible to use the same transmit and/or receive means subject to some adaptation. This applies to the transmit frequency bands of the GSM and Globalstar systems, for example. On the other hand, if the frequency bands are relatively far apart (as is the case with the receive frequency bands of these systems), it is essential to use duplicate transmit and/or receive means, and in particular duplicate modulator and/or demodulator means. This leads to problems with weight, power consumption, etc. One object of the present invention is to alleviate these drawbacks of the prior art. To be more precise, it is an object of the invention to provide a dual mode portable digital signal transceiver for terrestrial and satellite radio, in which the increase in overall size, weight, and power consumption as compared with monomode (terrestrial or satellite) transceivers is small. In particular, an object of the invention is to provide a transceiver of this kind which does not require duplication of all the receive and/or transmit subsystems, even when the relevant frequency bands are relatively far apart.

1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to an integrated circuit design system, an integrated circuit design program, and an integrated circuit design method. 2. Description of the Related Art In order to deal with an increasing reduction in power consumption and miniaturization of processing dimensions, the power supply voltage of semiconductor integrated circuits has been reduced year by year. If the signal amplitude becomes small due to the reduction of the power supply voltage, the threshold voltages of the transistors will become relatively high with respect to the signal amplitude; therefore the ON currents of the transistors will decrease and the delays will increase. For this reason, the threshold voltages of the transistors must also be reduced along with the power supply voltage. However, if the threshold voltages of the transistors are lowered, the leakage current in the OFF state will increase, so the disadvantage will arise that the reduction of the power consumption will be obstructed. As technology for preventing an increase of such leakage current, the “multi-threshold complementary metal oxide semiconductor (MTCMOS)” circuit technology is known. In the MTCMOS technology, a transistor having a high threshold voltage is inserted into the power supply line for each circuit block performing a specific function. When the circuit block becomes unused, this transistor switch is set OFF, so the leakage current flowing through the transistors in the circuit block is cut off. Due to this, the wasteful leakage current flowing in unused circuit blocks can be greatly reduced. FIG. 10 is a view of an example of a circuit using MTCMOS technology. Circuit cells 1 and 2 are connected between a power supply line VDD and a ground line VSS and constantly supplied with power. Contrary to this, circuit cells 3 and 4 are connected between the power supply line VDD and a virtual ground line VSSA. These are supplied with power only when the virtual ground line VSSA and the ground line VSS are connected by a high threshold voltage transistor 5. The high threshold voltage transistor 5 is controlled to be turned on/off in response to a control signal Sc from a not illustrated circuit block. When the circuit cells 3 and 4 become unused, this control signal Sc is set to the low level, so the high threshold voltage transistor 5 becomes OFF. Due to this, the virtual ground line VSSA and the ground line VSS are cut off, and the leakage current of the circuit cells 3 and 4 is cut off. The circuit cut off from power by the high threshold voltage transistor (hereinafter referred to as an “MTCMOS circuit”) becomes unstable in the signal level of the internal interconnect at the time of shutting off the power. For this reason, in order to prevent the signal in this unstable state from causing a malfunction or otherwise exerting an adverse influence upon the other circuit blocks in operation, processing such as conversion of the unstable state signal to a fixed value is applied. Accordingly, in the design of a semiconductor integrated circuit using MTCMOS technology, it is necessary to correctly verify if the power is correctly turned on/off according to the specifications and whether any malfunctions due to the signal in the unstable state occur. In a general integrated circuit design system, however, at the stage of the logic design, the power supply of the circuit is treated as being always on, i.e., the situation of the cutoff of the power is not envisioned. For this reason, a circuit turned on/off in power during operation such as an MTCMOS circuit cannot be simulated at the stage of the logic design. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-233635 discloses a method of preparation of a logic model by a hardware description language of a digital circuit including an MTCMOS circuit. The method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-233635 enables the simulation of a digital circuit, even when an MTCMOS circuit is included, by adding to a higher level of the circuit that turned off the power a description making the value of an input pin in the stand-by state a nonspecific value. However, the description of the circuit prepared by the method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-233635 does not include a description clearly indicating each circuit cell including a high threshold voltage transistor for a power switch (power switch cell) and also does not include a description clearly indicating which circuit cell is cut off from power by which power switch cell. For this reason, when designing the next stage, that is, designing the layout such as the interconnects and arrangement of the circuit cells by using a net list of gate levels obtained as a result of the logic design, the information concerning the above power switch cells must be newly manually added. Accordingly, it suffers from the disadvantage that the efficiency of the design is obstructed, for example, the load of the design work becomes large and human design error easily occurs. Further, the description added by the method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-233635 is only used for the verification of the circuits and is unnecessary in the layout design, so must be deleted. Accordingly, the trouble of such work occurs and becomes a cause obstructing the efficiency of design.

The present application relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to power diodes and switching modules. Note that the points discussed below may reflect the hindsight gained from the disclosed inventions, and are not necessarily admitted to be prior art. Conventionally, diodes provide charge-blocking capabilities, but suffer from the reverse recovery charge problem. That is, when a conventional diode is active and conducting current (in the appropriate direction), turn-off produces an undesirably-large reverse current to equilibrize the induced voltage difference, which can negatively impact performance. Conventionally, diodes deal with this problem by minimizing minority carrier lifetimes in the diode. The present application teaches, among other innovations, diodes with an added control terminal, and methods of operating controllable diodes to reduce recovery charge. Most preferable a control terminal is added on the side of a diode closest to its p-n junction, and is separated from the junction region by an insulated trench. In preferred operation methods, the control terminal is driven to reduce the minority carrier density before the zero-crossing of current. In one class of embodiments, the control terminal is driven toward a voltage which is not within the range of the anode and cathode voltages. For example, in one class of embodiments, the semiconductor die is p-type, and the control terminal is located on the same surface with the cathode terminal. In a modification of this embodiment, the control terminal is optionally driven to a voltage which is slightly more negative than the cathode terminal. In another class of embodiments, the semiconductor die is n-type, and the control terminal is located on the same surface with the anode terminal. In a modification of this embodiment, the control terminal is optionally driven to a voltage which is slightly more positive than the anode terminal.

The invention relates to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to junction field effect transistor drivers. Electronic components, such as integrated circuits and displays, typically have power requirements which differ from the primary power supply characteristics. For example, portable computers may contain integrated circuits operating with a 3.3 volt DC supply and a backlit display screen operating at 1500 volts but the primary power consists of rechargeable batteries whose output voltage at full charge may be 5 volts and which drops exponentially as the batteries are discharged. Hence, electronic systems typically will include power supplies with AC-DC converters, DC-DC regulators, or DC-AC inverters to provide output power with the required characteristics. DC-DC regulators most commonly utlilize switching regulation and may use a push-pull arrangement as illustrated in FIG. 1a with waveforms shown in FIG. 1b. Basically, the pulse width modulated (PWM) driver alternately switches on and off power devices Q1 and Q2 to excite the transformer primary, and the transformer secondary feeds a self-commutating synchronous rectifier followed by an LC filter for output. The synchronous rectifier uses n-channel MOSFETs rather than diodes; this avoids the turn on voltage drop of diodes which can be significant for low output voltage power supplies. Resistor divider R senses the output voltage and feeds this back to the PWM driver. If the output voltage is too low, then the PWM driver increases the duty cycles of Q1 and Q2, and conversely, if the output voltage is too high, the duty cycles of Q1 and Q2 are reduced. The PWM driver may simply be an error amplifier (amplifying the difference between desired and actual output voltages) feeding one input of a comparator with a sawtooth voltage having a fixed frequency feeding the other comparator input; the comparator output would be the input signal for a driver for power device Q1 and a similar phase-shifted comparator would be the input signal for a driver for power device Q2. FIG. 1c illustrates such a possible half of a PWM driver. Switching power supplies for portable computers and other portable electronic equipment generally benefit from higher switching frequencies because the size and weight of the magnetic portions (transformers and inductors) can be reduced. And the trend towards lower operating voltages for integrated circuits to reduce power consumption requires the output rectifiers of related power supplies have low on resistance and minimal voltage drop. Junction field effect transistors (JFETs) typically are depletion mode devices with n-type channels and require a negative gate voltage to pinch off the channel and turn off. Thus the driver for a JFET also requires a negative power supply. Further, injecting carriers from the gate of a JFET into the channel while the JFET is turned on can lower the channel and drift region resistance (RON) and thereby minimizes ohmic losses. This xe2x80x9cbipolar modexe2x80x9d of operation requires a small positive voltage to forward bias the gate, and so the JFET driver would further require a small positive power supply. See Baliga, Modern Power Devices pp.175-182 (Krieger Publ., Malabar, Fla. 1992). Thus the known drivers for JFET devices have problems including inefficient circuitry. JFETs made be made of gallium arsenide to lower RON due to the higher electron mobility of gallium arsenide as compared to silicon. JFETs frequently have a vertical channel structure and thus may be called VFETs. FIGS. 2a-b heuristically illustrate in perspective and cross sectional elevation views VFET 100 as including a source 102, multifinger gate 104, channel region 106 between the gate fingers, drain 108, source contact 112, gate contact 114, and drain contact 118. U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,037 describes a method of fabrication for such VFETs. The present invention provides a resonant switching for a field effect transistor and associated circuits such as power supplies with synchronous output rectifiers. The resonant switching for a junction field effect transistor invokes bipolar mode operation with a diode clamping of the gate. This has the advantage of yielding bipolar mode operation without a separate bias power supply.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to air rescue of injured individuals and, more particularly, is concerned with a short-haul escape system and method. 2. Description of the Prior Art Across the country, especially in the National Park system, injured individuals in precarious terrain are routinely extracted using a helicopter and a xe2x80x9cshort haulxe2x80x9d technique. This technique involves suspending the injured individual in a litter (stretcher), and possibly a rescuer, under the helicopter on a 100 to 150 foot length of rope and then flying them to level terrain where they can be lowered to the ground and transferred to medical care. This technique has worked well, but is very risky for both the rescuer and injured individual, in that single engine helicopters are usually used and, if the engine fails, the persons suspended beneath the helicopter and possibly persons in the vicinity on the ground may be seriously injured or killed from any resultant helicopter crash. Devices of various constructions for air and water rescue of individuals have been proposed in the prior art. Some representative examples of these prior art devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,600 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,156,442 to Pourchet, U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,189 to Pollard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,007 to Waller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,570 to DeSimone, U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,229 to Wright et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,260 to Fretten, U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,916 to Haro and U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,078 to Rivers. While these prior art devices may be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, none of them seem to provide an effective solution for the above-described problem at hand. Consequently, a need still exists for an innovation which will provide a solution to the aforementioned problem in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof. The present invention provides a short-haul escape system and method designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The system and method of the present invention, by utilizing an automatically deployable parachute, allows the suspended individuals to survive a helicopter engine failure, or an inadvertent release from the helicopter. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a short-haul escape system which comprises: (a) an elongated load line for detachable suspension from a support member on a load-transporting airborne vehicle; (b) a load-carrying receptacle attached to an end of the load line; (c) a parachute; (d) a container attachable to the airborne vehicle in proximity to the support member thereon and releasably stowing the parachute such that the parachute can be pulled from the container; and (e) an interconnecting member attached at one end to the parachute stowed in the container and extending from the container to an opposite end of the interconnecting member secured to the load line such that upon detaching the load line from the support member of the airborne vehicle, which will cause the load line and load-carrying receptacle to fall away from the airborne vehicle, the interconnecting member will pull the parachute from the container so that the parachute can inflate and slow the fall of the load line and receptacle to a soft landing. More particularly, the container has a releasable means for permitting pullout release of the parachute from the container. The releasable means of the container may be a rupturable portion of the container. Also, in one embodiment, the load line has a loop formed at an opposite end of the load line being removably receivable on the support member in the form of a cargo support hook on the airborne vehicle. The opposite end of the interconnecting member is coupled to the loop at the opposite end the load line by a link element. Also, in a modified embodiment, the opposite end of the interconnecting member is coupled to the load line and a force generating mechanism is provided which is actuatable to release the load line from the support member in the form of a hoist on the airborne vehicle. The interconnecting member is a flexible strap. The present invention also is directed to a short-haul escape method which comprises the steps of: (a) providing a container having a parachute stowed therein and releasable means for permitting pullout release of the parachute from the container; (b) attaching the container to a load-transporting airborne vehicle in proximity to a support member on the vehicle; (c) detachably attaching an elongated load line to the support member on the airborne vehicle and an end of the load line to a load-carrying receptacle; (d) connecting one end of an interconnecting member to the parachute stowed in the container and extending the interconnecting member from the container through the releasable means of the container; (e) connecting an opposite end of the interconnecting member to the load line adjacent to the support member on the airborne vehicle; (f) detaching the load line from the support member so as to cause the load line and load-carrying receptacle to fall away from the airborne vehicle; and (g) in response to detaching the load line from the support member on the airborne vehicle, pulling the parachute from the container by the interconnecting member so that the parachute can inflate and slow the fall of the load line and receptacle to a soft landing. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In two-wire telephone communication systems, a pair of wires, termed tip and ring, respectively, carry a DC current which may be used for powering devices, such as telephones, coupled across the wires. Tip and ring also carry actual telephone signals, such as voice or modem signals. A voltage source at the central office of the telephone company provides a voltage across the tip and ring nodes so as to provide the aforementioned DC current. The wires connecting the telephone to the central office, of course, have a finite impedance. Accordingly, the length of wire between the central office and a particular telephone dictates the actual tip-to-ring voltage and current that the telephone receives. Thus, a telephone that is close to the central office (has a short distance of wire therebetween) normally will receive a higher voltage and therefore greater current than a telephone which is coupled to the central office through a longer wire connection. Certain international standards, for example, international standard TBR 21 of the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) require that the tip-to-ring current through any telecommunication device not exceed a specified current level. TBR 21, for instance, specifies a maximum tip-to-ring current of a telecommunications device of 60 milliamps. However, the standard also requires that, below 60 milliamps, the telecommunication device provides a constant impedance to the tip-to-ring line such that tip-to-ring current through the device will vary linearly with tip-to-ring voltage presented to the device. Although many factors contribute to the establishment of such standards, one of the primary reasons for specifying a maximum tip-to-ring current is to reduce the power which the central office must generate in order to provide the DC tip-to-ring current to telecommunication devices coupled to the central office. International standard TBR 21, as of the writing of this specification, has not been officially adopted, but is being highly recommended. In view of international standard TBR 21 and other standards containing tip-to-ring current limit specifications, telecommunication equipment must be provided with front end DC termination circuitry for limiting tip-to-ring current through the device. Such circuitry usually takes the form of a current limit circuit that provides a constant resistance up to the specified current limit and thereafter provides a constant current at the specified current limit as the voltage continues to rise. For example, from 0 to 60 milliamps, tip-to-ring current through the device increases linearly with tip-to-ring voltage. However, when the current reaches 60 milliamps, the current will remain constant at 60 milliamps as the tip-to-ring voltage increases further. Telecommunication devices commonly employ a current sink that may dissipate excess power when the tip-to-ring currents are high. Such current sinks may require a heat spreader or some other means of dissipating the heat buildup in the active components (commonly termed a heat sink) in order to avoid heat damage to the current sink. Heat sinks consume a significant amount of volume. Many telecommunication devices, for example, PCMCIA card modems are extremely small. Thus, the need for large heat sinks is a significant problem since it will reduce the space available for other desirable electronic componentry. A tip-to-ring voltage of 60 volts, for example, would not be unusual in most countries. Accordingly, with a tip-to-ring voltage of 60 volts and a tip-to-ring current of 60 milliamps, up to 3.6 watts of power will be dissipated in the telecommunications device. 3.6 watts is a significant amount of power to dissipate, thus requiring a fairly large heat sink. In a compact piece of equipment in which various electronic circuits are closely packed together, the heat put out by the heat sink might adversely affect the operation of, or even destroy, neighboring electronic circuitry. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved DC termination device. It is another object of the present invention to provide a DC termination device which can meet the performance requirements of various standards. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved DC termination device for a telecommunications device which can meet the specifications of various standards and minimize power dissipation in the device.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to niobium or tantalum powder suitable as an electrolyte capacitor material, and to a method of manufacturing the niobium or tantalum powder, and more particularly to a manufacturing method, that reduces the niobium or tantalum oxides with alkali metals or alkaline-earth metals. 2. Description of Related Art By reducing fluorides or oxides of niobium or tantalum with alkali metals such as sodium or potassium, or with alkaline-earth metals such as magnesium or calcium, and then evenly distributing the particles having an average diameter of 1.0 μm, it is possible to obtain very fine niobium or tantalum powder having a BET specific surface area that exceeds 5 m2/g. When using niobium or tantalum powder as electrolytic capacitor material, the capacity becomes larger the finer the powder is, or in other words the larger the specific surface area is. However, niobium oxidizes easily, and since the oxides are stable, the finer the powder is, the greater the amount of oxygen becomes due to surface oxidation. Moreover, when trying to obtain fine powder, in which the diameter of primary particles is 0.1 to 1.0 μm, by using alkali metals or alkaline-earth metals as the reduction agent, which is an exothermic reaction, there is thermal un-uniformity during the reduction process, so very fine particles on the order of 0.01 μm are produced. When these kinds of very fine particles exist, there is the problem that uniformity in sintering of the electrolytic capacitor is lost. Furthermore, there is a problem that the reduction agent or alkali metal or alkaline-earth metal dissolves and remains in the niobium or tantalum and has an adverse effect on the capacity and electrical characteristics of the electrolytic capacitor. In other words, the amount of reduction agent used in normal operation is more than the theoretical chemical equivalent, so part of the reduction agent dissolves in the niobium or tantalum. The solid solubility limit of alkali metals or alkaline-earth metals in the niobium or tantalum is small, however, even so alkali metals or alkaline-earth metals remains up to about 200-400 ppm. Therefore, with the prior art, it was difficult to reduce the amount of the reduction agent, or in other words, alkali metal or alkaline-earth metal to 200 ppm or less. On the other hand, reduction of the niobium or tantalum oxides with alkali metal or alkaline-earth metal proceeds exothermically and the alkali metal or alkaline-earth metal is processed to come in direct contact with the niobium or tantalum oxides, so that controlling it becomes even more difficult. In Japanese Patent Publication No. Tokukai 2000-119710, in order to control the amount of heat generated, reduction using alkaline-earth metal or rare-earth metal is performed in two stages, and in the reaction of the first stage, low-grade oxide powder expressed as (Nb,Ta) Ox, where x=0.5 to 1.5, is obtained. The second stage is then performed after removing the oxides of the reduction agent from the reduction product of the first stage. However, in this case, controlling the reduction reaction of the second stage is difficult and there was a problem in that the specific surface area of the powder obtained became small, and that the amount of remaining alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal became large.

Printing devices provide a user with a physical representation of a document by printing a digital representation of a document onto a print medium. The printing devices include a number of printheads used to eject ink or other printable material onto the print medium to form an image. Printheads deposit ink droplets onto the print medium using a number of resistive elements within printhead die of the printheads. Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Disposable feminine absorbent articles, or feminine pads, are used by women during their menstrual cycles. Women also use these feminine absorbent articles as an everyday pantyliner in order to provide a feeling of freshness or dryness throughout the day. These absorbent articles must continuously be replaced during the day with a new absorbent article in order to prevent leakage and to ensure that the wearer at all times senses a high level of freshness and dryness. Discretion in the use of these products is also an aim for both the manufacturers and the users. Women are not at all occasions at their home or otherwise conveniently near a supply of absorbent articles, and it may be necessary to carry along a small supply of absorbent articles. Thus, feminine absorbent articles have been designed to be carried conveniently in a pocket or in a woman's handbag. However, an even more discreet way of carrying along the feminine absorbent articles is by using absorbent articles made up of more than one stacked absorbent pad which are releasably attached to each other and which conveniently allows the user to remove and to dispose the topmost feminine absorbent pad when needed and to reveal a clean and fresh absorbent pad underneath. The stacked feminine absorbent pads are attached to each other, for example, by adhesive or by embossing. The attachment between the stacked absorbent pads may be provided only along the edges or throughout the entire backsheet of the overlaying articles. The stacked absorbent pads should adhere sufficiently to each other, so that the pads stay in place and not detach from each other, causing inconvenience or discomfort to the wearer. The adherence between the first and second absorbent pads should also not be too strong, rendering the removal of the first absorbent pad from the underlying absorbent pad difficult. Different solutions have previously been presented to facilitate the successive removal of the stacked absorbent pads. U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,932 discloses a multi-tiered feminine pad, constructed for successive removal of the pads, the middle pad is smaller with edges located inwardly of the edges of the first and second layer. US 2009/0287171 discloses a layered absorbent product constructed for successive removal of the layers. Temporal adhesive is provided along the edges and a gap is formed in an adhesive-free portion. WO 95/29655 discloses a product in which the first layers are longer than the lower layers in order to provide grip portions extending outside the layers beneath. In view of the above solutions there still exists a need to facilitate the successive removal of the absorbent articles made up of more than one stacked absorbent pad. There is furthermore still a need for absorbent articles made up of more than one stacked absorbent pad which may be manufactured by a simple manufacturing process.

The current composition relates to hydrophobic vinylamine-containing polymers as paper softeners and dry strength aids and the processes for preparing them. In the current composition the primary amine groups of vinylamine-containing polymers are substituted with reactive hydrophobic functional groups and optionally with other reactive functional groups that impart physical characteristics of the polymers and provides applications properties to papermaking to soften paper products with no or minimal impact on paper dry strength properties. Tissue and towel products are conventionally used as absorbent paper materials and softness of these products is an important physical property from customers' perspective. The softness sensation perceived by the consumer's hand (handfeel) comes from several paper properties including flexibility or stiffness of the paper sheet and the smoothness of the paper surface. Other major and critical physical properties of the paper products are the paper sheet tensile strength and water absorbency. The challenge in papermaking of the tissue and towel products is to balance these properties in order to produce a paper product with improved softness but not hurting the paper tensile strength and the water absorbance. Traditional paper debonding agents including various imidazoline and ester quaternary derivatives can be applied as dispersions to papermaking fibers to disrupt cellulosic fiber-to-fiber binding, resulted in softer paper products. However, some of these low molecular weight (less than about 5,000 Daltons) hydrophobic cationic debonders such as quaternary imidazoline might cause irritation on human skin due to the exiting of residual toxic chemicals in the products that are highly controlled under governmental regulation. Furthermore, these types of debonding agents, when used as softeners, often cause significant decreases in paper tensile strength, and to such an extent in many cases that a dry strength resin needs to be used to compensate the strength loss in the paper sheet. In turn, using a dry strength resin could result in negatively affect paper softness. The dry strength resin not only complicates the papermaking process, but is also economically unfavorable. Although a significant amount of research and development efforts have been directed to the improvement of paper softness without affecting tensile strength, there is no single and good technical solution that can benefit both softness and tensile strength of the tissue or towel products. A polymeric cationic softener is preferred in chemical design because it can be readily applied at the wet end in a papermaking process and still have good retention ability on the anionic cellulosic fiber. Structurally, the composition with high molecular weight softeners should possess the characteristics of the hydrophobic section as well as a hydrophilic section. One possible approach to constitute this type of structure is to modify a high molecular weight and hydrophilic water soluble cationic polymer using a reactive hydrophobic compound. The hydrophobic moiety can be appended to the polymer backbone in a random fashion or capped at both chain ends of the polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,812 discloses new synthetic hydrophobic polymers having hydrogen bonding capability for reducing lint and slough in soft tissue products while maintaining softness and strength. US Patent Application No. 2003/0024669 discloses the use of hydrophobically modified polyaminoamides with polyethylene glycol esters in paper products to produce a softer and more absorbent paper material. U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,197 discloses a hydrophobically modified anionic polyelectrolyte and a method for making paper to enhance its wet strength without affecting paper softness. Vinylamine-containing polymers are conventionally used in papermaking to improve dry strength of the paper products and to improve retention and drainage in papermaking processes. The primary amine groups of a vinylamine-containing polymer can be readily modified covalently as desired to introduce additional functionality to the polymer and alter its chemical and physical properties making it useful in other industrial applications as well as papermaking. U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,441 discloses quaternized polyvinylamines obtained from the reaction with a quaternizing agent, such as methyl chloride, dimethyl sulfate, or benzyl chloride as flocculants and their use for wastewater clarification. U.S. Pat. No. 8,604,134 discloses modification of polyvinylamine with different functional groups and its application as a paper making additive. U.S. Pat. No. 7,902,312 discloses Michael adduct of polyvinyl amine with α, β-unsaturated alkyl carbonyl compounds and its subsequent use as an additive for paper making system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,449 discloses the use of vinylamine-vinyl alcohol copolymer functionalized with epichlorohydrin and its mixture with polyaminoamide as creping adhesive for paper application. U.S. Pat. No. 8,614,279 discloses a process for producing an acylated vinylamine-containing polymer. Vinylamine-containing polymers are also used as base polymer for grafted polymerization of vinyl monomers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,330 discloses a PEG grafted polyvinylamine derivative. U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,759 discloses graft copolymers of vinylamine based polymers. US Patent Application No. 2015/0299961 discloses a graft copolymer composition of a vinyl monomer and a functionalized vinylamine-containing base polymer and a method of preparing the graft copolymer. Although some of the above references disclose modified vinylamine-containing polymers, they do not disclose the current hydrophobically modified polyvinylamines, which can be used as papermaking dry strength additives, retention aids, drainage aids or pitch and stickies control agents. Nor, do any of the references disclose hydrophobic polyvinylamine derivatives in papermaking. Through extensive research it was found that hydrophobically modified vinylamine-containing polymers can enhance paper softness without negatively impacting paper dry strength properties.

Wireless websites are websites developed for mobile terminals and Internet websites accessed via mobile terminals (e.g., cell phones, tablet computers, and/or the like). Although a user may access a wireless website using many different types of devices such as a personal computer (PC), a mobile terminal, and/or the like, using mobile terminals to access wireless websites may provide users with better user experiences. Wireless websites may provide many of the same functions as ordinary websites. For example, a wireless website can realize the great majority of the functions of a corresponding ordinary website. However wireless websites are primarily developed for the consumption of users that use a mobile terminal. Wireless websites solve many of the restrictions associated with ordinary websites, and thus enable users to access the wireless websites and acquire information from a variety of locations and at the users' convenience. Accordingly, wireless websites increase user work efficiency and increase the value of information. According to the related art, some wireless websites have high security requirements (e.g., to provide a user with a secure interaction therewith). For example, some wireless websites with high security requirements may only permit users to log in thereto using mobile terminals and do not permit users to log in using terminals that are not mobile terminals (e.g., PCs such as desktop computers and notebook computers, and/or the like). In other words, some wireless websites having high security requirements may only provide access to users using mobile terminals. Access to wireless websites (e.g., log in to the wireless websites) may be restricted to mobile terminals and access from terminals other than mobile terminals may be prevented because the mechanism for providing a mobile terminal with secure access to a wireless website may be incompatible with terminals other than mobile terminals. For example, when a user logs into a website having higher security requirements using a terminal other than a mobile terminal (e.g., a PC, and/or the like), the website typically requires the user to first install a security control so that the user's account number and password can be encrypted through the installed security control when the user logs into the website. The use of the security control and encryption of the user's account number and password prevents account numbers and passwords from being compromised (e.g., kidnapped) by a malicious module (e.g., a Trojan horse program, a virus, and/or the like). However, such a security control cannot be installed on a mobile terminal. Therefore, the security mechanisms associated with a wireless website and a normal website differ, and generally such security mechanisms will not be set up for wireless websites. Thus, a malicious module (e.g., a Trojan horse program, a virus, malicious software, and/or the like) may compromise security information (e.g., a username, a password, and/or the like) if a terminal other than the mobile terminal (e.g., a PC, and/or the like) attempts to log in to a wireless website. Therefore, in order to prevent security information from being compromised by a malicious module, wireless websites having higher security requirements will be configured to prevent access thereto by terminals other than mobile terminals (e.g., to prevent users from logging into the wireless website using a PC and/or the like). According to the related art, a type of terminal accessing a particular wireless website may be determined. For example, a wireless website server (e.g., a server hosting the wireless website, or the like) may determine whether a terminal accessing a wireless website is a mobile terminal. In order to determine whether the terminal accessing the wireless website is a mobile terminal, the wireless website server may use user agent information (e.g., user agent information included in a user-agent string of an HTTP Request) communicated in connection with access to the wireless website. For example, the wireless website server may identify (e.g., determine) the user agent information included in the http protocol. The user agent information is a part of the http protocol. The user agent information may be used to acquire (e.g., determine) the equipment type and operating system of the terminal used to access the wireless website and thus to determine whether the user is accessing a website with a mobile terminal. However, a terminal that is not a mobile terminal may spoof as a mobile terminal using falsified user agent information. In other words, user agent information used when accessing a wireless website can be falsified (e.g., counterfeited). For example, false user agent information can be set up via a browser, and then a terminal (e.g., a PC or the like) pretending to be a mobile terminal can log into a wireless website.

Existing AC induction motor, which is mainly squirrel cage type AC asynchronous induction motor, has the advantages of simple structure, low cost and larger output torque as compared with brush DC motor. Such a motor is typically excited with continuous two phases of sine wave voltages with a phase difference of 90° or three phases of sine wave voltages with a phase difference of 120°. A continuous sine wave rotating magnetic field is generated in the air gap between the stator and the rotor, which causes the squirrel cage type rotor rotating. The rotating speed of the motor can be approximately calculated by the rotating speed formula for the rotating magnetic field: n=60*f1/p, where p is the number of pole pairs of the stator in the motor, f1 is the frequency of the excitation AC. It can be seen that, with the structure of the motor fixed, the rotating speed is mainly determined by the frequency f1. Thus, an effective way to control the rotating speed is to vary the excitation AC frequency f1. For example, supposing the number of pole pairs in the motor is p=2, the rotating speed per minute is n=1500 r/min when the excitation AC frequency f1=50 Hertz; the rotating speed is n=1200 r/min when f1=40 Hertz, and so on. For this reason, a plurality of methods of controlling the speed have been developed, such as frequency-converting speed regulating and vector-controlling speed regulating, etc. However, since the actually required operating speed is typically much lower than the rotating speed of the motor, and because of the resistance characteristic of the excitation windings and the torque requirement of the motor, such as the torque of the AC asynchronous motor is somewhat low during low-speed running, sometimes a lower rotating speed can not be obtained by decreasing the excitation AC frequency f1 without limitation. Therefore, it is often required to em example, mechanical gears to vary speed, so as to meet various requirements in actual usage. In this way, the cost, size and weight of the apparatus are undoubtedly increased, and the effect is not satisfying. In the recent twenty to thirty years, permanent magnetic brushless DC motor, step motor and switching reluctance motor, which can be generally referred to as electronic electromotor or electronic motor, are invented and widely used. Mostly, their running principle is to rotate the rotor by alternatively using the attraction force or repulsion force generated between the poles with the different polarity by control technology. This kind of motor has apparent improvement in aspects of speed regulating, the size and the weight, but the cost of manufacture, the speed regulating range and the output torque still do not meet the increasing requirements for higher performance.

The world of manufacturing, including process engineering, has been under continuous and accelerating pressure to improve quality and reduce costs. This trend shows signs of further accelerating rather than decelerating. From a manufacturing perspective, quality refers to producing parts that 1.) are close to or at engineering design targets, and 2.) exhibit minimal variation. The realm of design engineering has also been under continuous pressure to improve quality and reduce costs. Design engineering must create nominal design targets and establish tolerance limits where it is possible for manufacturing to produce parts that are 1.) on target and 2.) that fall within the design tolerance limits. In-other-words, engineers are tasked not only with designing articles to meet form, fit and function, but with designing them for producibility. In any manufacturing or other process that depends on the laws of engineering and physics to produce a useful result, there are five fundamental elements (see FIG. 1): 1) the process that makes the product (A); 2) Inputs into the process (B); 3) Output from the process (C); 4) Process control variables adjusted to influence the process output (D); and, S) uncontrolled process variables that influence the process (E) (e.g., either uncontrollable variables or variables that are left uncontrolled because of time, cost or other considerations, collectively referred to as “noise.”). The traditional approach to producing articles, such as parts or other components, that meet design specifications is a logical one based on a search for causation. This approach is based on the principle that, control over the variables that influence a process yields control over the output of that process. In-other-words, if one can control the cause, then one can also control the effect. FIG. 2 illustrates this prior art principle, where an attempt is made to determine the relationships, linkages, or correlations between. the control variables and the characteristics of the output (e.g., manufactured parts). Unfortunately, many manufacturing processes act like a black box. It can be difficult in some of these cases to determine the relationship between the process control variables and the resulting article characteristic values. Furthermore, time and economic constraints can make such a determination impractical even when this might be technically possible. Plastic injection molding is an example of this situation. With at least 22 control variables, even when these control settings have only two levels each (a high and a low temperature, a high and a pressure, etc.), there are nevertheless over 4 million possible combinations. Indeed, there are billions of possible combinations when three levels (high, medium and low settings) are considered. Furthermore, changes to process variables may have varying effects on the resulting article characteristics; for example, increasing a pressure setting can increase a first article characteristic, decrease a second, and not affect a third. Simple interactions, complex interactions and non-linearities complicate the situation further. Further, there are usually multiple mold cavities in a single mold. Finally, there are numerous article characteristics (dimensional, performance, or other requirements) that must be met. In light of the preceding, it is often extremely difficult to establish the combination of factors from the large number of part design targets, part tolerance limits, mold design characteristics and injection molding press settings that produces acceptable articles. Some progress has been made in this regard. Design of Experiments (DOE) methodology greatly reduces the number of experiments that must be conducted to understand the impact of a selected subset of control variables on the resulting output of a process. Unfortunately, even after performing a designed experiment, there are still a large number of control variables that can affect the resulting articles. In any event, extensive measurement of produced parts is still conducted by both the supplier and the OEM customer to ensure that acceptable articles are produced. In addition, there are two main paths to achieving improved manufacturing quality. The first is to measure the parts after they are produced and then compare the parts to specification requirements (design targets and tolerances). This is an “on-line” process utilizing feedback. The parts are usually measured, to some extent, by both the producer and the customer (OEM, first tier manufacturer, second tier manufacturer, etc.). Measuring the parts, recording and analyzing the data, and reporting the results, however, is a very expensive and resource consuming process. In their efforts to improve quality, many manufacturers have begun to use the techniques of Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Process Capability studies. Indeed, many customers require their suppliers to perform SPC or other equivalent measurement, recording, analysis and reporting procedures. According to this technique, samples are taken from the production line, measured and then analyzed to see if any abnormal (not normally distributed) patterns or data points emerge. If such abnormal data points are detected, the process is considered “out-of-control” (i.e., failing to yield a consistent predictable output) and production is immediately stopped to fix the process. The measurement data from manufactured parts is analyzed using sophisticated SPC statistical methods and charting tools embodied in specialized computer programs. Since most parts have many different dimensions, measurement and SPC analysis have usually been applied to a large number of part dimensions for each part, increasing the time and expense associated with production. However, SPC is far less expensive in the long run than shipping unacceptable parts and/or having to sort acceptable parts from unacceptable parts. It has also been difficult for manufacturers (and their customers) to determine 1.) what percentage of the dimensions should be monitored using SPC and 2.) which dimensions should be measured if the full set of dimensions is not monitored. Usually, most, if not all, of the “critical” dimensions called out by the design engineer are measured and analyzed using SPC techniques. However, economic constraints can result in fewer than the desired number of dimensions being measured and analyzed. Guesswork is then frequently involved as to which dimensions to select for SPC or other analysis. A second path to improving manufacturing quality is by reducing the natural variation in the manufactured articles. The accuracy of maintaining the process control factors can be improved and/or the “noise” factors can be eliminated or minimized. This is an “off-line” process improvement using feedforward. Reducing natural variation is also an expensive proposition since many relatively small common causes of variation are present. The degree to which the natural variation in the parts produced must be reduced is usually determined through expensive process capability studies, usually conducted on each “critical” dimension. In light of the foregoing, a need in the art exists for methods, apparatuses and systems facilitating design and manufacturing processes and, more particularly, addressing the problems discussed above. For example, a need in the art exists for methods and systems that allow for reductions in time and cost associated with the measurement, recording, analysis and reporting processes discussed above in connection with, for example, SPC studies, Process Capability studies, shipping inspection and receiving inspection. A need in the art exists for methods to determine how to adjust inputs to a process in order to achieve the desired outputs. A need in the art also exists for methods and systems facilitating a determination of how many article characteristics (e.g., dimensions, performance measures, etc.) should be measured for a given process. Lastly, a need in the art exists for methods and systems that enable an assessment of which article characteristics should be measured for a given process. As discussed in more detail below, embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill these needs.

Computer systems, video games, electronic appliances, digital cameras, and myriad other electronic devices include memory for storing data related to the use and operation of the device. A variety of different memory types are utilized in these devices, such as read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory (FLASH), and mass storage such as hard disks and CD-ROM or CD-RW drives. Each memory type has characteristics that better suit that type to particular applications. For example, DRAM is slower than SRAM but is nonetheless utilized as system memory in most computer systems because DRAM is inexpensive and provides high density storage, thus allowing large amounts of data to be stored relatively cheaply. A memory characteristic that often times determines whether a given type of memory is suitable for a given application is the volatile nature of the storage. Both DRAM and SRAM are volatile forms of data storage, which means the memories require power to retain the stored data. In contrast, mass storage devices such as hard disks and CD drives are nonvolatile storage devices, meaning the devices retain data even when power is removed. Current mass storage devices are relatively inexpensive and high density, providing reliable long term data storage at relatively cheap. Such mass storage devices are, however, physically large and contain numerous moving parts, which reduces the reliability of the devices. Moreover, existing mass storage devices are relatively slow, which slows the operation of the computer system or other electronic device containing the mass storage device. As a result, other technologies are being developed to provide long term nonvolatile data storage, and, ideally, such technologies would also be fast and cheap enough for use in system memory as well. The use of FLASH, which provides nonvolatile storage, is increasing in popularity in many electronic devices such as digital cameras. While FLASH provides nonvolatile storage, FLASH is too slow for use as system memory and the use of FLASH for mass storage is impractical, due in part to the duration for which the FLASH can reliably store data as well as limits on the number of times data can be written to and read from FLASH. Due to the nature of existing memory technologies, new technologies are being developed to provide high density, high speed, long term nonvolatile data storage. One such technology that offers promise for both long term mass storage and system memory applications is Magneto-Resistive or Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM). FIG. 1 is a functional diagram showing a portion of a conventional MRAM array 100 including a plurality of memory cells 102 arranged in rows and columns. Each memory cell 102 is illustrated functionally as a resistor since the memory cell has either a first or a second resistance depending on a magnetic dipole orientation of the cell, as will be explained in more detail below. Each memory cell 102 in a respective row is coupled to a corresponding word line WL, and each memory cell in a respective column is coupled to a corresponding bit line BL. In FIG. 1, the word lines are designated WL1-3 and the bit lines designated BL1-4, and may hereafter be referred to using either these specific designations or generally as word lines WL and bit lines BL. Each of the memory cells 102 stores information magnetically in the form of an orientation of a magnetic dipole of a material forming the memory cell, with a first orientation of the magnetic dipole corresponding to a logic “1” and a second orientation of the magnetic dipole corresponding to a logic “0.” The orientation of the magnetic dipole of each memory cell 102, in turn, determines a resistance of the cell. Accordingly, each memory cell 102 has a first resistance when the magnetic dipole has the first orientation and a second resistance when the magnetic dipole has the second orientation. By sensing the resistance of each memory cell 102, the orientation of the magnetic dipole and thereby the logic state of the data stored in the memory cell 102 can be determined. The stored logic state can be detected by measuring the memory cell resistance using Ohm's law. For example, resistance is determined by holding voltage constant across a resistor and measuring, directly or indirectly, the current that flows through the resistor. Note that, for MRAM sensing purposes, the absolute magnitude of resistance need not be known, the inquiry is whether the resistance is greater or less than a value that is intermediate to the logic high and logic low states. Sensing the logic state of an MRAM memory element is difficult because the technology of the MRAM device imposes multiple constraints. In a typical MRAM device, an element in a high resistance state has a resistance of about 950 kΩ. The differential resistance between a logic “1” and a logic “0” is thus about 50 kΩ, or approximately 5% of scale. Therefore, there is a need for a sensing circuit for a resistance measuring circuit to repeatably and rapidly distinguish resistance values for devices having small signal differentials.

1. Field of Invention This invention pertains generally to the monitoring of parameters in sanitary process lines and, more particularly, to an inline multi-port flow cell for use in monitoring multiple parameters in a sanitary process line. 2. Related Art Inline monitoring or measurement of parameters such as pH, oxygen, carbon dioxide, specific Ion, conductivity, temperature, and optical absorbance is commonly employed in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. With processes in which multiple parameters are to be monitored, the complexity of the piping and layout of the measurement systems can be problematic, and the integrity of the system can be compromised. Sensors for making inline measurements are typically mounted on flow cells, and when more than one parameter must be measured, multiple flow cells are required. In installations of this type, the flow cells are typically stacked. Heretofore, optical and electro-chemical sensors have been individually placed in process lines, and if both electro-chemical and optical measurements are needed on the same process line, then two or more flow cells are also required.

The present disclosure relates generally to cardiac surgical bypass systems and, more particularly, to a cardiac imaging system and method for planning minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery (MIDCAB). According to American Heart Association statistics, over 500,000 coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) are performed every year in the United States alone. In coronary artery disease, the arteries that bring blood to the heart muscle (i.e., the coronary arteries) become clogged by plaque, which is a buildup of fat. During CABG surgery, the blood is rerouted around the clogged arteries in order to improve blood flow and oxygen to the heart. A healthy blood vessel, such as the left internal mammary, is detached from the chest wall and is thereafter used to circumvent the blocked area. Alternatively, a segment of vein from the leg can also be used for the CABG. One end of the vessel/vein is sewn onto the aorta (the large artery leaving the heart), while the other end is attached or “grafted” to the coronary artery beyond (or past or distal to) the blocked area. Patients may undergo multiple by-passes at the same time. Cardiopulmonary bypass using a heart-lung machine is typically used to stop the movement of the heart at the time of the CABG procedure. Although CABG is the treatment of choice in many cases (and is one of the most common surgical procedures performed today), there are several potential complications from this surgery, as well as from the cardiopulmonary bypass technique required during the CABG procedure. In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 53 percent of patients had diminished mental acuity at the time of discharge from the hospital after a CABG procedure. In addition to the prolonged hospital stay and the possible need for transfusions, sternal wound infection at the site of the incision can occur in 1 to 4 percent of patients and carries a mortality (death) rate of about 25 percent. Furthermore, as many as 8 percent of patients may develop kidney dysfunction as a result of the CABG procedure. As a result of the above described problems associated with CABG, minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) surgery has been used as an alternative in some patients, wherein the MIDCAB procedure does not require reliance on the heart-lung machine. In MIDCAB surgery, a 10-12 cm access incision is made in the patient's chest, after which several different instruments are used to stabilize the heart at the time of surgery. The surgeon then connects a graft to the diseased coronary arteries while the heart is beating without artificial support. Due to the nature of the operation, grafting (the attaching of the vessels) must be done under the surgeon's direct vision and the coronary artery that is to be bypassed must lie directly beneath the incision (surgical opening). Consequently, this procedure is currently used in only a limited number of patients, and only if it is known that just one or two of the arteries require a bypass. Although it is estimated that over 30 percent of patients who need CABG may be suitable candidates for MIDCAB surgery, presently the procedure is performed in only 10 percent of patients because of this unknown factor. There is, therefore, a distinct need for an improved system and method to make this procedure more effective and easier to perform.

Exhaust gases and/or compressed air from aircraft engines can be used for many purposes. Exhaust gases can be ported to drive impellers of pneumatic motors to provide energy. These impeller driven motors may perform various mechanical functions, such as generate electricity, pump gases, rotate shafts, etc. Exhaust gases can be ported to provide heat in locations remote from the aircraft's engines. Exhaust gases can be used as part of a temperature regulation system to maintain an atmospheric environment in temperature sensitive locations of an aircraft. Compressed air can be used for cabin pressurization or as a source for pneumatic control systems. Both the exhaust gases and the compressed air can be very hot, as exhaust gases are the product of an exothermic chemical reaction, and pressurization raises the temperature of the air being compressed. Various plenums, manifolds, and ductworks can be used to route these exhaust gases from the engines to the various locations of the aircraft that require their use. It may be desirable, to localize the high temperature of the gases to locations immediately surrounding these plenums, manifolds and ductworks. Should these plenums, manifolds, and ductworks fail so as to permit the exhaust gases and/or compressed air to leak, deleterious effects may arise. Linear thermal sensors can be located adjacent to and along these plenums, manifolds, and ductworks that carry hot exhaust gases and/or compressed air. Such linear thermal sensors can provide a monitoring function of the temperature immediately adjacent to the plenums, manifolds, and ductworks at locations traversed by the linear thermal sensors. Should these linear thermal sensors indicate a temperature at a specific location that is greater than a predetermined threshold, pilots of the aircraft can be notified as to the sensed over-temperature condition. Linear thermal sensors can be used in various locations besides aircraft. For example, linear thermal sensors can be used in ground-based, marine, and/or aerospace applications. These sensors are particularly useful if detection of overheat events is required along a linear path. Known methods for testing linear thermal sensors yield less than optimal results. And known systems that interface with linear thermal sensors and sensor arrays have encountered difficulties in detecting thermal events beyond a first electrical discontinuity.

The process of dry-cleaning garments does not end with the actual dry-cleaning of the garment. That is, after the garment has been dry-cleaned, it must be pressed. Garment pressing is performed by "steaming" the garment so that it can be neatly pressed with minimal wrinkling. To optimally steam a garment's sleeves or pant-legs, steam must be injected and held therein. However, the devices most widely used in the industry fail to hold steam within the sleeves and pant-legs long enough to provide optimum pressing conditions. Furthermore, these devices often serve to mis-shape the garments' sleeves and pant-legs due to the bulkiness of the devices. Past devices employed for expanding garment sleeves or pant-legs for performing the pressing associated with dry-cleaning of garments include the one depicted in FIG. 1, in which two elongated wooden rods 1 are connected by a spring 2 disposed therein between. To employ the device of FIG. 1 in the steaming operation for a garment, the spring 2 is compressed by forcing the wooden rods 1 towards each other, the device is inserted into the garment sleeve or pant-leg, and then the spring is allowed to expand, thus opening the sleeve or pant-leg to allow steam to pass through. However, this device is disadvantageous in that there is no barrier provided, thereby allowing steam to pass through the sleeve or pant-leg uninhibited. Thus the cleaning/pressing quality of the garment is reduced. Further, the device disfigures garments in which it is utilized since there is no way to contour such a device to accommodate the interior contour of the sleeve or pant-leg, as seen in FIG. 1B. U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,422 describes a sleeve tool in which one end of two opposing arms are connected by a spring which urges the free ends of the arms apart. The sleeve tool is inserted into the garment sleeve by compressing the spring by forcing the free ends of the arms towards each other. The spring is then allowed to expand once the free ends of the arms are within the sleeve. Excessive expansion of the spring, and the sleeve as well, is prevented by a fabric strap which is attached to the distal ends of each of the free arms. However, because of the shape of the arms, the garment is disfigured. Also, although the strap may absorb a small amount of steam within the sleeve or pant-leg, practical application shows that a mere strip of fabric does not sufficiently impede the loss of steam from the sleeve or pant-leg to provide optimum pressing conditions.

(1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device such as an electrically erasable programmable ROM (hereinafter referred to as "EEPROM") in which the data stored in a memory transistor can be erasable and a new data can be written therein. (2) Description of the Related Art Several kinds of non-volatile semiconductor memory devices in which the stored data does not disappear even when a power supply is turned off have been conventionally researched and developed. In recent years, development of EEPROM among them has been advanced speedily so that several kinds of products thereof have been in practical use. There are EEPROMs having a wide variety of structures. Recently, the EEPROM with memory transistors connected in series has been proposed (R. Shirota et al. "Technical digest of 1988 symposium on VLSI technology", pp. 33-34). Now referring to FIG. 1 showing an equivalent circuit of one example of the those conventional non-volatile semiconductor memory devices, the circuit arrangement of the related art will be explained below. In FIG. 1, reference symbols Q.sub.Si.j (i=1.about.2 and j=1.about.4) denote selecting transistors and reference symbols Q.sub.Mi.j (i=1.about.2, j=1.about.6) denote memory transistors. The control electrodes of the memory transistors Q.sub.Mi.j (i=1.about.2, j=1.about.6) are connected with word lines Xi (i=1.about.6) for each row. Among the selecting transistors Q.sub.Si.j (i=1.about.2, j=1.about.4), the gate electrodes of first selecting transistors (Q.sub.S1.1, Q.sub.S1.3 ; Q.sub.S2.1, Q.sub.S2.3) connected with bit lines Y1 and Y2 are, respectively, connected with the corresponding first select lines Z1 and Z3 and, in the same manner, the gate electrodes of second of selecting transistors (Q.sub.S1.2, Q.sub.S1.4 ; Q.sub.S2.2, Q.sub.S2.4) connected with a source line S are connected with the corresponding second select lines Z2 and Z4, respectively. Two groups of transistors each group comprising one first selecting transistor, three memory transistors and one second selecting transistor are connected in series between the bit line Y1 and the source line S and between the bit line Y2 and the source line S, respectively. The bit lines Y1 and Y2 are connected to the drain electrodes of the first selecting transistors (Q.sub.S1.1, Q.sub.S1.3 ; Q.sub.S2.1, Q.sub.S2.3) for each column. FIG. 2A is a plan view of a group of transistors arranged between the bit line and the source line of the memory device, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line A--A' in FIG. 2A. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the numeral 21 denotes a semiconductor substrate; 22a denotes a drain region of the first selecting transistor; 22b denotes a source region of the second selecting transistor; 22c denotes impurity diffusion regions connecting the respective selecting and the memory transistors in series; 23a, 23b denote gate insulating films of the first and second selecting transistors; 24 denotes a first gate insulating film of the memory transistor; 25 denotes a second gate insulating film of the memory transistor; 26 denotes a floating gate; 27 denotes a control (regular) gate; 28a, 28b denote gate electrodes of the first and second selecting transistors; 29 denotes an inter-layer insulating film; 30 denotes a contact hole; and 31 denotes a metal wiring for the bit line. The structural feature of the above non-volatile semiconductor memory device resides in that the first gate insulating film 24 of the memory transistor is as thin as 90 .ANG., so that tunneling action is likely to occur between the floating gate electrode 26 and the semiconductor substrate 21 and also between the floating gate electrode 26 and a source/drain electrode. Therefore, using the operating theory based on such a phenomenon, this non-volatile semiconductor memory device electrically writes and erases data in the memory transistor. The operating theory of the above non-volatile semiconductor memory device will be explained with the attention being paid to the group of transistors (Q.sub.S1.1, Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2, Q.sub.M1.3, Q.sub.S1.2) connected in series (FIG. 1) assuming that these transistors are all of N-channel type. TABLET 1 shows the respective potentials at the bit line Y1, the first and second select lines Z1 and Z2, and the word lines X1, X2 and X3 in each mode of data erasing, data writing and data reading. The values in the table are expressed in volt (V). TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ OPERATION MODE ERASURE WRITE READ SELECTED NO TRANSISTOR SELECTIVITY QM1.1 QM1.2 QM1.3 QM1.1 QM1.2 QM1.3 __________________________________________________________________________ BIT LINE 0 20 20 20 1 1 1 Y1 FIRST 5 20 20 20 5 5 5 SELECT LINE Z1 WORD LINE 17 0 20 20 0 5 5 X1 WORD LINE 17 0 0 20 5 0 5 X2 WORD LINE 17 0 0 0 5 5 0 X3 SECOND 5 0 0 0 5 5 5 SELECT LINE Z2 SOURCE LINE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 __________________________________________________________________________ It should be noted that "data erasure" means to inject electrons into the floating gate electrode and "data write" means to extract the electrons from the floating gate electrode. First, an explanation will be given of the mode of erasing data stored in the transistors Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 and Q.sub.M1.3. The bit line Y1 and the source line S are set at a ground potential (=0 V) and the word lines X1, X2 and X3 are set at a high positive voltage, e.g., 17 V. The first and the second select lines Z1 and Z2 are set at 5 V, so that the channel potential and the potentials at the source and drain electrodes of each of the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 and Q.sub.M1.3 are fixed to 0 V. Then, the positive high voltage applied to the control gate electrode 27 of each of the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 and Q.sub.M1.3 strengthens the electric field in the first gate insulating film 24, so that Fowler-Nordheim electron tunneling phenomenon (hereinafter referred to as "F-N tunneling phenomenon") takes place. This injects electrons from the semiconductor substrate 21 and the impurity diffusion layer 22c into the floating gate electrode 26 through the first gate insulating film 24. Thus, the threshold voltage of each of the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 and Q.sub.M1.3 is boosted. The resultant state is the state where the data have been erased. This data erasing mode has no selectivity of the memory transistors so that the data stored in all the memory transistors are simultaneously erased. Next, an explanation will be given on the mode of writing or storing data in the memory transistor Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 or Q.sub.M1.3. A high positive voltage, e.g., 20 V is set to the bit line Y1, the first select line Z1, and the word line(s) X1, X2 and X3 for the memory transistor(s) nearer to the bit line Y1 than the memory transistor Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 or Q.sub.M1.3 in which data are to be stored. Also, at the same time, a ground potential is set to the source line S and the word line(s) X1, X2 and X3 for the memory transistor itself to be stored with data and for the memory transistor(s) nearer to the source line S than the memory transistor Q.sub.M1.1, Q.sub.M1.2 or Q.sub.M1.3 in which data are to be stored. Then, the control gate electrode 27 of the memory transistor to be stored with data is at the ground potential and the drain electrode thereof is at the high positive potential of 20 V, so that a strong electric field is applied to the first gate insulating film 24 of the memory transistor to be stored with data. Thus, the electrons are emitted from the floating gate electrode 26 of the memory transistor to be stored with data, towards the impurity diffusion layer 22c based on the F-N tunneling phenomenon. At this time, the memory transistor in which the high voltage has been applied to its control electrode 27 and its drain electrode serves as only a transfer gate, and since the electric field applied to the first gate insulating film 24 of the memory transistor concerned in a biased state is weak, the F-N tunneling phenomenon does not occur thereat. Further, in the memory transistor(s) positioned nearer to the source line S than the memory transistor to be stored with data, its control gate electrode 27 is at the ground potential but the potential at its drain electrode does not go up because it is cut off by the memory transistor to be stored with data. As a result, the strength of electric filed in the first gate insulating film 24 becomes weak and so the F-N tunneling phenomenon does not occur. Thus, the selective writing of data in the memory transistor can be attained. If the number of memory transistors to be stored with data is plural, data are successively stored in the plural memory transistors connected with the selecting transistor Q.sub.S1.1 in the order of the memory transistors nearer to the source line S in the way as described above. This intends to protect the data already stored in the memory transistor from the electric field stress during the data writing in the memory transistor and to prevent the variations in the threshold voltage of the memory transistor. Additionally, the second select line Z2 connected with the gate electrode of the second selecting transistor Q.sub. S1.2 must be kept at 0 V during the data writing. This is because, in the case where the memory transistor already stores data and the channel current flows therethrough even when the potential at the control gate electrode thereof is 0 V, such channel current must be cut off. Lastly, an explanation will be given on the mode of reading out of the data in the memory transistors. In this mode, the bit line Y1 is fixed to 1 V, and the first and second select lines Z1 and Z2 are fixed to 5 V. Further, only the word line X1, X2 or X3 which is connected with the memory transistor from which the data are to be read out is set at the ground potential and all the other remaining word lines are set at 5 V. In this state, if the selected memory transistor is in an erased state, its threshold voltage is a positive value so that no current flows from the bit line Y1 to the source line S. On the other hand, if the selected memory transistor is in a written state, the threshold voltage thereof is a negative value so that there flows a current from the bit line Y1 to the source line S. All the other remaining non-selected memory transistors serve as transfer gates. It should be noted that in this operation mode, the threshold voltage of each of the memory transistors must be kept controlled lower than the control gate voltage, e.g., 5 V. An explanation will be given on the bias conditions of the four transistors in a write state with the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.3, Q.sub.M2.3, Q.sub.M1.6 and Q.sub.M2.6 being taken as representatives amongst the four transistor groups each comprising the transistors connected in series as shown in FIG. 1. TABLE 2 shows the potentials at each of the bit lines, each of the word lines and the first and second select lines. TABLE 2 __________________________________________________________________________ FIRST SECOND FRIST SECOND WRITE BIT LINE BIT LINE SELECT SELECT SELECT SELECT WORD LINE WORD LINE TRANSISTOR Y1 Y2 LINE Z1 LINE Z2 LINE Z3 LINE Z4 X3 X6 __________________________________________________________________________ QM1.3 20 10 20 0 0 0 0 0 QM2.3 10 20 20 0 0 0 0 0 QM1.6 20 10 0 0 20 0 0 0 QM2.6 10 20 0 0 20 0 0 0 __________________________________________________________________________ The respective control gate electrodes 27 of the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.3, Q.sub.M2.3 are connected with the same word line X3, and those of the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.6 and Q.sub.M2.6 are connected with the same word line X6. Therefore, selective write for the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.3, Q.sub.M2.3 and the memory transistors Q.sub.M1.6 and Q.sub.M2.6 is executed by controlling the potentials at the bit lines Y1 and Y2. Now, assuming that data will be stored in Q.sub.M1.3 but data will not be stored in Q.sub.M2.3. Then, Q.sub.M1.3 is placed in a write bias state as described above but, since the data should not be stored in Q.sub.M2.3, the bit line Y2 is held at an intermediate voltage of 10 V. Thus, the transistor Q.sub.M2.3 is biased in such a state where 0 V is applied to its control gate electrode and 10 V is applied to its drain electrode. While the transistor Q.sub.M1.3 is biased in such a state where 0 V is applied to its control gate electrode and 20 V is applied to its drain electrode, the drain electrode of the transistor Q.sub.M2.3 has a low voltage of 10 V, so that the electric field applied to the first gate insulating film is lower in the Q.sub.M2.3 than in the Q.sub.M1.3. Therefore, the F-N electron tunneling phenomenon will not occur in the Q.sub.M2.3 so that the data is not erroneously stored in this transistor Q.sub.M2.3. In this state, the memory transistors Q.sub.M2.1 and Q.sub.M2.2 are biased in such a state that 20 V is applied to their control gate electrodes and 10 V is applied to their drain electrodes. In this state also, the potential difference between the control gate electrode and the drain electrode is smaller than that in the erasing mode, so that the F-N electron tunneling phenomenon does not occur. Therefore, during the writing operation, the data stored in the non-selected memory transistors connected with the non-write bit line (Y2) are not erased. With respect to the transistors Q.sub.M1.6 and Q.sub.M2.6, the word line X6 is biased to 0 V, and their drain electrodes are separated from the bit lines Y1 and Y2 by the first selecting transistors Q.sub.S1.3 and Q.sub.S2.3 with their gate electrodes fixed to 0 V by the first select line Z3. Therefore, no electric field stress is applied to the memory transistors, so that no erroneous erasure and write occur in these memory transistors. As described above, it is apparent that in order to obviate erroneous write for the memory transistors connected with a common word line, the intermediate potential of, e.g., 10 V is required. Also, in the case where the bit line is controlled using only two values of, e.g., 0 V and 20 V but without using the intermediate potential (10 V), the erroneous write for the memory transistors connected with the common word line can be avoided during the write operation. But, erroneous erasure for the non-selected memory transistors connected with the non-write bit line necessarily advances, so that their threshold voltage will be increased unintentionally. Such a phenomenon is conspicuous in the memory transistors nearer to the bit line and also problematic because the number of times of erasure during the write increases with the number of the memory transistors connected in series. This problem, if the threshold voltage of the non-write transistor exceeds the voltage applied to the control gate electrode during the read operation, leads to a fatal result of erroneous data read. As understood from the above description, the non-volatile memory device constructed so as to include memory transistors connected in series has the following features. (1) The Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) electron tunneling phenomenon is used in both the erasing and writing of the data; (2) In addition to the memory transistors, two selecting transistors are connected in series between the bit line and the source line; and (3) In order to avoid unintentional data erasure in the non-selected transistor during the data writing, three biasing potentials (high, intermediate and low) are used for the bit line. The conventional non-volatile memory device described above, however, has the following defects. Three levels of biasing potentials for the bit line are required for the selective write and also the F-N tunneling phenomenon must be controlled using the potential difference between the intermediate potential and the low potential, so that these potentials are required to be set in a relatively narrow range. Particularly, if the intermediate potential is lower or higher than a prescribed value, it gives rise to malfunction, so that an appropriate controlling of the same is a difficult matter in the conventional device. Further, there is the theoretical problem of excessive erasure, that is, the threshold voltage of a memory transistor exceeds the control gate voltage during a read operation. In order to solve this problem, an erasing voltage must be precisely set and controlled, and the method of fabricating memory transistors is also limited. This lowers the production yield of the memory device. Moreover, since both the write and erasure modes use the F-N tunneling phenomenon, they require a relatively high voltage. Therefore, both the transistors for bit line controlling and word line controlling must be transistors having high breakdown voltage characteristics. Further, since only the F-N tunneling phenomenon can be utilized for the writing and erasing modes, the first gate insulating film of the memory transistor concerned is required to be a thin silicon oxide film of, e.g., 100 .ANG. or less. It is difficult to control the thickness and the quality of the gate insulating film, so that the production yield of the memory device will be lowered. The conventional non-volatile semiconductor memory device has also a defect that the operation of writing data in the memory transistors can be made only serially or sequentially from the transistor positioned at the side of the source line. Therefore, in the write operation, it is necessary that, after all bits of data are necessarily once erased, re-programming be executed. For this reason, the functions of word-erasing and word-writing cannot be achieved by the conventional memory device, so that it takes a long time to make the re-programming. As a result, its use as a large capacity non-volatile memory will be extremely limited.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a white dot out detecting device incorporated into an optical disk apparatus or the like and serving to detect a white dot out (or white drop out). The white dot out is a phenomenon in which a volume of reflected light is amplified and a potential on a bright side thereby temporarily soars due to a defect on the optical disk (a part on the optical disk where write and read operations cannot be normally executed). 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an information volume handled in a computer system has been significantly increasing, in response to which an optical disk apparatus capable of executing a high-rate operation and random accesses and having a large capacity is widely used as an information data recording/reproducing apparatus. In the optical disk apparatus, optical disks such as generally-called CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM and BLU-RAY are used as a recording medium. Some optical disk apparatuses are provided with a white dot out detecting device. In the white dot out detecting device, in general, an optical beam is convergently irradiated on the optical disk and an envelope variation of an information signal in accordance with an intensity of a reflected light from the optical disk is detected so that the white dot out on the optical disk is detected and a white dot out detection signal showing the presence/absence of the white dot out is outputted. The white out dot detection signal is utilized by a servo circuit for controlling a tracking servo and a focus servo with respect to the optical disk as a signal for holding a previous value. The white dot out detection signal is also utilized for obtaining an extracted signal for judging a non-recordable region on the optical disk by means of a CPU incorporated into the optical disk apparatus in order to execute various controls. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a constitution of a conventional white dot out detecting device, an example of which is recited in No. 2003-196853 of the Publication of the Unexamined Japanese Patent Applications. In FIG. 11, a reference symbol WG denotes a recording/reproduction control signal showing that the optical disk is currently subjected to a recording process or a reproducing process. A reference numeral 11 denotes a variable gain amplifier for amplifying an information signal AS in accordance with the intensity of the reflected light from the optical disk by means of a gain in accordance with the recording/reproduction control signal WG into a predetermined amplitude. A reference numeral 12 denotes a high-rate envelope detecting circuit for detecting an envelope of an amplitude output signal AP from the variable gain amplifier 11. A reference numeral 13 denotes a first limit circuit for controlling a voltage of an envelope signal EM from the high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 to stay within a predetermined limit voltage. A reference numeral 14 denotes an integrating circuit comprising a resistance R1 and a capacitance C1, wherein the envelope signal EM outputted from the high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 is integrated. A reference numeral 15 denotes a slice level setting circuit for generating a slice level SD based on an integration signal IS from the integrating circuit 14. A reference numeral 16 dentoes a second limit circuit for controlling a voltage of the slice level SD from the slice level setting circuit 15 to stay within a predetermined limit voltage. A reference numeral 17 denotes a comparator for comparing a first limit output signal LM1 from the first limit circuit 13 and a second limit output signal LM2 from the second limit circuit 16 to each other and activating and outputting a white dot out detection signal DD when the first is larger than the latter. Next, an operation of the conventional white dot out detecting device is described referring to a waveform chart of FIG. 12. The optical beam is convergently irradiated on the optical disk and the information signal AS in accordance with the intensity of the reflected light from the optical disk is inputted to the variable gain amplifier 11. The variable gain amplifier 11 amplifies the information signal AS into the predetermined amplitude by means of the gain in accordance with the recording/reproduction control signal WG. The variable gain amplifier 11 outputs the amplified information signal AS to the high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 as the amplitude output signal AP. A level of the reflected light from the optical disk differs in the recording and reproducing operations. The variable gain amplifier 11 diminishes the difference in the levels so that it is not detected as an envelope variation. The variable gain amplifier 11 uses a level of the volume of the reflected light on a bright side as the limit voltage. The high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 detects the envelope of the inputted amplitude output signal AP and outputs the envelope signal EM thereby obtained to the first limit circuit 13 and the integrating circuit 14. When the white dot out is generated, the envelope signal EM includes a white dot out (WDO) component. The first limit circuit 13 controls the limit voltage when the white dot out component included in the envelope signal EM reaches a level way beyond the bright-side level. Thereby, the white dot out component is controlled so as to stay within an input dynamic range of the comparator 17. The integrating circuit 14 integrates the envelope signal EM from the high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 and outputs the integration signal IS to the slice level setting circuit 15. The slice level setting circuit 15 level-converts the integration signal IS to thereby generate the slice level SD. The second limit circuit 16 controls the limit voltage when the slice level SD reaches a level far beyond the bright-side level. Thereby, the white dot out component is controlled so as to stay within the input dynamic range of the comparator 17. The comparator 17 binarizes the first limit output signal IM1 from the first limit circuit 13 based on the second limit output signal LM2 from the second limit circuit 16 as a reference to thereby generate and output the white dot out detection signal DD. It is assumed here that an envelope of the information signal AS is undergoing a drastic change due to the presence of the white dot out (WDO) on the optical disk. Such a state is, for example, shown in a period T2 in FIG. 12. Because a time constant of the high-rate envelope detecting circuit 12 in the foregoing state is small, the first limit output signal LM1 resulting from the envelope signal EM inputted to the first limit circuit 13 consequently shows a waveform in response to the drastic change of the envelope. The integration signal IS resulting from the envelope signal EM inputted to the integration circuit 14 does not follow the drastic change of the information signal AS and shows a waveform subjected to a slow change (see P1). Therefore, the second limit output signal LM2 from the second limit circuit 16 shows the slowly-changing waveform in the same manner. As a result, the effective white dot out detection signal DD, such as TS1, is outputted from the comparator 17 (see P 2-3). However, it was not possible to completely eliminate the difference in the levels of the reflected light in the recording and reproducing operations in the conventional white dot out detecting device due to such a reason that the gain setting in the variable gain amplifier 11 includes some variability. Because of the inadequacy, the level difference is generated in the amplitude output signal AP of the variable gain amplifier 11 when the operation with respect to the optical disk shifts from the recording to the reproduction or from the reproduction to the recording. In particular, when the operation with respect to the optical disk shifts from the reproduction to the recording, the envelope signal EM promptly follows the change of the information signal AS, while the integration signal IS requires sometime to follow the change (see P31). Therefore, the second limit output signal LM2 is lower than the first limit output signal LM1 for a lengthened period of time, and a false white dot out detection signal DD, such as FS1, is outputted for a long period of time (see P32→33). Therefore, the reproduction cannot be carried out in a stable manner. Further, when the operation with respect to the optical disk is shifted from the recording to the reproduction, though the false white dot out detection signal DD is not outputted, the detection of the white dot out cannot be soon restarted immediately after the shift of the recording/reproduction. As a result, the stability in the detection of the white dot out is deteriorated (see P34 and a TF3 period).

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to apparatus and methods for monitoring interrupts. 2. Description of Related Art There is an increasing number of applications in which data is transferred between a transmitter and a receiver as a plurality of data streams over a single logical link. The data streams can be segmented at the transmitter into packets, each of which contains some data from the data streams. Usually, but not necessarily, each packet contains data from only one of the data streams. The packets are then transmitted independently over the link. When the packets are received at the receiver they are reassembled so as to re-form the data streams. Advantages of this system over conventional analogue techniques are that there is no need for a dedicated link or channel to be assigned to each of the data streams; that interference in transmission may affect only some of the packets, leaving some data streams unaffected; and that packets may be routed to the receiver over any available physical link and still combined properly to re-form the data streams even if the packets arrive out of order. Each packet normally includes control data that allows the packet to be reassembled properly by the receiver. This may comprise data indicating the data stream whose data is included in the packet, and a serial number for the packet so that the packet can be combined in the correct order with others from that data stream. The control data can also comprise error-check data such as a checksum for allowing the receiver to verify that the packet has not been corrupted during transmission. One application for the above technology is in the delivery of digital video signals to households via cable or satellite links. Digital video streams may be packetized and then broadcast to household receivers. A user of a receiver may then select one of the streams for viewing. The receiver can then reassemble that video stream from the received packets, convert it to a form suitable for input to the user's television and then output the resulting signal to the television. It has been proposed that such systems could offer additional features. These features include the storing of received streams for later viewing, and the displaying of program guides (lists of programs with transmission times) which could be assembled by the receiver from certain transmitted packets. FIG. 1 shows the transport packet stream syntax specified in ITU-T standard H.222.0, equivalent to ISO/IEC standard 13818-1. (Further detail of the structure is available from the standard itself, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference). FIG. 1 is equivalent to annex F.O.1 of the H.222 standard. The transport stream 1 comprises a stream of packets, each of which consists of 188 bytes. Each packet has a variable length header illustrated at 2 and a payload which occupies the remainder of the packet. The header has the following structure: Numberof bitsSignification8Synchronization byte1Transport error indicator1Payload unit start indicator1Transport priority13 Program identification (PID)2Transport scrambling control2Adaptation field control4Continuity counterVariableAdaptation field The structure of the adaptation field is shown in more detail in FIG. 1. Data representing video, audio, system information such as program guides and other user data streams can be carried as PES packets, which can be included in the payloads of the transport stream packets. The structure of a PES packet is shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is equivalent to annex F.O.2 of the H.222 standard. Each PES packet comprises a 24 bit packet start code prefix, an 8 bit stream identification, 16 bits indicating the length of the PES packet, an optional variable length PES header and PES packet data of variable length. FIG. 3 shows that the PES packets together form part of a program stream, whose shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is equivalent to annex F.O.7 of the H.222 standard. In addition, section data can be carried in the packets. The section data can include information that is to be interpreted by the decoding unit. For example, section data may include: 1. data that is to be assembled by the receiving unit into a program guide indicating the programs that are to be provided on a channel; 2. data that is to be assembled into code that can be executed by an interpreter (an “o- code interpreter”) in the receiving unit; and/or 3. data that is to be assembled into decoding keys to allow the receiving unit to decrypt encoded data transmissions such as pay-per-view video. The overall structure of an H.222 packet containing section data is summarized in FIG. 4, which shows schematically some important features of the packet. The packet comprises a header 5, an adaptation field 6 and a payload 7. The header includes a payload unit start bit 8 and a program identifier (PID) 9. The payload includes one or more sections 10 and, if the payload unit start bit is set, a pointer field 11 which indicates the offset x to the start of the first new section (the intervening bits of the packet may represent tail data of a preceding section). Each section includes information giving the length of that block, and periodically a section includes CRC (cyclic redundancy check) data for it, in order for the receiver to check that section has been correctly received. A receiving unit can check that a contiguous group of blocks of data forming a section has been received correctly, by calculating a CRC value for the section once it has been received and comparing the calculated CRC value with the received CRC data or, for example, a preset value. If there is the required match then it is assumed that the data has been received correctly. If there is not the required match then the whole section as received is discarded. Retransmission of the section may then be requested, or the receiver may assume that the incorrectly received section has been lost and continue by receiving the next section. In one such checking method a counter is maintained at the receiver, with an initial value of −1. Every incoming byte is combined in turn with the value in the counter to create a new value. The 4 bytes of CRC data at the end of a section are of the values such that if they and the rest of the section have been correctly received then after those 4 bytes have been combined in turn with the counter the value of the counter will be zero. A final value in the counter that does not match zero indicates that data has been corrupted. When data is being transported for consumption by a data processor unit it is convenient to use interrupt signaling to alert the data processing unit to events that require prompt action, such as filling of the data buffers between the transport and the data processor. The relationship between the transport and the data processor may be complex, and the interrupt operations between the two may need detailed debugging. However, it is generally very difficult to debug the software on a peripheral such as the transport unit since when running normally there is no way to monitor the instruction pointer or registers at anything approaching real time, and there is no breakpoint mechanism available. Also, debugging an interrupt handler is especially difficult since in a working system it is undesirable to interfere with the execution of the handler. There is therefore a need for an improved method and apparatus for the handing of interrupts so as preferably to facilitate the debugging of interrupt-based operations.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a silicone polymer material comprising at least one metal trace and a process of manufacturing the same. 2. Description of Related Art In U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,345 “Method of Metallizing a Substrate” to Christian Belouet et al. a process for metallizing a substrate is disclosed, comprising coating the part with a precursor composite material layer consisting of a polymer matrix doped with photoreducer material dielectric particles; irradiating the surface of the substrate with a light beam emitted by a laser; and immersing the irradiated part in an autocatalytic bath containing metal ions, with deposition of the metal ions in a layer on the irradiated surface, and wherein the dimension of the dielectric particles is less than or equal to 0.5 μm. The process includes three steps. The first step is to coat the substrate part with a precursor composite material layer consisting of a polymer matrix doped with photoreducer material dielectric particles. The second step is to irradiate the surface of the substrate with a light beam emitted by a laser. The third step is to immerse the irradiated part in an autocatalytic bath containing metal ions, with deposition of the metal ions in a layer on the irradiated surface, wherein the dimension of the dielectric particles is less than or equal to 0.5 μm. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,592 “Process for the Metallization of Polymer Materials and Products Thereto Obtained” to Lucien D. Laude a positive metallization process for metallizing a polymer composite piece containing a polymer material and oxide particles is disclosed, the oxide particles being made of one or more oxides, comprising three successive steps. The first step consists of the irradiation of a surface area of a polymer piece to be metallized with a light beam emitted by an excimer laser. The polymer piece is made from a polymer material and oxide particles. The oxide particles are made from one or more oxides. The second step consists of immersing the irradiated polymer piece in at least one autocatalytic bath containing metal ions. The immersion induces the deposit of the metal ions onto the irradiated surface area to form a metal film on the surface area, resulting in the selective metallization of the surface area of the polymer piece. The third step consists of thermally processing the metallized polymer piece to induce diffusion of the deposited metal film into the polymer material of the polymer piece. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,592 is incorporated herein by reference. Lucien D. Laude et al. report that excimer lasers are effective tools in engraving ceramics and polymers, changing irreversibly the surface of the irradiated material, and restricting these effects to specific areas of interest. See L. D. Laude, K Kolev, Cl. Dicara and C. Dupas-Bruzek “Laser Metallization for Microelectronics for Bio-applications”, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 4977 (2003), pp 578-586. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,155 “Visual Prosthesis and Method of Using Same” to Mark S. Humayan et al. it is disclosed a visual prosthesis, comprising means for perceiving a visual image, said means producing a visual signal output in response thereto; retinal tissue stimulation means adapted to be operatively attached to a retina of a user; and wireless visual signal communication means for transmitting said visual signal output to said retinal tissue stimulation means. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,643 “Electronic Unit integrated Into a Flexible Polymer Body” to Peter a. Krulevitch et al. it is disclosed a method of fabricating an electronic apparatus, comprising the steps of providing a silicone layer on a matrix, providing a metal layer on said silicone layer, providing a second layer of silicone on said silicone layer, providing at least one electronic unit connected to said metal layer, and removing said electronic apparatus from said matrix wherein said silicone layer and said second layer of a silicone provide a spherical silicone body. J. Delbeke et al. demonstrate that silicone rubber biocompatibility is not altered by the metallization method. See V. Cince, M.-A. Thil, C. Veraart, I. M. Colin and J. Delbeke “Biocompatibility of platinum-metallized silicone rubber: in vivo and in vitro evaluation”, J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 173-188 (2004). There is a need and a high desire for a soft and biocompatible polymer layer with high insulation properties containing embedded very fine metal traces. There is further a need and a high desire for an economical and ecological process of manufacturing such polymer layers.

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell using a proton conductive solid polymer membrane operates at a low temperature in comparison to other types of fuel cells, for example, a solid oxide fuel cell or a molten carbonate fuel cell. For this reason, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell has been expected to be used as a power source for energy storage system or a driving power source for a vehicle such as a car, and practical uses thereof have been started. In general, such a polymer electrolyte fuel cell uses expensive metal catalyst represented by platinum (Pt) or a Pt alloy, which leads to high cost of the fuel cell. Therefore, development of techniques capable of lowering the cost of the fuel cell by reducing a used amount of noble metal catalyst has been required. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an electrode catalyst having catalyst metal particles supported on a conductive support, wherein an average particle diameter of the catalyst metal particles is larger than an average pore diameter of fine pores of the conductive supports. The Patent Literature 1 discloses that, according to the above-described configuration, the catalyst particles are not allowed to enter the fine pores of the supports, so as to increase a ratio of the catalyst metal particles used in a three phase boundary, and thus, to improve use efficiency of expensive noble metal.

There are a number of products that purport to provide an individual with physical and mental benefits when consumed. These products are often packaged as solid snack foods or as drinks and are consumed by individuals wanting to quickly increase and/or maintain their physical energy and mental alertness in particular situations. For example, students may take the products to study for longer periods, athletes may consume them to train or compete and employees may take them during the work day. However, these products may include undesirable amounts of calories due to, for example, the inclusion of sugars, and/or may provide an unpleasant taste and/or may fail to provide sufficient physical and mental benefits for an adequate period of time. Moreover, consumers continually desire palatable, unique and healthy formulations. Accordingly, there is a need for improved edible compositions that provide consumers with benefits such as increased energy and alertness.

This invention relates generally to the stopping of bleeding from blood vessels through openings in the vessel wall and more particularly through surgically produced punctures for different medical procedures. Certain medical procedures require the percutaneous puncturing of a blood vessel to gain access to the interior of the vascular system of the patient for the procedure to be conducted. Procedures that commonly require such an percutaneous punctures are balloon angioplasty procedures, arteriography, venography, angiography and other diagnostic procedures that use blood vessel catheterization. Typically the percutaneous opening or puncture is made into a relatively large blood vessel such as a femoral artery. One of the difficulties in these procedures, however, is reclosure of the opening in the blood vessel wall after the procedure. In the past, manual pressure and/or mechanical clamping pressure have been used to physically hold the opening closed until a blood clot formed with sufficient strength to keep the opening blocked until healing takes place. More recently, several techniques have been used to insert a collagen plug in the tissue access passage to the blood vessel that promotes the formation of a coagulum at the vessel wall opening. One such prior art technique simply inserts the collagen plug into the access passage in the tissue to the vessel wall puncture. The difficulty with this procedure is that there is no practical way to positively limit the protrusion of the collagen into the interior of the blood vessel. This sometimes results in the collagen being inserted or subsequently expanding through the blood vessel wall opening into the vessel lumen and causing a blood clot to form in the interior of the blood vessel. This is undesirable because the clot and/or the protruding collagen can dislodge and move along the blood vessel to cause an embolus. Also, the clot formed at the interior end of the puncture site can serve to undesirably restrict the blood flow past the site (i.e. thrombosis). Another technique is to insert a sealing plug through the opening in the blood vessel wall with a first orientation and then turned to an orientation such that it will not pass back out through the opening. The sealing plug is manipulated by a lanyard which extends back out through the tissue access passage exteriorly of the patient's body to be manually held. The collagen plug is then passed down over the lanyard while the sealing plug is manually held in the blood vessel wall opening. Enough seepage of blood around the sealing plug is present to form the clot at the blood vessel wall opening. The sealing plug is left in position in the blood vessel wall and is made out of a material which is absorbable by the body over a several weeks or months period. The problem with this technique is that the sealing plug may break loose before it is absorbed by the body and cause a blockage of the blood flow through the blood vessel. The sealing plug may be a nidus for a blood clot to form and subsequently dislodge resulting in embolization. Another potential problem in leaving a device inside the vessel wall is that the device, like any foreign body, may erode the wall of the vessel or promote extensive intravascular scaring both of which potentially will disrupt vessel architecture.

In a distributed antenna system (DAS), antennas are distributed to and disposed in various locations within a cell, and a single base station (BS) manages these antennas. A DAS is different from the conventional centralized antenna system (CAS) in which antennas localize on the center of a cell. A DAS is differentiated from a femto cell/pico cell, a relay station, and an ad-hoc system. The DAS is different from a femto cell/pico cell in which an individual antenna constitutes a separate network, in that an individual antenna does not administer an antenna region thereof by itself but a central BS administers all the antenna regions. Also, the DAS is discriminated from a relay station or an ad-hoc system, in that respective antennas may be connected by a fixed line. Also, the DAS is differentiated from a simple repeater, in that respective antennas may transmit different signals according to a command from a BS. An initial purpose of a DAS was to install more antennas within a cell and repeatedly transmit signals in order to cover a shadow area. Namely, initially, a DAS was mainly aimed at securing coverage. Macroscopically, a DAS may be considered as a type of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system in that antennas may simultaneously transmit or receive a plurality of data streams to support one or a plurality of users. A MIMO system is recognized as a system satisfying next-generation communication due to high spectral efficiency. In the point of view of a MIMO system, a DAS has more advantages than that of a CAS. For example, a distance between users and antennas is reduced to have high power efficiency, a channel capacity is increased due to low correlation and interference between antennas, and relatively uniform quality of communication can be secured irrespective of a user location within a cell. Namely, a DAS having the foregoing advantages is required to perform MIMO transmission in order to secure a high data capacity required in the present and future communication standards. For example, it may be required to perform rank-2 transmission or higher to a single user equipment (UE) (it is known as a single user (SU)-MIMO) in the same frequency domain. Or, a multi-user (MU)-MIMO simultaneously supporting multiple UEs may be required. Such necessity may also be required in uplink, as well as in downlink. The foregoing SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO are essentially required in IEEE 802 and 3GPP LTE as standardization groups, and in actuality, standards such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.16e/m, 3GPP (3rd generation partnership project) LTE (long term evolution) Release 8/9, and the like, deal with SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO. However, currently, communication standards are designed on the premise of a CAS, so they cannot be applied as is to a DAS employing an advanced technique such as a MIMO technique. Thus, a communication standard supporting a DAS is required, and also, a method for transmitting feedback information of a terminal (or a user equipment (UE)) based on such a communication standard and a UE operating according to the method are required.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to advertising particularly suitable for wheeled luggage with retractable handles of the type which permits the luggage to be rolled in various directions, and, more particularly, to an extensible and retractable display device attached to such wheeled luggage. 2. Description of the Related Art There are many types of luggage, carry-on cases, and other bags currently sold with wheels attached to one of the panels of the item enabling it to be rolled on a surface, thereby saving the owner the exertion of carrying the item. To allow the owner to hold onto the item while it is rolling and to control the direction and speed of the item while it is rolling, the item will conventionally have an extensible and retractable support handle generally referred to as a telescoping support handle. For ease of grip and for maximum control by the user during rolling, these telescoping handles are conventionally U-shaped with two legs capable of telescoping relative to the item and a horizontal portion spanning between the legs and at the end of the legs nearest the owner for gripping by the owner, although other configurations are known. Often the general profile of such luggage strongly resembles competitive luggage, and many of the desirable features which might tend to assist a purchaser in making a selection may not be immediately visible or may otherwise be difficult for the average potential consumer to discover without the assistance of a salesperson. For example, such items may have multiple interior compartments which will not be apparent unless the item is displayed in an open state. To the extent that the packaging of the luggage (i.e. its carton) may describe such features, the inventory of packaged product is often in a different area of the store and is only seen after the purchase is made. There thus exists a need for a convenient apparatus for apprising the consumer of a wheeled item's many features, preferably one which may be easily attached to and detached from a sample item, which is relatively inexpensive, does not require the need for additional display space, is affixed to the luggage so that if the luggage is moved, the display apparatus moves with it, and which may or may not, at the election of the retailer, be employed.

Various packaging machines for wrapping materials automatically and sequentially with heat shrinkable film are available commercially from various manufacturers. However, these machines frequently display problems in achieving synchronization between the cross head seal mechanism and the infeed conveyor, particularly when continuous operating conditions are involved. Also, the machines often require frequent and time consuming maintenance and adjustment. Also, the prior art machines commonly involve complicated procedures and significant down time to change the machine from one operating configuration to another, such as is needed when package size is changed or different bag cut-off lengths are required. Also, prior art machines utilize specialized, costly components. Further, operation of the prior art machines is typically carried out without means for automatic detection of malfunctioning, especially jamming in the region of the cross head seal and cut mechanism, and also prior art machines are without means for rapidly and simply clearing a cross head jam. The art needs a new and improved wrapping machine which is adapted for use with heat shrinkable wrapping film and which has a new and improved cross head seal mechanism, which is fully synchronized, which has simplified configuration adjustments and operational features.

Spreaders are known which comprise a frame and a spreading member which is movable about an axis to eject material to be spread, the spreader having fastening means for mounting the spreader on a carrier. For example, DE-AS No. 1,180,562 discloses a spreader which can be coupled with the three-point lifting device of a tractor. The spreader can be set in an inclined position relative to the normal direction of operative travel by displacing one of the two lower lifting arms of the three-point lifting device of the tractor with respect to the other lifting arm. However the adjustment of the spreader into the inclined position can be carried out only with difficulty, and requires troublesome measurement. Returning the spreader to the normal level position is also a troublesome job, and can be accomplished only with difficulty. DE-AS No. 1,180,562 also discloses a spreader which can be mounted on an intermediate frame in order to set the spreader in an inclined position. With this construction the spreader can be displaced between the inclined position and the level position only with difficulty. With the known spreaders, the inclined position is used so that the material is spread on each side of the device over equal distances.