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One of light-emitting devices is a light-emitting device using an organic electroluminescence (EL). One of the problems of such a light-emitting device is the need to improve the ratio of light generated by an organic EL and emitted to the outside (light extraction efficiency). For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses that irregularities are formed in a surface of a plastic film which faces a glass substrate when the plastic film having an organic layer formed thereon is mounted on the glass substrate.

There is a lighting device for vehicle which is provided with a socket, a light emitting unit which is provided at one end portion of the socket, and includes a light emitting diode (LED), and a power feeding terminal of which one end portion provided inside the socket is electrically connected to the light emitting unit. Heat generated in the light emitting diode is mainly radiated to the outside through the socket. For this reason, the socket is formed of a material with high heat conductivity such as metal, or a high heat conductive resin. In this case, the material with high heat conductivity such as metal, or the high heat conductive resin has conductivity. For this reason, an insulating portion formed of a resin with an insulating property is provided between the socket and the power feeding terminal. The insulating portion is press-fitted into a hole provided in the socket. Here, there is a difference in thermal expansion amount (or, thermal contraction amount) between the socket and the insulating portion which are formed of different materials. In addition, in a case of the lighting device for vehicle provided in a vehicle, a temperature in use environment is changed in a range of −40° C. to 85° C. For this reason, thermal expansion and thermal contraction of a different amount repeatedly occurs in the socket and the insulating portion due to the change in temperature of the use environment, and there is a concern that a sectional dimension of a hole into which the insulating portion is press-fitted may become large, or a sectional dimension of the insulating portion may become small. When a sectional dimension of the hole into which the insulating portion is press-fitted becomes large, or the sectional dimension of the insulating portion becomes small, there is a concern that a slight gap may be formed between the socket and the insulating portion, and bonding intensity therebetween may decrease. Therefore, there is a desire for a development of a technology in which it is possible to improve reliability in fixing of the insulating portion.

Most forms of cancer do not have diagnostic screening tests available. For the cancers that do have screening tests available, the tests are frequently invasive, expensive, and lack strong diagnostic utility. For example, afflicting one out of nine men over age 65, prostate cancer (PCA) is a leading cause of male cancer-related death, second only to lung cancer (Abate-Shen and Shen, Genes Dev 14:2410 [2000]; Ruijter et al., Endocr Rev, 20:22 [1999]). The American Cancer Society estimates that about 184,500 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 and 39,200 will die. Prostate cancer is typically diagnosed with a digital rectal exam and/or prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening. An elevated PSA level can indicate the presence of PCA. PSA is used as a marker for prostate cancer because it is essentially restricted to prostate cells. A healthy prostate will produce a stable amount—typically below 4 nanograms per milliliter, or a PSA reading of “4” or less—whereas cancer cells produce escalating amounts that correspond with the severity of the cancer. A level between 4 and 10 may raise a doctor's suspicion that a patient has prostate cancer, while amounts above 50 may show that the tumor has spread elsewhere in the body. The advent of prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening has led to earlier detection of PCA and significantly reduced PCA-associated fatalities. Elevated serum PSA levels, however, are often detected in patients with non-malignant conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and provide little information about the aggressiveness of the cancer detected. In addition, colon cancer, which is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy in the United States as well as the second most common cause of cancer death, lacks an effective screening assay. The prognosis of colon cancer is clearly related to the degree of penetration of the tumor through the bowel wall and the presence or absence of nodal involvement, thus making early diagnosis very important for long-term survival. A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is a test used to check for hidden blood in the stool. Sometimes cancers or polyps can bleed, and FOBT is used to detect small amounts of bleeding. In addition, screening tests (such as a rectal examination, proctoscopy, and colonoscopy) may be done regularly in patients who are at high risk of colon cancer or who have a positive FOBT result. The proctoscopy examination finds about half of all colon and rectal cancers. After treatment, a blood test (to measure amounts of carcinoembryonic antigen or CEA in the blood) and x-rays may be done to screen for recurrence. CEA is a serum glycoprotein frequently used in the management of patients with colon cancer. However, a review of the use of this tumor marker suggests that CEA is not a valuable screening test for colorectal cancer due to the large numbers of false-positive and false-negative reports. Thus, development of additional serum and tissue biomarkers specific to cancer such and prostate and colon are needed to supplement the currently available screening methods.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display control technology for controlling and displaying a virtual space within the field of view of a virtual camera in a virtual three-dimensional space. 2. Description of the Related Art In the prior art, video games wherein a user controls a sports player forming a game character are commonly used. Video games of this kind for playing outdoors sports, in particular, are known, wherein natural objects, and the like, existing outdoors are simulated on the monitor game screen and displayed as three-dimensional models. In conventional games of this kind, when displaying three-dimensional models of natural objects, and the like, on a screen, it is possible to display all such models in one operation, since they are displayed in a relatively narrow region. However, if a broad region is to be displayed, then the amount of information involved becomes too large, and it becomes very difficult to display all the models in one operation, taking consideration of the frame cycle of the monitor. In order to resolve this problem, the present invention seeks to provided a computer-readable recording medium recording an image display control program, and an image display control device and method, whereby the display area in the field of view of a virtual camera (view volume), as well as peripheral blocks thereof which may become part of the display area, can be selected efficiently, by dividing a large region into a grid shape, and storing image data of three-dimensional models for each respective block thus divided.

As set out in the above referenced applications/patents, the Applicant has spent a substantial amount of time and effort in developing printheads that incorporate micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based components to achieve the ejection of ink necessary for printing. As a result of the Applicant's research and development, the Applicant has been able to develop printheads having one or more printhead chips that together incorporate up to 84 000 nozzle arrangements. The Applicant has also developed suitable processor technology that is capable of controlling operation of such printheads. In particular, the processor technology and the printheads are capable of cooperating to generate resolutions of 1600 dpi and higher in some cases. Examples of suitable processor technology are provided in the above referenced patent applications/patents. The Applicant has overcome substantial difficulties in achieving the necessary ink flow and ink drop separation within the ink jet printheads. Each of the nozzle arrangements of the printhead chip incorporates one or more moving components in order to achieve drop ejection. The moving components are provided in a number of various configurations. Generally, each nozzle arrangement has a structure that at least partially defines a nozzle chamber. This structure can be active or static. When the structure is active, the structure moves relative to a chip substrate to eject ink from an ink ejection port defined by the structure. In this configuration, the structure can define just a roof for the nozzle chamber or can define both the roof and sidewalls of the nozzle chamber. Further, in this configuration, a static ink ejection formation is provided. The active structure moves relative to this formation to reduce a volume of the nozzle chamber in order to achieve the necessary build up of ink pressure. The static formation can simply be walls defined by the substrate. In this case, the active structure is usually in the form of a roof that is displaceable into and out of the nozzle chamber to achieve the ejection of ink from the ink ejection port. Instead, the static formation can extend into the nozzle chamber to define an ink ejection area that faces a direction of ink drop ejection. The active structure then includes sidewalls that move relative to the static formation when the active structure is displaced to eject ink. It will be appreciated that some form of seal is required between the active structure and the static formation to inhibit ink from escaping from the nozzle chamber when the active structure is displaced towards the substrate and ink pressure is developed in the nozzle chamber. When the structure defining the nozzle chamber is static, an ink ejection member is usually positioned in the nozzle chamber. The structure also has a roof with an ink ejection port defined in the roof. The ink ejection member is often connected to an actuator that extends through a wall of the structure. The ink ejection member is actuated by the actuator to be displaceable towards and away from the roof to eject ink from the ink ejection port. It will be appreciated that a seal is required at a juncture between the actuator or ink ejection member and the wall. Applicant has found that it is convenient to use a surface tension of the ink to set up a fluidic seal between the active and static components of the nozzle arrangements. The fluidic seal uses surface tension of the ink to set up a meniscus between the active and static components so that the meniscus can act as a suitable seal to inhibit the leakage of ink. Cohesive forces between liquid molecules are responsible for the phenomenon known as surface tension. The molecules at the surface do not have other like molecules on all sides of them and consequently they cohere more strongly to those directly associated with them on the surface. This forms a surface “film” which makes it more difficult to move an object through the surface than to move it when it is completely submersed. Surface tension is typically measured in dynes/cm, the force in dynes required to break a film of length 1 cm. Equivalently, it can be stated as surface energy in ergs per square centimeter. Water at 20° C. has a surface tension of 72.8 dynes/cm compared to 22.3 for ethyl alcohol and 465 for mercury. As is also known, a liquid can also experience adhesive forces when the molecules adhere to a material other than the liquid. This causes such phenomena as capillary action. Applicant has found that an effective fluidic seal can be achieved by utilizing the phenomena of surface tension and adhesion. A particular difficulty that the Applicant has discovered and addressed in achieving such a fluidic seal is the problem associated with excessive adhesion or “wetting” when a meniscus is stretched to accommodate relative movement of the active and static components. In particular, wetting occurs when the relative movement overcomes surface tension and an edge of the meniscus moves across a surface, to which the meniscus is adhered. This results in a weakening of the meniscus due to the larger area of the meniscus and increases the likelihood of failure of the meniscus and subsequent leaking of ink. The Applicant has conceived this invention in order to address these difficulties. Furthermore, the Applicant has obtained surprisingly effective fluidic seals when addressing these difficulties by developing sealing structures that support such fluidic seals.

This invention relates to a flooring strip with increased flexibility and straightness, such as laminated hardwood flooring strips assembled to form a hardwood floor. The invention has particular application to glue-down prefinished wood flooring products. Wooden flooring is typically installed by either nailing strips of adjacent wood flooring strips to a subfloor to form an essentially seamless wooden flooring surface, by applying wood flooring strips to a subfloor which has been pre-coated with, for example, a mastic-type layer into which the flooring strips are embedded, or by applying wooden strips with pre-applied adhesive on the base to the subfloor. Applicant has heretofore developed a prefinished hardwood strip flooring product which can be adhered by an adhesive directly to a suitable subfloor, and which will serve with the same durability and longevity as other, more expensive wood flooring systems. This flooring product has the same solid "feel" as a full thickness, solid hardwood floor of the type typically nailed into place, without any of the "spring" or "bounce" which characterizes prior art glue-down flooring systems which rely on relatively thick foam adhesive pads to adhere the system to the subfloor. A substantial disadvantage observed in prior art flooring products is the tendency of the flooring strips to pull away from the subfloor, particularly at points where there may be slight irregularities in the subfloor surface. A very straight, rigid flooring strip will pull away from the subfloor more readily than a thin, flexible flooring strip. This can occur with any type of flooring product. The problem may be aggravated when the flooring strip as manufactured has a bow along its length such that the base surface of the strip creates a concavity when laid on a flat surface. This problem has been resolved to a considerable extent by prior developments such as disclosed in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,102. The hardwood flooring strip disclosed in the '102 Patent includes a multiplicity of closely-spaced transverse scores in the base of the flooring strip. These scores substantially increase the flexibility of the flooring strips without affecting in any way the appearance of functionality of the product. However, scoring the back of the flooring strip causes bowing by relieving tension on one side of the flooring strip while less the tension on the opposite side substantially unchanged. This bowing affects downstream processing and packaging of the flooring strips. In addition, the installer must take the bow into account in cutting and installing the flooring strips. While the problems are manageable, it is nevertheless desirable to provide to the installer a flooring strip that is essentially straight. Apart from the functional reasons for doing this, a perfectly straight flooring strip is aesthetically more akin to solid, full thickness hardwood flooring strips and thus more appealing to the customer. The product according to the application as illustrated in this application includes a foam-type adhesive system positioned on the back side. The flooring strip is faster, easier and less expensive to install than either an unfinished nail-down flooring system or a flooring system laid into a pre-applied mastic layer. The product has particular application in the flooring aftermarket for use by "do-it-yourself" homeowners who want the expensive look of high quality hardwood flooring without the disruption resulting from a contractor-installed floor. There is presently a trend back towards the use of hardwood flooring, and many homeowners are removing existing carpeting in order to replace it with hardwood flooring. A flooring system which can be installed onto a subfloor onto which a carpet was previously installed without the need to raise doors and moldings to accommodate a greater thickness is desirable, since it simplifies the do-it-yourself installation process. The flooring strip according to this application address those needs and, in addition, is very flexible, strong and straight. By straightening the flooring strips, the quality and functionality of the product is increased. By removing the bow in the flooring strip introduced by cutting scores in its back side, any residual tendency for the center of the flooring strip to pull away from the subfloor over time eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a process for producing a barrel with a wear-resistant inner surface from a steel block for a twin-screw extruder with intermeshing screws, the process including the steps of producing two partially intersecting bores (i.e., forming a bore with a spectacle-shaped cross section) that pass all the way through the steel block, followed by hardening of the inner surface of the spectacle-shaped bore. The invention also relates to equipment for hardening the inner surface of the spectacle-shaped bore. 2. Description of the Prior Art Twin-screw extruders with tightly intermeshing screws have barrels made of partial axial segments with a spectacle-shaped bore that passes completely through the barrel. The two extruder screws rotate in the spectacle-shaped bore a short distance away from its inner surface. The inner surface of the barrel bore is subject to abrasive wear, which has basically two causes. The first cause is the processing of feedstocks with aggressive properties, e.g., plastics that contain abrasive fillers. The second cause is related to the pressure conditions that arise inside the barrel during processing, which can lead to radial deflections of the screw shaft and thus to sliding contact between the outer surface of the screw and the inner surface of the barrel. For this reason, to the extent possible, barrels which are produced from a steel block are used in which the two partially intersecting bores for the two screws are produced, and the inner surface of the bores is subsequently hardened. This is usually accomplished by placing the machined workpiece in a hardening furnace, bringing it to hardening temperature, and then quenching it. This produces through-hardening of the workpiece, which is usually undesirable. For one thing, this applies to the flanges of the segments of the barrel, by which the segments are joined together to form a continuous barrel. For another, it applies to the two narrowed regions of the spectacle-shaped bore of the barrel, i.e., to the regions of the barrel near the intersecting zone of the two bores that pass through the barrel. Specifically, at these points it is desirable for the barrel to have the best possible toughness properties to avoid fractures, but toughness properties are generally lost as a result of through-hardening. In addition, the costs of this type of hardening treatment are relatively high, because the hardening treatment depends primarily on the weight of the workpieces, and a barrel segment for a twin-screw extruder is very heavy due to the thick walls that are required. It is well known that the hardening of workpieces can be limited to the surface region of the given workpiece by case hardening, so that most of the material constituting the workpiece retains essentially its original good toughness properties. To do this, the workpiece, which is made of low-carbon steel, is placed in a furnace in which a carbon-rich atmosphere is maintained, so that the diffusion of carbon into the steel occurs to such an extent that subsequent cooling then produces the desired hardening effect. Nitriding of the surface region can be carried out in similar fashion by systematic diffusion of nitrogen into the steel. However, these types of processes are especially expensive due to the long annealing times that are required. However, it is also basically well known that surface hardening can be carried out by heating an intrinsically hardenable steel only at the surface, i.e., to a limited depth of penetration, and then quenching it. The heating can be produced by flames or by inductive heating. In the latter case, electric eddy currents are induced by an inductor in the workpiece to be treated, which cause heating, especially due to the magnetic reversal of the workpiece. Basically, inductive heating in constant form, i.e., with constant depth of penetration, can be carried out without any great problems in workpieces of uniform contour. For example, inductive heating is practiced especially successfully in the heating of steel pipes of circular cross section. Of course, in the case of barrels for twin-screw extruders, inductive heating by means of an inductor with a shape corresponding to the shape of the barrel cross section would lead to extremely nonuniform heating and depths of penetration. Specifically, the narrowed regions would be subjected to especially high thermal energy, since the energy input at those places would occur, as it were, from both barrel bores. Accordingly, the practical result upon cooling under hardening conditions would be through-hardening in the narrowed region. The result of this would be that these regions would become especially susceptible to fracture. Because of this excessive hardening, inductive hardening has never been used before.

The present invention relates to high speed weaving machines or looms, and more particularly to the heddle frames used in such high speed weaving machines. Typically, heddle frames used in high speed weaving looms comprise a pair of end braces configured with a pair of laterally extending rails or slats. The connection between the end braces and slats is critical for proper operation of the weaving machines and has been a source of persistent problems in the field. In the past, the end braces have been rigidly attached to the top and bottom of the slates. The end braces were then free to slide in a guiding groove on a support of the weaving machine to form a shed during weaving operations. With the advent of high speed weaving machines, which may make as many as six hundred or more sheds per minute, the reciprocating motion of the heddle frame was very rapid and the inertia of the heddle frame, owing to its weight, was very great. This caused frequent breaking of the heddle frames, particularly at the connection between the end braces and top and bottom slats. Conventionally, the top and bottom slats of the heddle frame have been made of lightweight hollow aluminum beams. The end braces are then fitted to the hollow aluminum beams. However, the aluminum slats or rails are subjective to a substantial amount of bending which exerts a flexing movement on the connection between the end braces and the slats. This flexing action results in fatigue of the components comprising the connection between the end braces and the slats, thereby causing frequent failure of the heddle frames. Several attempts have been made to provide improved heddle frames. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,526 describes a quick release connection provided between the end braces and the laterally extending cross rails. This device utilizes a connector which is fixed within an opening in the cross rail having means for compressively gripping a projection which extends at a right angle from the end brace. Another attempt to overcome the problems with conventional heddle frames is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,252. In this patent, the end brace has a metal core, a portion of which is covered with plastic to provide additional strength. A pair of joining pieces project from the strengthened portion of the core of the end brace as one body and form a tapered groove there between. These projections extend into the hollow body of the cross rail. The end brace is anchored to the cross rails by means of a wedge shaped member which is attached to the end brace by screws. The wedge shaped member enters the tapered groove formed by the projecting pieces so as to force the projecting pieces against the side walls of the cross rail, thereby locking the end brace firmly to the cross rail. U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,159 describes a heddle frame wherein the end brace is joined to the cross rail by means of a plastic projection which extends into the hollow space of the cross rail and is pinned to the cross rail by a single pin which permits the projection to pivot about the pin thereby providing a flexible joint. A packing material is packed in the space between the end brace and across rail. This device permits flexibility of the joint but cannot be readily disassembled for drawing in of the work yarns or for replacement of component parts. Thus, although a number of attempts have been made to provide a more reliable connection between the end brace and cross rails, such connections have only been achieved through relatively complicated and not easily disassembled connecting assemblies which do not provide adequate strength for the frame. For example, conventional connecting screws that extend through the end brace in a parallel or perpendicular direction tend to create relatively high stress points which are susceptible to failure in a relatively short time. Additionally, the location of drive elements on modern weaving machines overlaps and thereby prevents the use of several existing screw locations of conventional connecting assemblies. The present invention provides a quick change end brace connection having extremely high fatigue resistance that eliminates the known disadvantages as discussed above.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a magnetic substance detecting device employing a magnetic sensor. 2. Description of the Prior Art In the prior art, when a magnetic substance is brought to the vicinity of a reed switch, the reed switch is closed in response to a line of magnetic force of high density in the neighborhood to the surface of the magnetic substance, thus detecting the magnetic substance. However, since opening and closing of the reed switch take place at its contacts, it is likely to cause break down of the switch and, further, the opening and closing operation is achieved by the magnetic attracting force and spring action of iron pieces, so that an increase in sensitivity causes the operation to become unstable in terms of its characteristics and with respect to surrounding conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to lower the sensitivity for stabilizing the operation.

The present invention relates to automotive vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for controlling the charging of a vehicle battery. Automotive vehicles powered by combustion engines typically include a rechargeable battery. The battery is used to provide cranking power to start the vehicle and also is the only source of power to continue to maintain the lights or other devices in operation when the vehicle ignition has been turned off. When the vehicle is running, the engine is used to charge the battery. Additionally, the engine is also used to power electrical components of the vehicle when the engine is running. Vehicles contain charging systems, simply referred to as an xe2x80x9calternator,xe2x80x9d which are powered by the engine and used to charge the battery. Typical charging systems include a simple voltage regulator connected to the output of an alternator. The voltage regulator is used to set a voltage generated by the alternator which is applied to the battery. In the automotive industry, the drive towards greater fuel efficiency and lower exhaust-gas emissions has led to the development of xe2x80x9cstart-stopxe2x80x9d vehicles in which the vehicle engine shuts off at stop lights, traffic jams, etc., and restarts automatically when the driver steps on the accelerator pedal. Frequent shutting off of the engine in such vehicles prevents the alternator from charging the battery evenly. Thus, the battery charge can deplete relatively fast in such start-stop vehicles. Further, a typical alternator is not designed to fully restore a depleted battery, but rather to maintain a healthy one. Thus, it is possible for a start-stop vehicle, that employs a prior art charging system, to automatically shut off at a stop light or traffic jam and not be able to start again until the depleted vehicle battery is boosted from a booster battery or the vehicle is jump started by another vehicle. A system for controlling charging of a battery of a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine is provided. The system includes an input that receives an engine shutdown signal indicative that the engine will be shut down during an idle period to thereby conserve fuel. An engine shutdown delay delays shutdown of the engine for a shutdown delay period in response to the engine shutdown signal. Charge boost circuitry increases a charge signal applied to the battery of the vehicle during the engine shutdown delay period.

The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of carbon fibers with improved surface properties or, more particularly, to a method for the preparation of carbon fibers of which the surface has remarkably improved resistance against oxidation as well as greatly decreased reactivity with molten metals and the like when the carbon fibers are used as a reinforcing material in a metal-based composite material. As is well known, carbon fibers are manufactured by the infusibilization and carbonization treatment of fibers or filaments of rayon, polyacrylonitrile, lignin, resinous pitch and the like material in an atmosphere of an inert gas and carbon fibers are widely used in recent years in a wide variety of industrial applications or, in particular, as a reinforcing material in a plastic- or metal-based composite material by virtue of their outstandingly high tensile strength and elastic modulus as well as excellent heat resistance. Carbon fibers are, however, of course not free from several problems and disadvantages including the limitation in the resistance against oxidation at high temperatures and low affinity of the surface thereof with plastics and metals as the matrix material of the composite materials. Moreover, carbon fibers may react with molten metals to form a metal carbide so that the use of carbon fibers as a reinforcing material in a metal-based composite material is largely limited. Several methods have of course been proposed to overcome the above described problems of carbon fibers by the surface treatment thereof but none of such methods is practically feasible due to the complicated processes to practice the method. Turning now to a substitute for carbon fibers free from the disadvantages inherent to carbon fibers, fibers of silicon carbide developed recently constitute a class of promising materials having excellent resistance against oxidation at high temperatures, good wettability or affinity with plastics and metals and inertness to molten metals. A problem in silicon carbide fibers is the extreme expensiveness thereof as a result of the expensiveness of the starting material which is a very specific organosilicon polymer and the complicate process for the manufacturing including the synthesis of the organosilicon polymer, spinning thereof into filaments, infusibilization and calcination. Therefore, it may be an idea that a high-performance, heat-resistant fibrous material of practical value would be obtained if a convenient and economical method is developed for providing carbon fibers with a cladding layer of silicon carbide although no such a method with practicability is known in the prior art.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a strainer for use in high pressure gas pipelines. The strainer provides a means for removing debris, such as welding slag, from the gas flow. The pipeline strainer permits of the collection of said debris and subsequent removal thereof. 2. Prior Art There exists a number of commercial pipeline strainers in use, the two most pertinent of which are described herein and illustrated schematically in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b). The version shown in FIG. 1(a) comprises a perforated cylindrical basket a, closed at its downstream end, mounted vertically within a cylindrical shell b. The gas is introduced axially into the basket a through an inlet pipe c and then changes direction and passes through the perforations d into the annular space e between the basket and the shell. The debris is thus screened out of the flow and retained inside the basket, whilst the gas turns through the perforations and exits through an outlet conduit f into the pipeline (not shown). The second pipeline strainer of interest is shown in FIG. 1(b). The strainer comprises a cylindrical shell p, inside which is mounted a transverse, perforated, flat plate q. The debris is screened from the flow by the plate q and drops into a collection sump r, from which it may be removed. The primary disadvantage of these prior art devices lies in the substantial pressure drop across the complete strainer unit under operating conditions. This pressure drop can be as high as ten p.s.i. Having such a significant pressure drop is undesirable, because it increases the cost of subsequent re-compression of the gas. In addition, these strainers are relatively expensive to build, due to their configuration. There is therefore a need for a strainer characterized by a relatively low pressure drop and having a configuration or structure which lends itself to a relatively low manufacturing cost.

The present invention relates generally to the in vitro growth and differentiation of human epidermal keratinocytes. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with methods and materials for the initiation of primary cultures of human epidermal keratinocyte cells for human tissue, for the storage of these cells in viable frozen condition, for the establishment of secondary cultures recovered from frozen storage which enable serial propagation from the same primary culture, and for the use of these cells in products and procedures for the repair of injury to the skin. Much of the historic development of cell culture has been based on the growth requirements and responses of fibroblast cells and closely related cell types. Fibroblasts are mesenchymal cells which, with collagen and elastic fibers in an extracellular matrix, compose loose ordinarily areolar connective tissue. Areolar connective tissue sheathes and penetrates muscles, nerves, and glands, and also forms the dermal tissue layer of the skin. Fibroblasts taken from tissues can be routinely cultivated either through many cell generations as karyotypically diploid cells or indefinitely as established cell lines. Thus, in many ways, conventional cell culture technology has been viewed as simulation in vitro of wound healing conditions. For various reasons, normal epithelial cells and many of the tumors that develop from epithelial cells do not proliferate well in standard media and under conventional culture conditions. Epithelial cells, which cycle continuously in an uninjured body, form the covering tissue for nearly all the free surfaces of the body, including the epidermis of the skin. The basal layer of mammalian epidermis, separated by a basement membrane from the fibroblasts of the underlying dermis, is composed principally of dividing keratinocyte cells in various stages of differentiation. Some keratinocyte cells undergo terminal differentiation (i.e., move outward from the basal layer, increase in size, develop an envelope resistant to detergents and reducing agents, and eventually are shed from the surface). Because conventional tissue culture conditions have strongly favored multiplication of fibroblast-like cells, any epithelial cells that may be in a primary culture inoculum would tend to be overrun by fibroblast cells. The ability to culture viable layers of nondifferentiated human epidermal keratinocyte cells with minimal fibroblast overgrowth would have considerable application to medical procedures for wound healing. As one example, when human tissue has been severely damaged due to a severe burn, it is necessary to cover the damaged area to reduce fluid loss, prevent infection and reduce scarring. Because autografts are painful and difficult when damage is extensive, other functioning substitutes for skin have been sought, i.e., homografts (skin transplants from live donors or from skin preserved in skin banks), modified skin from animals, synthetic polymeric structures, reconstituted collagen films, and biodegradable synthetic membranes, such as described in Yannas, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,081. Many of these skin substitutes have the potential for inducing inflammatory response in a patient caused by rejection of some antigenic substance in the skin substitute by the immune system. Further, it is often the case that a patient with extensive or severe injury suffers considerable risk of infection and death due to immune depression associated with the second and third weeks of a skin graft. Whether an autograft, homograft or skin substitute is employed to cover the damaged tissue, a graft may be unavailing to a patient succumbing to infection unless the skin repair is rapid enough to reduce exposure to the outside environment. Recent studies have focused on the development of nutritionally optimized and readily defined and reproducible media and culture conditions which may provide a selective advantage to epithelial cells. The ability to culture layers of keratinocyte cells of the skin in vitro from a small inoculum could replace the requirement for autografts in present wound repair treatments. Early research on the propagation of epithelial keratinocyte cells indicated that disaggregated epidermal cells only grew in monolayers to a very limited extent, and could not be satisfactorily subcultured. In a significant early study, clonal growth of human epidermal keratinocytes was obtained by plating human skin cells with a semi-confluent feeder layer of lethally irradiated 3T3 fibroblast cells which prevented fibroblast overgrowth and promoted multiplication of human keratinocytes in Delbecco's modified medium (DME) supplemented with hydrocortisone (HC) and 20% whole fetal bovine serum (wFBS). The human diploid keratinocytes grown in this system had a finite culture lifetime and low plating efficiency in primary culture (0.1 to 1.0%). On subculture, the plating efficiency rose only occasionally to 10% but was most often in the range of 1 to 5%. Only a range of two to six serial transfers were possible in this system; and, in the absence of 3T3 cells, the human keratinocytes could not even initiate colony formation. [See, Rheinwald, J. G., et al., Cell, 6, pp. 331-334 (1975)]. It was noted in a later study that keratinocytes grown in the lethally irradiated 3T3 cell system were enhanced by the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the medium. [Rheinwald, J. G., et al., Nature, 265, pp. 421-424 (1977)]. Further definition of an optimal medium for growth of human keratinocytes revealed that only the primary culture of keratinocytes required the presence of the 3T3 fibroblast cells [Peehl, D. M., et al., In Vitro, Vol. 16(6), pp. 516-525 (1980)]. Following the establishment of primary human keratinocyte cultures by the Rheinwald, et al., 3T3 feeder layer method described above, the 3T3 cells were removed on day 3 of culture with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Various commercially available test media, each supplemented with hydrocortisone and whole fetal bovine serum and conditioned for 24 hours by irradiated 3T3cells, were added to cultures. Substantial multiplication of human keratinocytes occurred only in conditioned Medium 199, described in Morgan, J. F., et al., Proceedings in the Society of Experimental Biological Medicine, 73, pages 1-8 (1950), in which the stratified keratinocyte colonies grew to confluency and could be subcultured. When cells from the primary culture were inoculated in unconditioned Medium 199, supplemented with an increased concentration of hydrocortisone, whole fetal bovine serum, and pituitary extract fractions, similar growth was achieved, indicating that human keratinocytes, after the primary culture was established, did not require special conditioning factors from fibroblasts for clonal growth and differentiation in culture. Subsequent studies indicated that commercially available medium F12 eliminated the need for pituitary extract and allowed dialyzed fetal bovine serum protein to be used in place of whole serum for clonal growth media. Adjustments of the composition of medium F12 for optimal clonal growth resulted in a new medium, MCDB151, which supported clonal growth of human keratinocytes with hydrocortisone and fetal bovine serum protein. Optimal growth of human keratinocytes occurred at a very low concentration of calcium ion (0.03 mM) which causes the colonies to remain as monolayers, rather than stratifying as they do in the presence of higher levels of calcium. While medium MCDB151 supported clonal growth of human epidermal keratinocytes with 1.0 mg/ml of fetal bovine serum protein as the only macromolecular supplement, the Rheinwald, et al., feeder layer technique was required for establishment of primary cultures, and subcultures showed a low colony-forming efficiency [See, Peehl, D. M., et. al., In Vitro, Vol. 16(6), pp. 526-538 (1980)]. To develop a medium containing no deliberately added undefined supplements and capable of supporting colony formation of normal human epidermal keratinocytes, hormone and growth factor replacement in the medium was studied [Tsao, M. C., et al., J. Cell. Physiol., 110, pp. 219-229 (1982)]. A new basal medium, MCDB152, was formulated by addition of the trace element supplement from medium MCDB104 [McKeechan, W. L., et al., In Vitro, 13, pages 399-416 (1977)] to medium MCDB151. The ingredients of basal medium MCDB152 therefore included the following: arginine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-3 M; cysteine, 2.4.times.10.sup.-4 M; glutamine, 6.0.times.10.sup.-3 M; histidine, 8.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; isoleucine, 1.5.times.10.sup.-5 M; leucine, 5.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; lysine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; methionine, 3.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; phenylalanine, 3.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; threonine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; tryptophan, 1.5.times.10.sup.-5 M; tyrosine, 1.5.times.10.sup.-5 M; valine, 3.0.times. 10.sup.-4 M; alanine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; asparagine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; aspartate, 3.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; glutamate, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; glycine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; proline, 3.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; serine, 6.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; biotin, 6.0.times.10.sup.-8 M; folate, 1.8.times.10.sup.-6 M; lipoate, 1.0.times.10.sup.-6 M; niacinamide, 3.0.times.10.sup.-7 M; pantothenate, 1.0.times.10.sup.-6 M; pyridoxine, 3.0.times.10.sup.-7 M; riboflavin, 1.0.times.10.sup.-7 M; thiamin, 1.0.times.10.sup.-6 M; Vitamin B.sub.12, 3.0.times.10.sup.-7 M; adenine, 1.8.times.10.sup.-4 M; thymidine, 3.0.times.10.sup.-6 M; acetate, 3.7.times.10.sup.-3 M; choline, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; glucose, 6.0.times.10.sup.-3 M; i-inositol, 1.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; putrescine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-6 M; pyruvate, 5.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; calcium, 3.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; magnsium, 6.0.times.10.sup.-4 M; potassium, 1.5.times.10.sup.-3 M; sodium, 1.5.times. 10.sup.-1 M; chloride, 1.3.times.10.sup.-1 M; phosphate, 2.0.times.10.sup.-3 M; sulfate, 4.5.times.10.sup.-6 M; copper, 1.1.times.10.sup.-8 M; iron, 1.5.times.10.sup.-6 M; zinc, 3.5.times.10.sup.-6 M; bicarbonate, 1.4.times.10.sup.-2 M; carbon dioxide, 5%; HEPES, 2.8.times.10.sup.-2 M; phenol red, 3.3.times.10.sup.-6 M; manganese, 1.0.times.10.sup.-9 M; molybdenum, 1.0.times.10.sup.-9 M; nickel, 5.0.times.10.sup.-10 M; selenium, 3.0.times.10.sup.-8 M; silicon, 5.0.times.10.sup.-7 M; tin, 5.0.times.10.sup.-10 M; and vanadium, 5.0.times.10.sup.-9 M. This new basal medium was further supplemented to create the defined medium for growth of human keratinocytes, with epidermal growth factor, 5 ng/ml; transferin, 10 .mu.g/ml; insulin, 5 .mu.g/ml; hydrocortisone, 1.4.times.10.sup.-6 M; ethanolamine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; phosphoethanolamine, 1.0.times.10.sup.-5 M; and progesterone, 2.0.times.10.sup.-9 M. In this study, the Rheinwald, et al. feeder layer technique was employed to establish primary cultures, and to suppress overgrowth of fibroblasts and enhance growth of keratinocytes. Clonal growth experiments were performed in the supplemented medium MCDB152. Previous requirements for dialyzed serum and bovine pituitary extract were replaced with the mixture of supplements previously identified. The replacement of whole bovine pituitary extract with ethanolamine and phosphoethanolamine in this study removed the last deliberately added undefined supplement. These researchers were able to contain clonal growth of human epidermal keratinocytes in a chemically defined medium with a low ratio (1:2) of iron concentration (1.5.times.10.sup.-6 M) to zinc concentration (3.times.10.sup.-6 M), with 10 .mu.g/ml transferrin. Following the initiation of keratinocyte growth in the primary culture, cells in this study were transferred to MCDB152 with supplements. Despite the absence of undefined elements in this medium, several problems were revealed during the course of experimentation. Variable growth of keratinocytes were achieved in MCDB152, but the researchers could not transfer the culture to a third vessel and obtain a viable culture. After the first subculture, the Tsao, et al. researchers achieved a very small colony-forming efficiency (less than 2%). Further, good growth was only obtained in the defined media when the cellular inoculum was prepared from a primary culture using the Rheinwald, et al. technique of 3T3 feeder cells. The cells could not be frozen for storage and subsequently recovered as viable culture-producing cells. In an alternative attempt to overcome the technical limitations inherent in the Rheinwald, et al. 3T3 feeder layer system for keratinocyte culture, a culture system was developed using human fibronectin. Keratinocytes were established in a primary culture in Delbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum, hydrocortisone, penicillin G, and streptomycin. The epithelial cells were plated on fibronectin coated plates, requiring ten-fold larger plating densities tha the Rheinwald, et al. technique to obtain comparable colony formation. In this sytem, fibroblast-like cells were apparent in many plates but overgrowth did not occur [See, Gilchrest, B. A., et al., Cell Biology International Reports, Vol. 4, No. 11, pp. 1009-1016 (1980)]. In later related studies human keratinocytes plated on fibronectin-coated cell culture dishes were grown in a cell culture medium consisting of medium 199 with epidermal growth factor, tri-iodothyronine, hydrocortisone, Cohn Fraction IV, insulin, transferin, bovine brain extract, and trace elements. The researchers determined that brain extract was necessary to preserve normal keratinocyte morphology and protein production in this system. [See, Maciag, T., et al., Science, 211, pp. 1452-1454 (1981); Gilchrest, et al., J. Cellular Physiology, 112, pp. 197-206 (1982)]. The Maciag/Gilchrest culture system, characterized by the presence of undefined macromolecular ingredients, i.e., brain extract, Cohn fraction IV and serum, shows no advantage over the Rheinwald, et al. system due to requirements for very high inoculation densities and fibronectin-coated culture vessels in order to achieve an increase in cell numbers per unit time. From the above description of the state of the art, it will be apparent that there continues to exist a need in the art for methods and materials for securing serum-free production of human epidermal keratinocyte cells. The attempts described thus far have enabled growth of keratinocyte cells from the primary inoculum, but rely on serum components introduced by the feeder layer technique or the use of bovine serum protein in culture medium. There thus remains a need in the art for materials and methods to provide (1) a source of human epidermal keratinocyte cells for biological research and medical applications grown in serum-free conditions and having a high colony-forming efficiency in serial subculture; (2) a source of human keratinocytes which has no exposure to serum, thereby eliminating the possibility for inducing inflammatory response when used in medical applications; and (3) a source of human keratinocytes having a velocity or efficiency of growth for use in skin grafts thereby contributing to reduced trauma and infection in a patient during the period of exposure of the injury to the environment.

Vascular conditions arise from a variety of causes, and in some cases, necessitate surgical or endovascular intervention. Trauma to the vascular system may also necessitate surgical intervention to treat the traumatized anatomy. The long-term implantation of vascular prostheses including vascular grafts, stent-grafts, and stents, and the application of treatment modalities, including balloon angioplasty are often undertaken to treat vascular conditions including vascular disease and vascular trauma. Consequences of surgical intervention have been observed following implantation of vascular prostheses including vascular grafts, stent-grafts, stents, and other prostheses, particularly when an anastomosis is formed. The consequences of surgical intervention include, but are not limited to, inflammation, intimal hyperplasia, stenosis, and restenosis of the treated blood vessel near the formed anastomosis. Inflammation is a physiological response by a mammalian body to surgery, injury, irritation, or infection. An inflammatory response involves complex biological activities at chemical, cellular, tissue, and organ levels. Generally, an inflammatory response is a protective attempt to remove an injurious stimulus, as well as to initiate a healing process for the diseased or traumatized tissue. Intimal hyperplasia is a pathological condition in which an overabundant inflammatory response is initiated involving stimulation, migration, and proliferation of numerous cell types. Stenosis and restenosis are constrictions of the blood vessel lumen and may be caused by mechanisms including, but not limited to, compliance mismatch between the native vessel and the implanted vascular prosthesis, host tissue response to an implanted material, prior disease states, and infection. Stenosis and restenosis can progress to a point where additional surgical intervention is required to enlarge the blood vessel lumen diameter of the blood vessel or the implanted vascular prosthesis to establish a less restrictive conduit for blood flow. Additional vascular conditions that may require surgical or endovascular intervention include, but are not limited to, vascular injury, vascular prophylactic intervention, vascular disease, phlebitis, intimal hyperplasia, vulnerable plaques, carotid plaques, coronary plaque, vascular plaque, aneurismal disease, vascular dissections, atherosclerotic plaques, atherosclerotic lesions, vascular infection, and vascular sepsis. One approach to treatment of these vascular conditions involves local delivery of a suitable pharmaceutical or biologically active agent in a liquid vehicle within luminal spaces of a blood vessel at or near the site of the vascular condition. The liquid vehicle containing the pharmaceutical or biologically active agent is contacted with tissues of the luminal space at a vascular treatment site for a determined length of time (dwell time). However, this approach often requires extensive dwell times at the vascular treatment site to ensure adequate delivery and retention of the bioactive agent at the vascular treatment site to treat the vascular condition. Even with extensive dwell times, the delivery and retention of the bioactive agent at the vascular treatment site using this approach may be insufficient to treat the vascular condition. Another therapeutic approach is the implantation of vascular prostheses having a pharmaceutical-containing coating to deliver a pharmaceutical to a lumen of a blood vessel or other vascular conduit. Examples of vascular prostheses having a pharmaceutical-containing coating include, but are not limited to, stents, stent grafts, grafts, and angioplasty balloons. Other examples of vascular prostheses having a pharmaceutical-containing coating are drug eluting stents and drug eluting stent grafts (DESs). DESs are used in the treatment of coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease. A high degree of physician skill is often required to implant DESs without damaging or traumatizing surrounding vascular tissue. The treatment of a vascular condition by the implantation of DESs may require long term implantation of the vascular prosthesis. The long term implantation of the vascular prosthesis may also result in mechanical trauma to the vascular treatment site due to a nonlubricious nature of the pharmaceutical-containing coating. The long term implantation of the vascular prosthesis may also result in an unwanted tissue reaction at the vascular treatment site due to the components of the vascular prosthesis and/or the pharmaceutical-containing coating. Therefore it is desirable to have an improved method for treating vascular conditions that requires minimal physician skill to perform. It is desirable to have an improved method for treating vascular conditions that avoids long term implants. Drug eluting balloons (DEBs) are additional examples of vascular prostheses having a pharmaceutical-containing coating. The literature discloses the use of DEBs for the treatment of coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,402, issued to Dror et al.). Dror et al. disclose placing a DEBs in a blood vessel lumen to treat the vessel wall, inflating the balloon, and contacting the balloon surface with the luminal vessel wall to deliver a pharmaceutical into the blood vessel wall. Another example of treatment using DEBs involves an angioplasty balloon having microneedles (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,171,217; 5,538,504; and 6,860,867). DEBs often require a high degree of physician skill to implement. The implantation of the DEBs may also result in mechanical trauma to the vascular treatment site due to the components of the DEBs and/or the pharmaceutical-containing coating. It is desirable to have improved methods for treating and preventing vascular conditions that are simple and easy to implement. It is also desirable to have methods for treating and preventing vascular conditions that avoid mechanical trauma to the vascular treatment site and are compatible with the delivery of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals. In addition to delivering drugs to blood vessels from stents, stent-grafts, grafts, and other prostheses, intraluminal drug delivery methods include methods that chemically “pave” luminal surfaces of a blood vessel (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,213,580; 5,674,287; 5,749,922; and 5,800,538). These “paving” methods involve fixation, polymerization, and bonding of a drug delivery system to the lumen of a blood vessel. Degradation of such delivery systems ranges from days to weeks. The methods can be challenging as they involve chemical reactions with the blood vessel lumen. These chemical reactions may induce trauma to the vascular treatment site. It is desirable to have improved methods for treating and preventing vascular conditions which avoid “paving” of the luminal surfaces of the blood vessel. Methods of delivering drugs to perivascular locations are described. U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,923, issued to Iyer, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,532, issued to Edelman, disclose perivascular drug eluting wraps and matrices applied to adventitial surfaces of a blood vessel to treat vascular inflammation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,839, issued to Johnson, discloses a method of treating restenosis involving the delivery of a biologically active substance percutaneously. U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,313, issued to Helmus et al., discloses a method for treating intimal hyperplasia involving contacting an exterior surface of a blood vessel with a “flowable” drug delivery vehicle. These methods usually require complex procedural techniques, often implemented through invasive surgical techniques. In addition, these methods may require long term implantation of a vascular prosthesis, drug eluting wraps, matrices, and flowable drug delivery vehicles. Long term implantation of the vascular prosthesis, drug eluting wraps, matrices, and flowable drug delivery vehicles may also result in an unwanted tissue reaction at the vascular treatment site due to the nature of their components. It is desirable to have improved methods for treating and preventing vascular conditions that allow delivery of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and biologics to diseased or traumatized vascular tissue without the need for long term implants, that are easily implemented, and that are applied through surgical and endovascular techniques. Li et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0019369) disclose an injectable cyclodextrin polymer-based composition made from cyclodextrin, polyethylene glycol, and a pharmacologically effective amount of at least one drug. Li et al. further disclose their composition can be used subcutaneously, intramuscularly, intradermally, or intracranially. However, Li et al. do not teach their composition can be injected into the vasculature or into flowing blood. As is disclosed to the literature, compositions made of cyclodextrin and polyethylene glycol form inclusion complexes. The inclusion complexes have the form of hydrogels, turbid solutions, and precipitates (Li, J Biomed Mater Res, 65A, 196, 2003; Harada, Macromolecules, 26, 5698, 1993; Harada, Macromolecules, 23, 2821, 1990). Indeed, as indicated by the literature, injection of particles in the form of hydrogel materials, turbid solutions, and precipitates into the vasculature or into flowing blood can have adverse consequences, including decreased drug effectiveness, phlebitis, embolism, and blockage of capillaries (Nemec, Am J Heath Syst Pharm, 65, 1648, 2008; Wong, Adv Drug Del Rev, 60, 939, 2008; Minton, Nutrition, 14, 251, 1998; Tian, Polym Int, 55, 405, 2006). Instructions for use of an injectable pharmaceutical solution contraindicate injection into the vasculature or flowing blood if the injectable pharmaceutical solution is turbid or contains precipitates. There remains a need for improved vascular-based therapies to treat a variety of vascular conditions. The improved therapies would be easily implemented and would obviate mechanically or chemically induced trauma to the vascular treatment site. The improved therapies would allow for administration of thixotropic, turbid, bioactive agent-containing gel materials to vascular tissue at a vascular treatment site. The gel material would readily release one or more bioactive agents contained by the gel material to vascular tissue in need of treatment or repair. The gel material would dissolve in the flowing blood without occluding vascular structures located distally (i.e., downstream) to the administration site. The therapies could be applied prophylactically, interventionally, surgically, or endovascularly.

The present invention relates to a novel class of dyes which will lase efficiently and stably at a peak wavelength between 540 and 570 nm. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,400 there is disclosed a method of preparing m-aminophenols which are useful for preparation of dyes, particularly for the preparation of rhodamine class dyes.

Proximity sensors for sensing proximity of a sense target such as a human body include the following type as known. The proximity sensor comprises a bottomed cylindrical fixed shield electrode, a disc-like detection substrate attached to the opening end of the fixed shield electrode, and a sensor electrode arranged at the central portion of the detection substrate to face a sense target. The proximity sensor also comprises a movable shield electrode arranged outside the fixed shield electrode and slidable along the axial direction. Thus, it is configured with these members to adjust the sensible range and sensibility in accordance with various detection conditions and sense the sense target reliably (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The proximity sensor may be given directivity in this way with arrangement of the shield electrode on the circumference or the rear of the sensor electrode to form a dead zone, thereby determining the range of the sense region within certain directions from the sensor electrode in general. Patent Document 1: JP 2001-35327A

This invention relates in general to cushions and more particularly to cushions formed from foam material. From the standpoint of comfort, it is desirable to have the seating cushions of automobiles as soft as possible. However, seat cushions which are too soft sag excessively when occupied by heavy individuals. In other words, a heavy individual will sink quite deeply into such a seat cushion, while a light individual will sink to a considerably lesser extent. In either case, the occupant does not acquire the most desirable view through the vehicle's windows. This problem is most acute at the driver's seat, for automobile designers in configuring passenger compartments seek to maintain a specific eye level, or H-point as it is often called. Ideally, all occupants of the driver's seat should have the same eye level. While this is impossible to attain, it is nevertheless desirable to approach the goal as closely as possible. Excessively soft seat cushions do not provide the solution, while excessively hard cushions do not afford the necessary comfort.

Radio-controlled, heavier-than-air, aircraft having sustainable beating wings, e.g., ornithopters.

1. Field of Technology The present invention relates to portable waste containers, and more specifically, to a reusable, expandable and portable container for disposing of liquid waste products. 2. Related Art Conventional portable urinals typically comprise a solid container of a fixed size and dimension having a top that provides a tight fit to the container. To use such a conventional portable urinal, a person simply uncaps it, uses it, and recaps it, thereby having to dispose of its contents at a later time. There are several disadvantages with conventional portable urinals. Conventional containers typically are of a fixed size and dimension, thereby being cumbersome to store. Also, by being a fixed size, a finite amount of urine, or other liquid waste products, will fit within the container. Therefore, there is a need for a portable container that can store varying amounts of a liquid waste product, e.g., urine. Another disadvantage is that when used, the urine remains in the container in a liquid form resulting in a strong possibility that the urine may spill or emit a strong odor from the container. Both of which are unpleasant experiences. Therefore, there is a need for a portable container that solidifies the urine or liquid waste product contained therein, eliminating all odors and the possibility of the liquid waste product from spilling out of the container. Furthermore, after being used, conventional portable urinals must be either thrown away with the contents or the contents removed and the container cleaned for the next use. Neither of these options is attractive. If every conventional container is thrown away, then it becomes harmful to the environment as well as expensive for the user to maintain a constant supply of containers. If the conventional container requires cleaning after each use, then the user must handle the unpleasant task of cleaning out the container. Therefore, there is a need for a portable container that eliminates the need to dispose of the entire portable container or to clean the container between uses, thereby facilitating the disposal of liquid waste products. There is a further need for a portable container that facilitates repeated use of the portable container that is safe for the environment and convenient for the user. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,892 to Szabo, a relief container is disclosed for use in automobiles. This relief container comprises a bag having a rigid ring assembly inserted through a pocket located along the top rim of the bag and secured in place with a draw-string. The ring assembly holds the top of the bag open. Once a liquid waste product, e.g., urine, is deposited in the bag, the top of the bag is twisted and tied shut. There are several disadvantages of the Szabo relief container. First, the bag itself is unstable to hold as it is being used. A user must hold the ring assembly during use and therefore runs the risk of coming into contact with the liquid waste product as it is being deposited. Second, the ring assembly is a cumbersome feature that requires multiple pieces, all of which may easily be lost or broken, thereby rendering the relief container inoperative. Furthermore, the liquid waste product maintains its liquid form until its disposal which means that the liquid may spill or otherwise leak from a tear in the bag or an accidental opening of the top of the bag. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,422 to White, et al., a drainage bottle having a hanger support is disclosed wherein the drainage bottle may be stored in a collapsed position prior to use. Despite this collapsible feature, the drainage bottle is still a finite size regardless of the amount of liquid deposited therein and can only contain a fixed amount of liquid. Also, upon being used, the drainage bottle must be disposed of in its entirety or cleaned out for a subsequent use--either of which is not a preferred feature. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,600 to Cullen, et al., a liquid absorbing and immobilizing packet is disclosed wherein the packet is degradable in a liquid and the material contained within the packet transforms the liquid into a gel-like substance. The packet is intended for the sole purpose of being used in a container such that any leak of a liquid from an object stored within the container is prevented, thereby protecting the container from damage and becoming weak. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,727 to Wyatt, a disposable waste bag is disclosed for use with a bedpan or other portable commode. However, this waste bag does not incorporate any means for securing the bag closed, thereby preventing any spillage or leaking of the contents. The waste bag simply provides a means to carry the bag and its contents wherein the contents remain in a liquid state. In addition, a user would not be able to use the waste bag without a support framework to hold onto because it would be very cumbersome for a user to hold the bag while attempting to use it. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,116 to Yamamoto, a portable urinal is disclosed being a fixed-size storage bag wherein the top mouth portion is more rigid than the bottom portion. In addition, a pouch is located at the bottom of the storage bag into which is placed a water-absorbing agent for forming a gel when brought in contact with the urine or other liquid waste product. After use, the portable urinal is to be thrown away. There are many disadvantages associated with the Yamamoto portable urinal. One disadvantage is that a user must hold the urinal near the top mouth because that is the only portion of the urinal that is rigid and provides a secure grip. Because the remainder of the urinal is less rigid, it would be difficult to hold steady while in use. In addition, because this portable urinal is not intended to be reused, a user must purchase multiple urinals for repeated use, thereby requiring excess storage space and expense. Another disadvantage with the Yamamoto portable urinal is the means by which the water-absorbing agent is brought into contact with the liquid waste product. In the preferred embodiment, the water-absorbing agent is stored in a water permeable, water insoluble pocket located on the interior of the bottom of the storage bag. Therefore, when the liquid waste product is deposited into the storage bag, the liquid waste product permeates the pouch, is absorbed by the water-absorbing agent which becomes swollen as it becomes a gel. This expansion into a gel causes the pocket to burst into fragments, thereby dispensing the remainder of the water-absorbing agent into the liquid waste product. This means for changing the liquid waste product into a gel results in several problems. First, the liquid waste product may never be gelled if the pouch fails to break. Also, enough liquid waste product must be deposited into the storage bag such that the water absorbing agent swells and bursts the pouch. An insufficient amount of a deposit results in the deposit keeping its liquid form. Despite all of the different apparatuses disclosed in these prior patents, there continues to be a need for an expandable container that is safe, sanitary, and has the ability to transform a liquid waste product into a gel form to facilitate its disposal. There is also a need for a portable container that can adapt to different volumes of liquid wherein the expandable container is easily handled and managed during use. Further, there is a continued need for an expandable container that can be used repeatedly for the storage and disposal of liquid waste products, thereby eliminating the need for cleaning the portable container between uses and eliminating the need for a user to purchase multiple portable containers.

Wide availability of capture devices and advances in high capacity storage have led to a potential of recording immense volumes of information. Some information may be generated during the occurrence of events. Information may take the form of photographs, videos, posts, media, text, chat, and other types of media content. From time to time, people may wish to view the information generated during events.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analyzer which can easily determine the presence or absence of a target analyte in a sample through immunoassay or the like. 2. Background Art The presence or absence of a target analyte in a sample has hitherto been determined by bringing the sample into contact with a substance capable of specifically binding to the target analyte and detecting a binding reaction between the target analyte and the substance . Examples of such a technique include in immunological technique by virtue of an antigen-antibody reaction and a hybridization technique for determining the presence or absence of a target sequence through a hybridization with a specific oligonucleotide. With respect to the immunological technique, various methods are known wherein a liquid sample is brought into contact with a carrier having a surface on which an antibody capable of specifically binding to an antigen has been immobilized and a labelled antibody is allowed to treat the carrier, thereby determining the presence of an antigen in the liquid sample. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 127160/1988 discloses an apparatus wherein a membrane having an antibody bound thereto in a spot form is put on the top surface of a cylindrical container and the lower portion is filled with a highly hygroscopic substance. In this apparatus, at the outset, a liquid sample is added, and an antibody labelled with a gold colloid particle is dropwise added thereto. If the liquid sample contains an antigen in a detectable concentration or more, a reddish purple spot is observed. Similar apparatuses are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 502214/1986 and 25551/1988. In these apparatuses, it is necessary to conduct two steps, i.e., the step of adding a liquid sample to the membrane portion for allowing the liquid sample to be absorbed into the membrane and the step of dropwise adding a labelled antibody solution. Thus, the procedure may become complicate. Further, in these apparatuses, the membrane easily dries. It is unfavorable for the membrane to easily dry, because this gives rise to a difference in the results between immediately after the reaction and after drying. Further, when the liquid sample is a urine or feces suspension or the like, an apparatus having the surface of the membrane which is exposed to air even after the reaction is unsanitary. Moreover, the apparatus having the surface of the membrane which is exposed to air is unsuitable for transportation.

The present invention generally relates to methods of reducing inflammation. More specifically, the invention relates to methods of reducing inflammation using α7 receptor-binding cholinergic agonists. Vertebrates achieve internal homeostasis during infection or injury by balancing the activities of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways. However, in many disease conditions, this internal homeostasis becomes out of balance. For example, endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) produced by all Gram-negative bacteria activates macrophages to release cytokines that are potentially lethal (Tracey et al., 1986; Wang et al., 1999; Nathan, 1987; Dinarello, 1994). Inflammation and other deleterious conditions (such as septic shock caused by endotoxin exposure) are often induced by proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF; also known as TNFα or cachectin), interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, interferonγ, platelet-activating factor (PAF), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), and other compounds (Thompson, 1998). Certain other compounds, for example high mobility group protein 1 (HMG-1), are induced during various conditions such as sepsis and can also serve as proinflammatory cytokines (PCT publication WO 00/47104). These proinflammatory cytokines are produced by several different cell types, most importantly immune cells (for example monocytes, macrophages and neutrophils), but also non-immune cells such as fibroblasts, osteoblasts, smooth muscle cells, epithelial cells, and neurons (Zhang and Tracey, 1998). Proinflammatory cytokines contribute to various disorders, notably sepsis, through their release during an inflammatory cytokine cascade. Inflammatory cytokine cascades contribute to deleterious characteristics, including inflammation and apoptosis (Pulkki, 1997), of numerous disorders. Included are disorders characterized by both localized and systemic reactions, including, without limitation, diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract and associated tissues (such as appendicitis, peptic, gastric and duodenal ulcers, peritonitis, pancreatitis, ulcerative colitis, pseudomembranous, acute and ischemic colitis, diverticulitis, epiglottitis, achalasia, cholangitis, coeliac disease, cholecystitis, hepatitis, Crohn's disease, enteritis, and Whipple's disease); systemic or local inflammatory diseases and conditions (such as asthma, allergy, anaphylactic shock, immune complex disease, organ ischemia, reperfusion injury, organ necrosis, hay fever, sepsis, septicemia, endotoxic shock, cachexia, hyperpyrexia, eosinophilic granuloma, granulomatosis, and sarcoidosis); diseases involving the urogential system and associated tissues (such as septic abortion, epididymitis, vaginitis, prostatitis and urethritis); diseases involving the respiratory system and associated tissues (such as bronchitis, emphysema, rhinitis, cystic fibrosis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonitis, pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, alvealitis, bronchiolitis, pharyngitis, pleurisy, and sinusitis); diseases arising from infection by various viruses (such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, HIV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and herpes), bacteria (such as disseminated bacteremia, Dengue fever), fungi (such as candidiasis) and protozoal and multicellular parasites (such as malaria, filariasis, amebiasis, and hydatid cysts); dermatological diseases and conditions of the skin (such as burns, dermatitis, dermatomyositis, sunburn, urticaria warts, and wheals); diseases involving the cardiovascular system and associated tissues (such as vasulitis, angiitis, endocarditis, arteritis, atherosclerosis, thrombophlebitis, pericarditis, myocarditis, myocardial ischemia, congestive heart failure, periarteritis nodosa, and rheumatic fever); diseases involving the central or peripheral nervous system and associated tissues (such as Alzheimer's disease, meningitis, encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral infarction, cerebral embolism, Guillame-Barre syndrome, neuritis, neuralgia, spinal cord injury, paralysis, and uveitis); diseases of the bones, joints, muscles and connective tissues (such as the various arthritides and arthralgias, osteomyelitis, fasciitis, Paget's disease, gout, periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and synovitis); other autoimmune and inflammatory disorders (such as myasthenia gravis, thryoiditis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Goodpasture's syndrome, Behcets's syndrome, allograft rejection, graft-versus-host disease, Type I diabetes, ankylosing spondylitis, Berger's disease, Type I diabetes, ankylosing spondylitis, Berger's disease, and Retier's syndrome); as well as various cancers, tumors and proliferative disorders (such as Hodgkins disease); and, in any case the inflammatory or immune host response to any primary disease (Gattomo et al., 2000; Yeh and Schuster, 1999; McGuinness et al., 2000; Hsu et al., 1999; Prystowsky and Rege, 1997; Kimmings et al., 2000; Hirano, 1999; Lee et al., 1995; Waserman et al., 2000; Katagiri et al., 1997; Bumgardner and Orosz, 1999; Dibbs et al., 1999; Blum and Miller, 1998; Blackwell and Christman, 1996; Fox, 2000; Carteron, 2000; Hommes and van Deventer, 2000; Gracie et al., 1999; Kanai et al., 2001; Jander and Stoll, 2001; Watanabe et al., 1997; Rayner et al., 2000; Amrani et al., 2000). Mammals respond to inflammation caused by inflammatory cytokine cascades in part through central nervous system regulation. This response has been characterized in detail with respect to systemic humoral response mechanisms during inflammatory responses to endotoxin (Besedovsky et al., 1986; Woiciechowsky et al., 1998; Hu et al., 1991; Lipton and Catania, 1997). In one set of responses, afferent vagus nerve fibers are activated by endotoxin or cytokines, stimulating the release of humoral anti-inflammatory responses through glucocorticoid hormone release (Watkins and Maier, 1999; Sternberg, 1997; Scheinman et al., 1995). Previous work elucidated a role for vagus nerve signaling as a critical component in the afferent loop that modulates the adrenocorticotropin and fever responses to systemic endotoxemia and cytokinemia (Gaykema et al., 1995; Fleshner et al., 1998; Watkins et al., 1995; Romanovsky et al., 1997). Another set of responses is through efferent vagus nerve signaling, termed the “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway” (Borovikova et al., 2000). Stimulation of the efferent vagus nerve attenuates systemic inflammatory responses and inhibits TNF release (Id.; Bernik et al., 2002; Tracey et al., 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/855,446). Acetylcholine, the principle neurotransmitter of the vagus nerve, attenuates macrophage cytokine synthesis by signaling through α-bungarotoxin-sensitive nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, but the identity of the essential macrophage receptor is unknown. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are a family of ligand-gated, pentameric ion channels. In humans, 16 different subunits (α1–7, α9–10, β1–4, δ, ∈, and γ) have been identified that form a large number of homo- and hetero-pentameric receptors with distinct structural and pharmacological properties (Lindstrom, 1995; Leonard and Bertrand, 2001; Le Novere and Changeux, 1995). The main known function of this receptor family is to transmit signals for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions and in the central and peripheral nervous systems (Lindstrom, 1995; Leonard and Bertrand, 2001; Le Novere and Changeux, 1995, Marubio and Changeux, 2000; Steinlein, 1998). Our previous work indicated the presence of α-bungarotoxin-sensitive nicotinic receptors on primary human macrophages (Borovikova et al., 2000), but the identity of the specific receptor subunit was unknown. Knowledge of the particular nicotinic receptor that is responsible for inhibiting inflammation would be useful to identify specific agonists of the receptor that would inhibit inflammation. Such agonists would be likely to have fewer side effects than currently identified agonists that are relatively non-specific. The identity of other physiological effects influenced by the anti-inflammatory receptor would also be facilitated.

Underneath the kitchen sink is a convenient place to temporarily store household garbage and rubbish until it can be permanently disposed of. However, because the average undersink cabinet is only 22 by 15 inches and this space is further reduced by the presence of the plumbing pipes, conventional round garbage cans do not fit conveniently under the sink. Homeowners often must use small wastebaskets, grocery bags, or similar less satisfactory alternatives. The object of the present invention is to solve this problem by providing a J-shaped garbage can, which because of its shape, can fit easily under a sink and still hold a large volume of garbage. The invention pivots on the bottom of its right angle bend so that the top opening tilts toward the user to allow garbage to be deposited into the can more easily. Furthermore, the plumbing pipes are not the hindrance that they are for round garbage cans; instead the invention takes advantage of the presence of the plumbing, because the gooseneck pipe acts as a stop which prevents the garbage can from tipping over completely. The invention can be made in different sizes to accommodate undersink cabinets which are not of conventional dimensions.

The present invention relates to a profiled seal for being held in a passage slot in a structural part of an automotive vehicle and for sealing a lowerable window pane of the vehicle. The seal has a stiff holding flank that is partially surrounded and held by a U-shaped section of an attachment clamp. The clamp secures the seal, and particularly the holding flank, on the structural part. The profiled seal comprises, in cross section, an upwardly extending, upper sealing lip which can be applied to press against the window pane, a downwardly extending, lower sealing lip which lies recessed under the upper lip and is below the upper edge of the structural part, and a cover lip which is attached on the upper end of the upper sealing lip and extends away from the window and toward the structural part. The free end of the cover lip extends away from the upper sealing lip to be above the holding flank of the seal, and that free end extends into a groove which is defined between the top of the holding flank and a separate cover strip which is located inward of the seal. Examples of prior art profiled seals include ones shown in German Published Application OS 37 09 612 Al and German Utility Model GM 19 60 992. A conventional profiled seal of the above described type may be developed as a hollow chamber in the region of the upper sealing lip. But, such a seal profile is undesirable for stylistic and functional reasons. This known seal profile can easily either bulge out or else form places of indentation. This would then require greater forces of displacement upon the opening and closing of the window pane. One particular disadvantage of the traditional profiled seal is that the free end of the cover lip can easily slip out of the groove between the holding flank and the cover strip when the window pane is in its fully open position. Due to the absence of support for the upper sealing lip by the window pane, even a slight pressure from above on the sealing lip is sufficient to allow the cover lip to slip out of the groove, which is highly undesirable.

Existing systems for managing payrolls of this type typically require the preparation of rosters, and the entering by employees (whether by time clock or time sheet, etc) of the time actually worked. The time actually worked will commonly not correspond exactly to the rostered hours, owing to employee illness, late attendance, overtime, early departure, etc. Details of the accumulated time worked—as recorded on a time sheet or otherwise—is passed to and authorised by a supervisor, and then sent to payroll administration for processing. The times and accumulated hours actually worked are compared with the roster so that habitual diligence or tardiness, absences due to sickness etc, or any other significant issue can be monitored, recorded and appropriate action—if any—taken. Payroll administration posts all wage amounts to specific accounts in the general ledger and accrual accounts for future payments. Statutory reports and EFT (electronic funds transfer) submissions are undertaken and the appropriate sums forwarded to the relevant authority or financial institution. Payroll administration must also prepare pay slips, which are distributed to each employee with—if EFT is not used—pay attached. Periodically, statements of yearly earnings and income tax deductions, etc (referred to in some jurisdictions as “Group Certificates”) may be prepared and distributed. A flow chart for an example of such a prior art system is shown at 100 in FIG. 1, from the step 102 of recruiting employees through steps 104 to 110, to the ultimate step 122 of the issuing of Group Certificates. Such prior art systems, however, require a large quantity of data entry, including into the initial roster, into time sheets, and into the payroll administration system.

1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structured lighting material, a method to generate incoherent luminescence employing the structured lighting material, and an illuminator comprising the structured lighting material which emits light when energy is externally applied thereto. 2) Description of the Related Art To date, various luminescent devices have been developed which emit light in response to energy being externally applied thereto (for example, using an electron beam). Such luminescent devices have come into widespread use in display applications using a cathode-ray tube, a projection tube or the like (ef. Phosphor Handbook, by S. Shionoya and W. M. Chen, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1998). The present invention concerns a specific structured lighting material to be used in a luminescent device as described below. A description will be given hereinbelow of a conventional luminescent device with reference to FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B). A luminescent device comprises a metal-made substrate (base) 102 and a luminescent unit 103 made by placing a phosphor on the substrate 102 in the form of a layer. In such a configuration, the luminescent device emits light when the host of a phosphor constituting the luminescent unit 103 is excited by electric energy such as electron beam, electric charge or electric field applied from the external. Thus, the luminescent device can convert the inputted electric energy (excitation energy) into luminescence to be outputted. Although the luminescence or emission intensity of the luminescent device generally increases monotonically with an increase in an excitation energy inputted from the external, the degree of increase is prone to drop if the excitation energy quantity exceeds an energy quantity; if the excitation energy quantity further increases, the luminescent intensity reaches a saturation or decreases (cf. Phosphor Handbook, by S. Shionoya and W. M. Yen, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1998, p.489-p.498). When a correlation between electron beam current (current value) A acting as excitation energy and luminescence intensity are shown on a log-log graph and the inclination (which will be referred to hereinafter as an xe2x80x9cinput-output differential variationxe2x80x9d) xcex8[=xcex94 log(I)/xcex94 log(A)] of the line representing this correlation assumes a positive value, it is referred to as a monotonic increase. The input-output differential variation of the conventional luminescent device is apt to get worse as the input energy such as electron beam increases. The present invention has been developed in consideration of such a situation, and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a structured lighting material wherein luminescent intensity increases superlinearly when excitation energy based on electron beam, electric charge or electric field exceeds a threshold. In the present invention, the term xe2x80x9csuperlinearlyxe2x80x9d signifies that the input-output differential variation xcex8 increases when applied energy exceeds a threshold. In most cases, when the applied energy is below the threshold, the input-output differential variation xcex8 assumes less than 1. On the other hand, it becomes 1 or more when the applied energy is above the threshold. For this purpose, a structured lighting material according to the first aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising a luminescent unit wherein the intensity of incoherent luminescence increases superlinearly when energy applied in a non-contact manner exceeds a threshold. This arrangement, wherein the luminescent intensity of the luminescent unit increases superlinearly when the electric energy given in a non-contact manner exceeds the threshold, can be incorporated into a wide range of applications. For example, the application to various types of illuminations is feasible owing to its high-efficient luminescence. As a further advantage, it is also applicable to detection equipment, alarm equipment or the like because the magnitude of the electric energy can be monitored from the luminescence intensity of the luminescent unit. Furthermore, the application to memories or various types of control devices becomes feasible because the luminescent intensity varies rapidly around a threshold so that the variation of the luminescent intensity is extracted as on/off signals in a state where reference is set to the threshold. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent color of the luminescent unit varies as the input energy increased beyond the threshold. This provides easy visual confirmation of the variation of the state of the luminescent unit. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the energy is electric energy originating from any one of electron beam, electric charge and electric field. This allows an energy applying means in a conventional structured lighting material (such as a conventional luminescent device) to be available as it is. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent part has a non-electrical conductive property. This can provide advantages of securing electrification property of the luminescent unit, generating rapid increase of the luminescent intensity beyond a threshold and effective variation of luminescent color, and developing such variation in the intensity and color of the luminescent unit with low applied energy. A structured lighting material according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising a luminescent unit which shows a non-electrical conductive property and has a microscopic or minute uneven surface, wherein the luminescent intensity increases superlinearly when energy applied to the minute uneven surface in a non-contact manner exceeds a threshold. The effects similar to those of the structured lighting material according to the first aspect of the invention are attainable, because the luminescent intensity of the luminescent unit increases superlinearly and the luminescent color of the luminescent part varies, when electric energy applied to the minute uneven surface in a non-contact manner exceeds the threshold. In addition, the luminescent intensity higher than that of a conventional structured lighting material is assured, which realize a high-output illuminator. Still additionally, the requirement for the luminescent unit is only the realization of the minute uneven surface, and various kinds of knowledge concerned with the conventional structured lighting materials can be put directly to practical use. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, the minute uneven surface is formed in a manner that the thickness of the luminescent unit is made non-uniform. This allows easy formation of the minute uneven surface simply by making the thickness of the luminescent unit non-uniform. The effects similar to those of the structured lighting material according to the second aspect of the invention are attainable. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, the minute uneven surface has high and low portions respectively corresponding to maximum and minimum thicknesses of the luminescent unit, and the maximum thickness is set to be three or more times said minimum thickness. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is assured. In addition, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, the minute uneven surface has high and low portions respectively corresponding to maximum and minimum thicknesses of the luminescent unit, and the maximum thickness is set to be ten or more times said minimum thickness. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is more assured. Still additionally, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, the minimum thickness of the luminescent unit is not more than 500 xcexcm. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is assured. Furthermore, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, the minimum thickness of the luminescent unit is not more than 50 xcexcm. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is more assured. Still moreover, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, an inclination angle (slope angle) of an uneven surface of a local site is in a range from 30 degrees to 150 degrees. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is assured. Yet moreover, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the second aspect of the invention, an inclination angle of an uneven surface of a local site is in a range from 50 degrees to 130 degrees. This makes the unevenness of the luminescent unit surface effective, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material is more assured. Furthermore, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent unit is made of inorganic material. Accordingly, this realizes less degradation while the energy is applied thereto. Still furthermore, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent unit is adhered on a substrate. This allows the luminescent unit to be formed in a stable condition. Yet furthermore, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent unit is adhered on a substrate without using water-soluble fixing agent. This secures the electrification property of the luminescent unit, and the effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material are attainable. Moreover, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, in the structured lighting material stated above as the first aspect of the invention, the luminescent unit is adhered on the substrate in a manner of facilitating electrification. This secures the electrification property of the luminescent unit. The effects similar to those of the above-mentioned structured lighting material are attainable. Still moreover, an illuminator according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising the structured lighting material according to the first or second aspects of the present invention. This provides efficient luminescence for supplied energy. In addition, a method to generate incoherent luminescence according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized by applying energy more than a threshold to the structured lighting material including a luminescent unit wherein the intensity of incoherent luminescence increases superlinearly when energy applied in a non-contact manner exceeds the threshold. This offers the effects similar to those of the structured lighting materials according to the first and second aspects of the present invention.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method. 2. Related Art Since an ink jet recording method is able to record a highly fine image by a relatively simple apparatus, techniques relating to this recording method have been rapidly developed in various fields. In particular, various studies on ejection stability and the like have been carried out. For example, JP-A-2014-34167 has disclosed an ink jet recording method which includes a pre-treatment liquid application step of applying to a recording medium, a pre-treatment liquid (reaction liquid) which contains an organic solvent, water, and an aggregating agent aggregating a color material component of an ink; and an ink ejection step of performing an ink-jet ejection of an ink containing a color material and water onto the recording medium. When the above ink jet recording method using a reaction liquid is applied to a non-absorptive recording medium or a low-absorptive recording medium, each of which functions as a recording medium, it was found that an image quality is influenced by a drying state of the reaction liquid. When the ink was applied in the state in which a reaction liquid adhered to the recording medium is not sufficiently dried, problems of image quality, such as a covering property, were observed. On the other hand, depending on the degree of drying of the reaction liquid adhered to the recording medium, an image quality, such as color stability, was disadvantageously degraded.

Navigation systems assist users in locating objects. For instance, navigation systems are used in industrial, aerospace, defense, and medical applications. In the medical field, navigation systems assist surgeons in placing surgical instruments relative to a patient's anatomy. Surgeries in which navigation systems are used include neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. Typically, the instrument and the anatomy are tracked together with their relative movement shown on a display. Navigation systems may employ light signals, sound waves, magnetic fields, radio frequency signals, etc. in order to track the position and/or orientation of objects. Often the navigation system includes tracking devices attached to the object being tracked. A localizer cooperates with tracking elements on the tracking devices to determine a position of the tracking devices, and ultimately to determine a position and/or orientation of the object. The navigation system monitors movement of the object via the tracking devices. Many navigation systems rely on an unobstructed line-of-sight between the tracking elements and sensors that receive tracking signals from the tracking elements. When the line-of-sight is obstructed, tracking signals being transmitted from the tracking elements are not received by the sensors. As a result, errors can occur. Typically, in this situation, navigation is discontinued and error messages are conveyed to the user until the line-of-sight returns or the system is reset. In the medical field, in many instances, the error messages are displayed on a monitor remote from the surgeon making it difficult for the surgeon to notice and remedy the error in a timely manner. This can cause delays to surgical procedures. As a result, there is a need in the art for navigation systems and methods that quickly identify line-of-sight issues so that they can be resolved without significant delay. There is also a need in the art for navigation systems and methods that help to improve the line-of-sight and reduce possible errors associated with obstructions to the line-of-sight between tracking elements and sensors.

1. Field of the Invention This invention generally relates to shuttlecocks used in racquet sport games and, more particularly, to an improved shuttlecock having strengthened fins and a force absorbing nose cone. 2. Description of the Prior Art Shuttlecocks for use in conjunction with racquet sport games are known. For example, the inventor herein obtained U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,353, issued on Mar. 23, 2004, for a Racquet Sport Game and Shuttlecocks for Use Therewith (“'353”). While the shuttlecock in the '353 patent provided for an interesting game, it suffered from being too fragile, causing fatigue failure of one or more of the tail fins and other elements of the shuttlecock, after prolonged use. The shuttlecock of the present invention provides an integrated assembly that is more rigid and forgiving and which may be used in a racquet sports game for prolonged periods of time, without failure. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a shuttlecock that overcomes known problems by providing a device with strengthened tail fin portions and an improved, partially compressible or flexible nose cone, to absorb energy and redistribute forces applied by a racket, or the like, in accordance with the present invention.

The invention relates generally to a filter assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a filter assembly including an accordion fold pack made of filter material, which is sealingly joined to a retention frame. Disposed at the end face of the retention frame, at least on one side, is a bracing whose length corresponds essentially to the length of the end-face fold. The bracing extends essentially parallel to the direction of the end-face fold edge of the accordion fold pack and is arranged in the end-face fold. European Patent 0 649 335 A1 discloses one such filter assembly. In that patent, the side walls of the accordion fold pack are in each case sealingly overlapped by a stabilizing strip. The stabilizing strip on the side facing the retention frame has a separately produced sealing strip that can be positioned against the retention frame under elastic prestressing, forming a seal. The seal between the retention frame and a filter housing surrounding the retention frame is effected by a further seal which is formed separately from the seal between the accordion fold pack and the retention frame.

Because of the increased interest in protecting digital data from illegal copying, watermarking of data has, in recent years, become increasingly popular. Embedding a watermark into a digital data file involves selecting samples from the digital data file and recording in selected bits of these samples, data comprising copyright information. Arrangements can then be made so that any unauthorized access or copying of the original data file runs the risk of the extracted watermark exposing the lack of legal ownership of the file. An official and reliable watermark has to be difficult to find and remove or override. In addition, the watermark should not affect substantially the quality of the original data file. Copyright protection by way of watermarking has become especially popular in the music industry, where recently there has been a strong increase in illegal downloads and copying. For the process of watermarking audio files, however, an additional consideration is related to the fact that many such files, together with the embedded watermarks, are processed on mobile phones and other hand-held players. In order to minimize cost and extend battery life, such hand-held devices often have slow processors with limited computational capabilities. Some of the methods developed for embedding watermarks use spread spectrum techniques in the frequency domain. These methods generally require the original audio data for watermark detection. These methods also are computationally intense, because of the complex transformations involved in the data processing. Accordingly, these methods are not suitable for processing watermarked files in hand-held devices. Other techniques embed watermarks in the time domain. Many of these techniques use the least significant data bits of the respective data samples to store the watermark. One disadvantage of this approach is that the stored watermark can be erased without significantly eroding the audio quality, thus undermining the reliability of the protection. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a method for embedding a watermark in digital data that is tamper-resistant and relatively simple, so that the verification of the watermark would not require substantial computational capabilities.

This invention relates to an ordering method and apparatus for broadcast radio programs used by a person in motion. Many people spend significant amounts of time traveling on a regular basis. Commuters using automobiles and mass transport fill the streets and transportation depots of many metropolitan areas several times a day for many hours. Others using bicycles and other wheeled vehicles are seen not only at rush hours, but also at other times throughout the week and on holidays. Still others prefer to long distance running and walking. All of these people have the opportunity to purchase radio receivers which enable them to enjoy broadcast radio programs of a wide variety, including entertainment such as music, dramatic productions, comedies, interviews, story telling sessions, as well as news and other factual radio programs including investment shows as well as advertisements and/or commercials. FIG. 1 depicts typical prior art vehicular radio receivers and cellular telephones. The basic receiver 10 of today often possesses an indicator 2 visually presenting some status information, such as whether the FM receiver is active, and if so, its tuner frequency. There is often a door 4 permitting loading and unloading of audio recording media, such as cassette tapes or CD""s. Other alternatives include downloaded audio files on nonvolatile memory components. There is usually an array of push buttons 6, which may be arranged in a variety of configurations, which may or may not form a regular pattern. Sometimes there are dials 8. This basic receiver 10 is usually able to receive both AM and FM broadcasts as well as often play recorded material such as cassette tapes or CDs. Audio output is often achieved in automobiles using speakers 12 and 14 coupled to the receiver 10 by wires 16 and 18, respectively. Other kinds of commuters and travelers usually cannot afford the space of separately detached speakers. Another solution includes a headset 20 including left and right speakers 22 and 24 sometimes with all the electronics for broadcast radio reception being resident in the headset 20, sometimes with an antenna 30. Volume and tuning controls 26 are often mounted on the earphone-speaker sections such as 22. Batteries 28 are often mounted in the headset 20 as shown. A further progression includes an addition of microphone 34 attached by a mount 32 to the headset. Still further refinements include cabling 40 to a unit 42, which is often mounted on a belt. This belt-mounted unit 42 often contains the active electronic components of the basic receiver 10 discussed above. Belt-mounted unit 42 often further contains an indicator 44 visually presenting some status information, a door 46 permitting loading and unloading of audio recording media and an array of push buttons 48. Such units 42 usually receive both AM and FM broadcasts as well as often play recorded material such as cassette tapes or CDs. Some performing artists use versions of devices resembling these units 20-40-42 in place of hand held microphones and headsets. In such circumstances, the units act as transceivers, similar to cellular telephones, although with higher fidelity than standard cellular telephones. Additionally, cellular telephones 50 possessing a microphone 52 and earphone 54, a push button array 56 and sometimes an antenna 58 have become common throughout much of the world. FIG. 2 depicts a simplified block diagram of a typical, prior art broadcast radio receiver. FM antenna 100 is coupled 102 to FM Tuner 104. FM Tuner 104 is coupled 106 to FM Intermediate Frequency Processor (IF) 108, from which the stereo audio signals 110 are presented to Analog Multiplexer/Switch 150. AM antenna 120 is coupled 122 to AM Tuner 124. AM Tuner 124 presents the audio signal 126 to Analog Multiplexer/Switch 150. Tape drive 140 is coupled 142 to Tape Preamp 144. Tape Preamp 144 presents the stereo audio signals 146 to Analog Multiplexer/Switch 150. Analog Multiplexer/Switch 150 is usually manually controlled to select from a collection of inputs such as discussed above. It generates one or more audio signals 162 which are presented to Tone and Volume Control 160, which generates audio signals 166 which are presented to one or more power amplifiers 164. Power amplifiers 164 generate one or more audio signals presented 170 to Audio Speaker System 168. The Audio Speaker System 168 involves one or more speakers, which may reside in a headset, rigidly mounted on the sides of an enclosure such as a boom box, or distributed some distance from each other, as in an automobile. Often the mechanism of presentation 170 to the audio speaker system is through a wire-based physical transport layer, but in certain situations, it may be through a wireless physical transport layer. These systems have been a staple of the consumer electronics market for a quarter of a century, remaining virtually unchanged in that time. However, there are some frustrations associated with such systems and the above mentioned cellular telephones. There is a subsidiary FM signal protocol known as RDS in the United States (and often referred to as RDBS in Europe), which has been adopted and deployed in a number of radio markets within the United States. RDS specifies a sub-band within the channel bandwidth of a standard FM broadcast station, which does not interfere with the audio sub-band of the FM transmission. The sub-band is currently used to broadcast digital information such as standard identification information of the standard broadcast station. From certain perspectives, this sub-band can be viewed as a sub-carrier used for additional analog and/or digital information. FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary prior art mobile computer 200 capable of being installed in an automobile. Computer 200 typically is designed to mount on or near the dashboard of an automobile, but could conceptually be mounted on the handle bars of a bicycle. Assembly 202-204-206 acts as a selection device similar in some ways to a mouse or joy stick. Push plate 204, when depressed away from its center, selects a region such as 206. Region 202 in certain situations contains a number of designations useful in selecting specific common options. Display 210 portrays the state of the computer, providing the main user output. Buttons 208, 212, 214 and 216 provide a further array of user tactile inputs. Systems such as this have recently come onto the market here in the United States. Many of these systems run handheld computer operating systems and often feature menu driven control systems further accessing one or more nonvolatile memory systems, such as CDs, disk drives or nonvolatile semiconductor memories. However, even with such new systems, there are some frustrations associated with this kind of device and the above mentioned radio receivers and cellular telephones. Consider the situation where there is an interest in buying a copy of the radio program either being heard or having just been heard. How is this to be done? Today one faces an inherently frustrating situation. One approach is to somehow note what was played. One might call some distributor on the telephone to order the radio program. This is often at least distracting, if not dangerous, for motorists, whose life and health, as well as the lives and health of those around them, depends upon them staying focused on driving. For other most people in motion, simultaneously dealing with a cellular telephone and a broadcast radio receiver would be quite inconvenient, if not again distracting and potentially dangerous. One might wait to visit a store selling such merchandise. This requires that somehow one remember what was played and who performed it at the least. In almost all the situations described above, this is again inconvenient, distracting and potentially dangerous. An alternative would be to note the radio program, channel and broadcast time and use this information to order the radio program. Such a system has been recently granted a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,635). Characteristic of such systems is the following description of the user""s actions to order a radio program taken from the Summary of the Invention (column 2, lines 18-21). xe2x80x9cA customer uses her telephone to call into the system and gives the date, time, and broadcaster of when she heard each requested program broadcasted.xe2x80x9d This would again be inconvenient, distracting and in many circumstances for people in motion, dangerous. An additional problem confronts the user in motion: financial information disclosure. Cellular telephones can often be overheard electronically. In mass transports, people in the vicinity of a user may well overhear critical identifying information such as credit card or subscriber numbers. Similar situations often occur for individuals on bicycles and on foot. What is needed is a method of ordering radio programs which is convenient, extremely easy to perform while in motion and simultaneously capable of being secure. What is also needed is a class of radio devices supporting such methods of ordering. What is also needed is a method of controlling such radio devices so users may order radio programs in the manners discussed hereinafter. The present invention answers all of these needs. The method of use presents an extremely efficient manner of ordering a radio program occurring at approximately the time presented, minimizing the need to remember any details. The method is embodied in a range of tactile and voice controls which people in motion need to have. Security options include voice signatures, button sequences and fingerprint identification. User feedback is embodied in both audio and visual display formats. The radio device supports an IF signal source containing essential information on the radio program, an embedded controller, user interface as well as a radio transceiver by which the ordering transaction is carried out. The IF signal source may be digital or analog. The embedded controller contains a writeable nonvolatile memory supporting the control program and security signatures. The user interface supports push buttons, audio input and output to the user, as well as visual output to the user and a fingerprint scanner. The radio transceiver may be embodied as a cellular telephone or bidirectional pager. The method of controlling the radio supports the basic actions of placing an order, querying the ordering system for additional information, initializing a user""s identifying signature, initializing a session by identifying a user, blocking access to ordering if the user is not identified, and in certain embodiments, calling the police. In certain embodiments, the user""s identifying signature may include one or more of button sequences, voice signature and fingerprint.

The present invention relates to an interleaving A/D conversion type waveform digitizer module and a test apparatus thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a digitizer module for detecting measurement errors accompanied by phase errors of sampling timing in interleaving A/D converting and correcting the errors. An N way interleaving. A/D (i.e. analog/digital) conversion type digitizer module, which uses N A/D converters, is capable of increasing a sampling rate in appearance, but on the other hand it is required to sample signals with a precise sampling timing. In this example, it is described below to let a interleaving constant be 2. And, it is described to let the number of time series data be 4096 pieces of data, which are 2 to the power 12. The digitizer module includes two A/D converters and a Fourier-transform unit. The A/D converters convert analog signals into digital signals at a constant sampling rate. The two A/D converters increase the sampling rate in appearance by sampling the analog signals in turn. In this example, it is to let the data sampled by the two A/D converters be 4096 data series. The Fourier-transform unit performs Fourier-transform of the digital signals sampled by the A/D converters. The Fourier-transform unit receives the digital signal data series sampled by the A/D converters and outputs 4096 pieces of frequency spectrum data resulting from a fast Fourier-transform (FFT). The Fourier-transform unit includes a first FFT unit, a second FFT unit and a butterfly operation unit. Each of the first FFT unit and the second FFT unit receives 2048 time series data and outputs 2048 pieces of mid-data (complex data) resulting from FFT. The butterfly operation unit performs the last part of a butterfly operation well known as used for FFT process. The butterfly operation unit performs a butterfly operation on the data from the first FFT unit and the second FFT unit and outputs 4096 pieces of frequency spectrum data resulting from the well-known butterfly operation to which FFT process is applied. As a configuration example of a digitizer module for the semiconductor type test apparatus, there is a digitizer module including a first A/D converter to which analog signals are transmitted by a device to be tested, a second A/D converter, an arrangement unit and a Fourier-transform unit. Here, the two A/D converters have the entirely same characteristic of sampling timing including a group delay characteristic and an aperture delay characteristic. Usually, sampling data sampled by the two A/D converters is stored first in a buffer memory installed, then the data is provided to the Fourier-transform unit and an operation is performed thereon. Analog signals for testing outputted by a device to be tested are provided to input terminals of both the first A/D converter and the second A/D converters and the first A/D converter performs sampling on even data series. It is to let outputted even time series data be D0, D2, D4, . . . . And, the second A/D converter performs sampling on odd data series. It is to let outputted odd time series data be D1, D3, D5, . . . . The arrangement unit receives the two time series data and outputs time series data D0, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, . . . arranged in turn. Phase adjustment should be done to make phase differences between the sampling timings of the two A/D converters be a constant difference. And also if there is a phase error, proper frequency spectrum data cannot be obtained because FFT process is performed on data sampled with a constant time interval. As described above, in prior art, sampling timing of a plurality of A/D converters does not change and a sampling clock rate is constant or within an error-allowed range. Meanwhile, a sampling characteristic of the A/D converter brings about a change in sampling with a constant time interval, which is desirable, because of a difference in quality of parts of A/D converter itself, surroundings temperature, a change according to time laps and a change in power source voltage. And, the group delay characteristic is changed according to a change in a clock frequency for sampling in the case of using, for example, the semiconductor type test apparatus substantially changing the sampling frequency. Accompanied by these causes, a change arises from sampling timing of an ideal state. That is, in the case of desiring a high precision frequency spectrum of an input signal, a practical problem not preferable to the prior apparatus. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interleaving A/D conversion type digitizer module and a semiconductor test apparatus for correcting an operation process of a Fourier-transform unit on the basis of phase difference between the sampling timings of a plurality of A/D converters. The above and other objects can be achieved by combinations described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous and exemplary combinations of the present invention. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a digitizer module for converting an analog signal outputted by an electronic device into a digital signal, comprises at least two A/D converters for converting an analog signal outputted by the electronic device into a digital signal, each of the A/D converters operating with different sampling timing, a Fourier-transform unit for performing Fourier-transform on each of the digital signals converted by the at least two A/D converters and outputting a transformed signal, and an interleaving unit for generating a data sequence in which the transformed signal outputted by the Fourier-transform unit is comprised, wherein the interleaving unit comprises a spurious elimination means for eliminating a spurious component in the transformed signal resulting from a phase error between an ideal sampling timing, with which each of the at least two A/D converters should perform sampling on each of the analog signals, and the sampling timing, with which each of the at least two A/D converters performs sampling on each of the analog signals. The interleaving unit further may comprise an aliasing elimination means for eliminating an aliasing component of the spurious component. The spurious elimination means may calculate a correction factor on the basis of each of the transformed signals by using the phase error and a boundary condition, under which the spurious component in the transformed signal does not exist, and eliminates the spurious component on the basis of the correction factor. The spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor for each of the transformed signals outputted by the Fourier-transform unit corresponding to each of the at least two A/D converters, and eliminates the spurious component on the basis of the correction factor. The ideal sampling timing may be defined as a sampling timing with which each of other A/D converters performs sampling in turn at a constant time interval in case one of sampling timings of the at least two A/D converters is regarded as a reference sampling timing, and the spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor on the basis of each of the phase errors between each of sampling timings of the other A/D converters and the ideal sampling timing, and may eliminate the spurious component on the basis of the correction factor. The spurious elimination means may multiply each of the transformed signals by the correction factor calculated for each of the transformed signals. The spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor to eliminate components other than a signal component of the analog signal and the aliasing component of the signal component when a total sum of the N transformed signals multiplied by the correction factor are calculated. The spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor for each of a plurality of bands, into which a band of the transformed signal is divided, on the basis of a phase of sampling timing of the at least two A/D converters. The spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor by using a simultaneous equation. An sampling pulse, with which the at least two A/D converters perform sampling on the analog signal, is given by: p m ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ r = - ∞ ∞ ⁢ σ ⁢ { ( t - ( N xc3x97 r + m ) ⁢ Ts ) - τ m } , where N denotes the number of the at least two A/D converters, m denotes an integer in a range of 0(zero) to (N-1), t denotes time, Ts denotes a phase interval of each of the at least two A/D converters, m denotes an m-th A/D converter andxcfx84 denotes the phase error of the at least two A/D converters, a Fourier-transform of sampling series of the analog signal sampled by the at least two A/D converters is given by: Xm ⁡ ( f ) = 1 N xc3x97 Ts ⁢ ∑ r = - ∞ ∞ ⁢ X ⁡ ( f - r N xc3x97 Ts ) ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r 2 ⁢ ( m + τ ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ m Ts ) , ⁢ that ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ is , "IndentingNewLine" ⁢ X 0 ⁡ ( f ) = x _ ⁡ ( - k ) + … + x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + x _ ⁡ ( l ) X 1 ⁡ ( f ) = c 1 - k ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - k ) + … + c 1 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c 1 l ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( l ) X 2 ⁡ ( f ) = c 2 - k ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - k ) + … + c 2 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c 2 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c 2 l ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( l ) ⋮ X N - 1 ⁡ ( f ) = c N - 1 - k ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - k ) + … + c N - 1 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c N - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c N - 1 l ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( l ) (where, in case a band of X(f) is [xe2x88x922 fs, 2 fs], terms having r in a range of xe2x88x92k to 1 in the above equation are components within a band [0, 4 fs], and are cm and x(r) are respectively given by: c m = ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π 2 ⁢ ( r + τ m / Ts ) , x _ ⁡ ( r ) = 1 NTs ⁢ X ⁡ ( f - r NTs ) , and in case the aliasing component related to 2 fs, which is a frequency of signal component x{circumflex over ( )}(0), is x{circumflex over ( )}(u) (where x{circumflex over ( )} is a substitute notation for {overscore (x)}.), the spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor L1, L2, . . . LN-1 to satisfy a equation given by: X0(f)+L1X1(f)+L2X2(f)+. . . +LN-1XN-1(f)=a{overscore (x)}(0)+b{overscore (x)}(u), where either a or b is a random real number. The Fourier-transform unit outputs the transformed signal DFTm(r) resulting from a Fourier-transform of the digital signal outputted by the at least two A/D converters, and for a first band, in which the signal component x{circumflex over ( )}(0) exists, the spurious elimination means calculates a Fourier-transform X(f)=X(r/NTs) of the analog signal using a equation given by: X ⁡ ( r NTs ) = ⁢ 1 1 + L 1 + L 2 + … + L N - 1 ⁢ { DFT 0 ⁡ ( r ) + L 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 1 + τ 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 1 ⁡ ( r ) + ⁢ L 2 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 2 + τ 2 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 2 ⁡ ( r ) ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ … + ⁢ L N - 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( N - 1 + τ N - 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT N - 1 ⁡ ( r ) } , while for a second band, in which aliasing component x{circumflex over ( )}(u) of the signal component x{circumflex over ( )}(0) exists, the spurious elimination means may calculate a Fourier-transform X(f)=X(r/NTs) of the analog signal using a equation given by: X ⁡ ( r NTs ) = ⁢ 1 1 + ∑ n = 1 N - 1 ⁢ c n u ⁢ L n ⁢ { DFT 0 ⁡ ( r ) + L 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 1 + τ 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 1 ⁡ ( r ) + ⁢ L 2 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 2 + τ 2 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 2 ⁡ ( r ) ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ … + ⁢ L N - 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r N ⁢ ( N - 1 + τ N - 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT N - 1 ⁡ ( r ) } . The first band may be in a frequency range of 0 to 2 fs, and the second band may be in a frequency range of 2 fs to frequency 4 fs. A digitizer module comprising four A/D converters, wherein a sampling pulse with which the four A/D converters perform sampling on the analog signal is given by: p m ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ r = - ∞ ∞ ⁢ σ ⁢ { ( t - ( 4 ⁢ r + m ) ⁢ Ts ) - τ m } , where m denotes an integer 0 to 3, t denotes time, Ts denotes a phase interval of each of the four A/D converters, m denotes an m-th A/D converter andxcfx84 denotes the phase error of each of the four A/D converters, a Fourier-transform of sampling series of the analog signal sampled by each of the four A/D converters is given by: Xm ⁡ ( f ) = 1 4 ⁢ Ts ⁢ ∑ r = - ∞ ∞ ⁢ X ⁡ ( f - r 4 ⁢ Ts ) ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ r 2 ⁢ ( m + τ ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ m Ts ) , that ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ is , X 0 ⁡ ( f ) = x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + x _ ⁡ ( 5 ) X 1 ⁡ ( f ) = c 1 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c 1 5 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 5 ) X 2 ⁡ ( f ) = c 2 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c 2 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c 2 5 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 5 ) X 3 ⁡ ( f ) = c 3 - 1 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( - 1 ) + x _ ⁡ ( 0 ) + c 3 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 1 ) + … + c 3 5 ⁢ x _ ⁡ ( 5 ) , (where, in case a band of X(f) is [xe2x88x922 fs, 2 fs], terms having r in a range of xe2x88x921 to 5 in the above equation are components within a band [0, 4 fs], and cm and x(r) are respectively given by: c m = ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ π 2 ⁢ ( r + τ m / Ts ) , x _ ⁡ ( r ) = 1 4 ⁢ Ts ⁢ X ( f - r 4 ⁢ Ts ) ) , and in case the aliasing component related to 2 fs, which is a frequency of signal component x{circumflex over ( )}(0), is x{circumflex over ( )}(4) (where x{circumflex over ( )} is a substitute notation for {overscore (x)}), the spurious elimination means may calculate the correction factor L1, L2 and L3 to satisfy a equation given by: X0(f)+L1X1(f)+L2X2(f)+. . . +L3X3(f)=a{overscore (x)}(0)+b{overscore (x)}(4), where either a or b is a random real number. For a third band in a frequency range of 0 to fs, the correction factor L1, L2 and L3 may be represented as: L 1 = - c 1 ⁡ ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 ⁢ c 3 + c 2 + c 3 ) ( c 1 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 1 ⁢ c 2 + c 2 ⁢ c 3 + c 3 ⁢ c 1 ) L 2 = - c 2 ⁡ ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 ⁢ c 1 + c 3 + c 1 ) ( c 2 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 ⁢ c 3 + c 3 ⁢ c 1 + c 1 ⁢ c 2 ) L 3 = - c 3 ⁡ ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 ⁢ c 2 + c 1 + c 2 ) ( c 3 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 3 ⁢ c 1 + c 1 ⁢ c 2 + c 2 ⁢ c 3 ) , for a fourth band in a frequency range of fs to 2 fs, the correction factor L1, L2 and L3 mat be represented as: L 1 = - ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - 1 ) c 1 ⁡ ( c 1 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - c 3 ) L 2 = - ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - 1 ) c 2 ⁡ ( c 2 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - c 1 ) L 3 = - ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - 1 ) c 3 ⁡ ( c 3 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - c 2 ) , for a fifth band in a frequency range of 2 fs to 3 fs, the correction factor L1, L2 and L3 may be represented as: L 1 = - ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - 1 ) c 1 ⁡ ( c 1 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - c 3 ) L 2 = - ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - 1 ) c 2 ⁡ ( c 2 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - c 1 ) L 3 = - ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - 1 ) c 3 ⁡ ( c 3 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - c 2 ) and for a sixth band in a frequency range of 3 fs to 4 fs, the correction factor L1, L2 and L3 may be represented as: L 1 = - ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( 1 + c 2 + c 3 ) c 1 2 ⁡ ( c 1 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 1 + c 2 + c 3 ) L 2 = - ( c 3 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( 1 + c 3 + c 1 ) c 2 2 ⁡ ( c 2 - c 3 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 1 + c 2 + c 3 ) L 3 = - ( c 1 - 1 ) ⁢ ( c 2 - 1 ) ⁢ ( 1 + c 1 + c 2 ) c 3 2 ⁡ ( c 3 - c 1 ) ⁢ ( c 3 - c 2 ) ⁢ ( c 1 + c 2 + c 3 ) The Fourier-transform unit outputs the transformed signal DFTm(r) resulting from a Fourier-transform of the digital signal outputted by the at least two A/D converters, and the spurious elimination means may calculate a Fourier-transform X(f)=X(r/NTs) of the analog signal for the third and fourth bands using a equation given by: X ⁡ ( r NTs ) = 1 1 + L 1 + L 2 + L 3 ⁢ { DFT 0 ⁡ ( r ) + L 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 1 + τ 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 1 ⁡ ( r ) + L 2 ⁢ ⅇ - j2π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 2 + τ 2 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 2 ⁡ ( r ) + L 3 ⁢ ⅇ - j2π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 3 + τ 3 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 3 ⁡ ( r ) } , while the spurious elimination means calculates a Fourier-transform X(f)=X(r/NTs) of the analog signal for the fifth and sixth bands using a equation given by: X ⁡ ( r NTs ) = 1 1 + ∑ n = 1 3 ⁢ c n 4 ⁢ L n ⁢ { DFT 0 ⁡ ( r ) + L 1 ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ xe2x80x83 ⁢ 2 ⁢ π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 1 + τ 1 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 1 ⁡ ( r ) + L 2 ⁢ ⅇ - j2π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 2 + τ 2 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 2 ⁡ ( r ) + L 3 ⁢ ⅇ - j2π ⁢ r N ⁢ ( 3 + τ 3 / Ts ) ⁢ DFT 3 ⁡ ( r ) } . According to the second aspect of the present invention, a test apparatus for testing an electronic device, comprises a pattern generator for generating a pattern signal and a expectation signal, a waveform adjuster for shaping a waveform of the pattern signal generated by the pattern generator, a device contacting unit for providing the pattern signal shaped by the waveform adjuster to the electronic device installed, and receiving analog signal outputted by the electronic device, a digitizer module for converting the analog signal outputted by the electronic device into digital signal and a decision unit for deciding quality of the electronic device by comparing the expectation signals outputted by the pattern generator with signals outputted by the digitizer module, wherein the digitizer module comprises at least two A/D converters for converting an analog signal outputted by the electronic device into a digital signal, each of the A/D converters operating with different sampling timing, a Fourier-transform unit for performing Fourier-transform on each of the digital signals converted by the at least two A/D converters, and outputting a transformed signal and an interleaving unit for generating a data sequence in which the transformed signal outputted by the Fourier-transform unit is comprised, and the interleaving unit comprises a spurious elimination means for eliminating a spurious component in the transformed signal resulting from a phase error between an ideal sampling timing, with which each of the at least two A/D converters should perform sampling on each of the analog signals, and the sampling timing, with which each of the at least two A/D converters performs sampling on each of the analog signals. The summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all necessary features of the present invention. The present invention may also be a sub-combination of the features described above. The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

It is known in the art to dose a reagent, such as urea solution, into the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine in order to enable a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the exhaust gas stream. The dosing of reagent is typically performed using a fluid dosing pump or fluid doser. An example of a known fluid dosing pump is described in the Applicant's published European Patent No. 1878920. Such a dosing pump is usually mounted to a hot exhaust system and, accordingly, relies on a combination of insulation and the cooling effect provided by the reagent fluid being pumped through it in order to prevent overheating. The exhaust systems of modern diesel engines are typically fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPF) to remove soot from the exhaust gas stream. A DPF requires periodic “regeneration”, which involves raising the temperature of the exhaust gases to a higher than normal temperature in order to burn off the soot trapped in the DPF. Occasionally, an “extreme regeneration” is required, during which the exhaust gases are raised to a temperature even greater than during the normal regeneration process. During an “extreme regeneration” event, the high exhaust gas temperatures tend to release ammonia stored in the SCR catalyst, which is able to reduce all the oxides of nitrogen present. Accordingly, in such circumstances it is not desirable to dose reagent using the dosing pump because the reagent is not required for SCR and is wasted. However, by reducing or stopping dosing, the dosing pump may be adversely affected due to the extreme exhaust gas temperatures combined with the reduced cooling flow of reagent through the pump. It has been determined from engine testing under such conditions that the fluid inside the main pump body can boil, preventing the pump from dosing correctly. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fluid dosing pump which substantially overcomes or mitigates the aforementioned problem.

The present invention relates to a data processing method and apparatus, and a recording medium for an error-correcting product code favorable for use in the recording and transmission of digital data. More particularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system using an error-correcting product code which comprises an error-correcting outer parity and an error-correcting inner parity which are effective in the case where information data is recorded on a plurality kinds of recording media particularly having a largely different recording density. Here, particularly, in a method for forming the outer parity, a PO series creation by n sets of data items aggregated by n rows is used. Consequently, even when the error-correcting product code block is recorded on a recording medium in an order of data transmission without carrying out data interleave process; the capability of coping with the defect is largely improved. In a system in which digital data is recorded on an optical disk by bytes (one byte is equal to eight bits) or digital data is transmitted to a transmission channel, a Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block is constructed to process data. That is, (M.times.N) bytes of data is arranged in a matrix containing an M rows.times.N columns. Then, PO bytes error-correcting word is added to each column of M bytes information portion. Then, PI bytes of error-correcting words are added to each row of N bytes information portion. Then, (M+Po) rows.times.(N+Pi) columns Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block is constructed. Then, this Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block is either recorded on a recording medium or transmitted to a transmission channel. The error-correcting processing portion on the information reproduction side of the recording medium and the receiving side of the transmission channel are capable of correcting random errors and burst errors on the information portion by using the error-correcting words PO and PI. Such Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block has a higher data processing efficiency with a decrease in a ratio of a redundant portion (Pi.times.M+Po.times.N+Po.times.Pi) of the error-correcting word with respect to the whole word referred to as redundancy ratio, namely (M+Po).times.(N+Pi). On the other hand, the error-correcting capability is also heightened with respect to the random error and the burst error with an increase in the Pi and Po. Here, it is known that the Reed-Solomon error-correcting code block having small M and N, namely small Pi and Po has a lower correcting capability because of relatively higher probability of error in error correction in the case where the Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code blocks having the same redundancy ratio are compared with each other. On the contrary, it is known that since Pi and Po can be increased at the same redundancy ratio with an increase in M and N, a high error-correcting capability can be obtained. However, such capability cannot be realized unless the constraint conditions described below are satisfied. A first constraint condition is that M+Po and M+Pi must be equal to or less than 255 bytes as a code length for constructing the Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block (in the case where the length of the code is eight bits). Incidentally, Pi described above refers to the PI series error-correcting code length while Po refers to the PO series error-correcting code length. A second constraint condition is a cost constraint resulting from the scale of the hardware. By the way, when considered on the basis of the above conditions, optical disk standards such as a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R or the like which are the information recording media in recent years are made public as a standard in which the improved Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block is adopted. Out of these standards, the DVD-ROM and the DVD-RAM are established as DIS 16448 (DVD-ROM having a diameter of 80 mm) and DIS 16449 (DVD-ROM having a diameter of 120 mm) and DIS16825 (DVD-RAM). In this DVD standard, the above idea is adopted with respect to the error-correcting word processing method so that the error-correcting capability is remarkably improved with error-correcting word having a small redundancy ratio as compared with the method used in the conventional optical disks. The concept on the error-correcting method of the DVD is basically described above, the fundamental problem is to what level the target of the random error-correcting capability and the burst error-correcting capability is to be set. In order to set such level, the recording method of the recording medium and the generation of defects resulting from the handling thereof must be considered. The recording/reproducing method is determined from the recording/reproducing beam spot size resulting from the recording wavelength and the optical system characteristic in the optical disk system. Here, the recording density constitutes a large factor in the determination of the error-correcting method. In particular, in the determination of the burst error correction capability, the defect length such as scratches or the like generated in the handling of the discs can be determined from experience. With respect to the error-correcting capability, the multiplication of line recording density by the physical defect length constitutes a burst error length of information data with the result that the error correcting capability is required to be raised in the improvement of the recording density. The recording density can be described as follows with particular reference to the reproduction system. When, a light source wavelength is denoted by lambda., and a numeric aperture of an object lens is denoted by NA, the recording density stands proportional to (NA/.lambda.).sup.2. The wavelength adopted in the DVD is 650 nm while NA is 0.6. In the error-correcting method, a row side inner parity of RS (182, 172, 11) and a column side outer parity of RS (208, 192, 17) are adopted by means of PI (inner parity)=10 bytes and PO (outer parity)=16 respectively with respect to the (M.times.N)=(192.times.172) bytes information data block in terms of the Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code (RS is referred to as Reed-Solomon). The block used in this error-correcting method is referred to as the error-correcting product code block. Here, with respect to the error-correcting product code block, the error is corrected in the PI series at first, and an error mark is attached to a row whose error cannot be corrected. Thereafter, at the time of the error correction on the PO series, the error mark is treated as an error position. When the so-called “erasure correction” method for calculating and extracting only error patterns is used, a maximum of 16 rows of burst errors can be corrected. In the DVD, since the recording density is data bit length=0.267.mu.m, 0.000267.times.8.times.182.times.−16=6.2 mm is given. It is possible to say that about 6 mm burst error-correcting capability is given. However, as a next generation DVD an examination is started on an optical disk having a large capacity resulting from further increase in the density. For the increase in capacity exceeding the DVD, the recording density must be increased. Recently, in order to meet such request, a blue laser diode having a wavelength of 450 nm is made public. When such laser diode is used, it is expected that the recording density can be improved by about 2.6 times in the optical system similar to the DVD or the like. With the improvement in the optical system, four to five times higher density can be realized so that a fine image such as a high definition image such as a Hi-Vision or the like can be recorded for two or more hours on one disc. In such increase in the density (for example, the line density is about twice as compared with the conventional one), only about 3 mm error-correcting capability can be provided with respect to the burst error when the conventional error-correcting method is introduced. Furthermore, as described above, the error-correcting word length is 255 bytes at most as long as 1 word=8 bit system processing system is used. Since the PO series is 208 bytes in the DVD standard, the burst error correcting capability is close to the limit in the above error-correcting method so that only little improvement can be expected. In order to expand the error-correcting word length, the word length may only be lengthened. With respect to the word length, a multiple of eight can be easily used. As a consequence, 1 word=16 bits can be considered. The scale of the error-correcting circuit as hardware is extremely large as compared with the conventional one so that there arises many problems. In such a case, there is generally available a technique in which the burst error-correcting capability is improved while maintaining the error-correcting code length by adopting a data interleave to scatter the burst error. However, the data interleave is not adopted even in the DVD standard. The reason goes as follows: in the case where an error is created which exceeds the error-correcting capability in the reproduction processing in the case of an image signal in which information data is compressed, the error data is scattered with the result that a disadvantage of the reproduced image is generated at many positions. In the reproduction processing of the image signal, it is thought that processing of concentrating and reproducing disadvantageous images as much as possible is favorable as a processing of generated disadvantage. This is because the processing can be completed with the reproduction of an instant disadvantageous image. Besides, a structure close to the current DVD system is favorable for the upper compatibility with respect to the next generation system. Points Noted by the Inventors of the Present Invention Generally, in the error-correcting processing method such as a package medium or the like, the Reed-Solomon product code block method is introduced in many cases. This is because high performance and high efficiency can be expected with this method in the case where defect error data such as defects generated in package medium or the like is detected and corrected. With respect to the unit of processed data, 1 word=1 byte (8 bits) is favorable. When the application development of the system is considered, it is required to suppress a processing circuit to an appropriate hardware scale. Besides, this fact is required for facilitating a connection to the recording medium and the transmission channel because a front and rear processing circuit is provided in the recording on the recording medium and data transmission to the transmission channel in addition to the error-correcting processing. Under these circumstances, use of the Reed-Solomon error-correcting product code block used in the current DVD is optimal as an error-correcting method which can corresponds to a large improvement in the recording density of the recording medium under the above surrounding situation. row side inner parity RS (182, 172, 11) column side outer parity RS (208, 192 17) Here, the problem is that it is required to settle the improvement of the burst error correcting capability. In order to heighten the burst error correcting capability, the error may only be scattered in the error detecting and correcting capability in each of the correction code. However, an image and an acoustic signal as information data are subject to compression coding. In a system for recording and reproducing the compression signal, a data structure or error-correcting processing system is desirable which is capable of suppressing information breakdown to a minimal level in the final reproduction of the image and acoustic signal. In particular, as countermeasures for dealing with the burst error, the number of errors in one error correction block is decreased by scattering the error signal, so that the error-correcting capability can be improved. However, in the case where errors are present in the number exceeding the error-correcting capability, the dispersion of the error signal will result in the expansion of the damage done on the whole data. Consequently, it is difficult to adopt the method using the error data dispersion, namely, the data interleave, which constitutes the basic concept of heightening the burst error-correcting capability.

It is well-known that man is gifted with a system to prevent or overcome diseases. It is the human immune system which reacts against almost ever outside influence. If the diseases are caused by weaker bacteria and viruses, the body defends itself using its immune system. Man is not always aware of such a reaction as it does not involve a noticeable rise in the body temperature. It is believed that the body's built-in immune system even reacts against some medicaments administered to the body, for instance antibiotics sometimes cause allergic reactions and have to be withdrawn and are therefore not given the chance to cure which they have proved that they can do in test-tubes (in vitro). Another type of reaction by the immune system occurs when the body is exposed to outside temperatures from, for example 20.degree. C. to sauna temperatures of more than 50.degree. C. then the immune system reacts to keep the body's temperature normal. However, the body does raise its temperature to several degrees above the normal 37.degree. C. to combat certain bacteria and viruses. During such a rise in temperature (fever), there is a simultaneous production of a higher number of white blood cells, including lymphocytes, or an increase in the power of the existing white blood cells. Such a reinforcement in the strength of the white blood cells is an important part of the natural curing process. However, there are viruses today which behave in a very different way than normal viruses. AIDS viruses, for example, seem, in one way or another, to make the human immune system collapse instead of forming antibodies and vaccines. Therefore it is here believed that AIDS infected patients do not, as a rule, die from the attack by the AIDS virus itself but from other infections because their immune systems have been inactivated by the AIDS virus. Various types of cancer are notoriously incurable, they multiply their cells to form malignant tumours. Surgery, x-rays and high-voltage treatment have been used alone or in combination with various medicaments in chemotherapy treatment, however not always with the expected success. For mankind cancer is still a major cause of death. It is necessary to find other ways of preventing unwanted viruses and cancer cells from being deadly for man. It is well-known that virus, per se, is labile, notoriously unstable, to even modest temperature increases (i.e. from 37.degree. C. to for example 41.degree. C.). The same instability to temperature also applies to many malignant tumor syndromes--cf, for example, the successful hypothermical treatment of various highly localized bladder cancerous cases (44/45.degree. C. water treatment of the interior of the bladder). Virus and tumor cells are severely attenuated by a sudden shift in temperature (for example from 37.degree. C. to 42.degree. C.). These findings have been demonstrated by many investigators during the last 10 years, via cell culture experiments (in vitro). For example, it has been demonstrated--by in vitro test-tube experiments--that viruses do not multiply at their usual 37.degree. C. rate when exposed to temperatures of 41.degree. C. (i.e. a 40% reduction of the infectious virus particle was achieved). A 40% reduction in the ability of a virus to multiply with a rise in temperature of only 3.degree.-4.degree. C. is remarkable. The successful hypothermical treatment of bladder cancers is equally important. Well-known institutes working in the field of cancer research, in cooperation with hospitals, have published their findings after observing several cases of cancer: malignant cancer tumors completely disappeared in persons who developed a severe fever such as that caused by malaria or smallpox. Several years ago Dr. Kr Overgaard et al., in cooperation with the research institute for cancer (Kraeftforeningens forskningsinstitut) in Aarhus, Denmark, demonstrated in mice the reaction of cancer tumors to a rise in temperature. A temperature between 41.degree. and 43.degree. . was created by diathermy. In each case the whole mouse was exposed to the temperature for more than an hour. In 75% of the cases the mice did not survive the rise in temperature. However, in 25% of the cases the mice did survive and the cancer tumors disappeared totally. An observation made by hospitals seems to be important as it is related to fever situations: If a man is the victim of a coronary infarct he develops (without the presence of any known infection) a fever of about 39.degree. C. 12-24 hours after the attack. A remarkable rise in the number of white blood cells occurs subsequent to the fever. These findings underline the fact that the white blood cells either increase in number and/or in strength when exposed to temperatures slightly higher than the normal body temperature. Viruses and cancer cells have a common enemy: a rise in temperature. AIDS viruses and cancer cells are killed or at least severely attenuated at temperatures between 41.degree. C. and 45.degree. C. Low fever stimulates the production of white blood cells and antibodies. The blood, as it circulates around the body, constantly exchanges substances with the lymph and all other body fluids. The result of this process of exchange has an influence on the spleen, kidneys, heart, liver, marrow, etc, and vice versa. The exchange of lymph, blood and all other body fluids is achieved by osmosis through diffusion and other more direct types of mixing. For example the thoracic duct daily empties about 2 liters of lymph into the veins of the blood at the junction of the left internal jugular and subclavian veins. Diminutive quantities of casual intakes of liquid or food, contaminated with heavy metals like lead or mercury, can be measured not only in the blood and bones, but also in the hair. These findings prove that the blood even has an influence on such parts of the body which contain hardly any blood or other body fluid themselves.

Polyvinyl chloride is produced in large quantities throughout the world. The generally used production process is based on the polymerization of vinyl chloride in aqueous suspension or emulsion. In order to achieve optimum product quality the polymerization is conveniently discontinued at a conversion degrees of 90 to 95% of added vinyl chloride. Thus, when the polymerization is finished, significant amounts of unreacted vinyl chloride are present in the reaction vessel (the autoclave). A substantial proportion of said amounts is eliminated by pressure release in the autoclave and recycled to the process. Significant amounts of vinyl chloride, however, remain absorbed in the produced polymer particles. In the further processing of the polymer into powder, in particular during the drying operation, part of said absorbed vinyl chloride escapes, whereas another part remains in the polymer particles and accompanies the product all the way to the manufacturer of the final product where, due to the relatively high processing temperatures being employed, risks are present that the said absorbed residual amounts of vinyl chloride will be set free. Recently, scientific investigations have shown that vinyl chloride may cause cancer in the liver. Particularly, this applies to persons who for longer time periods have been working in polyvinyl chloride production plants. In most countries, therefore, rather strict requirements have now been set to the working environments in such factories, said requirements being directed to the content of vinyl chloride in the production room and to the amounts of vinyl chloride ventilated to the free air, as well as to the amount of vinyl chloride in the final polymer. These new requirements involve, i.a., that the vinyl chloride content of the finished polymer has to be lowered to a level which was previously regarded as unattainable. As stated above, a significant proportion of the unreacted vinyl chloride is eliminated and recirculated by pressure release in the reaction vessel itself, and by increasing the temperature during this operation one has already succeeded in eliminating substantially more vinyl chloride than what has previously been the case. However, polyvinyl chloride has a limited heat stability, and by longer residence times at higher temperatures, degradation and, accordingly, a reduction of the product quality will result. Thus, this restricts the possibilities available of increasing the stripping of vinyl chloride at higher temperatures. It is known to reduce the vinyl chloride content of polyvinyl chloride dispersions by stripping with steam, preferably at reduced pressures in order to reduce the hazard of thermal degradation of the polymer. This operation may be carried out in the polymerization vessel itself, directly after the polymerization has been finished, or in a separate stripping unit. Due to the strict requirements now set to the monomer content of the finished polymer, one must use higher temperatures during the stripping process than the temperature of about 70.degree. C. which has up to now been considered to be an upper limit. By batchwise stripping, one will have a relatively long heating period and cooling period which implies that polymers are subject to an undesirably strong thermal stress. When stripping continuously, it will be of advantage to operate with more stripping units arranged in series because the residence time distribution of the particles can thereby be restricted, and a longer mean residence time can be used without any significant degradation of the polymer. Instead of stripping units connected in series it has also been proposed to use a multistage stripping column which operates according to the counter-current principle with feeding of the polyvinyl chloride dispersion on the top and steam at the bottom of the column. The stripping column may be designed in different known ways, and columns with filling bodies as well as perforated plate columns may be used. Both columns present the great disadvantage of polymer particles being deposited. In columns with filling bodies this deposition takes place on and between the filling bodies, whereas in a perforated plate column, the deposition takes place along the walls above the liquid layer on each plate. This deposition occurs in the conventional operation for counter-current perforated plate columns having separate layers of liquid above each plate, because relatively great amounts of steam have to be used, which in turn causes a splashing of dispersion on the wall of the column such that polymer particles remain adhered when the dispersion flows back. Foaming also contributes to such deposition of polymer particles. Such a deposition of particles causes the operation of the column to be discontinued, or else large amounts of polymer might be degraded by being exposed to excessively high temperatures for longer time periods. The hazard of contamination of the final product is thereby great. It is therefore an object of this invention to avoid the foregoing disadvantages, particularly the avoidance of the above-discussed deposition of particles and subsequent degradation thereof.

Many pipes used for pipelines are manufactured by a welding process. The welds are usually girth welds or spiral welds. The pipes made this way have weld beads along the weld that protrude from the rest of the pipe surface. The internal surfaces of the pipes may also have corrosions. It is often necessary to prepare and clean the internal surfaces for subsequent coatings applications or to remove the corrosions. Internal blasting is a method commonly used to prepare or clean the internal surfaces of the pipes. During internal blasting, abrasives are blasted toward the internal surface either by a mechanical turbine wheel or in a compressed air stream under high pressure. Commonly used abrasives include grit and shot blast media of various shapes and sizes, depending on the desired cleanliness and/or anchor profile necessary for satisfactory coating. Conventional internal weld blasting systems normally blast at an impingement angle intended to facilitate blast efficiency and removal of residual abrasives from the target surface. Common conventional system uses a control cage with a single 70 deg opening, resulting in the abrasives spraying from the turbine wheel at a 70 deg angle which is directed so that the center of mass of the sprayed abrasives is slightly ahead of the blast wheel, wherein the center of mass impacts the weld, which provides adequate cleaning of the front side and top section of the weld but fails to clean the back side of the weld leaving an unblasted shadow. When a pipe contains a raised weld seam, a “shadow” is created on the leeward side of the weld that receives reduced blast exposure and as a result does not achieve the intended surface condition. This can result in failure to meet regulatory or client specification, and/or result in inadequate coating adhesion.

I. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to methods for treating remediated flowback water with a fluid treatment system comprising at least one friction reducing agent; and at least one scale formation inhibiting agent and/or at least one iron precipitation control agent for reuse as fracturing fluid for a well drilling operation. II. Technical Considerations Once a natural gas well has been drilled, the final stage is to connect the wellbore and the subterranean formation to permit extraction of the gas contained therein. Generally, this connection is made by creating perforations in the well casing or liner using explosive charges. Sometimes, after the well is completed, further stimulation is necessary to enhance productivity. One important stimulation technique is fracturing, which involves creating and extending fractures from the perforation tunnels deeper into the formation to increase the surface area for formation fluids to flow into the well, as well as extending past any possible damage near the wellbore. This may be done by injecting fluids or foams at high pressure (hydraulic fracturing). These fluids or foams may contain granular material, commonly referred to as proppants. In a hydraulic fracturing process, aqueous fracturing fluid is injected under pressure into the bore hole. The pressure drives the fluid into cracks, fissures and fractures in the formation, forcing such openings to become larger and propagate. Proppant material contained therein wedges into the expanded cracks, fissures and fractures to help hold them open when the pressure is reduced and to provide improved formation permeability. The injected fracturing fluid mixes with groundwater, gas, and other materials present in the subterranean environment. When the pressure is removed, this fluid mixture flows back to the surface and gas is extracted therefrom. The fracturing fluid mixture after extraction (recovered fracturing fluid and produced water) is “flowback water” or “backflow water”, i.e., the recovered water and fracturing fluid which flow back from oil or gas well drilling fracturing operation. This flowback water typically can be anywhere from 10-60% percent of the volume of fluid that is injected into the well, and it flows back over a period of several days to several weeks or longer after fracturing. A significant amount of fracturing fluid can remain in the formation. At a certain point there is a transition between primarily recovering fracturing fluid to that of produced water. A typical fracturing job on a Marcellus shale formation could require 20,000 barrels to 150,000 barrels of fracturing fluid, depending upon the number of stages pumped. For a project pumping 40,000 barrels of fracturing fluid, the load recovery could be 50% or 20,000 barrels of flowback. After the initial several week post-fracturing recovery, an additional 10,000 to 30,000 barrels of produced water may flow for up to two years. Flowback water generally contains high salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS). Flowback waters consist of water, the fracturing chemicals that were injected into the well, as well as any contaminants that are present in the rock formation water. In addition to natural salinity of water in the formation, any fresh water that is injected into the well during the fracturing process will tend to dissolve salts in the formation, thus increasing the salinity of the flowback water. As used herein, “flowback water” can have a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) content of greater than about 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) dissolved solids in the flowback water, a ferrous iron (Fe+2) ion concentration of less than about 100 mg/L ferrous iron ion in the flowback water, a barium ion (Ba+2) concentration of less than about 500 mg/L barium ion in the flowback water, and a calcium ion (Ca=) concentration of at least about 1,000 mg/L calcium ion in the flowback water. It is desirable to reuse the flowback water in a subsequent fracturing operation. However, carbonate and sulfate ions present in flowback water can form precipitates such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate and iron carbonate within the underground fracture network and cause scale accumulation in perforations or fissures in the fractured rock. The presence of iron provides a significant and complex problem in well stimulation operations. Iron in the ferric state can form iron complexes that can block flow pathways and inhibit the flow of gas and/or oil therethrough. Also, iron can impair the performance of fracturing fluid components, such as the friction reducing additive. In oil and gas wells, air can be introduced into water present in the underground formation through the borehole or from comingling of underground water with air-saturated water which has been pumped from the surface into the well. Ground or well water typically exists in a reducing environment. As a result, iron in ground or well water typically is present as the ferrous ion (Fe+2) species. The ferrous iron can originate from many sources, such as the minerals contained within stratigraphic formations surrounding the water or from additives added to the water during oil or gas well drilling or fracturing operations. Exposure to air (oxygen) or other oxidants (chlorine, bromine, stabilized bromine, etc.) causes ferrous ions to be oxidized to insoluble ferric (Fe+3) ion complexes. Ferric ion complexes, such as hydrated ferric oxides (Fe2O3.nH2O), are much less soluble than ferrous iron, and once formed can readily precipitate. The accumulation of these solids can block pores and flow pathways (or fracture conductivity) in the oil or gas well formation, thus causing permeability impairment with an associated decline in oil or gas flow. While not intending to be bound by any theory, it is believed that when iron is present in soluble or dispersed form, it is less likely to block the flow pathways, thus enhancing production potential of the well. The formation or precipitation of iron oxides can be inhibited by stabilization of the ferrous ion, and/or suspension or dispersion of the iron oxide(s). Stabilization is the process by which polymers: (1) form stable complexes with dissolved iron, thus preventing the formation of insoluble Fe2O3.nH2O and (2) absorb onto the surface of particulates that are forming, thereby greatly restricting particle growth and thus allowing the particles to remain suspended. In contrast, dispersion is the process by which pre-formed iron oxide (Fe2O3) particles are prevented from settling by the action of a polymer. Dispersants are generally negatively charged, low molecular weight polymers. Likewise, the surface charge of iron oxide particles is negative. The repulsion between the negatively charged particle surface and negatively charged polymers prevents the particles from agglomerating and settling. To prevent clogging of the flow pathways in oil and gas well formations, chelating agents have been used. Citric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitriloacetic acid (NTA) are common iron chelating agents used for iron control in fracturing fluid design. Chelating agents function on a stoichiometric basis, i.e., one mole of chelating agent is needed per mole of iron. Additional chelating agent is needed to drive the reaction, with the dose depending on the conditional stability constant (K=[complex]/[metal][chelating agent], K being a function of pH). Thus, high doses of chelating agent are needed. The large dose requirement of citric acid results in pH depression, which in turn can negatively impact some friction reducing additives, such as polyacrylamide-based products. While sulfonated polymers have been used to disperse pre-formed ferric iron particulates and/or to stabilize low levels (≦10 mg/L) of ferrous ions in cooling water applications, they have not been used in oil and gas well water to stabilize the high levels of ferrous ions and/or ferric oxide particulates which can exceed 20 mg/L. In another aspect of the stimulation process, during the hydraulic fracturing operation fluid is pumped at high velocity and high pressure drops are encountered, resulting in large energy losses. Pressures at the surface of the well of 3,000 to 15,000 psi are often required to overcome the frictional losses and fracture initiation pressure. It is well known that energy is lost due to frictional forces encountered during the movement of liquid through a pipe, tubing or conduit. The energy loss is reflected in a progressive drop in pressure measured along the path between the inlet and discharge point. Factors such as fluid velocity, pipe diameter, pipe length, interior surface roughness, fluid density, and fluid viscosity impact the pressure drop, also known as differential pressure. Well-known laws of fluid dynamics correlate pressure drop as being proportional to fluid velocity. The Reynolds' number (Re) is a dimensionless number that gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces (ρV2L2) to viscous forces (μVL), and is used to describe different flow regimes, such as laminar or turbulent flow: laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces are dominant, and is characterized by smooth, constant fluid motion, while turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds numbers and is dominated by inertial forces, which tend to produce random eddies, vortices and other flow instabilities. As fluid velocity increases, the conditions change from laminar to transitional to turbulent flow. Under laminar conditions flow is smooth and energy loss is minimal, while under turbulent conditions random impurities and other flow instabilities contribute to greater energy loss. Generally, turbulent flow exists when the Reynolds' number of a fluid is >5,000. For the most part, hydraulic fracturing operations occur in the turbulent flow regime. Therefore, reducing energy loss results in significant economic and safety incentives based on lower operating pressures, less equipment fatigue, lower horsepower demand and less capital for equipment. It is well known that small amounts of high molecular weight polymers can be very effective in reducing friction loss of flowing aqueous fluids. Slickwater applications have been effectively applied in the hydraulic fracturing of Barnett Shale and other unconventional gas shale applications. Certain metal ions, such as ferrous iron, are known to degrade polyacrylamide polymers. The exact mechanism for this degradation is not completely understood but is thought to proceed by a free radical mechanism. Since oxygen is known to accelerate degradation, it seems plausible that an oxygen-anion radical is formed when a metal ion is oxidized. The highly reactive oxygen-anion radical then can attack the polymer chain, scission the polymer backbone and result in performance deterioration. Often, the combination of alkalinity, calcium hardness, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, and temperature of water creates a positive value LSI, indicative of water with potential to precipitate scale forming salts. Specifically, hardness in the form of calcium and magnesium ions combines with anions, such as carbonate and sulfate, to form a solid. This solid material will form scale and may combine with other chemicals in the water. The higher the hardness, the faster scale will form. As the various reaction products precipitate on surfaces of the water carrying system, they form scale or deposits. This accumulation prevents effective heat transfer, interferes with fluid flow, facilitates corrosive processes, and harbors bacteria. This scale is an expensive problem causing delays and shutdowns for cleaning and removal. Also, carbonate and sulfate ions can be present in flowback water from fracturing operations. The fracturing fluid in the downhole environment can release soluble salts from the formation that can combine with the frac fluid and form precipitates such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, strontium sulfate, and iron carbonate within the underground fracture network and cause scale accumulation in perforations or fissures in the fractured rock. Solubility product concentrations are exceeded for various reasons, such as partial evaporation of the water phase, an increase in pH, or temperature, and the introduction of additional ions, which form insoluble compounds with the ions already present in solution. For example, mine pool water that is pumped to the surface undergoes degassing of CO2 followed by an increase in solution pH. The corresponding Langelier Scale Index (LSI) shifts from a negative value (corrosive) to a positive value (scaling). LSI is often used by water treatment specialists to describe the scaling potential of water for applications. More specifically, the LSI is an equilibrium model derived from the theoretical concept of saturation and provides an indicator of the degree of saturation of water with respect to calcium carbonate. It can be shown that the LSI approximates the base 10 logarithm of the calcite saturation level. The Langelier saturation level approaches the concept of saturation using pH as a main variable. The LSI can be interpreted as the pH change required to bring water to equilibrium. In order to calculate the LSI, it is necessary to know the alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3), the calcium hardness (mg/L Ca2+ as CaCO3), the total dissolved solids (mg/L), the actual pH, and the temperature of the water (° C.). There is a long-felt need in the art for treatments for flowback water for inhibiting the formation and/or precipitation of ferric oxide, calcium carbonate and barium sulfate particulates to permit reuse of the flowback water in subsequent fracturing operations.

In general, a component mounting device that determines whether or not a component has been successfully mounted at a mounting position is known as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-13097. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-13097 discloses a component mounting device including a suction head that suctions a component and mounts the suctioned component on a substrate and a height sensor that measures the height of the component mounted on the substrate and configured to determine whether or not the component has been successfully mounted at a mounting position based on an output signal from the height sensor. In this component mounting device, the suction head located over the mounted component is moved after the component is mounted by the suction head, and the height sensor is moved over the mounted component and measures the height of the component. Thus, this component mounting device acquires information about the height of the mounting position.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to motors, and more particularly, to a motor which reduces production costs and can enhance productivity and reliability. 2. Discussion of the Related Art In general, a motor transmits rotating force of a rotor to a rotating shaft which drives a load. For example, the rotating shaft can drive a drum of a washing machine, or a refrigerator fan connected thereto for supplying cold air to a required space. Also, inside the motor the rotor rotates in an electromagnetic interaction with a stator. For this, the stator has coils wound thereon and, upon application of a current, the rotor rotates with respect to the stator. Typically, the coil is formed of copper because copper has good electric conductivity, and good ductility that is good for winding. However, the high costs of copper tends to increase the cost of the motor. Moreover, because of the a lack of a stable supply of the raw material which is used to produce copper, international demands for copper occasionally rise sharply. Therefore, it is required to use a coil made from another material besides copper in order to reduce the production cost of the motor while maintaining the quality of a motor manufactured with copper.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a picture hanging device comprising cooperable male and female members formed of resilient plastic material and being secured, respectively, to the rear surface of a picture frame and to a wall. The male member is characterized by a fixed or movable spacing portion protruding beyond an integral, vertically depending tongue. The tongue is received within a slot formed on the female member such that the spacing portion contacts an upper guiding portion provided on the female member above the slot. A portion of the tongue remains exposed above the slot when fully inserted therein, that portion being outwardly deflected whereby the lower edge of the picture frame is urged into interfering contact with the wall. The slot is slightly wider than the tongue, allowing the picture frame to be easily adjusted by pivoting of the tongue within the slot 2. Description of the Prior Art Several prior art patents disclose hanging devices wherein a member secured to an object to be hung is provided with a flange or tongue that is received within a cavity formed on a female member secured to a support surface. U.S. Pat. No. 2,402,717 to Winer discloses a panel which may be mounted on a wall by inserting bracket members which are secured to the panel into bracket engaging members which are secured to the wall. U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,355 to Topf discloses a wall hanger comprising a pair of like members, each of which is provided with a tongue and a slotted portion. The members may be secured, respectively, to an object to be hung and to a wall such that the tongue of one member may be inserted into the slotted portion of the other member. A similar picture hanging bracket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,525 to Rath wherein a pair of like complementary parts cooperate such that the post of one part is received within a recess formed in the other part. U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,116 to Fellows discloses a picture hanger comprising a tapered tongue member which is arranged for attachment to the back surface of a picture to be hung. A bracket member defining a tapered socket for the tongue is arranged for attachment to a picture-supporting surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,998 to Rytting discloses a picture hanger comprising first and second mating components adapted to be secured, respectively, to a picture back and to a wall. The first component includes a hooking bar which may be received within the space formed between the second component and the wall. It is also known in the prior art to provide a picture hanging device wherein a tongue secured to the back of a frame is adapted to be received within a channel secured to the support surface such that the tongue moves toward the support surface causing the lower edge of the frame to contact thereagainst. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,339 to Denton. None of the prior art devices, however, discloses a picture hanging member that is provided with a novel spacing portion and uniquely configured tongue and slot as utilized by the picture hanging device of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a compound consisting of a glycosaminoglycan conjugated with a drug and to a preparation method thereof as well. 2. Description of the Prior Arts The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a dynamic assemblage of interacting molecules that regulate cell functions and interactions in response to stimulation. One class of extracellular matrix macromolecules, the glycosaminoglycans, are molecules known to be involved in a wide array of both normal and abnormal biological processes, including cell migration, differentiation, proliferation, immune response and cytoskeletal organization. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are unbranched chains composed of repeating disaccharide units. These disaccharide units always contain an amino sugar (N-acetylglucosamine or N-acetylgalactosamine), which in most cases is sulfated, with the second sugar usually being an uronic acid (glucuronic or iduronic). GAGs are highly negatively charged because of the presence of carboxyl or sulfate groups on most of their sugar residues. As such they are strongly hydrophilic. GAGs tend to adopt highly extended conformations and form matrices that are space filling and resistant to compressive forces. Four main groups of GAGs have been distinguished by their sugar residues, the type of linkage between these residues, and the number and location of sulfate groups. They include: (1) hyaluronan, (2) chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulfate, (3) heparan sulfate and heparin, and (4) keratan sulfate. Hyaluronan (also called hyaluronic acid or hyaluronate or HA) is the simplest of GAGs. It consists of a regular repeating sequence of non-sulfated disaccharide units, specifically N-acetylglucosamine and glucuronic acid. Its molecular weight can range from 400 daltons (the disaccharide) to over millions of daltons. It is found in variable amounts in all tissues, such as the skin, cartilage, and eye, and in most, if not all, fluids in adult animals. It is especially abundant in early embryos. In articular cartilage, HA can form a large aggregate which is important for the function of cartilage. Furthermore, cell motility and immune cell adhesion is mediated by the cell surface receptor RHAMM (Receptor for Hyaluronan-Mediated Motility) and CD44. HA is synthesized directly at the inner membrane of the cell surface with the growing polymer extruded through the membrane to the outside of the cell as it is being synthesized. Synthesis is mediated by a single protein enzyme, hyaluronan synthetase (HAS). By contrast, other GAGs are synthesized inside the cell in the Golgi apparatus, possibly in association with some core protein, and then released by exocytosis. HA degradation in vertebrate tissues in vivo is mediated by hyaluronidase, and exoglycosidases that remove sugars sequentially. Mammalian-type hyaluronidases have both hydrolytic and transglycosidase activities and can degrade HA and chondroitin. In connective tissue, the water of hydration associated with HA creates spaces between tissues, thus creating an environment conducive to cell movement and proliferation. HA plays a key role in biological phenomena associated with cell motility including rapid development, regeneration, repair, embryogenesis, embryological development, wound healing, angiogenesis, and tumorigenesis. CD44 (also known as Pgp-1, Hermes-3, HCAM, ECMR III) is a widely expressed glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 85 to 90 kDa. CD44 is a major cell surface receptor for the glycosaminoglycan, hyaluronic acid (HA). CD44 binds HA specifically, although certain chondroitin-sulfate containing proteoglycans may also be recognized. CD44 plays a role in various cellular and physiological functions, including adhesion to and migration on HA, HA degradation and tumor metastasis. CD44 has also been shown to play a role in extracellular matrix binding, cell migration, lymphocyte activation, lymphocyte homing, and proliferation of bronchial smooth muscle cell (Gunthert et al., 1991, A new variant of glycoprotein CD44 confers metastatic potential to rat carcinoma cells, 5;65(1):13-24). The CD44 receptor shows a complex pattern of alternative splicing in its variable region of the extracellular domain. CD44 appears to be a particularly important leukocyte receptor for HA and may therefore have a role in the pathogenesis of asthma. In addition, levels of HA, which were increased during experimental asthma in control mice were markedly attenuated in the antibody-treated mice, supporting a role for CD44 in HA metabolism (specifically in the breakdown of high molecular weight HA to pro-inflammatory low molecular weight forms). This may be particularly important because HA-derived oligosaccharides can bind and activate Toll-like receptor. Clearly, the most impressive aspect of the results is the profound magnitude of the beneficial effects of anti-CD44 treatment. HA-CD44 interactions may play an important role in development, inflammation, T cell recruitment and activation, lung inflammation, and tumor growth and metastasis. Altered expression of alternatively spliced CD44 transcripts has been found in many cancers, including cancer of the stomach (F Reihani-S abet et al., 2003, Effects of Inflammation and H. pylori Infection on Expression of CD44 Variant Exons in Gastric Tissue, Journal of Sciences, 14:11-16). Malignant tumor cells could selectively ingest proportionally more of bioconjugates than normal connective tissue or mesenchymal cells due to their overexpression of the CD44 receptor. Several studies have correlated increased HA synthesis and uptake with cancer progression and metastatic potential. Certain tumors, including many that are found in the lung, overexpress the CD44 cell-surface marker. Breast cancer cells are known to have greater uptake of HA than normal tissues, requiring HA for high P-glycoprotein expression, the primary contributor to multi-drug resistance. Furthermore, invasive breast cancer cells overexpress CD44, the primary receptor for HA, and are dependent on high concentrations of CD44-internalized HA for proliferation. Thus, chemotherapeutic drug nanoconjugates with HA may be efficacious against lymphatic metastases. (Eliaz, R. E. et al., 2004, Liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin targeted to CD44: a strategy to kill CD44-overexpressing tumor cells, Cancer Res., 61(6):2592-601). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and selective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, are therapeutic groups generally used for the treatment of pain, inflammation and fever. Recently, growing experimental implies that some NSAIDs and the selective COX-2 inhibitors may also have anti-cancer activity by involving in multiple biologic events throughout the tumorigenic process. For example, epidemiological studies have shown that regular use of Aspirin reduces the risk of developing cancer, in particular of the colon (Sandler R S., et al., 2003, A randomized trial of aspirin to prevent colorectal adenomas in patients with previous colorectal cancer, New England J. Med., 348:883-890). Otherwise, it is also found that the COX-2 antagonist, such as Celecoxib, Rofecoxib, Nimesulide, meloxicam and Etodolac, can also have anti-cancer activity (Yamazaki R., et al., 2002, Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors show a differential ability to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of colon adenocarcinoma cells., FEBS Lett., 531(2):278-84). Further, COX-2 is chronically overexpressed in many premalignant, malignant, and metastatic human cancers, and levels of overexpression have been shown to significantly correlate to invasiveness, prognosis, and survival in some cancers (Dannenberg A J., et al., 2003, Targeting cyclooxygenase-2 in human neoplasia: rationale and promise, Cancer Cell, 4(6):431-6). Maximum efficacy is typically dose-limited by COX-1-related toxicities; however, COX-2 inhibitors have been shown to have tumor suppression effect in several animal models of colon, skin, lung, bladder, and breast cancers (Alane T.Koki, et al., 2002, Celecoxib: A Specific COX-2 Inhibitor With Anticancer Properties, Cancer Control, 9(2 Suppl):28-35). WO94/09811 describes the use of CD44 in treating inflammation or detecting cancer metastasis. The authors show that CD44 is upregulated in inflammatory conditions and CD44 peptides are capable of inhibiting T-cell activation. No data or claims are presented on inhibition of metastasis by CD44 and no claims are made towards use of CD44 for inhibiting tumor growth or angiogenesis. WO 99/45942 discloses the use of HA-binding proteins and peptides, including CD44, to inhibit cancer and angiogenesis-dependent diseases. This patent application uses metastatin, a 38 kDa fragment of the cartilage link protein, as well as a HA-binding peptide derived from this fragment to inhibit pulmonary metastasis of B16 mouse melanoma and Lewis lung carcinoma. In the case of the HA-binding peptide, growth of B16 melanoma on chicken CAM and endothelial cell migration on HA have been inhibited. In both patent applications the use of HA-binding peptides is directly related to their ability to bind hyaluronic acid. U.S. Pat. No. 8,192,744 shows that soluble recombinant CD44 hyaluronic acid binding domain (CD44HABD) inhibits angiogenesis in vivo in chick and mouse and thereby inhibits human tumor growth of various origins. The invention discloses soluble non glycosylated CD44 recombinant proteins as a novel class of angiogenesis inhibitors based on targeting of vascular cell surface receptor. Thus, the prior arts, hereinabove cited, disclose the potential use of CD44 and suggest that any effects can be dependent on HA-CD44-interaction. Consequently, all utility ascribed so far to CD44-HA conjugate is directly dependent on their ability to bind hyaluronic acid. However, some drugs are still not successfully conjugated onto HA and further experiments should be carried out to confirm the potential usefulness of HA as site-delivery carrier of active compound. In particular, the prior art has not shown that the interactions between the surface cell receptor CD44 and a conjugate of HA with an active compound can be profitably exploited for a target delivery of such active compound in diseases characterized by an overexpression of CD44 obtaining an effective therapeutic improvement of the same. For pathologies, such as for example cancer, in fact, it is still a need felt to have available therapeutic tools balancing an effective cytotoxic effect against the tumoral cells and the cytotoxic effects on the normal cells with a better safety profile.

The concept of reconfigurable computing was first proposed in 1960 by Gerald Estrin. In the paper “Organization of Computer Systems—The Fixed Plus Variable Structure Computer” he conceptualized a computer composed of two cooperative components: a standard processor and an array of reconfigurable hardware. The standard processor would control the behavior of the reconfigurable hardware. The reconfigurable hardware would be customized to perform a specific task, such as image processing or pattern matching, and would perform its assigned task as quickly as a dedicated piece of hardware. When finished, the customizable hardware could be reconfigured to perform another task. Estrin thus described a hybrid computer structure combining the flexibility of software with the speed of hardware. Toward Estrin's idea, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are one form of configurable hardware. Normally these devices don't offer much in the way of reconfigurability once manufactured. However, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) can be re-programmed by the customer after manufacturing. FPGA devices offer greater flexibility through reprogrammability, but are generally much slower than ASIC devices designed for a specific purpose. FPGAs fit nicely as the “Variable” part of Estrin's vision. Interest in FPGAs has increased dramatically with the advent of modern devices that can be reconfigured during runtime. As such, FPGAs coupled with general purpose CPUs offer the possibility of more cost effective processing than general purpose CPUs alone. A large body of work has recently been published to solve specific problems by offloading processing from a general purpose CPU to a more efficient FPGA device reprogrammed for a specific purpose. The paper “A Pattern-Matching Co-Processor for Network Intrusion Detection Systems”, Clark et al., focuses specifically on network intrusion detection systems, and in particular on efficient pattern matching in network packets using a FPGA as a co-processor. The idea is to match a large number of known patterns against a small number of data sets (packets). Software-based matching techniques are far too slow; thus a FPGA is programmed to do the matching by translating Snort Rules into FPGA circuits. However, this is just one specific example of how to employ an FPGA as an auxiliary processing device and not a general reconfigurable device management facility. The paper “Assisting Network Intrusion Detection with Reconfigurable Hardware”, Franklin, et al., shows that compiling Snort Rules into FPGA bit streams yields a vast performance advantage over software techniques with respect to pattern matching and intrusion detection. Similar to the paper cited above, this is another example of how FPGAs can be advantageously employed to accelerate performance. Again, however, no reconfigurable device management facility is described. The paper “The Shunt: An FPGA Based Accelerator for Network Intrusion Prevention”, Weaver et al., is another paper like the previous two cited above that focuses on acceleration specifically with respect to network intrusion detection in particular. Likewise, it too does not describe middleware for the management of a dynamically evolving cluster of computers, each computer potentially having one or more heterogeneous acceleration devices attached, all of which are to be shared over time among a set of users according to user and/or administrator policies. The paper “Dynamic Reconfiguration to Support Concurrent Applications”, Jean et al., discusses a resource manager that manages allocation and de-allocation of a single FPGA among a collection of individual applications. Savings are realized by avoiding reloading the FPGA when more than one application has use for the currently installed FPGA image. However, it has shortfalls including no method for managing multiple, distributed FPGAs. It has no discovery capabilities and no dynamic FPGA add and remove capabilities. Further, its brute force scheduling method prohibits any ability to provide FPGA services according to user or administrator defined policy. The paper “Reconfigurable Processor for Data-Flow Video Processing System”, Acosta et al., classifies uses of FPGAs in two broad categories: to offload bit parallel computations, and for computationally intensive program inner loops. It discusses a system named Cheops and cites prior art having other systems named Anyboard, SPLASH, PRISM-II and others that all pre-date the modern stream processing era. Cheops, in particular, is a one of a kind system designed for the specific purpose of processing and displaying digital video sequences. Neither it nor the prior art cited provide a general purpose stream processing acceleration method or system. None contemplate distributed acceleration device management. The article “FPGAs for Stream Processing: A Natural Choice”, Littlefield et al., links the use of FPGAs to stream processing. Described is a typical configuration, where a multi-computer system's input devices are connected to FPGA computing engines via dedicated links, and the various processing elements are interconnected via a switching communications fabric. Also claimed is the suitability of FPGAs for early stage stream processing. No detailed information is disclosed about management facilities provided by the communication middleware package. No disclosures are made with respect to distributed architectures, dynamic discovery or policy-driven application allocation/de-allocation of reconfigurable resources. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,858, the architecture disclosed allows multiple entities (applications) to control, allocate, and utilize resources (FPGAs) from a common pool simultaneously without multitasking or time slicing. Employed is a distributed control and decentralized scheduling approach. In U.S. Published Patent Application no. 2008/0028186A1, employment of an FPGA directly on a motherboard as an acceleration device is disclosed. This system also fails to address distribution, sharing, policies and other management issues. In U.S. Published Patent Application no. 2005/0278680A1, “[s]cheduling refers generically to a process of time sequencing a plurality of tasks or subtasks, [and] partitioning refers generically to a process of developing a physical hardware design for implementing the task or subtask in actual hardware. As used herein, hybrid network typically refers to a collection of elements including one or more processors preferably making up the nodes of a cluster or grid that are upgraded with FPGA boards for hardware acceleration . . . ” Also disclosed is a software tool that “implements application designs onto the hybrid network, controls data flow, and schedules executions on the network using application program interfaces to generate fast and accurate results.” In U.S. Published Patent Application no. 2005/0097305A1, an on-demand non-distributed FPGA co-processor loader is disclosed. It has no facilities for dynamic accelerator detection nor does it do any scheduling. It is a load and go system—when the microprocessor needs acceleration the FPGA is loaded accordingly and dispatched.

Coronary artery disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The ability to better diagnose, monitor, and treat coronary artery diseases can be of life saving importance. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a catheter-based imaging modality that uses light to peer into coronary artery walls and generate images thereof for study. Utilizing coherent light, interferometry, and micro-optics, OCT can provide video-rate in-vivo tomography within a diseased vessel with micrometer level resolution. Viewing subsurface structures with high resolution using fiber-optic probes makes OCT especially useful for minimally invasive imaging of internal tissues and organs. This level of detail made possible with OCT allows a clinician to diagnose as well as monitor the progression of coronary artery disease. OCT imaging of portions of a patient's body provides a useful diagnostic tool for doctors and others. For example, imaging of coronary arteries by intravascular OCT may reveal the location of a narrowing or stenosis. This information helps cardiologists to choose between an invasive coronary bypass surgery and a less invasive catheter-based procedure such as angioplasty or stent delivery. Although a popular option, stent delivery has its own associated risks. A stent is a tube-like structure that often is formed from a mesh. It can be inserted into a vessel and expanded to counteract a stenotic condition that constricts blood flow. Stents typically are made of a metal or a polymer scaffold. They can be deployed to the site of a stenosis via a catheter. During a cardiovascular procedure, a stent can be delivered to the stenotic site through a catheter via a guide wire, and expanded using a balloon. Typically, the stent is expanded using a preset pressure to enlarge the lumen of a stenosed vessel. There are several factors that influence the patient outcome when deploying stents. In some procedures, the stent should be expanded to a diameter that corresponds to the diameter of adjacent healthy vessel segments. Stent overexpansion may cause extensive damage to the vessel, making it prone to dissection, disarticulation, and intra-mural hemorrhage. Stent under expansion may inadequately expand the vessel. If the portions of the stent fail to contact the vessel wall, the risk of thrombosis may increase. An underinflated or malapposed stent may fail to restore normal flow. Clearly, after a stent is installed, stent malapposition and under expansion of the stent can result in various problems. There are other challenges associated with stent placements and related procedures. Visualizing a stent deployment relative to the wall of a blood vessel using an angiography system is challenging to undertake by inspection. Further, reviewing images manually to determine stent position on a per image basis is also prone to error. Given the reflective properties of the metal used in the stents, various imaging artifacts and effects such as blooms or image smearing can result which degrade the images when they occur. These artifacts and effects further compound the difficulty for a user when manually analyzing stents and blood vessel structures. The present invention addresses these challenges and others.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to systems that support either or both of online addition and deletion of system resources and/or reconfiguration operations. For example, the present invention facilitates dynamically allocating system resources between multiple Operating Systems (OS) partitions. 2. Description of the Related Art Current systems are based on the Front Side Bus (FSB) do not permit hot plug of an individual bus component. In contrast, newer versions of bus technology do support addition and deletion of system resources but are limited to coarse granularity, such as, requiring all the processors on the FSB along with the system control chipset.

MEMS devices have achieved great attention in the last decade for their board use in many smart systems. The MEMS devices have been utilized for various applications like radio frequency (RF) devices, inertial sensors, optics devices and biomedical systems. In order to strengthen their reliability, these MEMS devices require special protection, such as protection for controlling operating conditions, protection of devices from contamination during dicing, and protection of MEMS fragile hanging structures from harsh environments. Due to the above requirements, MEMS device packaging in great demand is preferred under vacuum conditions or in a controlled atmosphere. Conventional MEMS device packaging uses wafer bonding techniques, which requires a wide dicing area and has low yield during dicing. The MEMS devices packaged thereby have greater thickness due to the wafer bonding techniques, therefore resulting in few devices produced per wafer. An alternative technique of MEMS packaging/encapsulation to substitute wafer bonding techniques is thin film encapsulation (TFE), as it helps to reduce the thickness and area of a packaged device, as well as the cost of the final device by the elimination of a capping wafer. The encapsulation technique simply uses deposition, etching and release steps of surface micromachining approaches used for MEMS device fabrication. However, conventional encapsulation techniques have drawbacks, such as requiring a long time to release a sacrificial layer and forming mass loading force on the packaged MEMS devices during the sealing process. Conventional TFE techniques have several approaches which differ on the locations of etching channels to remove the sacrificial layer. One of the conventional approaches is to have etching channels all over as well as at the center of the device. In this approach, the sacrificial material can be removed uniformly in a short time. However, this approach suffers from an issue of damaging or mass loading on critical MEMS devices, such as film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs), as the sealing material will get deposited on the MEMS devices through etch channels that present on the top of the MEMS devices. The other approach is to have etching channels at the side of the MEMS devices. This side etching channel approach may be good at preventing damage from mass loading, but has a disadvantage of a longer release time than regular approaches, as the sacrificial material located deep inside near the MEMS device cannot be efficiently removed through side channels. Therefore, what is needed is a robust TFE structure and method which solves both the above drawbacks simultaneously, namely which prevents the mass loading on the MEMS devices and enables fast release of the sacrificial layer.

Generally, example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to hardware accelerators, and more particularly to providing a method, system, and computer program product for streaming attachment of hardware accelerators to computing systems. General purpose processors like Intel®, AMD® and IBM POWER® are designed to support a wide range of workloads. If processing power beyond existing capabilities are required then hardware accelerators may be attached to a computer system to meet requirements of a particular application. Examples of hardware accelerators include FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), the IBM Cell B.E. (broadband engine) processor, and graphics processing units (GPUs). Hardware accelerators are typically programmable to allow specialization of a hardware accelerator to a particular task or function and consist of a combination of software, hardware, and firmware. Such hardware accelerators may be attached directly to the processor complex or nest, by PCI-express (peripheral component interconnect) IO (input-output) slots or using high-speed networks, for example, Ethernet and Infiniband®. Call-return programming models are typically used for accelerator attachment to high-end computing systems. In the call-return programming model, a processing unit (PU) may make a call to an accelerator with task blocks (task descriptors), parameters and/or input data blocks. The PU may wait until a reply or result is received. An accelerator run-time system on the PU usually generates a task block for a given input block of data directed to the accelerator. The task block and data may then be passed to the accelerator for processing. This works well if the input data block size is bounded. Creating a task block for every byte of data (e.g., for stream processing) to be processed on an accelerator may be prohibitive and may create undue overhead if the length of the stream is unknown. Therefore, call-return programming models are inefficient for streaming data. For example, a stream residing on a disk may be several gigabytes in length and may be expected to approach terabytes or even larger in future workloads. A runtime system for streaming accelerator attachments may directly pass bytes to stream processing handlers on the accelerator for processing. Task blocks should be generated once for the entire stream and do not have to be generated for each byte or bit requiring accelerator processing. However, call-return programming models may not be equipped to handle an external stream entering an accelerator connected to a high-end computing system. Data about the stream does not exist on the high-end computing system and may not be used in a call to the accelerator for stream-based processing. For example, several large workloads may consist of streams arriving externally at an accelerator and subsequently being forwarded to the high-end computing system for archival, storage, and further processing. Therefore, with streaming workloads likely to become ubiquitous in the future, a new method to handle accelerators attached to high-end computing systems for stream processing may be prudent.

Mobile communication products generally require an SIM card to identify user data, and an electrical connector for electrically connecting the SIM card has two major types, i.e. a push-push type and a push-pull type. And, a volume of the push-push type electrical connector is large, and thus takes up more space for mounting, and the SIM card is inserted into and pulled out from the push-pull type electrical connector with a finger, however because the SIM card is getting smaller (transitioning from Mini SIM, Micro SIM to Nano SIM), attempting to grasp a SIM card with one's finger is becoming more difficult. A U.S. Pat. No. 8,197,272 discloses a connector ejecting an SIM card with an ejection member. A main body portion of the ejection member is an elongated plastic bar, when the card is ejected, a force from a user for pulling out the main body portion will not be completely along a direction of ejecting the card, an improper force component transverse to the direction of ejecting the card is easily generated, so as to cause deformation or fracture of the elongated plastic bar. Furthermore, the connector of the above patent is not provided with a polarizing mechanism for preventing incorrect insertion of the electronic card and a mechanism for locking the SIM card to prevent the SIM card from loosening after the SIM card is inserted. Therefore, improvement is required.

Congestive heart failure (CHF), which is often associated with an enlargement of the heart, is a leading cause of death. As a result, the market for the treatment of CHF is becoming increasingly prevalent. For instance, the treatment of CHF is a leading expenditure of Medicare and Medicaid dollars in the United States. Typically, the treatment of CHF enables many who suffer from CHF to enjoy an improved quality of life. Referring initially to FIG. A, the anatomy of a heart 10, specifically the left side of the heart 10, includes a left atrium (LA) 12 and a left ventricle (LV) 14. An aorta 16 receives blood from left ventricle 14 through an aortic valve 18, which serves to prevent regurgitation of blood back into left ventricle 14. A mitral valve 20 is positioned between left atrium 12 and left ventricle 14, and allows one-way flow of blood from the left atrium 12 to the left ventricle 14. Mitral valve 20, which will be described below in more detail, includes an anterior leaflet 22 and a posterior leaflet 24 that are coupled to cordae tendonae 26 which serve as “tension members” that prevent the leaflets 22, 24 of mitral valve 20 from going past their closing point and prolapsing back into the left atrium. When left ventricle 14 contracts during systole, cordae tendonae 26 limit the upward (toward the left atrium) motion of the anterior and posterior leaflets past the point at which the anterior and posterior leaflets 22, 24 meet and seal to prevent backflow from the left ventricle to the left atrium (“mitral regurgitation” or “mitral insufficiency”). Cordae tendonae 26 arise from a columnae carnae or, more specifically, a musculi papillares (papillary muscles) 28 of the columnae carnae. In various figures herein, some anatomical features have been deleted solely for clarity. FIG. B is a cut-away top-view representation of mitral valve 20 and aortic valve 18. Anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24 of the mitral valve 20 are generally thin, flexible membranes. When mitral valve 20 is closed (as shown in FIG. B), anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24 are generally aligned and contact one another along a “line of coaptation” several millimeters back from their free edges, to create a seal that prevents mitral regurgitation. Alternatively, when mitral valve 20 is opened, blood flows downwardly through an opening created between anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24 into left ventricle 14. Many problems relating to mitral valve 20 may occur and may cause many types of ailments. Such problems include, but are not limited to, mitral regurgitation. Mitral regurgitation, or leakage, is the backflow of blood from left ventricle 14 into the left atrium 12 due to an imperfect closure or prolapse of mitral valve 20. That is, leakage often occurs when the anterior and posterior leaflets to not seal against each other, resulting in a gap 32 between anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24. In general, a relatively significant gap 32 may exist between anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24 (as shown in FIG. C) for a variety of different reasons. For example, a gap 32 may exist due to congenital malformations, because of ischemic disease, or because the heart 10 has been damaged by a previous heart attack. A gap 32 may also be created when congestive heart failure, e.g., cardiomyopathy, or some other type of distress which causes a heart to be enlarged. Enlargement of the heart can result in dilation (stretching) of the mitral annulus. This enlargement is usually limited to the posterior valve annulus and is associated with the posterior leaflet, because the anterior annulus is a relataively rigid fibrous structure. When the posterior annulus enlarges, it causes the posterior leaflet to move away from the anterior leaflet, causing a gap because the two leaflets no longer form proper coaptation, and this results in leakage of blood through the valve, or regurgitation. Leakage through mitral valve 20 generally causes a heart 10 to operate less efficiently, as the heart 10 must pump blood both out to the body via the aorta, and also back (in the form of mitral regurgitation) back into the left atrium. Leakage through mitral valve 20, or general mitral insufficiency, is thus often considered to be a precursor to CHF or a cause of progressive worsening of heart failure. There are generally different levels of symptoms associated with heart failure. Such levels are classified by the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification system. The levels range from a Class 1 level which is associated with an asymptomatic patient who has substantially no physical limitations to a Class 4 level which is associated with a patient who is unable to carry out any physical activity without discomfort, and has symptoms of cardiac insufficiency even at rest. In general, correcting or reducing the degree of mitral valve leakage may be successful in allowing the NYHA classification grade of a patient to be reduced. For instance, a patient with a Class 4 classification may have his classification reduced to Class 3 or Class 2 and, hence, be relatively comfortable at rest or even on mild physical exertion. By eliminating the flow of blood backwards into the left atrium, therapies that reduce mitral insufficiency reduce the work load of the heart and may prevent or slow the worsening of heart function and congestive heart failure symptoms that is common when a significant degree of mitral insufficiency remains uncorrected. Treatments used to correct for mitral valve leakage or, more generally, CHF, are typically highly invasive, open-heart surgical procedures as described below. In extreme cases, this may include implantation of a ventricular assist device such as an artificial heart in a patient whose own heart is failing. The implantation of a ventricular assist device is often expensive, and a patient with a ventricular assist device must be placed on extended anti-coagulant therapy. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, anti-coagulant therapy reduces the risk of blood clots being formed, as for example, within the ventricular assist device. While reducing the risks of blood clots associated with the ventricular assist device is desirable, anti-coagulant therapies may increase the risk of uncontrollable bleeding in a patient, e.g., as a result of a fall, which is not desirable. Rather than implanting a ventricular assist device, bi-ventricular pacing devices similar to pace makers may be implanted in some cases, e.g., cases in which a heart beats inefficiently in a particular asynchronous manner. While the implantation of a bi-ventricular pacing device may be effective, not all heart patients are suitable for receiving a bi-ventricular pacing device. Further, the implantation of a bi-ventricular pacing device is expensive, and is generally not effective in significantly reducing or eliminating the degree of mitral regurgitation. Open-heart surgical procedures which are intended to correct for mitral valve leakage, specifically, can involve the implantation of a replacement valve. Valves from animals, e.g., pigs, may be used to replace a mitral valve 20 in a human. While the use of a pig valve may relatively successfully replace a mitral valve, such valves generally wear out, thereby requiring additional open surgery at a later date. Mechanical valves, which are less likely to wear out, may also be used to replace a leaking mitral valve. However, when a mechanical valve is implanted, there is an increased risk of thromboembolism, and a patient is generally required to undergo extended anti-coagulant therapies. A less invasive surgical procedure involves heart bypass surgery associated with a port access procedure. For a port access procedure, the heart may be accessed by cutting between ribs or sometimes removing parts of one or more ribs, as opposed to dividing the sternum to open the entire chest of a patient. In other words, the opening occurs between the ribs in a port access procedure, rather than opening a patient's sternum. One open-heart surgical procedure that is particularly successful in correcting for mitral valve leakage and, in addition, mitral regurgitation, is an annuloplasty procedure. During an annuloplasty procedure, a medical device—an annuloplasty ring—may be implanted surgically on the left atrial side of mitral annulus (the attachment of the base of the mitral valve to the heart) to cause the size of a dilated mitral valve annulus to be reduced to a relatively normal size, and specifically to move the posterior leaflet closer to the anterior leaflet to aid anterior-posterior leaflet coaptation and thus improve the quality of mitral valve closure and significantly reduce the amount of mitral insufficiency. FIG. D is a schematic representation of an annuloplasty ring 34. An annuloplasty ring 34 is shaped approximately like the contour of a normal mitral valve 20. That is, annuloplasty ring 34 is shaped substantially like the letter “D.” Typically, annuloplasty ring 34 may be formed from a rod or tube of biocompatible material, e.g., plastic, that has a DACRON mesh covering. In order for annuloplasty ring 34 to be implanted, a surgeon surgically attaches annuloplasty ring 34 to the mitral valve on the atrial side of the mitral valve 20. Conventional methods for installing ring 34 require open-heart surgery which involve opening a patient's sternum and placing the patient on a heart bypass machine. As shown in FIG. E, annuloplasty ring 34 is sewn to a posterior leaflet 24 and an anterior leaflet 22 of a top portion of mitral valve 20. In sewing annuloplasty ring 34 onto mitral valve 20, a surgeon generally sews the straight side of the “D” to the fibrous tissue located at the junction between the posterior wall of the aorta and the base of the anterior mitral valve leaflet. As the curved part of the ring is sewn to the posterior aspect of the annulus, the surgeon alternately acquires a relatively larger amount of tissue from the mitral annulus, e.g., a one-eighth inch bite of tissue, using a needle and thread, compared to a relatively smaller bite taken of the fabric covering of annuloplasty ring 34. Once a thread has loosely coupled annuloplasty ring 34 to mitral valve tissue, annuloplasty ring 34 is slid into contact with the mitral annulus 40 such that the tissue of the posterior mitral annulus that was previously stretched out, e.g., due to an enlarged heart, is effectively reduced in circumference and pulled forwards towards the anterior mitral leaflet by the tension applied by annuloplasty ring 34 by the thread that binds the annuloplasty ring 34 to the mitral annulus tissue. As a result, a gap, such as gap 32 of FIG. C, between anterior leaflet 22 and posterior leaflet 24 during ventricular contraction (systole) may be reduced and even substantially closed off in many cases thereby significantly reducing or even eliminating mitral insufficiency. After the mitral valve 20 is shaped by ring 34, the anterior and posterior leaflets 22, 24 will reform typically by pulling the posterior leaflet forward to properly meet the anterior leaflet and create a new contact line that will enable mitral valve 20 to appear and to function properly. Once implanted, tissue generally grows over annuloplasty ring 34, and a line of contact between annuloplasty ring 34 and mitral valve 20 will essentially enable mitral valve 20 to appear and function normally. Although a patient who receives annuloplasty ring 34 may be subjected to anti-coagulant therapies, the therapies are not extensive, as a patient is only subjected to the therapies for a matter of weeks, e.g., until tissue grows over annuloplasty ring 34. A second surgical procedure which is generally effective in reducing mitral valve leakage associated with prolapse of the valve leaflets involves placing a single edge-to-edge suture in the mitral valve 20 that apposes the mid-portions of anterior and posterior leaflets. With reference to FIG. F, such a surgical procedure, e.g., an Alfieri stitch procedure or a bow-tie repair procedure, will be described. An edge-to-edge stitch 36 is used to stitch together an area at approximately the center of the gap 32 defined between an anterior leaflet 22 and a posterior leaflet 24 of a mitral valve 20. Once stitch 36 is in place, stitch 36 is pulled in to form a suture which holds anterior leaflet 22 against posterior leaflet 24, as shown. By reducing the size of gap 32, the amount of leakage through mitral valve 20 may be substantially reduced. Although the placement of edge-to-edge stitch 36 is generally successful in reducing the amount of mitral valve leakage through gap 32, edge-to-edge stitch 36 is conventionally made through open-heart surgery. In addition, the use of edge-to-edge stitch 36 is generally not suitable for a patient with an enlarged, dilated heart, as blood pressure causes the heart to dilate outward, and may put a relatively large amount of stress on edge-to-edge stitch 36. For instance, blood pressure of approximately 120/80 or higher is typically sufficient to cause the heart 10 to dilate outward to the extent that edge-to-edge stitch 36 may become undone, or tear mitral valve tissue. Another surgical procedure which reduces mitral valve leakage involves placing sutures along a mitral valve annulus around the posterior leaflet. A surgical procedure which places sutures along a mitral valve 20 will be described with respect to FIG. G. Sutures 38 are formed along the annulus 40 of a mitral valve 20 that surrounds the posterior leaflet 24 of mitral valve 20. These sutures may be formed as a double track, e.g., in two “rows” from a single strand of suture material 42. Sutures 38 are tied off at approximately a central point (P2) of posterior leaflet 24. Pledgets 44 are often positioned under selected sutures, e.g., at the two ends of the sutured length of annulus or at the central point P2, to prevent sutures 38 from tearing through annulus 40. When sutures 38 are tightened and tied off, the circumference of the annulus 40 may effectively be reduced to a desired size such that the size of a gap 32 between posterior leaflet 24 and an anterior leaflet 22 may be reduced. The placement of sutures 38 along annulus 40, in addition to the tightening of sutures 38, is generally successful in reducing mitral valve leakage. However, the placement of sutures 38 is conventionally accomplished through open-heart surgical procedures. That is, like other conventional procedures, a suture-based annuloplasty procedure is invasive. While invasive surgical procedures have proven to be effective in the treatment of mitral valve leakage, invasive surgical procedures often have significant drawbacks. Any time a patient undergoes open-heart surgery, there is a risk of infection. Opening the sternum and using a cardiopulmonary bypass machine has also been shown to result in a significant incidence of both short and long term neurological deficits. Further, given the complexity of open-heart surgery, and the significant associated recovery time, people who are not greatly inconvenienced by CHF symptoms, e.g., people at a Class 1 classification, may choose not to have corrective surgery. In addition, people who most need open heart surgery, e.g., people at a Class 4 classification, may either be too frail or too weak to undergo the surgery. Hence, many people who may benefit from a surgically repaired mitral valve may not undergo surgery. FIG. H illustrates the cardiac anatomy, highlighting the relative position of the coronary sinus (CS) 46 running behind the posterior leaflet 24 of the mitral valve 20. FIG. I is an illustration of the same anatomy but schematically shows a cinching device 48 which is placed within the CS 46 using a catheter system 50, with distal, mid, and proximal anchors 52a, 52b, 52c within the lumen of the CS 46 to allow plication of the annulus 40 via the CS 46. In practice, these anchors 52a-c are cinched together, i.e., the distance between them is shortened by pulling a flexible tensile member 54 such as a cable or suture with the intent being to shorten the valve annulus 40 and pull the posterior leaflet 24 closer to the anterior leaflet 22 in a manner similar to an annuloplasty procedure. Unfortunately, since the tissue which forms the CS 46 is relatively delicate, the anchors 52a-c are prone to tear the tissue during the cinching procedure, and the effect on the mitral annulus may be reduced by the position of the coronary sinus up more towards the left atrium rather than directly over the mitral annulus itself. Other minimally invasive techniques have been proposed and/or developed but have various drawbacks related to such factors as effectiveness and/or cases and accuracy of catheter-based implementation. Therefore, there remains a need for improved minimally invasive treatments for mitral valve leakage. Specifically, what is desired is a method for decreasing the circumference of the posterior mitral annulus, moving the posterior leaflet forwards towards the anterior leaflet and thereby reducing leakage between an anterior leaflet and a posterior leaflet of a mitral valve, in a manner that does not require conventional surgical intervention.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly to semiconductor memory devices having efficient parallel multi-bit testing. A semiconductor memory device can typically be arranged into a plurality of banks, which may be independently operated. Each bank may be arranged into a plurality of memory cell plates or arrays, which contain memory cells arranged in rows and columns. Memory cells are selected based on row and column address values. In an independently operable bank, a row of memory cells is selected by a low order address (row address), which is input into a row decoder. From the selected row of memory cells, a specific cell or cells are selected by a high order address (column address), which is input into a column decoder. Thus, a bit from a memory cell or a group of memory cells can be selected in order to be read out of a semiconductor memory device. In the read operation, data selected by the address value is output from a memory cell array by way of a data line or input/output (I/O) bus. This data can then be received by a data amplifier (DAMP) and output to a read/write bus (RWBS). The data is then output from the semiconductor memory device by way of an output amplifier or buffer. As an example, in a semiconductor memory arranged into four banks and having 16 data input/output pins, 16 read/write busses (RWBS) and 64 (16xc3x974) data amplifiers (DAMP) will typically exist. An example of a block diagram showing a semiconductor memory configured with two banks can be seen in FIG. 3. The semiconductor memory of FIG. 3 contains two independently operable banks (10 and 20) shown as BANK A and BANK B. Each bank (10 and 20) is connected to a data amplifier DAMP 40 by way of an I/O bus (IOAT/N and IOBT/N). Each bank (10 and 20) includes its own DAMP 40. This allows increased operating speed of the semiconductor memory by reducing the length of the I/O bus from the memory cell array to the DAMP. Read/write bus RWBST/N receives the output of the DAMP 40. Typically, there may be only one read/write bus RWBST/N per data pin on a chip. Thus in the case of 16 external data pins (xc3x9716) there may be only 16 read/write busses RWBST/N. Read/write bus RWBST/N and I/O buses (IOAT/N and IOBT/N) contain both a xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d and a xe2x80x9cnot truexe2x80x9d line, which carry data and complementary data. In a normal read operation only one DAMP 40 is enabled per read/write bus RWBST/N. This is based on a data amplifier enable signal DAE, which will be activated in accordance with the activated bank (10 or 20). Thus, it can be seen that BANK A 10 and BANK B 20 can share the same read/write bus RWBST/N on which data may be read out of either bank (10 or 20). However, in order to decrease test time in a production part, parallel test schemes are implemented that allow multiple bits to be read in parallel, compared with each other and the result of the comparison being output on a data pin. This will allow for instance a xc3x9716 device to have 32 bits being tested in one read cycle which will increase the test throughput, thus reducing test time and therefore reducing manufacturing costs. In the configuration of FIG. 3, a parallel test mode can be implemented by activating both banks (10 and 20) and allowing both DAMPs 40 to be activated and operate as a wired-OR/NOR with read/write bus RWBST/N being the output. This can be accomplished by precharging the complementary data line of read/write bus RWBST/N to a high logic/voltage level and having each DAMP 40 pull down (apply a low logic/voltage level) either the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cNxe2x80x9d depending on whether the data received from the bank (10 and 20) was a zero or one logic value. In the parallel test mode, the same data logic value is output from each bank (10 and 20) indicating a xe2x80x9cpassxe2x80x9d=0 condition in which only one data line from the read/write bus RWBST/N is pulled down. However, if BANK A 10 outputs a different data logic value than BANK B 20, one DAMP 40 will pull down one of the data lines from the read/write bus RWBST/N and the other DAMP 40 will pull down the other data line from the read/write bus, thus indicating a xe2x80x9cfailxe2x80x9d condition. The xe2x80x9cpassxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfailxe2x80x9d condition can then be detected by detection circuitry (not shown). Referring to FIG. 4, a circuit schematic diagram of the conventional data amplifier DAMP 40 is set forth. The conventional data amplifier DAMP 40 can be used in the semiconductor memory of FIG. 3. The conventional data amplifier 40 includes differential amplifiers (D1-D3), inverters (L20 and L21), 2-input NOR gates (L22 and L23), and pull down n-channel insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs) (N5 and N6). The top conventional data amplifier 40 illustrated in FIG. 4, corresponds to DAMP 40 connected to BANK A 10 in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 also includes the bottom conventional data amplifier 40 drawn as a box with only pull down IGFETs (N7 and N8) illustrated, however, it is understood that the bottom conventional data amplifier 40 includes the same elements as the top conventional data amplifier 40. The bottom conventional data amplifier 40 corresponds to DAMP 40 connected to BANK B 20 in FIG. 3. The top conventional data amplifier 40 receives data I/O line IOAT and complementary data I/O line IOAN from BANK A 10 as inputs. Top conventional data amplifier 40 also receives data amplifier enable signal DAEA as an input and has outputs connected to read/write bus RWBST/N. The operation of conventional data amplifier 40 will be explained with reference to the conventional data amplifier connected to BANK A 10. When data amplifier enable signal DAEA is at a low logic level, top conventional data amplifier 40 of FIG. 4 is disabled. The low logic level of data amplifier enable signal DAEA is applied to differential amplifiers (D1-D3) thus placing the differential amplifiers (D1-D3) in a disable state. The low logic level of data amplifier enable signal DAEA propagates through inverter L20 and 2-input NOR gates (L22 and L23) to force the gates of n-channel IGFETs (N5 and N6) to a logic low level, thus placing n-channel IGFETs (N5 and N6) in a non-conducting state. When data amplifier enable signal DAEA is at a high logic level differential amplifiers (D1 to D3) are enabled. Differential amplifier D1 receives data line IOAT at a positive input terminal and complementary data line IOAN at a negative input terminal while differential amplifier D2 receives data line IOAT at a negative input terminal and complementary data line IOAN at a positive input terminal. The outputs of differential amplifier D1 and differential amplifier D2 are then applied to the positive and negative input terminals of differential amplifier D3 respectively. In this manner, by applying I/O bus IOAT/N to differential amplifiers (D1 and D2) in a complementary fashion, variations in the process or layout of the differential amplifiers (D1 and D2) that may cause an imbalance can be cancelled. The output of differential amplifier D3 is then applied to the gate of n-channel IGFET N5 by way of 2-input NOR gate L22. The output of differential amplifier D3 is also applied to the gate of n-channel IGFET N6 by way of inverter L21 and 2-input NOR gate L22. In this manner, if I/O bus IOAT/N carries logical one data, the gate of n-channel IGFET N5 will remain low and the gate of n-channel IGFET N6 will become high, thus discharging read/write bus line RWBSN. However, if I/O bus IOAT/N carries logical zero data, the gate of n-channel IGFET N6 will remain low and the gate of n-channel IGFET N5 will become high, thus discharging read/write bus line RWBST. It is understood that the bottom conventional data amplifier 40 operates in the same manner as the top conventional data amplifier 40 except the bottom conventional data amplifier 40 has inputs corresponding to BANK B 20 instead of BANK A 10. The minimum number of data amplifiers 40 required corresponds to the number of data output pins on the chip. However, as mentioned, in order to improve speed the semiconductor memory of FIG. 3 includes a data amplifier 40 per pin in every bank. This also will allow a parallel test mode in which more than one data bit can be tested per data output pin in one read operation, thus allowing a reduction test time and reducing manufacturing costs. However, when data amplifiers 40 are arranged in every bank, die or chip size is increased, thus increasing manufacturing costs because fewer chips can be printed on a single wafer. Thus, there are two conflicting parameters, one is the desire to increase the number of bits that can be tested in one cycle in order to increase test throughput. The other is the desire to have a small chip size. If a single data amplifier is used per data output pin (a data amplifier is shared among different banks), then the chip size is reduced. However, then the number of bits that can be tested in one cycle is limited to a bit per data output pin. Alternatively, if more data amplifiers are placed on the chip, for example, one per bank per data output pin, then a parallel test can improve test throughput, but chip size is increased. In view of the above discussion, it would be desirable to provide a semiconductor memory in which a data amplifier can process more than one bit of data when in a parallel test mode thereby allowing high test throughput without greatly increasing chip size. According to the present embodiments, a semiconductor memory device includes a normal read mode and a parallel test mode of operation. The semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of banks coupled to a data amplifier. In the normal mode of operation the data amplifier selects data from one of the banks and outputs it to a read/write bus. In the parallel test mode, the data amplifier compares data from a plurality of the banks and outputs a comparison result. According to one aspect of the embodiments, the data amplifier includes a selection circuit that selects data from one memory bank in a normal mode of operation and selects data from a plurality of banks in a parallel test mode of operation. The selection circuit can include selection gates that select data according to a selection control signal or a bank address. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the selection circuit can include a multiplexer that can select data according to a bank address. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the data amplifier can include a data sense circuit that can amplify one bit of selected data in a normal mode of operation and can amplify a plurality of selected data bits in a parallel test mode of operation. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the data sense circuit can include a plurality of amplifier circuits such as differential amplifiers that may be configured in a cascaded manner to amplify one bit of selected data in a normal mode of operation and configured to operate individually to amplify a plurality of selected data bits in a parallel test mode of operation. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the data sense circuit can include a configuration circuit that in response to a test signal can configure a plurality of amplifier circuits to operate individually to amplify a plurality of data bits or in a cascaded manner to amplify a single data bit. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the data amplifier may include a data output circuit that outputs selected data to a read/write bus in a normal mode of operation. The data amplifier may be disabled in the parallel test mode of operation. According to another aspect of the embodiments, the data amplifier may include a comparator that compares the plurality of data bits outputted from the data sense circuit in the parallel test mode of operation and generates a comparison result on a read/write bus. The data amplifier may include pull down n-channel transistors operating in a wired NOR configuration with pull down n-channel transistors that may be included in the data output circuit. According to another aspect of the invention, the comparator may operate to discharge a read/write bus when there is a comparison fail result and may output data when there is a comparison pass result. According to another aspect of the invention, the comparator may operate to output a logic one when there is a comparison pass result and output a logic zero when there is a comparison fail result. According to another aspect of the invention, the data amplifier may include a control circuit that receives a parallel test mode signal and a data amplifier enable signal. The control circuit can generate an amplifier enable signal to be received by a data sense circuit. The control circuit can further generate a data output circuit enable signal to be received by a data output circuit. The control circuit can generate a comparator enable signal to be received by a comparator circuit. The control circuit can include a delay element for delaying the generation of the comparator enable signal.

Fibrosis is the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue. Fibrosis encompasses the pathological state of excess deposition of fibrous tissue, as well as the process of connective tissue deposition in healing. Fibrosis is similar to the process of scarring, in that both involve stimulated cells (e.g., fibroblasts) laying down connective tissue, including collagen and glycosaminoglycans. Fibrosis can be considered as a scarring process in response to chronic diseases where excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition leads to irreversible tissue damage and failure or disturbance of proper organ function. The pathophysiology of fibrosis has generally been studied in the context of the particular organ or tissue affected, including lung, kidney, liver, heart and skin. Loss of metabolic homeostasis and chronic low-grade inflammation may play a role in the pathogenesis of fibrosis. Fibrogenesis is a dynamic process and occurs in four phases: i) initiation, due to injury of the organ/tissue; ii) inflammation and activation of effector cells; iii) enhanced synthesis of ECM; and iv) deposition of ECM with progression to end-organ failure. Fibrosis can occur in many tissues within the body. Examples include pulmonary fibrosis (lungs), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (lungs), cystic fibrosis (lungs), progressive massive fibrosis (lungs), liver fibrosis, cirrhosis (liver), steatohepatitis (fatty liver disease), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), endomyocardial fibrosis (heart), myocardial infarction (heart), atrial fibrosis (heart), medastinal fibrosis (soft tissue of mediastinum), myelofibrosis (bone marrow), retroperitoneal fibrosis (soft tissue of the retroperitoneum), nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (skin), keloid (skin), Crohn's disease (intestine), scleroderma/systemic sclerosis (skin, lungs), arthrofibrosis (knee, shoulder, other joints), Peyronie's disease (penis), Dupuytren's contracture (hands, fingers), adhesive capsulitis (shoulder), kidney fibrosis, and focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (kidney). One of the major complications of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress from fatty liver to liver inflammation (NASH) and liver fibrosis. It is believed that due to intestinal barrier leakage, accompanied by overgrowth and changes in the composition of gut flora, bacterial components travel through the portal vein into the liver, where they encounter toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLRs are a family of receptors imperative for the innate immune response against microbial invasion. TLRs can be divided into two major subgroups based on their cellular localization. Plasma membrane expressed TLRs include TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR6, whereas the intracellular TLRs include TLR3, TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9. The interaction between TLRs with their cognate agonists instigates a cascade of cues which include recruitment of the adaptor molecules MyD88/TRIF and downstream phosphorylation of MAPK kinases and NF-κB. These events culminate in the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-12/23, IL-6 and TNF-α. TLR2 forms a heterodimer with TLR1 which recognizes bacterial triacylated lipopeptides, and a heterodimer with TLR6 which recognizes bacterial diacylated lipopeptides. TLR4 coupled to MD2 in complex with lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and the co-receptor CD14 bind lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from gram negative bacteria. Liver resident kupffer and hepatic stellate cells (HSC) express TLR2 which recognize triacylated lipopeptides from Gram-negative bacteria and mycoplasma and diacylated lipopeptides from Gram-negative bacteria and mycoplasma and TLR4 and its co-receptor CD14 which recognize lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from gram-negative bacteria. Both TLR2 and TLR4 can also bind to danger associated molecular patterns released from injured tissues. These TLR2 and TLR4 complexes mediate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and fibrogenic response by kupffer and stellate cells. Pre-clinical studies showed that nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis are inhibited in TLR2 and TLR4 deficient mice, indicating its role in disease pathogenesis. In humans, LPS plasma levels are elevated in NAFLD patients and alterations in TLR4 and CD14 genes are associated with risks of developing nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and fibrogenesis. Monocytes are key players in the immune system, with critical roles in innate and adaptive immunity, immune surveillance and particle scavenging. Whereas a subset of monocytes is “resident” and recruited to tissues independently of inflammatory stimuli to assist in steady-state surveillance, wound-healing and resolution of inflammation, the absolute majority (80-90%) of human circulating monocytes is classified as “inflammatory”. These monocytes can sense inflammatory stimuli and quickly migrate through the vascular or lymphatic endothelium to the periphery, where they can differentiate into macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) which cooperate with additional cell subsets (such as Th1-cells) to promote inflammation. While playing a necessary role in host defense, monocytes were nonetheless identified as critical mediators of several inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Suppressing the accumulation of unwanted monocytes/macrophages in a chronically inflamed tissue has therapeutic potential, and migration inhibitors have accordingly demonstrated promising anti-inflammatory results in animal models and clinical trials. Renal fibrosis (kidney fibrosis) is a wound healing/scarring response following kidney injury that occurs in many forms of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Following kidney injury, resident fibroblasts are activated by various pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic stimuli. Activated fibroblasts, also called myofibroblasts, produce excessive ECM proteins that accumulate in the interstitium, and therefore are considered a mediator of renal fibrosis. Regardless of the primary insult leading to renal fibrosis, chronic inflammation appears to be a process heralding renal fibrogenesis. Elevated levels of inflammatory markers were associated with an increased risk of developing CKD. Induction of various pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and adhesion molecules (intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1) attracted the transmigration of macrophages and T cells from the circulation to the interstitium, thereby further enhancing the inflammatory state. Evidence suggests that TLRs and macrophages are associated with the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis. Fibrosis can cause severe morbidity and deleterious effects on patients' daily function, activity of daily living (ADL) and quality of life, and can lead to poor prognosis. For example, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic intractable disease associated with worsening and debilitating shortness of breath. IPF patients become oxygen dependent, and have an average median survival time of three years and a five year survival rate of 20% to 40% after diagnosis. Therefore, the development of new therapies for fibrosis is needed.

Most often when one wishes to separate a composite material into a plurality of discrete groups, classified by size, the composite material is passed through a plurality of stacked screens of increasingly finer mesh so that the group of material of the largest size is separated first and successively smaller sized groups separated thereafter. This system of separation has some practical problems and is not suited for all applications. For example, because the screens are stacked, it is only useful where there is a great deal of vertical space available. Additionally, because the screens with the more delicate finer mesh are positioned underneath the more durable heavier mesh screens, an imperfection or tear in the finer screens, which more readily occurs, is not easily discernable. Further, the process time required for the material to travel over and through the plurality of screens through many steps renders many processes time consuming and inefficient. These types of systems also prove undesirable for specific applications. For example, in the oil well drilling industry a drilling fluid, sometimes known as drilling mud, is continuously injected into the well at the drilling location. This fluid not only cleans and lubricates the bit but it also serves as a medium to, by hydraulic pressure, bring the undesirable drilling earthen material, such as sand, crushed shale and the like, to the surface. In some, more simple operations, the undesirable material is then separated from the drilling fluid and the cleaned drilling fluid circulated back into the well. Oftentimes the formations being drilled will have small fissures or cracks therein. In such instances the drilling fluid can and does flow into these cracks to the expense and detriment of the continuous system. To avoid losses of drilling fluid a process has been developed whereby an additional material, termed lost circulation material, is added to the drilling fluid. This material, which can generally be any fiberous material, then fills or clogs the crevices in the earth and prevents any substantial losses of drilling fluid. Typical of the lost circulation material used are such items as walnut shells, cellophane, sawdust chips or the like. The addition of the lost circulation material compounds the separating problems because it, like the drilling fluid, is preferably cleaned and recirculated. Thus exiting the well is the drilling fluid of small size, the lost circulation material of a large size, and the undesirable material of a size therebetween, with the largest and smallest of the materials to be recirculated. One proposed solution to this separation problem is nothing more than a conventional two step screening process as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,288. There the exiting mixture of drilling fluid, lost circulation material and undesirable material is first subjected to a coarse screening to separate the lost circulation material from the drilling fluid and undesirable material which drops to a second finer screen therebelow to separate the drilling fluid from the undesirable material. The drilling fluid and lost circulation material are then reunited for recirculation into the well. Not only is this system susceptible to the height restrictions and obscure fine screen problem previously described but it also is a slow two step process and even at that, inefficient. Quite often the moist, fiberous lost circulation material will be coated with undesirable material which will not go through the first screen and which is therefore circulated back into the well. In short, no prior art separating equipment is efficiently able to cope with problems such as created by the specific application just described.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotation based transformation method and apparatus that can perturb data using rotation for preserving data privacy, and more particularly, to a rotation based transformation method and apparatus that can mitigate the impact of the apriori knowledge independent component analysis (AK-ICA) attack on the rotation based transformation. 2. Description of the Related Art A rotation based transformation (RBT) is effectively used for perturbing data used for data mining in order to maintain the individual data record's privacy. The advantage of the RBT is in its distance-invariant transformation. That is, the distance, inner product and angle between vectors of original numerical data is maintained even after the transformation is performed using the RBT. This is very important when, in data clustering based on a distance between data points, data transformed for the data clustering is used. However, it has been discovered that the RBT may be vulnerable to the impact of the apriori knowledge independent component analysis (AK-ICA) attack. The independent component analysis (ICA) basically is a method for separating multivariate signals into additive components assuming the mutual statistical independence of non-Gaussian source signals. Moreover, the AK-ICA utilizes a portion of private data that an attacker knows to enhance the attack power. The power of the AK-ICA attack relies on several assumptions, but the most important thing is that a data sample given to the attacker has enough information in respect to the distribution of the entire data population, the data is of a specific type (according to the ICA conditions of work), and the attacker has enough information about the statistical properties of the data (for example, a minimum value and a maximum value).

Multi-tier system is a computer system architecture in which multiple groups of interconnected computers execute their respective tasks while communicating with each other to exchange information. As an example of this multi-tier architecture, a three-tier web system is known as a system of web servers, application servers, and database servers. The multi-tier system may employ a system analyzer which observes messages exchanged between servers so as to monitor the operation of the system. The system analyzer achieves its purpose without the need for modifying service functions implemented on the computers, since it is designed to analyze the target system on the basis of messages observed on the network. The system analyzer outputs analysis results such as information about processing times of individual transactions in the services that the multi-tier system offers. More specifically, the above system analyzer observes messages flowing over network links and analyzes what tasks were invoked, as well as when and where. Here the tasks to be analyzed include execution of applications, access to databases, and the like. The system analyzer may use some models that define which tasks can be called by each task. During the system observation, the system analyzer captures messages on the network and compares event data obtained from those messages with relevant models, thereby calculating execution times that the individual servers spend to jointly provide services. See, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-011683. The system analyzer examines a time series of events. One proposed method achieves this by breaking down the given time series of event records into a plurality of semantic sets. See, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-308229. Servers execute their tasks in response to a call from other servers. Their execution times are, however, so short that a large burden is placed on the analyzer device in investigating the relationships between calling tasks and callee tasks which match with a relevant model. More specifically, the analyzer device identifies a caller-callee relationship matching with a specific model, based on a criterion which states that a callee task should begin after the calling task and end before the calling task. The analyzer device searches for a calling task (caller) associated with a given called task (callee), within the population of tasks qualified by the above criterion. It is noted that the number of candidates for the caller will increase as the callee executes the task of interest in a shorter time, thus causing the analyzer apparatus to spend more time to find a likely caller task. For example, application servers often repeat data access requests to a database server at short intervals, and thus it takes a long time to investigate caller-callee relationships that match with a relevant model.

There has existed the need for a high speed punching assembly to be used with the higher speed turret punch presses. High operating speeds and the increased use of standard tooling have created problems for prior punching assemblies, particularly when they are used to notch or nibble a workpiece. In a notching or nibbling operation in which a large area needs to be removed, a punch of a smaller size than the area to be removed can be used to nibble the material out in small bites. This creates a substantial lateral pressure on the punch since the punch is being used on only one or two sides. In the prior punching assemblies, the punch holder travels up and down in the press turret during this side loading, causing galling, seizing and bell-mouthing of the turret. It is therefore a general object to reduce this kind of wear and the expensive rework or replacement of the turret by limiting wear to the internal parts of the punching assembly. In addition, the lubrication of previous punching assemblies has been a hit or miss proposition. This has contributed to premature damage and replacement of parts. Moreover, prior tools have had a tendency to overheat. It is therefore an object to provide a more effective means for lubricating and cooling the punching assembly, particularly the operating end of the punch. The high speed steel from which the punch is made, while excellent in high temperature and abrasion resistance, is quite fragile and susceptible to chipping and spalling at its cutting edge. It is therefore an objective to support the punch at the working end in two dimensions, namely, by supporting it against both lateral and rotary movement. Thus, in prior punching assemblies, wear was excessive and too much time was required to remove and replace the punch in from the punch assembly. The general objectives of the invention are to reduce wear, provide finished parts of better quality, i.e., flatter sheets, less burrs, longer punch life, quicker punch changing with more reliable and trouble free operation. Punch devices have been previously proposed that include an external housing or sleeve within which the punch itself slides during operation. It is also known to provide a removable stripper plate surrounding the punch tip as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,111. These prior devices have certain shortcomings. Stripper plates are time-consuming to remove and replace. They also require a special tool for the manipulation of several retaining members used for securing the stripper in place. It is therefore one object to provide a way of more quickly and easily removing and replacing the stripper plate and punch including a self-locking provision that automatically secures the stripper plate in place. Moreover, prior punches of the type having a stripper could be used only as a push-type punch and were not suited for use with a push-pull ram, i.e., one in which the punch is pushed downwardly into engagement with the work and is also pulled back on the return stroke. In view of these and other deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention has the following more specific objectives and advantages: (a) The provision of an improved punching assembly having a means for more quickly and easily removing and replacing the punch and stripper plate; (b) The provision of a feature for automatically locking the stripper plate in place on any one of several preset angular positions about the punch axis assembly; (c) Provision for more effectively lubricating internal parts; (d) Provision for the above-noted features in a push-pull style punch suited for use in a push-pull type punch press or press brake; (e) A provision that enables the stripper plate to guide the punch both laterally and about its axis for improving alignment and stability especially when notching and nibbling; (f) A provision for cooling the operating end of the punch by causing air to flow over it; (g) A provision enabling the stripper plate to be removed with a single quick movement of the hand and to be ejected automatically with a pop-out action; (h) The provision of a single retaining member for holding the stripper plate securely in place so that by shifting the retaining member the punch and stripper plate can be removed and replaced in about 30 seconds; (i) Provision for enabling the punch and stripper plate to be removed for replacement while keeping the rest of the punch assembly intact; (j) Provision for producing an audible signal when the punch has been released and can be removed; and (k) Provision for making a length adjustment to compensate for punch length changes and the amount of punch penetration into the die. These and other more detailed specific objects of the invention will be apparent in view of the following description setting forth but a few of the various ways in which the present invention can be accomplished in view of the accompanying description which illustrates the invention by way of example.

The invention relates to manufacturing articles, and in particular to manufacturing toothbrushes. Toothbrushes generally include a toothbrush body that includes a handle portion and a head portion, and tufts of bristles located at or near the head portion. Toothbrush bodies are generally made by injection molding machines. These toothbrush bodies often consist of plastic and include multiple components. The different components may differ in nature, color, texture, density and hardness. For example, toothbrush bodies may include a relatively hard plastic base component and a colored rubberized gripping component. After the toothbrush bodies are manufactured they are automatically removed from the molding machine and deposited onto a cooling conveyor. The cooling conveyor transports the toothbrush bodies to a bin. The bodies are then manually transported to a bristle tufting machine where they receive tufts of bristles and are formed into toothbrushes. The tufting operation generally involves manually grabbing handfuls of differently colored toothbrush bodies so as to provide a mixture of differently colored toothbrush bodies to a hopper. A conveyor removes the toothbrush bodies randomly from the hopper and orients the bodies so that the head portion of the body is available to receive the tufts of bristles from the bristle tufting machine. The bristle tufting machine automatically staples tufts of bristles into the head of each toothbrush body to form a toothbrush. The finished toothbrushes are automatically deposited into a tray which is manually transported to a packaging machine. In one aspect, the invention features an apparatus for manufacturing toothbrushes that includes: (a) a molding unit for substantially simultaneously molding toothbrush bodies, (b) an element that removes toothbrush bodies from the molding unit, (c) a tufter for securing tufts of bristles to toothbrush bodies to form toothbrushes, and (d) a transport for automatically moving toothbrush bodies from the removal element to the tufter. Preferably the removal element is capable of removing toothbrush bodies form the molding unit in the form of an array and maintaining toothbrush bodies in the array. In one embodiment, the transport sequentially provides individual toothbrush bodies from an array to the tufter. In another embodiment, the transport includes an element that selects toothbrush bodies having different properties (e.g., colors), and the transport automatically moves selected toothbrush bodies to the tufter. In one embodiment, the molding unit includes a first cavity defining a toothbrush body, a first injection unit in fluid communication with the first cavity, and a second injection unit also in fluid communication with the first cavity. In another embodiment, the molding unit further includes a second cavity defining a second toothbrush body, and a third cavity defining a third toothbrush body. The first injection unit is in fluid communication with the first cavity and the second cavity, and the second injection unit is in fluid communication with the first cavity and the third cavity. The injection units are capable of substantially simultaneously injecting a first molding compound having a first property into the second cavity to form a toothbrush body having a first property, injecting a second molding compound having a second property into the third cavity to form a toothbrush body having a second property, and injecting either the first or the second molding compound into the first cavity to form a toothbrush body having a property corresponding to the injected molding compound. In other embodiments, the molding unit includes a first cavity defining a toothbrush body and a second cavity defining a toothbrush body, and the first injection unit is in fluid communication with the first cavity, and the second injection unit is in fluid communication with said second cavity. In preferred embodiments, the first cavity and the second cavity define substantially similar toothbrush bodies. In one embodiment, the injection units are capable of substantially simultaneously injecting a first molding compound into the first cavity, and injecting a second molding compound into the second cavity. The transport preferably includes a first conveyor for moving toothbrush bodies from an array to the tufter; and a second conveyor for receiving the array from the removal element and moving the array to the first conveyor. In one embodiment, the element for removing and the transport are provided in the form of an automated mechanical transfer unit. In a preferred embodiment, the transport is capable of selecting toothbrush bodies to create an array of toothbrush bodies having different properties (e.g., colors). In another embodiment, the apparatus further includes a packaging machine that packages individual toothbrushes, and a second transport for automatically moving toothbrushes from the tufter to the packaging machine. In one embodiment the first transport, the removal element, and the second transport are provided in the form of an automated mechanical transfer unit. In another embodiment, the apparatus further includes a second packaging machine for automatically packaging packaged toothbrushes into a second package such that the second package contains a plurality of toothbrushes having different properties (e.g., colors). In another aspect, the invention features a process for forming toothbrushes having different properties. The process includes substantially simultaneously forming toothbrush bodies having different properties in one mold, automatically transporting the toothbrush bodies to a tufter, and securing tufts of bristles to the toothbrush bodies to form toothbrushes having different properties (e.g., colors). In one embodiment, the step of forming toothbrush bodies includes forming toothbrush bodies that are substantially similar in shape. In another embodiment, the process further includes automatically transporting the toothbrushes from the tufter to a packaging machine, and automatically packaging the toothbrushes. In other embodiments, the process further includes selecting toothbrush bodies (e.g., to create an array of differently colored toothbrush bodies) prior to automatically transporting the toothbrush bodies to a tufter. In another aspect, the invention features an apparatus for manufacturing articles having different properties. The apparatus includes a molding unit for substantially simultaneously molding articles having different properties; an element that removes the articles from the mold cavities; a packaging machine for automatically packaging the articles; and a transport for automatically moving the articles from the removal element to the packaging machine. In other aspects, the invention features a process for forming articles having different properties from a mold that includes cavities defining substantially similar articles. The process includes substantially simultaneously forming articles having different properties in the mold, automatically transporting the articles to a packaging machine, and packaging the articles to form packaged articles having different properties. In one embodiment, the invention features an apparatus for manufacturing at least one article. The apparatus includes: a molding unit for molding an article where the molding unit includes a first cavity defining an article, a first injection unit in fluid communication with the first cavity, and a second injection unit also in fluid communication with the first cavity; an element that removes the article from the molding unit; a packaging machine for automatically packaging the article; and a transport for automatically moving the article from the removal element to the packaging machine. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ctoothbrush bodyxe2x80x9d is intended to refer to any portion of the toothbrush body, e.g., the entire toothbrush body including the head portion and the handle portion; the head portion; the handle portion; portions of the head portion; and portions of the handle portion. The invention permits the manufacture of articles (e.g., toothbrush bodies) having a predetermined variety of properties (e.g., different colors) from a single mold in a single molding cycle. This in turn allows control over the subsequent manufacture and packaging of toothbrushes such that single packages of multiple toothbrushes can be manufactured where each package contains a predetermined multiple of toothbrushes having different properties (e.g., a predetermined number of red, yellow or blue handled toothbrushes in a single package). The invention also permits the selection of a predetermined variety of articles to achieve an array of articles having a variety of properties. The present invention thus avoids the need for manual intervention or assistance in the mixing of toothbrushes to achieve a desired mixture of toothbrushes having different properties in a single package. The apparatus also provides control over the color mixture in each package of toothbrushes shipped to a customer. The arrangement of the injection units in the molding unit also advantageously permits variation in injection timing which allows molding compounds having differing cure rates to be injected into mold cavities at different times so that cure is completed substantially simultaneously for each molding compound. This allows a single mold cycle to accommodate a variety of molding compounds. The apparatus of the present invention is also capable of producing an ordered array of toothbrush bodies and maintaining the relative order of the toothbrush bodies throughout the manufacturing process. Maintenance of the ordered array also simultaneously maintains the orientation of the toothbrush bodies, which facilitates tufting and packaging processes. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof, and from the claims.

Gun barrel weapons of the type described in German published application No. DE-OS 21 02 310 are well-known and utilize a propellant charge requiring no cartridge casing which is axially slidably and/or helically shaped so as to be axially movable in the weapon. This propellant charge having no cartridge casing includes a propellant medium combustion chamber in ellipsoidal form adapted for high cadence firing of projectiles. There is also described in an article entitled "Raketenantrieb" (rocket propulsion) by M. Barrere, Elsevier Publishing Company 1961/page 450 known combustion chamber forms which, when used with gun barrel weapons, with liquid propulsion medium can cause with unfavorable burning of the propulsion medium an incomplete combustion. This occurs because the high pressure combustion chamber which is equipped with pressurizing means there occurs, after combustion ignition, a blocking of the exit opening of the combustion chamber, whereby the progressing reaction is interrupted or inhibited so that at simultaneous projectile movement it can again restart and the process can be cyclically repeated. Due to the non-uniform combustion there remain unburned propellant material remnants in the chamber. As a result of the thereby simultaneously occurring strong pressure oscillations an unstable projectile flight can occur.

This invention relates to a process for the recovery of hydrogen iodide and more particularly to a process for the recovery of relatively anhydrous hydrogen iodide from a mixture containing hydrogen iodide, water and iodine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,940, issued May 16, 1978 to Norman et al., discloses a process for the thermochemical production of hydrogen which is based upon the employment of the Bunsen reaction: 2H.sub.2 O+SO.sub.2 +I.sub.2 .fwdarw.H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +2HI. In this process, the Bunsen reaction is carried out using an excess of iodine in order to create a twophase reaction mixture. The lower phase of this mixture, which is then physically separated from the upper phase, contains the major portion of the hydrogen iodide that is produced together with water and iodine. In order to efficiently recover elemental hydrogen from the hydrogen iodide component of this mixture, using a catalytic decomposition reaction or the like, it is felt necessary to first isolate relatively anhydrous hydrogen iodide. U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,644, which issued on Nov. 28, 1978 to Norman et al., discloses an extractive distillation process for recovering hydrogen iodide from a liquid mixture of H.sub.2 O, I.sub.2 and HI which utilizes phosphoric acid to generate a vapor stream of relatively anhydrous HI. Extractive distillation is an energy-intensive processing step and the subsequent reconcentration of the phosphoric acid is also a fairly energy-intensive step. Less energy-intensive steps or minimization of the use of such energy-intensive steps are desired. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 921,435, filed July 3, 1978 in the name of Karol J. Mysels, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,169, teaches a process for the countercurrent extraction of iodine from a liquid solution containing iodine, hydrogen iodide and water by employing concentrated phosphoric acid. The percentage of iodine in such a liquid solution can be substantially reduced; of course H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 is added to the solution as a result. This countercurrent extraction process can be employed preliminary to an extractive distillation process wherein a relatively anhydrous hydrogen iodide overhead stream is produced. Although such a combination of processes is less energy-intensive than effecting the entire separation through extractive distillation, work has continued in a search for further improvements.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to devices for locking spare tires to vehicles and, more particularly, to a spare tire bracket lock for use in conjunction with pick-up trucks and similar vehicles having a mounting bracket for storing a spare tire below the undercarriage of the vehicle. 2. Description of the Prior Art Pick-up trucks and similar vehicles are often equipped with a spare tire mounting bracket for storing a spare tire against the undercarriage of the vehicle, typically near the rear portion of the vehicle. The spare tire is supported by an elongated bracket or tire rack which clamps the tire against the underside of the vehicle. One end of the bracket is suspended by the enlarged head of a bolt, the bolt extending upwardly through a slotted hole in the bracket and being secured at its upper end to the frame of the vehicle. The slotted hole at the first end of the bracket allows the bracket to be rotated and tilted relative to the bolt to allow the spare tire to be accessed. At a second end of the bracket opposite the first end are a large and a small circular hole which are connected by a narrow passage. A second bolt is secured at its upper end to the frame of the vehicle and extends downwardly in the vicinity of the large and small circular holes. The second bolt is loosely secured to the frame of the vehicle in order to permit lateral movement at the lower end of the bolt. The lower end of this second bolt is threaded, and a nut is provided for engaging the threads of the second bolt and supporting the second end of the bracket. Typically, the nut is constructed to include a flange extending laterally from the lower portion of the nut, the flange allowing the owner of the vehicle to more easily rotate the nut by hand. The upper portion of the nut includes a circular collar which fits within the small hole in the second end of the bracket. The narrow passage in the second end of the bracket is slightly wider than the diameter of the bolt but is smaller than the diameter of the circular collar. Therefore, when the spare tire is to be removed, the nut must be loosened sufficiently to permit the second end of the bracket to be raised above the circular collar of the nut. The bolt can then be slid through the narrow passage and into the larger circular hole through which the nut can be passed for allowing the second end of the bracket to be lowered to the ground to provide access to the spare tire. Thefts of spare tires from pick-up trucks and similar vehicles utilizing the above described spare tire storage assembly are very common since the nut incorporating the flange can be untightened, the bracket lowered, and the spare tire removed, all within a relatively short interval of time. To deter such thefts, manufacturers of such vehicles typically provide an eye within the flange of the nut of sufficient size to permit the passage of a shackle of a padlock. The shackle of the padlock is also passed through the end links of a chain which is passed through the frame of the vehicle, the chain and the padlock thereby preventing rotation of the nut securing the bracket to the second bolt. However, such measures have not proven very effective in detering thefts of spare tires. Spare tire thieves often possess cutting tools such as bolt cutters which can be quickly applied on those portions of the chain which are accessible to the thief. Even when a heavy-duty hardened chain is used, thieves can apply the cutting tools directly to the shackle of the padlock rather than to the links of the chain in order to remove the spare tire. Additionally, such chains are noisy and are not conveniently installed or removed when the vehicle owner must access the spare tire. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide, for use in conjunction with vehicles of the type wherein a spare tire is stored upon a bracket secured to the undercarriage of the vehicle, a locking device which deters thefts of spare tires from such vehicles. Another object of the present invention is to provide, for use in conjunction with a vehicle having a spare tire mounting bracket secured to a supporting bolt by a nut, a locking device which prevents a thief from rotating the nut and removing the spare tire. Still another object of the present invention is to provide, for use in conjunction with vehicles having a spare tire mounting bracket secured to a supporting bolt by a nut having a flange with an eye therein for receiving the shackle of a padlock, a locking device which significantly restricts access by a thief to the shackle of the padlock. A further object of the present invention is to provide, for use in conjunction with a vehicle having a spare tire mounting bracket secured to a supporting bolt by a nut, a locking device which prevents a thief from rotating the nut and removing the spare tire while permitting the owner of the vehicle to quickly and easily access the spare tire.

The present invention relates to height adjustable supports for office equipment and the like, and in particular to an adjustable height support that includes a counterbalance mechanism with a substantially constant counterbalance force. Various types of desks and other supports have been used in office environments for office equipment, such as computers and the like. Worksurfaces may be used by different individuals for different types of tasks such that a fixed-height worksurface does not provide the desired degree of adjustability. Accordingly, adjustable height worksurfaces have been developed to provide flexibility for various applications and different user's requirements. Some types of height adjustable worksurfaces include a manual, gear driven height adjustment arrangement that requires an operator to manually turn a crank handle for height adjustment. This type of an arrangement may require substantial physical exertion by the user. Also, because the crank handle must be turned a large number of revolutions to adjust the worksurface weight a substantial amount, this arrangement does not allow for quick adjustment of the worksurface height. Other known height adjustable worksurfaces utilize a load compensator spring or counterbalance. This arrangement produces a lifting force biasing the worksurface into a raised position, with a releasable lock to hold the worksurface at a user-selected height. With a weight, such as a computer, resting on the worksurface, a user can release the stop, grasp the worksurface, and move the worksurface to the desired height. Ideally, the lifting force is about equal to the weight on the worksurface, such that the worksurface can be moved upwardly or downwardly without excessive effort by the user. Although some designs have an adjustable lifting force, because the user cannot easily determine what the magnitude of the lifting force is set at, it may be difficult for a user to properly adjust the lifting force to match the weight on the worksurface. If the lifting force is set improperly such that an imbalanced condition exists, excessive effort by the user may be required to move the worksurface to the desired height. In addition, if the lock is released when the worksurface is imbalanced, the worksurface may move suddenly upward or downward. Further, known height locks may not engage in a secure manner, such that the worksurface moves when additional weight is placed on the worksurface. In addition, known load compensator spring or counterbalance devices do not normally provide a constant counterforce over the range of adjustment of the worksurface. One type of known compensator spring arrangement includes a tension spring with a flexible line connected to the spring at one end, and wrapped around a cam at the other. The cam surface is chosen to provide an approximately constant torque at a given spring preload. However, if the spring preload tension is changed to compensate for a greater or lesser weight resting on the worksurface, the lifting force will no longer be constant as the height of the worksurface is varied, but rather will increase or decrease as the worksurface is raised and lowered.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotor of a brushless motor. 2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional practice, motors are used as driving sources of various types of apparatuses and products. For example, the motors are used for business machines, such as printers and copying machines, various kinds of home electric appliances, and power assist sources of vehicles, such as automobiles and power-assisted bicycles. In particular, brushless motors are sometimes used as the driving sources of movable parts with high operation frequency in the light of increased durability and reduced noise. Known as a type of such a brushless motor is an interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor where a permanent magnet is embedded in a rotor. For example, electric appliances are known in which a plurality of plate-like magnets are radially embedded in a rotor yoke and the magnets are disposed such that the same poles of adjacent magnets face each other in a circumferential direction of the yoke (see, for example, FIG. 2 of patent document 1). [patent document 1] Japanese Translation of PCT International Application Publication No. JP2012-517209 One of the methods to improve a rotational torque of a brushless interior permanent magnet motor is to use a magnet with high residual magnet flux density. If the short circuit flux occurs inside a rotor, the average magnetic flux density is lowered at the outer circumference of the rotor yoke. This is addressed in the aforementioned electric appliances by forming near the magnet a through hole called a flux barrier with high magnetic resistance for preventing the short circuit flux at the ends of the magnet. The fan-shaped rotor magnetic pole pieces in the aforementioned electric appliance are connected to the annular part around the central axis and are merely supported by a narrow area located between adjacent flux barriers. For this reason, the rotor magnetic pole pieces are displaced (vibrated) relative to the normal position due to various forces (centrifugal force and magnetic force) exerted on the rotor magnetic pieces as the rotor is rotated so that troubles such as rotational noise or rotor damages might occur.

Existing traffic regulations do not permit a driver to operate a navigation device to set a destination while driving a vehicle. A destination may be changed or set, however, by an occupant of a passenger seat while the driver is driving, or the destination of a navigation device may be set by voice, or in the future, in an autonomous driving situation. In a related art navigation device, a route leading to a destination is set on the basis of a position of a vehicle at a time when the destination is set, as a start point.

This invention relates to irrigation systems and, more particularly, to a control device for controlling the flow of irrigation water between an inlet and an outlet thereof comprising, a hollow body having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom; a rotating drive positioned within the body; and, flow control means disposed within the body between the inlet and the outlet and driven by the rotating drive for varying the volume of water discharged through the outlet to areas watered by a sprinkler head connected to the outlet without changing the pressure of the water. Irrigation systems are probably one of the least improved areas of technology. While electronics, for example, is constantly under a state of improvement and innovation, irrigation sprinklers and their associated control systems go for long periods with virtually no functional changes whatsoever. For years, the state of the art was an upward-facing orifice screwed onto the end of a garden hose. Later, oscillating sprinklers (also fastened to the end of a garden hose) became popular. A major step change in sprinkling technology came with the introduction of the impulse sprinkler. As depicted in FIG. 1, such a sprinkler 10 revolves in a circle as symbolized by the arrow 12 emitting a stream of water 14. A variation of the impulse sprinkler allows the sprinkler to revolve back and forth over an arc of a circle as set by adjustable stops. A more recent improvement to the sprinkler art is the low-precipitation sprinkler head. While the impulse sprinkler head typically requires a large volume of water at high pressure to operate, the low-precipitation sprinkler heads incorporate a water-driven turbine drive to slowly turn the output nozzle portion which emits fine streams of water. With such heads, an adobe-soil hillside such as found in many areas of California can be watered with virtually no runoff (i.e. wasted water) as occurs with high-volume prior art sprinkler heads as described above. To water large areas which are unwaterable with a single sprinkler head attached to the end of a garden hose (and for added convenience) the prior art devised sprinkler systems wherein a plurality of sprinkler heads are attached to the branches of a system under the control of one or more manual or electrically/electronically controlled valves. The introduction of plastic water pipe greatly simplified the installation of such systems and lead to their general adoption in dry areas requiring constant artificial irrigation such as the southwestern areas of the United States. Typically, the branch pipes from the valves to the sprinkler heads are buried in the ground with riser pipes extending up to the exposed sprinkler heads. Whether it is a single sprinkler head mounted on the end of a garden hose or a sprinkler system comprising multiple sprinkler heads, all these prior art irrigation approaches suffer from a common problem as depicted in FIG. 1. Within the area 16 being watered, the water requirements for proper irrigation are not constant. For example, there may be a dry spot 16a requiring more water than the rest of the area 16. In the prior art, there are two "solutions" to the problem--neither of which is really a solution. If the area 16 is watered the proper amount, the dry area 16a is not watered sufficiently. If the dry area 16a is watered the proper amount, the rest of the area 16 is overwatered. Thus, the user is placed on the horns of a dilemma. Either waste water (in an area that is typically in a drought condition) and possibly kill plants by overwatering or possibly kill plants from underwatering. While many prior art sprinkler heads contain an adjustment for the flow volume out, they do so at a sacrifice of the pressure and flow rate as well. As a consequence, the head no longer covers the same area. Thus, peripheral areas that were previously watered by the head are no longer watered at all in order that the area close to the head is watered less. This, of course, has a major drawback in that no matter how long the head is left on, the areas no longer reached by the emitted stream will never be watered (barring flooding of the area as a result of total water volume emitted--a totally wasteful approach). One solution would be to have a single rotating sprinkler head that revolved more slowly where more water was needed so that a greater volume of water would be discharged where more water was needed. Another solution would be to have a multiple sprinkler head system wherein heads in areas requiring less water could be set to have the same force and pressure as other heads (thus covering the same area) yet emit a lower total volume of water. Contemporary sprinkler systems suffer from additional problems, particularly under the drought conditions that seem to be facing many parts of the country more and more as population densities (and corresponding demands on the limited water available) continue to rise. For example, unless a sprinkler system employs the low precipitation sprinkler heads as described above, much of the irrigation water applied to the soil simply runs off. In large open fields this is not a problem. In urban settings, however, what runs off the lawn and planting areas simply runs down the driveway and walkways into the gutter and into the storm drains and is completely wasted. Unfortunately, since the low precipitation sprinkler heads are typically more expensive than a simple orifice opening sprinkler head or a plastic impulse sprinkler head, most installations employ the lower-cost, higher-discharge heads. Another typical problem the inability to provide proper action and coverage with the number of sprinkler heads operating at a time under the flow conditions typically available. Most residences have a 3/4" or 1" line into the house. Usually, the supply line to the sprinkler valve manifold is no more than 3/4" and it would be unusual to find that the branch lines from each valve to the various sprinkler head connected to it are greater than 1/2". In a lawn area where perhaps six or eight simple orifice opening sprinkler heads are connected to a single valve and operate simultaneously, the flow rate (actually a spray pattern) of the heads is of such a low volume per unit time that the coverage is generally adequate. Where several larger orifice impact sprinkler heads are operated simultaneously, however, one may find that unless the line pressure is very high, the heads do not operate well. For one, they may not cycle consistently between their two modes of operation when covering an arc of less than 360.degree.. For another, their deflected spray pattern may be insufficient to water properly close to the head such that only any annular area at the end of the main stream is properly watered. Wherefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a single rotating sprinkler head that revolves more slowly where more water is needed so that a greater volume of water is discharged where more water is needed. It is another object of the invention to provide a sprinkler head for use in a multiple sprinkler head system wherein heads in areas requiring less water can be set to have the same force and pressure as other heads while emitting a lower total volume of water. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a device which can be mounted in-line with one or more conventional high-precipitation sprinkler heads to provide low-precipitation operation thereof so as to prevent wasteful runoff of irrigation water. It is still another object of the invention to provide a device which can be mounted in-line with one or more conventional high-precipitation sprinkler heads to provide proper operation thereof in the presence of low supply pressures and the like. Other objects and benefits of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows hereinafter when taken in conjunction with the drawing figures which accompany it.

Throughout the years people have been continuously searching for better ways to comfort their feet while walking. One common cause of discomfort associated with walking is hyperpronation of the feet. Hyperpronation is an inward, forward and downward twisting of the foot relative to the ground. To treat and support a hyperpronating foot, foundational stability is provided by maximizing foot-to-ground contact so that the foot does not collapse. Traditionally, this is accomplished by orthotic devices. In particular, orthotics for supporting a hyperpronating foot are designed to support deficits in a foot's contact with the ground, and in essence function so as to build the ground up to the foot Presently, some orthotics wedge the forefoot from the medial side to the lateral side of the foot. Other orthotics similarly wedge the heel. It is believed that these orthotics, designed to prevent hyperpronation, sufficiently support the static foot. However, once the foot is in motion, pronation and discomfort often return. In some instances, this discomfort is partially attributed to the foot sliding off the orthotic during gait. Therefore, there is a need for a foot support system that supports a hyperpronating foot both statically and dynamically.

1. Technical Field The disclosure relates to a control apparatus and control method for a vehicle power transmission system including an engagement device that connects or interrupts a power transmission path between a driving force source and a drive wheel. 2. Description of Related Art International Application Publication No. 2013/073307 describes a vehicle power transmission system including an engagement device that connects or interrupts a power transmission path between a driving force source and a drive wheel. The vehicle power transmission system includes a hydraulic control unit. The hydraulic control unit engages the engagement device when an operating member is in a drive operating position, and releases the engagement device when the operating member is in a non-drive operating position. International Application Publication No. 2013/073307 describes the following technique. When a select lever is shifted from a neutral range (hereinafter, referred to as N range) to a drive range (hereinafter, referred to as D range), the stroke of a hydraulic piston is made by increasing a command hydraulic pressure, which is issued to a start friction engagement element, to an ordinary hydraulic pressure, and the command hydraulic pressure is subjected to learning control such that a time from when the range is changed from the N range to the D range to when the start friction engagement element begins to develop a transmission capacity becomes a predetermined target time. Specifically, when a time from when it is determined that the select lever has been operated from the N range to the D range to when the phase of the stroke of the piston ends is longer than the predetermined target time, it is determined that precharge pressure is insufficient. Then, learning control for increasing the next command hydraulic pressure is executed. At this time, when a driver's intention to start moving the vehicle has been detected during the phase of the stroke of the piston, learning control is prohibited.

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid developer for use in image-forming apparatuses that utilize an electrophotographic system, e.g., electrophotography, electrostatic recording, electrostatic printing, and so forth. Description of the Related Art Plate-based presses have in the past been used to produce printed material for which a certain number of copies are required, such as regional advertising, internally distributed corporate documents, and large posters. In place of these conventional presses, on-demand presses have entered into use in recent years; these on-demand presses can rapidly respond to a diversifying range of needs and support inventory reductions. Electrophotographic printers that use a dry developer or a liquid developer and inkjet printers capable of high speeds and high quality printing are anticipated for such on-demand printers. Dry developers currently occupy the developer mainstream due to their handling advantages, which derive from the fact that a solid developer is being handled. However, viewed from the standpoint of preventing the image deterioration caused by changes in the environment, e.g., temperature and humidity, the environmental stability of the charging performance has been a problem with dry developers. In addition, the colored resin particles in a dry developer readily undergo aggregation during, for example, storage, and uniformity when the colored resin particles are dispersed has been a problem. In addition, with regard to their properties, when the colored resin particle diameter is made relatively small in pursuit of high resolution, the problems deriving from the fact that a powder is involved as described above become even more substantial. Liquid developers, on the other hand, use an electrically insulating liquid as a carrier liquid and because of this are more resistant than dry developers to the problem of aggregation of the colored resin particles in the liquid developer during storage, and a microfine toner can thus be used. As a result, liquid developers provide a better fine line image reproducibility and a better gradation reproducibility than dry developers and are characterized by an excellent color reproducibility and also excellence in high-speed image-forming methods. Development is becoming quite active with regard to high-image-quality, high-speed digital printing apparatuses that exploit these excellent features by utilizing electrophotographic technologies that use liquid developers. In view of these circumstances, there is demand for the development of liquid developers that have even better properties. A liquid developer production method has been disclosed in which, using a coacervation method, colored resin particles are dispersed in an insulating hydrocarbon dispersion medium in the presence of an acid group-containing resin and a compound that is the reaction product of a polyamine compound and a hydroxycarboxylic acid self-condensate (Japanese Patent No. 5,148,621). A liquid developer as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5,148,621 requires the removal of the electrically insulating liquid since a substantial deterioration in the appearance of the image ends up being caused when the electrically insulating liquid remains on the recording medium, e.g., paper or plastic film. A method generally used to remove the electrically insulating liquid has been the application of thermal energy to evaporate and remove the electrically insulating liquid, but this has not necessarily been desirable from an environmental standpoint, e.g., the vapor of a volatile organic solvent is emitted from the machine at this point and large amounts of energy are consumed. To counter this, a method has been introduced in which the electrically insulating liquid is cured by photopolymerization. This photopolymerizable liquid developer uses a reactive functional group-bearing monomer or oligomer as the electrically insulating liquid, and a photopolymerization initiator is also added and dissolved thereinto. This photopolymerizable liquid developer is capable of high speeds because it is cured by a polymerization reaction induced by the irradiation of light, e.g., ultraviolet radiation, on the photopolymerizable liquid developer. Such a photopolymerizable liquid developer has been disclosed in the form of a photopolymerizable liquid developer containing a toner particle that contains a rosin-type resin and is surface-modified by polyalkyleneimine, an insulating liquid comprising a liquid epoxy-modified compound, and a cationic photopolymerization initiator (Japanese Patent No. 5,277,800). However, there is a large amount of free polyalkyleneimine in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5,277,800, and this ends up reacting with the photopolymerization initiator. Due to this, inhibition of the polymerization of the polymerizable liquid monomer is prone to occur, and this makes it necessary to use very large amounts of the cationic photopolymerization initiator in order to obtain a satisfactory curability.

Transmission efficiency and reliability are important issues related to data transmission. Generally, various methods such as data segmentation and transmission and use of an error detecting code for determining the existence of data errors have been previously used to increase transmission efficiency and reliability. Among these methods, error control is a mechanism for detecting and correcting errors generated during the data transmission. The error control method includes an automatic retransmission request (ARQ) method, a forward error correction (FEC) method, a backward error correction (BEC) method, and the like. A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) method is an error detection method that transmits results extracted by a polynomial from data transmitted from a transmitting side. The CRC includes a redundant error checking field and checks errors by comparing results extracted by the same method from a receiving side. The CRC is a powerful technology and can be easily implemented by hardware. In one example of the CRC, an original data frame to be transmitted from the transmitting side is divided by a CRC polynomial to produce remainder values. The remainder values comprise the error checking field. Hence, in order to generate the error checking field, the CRC polynomial is used as a divisor. The error checking field is transmitted by being attached to an original signal block to be accurately divided by a predefined polynomial, wherein a result signal block (original data+error checking field) is predefined. Herein, the predefined polynomial is referred to as the divisor or the CRC polynomial. Also, for convenience of explanation, the attachment of the aforementioned error checking field is referred to as the attachment of the CRC, and the error checking field attached to the original signal block is referred to as the CRC. For the transmitted signal, the receiving side receives the result signal block and performs the CRC check. The receiving side checks the remainder produced by dividing the received signal block by a CRC polynomial, such as the one used in transmitting the received signal block. Error detection in the receiving side detects errors by checking whether the remainder is “0” when the data transmitted along with the remainder in the receiving side is divided by the CRC polynomial dividing the original data. Accordingly, if the remainder is not “0”, a transmission error is judged to have occurred. In order to increase data transmission efficiency, various methods for segmenting and transmitting data exist. However, a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) system will be described below, for example. FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views for explaining a process that segments a transport block having a long length into code blocks having a short length, and attaching the CRC, in the 3GPP system. The 3GPP system segments a transport block (TB) having a long length into code blocks (CBs) having a short length, performs a coding process on each of the plurality of code blocks having the short length, and transmits a combination thereof. Referring to FIG. 1, after a transport block having a long length is subjected to the CRC coding process, the CRC is attached to the transport block (S101). Thereafter, the entire transmission block attached with the CRC is segmented into a plurality of code blocks having a short length (S102). Referring to FIG. 2, attachment of the CRC to the transport block and subsequent segmentation into a plurality of code blocks is illustrated with reference to numerals 201 to 203. Referring again to FIG. 1, each of the plurality of code blocks having the short length is also subjected to the CRC coding process and CRC attachment process (S103). As shown in numeral 204 of FIG. 2, each code block includes the CRC. Each code block attached with a CRC is then input into a channel encoder and subjected to a channel coding process (S104). Thereafter, each code block is subjected to a rate matching process (S105) and a code block junction and channel interleaving process (S106). Finally, each code block is transmitted to the receiving side. However, a structure of a signal block having a long length, such as a transport block, which includes signal blocks having a short length, such as code blocks, as in the 3GPP system, for example, may be problematic. For example, errors undetected by the CRC for the signal block having the short length may occur in the receiving signal. Thus, there may be an error corresponding to the remainder “0” upon dividing the receiving signal by the CRC generating equation in the receiving side as described above. Moreover, the error undetected by the CRC for the signal block having the short length may not be detected by the CRC for the signal block having the long length, which includes the signal block having the short length. Accordingly, although the signal block having the long length is segmented into signal blocks having the short length and the CRC is attached at each step, there exists an undetected error pattern at both signal blocks.

Increasingly, digital video distribution systems are used to deliver video programming to end-users. Today, many digital video distribution systems (e.g., distribution systems that may utilize cable, satellite, cellular, fiber, Ethernet, and various other transmission technologies) distribute thousands, if not millions, of video programs per year. Typically, digital video distribution systems transmit video information in discrete chunks (e.g., packets) that may be assembled into video programming upon receipt by a user's digital video display device. To identify particular video information (i.e., a “program”) associated with the discrete chunks, as well as to distinguish one program from another program, digital video distribution systems typically transmit a unique identifier (e.g., a program ID or PID). With the advent of digital video recording technology, devices such as digital video recorders (DVRs) regularly may use the unique identifier for displaying programs in an electronic program guide (EPG) and scheduling video recording events of a specific program. In addition to a unique program identifier, many digital video distribution systems also transmit and/or utilize time information associated with a program, including but not limited to a program start time, a program end time, the duration or length (e.g., in seconds) and/or the size (e.g., in bytes) of a program. DVRs and other digital video recording devices may use the time information to schedule recording events. In many cases, however, the time information that is associated with a program may be imprecise. In some cases, a start time associated with a program may identify the start of a commercial advertisement (i.e., “commercial”) that precedes the program, instead of the start time of the program itself. In other cases, a start time associated with a program may identify a time associated with an EPG (e.g., an hourly time) rather than the program itself. For example, in the case of an EPG displaying only hour-long program intervals, a start time may indicate that an EPG program begins at 9:00 pm although the program itself may not begin until 9:05 pm. In other cases, the actual duration of some programs (e.g., live programming) may extend beyond the scheduled duration of the program (e.g., as scheduled in an EPG). In other cases, programs that end earlier than their scheduled end time may include commercials or even a portion of a subsequent program prior to the next scheduled program start time. When time information is imprecise, users wishing to start a program may become frustrated when the scheduled start time of a program or the start time of a recording of the program do not correspond to the actual start time of the program. For example, a user may become frustrated by having to watch commercials preceding a scheduled program and/or a last portion of a program preceding a scheduled program. As another example, a user may also become frustrated when a scheduled program lasts longer or shorter than its scheduled duration, and the user sees more or less of the program, respectively, than the user would like to see.

There are clearly many theoretical advantages to the transdermal delivery of dried or lyophilized drugs instead of commercially available oral or injectable forms of these drugs. Delivery of a drug across the skin of a patient obviates the problems of drug inactivation by gastrointestinal fluids or enzymes, fluctuations in absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, and hepatic first pass inactivation, while also avoiding the inconvenience of injection. However, hitherto proposed devices or methods for transdermal delivery of dried particulate or lyophilized drug agents have not successfully yielded reliable uptake and sustained serum levels of the active agent. Generally speaking the objective of transdermal drug delivery has been tackled using one of two complementary approaches known in the art. One approach provides formulations of drugs that may be applied to the skin in the form of patches, or films or matrices of varying compositions, and the alternative approach utilizes a method of puncturing the skin or otherwise disrupting the impermeable layers of the skin to facilitate the entry of drugs into the systemic circulation. Transdermal Patches Patches or matrices almost invariably comprise some type of penetration enhancer and some type of adhesive layer, and are known to cause irritation or edema and to produce non-uniform rates and levels of drug uptake among different patients and different skin types. There are two prevalent types of transdermal patch design, namely the reservoir type where the drug is contained within a reservoir having a basal surface that is permeable to the drug, and a matrix type, where the drug is dispersed in a polymer layer affixed to the skin. Both types of device also typically include a backing layer and an inner release liner layer that is removed prior to use. EP 0391172 describes a transdermal patch having a matrix composed of a water-insoluble material that contains islands of solid particles of drug in a water-soluble/swellable polymer and an underlayer that controls the amount of water vapor passing from the skin to the matrix. The matrix is said to be activated by water vapor from the skin. Compositions or devices in the form of specific types of patches adapted for the transdermal delivery of dry powder or lyophilized drugs have been disclosed for example in EPB 912239 to PowderJect Research Ltd. that discloses “Method for providing dense particle compositions for use in transdermal particle delivery”. Methods for transdermal delivery of powders are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,135 to Avrahami. U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,950 to Miranda et al. discloses a method for making a transdermal delivery device comprising laminating an adsorbent source layer to a pharmaceutically acceptable contact adhesive layer, the contact adhesive layer comprised of a material that is permeable to the drug, printing a drug in liquid form onto the adsorbent layer, laminating an anchor adhesive layer to the source layer, and applying a backing layer to the anchor adhesive layer. Methods for transdermal delivery of Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide (GHRP) are disclosed in WO 98/08492 to Novo Nordisk. Methods for transdermal delivery of growth hormone releasing peptide are also disclosed in conjunction with iontophoresis in scientific publications by Singh et al. (J. Controlled Release, 33, 293-298, 1995); Lau, et al. (Pharmaceutical Research 11, 1742-1746, 1994); Kumar et al. (J. Controlled Release 18, 213-220, 1992); Ellens et al. (Int. J. Pharm. 159, 1-11, 1997). In those publications, the onset of the electrical current induces the influx of GHRP across the skin, and cessation of the current terminates the influx of the peptide. Transdermal Delivery Apparatus Electrotransport or iontophoretic drug delivery devices have also been disclosed as being useful for the delivery of dried or lyophilized drugs for which it is anticipated that transdermal delivery would be advantageous. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,169,920 and 6,317,629 to Alza for example disclose iontophoretic drug delivery apparatus, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,130 to Alza discloses an electrotransport agent delivery method and apparatus suitable for ionizable drugs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,580 to Jang et al. discloses a patch-like device for iontophoretic transdermal medication of insulin having a container for holding gel-like insulin, and a power supply for furnishing insulin with electricity. Electroporation is also well known in the art as a method to increase pore size by application of an electric field. Electroporation is disclosed as a means for transiently decreasing the electrical resistance of the stratum corneum and increasing the transdermal flux of small molecules by applying an electric field to increase the size of existing pores (Chizmadzhev et al., Biophysics Journal, 1998, 74(2), 843-856). U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,034 to Weaver et al. describes apparatus for applying high voltage, short duration electrical pulses on the skin to produce electroporation. WO 97/07734 to Eppstein et al. discloses thermal ablation of the stratum corneum using an electrically resistive element in contact with the stratum corneum, such that a high current through the element causes a general heating of tissue in its vicinity, most particularly the stratum corneum, the 10-50 micron thick outermost layer of the skin. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,885,211, 6,022,316, 6,142,939 and 6,173,202 to Eppstein et al., which are incorporated herein by reference, describe methods for forming micro-pores in the stratum corneum by heating tissue-bound water above the vapor point with a heat-conducting element, so as to enhance transdermal transport of an analyte or active agent. Further enhancement techniques include the use of sonic energy, pressure, and chemical enhancers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,961 to Mitragotri et al. discloses a method that includes a simultaneous application of ultrasound and protein on the skin in order to deliver therapeutic doses of proteins across the skin into the blood. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,482 to Gerstel, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,988 to Zuck, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,196 to Trautman et al. describe other apparatus and methods for facilitating transdermal delivery of an agent. U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,232 to Avrahami, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, describes apparatus for applying electrodes at respective points on skin of a subject and applying electrical energy between two or more of the electrodes to cause resistive heating and subsequent ablation of the stratum corneum primarily in an area intermediate the respective points. Various techniques for limiting ablation to the stratum corneum are described, including spacing of the electrodes and monitoring the electrical resistance of skin between adjacent electrodes. The Device for Transdermal Drug Delivery and Analyte Extraction of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,232, and various improvements to that invention including those disclosed in WO 02/092163 and WO 02/085451, are also referred to hereinafter in the specification by the term “ViaDerm”. There is thus an unmet need for reliable and safe compositions and methods for transdermal delivery of drugs in dried particulate or lyophilized form. The advantages of this approach would be particularly striking for peptides and polypeptides, as well as for other bioactive agents including oligonucleotides and polynucleotides.

Stationary or re-circulating water in the open air, such as the water in an ornamental pond, will normally require treatment to preserve its purity and translucency. Irradiation by ultra-violet light is effective to prevent the development of algae and a filter is desirable to remove plant decomposition products such as ammonia and nitrite, the dead algae and other impurities.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite chair storage device and, more particularly, to the storage device capable of turning an exercise module upside down to facilitate its storage into a containing space of a chair. 2. Description of the Prior Art In general, conventional massage sofas emphasize the functions of massage and leg rest storage, and a complicated structure with link rods and an additional power supply are required to achieve the effect of storing the leg rest. However, the aforementioned conventional massage sofa has the following drawbacks: 1. The conventional massage sofa only provides a simple massage function, and thus having a limited scope of applicability and a low commercial value. 2. The conventional massage sofa requires an additional power supply, and thus is not compliant with the energy saving and carbon reduction requirements. Even though the aforementioned conventional massage sofa can meet the basic functional requirements of providing simulated massages and leg rests, it cannot meet the environmental protection and durability requirements due to its complicated structure and components and an additionally required power supply and fails to improve the industrial effects or to serve as a widely-used composite chair storage device.

A major factor influencing the cost of skill training is the required level of supervision by a skilled practitioner. This is particularly crucial in today's health care environment in which more efficient use of medical resources is demanded. Allocating a portion of a subject's training to lower paid, less skilled assistants or having a subject train at home without professional supervision significantly reduces the labor costs. These reduced cost training programs increase the risk of inferior training outcomes because the insufficiently supervised trainee is more likely to perform tasks incorrectly, continue doing tasks which are either too simple or too difficult, or perform at a low level of intensity and motivation. A second major factor particularly influencing the cost effectiveness of physical rehabilitation and athletic skill training is the motivation of the trainee to acquire the new skills required to enhance performance. A minority of individuals impaired either by injury or disease may have secondary reasons for slowing their recovery. For example, a worker receiving disability payments for a job related injury may prefer to remain on disability rather than have the injury rehabilitated only to return to an unsatisfying job. Similarly, an individual injured in a motor vehicle accident might be motivated to remain impaired in the hopes of winning a financial settlement. Such medical cases frequently occur in conjunction with legal actions in which a judge or jury are forced to make determinations of disability. Objective information related to a trainee's motivation to recover would be valuable in reaching these medical-legal judgments. A third major factor particularly influencing the cost effectiveness of physical rehabilitation, but not limited to this type of program, is the quality of management. This is especially important in the realm of larger multi-facility corporate providers of training, operating with numerous practitioners. Traditionally, physical rehabilitation has been a clinical "art" in which the individual practitioner has a substantial degree of independence in determining the specific tasks used in treatment. Issues which must be addressed by quality management include: (1) Are individual practitioners adhering to the corporate standard methods used to treat specific physical disorders? (2) Are individual practitioners and patients working at the appropriate levels of motivation? (3) Are patients being adequately challenged during training to produce the best outcome in the shortest possible time? Objective information relative to the motivation, quantity, and quality of exercise tasks performed by patients would be valuable for the individuals responsible for managing the clinical program. The challenge confronted by health care providers is to extend services to a broader population of individuals while minimizing the escalation of costs. To achieve this goal, providers must deliver their services in as cost-effective manner as possible and must concentrate services where they are likely to effect the greatest benefit. To deliver services efficiently, health care providers must select the most effective treatment approaches and predict the likely outcome of the selected approaches relative to the associated costs. For example, the demand for efficient physical rehabilitation services has become especially strong, because demand continues to increase rapidly in proportion to the growing numbers of elderly citizens. A form of service now being implemented by providers is one which is home-based wherein a subject performs a substantial portion of prescribed training exercises at home rather than in a professionally supervised clinical environment. Rehabilitation training performed at clinics tends to be supervised by less skilled clinical aids and assistants rather than by professionally trained physicians and physical therapists. Both home-based and reduced cost clinically based approaches substantially reduce the personnel costs associated with rehabilitation training compared to the cost of services provided by professionally trained personnel. More responsibility is placed on patient motivation to perform the prescribed training exercises. When training exercises are performed in the absence of a professionally trained clinician, there is a substantially greater risk that the patient will be poorly motivated to perform at an optimal level of intensity, will continue to perform simpler, less challenging exercises when they are no longer needed, and will perform exercises incorrectly. All of these factors substantially reduce the efficacy of the rehabilitation training. Motivation is a particularly critical factor for patients receiving physical rehabilitation for injuries sustained on the job or as a result of an accident. Many such patients are medical-legal cases for which there are potential monetary incentives for delaying recovery. The patient injured on the job may be entitled to compensation payments so long as the injury severity prevents return to work. In the case of motor vehicle and other accidents, liability payments are likely to be higher for more severe and sustained injuries. Methods and devices providing an objective evaluation of patient motivation during physical rehabilitation would be valuable not only in speeding recovery but also in exposing those patients who are poorly motivated to recover. Although the research described below is undoubtedly applicable to a variety of training scenarios, the literature cited is taken from the current art of physical rehabilitation and athletic training. Selection of training exercises likely to yield the best outcome is typically based on information related to the trainee's medical diagnosis, results of functional performance assessments, and the trainee's goals for improvement. The functional performance assessment may employ either one or a combination of objective machine based and subjective observationally based methods. The current clinical literature suggests that information related to diagnosis and functional performance contribute useful information to the processes of selecting the most effective training tasks and predicting the progress and outcome of performing said tasks. It is generally accepted in the scientific literature pertaining to motor learning and skill acquisition that the number and the intensity of practice repetitions of an exercise and the motivation of the individual performing the exercise substantially influence the speed at which a new skill is acquired and the eventual level of proficiency attained (see for example: Schmidt, Motor Control and Learning, A Behavioral Emphasis. Champaign, Ill., Human Kinetics Publishers, 1988). Thus, individuals who exert higher levels of effort performing a training exercise as well as those who spend more time performing the exercise are likely to reach higher levels of proficiency more quickly compared to individuals expending less effort and time. This finding is easily extendable to many forms of training. Another generally accepted principle in the scientific literature pertaining to motor learning and skill acquisition is that effective skill acquisition requires matching the exercise difficulty with the individual's performance capabilities relative to the exercise (see for example: Winstein, et al, Standing balance training: effect on balance and locomotion in hemiplegic adults, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, 1989). If the exercise is too difficult relative to a trainee's performance capabilities, the trainee's performance is poor, little if any reinforcing feedback is received, and relatively less is acquired in the way of new skill. At the other extreme, if the training task is simple relative to the performance capabilities of the trainee, the accuracy of the trainee's performance will be very high, but the trainee will lack sufficient challenge to acquire additional skill. Research studies indicate that skill acquisition is most effective when the exercise challenge enables the trainee to correctly perform approximately one-half of his attempts. The above principles of skill acquisition are understood in such diverse fields as sports training, musical performance, dance, high performance aircraft piloting, to name a few. The clinical literature suggests that these same principles of skill acquisition pertain to patients attempting to re-learn or improve skills lost through disease and physical injury (see for example: Rose, Older Adults Assessing and Treating Multiple Dimensions of Balance, Rehab Management, December/January 1997). A well accepted principle of education is that a trainee striving to achieve a clearly defined, objective goal while receiving periodic objective feedback relative to his progress is the best motivated. Anecdotally, this principle is demonstrated by the intensity at which children and adults perform computer-based video games. Motivation is further enhanced when the trainee knows in advance that the supervising trainer will also be receiving periodic feedback regarding progress relative to the prescribed goal. Apparatus and method for the assessment of and biofeedback training of movement coordination, strength, and speed skills are the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,103, issued Dec. 19, 1995 to Lewis M. Nashner and of U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,445, issued Sep. 3, 1996 to Lewis M. Nashner. In addition, the assessment of and biofeedback training of body coordination skills and ball-strike power and accuracy during athletic activities is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,791 to Nashner, et al., issued Dec. 16, 1997. This art, as well as other related patent applications and other references cited in these patents, are incorporated herein by reference. The equipment and methodology disclosed in preferred embodiments provide examples of building blocks upon which the aforementioned goals of this disclosure might be realized.

Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to methods and apparatus for controlling well influx within a wellbore. In particular, embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods to design and assemble well influx control systems. During the past years, with the increase in price of fossil fuels, the interest in developing new production fields has dramatically increased. However, the availability of land-based production fields is limited. Thus, the industry has now extended drilling to offshore locations, which appear to hold a vast amount of fossil fuel. A traditional offshore oil and gas installation 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a platform 20 (of any other type of vessel at the water surface) connected via a riser 30 to a wellhead 40 on the seabed 50. It is noted that the elements shown in FIG. 1 are not drawn to scale and no dimensions should be inferred from relative sizes and distances illustrated in FIG. 1. Inside the riser 30, as shown in the cross-section view, there is a drill string 32 at the end of which a drill bit (not shown) is rotated to extend the subsea well through layers below the seabed 50. Mud is circulated from a mud tank (not shown) on the drilling platform 20 through the drill string 32 to the drill bit, and returned to the drilling platform 20 through an annular space 34 between the drill string 32 and a casing 36 of the riser 30. The mud maintains a hydrostatic pressure to counter-balancing the pressure of fluids coming out of the well and cools the drill bit while also carrying crushed or cut rock to the surface. At the surface, the mud returning from the well is filtered to remove the rock, and re-circulated. Offshore oil and gas exploration requires many safety well control devices to be put in place during drilling activities to prevent injury to personnel and destruction of equipment. During oil and gas exploration, the many layers being drilled through may contain trapped fluids or gases at different pressures. To balance these varying pressures, during the drilling process, the pressure in the wellbore is generally adjusted to at least balance the formation pressure. Some of the methods that may be utilized to balance these pressures include, but are not limited to, increasing a density of drilling mud in the wellbore or increasing pump pressure at the surface of the well. During the drilling process, when a layer is encountered that includes a substantially higher pressure than that of the wellbore, the well may be described as having encountered a “kick”. A kick is commonly detected by monitoring the changes in level of drilling mud which returns from the annulus on the drilling ship as well as well pressure. If the burst is not promptly controlled, the well and the equipment of the installation may be damaged. Blowout preventers (BOPs) are one type of well control device that is often used to close, isolate, and seal a wellbore during a high pressure event or kick. Blowout preventers are typically installed at the surface or on the sea floor in deep water drilling arrangements so that kicks may be adequately controlled and “circulated out” of the system. Blowout preventers operate in a similar manner as large valves that are connected to the wellhead and comprise closure members configured to seal and close the well in order to prevent the release of high-pressure gas or liquids from the well. In addition, choke and kill lines are used to control the kick by adding denser mud. Although there are many types of blowout preventers, the most common are annular blowout preventers and ram-type blowout preventers. In a preferred arrangement, annular blowout preventers are typically located at the top of a blowout preventer stack, with one or two annular preventers positioned above a series of several ram-type preventers. Referring again to FIG. 1, during drilling, gas, oil or other well fluids at a high pressure may burst from the drilled formations into the riser 30 and may occur at unpredictable moments. In order to protect the well and/or the equipment that may be damaged, a blowout preventer (BOP) stack 60 is located close to the seabed 50. The BOP stack may include a lower BOP stack 62 attached to the wellhead 40, and a Lower Marine Riser Package (“LMRP”) 64, which is attached to a distal end of the riser 30. During drilling, the lower BOP stack 62 and the LMRP 64 are connected. A plurality of blowout preventers (BOPs) 66 located in the lower BOP stack 62 or in the LMRP 64 are in an open state during normal operation, but may be closed (i.e., switched to a close state) to interrupt a fluid flow through the riser 30 when a “kick” occurs. Electrical cables and/or hydraulic lines 70 transport control signals from the drilling platform 20 to a controller 80, which is located on the BOP stack 60. The controller 80 controls the BOPs 66 to be in the open state or in the closed state, according to signals received from the platform 20 via the electrical cables and/or hydraulic lines 70. The controller 80 also acquires and sends to the platform 20, information related to the current state (open or closed) of the BOPs. The term “controller” used here covers the well-known configuration with two redundant pods. Traditionally, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7395,878, 7,562,723, and 7,650,950 (the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein), a mud flow output from the well is measured at the surface of the water by sensing device including a float in a mud tank. The mud flow input into the well may be adjusted to maintain a pressure at the bottom of the well within a targeted range or around a desired value, or to compensate for kicks and fluid losses. In one particular scenario, when a kick is detected based on feedback from the sensing device, drilling is stopped, the blowout preventer valves (internal and external to the drill pipe) are closed and heavier drilling mud is pumped down the well bore through kill lines, while a choke line is used to control the flow. When the kick has been controlled, heavier drilling mud replaces the earlier lighter mud in the drill pipe, the choke and kill lines are closed, the blowout preventers are opened and drilling is resumed. As stated, when a kick is detected, the drilling must be stopped, in part due to the lack of a rotating wellhead. Alternative devices have been proposed that allow for continuation of drilling through the use of a rotating wellhead that must be configured as an additional, separate device assembled as part of the drill string below the drill ship and prior to the commencement of drilling. The rotating wellheads are not configured as an integral part of the BOP stack and require substantial amounts of additional seals to stop the flow of mud through the annulus. In addition, hydrostatic bearings and external lubrication systems are needed to allow for rotation of the drill pipe within the rotating wellhead. Another problem with the existing methods and devices is the relative long time (e.g., tens of minutes) between a moment when a disturbance of the mud flow occurs at the bottom of the well and when a change of the mud flow is measured at the surface. Even if information indicating a potential disturbance of the mud flow is received from the controller 80 faster, a relative long time passes between when an input mud flow is changed and when this change has a counter-balancing impact at the bottom of the well. Accordingly, there exists a need for an influx control system that allows for the continuation of drilling activities during the presence of a substantially higher pressure than that of the wellbore. More particularly, there exists a need for an influx control system that eliminates the need to stop drilling during the presence of a potential blowout condition and during regulation of the mud flow to prevent a blowout from occurring. In addition, there exists a need for an influx control system that allows for sensing of the presence of a substantially higher pressure in a manner that allows for a reduction in response time than current technologies.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a protection method, a control circuit, and a battery unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a protection method for preventing batteries from over-discharging and being overcharged, and a control circuit and a battery unit both employed in said protection method. In recent years, lithium ion (Li+) batteries have been replacing nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries and nickel-metal-hydrogen (NiMH) batteries in portable electronic devices such as notebook-type personal computers. Compared with the NiCd batteries and NiMH batteries, the Li+ batteries are lighter but have a larger capacity per unit volume. For this reason, the Li+ batteries are suitable for a device which is preferably light and required to endure continuous use for a long time. In an over-discharged state, however, the Li+ batteries deteriorate rapidly. Therefore, the Li+ batteries need to be prevented from over-discharging. 2. Description of the Related Art A battery unit used in a portable electronic device has a plurality of battery cells connected in series. The maximum number of battery cells connected in series in one battery unit is determined by the relationship between the output voltage of the battery unit and a power source voltage supplied from outside at the time of charging. For instance, the output voltage of one NiCd battery cell or one NiMH battery cell is 1.2 V, and the power source voltage supplied at the time of charging is approximately 1.7 V. Since a 16-V output voltage of a battery unit is the most suitable for a general purpose electronic device, the maximum number of NiCd or NiMH battery cells connected in series in the battery unit is 9. On the other hand, the highest possible output voltage of one Li+ battery cell is approximately 4.2 V. Accordingly, the maximum number of Li+ battery cells connected in series in one battery unit is 3. Unlike a NiCd battery unit and a NiMH battery unit, the Li+ battery unit has a function to protect against short-circuiting inside and outside the Li+ battery unit. This prevents the Li+ battery unit from deteriorating and shortening its life. For instance, if short-circuiting occurs inside or outside the Li+ battery unit, a fuse cuts off an over-discharging current or overcharging current when the discharging current or charging current becomes larger than a predetermined current value. Thus, the LI+ battery unit is prevented from deteriorating and shortening its life. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example battery unit of the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a voltage monitor circuit of the example battery unit of the prior art. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a battery unit 100 comprises battery cells E1, E2, and E3 connected as shown in the figures, a voltage monitor circuit 101, a fuse 102, p-channel FETs 103 and 104, and power supply terminals 105 and 106. The battery cells E1, E2, and E3 are connected in series. The FET 103 is a charge control FET which functions as a charge control switch. The FET 104 is a discharge control FET which functions as a discharge control switch. The voltage monitor circuit 101 monitors the voltages of the battery cells E1, E2, and E3. In accordance with the respective voltages of the battery cells E1, E2, and E3, the voltage monitor circuit 101 switches on and off the FETs 103 and 104. As shown in FIG. 2, the voltage monitor circuit 101 comprises an overcharge monitor circuit 101a and an over-discharge monitor circuit 101b. The overcharge monitor circuit 101a monitors whether the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 are in an overcharged state, and switches off the FET 103 when the battery cells are in an overcharged state. The over-discharge monitor circuit 101b monitors whether the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 are in an over-discharged state, and switches off the FET 104 when the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 are in an over-discharged state. The overcharge monitor circuit 101a comprises comparators 121, 122, and 123, reference power sources e1a, e1b, and e1c, and an OR gate 124. The comparator 121 compares the voltage of the battery cell E1 with a reference voltage Vref1 generated by the reference power source e1a. If the voltage of the battery cell E1 is higher than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator 121 outputs “1”. If the voltage of the battery cell E1 is lower than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator 121 outputs “0”. Here, “1” indicates that the output of a comparator is at the high logic level, and “0” indicates that the output of a comparator is at the low logic level. The comparator 122 compares the voltage of the battery cell E2 with a reference voltage Vref1 generated by the reference power source e1b. If the voltage of the battery cell E2 is higher than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator 122 outputs “1”. If the voltage of the battery cell E2 is lower than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator 122 outputs “0”. The comparator 123 compares the voltage of the battery cell E3 with a reference voltage Vref1 generated by the reference power source e1c. If the voltage of the battery cell E3 is higher than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator 123 outputs “1”. If the voltage of the battery cell E3 is lower than the reference voltage Vref1, the comparator outputs “0”. The outputs of the comparators 121, 122, and 123 are supplied to the OR gate 124. The OR gate 124 performs an OR operation on the outputs of the comparators 121, 122, and 123, and supplies a result of the OR operation to the gate of the FET 103. If any of the outputs of the comparators 121, 122, and 123 is “1”, i.e., if any of the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 is in an overcharged state and the signal supplied from the OR gate 124 to the gate of the FET 103 is “1”, the FET 103 is switched off so as to prevent overcharge. The over-discharge monitor circuit 101b comprises comparators 111, 112, and 113, reference power sources e2a, e2b, and e2c, and an OR gate 114. The comparator 111 compares the voltage of the battery cell E1 with a reference voltage Vref2 generated by the reference power source e2a. If the voltage of the battery cell E1 is higher than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 111 outputs “0”. If the voltage of the battery cell E1 is lower than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 111 outputs “1”. The comparator 112 compares the voltage of the battery cell E2 with a reference voltage Vref2 generated by the reference power source e2b. If the voltage of the battery cell E2 is higher than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 112 outputs “0”. If the voltage of the battery cell E2 is lower than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 112 outputs “1”. The comparator 113 compares the voltage of the battery cell E3 with a reference voltage Vref2 generated by the reference power source e2c. If the voltage of the battery cell E3 is higher than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 113 outputs “0”. If the voltage of the battery cell E3 is lower than the reference voltage Vref2, the comparator 113 outputs “1”. The outputs of the comparators 111, 112, and 113 are supplied to the OR gate 114. The OR gate 114 performs an OR operation on the outputs of the comparators 111, 112, and 113, and supplies a result of the OR operation to the gate of the FET 104. If any of the outputs of the comparators 111, 112, and 113 is “1”, i.e., if any of the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 is in an over-discharged state and the signal supplied from the OR gate 114 to the gate of the FET 104 is “1”, the FET 104 is switched off so as to prevent over-discharge. When a current larger than a certain current value flows, the fuse 102 fuses and cuts off the current. By doing so, the fuse 102 serves as a part of a double protection circuit in a case where the voltage monitor circuit 100 does not properly cut off the large current or the FETs 103 and 104 do not properly function to cut off the large current due to some trouble such as short-circuiting. The power supply terminals 105 and 106 are connected to an electronic device 130, as shown in FIG. 1. The electronic device 130 comprises a power source circuit 131 and a device main body 132. The power source circuit 131 converts a d.c. voltage supplied from the battery unit 100 to a d.c. voltage to be used in the device main body 132. At the time of shipping, the battery unit 100 is connected to the electronic device 130. The battery unit 100 may be fixed to the electronic device 130 with screws. If the battery unit 100 and the electronic device 130 are packed separately in such a case, the package becomes large, and a large amount of cushioning material is required. Moreover, after unpacking, the user has to take the trouble to screw the battery unit 100 to the electronic device 130. In a case of an electronic device having built-in dry batteries, an insulating sheet is inserted between the dry batteries and the electrodes of the electronic device. The user normally removes the insulating sheet when he/she starts using the electronic device. By removing the insulating sheet, the dry batteries and the electronic device are connected, and electric power is supplied from the dry batteries to the electronic device. Compared with the dry batteries, however, the battery unit 100 has more connection pins for connection with the electronic device 130. Also, the connection connector of the battery unit 100 has a more complicated structure. For these reasons, an insulating sheet cannot be inserted between the battery unit 100 and the electronic device 130, and, at the time of shipping, the battery unit 100 is already mounted on the electronic device 130, as shown in FIG. 1. The battery unit 100 shown in FIG. 1 remains connected to the power source circuit 131 even when the power switch of the electronic device 130 is turned off. The power source circuit 131 is formed by a DC-DC converter, and consumes electric current even when the output is cut off. The voltage monitor circuit 101 of the battery unit 100 also constantly consumes a small amount of electric current. Because of this, after the shipping of the electronic device 130, the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 of the battery unit 100 are consumed. If the battery unit 100 is in an over-discharged state due to the consumption of the battery cells E1, E2, and E3, the FET 104 is switched off, and the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 are disconnected from the electronic device 130. If the electronic device 130 is left unpacked for an even longer period of time, the battery cells E1, E2, and E3 might over-discharge due to current consumed by the voltage monitor circuit 101.

Systems that are used to track the location of a vehicle and provide emergency service at the tracked location are known. With some tracking systems the satellite known as the Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to continuously store the location of the tracked object, like a vehicle. A remote response center can be contacted using a cellular phone and this center can be automatically called again after a predetermined time interval has elapsed. The data automatically transmitted to the remote response center identifies the vehicle and verifies to the center that the system is operative. Another tracking system uses a continuously powered radio receiver for receiving encoded signals from a remote central station. When the received signal corresponds to a unique code stored in the receiver, a GPS receiver and a radio transmitter located with the stolen property are connected and this position indicating information transmitted to a central station. Another system using the GPS has a plurality of satellites that transmit time and location data over radio frequency signals. This enables a mobile GPS receiver on the ground to determine its position and allows for the use of a cellular phone to continuously speak to the called party. Another invention has an anti theft system installed on a motor vehicle includes an electronic control unit connected to a localization information detector and to a telephone apparatus. The control unit can produce a voice message which can be transmitted to police or a security organization. A plurality of sensors are used to detect the theft of the vehicle to initiate this process and to also send a message to a person authorized to use the vehicle by a transmitter-receiver radio and a portable transceiver radio. In contrast to these described tracking systems and the known prior art, the present invention provides an on board Vehicle Emergency Reporting System (VERS) having a Vehicle Emergency Tracker (VET). This VET has an on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) used to pinpoint the location of the vehicle. Data on the GPS location and an identification code for the specific vehicle are sent to a central Reporting Center (RC) and this data is stored all as further detailed hereafter.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for particle beam systems. 2. Description of the Background Art Organic and other contaminants can adversely affect the measurement accuracy, inspection and review data, and other information received from a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or similar apparatus. This is true even when the organic contaminants are present only at low levels. In addition, contaminants can adversely reduce the lifetime of key electron beam (e-beam) tool components and increase the frequency at which such tools need servicing. A conventional method 100 for semiconductor manufacturing, including a level of contaminant removal, is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 1. A semiconductor wafer is provided (102) in a “clean room” environment, and the wafer is cleaned (104) at a contaminant removal station to remove contaminants thereon. Thereafter, the wafer goes through various process steps. These process steps may include, for example, various deposition, lithography, etching, and other steps. After one or more of these process steps (106) (i.e. at some point during the process), it may be desired to inspect the wafer to check for defects or to gather other information. The wafer is then transported (108) to an e-beam inspection station. This transportation (108) is generally performed within the clean room environment to avoid undue contamination. The e-beam inspection station may comprise, for example, a tool based on an SEM. At the e-beam inspection station, the wafer may be scanned or otherwise inspected (110). Thereafter, the manufacturing process may continue with further process steps (112) and so on. Each time e-beam inspection is performed, the wafer is typically exposed but in the clean room environment.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to plate holders and more particularly pertains to such a holder device which may be secured to a decorative plate or the like in a positive fashion precluding accidental separation of the plate from the holder and which permits hanging the plate vertically on a wall or the like. 2. Description of the Prior Art The use of plate holders is known in the prior art. More specifically, holders heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of holding plates are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Much of the art is devoted to holding plates at an angle from a flat surface on which the holder is positioned, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,450. Other devices for hanging plates on wall surfaces are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,207; 4,364,537; 4,687,169; and 5,152,493. In some of these devices, the hooks engaging with the plate are easily dislodgeable and/or the plate may roll out of engagement with the open type hook supports shown in the event of accidental vibration or disturbance of the plate holder. In others, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,537 and 4,473,207, the holders are complex and expensive to produce. In this respect, the plate holder according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides a device primarily developed for the purpose of securely holding the plate to the supporting holder. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved plate holders which can be inexpensively produced and which will securely hold a plate against separation from the holder. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Operation of an internal combustion engine over an extended period of time leads to the formation of deposits in the fuel induction system such as the carburetor and around the intake valves. These deposits interfere with the efficient operation of the engine and can lead to lower mileage and increased exhaust emission. In the past, intake system cleanliness has been improved by use of gasoline containing imidazolines and hydrocarbyl amines.

1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a microelectromechanical gyroscope with calibrated synchronization of actuation and to a method for actuating a microelectromechanical gyroscope. 2. Description of the Related Art As is known, the use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has become progressively widespread in various sectors of technology and has yielded encouraging results especially for providing inertial sensors, microintegrated gyroscopes, and electromechanical oscillators for a wide range of applications. MEMS of this type are usually based on microelectromechanical structures comprising at least one movable mass connected to a fixed body (stator) by springs and movable with respect to the stator according to pre-determined degrees of freedom. The movable mass is moreover coupled to the fixed body via capacitive structures (capacitors). The movement of the movable mass with respect to the fixed body, for example on account of an external stress, modifies the capacitance of the capacitors; from this it is possible to trace back to the relative displacement of the movable mass with respect to the fixed body and hence to the force applied. Vice versa, by supplying appropriate biasing voltages, it is possible to apply an electrostatic force to the movable mass to set it in motion. In addition, to provide electromechanical oscillators, the frequency response of inertial MEMS structures is exploited, which is typically of the second-order low-pass type. Many MEMS (in particular, all electromechanical oscillators and gyroscopes) include driving devices that have the task of maintaining the movable mass in oscillation. A first type of known solution envisages supplying, in open loop, periodic excitation at the resonance frequency of the MEMS structure. The solution is simple, but also far from effective, because the resonance frequency is not known with precision on account of the ineliminable dispersions in the processes of micromachining of semiconductors. In addition, the resonance frequency of each individual device can vary over time, for example, on account of temperature gradients or, more simply, on account of ageing. Feedback driving circuits have then been proposed, based upon the use of sigma-delta modulators. Circuits of this type are undoubtedly more effective than the previous ones in stabilizing the oscillation of the movable mass at the real resonance frequency and in suppressing disturbance. However, various stages are employed for filtering, decimation, and further processing of the bitstream supplied by the sigma-delta modulator. For this reason, currently available feedback driving circuits are complex to produce, cumbersome and, in practice, costly. In addition, it should be considered that gyroscopes have a complex electromechanical structure, which comprises two masses that are movable with respect to the stator and are coupled to one another so as to present a relative degree of freedom. The two movable masses are both capacitively coupled to the stator. One of the movable masses is dedicated to driving (driving mass) and is kept in oscillation at the resonance frequency. The other movable mass (sensing mass) is driven in the oscillatory motion and, in the case of rotation of the microstructure with respect to a pre-determined axis with an angular velocity, is subject to a Coriolis force proportional to the angular velocity itself. In practice, the sensing mass operates as an accelerometer that enables sensing of the Coriolis acceleration. For enabling actuation and providing an electromechanical oscillator in which the sensor performs the role of frequency-selective amplifier, with transfer function of a second-order low-pass type and high merit factor, the driving mass is equipped with two types of differential capacitive structures: driving electrodes and driving-detection electrodes. The driving electrodes have the purpose of sustaining self-oscillation of the movable mass in the direction of actuation, through electrostatic forces generated by the spectral component of the noise at the mechanical resonance frequency of the driving mass. The driving-detection electrodes have the purpose of measuring, through the transduced charge, the position of translation or rotation of the sensing mass in the direction of actuation. The U.S. Pat. No. 7,305,880 describes a system for controlling the velocity of oscillation of the gyroscope, comprising a differential sense amplifier, a high-pass amplifier, and an actuation and control stage, operating in a continuous-time mode. The U.S. Pat. No. 7,827,864 describes an improvement of the foregoing control system, in which the control loop comprises a low-pass filter in order to reduce the offset and the effects of parasitic components and couplings by operating on the overall gain and phase of the feedback loop. These systems, albeit operating frequently in a satisfactory way, may, however, undergo improvement as regards area occupation. These systems synchronize the read and control circuits precisely in order to preserve the advantages deriving from the use of microstructures with driving and sensing masses not electrically insulated from one another (in particular on account of the technological difficulties in providing the insulation, which render the manufacturing processes considerably more complex and costly). For this purpose, phase-locked-loop (PLL) circuits are normally used, which have, however, a far from negligible impact in terms of area occupation, as well as of consumption levels, and include external filtering components. In addition, at the start and upon waking-up from low-consumption (the so-called “power-down”) configurations or from conditions of loss of synchronism, the PLL circuits may have transients even of several hundreds of milliseconds before completing phase locking. The consequent delay in the response can be very detrimental in certain applications.

Present day providers of multi-media services, such as AT&T, can provide a number of basic services to customers operating various communication devices. For example, some of the basic multi-media services can include Software Defined Network (SDN) telecommunication service and/or toll-free dialing service, which services are communicated over Internet-Protocol (“IP”) Networks to users of IP-based communication devices. Typically, each request for a basic service offering received over the IP Network from one or more of the IP-based communication devices is directed by a switching system to one of a number of different Service Control Points (“SCPs”) or service processors for processing each of the requests. As providers of multi-media services migrate basic multi-media services from the Legacy 4ESS Switched Network to a Voice over IP architecture, there is a need to support multiple IP-SCPs, which provide a number of multi-media services over the IP architecture. The multiple IP-SCPs each include an IP interface, which is adapted to provide a communication interface to customer logic that provides service processing on a per-call basis for each service request. Further, there is a need to provide an IP-compatible switching device that can support the multiple IP-SCPs and direct the number of requests to any one of the multiple IP-SCPs for processing.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of query optimization and, more specifically, to estimating cardinality based on query execution feedback. 2. Description of the Prior Art A query optimizer is used to determine the best plan for executing the query. To select such an execution plan, the optimizer enumerates a collection of candidate plans, and picks the one with the least anticipated execution cost. An execution plan is composed of a number of steps of data processing, whose cost is derived based on the particular execution algorithm considered, and the estimated number of rows to process. The quality of plans generated by the optimizer is tied to the accuracy of its cost estimation. Incorrect estimation may lead the optimizer to regard some plans as efficient, when in reality they are very expensive to execute. As effective optimization and good physical design can introduce dramatic performance improvements, so selecting the wrong execution plan can lead to dramatic slowdowns. In conventional query optimization methods, the number of rows to be used in a query is generally estimated using statistics information about the data stored in the database. Such statistics are typically gathered by executing special purpose queries or processes, which read all or part of a database table, perform some analysis, and store the results for later use by the query optimizer. Statistics gathering may be triggered automatically based on the columns used to execute a query. Gathering statistics for the purpose of query optimization has a number a drawbacks. For example, separate special purpose processes to collect statistics overlap considerably with regular query execution and the resulting overhead may be significant. For systems that trigger such processes automatically, the processes may introduce unexpected increases to the system load. Furthermore, statistics that are gathered may be over-inclusive or under-inclusive with respect to queries. Statistics-gathering processes are generic and they collect information that is not particularly tied to the current system workload. Thus, statistics may be unnecessarily gathered for tables or portions of tables that are not requested by the queries. For example, statistics may be unnecessarily gathered for a portion of a table covering the year 2001 when queries request data from only from the year 2002. Additionally, if statistics exist for two columns, then statistics on the combination of the columns may be needed if the information is correlated. However, it is impossible to determine whether the information is correlated simply by looking at the query syntax and examining all pairs of columns in the schema is cost prohibitive. Another drawback of statistics gathering is that, as the database changes, statistics become invalid and must be updated. In manual update systems, statistics are typically updated by database administrators, who generally do not have tools to measure the degree of staleness of statistics and the impact of such staleness on plan selection. In automatic systems, statistics are updated based on a number of changes made to base tables. Such automatic systems employ simple counters and heuristics to decide when it is necessary to re-compute statistics, thereby requiring extra processing. In both manual and automatic systems, statistics are sometimes computed when there is no need and are also sometimes not computed when there is a need. Yet another drawback of statistics gathering is that, when such statistics are used in cardinality estimation, errors grow as estimation is done on top of estimation, so that after several filters and joins, the estimated cardinality may be way off the actual. In addition, there are constructs that simply cannot be estimated based on statistics of base table columns. The standard approach when such constructs are encountered is to use a “guess” or “magic number,” such as the well known ⅓ data reduction factor for inequality comparisons and 1/10 data reduction factor for equality. The problem with inaccurate estimation is not only performance, but the introduction of erratic behavior. Queries are “unstable” when there are estimation errors in their optimization. The reason is switch-over points. For example, it is known that index lookup is efficient when there are few rows to lookup, and table scan is preferable if access to all the rows is expected; for cases in between, a choice must be made and there is a switch-over point between the two alternatives. Similar switch-over points occur in join order, and in selection of various execution algorithms. When a query is close to a switch-over point, minor changes can make it choose one or the other option, which is acceptable as long as the estimation is correct. However, if a query is incorrectly estimated close to a switch-over point, the plan generated will appear to be randomly chosen, with vastly different performance. Adding or removing a simple, non-selective condition in a query may result in dramatic execution slowdown; or a query that used to run well may suddenly become very slow, after some rows are added to one of the base tables. Two queries that are very close in form and semantics may perform very differently, if one of them happens to use a construct that is not supported by the cardinality estimation model. Software upgrades, and even re-computation of statistics can introduce unpredictable changes in query plans and performance degradation. Such behavior confuses and frustrates developers and database administrators. Conventional systems fail to deliver on the goal of high level, declarative database languages. Thus, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for cardinality estimation in which statistics are created and updated automatically based on continuous observation of query execution. It is desired that such systems and methods reduce the overhead involved with statistics gathering, improve the relevance of statistics to a workload, reduce sensitivity of statistics to data changes, and improve the accuracy of cardinality estimation.

This application relates to a computer network and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for allowing both high-speed and regular-speed access to a computer network. The Internet is an example of a TCP/IP network. The Internet has over 10 million users. Conventionally, access to the Internet is achieved using a slow, inexpensive method, such as a terrestrial dial-up modem using a protocol such as SLIP (Serial Line IP), PPP, or by using a fast, more expensive method, such as a switched 56 Kbps, frame relay, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), or T1. Users generally want to receive (download) large amounts of data from networks such as the Internet. Thus, it is desirable to have a one-way link that is used only for downloading information from the network. A typical user will receive much more data from the network than he sends. Thus, it is desirable that the one-way link be able to carry large amounts of data very quickly. What is needed is a high bandwidth one-way link that is used only for downloading information, while using a slower one-way link to send data into the network. Currently, not all users have access to high speed links to networks. Because it will take a long time to connect all users to networks such as the Internet via physical high-speed lines, such as fiber optics lines, it is desirable to implement some type of high-speed line that uses the existing infrastructure. Certain types of fast network links have long propagation delays. For example, a link may be transmitting information at 10 Mbps, but it may take hundreds of milliseconds for a given piece of information to travel between a source and a destination on the network. In addition, for even fast low-density links, a slow speed return-link may increase the round trip propagation time, and thus limit throughput. The TCP/IP protocol, as commonly implemented, is not designed to operate over fast links with long propagation delays. Thus, it is desirable to take the propagation delay into account when sending information over such a link.

Traditionally, development of radio communication products involves significant hardware development effort. Software defined radio (SDR) is a technology that implements physical layer wireless communication technologies in software, turning many radio-related hardware development problems into software issues. This can shorten the product development cycle, reduce costs, and make product distribution much easier. Moreover, SDR provides increased flexibility and programmability, which can speed up innovation in wireless communications. SDR platforms have been developed using a personal computer's central processing unit (CPU), working in connection with a field programmable gate array (FPGA), with some radio frequency (RF) front end hardware to receive and transmit radio waveforms. Some SDR applications require complex modulation or computationally intensive algorithms that may include Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs), cross-correlation, or the calculation of mutual information metrics. These operations can be costly in terms of processing power. A CPU working in connection with an FPGA may lack the computing architecture to support these applications. More recently, SDR platforms have been developed using a CPU working in connection with a graphics processing unit (GPU). However, a GPU working in connection with a CPU may lack the streaming or serial processing capabilities to fulfill the real-time requirements of digital communication algorithms that perform serial processing. It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one of the above disadvantages.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a recording or reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a recording or reproducing apparatus having the function of searching a recording medium for an unrecorded part of the medium where no signal has been recorded as yet. 2. Description of the Related Art It has been known to arrange a recording/reproducing apparatus such as a VTR or the like to have a function called an end search function. The end search function is performed, under the control of a system controller, to automatically search a recording medium, such as a magnetic tape, for the end part of an existing record, or the forefront part of an unrecorded area on the magnetic tape, in cases where, for example, another record is to be recorded after the existing record on the magnetic tape. FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c) of the accompanying drawings show the procedure of an end search to be made by the conventional VTR. FIG. 2 shows in a flow chart a control operation on the end search. Of these figures, FIG. 1(a) shows a magnetic tape on which a video signal has already been recorded. FIGS. 1(b) and 1(c) show the positions of a recording/reproducing head in relation to the magnetic tape. The operation of the conventional VTR is described by way of example with reference to FIGS. 1(a), 1(b), 1(c) and 2 as follows: Referring to FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c), upon receipt of an instruction for the end search, the system controller performs the control in one of two different manners according to whether or not the recording/reproducing head is located in a position A on the magnetic tape where the video signal is recorded (hereinafter referred to as an RF recorded part): If the head is currently located in a position B where the video signal is not recorded (hereinafter referred to as an RF unrecorded part), the VTR is set in a tape rewinding mode (hereinafter referred to as an REW travel mode) for rewinding the magnetic tape from a current stop position "a" as shown in FIG. 1(b). The end part "b" of the existing record is detected by detecting the rise of an RF signal reproduced in the REW travel mode. Upon detection of the record end part "b", the system controller sets the VTR in a stop mode to bring the travel of the magnetic tape to a stop. The end search is then completed. In a case where the current position of the head is an RF recorded part A, the system controller sets the VTR in a fast forward mode (hereinafter referred to as an FF travel mode), as shown in FIG. 1(c). Then, the tape is caused to travel forward at a high speed from a current stop position "c". The end part "d" of the existing record is detected by detecting the fall of an RF signal reproduced in the FF travel mode. Upon detection of the record end part "d", the system controller sets the VTR in the REW travel mode. After that, the VTR is set in the stop mode when a rise "e" of an RF signal reproduced in the REW travel mode is detected, in the same manner as mentioned above, and the end search is completed. Referring to the flow chart of FIG. 2, the end search operation of the conventional VTR is described briefly as follows: After a start is made, the flow of operation comes to a step S5a to check the current position of the head on the tape to find if the head is at the RF unrecorded part B. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S5b. At the step S5b: A fast forward action, i.e., the FF travel of the tape, begins. At a step S5c: A check is made to find if the head is at a tape end part (hereinafter referred to as the EOT). If the head is found to be at the EOT, the flow comes to a step S5e. At the step S5e: The action of an applicable mechanism is brought to a stop to bring an end search to an end. If the head is found to be not at the EOT at the step S5c, the flow proceeds to a step S5d. At the step S5d: A check is made to find if a fall of an RF signal has been detected. If so, the flow comes to a step S5f to cause the REW travel of the tape to begin. If the head is determined, at the step S5a, to be at the RF unrecorded part B, the flow comes from the step S5a to a step S5f. At the step S5f: The REW travel of the tape is caused to begin. At a step S5g: A check is made to find if the head is at the beginning part of the tape (hereinafter referred to as the BOT). If so, the flow comes to the step S5e. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S5h. At the step S5h: A check is made to find if a rise of an RF signal has been detected. If so, the flow proceeds to a step S5i. At the step S5i: The action of the applicable mechanism is brought to a stop to bring the end search to an end. If the rise of any RF signal is found to have not been detected as yet at the step S5h, the flow comes back to the step S5g. In the case of the conventional VTR described above, a fall of an RF signal reproduced is arranged to be detected in the FF (fast forward) travel mode. Therefore, a space at a joint part between RF recorded parts on the tape tends to be mistakenly detected as the end part of the RF recorded part. If any signal is recorded following such mistaken detection, the contents of the RF recorded part after the joint part would be lost. Such faulty recording, therefore, presents a serious problem. Further, in the conventional VTR, the rise of a reproduced RF signal is arranged to be detected in the REW travel mode; and the end search is brought to an end by bringing the VTR into a stop mode upon detection of the rise of the reproduced RF signal. However, this arrangement makes it impossible to find by a searching action an optimum record end part for tag recording. More specifically, the search would be made to detect a point which is located before the actual record end part, i.e., on the side of the BOT. Another problem lies in that: While the tag recording is intended to be made from the end part of the existing record, the arrangement of the VTR to terminate the end search in the stop mode causes a further discrepancy in search position when the operation mode of the VTR is shifted from the stop mode to a recording standby mode for the tag recording. In addition, it has been impossible to make a confirmation as to whether the point detected is the actual end of the existing record when the stop mode is shifted to the standby mode for the tag recording. Further, in the field of the VTR, there has been known an art for replacing a reproduced video signal with a given self oscillating image signal (called blue back, etc.) for the purpose of making a reproduced picture more easily sightable when a reproducing action on the tape comes to an unrecorded part of the tape. In making a search for an unrecorded part in this manner, the system for monitoring reproduced RF signals over a given length of time in the above-stated manner has come to require a longer monitoring period, because of the diverse reproduction modes. In other words, there are modes of varied kinds including a slow motion reproduction mode; modes of recording at different tape transporting speeds; and reproduction of a record from such a recording tape that does not permit easy tracking control, like performing a reproducing action with a VTR of the NTSC system on a tape on which signals of the PAL system are recorded. These modes necessitate a monitoring action on the reproduced RF signals over a relatively long period of time. Further, in cases where the above-stated monitoring action is to be performed by means of a microprocessor, a limitation imposed on software arrangement sometimes prevents securing a sufficiently long period of monitoring time. Erroneous detection and faulty actions thus have resulted from an insufficient length of the monitoring time.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing technique for detecting and extracting a document area from a read image. 2. Description of the Related Art An algorithm for extracting a rectangular area from a read image (original image) read by a scanner or the like in a conventional image processing apparatus has been proposed, as described in the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-224563 (Patent Document 1). Further, in the case of an document having thickness, such as a book, an area of black pixels is produced surrounding the document in the read image because the document cover cannot be closed completely. The specifications of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 11-341230 (Patent Document 2), 2003-60872 (Patent Document 3), 2003-134322 (Patent Document 4) and 2005-252490 (Patent Document 5) propose techniques for detecting a document area based upon the area of black pixels and replacing the area of black pixels outside the document area with white pixels in order to avoid the wasteful consumption of toner or ink. However, these conventional techniques involve certain problems. For example, with the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, two different document edge sensing means are used. Detection of document size is performed by adopting the larger of two document edge positions, which have been sensed by respective ones of the document edge sensing means, as the document edge. A problem which arises is the high likelihood that the document size sensed as a result will be too large. Further, with the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2, the fact that a document to be read is a thick document such as a book is specified in advance. In other words, it is required that the user be aware of whether the document cover is open or closed. With the image processing apparatus described in Patent Documents 3 and 4, either a document cover sensor is provided or the open-state of a document cover is detected by a brightness value acquired by a mounted reading sensor. Based upon the result of detection, processing is changed over or scanning is performed without placement of a document on the contact glass. In other words, a special sensor such as a document cover sensor is required. The problem that arises is an increase in cost. Further, in a case where the apparatus is equipped with a CCD-type reading sensor, the characteristic of the sensor is such that the reading depth is large. Consequently, if there is illumination such as a fluorescent lamp above the apparatus with the document cover open, the image data will clearly include the shape of the illumination. In order to eliminate this influence, scanning must be performed in the absence of a document and a complicated operation is required. Furthermore, with the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 5, a document area is detected based upon the state of continuous black pixels and white pixels in a case where a document is copied to paper of a size larger than the document size with the document cover left open. In this case, if the document cover is not left fully open, the density of a black area produced surrounding the document will not be uniform. As a result, depending upon the particular case, continuous pixels of a stipulated density cannot be detected and black pixels outside the document area are printed line by line.

Local telephone service providers, through a central office, offer a variety of optional services to their customers. Some of these services provide information about a person placing a call (a calling party) to a person receiving the call (a called party). In order to provide these services, the central office ordinarily has access to a local database which has telephone-number fields correlated with data fields containing information such as the calling party's name. Prior to terminating a call to the called party, the central office searches the database for the telephone number of the calling party. If the telephone number is found within the database, the central office accesses the relevant information and delivers it to the called party. Customer premises equipment (CPE) of many offices and homes integrates telephony and computers. This type of CPE connects to a network environment that includes both a real or virtual telephone path and a real or virtual data path for access to a computer network, such as the Internet. There is an emerging technology that integrates both a computer and a telephone into a single device. One example of this is a smart or intelligent phone 100 (see FIG. 1), a phone which contains a built-in microprocessor that is capable of running applications such as Web browsing software. Another example is Internet television with integrated telephony. There is a need to provide a caller identification service that takes advantage of CPE that integrates telephony and computers.

A typical projection system includes an arc-lamp source of bright white light, a method for separating the white light into red, green and blue spectral components, and a spatial light modulator (SLM, also called a light valve) for two dimensional imaging each of the spectral components to create a color picture. The SLM performs the spatial and temporal modulation in response to an analog or digital video signal generated by a computer or another video source such as a TV tuner, VCR, HDTV broadcast, or DVD player. The SLM typically creates sequential images in red, green, and blue color planes although other color separation techniques exist such as cyan, yellow, magenta, and optionally white planes. The color planes may then be recombined optically and projected onto a screen, or they may be flashed temporally in sequence onto the screen at such a rate that a viewer perceives only a single image. Most digital projectors compete based on the number of screen lumens that the projector places on the projection screen. Although the competition in the projector market is fierce, cost considerations as well as size constraints have limited the development of more efficient optical designs for other light sources. Most conventional small projector systems have total optical system efficiency from bulb to screen of less than 12%. That is, only up to 12% of the light created by the bulb actually exits from the projection optics and makes it to the screen. This inefficient design results in not only a dimmer display but also the consumption of needlessly wasted power. Several approaches have been attempted to increase the efficiency but with little success. For instance, if an integrating rod is increased in size to gather more of the beam from the lamp focus then the magnification of the illumination system must be changed. Changing the magnification of the illumination system requires changes in optical path length of the system and the effective focal length of the lenses used in the system. These changes may or may not be practicable in products with small profiles or even in large profile digital projectors. Therefore, the need to capture more light from the lamp focus and couple it into the same size integrating rod with increased luminance is desired in all digital projectors. In addition, there are several problems with existing arc-lamp sources. The most commonly used lamp source is a mercury vapor arc lamp. This lamp produces the most light for a given wattage and has a small point source. However, mercury arc lamps have a short lifetime compared to other technologies and produces light that is spectrally deficient in the red spectrum. In addition, mercury is a hazardous material that many countries would like limit the use of or ban outright. Although other bulb technologies could be substituted for the mercury vapor arc lamp, none has its efficiency and small spot size that allow for a large etendue and thus production of small high intensity projectors. Etendue is a method of measuring the system throughput. Etendue once created by a light source can only be increased. In a perfect lossless optical system, etendue is always conserved. Etendue in an optical system is limited by the element, which has the least etendue. An optical source system must have an etendue less than the limiting etendue or maximum system efficiency. Simply replacing the arc lamp bulb with a non-arc lamp will not offer a satisfactory competitive solution because of the non-point source nature of non-arc lamps limits their available etendue and they tend to produce emissions outside of visible light, which must be eliminated. To allow for substituting out mercury bulbs, the light path in a projector must have increased etendue efficiency and unwanted energy removal. Therefore, there is also a need for a solution that allows other bulb technologies to compete with mercury vapor arc lamps. In summary, there exists a need to overcome the efficiency and other problems associated with arc lamp bulbs, particularly mercury vapor types.

Fuel injection systems with which fuel injection into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine is performed have long been known. Injection systems of this kind comprise at least one injection valve (injector) and at least one feedforward and feedback control unit, connected to the injection valve, for controlling the injection process. Here, the injection valve has a space from which fuel can be injected into the combustion chamber through an injection opening. The opening and closing of the injection opening is performed by means of a closure element (nozzle needle), which can be actuated (moved) by an actuator. The space is supplied with fuel via a high-pressure reservoir and a fuel line. The actuator is an element for moving the closure element. Thus, an injection process is controlled with the aid of the actuator. At the same time, the actuator is not in direct drive connection with the closure element but actuates a servo valve in order to discharge fuel under high pressure from a servo valve space and, in this way, to bring about actuation of the closure element and to open the associated injection opening. The actuator is a piezoelectric actuator which expands (increases in length) by virtue of the piezoelectric effect when supplied with electrical energy and in this way raises the servo valve from its seat in order thereby to actuate the closure element. In order to carry out a pressure reduction in the pressure reservoir (rail pressure reduction) in such fuel injection systems with piezoelectric servo injection valves, special pressure control valves (PLV, PCV, PDV) are used in prior art systems. These additional valves increase the costs of the overall system. In another procedure, a pilot-controlled servo valve is used in reducing the pressure in the pressure reservoir. With a pilot-controlled servo valve of this kind, however, it is not always possible to reduce the pressure in the pressure reservoir in the desired manner, and therefore it is nevertheless necessary to provide additional valves for pressure reduction, depending on customer requirements and the injection valve design.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet stacking apparatus having a function of aligning sheets stacked on a stacking tray. 2. Description of the Related Art Regarding a sheet stacking apparatus which is connected to an image forming apparatus and configured to stack a large amount of sheets, there has been a growing trend toward a requirement for a performance enabling sheets to be aligned with high accuracy before being discharged. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-206331 discusses an apparatus in which an alignment member is provided on a stacking tray, and the sheet end surfaces are aligned by attaching and separating the alignment member to and from the sheet end surfaces parallel to the sheet discharge direction to stack the sheets together. However, in a case where sheets of a sheet width W1 are stacked on a stacking tray 701 and sheets of a sheet width W2 different from the sheet width W1 are stacked on the sheets of the sheet width W1, it is necessary to eliminate a gap between the already stacked sheets and the bottom surface of each alignment plate. For this purpose, as illustrated in FIG. 17, it is necessary for alignment plates A and B to abut the upper surface of the uppermost one of the sheets already stacked. When, in the state in which the alignment plates are in contact with the upper surface of the uppermost one of the stacked sheets, the alignment plate A moves in the directions indicated by an arrow in FIG. 17, the bottom surface of the alignment plate A is rubbed against the uppermost one of the stacked sheets. This leads to separation of the toner on the sheet, so that there is a fear of deterioration in image quality. Further, when the bottom surface of the alignment plate with toner adhering thereto comes into contact with another sheet, the toner will be allowed to adhere to this sheet, so that there is a fear of deterioration in the image quality. Further, even in a place where no toner image is formed, the sheet surface is rubbed against the alignment plate, and sheet quality may be deteriorated.

The liberation and metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA) from the cell membrane results in the generation of pro-inflammatory metabolites by several different pathways. Arguably, two of the most important pathways to inflammation are mediated by the enzymes 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and cycloxygenase (COX). These parallel pathways result in the generation of leukotrienes and prostaglandins, respectively, which play important roles in the initiation and progression of the inflammatory response. These vasoactive compounds are chemotaxins, which promote infiltration of inflammatory cells into tissues and serve to prolong the inflammatory response. Consequently, the enzymes responsible for generating these mediators of inflammation have become the targets for many new drugs aimed at the treatment of inflammation that contributes to the pathogenesis of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease and certain types of cancer. Inhibition of the COX enzyme is the mechanism of action attributed to most nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). There are two distinct isoforms of the COX enzyme (COX-1 and COX-2) that share approximately 60% sequence homology, but differ in expression profiles and function. COX-1 is a constitutive form of the enzyme that has been linked to the production of physiologically important prostaglandins involved in the regulation of normal physiological functions such as platelet aggregation, protection of cell function in the stomach and maintenance of normal kidney function (Dannhardt and Kiefer (2001) Eur. J. Med. Chem. 36:109-126). The second isoform, COX-2, is a form of the enzyme that is inducible by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and other growth factors (Herschmann (1994) Cancer Metastasis Rev. 134:241-256; Xie et al. (1992) Drugs Dev. Res. 25:249-265). This isoform catalyzes the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from AA. Inhibition of COX-2 is responsible for the anti-inflammatory activities of conventional NSAIDs. Inhibitors that demonstrate dual specificity for COX-2 and 5-LO, while maintaining COX-2 selectivity relative to COX-1, would have the obvious benefit of inhibiting multiple pathways of AA metabolism. Such inhibitors would block the inflammatory effects of prostaglandins (PG), as well as, those of multiple leukotrienes (LT) by limiting their production. This includes the vasodilation, vasopermeability and chemotactic effects of PGE2, LTB4, LTD4 and LTE4, also known as the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis. Of these, LTB4 has the most potent chemotactic and chemokinetic effects. (Moore (1985) in Prostanoids: Pharmacological, Physiological and Clinical Relevance, Cambridge University Press, N.Y., pp. 229-230. In addition to the above-mentioned benefits of dual COX-2/5-LO inhibitors, many dual inhibitors do not cause some of the side effects that are typical of NSAIDs or COX-2 inhibitors, including both the gastrointestinal damage and discomfort caused by traditional NSAIDs. It has been suggested that NSAID-induced gastric inflammation is largely due to metabolites of 5-LO, particularly LTB4, which attracts cells to the site of a gastric lesion thus causing further damage. (Kircher et al. (1997) Prostaglandins Leukot. Essent. Fatty Acids 56:417-423). Leukotrienes represent the primary AA metabolites within the gastric mucosa following prostanoid inhibition. It appears that these compounds contribute to a significant amount of the gastric epithelial injury resulting from the use of NSAIDs. (Celotti and Laufer (2001) Pharmacological Research 43:429-436). Dual inhibitors of COX and 5-LO were also demonstrated to inhibit the coronary vasoconstriction in arthritic hearts in a rat model. (Gok et al. (2000) Pharmacology 60:41-46). Taken together, these characteristics suggest that there may be distinct advantages to dual inhibitors of COX-2 and 5-LO over specific COX-2 inhibitors and non-specific NSAIDs with regard to both increased efficacy and reduced side effects. Because the mechanism of action of COX inhibitors overlaps that of most conventional NSAIDs, COX inhibitors are used to treat many of the same symptoms, such as the pain and swelling associated with inflammation in transient conditions and chronic diseases in which inflammation plays a critical role. Transient conditions include the treatment of inflammation associated with minor abrasions, sunburn or contact dermatitis, as well as, the relief of pain associated with tension and migraine headaches and menstrual cramps. Chronic conditions include arthritic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Although rheumatoid arthritis is largely an autoimmune disease and osteoarthritis is caused by the degradation of cartilage in joints, reducing the inflammation associated with each provides a significant increase in the quality of life for those suffering from these diseases (Wienberg (2001) Immunol. Res. 22:319-341; Wollhiem (2000) Curr. Opin. Rheum. 13:193-201). As inflammation is a component of rheumatic diseases in general, the use of COX inhibitors has been expanded to include diseases such as systemic lupus erythromatosus (SLE) (Goebel et al. (1999) Chem. Res. Tox. 12:488-500; Patrono et al. (1985) J. Clin. Invest. 76:1011-1018) and rheumatic skin conditions such as scleroderma. COX inhibitors are also used for the relief of inflammatory skin conditions that are not of rheumatic origin, such as psoriasis, in which reducing the inflammation resulting from the over production of prostaglandins could provide a direct benefit (Fogh et al. (1993) Acta Derm. Venereol (Oslo) 73:191-193). Recent scientific progress has identified correlations between COX-2 expression, general inflammation and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). (Ho et al. (2001) Arch. Neurol. 58:487-92). In animal models, transgenic mice that over-express the COX-2 enzyme have neurons that are more susceptible to damage. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is launching a clinical trial to determine whether NSAIDs can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Naproxen (a non-selective NSAID) and rofecoxib (Vioxx, a COX-2 specific selective NSAID) will be evaluated. Previous evidence has indicated that inflammation contributes to Alzheimer's disease. According to the Alzheimer's Association and the NIA, about 4 million people suffer from AD in the United States and this is expected to increase to 14 million by mid-century. The protective effect of NSAIDs in the pathogenesis of AD is attributed to COX-2 inhibition and the direct prevention of amyloidosis in the brain. (Xiang et al. (2002) Gene Expression 10:271-278). By suppressing COX-2 production of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandin PGE2, the surrounding neurons are also spared from the oxidative and inflammatory insult that would be generated by activated microglia. (Combs et al. (2001) Neurochem. Intl. 39:449-457). This action eliminates the subsequent microglial generation of cytokines and ROS that feed the cycle and propagate neurodegeneration. (Kalaria et al. (1996) Neurodegeneration 5:497-503; Combs et al. (1999) J. Neurosci. 19:928-939). NSAIDs also inhibit γ-secretase activity thereby preventing amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing, elevation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide levels and development of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and neuritic plaque (Weggen et al. (2001) Nature 414:212-216; Takahashi et al. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278:18664-18670). The progressive neural deterioration resulting from exposure to ROS, cytokines and pro-inflammatory eicosanoids manifests itself in a number of disease states all of which share common roots. These diseases are currently treated with NSAIDs which have cognitive preserving and neuroprotective properties resulting from their multifactoral activity on ROS, cytokines and pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. They act to inhibit amyloid deposition, diminish thromboxane and prostanoid production, attenuate cytokine production, prevent microglial activation, lower ROS generation, and, in some instances, possess a high antioxidant capacity. All of these activities can prevent cognitive decline and slow the cumulative effect upon neurodegeneration resulting from oxidative stress and aging. The neuroprotective activity of NSAID's forms the basis of current theories regarding somatic and neurodegenerative decline seen with varying degenerative disease states, aging, inflammation and oxidative stress. Initial observations that exposure to ionizing radiation mimics some of these conditions by causing similar histopathological changes in irradiated organs and their antioxidant status implicated the generation of free radicals as a causal factor. (Gerschman et al. (1954) Science 119:623-626; Harman (1956) J. Gerontol. 11:289-300; Harman (1957) J. Gerontol. 2:298-300). Administration of antioxidants prior to exposure provided the organism with some protection against the damaging effects of radiation. The conclusion derived from these studies was that prolonged exposure to free radical oxidative stress generated by ionizing radiation or oxidative metabolism disturbs the REDOX balance of the intracellular environment and is damaging in and of itself, if not held in check through antioxidant defenses. From this observation arose the leading studies on increasing longevity and neuroprotection, involving the lowering of free radical levels through manipulating basal metabolism via caloric restriction. (Berg and Simms (1960) J. Nutr. 71: 255-261; Weindruch and Walford (1988) The retardation of aging and disease by dietary restriction. C. C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill.). Berg and Simms proposed that maintenance of somatic function was correlated with restricted caloric intake and the subsequent reduced production of free radicals via oxidative metabolism, essentially, caloric restriction (CR). (Berg and Simms (1960) J. Nutr. 71: 255-261). Harman suggested that this protection, through the use of antioxidants, would extend to the nervous system by preventing lipid peroxidation. (Harman (1969) J. Gerontol. 23:476-482). Other investigators observed that cellular and DNA damage appeared to be roughly correlated to the organism's basal metabolic rate (BMR) and demonstrated that the higher the BMR, the shorter the lifespan and the greater the cellular and DNA damage. (Barja (2002) Free Rad. Biol. Med. 33:1167-1172). The explanation being that the generation of destructive ROS from mitochondrial and cytoplasmic oxidative metabolism produces an accumulation of free radical-induced damage at both the cellular and molecular level and is responsible, in part, for numerous degenerative and age-related disorders. The damage caused by ROS, however, can be reduced by suppressing BMR via CR or by augmenting antioxidant defenses to compete with ROS production. CR has repeatedly been shown to be an effective method to increase the longevity of a number of species. (Weindruch and Walford (1988) The retardation of aging and disease by dietary restriction, C. C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill.; Weindruch (1989) Prog. Clin. Biol. Res. 287:97-103). This research has lead to an invigorated examination of the antioxidant status of the organism with respect to progressive somatic and neurodeterioration seen with aging and the subsequent development of a free radical theory of aging. (Harman (1994) Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 717:1-15). Additional studies, which demonstrate neuroprotective activity associated with augmentation or supplementation of an organism's antioxidant defenses, support this theory. Dietary supplementation in rodents with micronutrients (Liu et al. (2002) Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 959:133-166), antioxidants (Floyd and Hensley (2000) Ann NY Acad. Sci. 899:222-237; Joseph et al. (2000) Mech. Ageing Dev. 116:141-153; Galli et al. (2002) Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 959:128-132) and plant extracts (Bickford et al. (2000) Brain. Res. 866:211-217; Cartford et al. (2002) J. Neurosci. 22:5813-5816) were shown to protect the aging nervous system against ionizing radiation (Lenton and Greenstock (1999) Mech. Ageing Dev. 107:15-20) or oxidative insult (Butterfield et al. (1998) Ann NY Acad. Sci. 854:448-462; Cao et al. (1999) J. Applied Physiol. 86:1817-1822), in addition to improving behavior in cognitive tasks (Bickford et al. (1999) Mech. Ageing Dev. 11:141-154) and restoring CNS electrophysiological responses (Gould et al. (1998) Neurosci. Lett. 250:165-168; Bickford et al. (1999) Free Rad. Biol. Med. 26:817-824). All of these intervention therapies are presumed to alter the antioxidant status of the intracellular milieu and protect key cytoplasmic and mitochondrial contents from degradation by ROS, thereby restoring and/or preserving homeostasis. Indices of antioxidant status have shown corresponding changes with these dietary manipulations. For example, lipid peroxide markers, malondialdehyde (MDA) (Gemma et al. (2002) J. Neurosci. 22:6114-6120) and hydroxynonenal (HNE) are lowered (Yoshimura et al. (2002) Free Rad. Res. 36:107-112), isoprostanes are decreased (Montine et al. (2003) Biochem. Pharmacol. 65:611-617), 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine levels are reduced (Lee et al. (1998) Cancer Lett. 132:219-227), protein carbonyls (Carney et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:3633-3636; Stadtman and Berlett (1998) Drug Metab. Rev. 30:225-243) and nitrotyrosine residues drop (Whiteman and Halliwell (1996) Free Rad. Res. 25:275-283), and spin trapping antioxidants show lowered reactivity (Carney et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:3633-3636). Treatment with the spin-trapping antioxidant N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN) demonstrates the ability to pharmacologically attenuate neurodegeneration induced by aging and ROS. PBN is a free radical scavenger, which has been shown to decrease ROS (Floyd (1999) Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 222(3):236-245), lower protein carbonyl generation in the senescence accelerated mouse model (Butterfield et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:674-678), protect the brains of gerbils in ischemia re-perfusion injuries (Floyd and Hensley (2000) Ann NY Acad. Sci. 899:222-237), preserve cerebellar responsiveness in aged rats (Gould and Bickford (1994) Brain Res. 660:333-336), and decrease the rate of telomere shortening in human fibroblasts (von Zglinicki et al. (2000) Free Rad. Biol. Med. 28:64-74). PBN has also proven effective in lowering protein carbonyl content in aged gerbils and improving their performance in the radial arm maze behavioral task. (Carney et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:3633-3636). It remains, therefore, a compelling proposition to augment an organism's antioxidant defenses by various nutritional interventions. Aging and oxidative stress are associated with declines in hippocampal processing of information (Barnes (1990) Prog. Brain Res. 86:89-104; McGahon et al. (1997) Neuroscience 81:9-16; Murray and Lynch (1998a) J. Neurosci. 273:12161-12168), as demonstrated by the deficits seen in spatial learning, memory formation and the decline in Long Term Potentiation (LTP), which is necessary for memory consolidation. The composition of matter disclosed herein, which is a COX and LOX inhibitor, as well as, a strong antioxidant can reduce declines in hippocampal processing resulting from oxidative stress, inflammation or aging. Lastly, inflammatory prostanoids compromise LTP by up-regulating the inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. This cytokine, which has been shown to increase with age and oxidative stress, inhibits LTP in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and the DG. (Murray and Lynch (1998a) J. Neurosci. 273:12161-12168). Associated with the up-regulation in IL-1β expression is an increase in lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus. (Murray et al. (1999) Gerontology 45:136-142). Further evaluation of this process revealed that animals treated with an antioxidant rich diet experienced a reversal of age-related changes in IL-1β, lipid peroxidation and the associated deficit in LTP. (Lynch (1998) Prog. Neurobiol. 56:571-589). Additionally, the age-related decrease in membrane AA concentration was also ameliorated by dietary supplementation with an antioxidant. (Murray and Lynch (1998b) J. Biol. Chem. 273:12161-12168). All of these factors clearly indicate that cognitive declines resulting from exposure to oxidative stress, inflammation and aging can be slowed or ameliorated by dietary and pharmacological interventions. Flavonoids or bioflavonoids are a widely distributed group of natural products, which have been reported to have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, antimutagenic, antiviral, antineoplastic, anti-thrombic and vasodilatory activity. The structural unit common to this group of compounds includes two benzene rings on either side of a 3-carbon ring as illustrated by the following general structural formula: Various combinations of hydroxyl groups, sugars, oxygen and methyl groups attached to this general three ring structure create the various classes of flavonoids, which include flavanols, flavones, flavan-3-ols (catechins), anthocyanins and isoflavones. The intake of flavonoids has been demonstrated to be inversely related to the risk of incident dementia. The mechanism of action, while not known, has been speculated as being due to the anti-oxidative effects of flavonoids. (Commenges et al. (2000) Eur. J. Epidemiol. 16:357-363). Polyphenol flavones induce programmed cell death, differentiation and growth inhibition in transformed colonocytes by acting at the mRNA level on genes including cox-2, Nuclear Factor kappa B (NFκB) and bcl-X(L). (Wenzel et al. (2000) Cancer Res. 60:3823-3831). It has been reported that the number of hydroxyl groups on the B ring is important in the suppression of cox-2 transcriptional activity. (Mutoh et al. (2000) Jnp. J. Cancer Res. 91:686-691). Recent reports have addressed the possible involvement of flavonoids, isolated from the medicinal herb Scutellaria baicalensis, in alterations in cox-2 gene expression. (Wakabayashi and Yasui (2000) Eur. J. Pharmacol. 406(3):477-481; Chen et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61:1417-1427; Chi et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61:1195-1203; Raso et al. (2001) Life Sci. 68(8):921-931). The term gene expression is often used to describe both mRNA production and protein synthesis. In fact, changes in actual gene expression may never result in observable changes in protein levels. The corollary, that changes in protein levels do not always result from changes in gene expression, can also be true. There are six possible points of regulation in the pathway leading from genomic DNA to a functional protein: (1) transcriptional regulation by nuclear factors and other signals leading to production of pre-mRNA; (2) pre-mRNA processing regulation involving exon splicing, the additions of a 5′ cap structure and 3′ poly-adenylation sequence and transport of the mature mRNA from the nucleus into the cytoplasm; (3) mRNA transport regulation controlling localization of the mRNA to a specific cytoplasmic site for translation into protein; (4) mRNA degradation regulation controlling the size of the mRNA pool either prior to any protein translation or as a means of ending translation from that specific mRNA; (5) translational regulation of the specific rate of protein translation initiation and (6) post-translation processing regulation involving modifications such as glycosylation and proteolytic cleavage. In the context of genomics research it is important to use techniques that measure gene expression levels closer to the initial steps (e.g. mRNA levels), rather than the later steps (e.g. protein levels) in this pathway. Each of above cited studies related to cox-2 gene expression use a Western Blot technique, for protein analysis, to evaluate putative alterations in gene expression without validation on the DNA or mRNA levels. Since the Western Blot technique measures only protein levels and not the specific transcription product, mRNA, it is possible that other mechanisms are involved leading to the observed increase in protein expression. For example, LPS has been reported to modulate mRNA half-lives via instability sequences found in the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of mRNAs (Watkins et al. (1999) Life Sci. 65:449-481), which could account for increased protein expression without alternations in the rate of gene transcription. Consequently, this leaves open the question of whether or not these treatment conditions resulted in a meaningful change in gene expression. Techniques such as RT-qPCR and DNA microarray analysis rely on mRNA levels for analysis and can be used to evaluate levels of gene expression under different conditions, i.e. in the presence or absence of a pharmaceutical agent. To date Applicant is unaware of any reported methods that specifically measure the amount of mRNA, directly or indirectly, when a composition comprised of a combination of Free-B-ring flavonoids and flavans are used as the therapeutic agents. Free-B-Ring flavones and flavonols are a specific class of flavonoids, which have no substituent groups on the aromatic B ring (referred to herein as Free-B-Ring flavonoids), as illustrated by the following general structure: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 are independently selected from the group consisting of —H, —OH, —SH, OR, —SR, —NH2, —NHR, —NR2, —NR3+X−, a carbon, oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur, glycoside of a single or a combination of multiple sugars including, but not limited to aldopentoses, methyl-aldopentose, aldohexoses, ketohexose and their chemical derivatives thereof; wherein R is an alkyl group having between 1-10 carbon atoms; and X is selected from the group of pharmaceutically acceptable counter anions including, but not limited to hydroxyl, chloride, iodide, fluoride, sulfate, phosphate, acetate, carbonate, etc. Free-B-ring flavonoids are relatively rare. Out of 9,396 flavonoids synthesized or isolated from natural sources, only 231 Free-B-ring flavonoids are known (The Combined Chemical Dictionary, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Version 5:1 Jun. 2001). Free-B-ring flavonoids have been reported to have diverse biological activity. For example, galangin (3,5,7-trihydroxyflavone) acts as an anti-oxidant and free radical scavenger and is believed to be a promising candidate for anti-genotoxicity and cancer chemoprevention. (Heo et al. (2001) Mutat. Res. 488:135-150). It is an inhibitor of tyrosinase monophenolase (Kubo et al. (2000) Bioorg. Med. Chem. 8:1749-1755), an inhibitor of rabbit heart carbonyl reductase (Imamura et al. (2000) J. Biochem. 127:653-658), has antimicrobial activity (Afolayan and Meyer (1997) Ethnopharmacol. 57:177-181) and antiviral activity (Meyer et al. (1997) J. Ethnopharmacol. 56:165-169). Baicalein and two other Free-B-ring flavonoids, have antiproliferative activity against human breast cancer cells. (So et al. (1997) Cancer Lett. 112:127-133). Typically, flavonoids have been tested for biological activity randomly based upon their availability. Occasionally, the requirement of substitution on the B-ring has been emphasized for specific biological activity, such as the B-ring substitution required for high affinity binding to p-glycoprotein (Boumendjel et al. (2001) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11 (1):75-77); cardiotonic effect (Itoigawa et al. (1999) J. Ethnopharmacol. 65(3): 267-272), protective effect on endothelial cells against linoleic acid hydroperoxide-induced toxicity (Kaneko and Baba (1999) Biosci Biotechnol. Biochem 63(2):323-328), COX-1 inhibitory activity (Wang (2000) Phytomedicine 7:15-19) and prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase (Kalkbrenner et al. (1992) Pharmacology 44(1):1-12). Only a few publications have mentioned the significance of the unsubstituted B ring of the Free-B-Ring flavonoids. One example is the use of 2-phenyl flavones, which inhibit NADPH quinone acceptor oxidoreductase, as potential anticoagulants. (Chen et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61(11):1417-1427). The mechanism of action relative to the anti-inflammatory activity of various Free-B-Ring flavonoids has been controversial. The anti-inflammatory activity of the Free-B-Ring flavonoids, chrysin (Liang et al. (2001) FEBS Lett. 496(1):12-18), wogonin (Chi et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61:1195-1203) and halangin (Raso et al. (2001) Life Sci. 68(8):921-931), has been associated with the suppression of inducible cycloxygenase and nitric oxide synthase via activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and influence on degranulation and AA release. (Tordera et al. (1994) Z. Naturforsch [C] 49:235-240). It has been reported that oroxylin, baicalein and wogonin inhibit 12-lipoxygenase activity without affecting cycloxygenase. (You et al. (1999) Arch. Pharm. Res. 22(1):18-24). More recently, the anti-inflammatory activity of wogonin, baicalin and baicalein has been reported as occurring through inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cox-2 gene expression induced by nitric oxide inhibitors and lipopolysaccharide. (Chen et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61(11):1417-1427). It has also been reported that oroxylin acts via suppression of NFκB activation. (Chen et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 61(11):1417-1427). Finally, wogonin reportedly inhibits inducible PGE2 production in macrophages. (Wakabayashi and Yasui (2000) Eur. J. Pharmacol. 406(3):477-481). Inhibition of the phosphorylation of mitrogen-activated protein kinase and inhibition of Ca2+ ionophore A23187 induced PGE2 release by baicalein has been reported as the mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity of Scutellariae radix. (Nakahata et al. (1999) Nippon Yakurigaku Zasshi, 114, Supp. 11:215 P-219P; Nakahata et al. (1998) Am. J. Chin Med. 26:311-323). Baicalin from Scutellaria baicalensis, reportedly inhibits superantigenic staphylococcal exotoxins stimulated T-cell proliferation and production of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). (Krakauer et al. (2001) FEBS Lett. 500:52-55). Thus, the anti-inflammatory activity of baicalin has been associated with inhibiting the pro-inflammatory cytokines mediated signaling pathways activated by superantigens. However, it has also been postulated that the anti-inflammatory activity of baicalin is due to the binding of a variety of chemokines, which limits their biological activity. (Li et al. (2000) Immunopharmacology 49:295-306). Recently, the effects of baicalin on adhesion molecule expression induced by thrombin and thrombin receptor agonist peptide (Kimura et al. (2001) Planta Med. 67:331-334), as well as, the inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade (MAPK) (Nakahata et al. (1999) Nippon Yakurigaku Zasshi, 114, Supp 11:215 P-219P; Nakahata et al. (1998) Am. J. Chin Med. 26:311-323) have been reported. The Chinese medicinal plant, Scutellaria baicalensis contains significant amounts of Free-B-Ring flavonoids, including baicalein, baicalin, wogonin and baicalenoside. Traditionally, this plant has been used to treat a number of conditions including clearing away heat, purging fire, dampness-warm and summer fever syndromes; polydipsia resulting from high fever; carbuncle, sores and other pyogenic skin infections; upper respiratory infections, such as acute tonsillitis, laryngopharyngitis and scarlet fever; viral hepatitis; nephritis; pelvitis; dysentery; hematemesis and epistaxis. This plant has also traditionally been used to prevent miscarriage. (Encyclopedia of Chinese Traditional Medicine, ShangHai Science and Technology Press, ShangHai, China, 1998). Clinically Scutellaria is now used to treat conditions such as pediatric pneumonia, pediatric bacterial diarrhea, viral hepatitis, acute gallbladder inflammation, hypertension, topical acute inflammation, resulting from cuts and surgery, bronchial asthma and upper respiratory infections. (Encyclopedia of Chinese Traditional Medicine, ShangHai Science and Technology Press, ShangHai, China, 1998). The pharmacological efficacy of Scutellaria roots for treating bronchial asthma is reportedly related to the presence of Free-B-Ring flavonoids and their suppression of eotaxin associated recruitment of eosinophils. (Nakajima et al. (2001) Planta Med. 67(2):132-135). To date, a number of naturally occurring Free-B-Ring flavonoids have been commercialized for various uses. For example, liposome formulations of Scutellaria extracts have been utilized for skin care. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,643,598; 5,443,983). Baicalin has been used for preventing cancer, due to its inhibitory effects on oncogenes. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,995). Baicalin and other compounds have been used as antiviral, antibacterial and immunomodulating agents (U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,921 and WO98/42363) and as natural anti-oxidants (WO98/49256 and Poland Pub. No. 9,849,256). Scutellaria baicalensis root extract has been formulated as a supplemental sun screen agent with additive effects of the cumulative SPFs of each individual component in a topical formulation (WO98/19651). Chrysin has been used for its anxiety reducing properties (U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,538). Anti-inflammatory flavonoids are used for the control and treatment of anorectal and colonic diseases (U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,371), and inhibition of lipoxygenase (U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,875). These compounds are also formulated with glucosamine collagen and other ingredients for repair and maintenance of connective tissue (U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,304). Flavonoid esters constitute active ingredients for cosmetic compositions (U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,294). U.S. application Ser. No. 10/091,362, filed Mar. 1, 2002, entitled “Identification of Free-B-Ring Flavonoids as Potent COX-2 Inhibitors,” and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/427,746, filed Apr. 30, 2003, entitled “Formulation With Dual Cox-2 And 5-Lipoxygenase Inhibitory Activity,” both disclose a method for inhibiting the cycloxygenase enzyme COX-2 by administering a composition comprising a Free-B-Ring flavonoid or a composition containing a mixture of Free-B-Ring flavonoids to a host in need thereof. This is the first report of a link between Free-B-Ring flavonoids and COX-2 inhibitory activity. These applications are specifically incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Japanese Pat. No. 63027435, describes the extraction, and enrichment of baicalein and Japanese Pat. No. 61050921 describes the purification of baicalin. Flavans include compounds illustrated by the following general structure: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently selected from the group consisting of —H, —OH, —SH, —OCH3, —SCH3, —OR, —SR, —NH2, —NRH, —NR2, —NR3+X−, esters of the mentioned substitution groups, including, but not limited to, gallate, acetate, cinnamoyl and hydroxyl-cinnamoyl esters, trihydroxybenzoyl esters and caffeoyl esters, and their chemical derivatives thereof; a carbon, oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur glycoside of a single or a combination of multiple sugars including, but not limited to, aldopentoses, methyl aldopentose, aldohexoses, ketohexose and their chemical derivatives thereof; dimer, trimer and other polymerized flavans; wherein R is an alkyl group having between 1-10 carbon atoms; and X is selected from the group of pharmaceutically acceptable counter anions including, but not limited to hydroxyl, chloride, iodide, sulfate, phosphate, acetate, fluoride, and carbonate, etc. Catechin is a flavan, found primarily in green tea, having the following structure: Catechin works both alone and in conjunction with other flavonoids found in tea, and has both antiviral and antioxidant activity. Catechin has been shown to be effective in the treatment of viral hepatitis. It also appears to prevent oxidative damage to the heart, kidney, lungs and spleen and has been shown to inhibit the growth of stomach cancer cells. Catechin and its isomer epicatechin inhibit prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase with an IC50 value of 40 μM. (Kalkbrenner et al. (1992) Pharmacol. 44:1-12). Five flavan-3-ol derivatives, including (+)-catechin and gallocatechin, isolated from four plant species: Atuna racemosa, Syzygium carynocarpum, Syzygium malaccense and Vantanea peruviana, exhibit equal to weaker inhibitory activity against COX-2, relative to COX-1, with IC50 values ranging from 3.3 μM to 138 μM. (Noreen et al. (1998) Planta Med. 64:520-524). (+)-Catechin, isolated from the bark of Ceiba pentandra, inhibits COX-1 with an IC50 value of 80 μM. (Noreen et al. (1998) J. Nat. Prod. 61:8-12). Commercially available pure (+)-catechin inhibits COX-1 with an IC50 value of around 183 to 279 μM depending upon the experimental conditions, with no selectivity for COX-2. (Noreen et al. (1998) J. Nat. Prod. 61:1-7). Green tea catechin, when supplemented into the diets of Sprague Dawley male rats, lowered the activity level of platelet PLA2 and significantly reduced platelet cycloxygenase levels. (Yang et al. (1999) J. Nutr. Sci. Vitaminol. 45:337-346). Catechin and epicatechin reportedly weakly suppress cox-2 gene transcription in human colon cancer DLD-1 cells (IC50=415.3 μM). (Mutoh et al. (2000) Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 91:686-691). The neuroprotective ability of (+)-catechin from red wine results from the antioxidant properties of catechin, rather than inhibitory effects on intracellular enzymes, such as cycloxygenase, lipoxygenase, or nitric oxide synthase (Bastianetto et al. (2000) Br. J. Pharmacol. 131:711-720). Catechin derivatives purified from green and black tea, such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), and theaflavins showed inhibition of cycloxygenase and lipoxygenase dependent metabolism of AA in human colon mucosa and colon tumor tissues (Hong et al. (2001) Biochem. Pharmacol. 62:1175-1183) and induce cox-2 expression and PGE2 production (Park et al. (2001) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 286:721-725). Epiafzelechin isolated from the aerial parts of Celastrus orbiculatus exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of COX-1 activity with an IC50 value of 15 μM and also demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenin-induced mouse paw edema following oral administration at a dosage of 100 mg/kg. (Min et al. (1999) Planta Med. 65:460-462). Acacia is a genus of leguminous trees and shrubs. The genus Acacia includes more than 1000 species belonging to the family of Leguminosae and the subfamily of Mimosoideae. Acacias are distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America, Africa, parts of Asia, as well as, Australia, which has the largest number of endemic species. Acacias are very important economically, providing a source of tannins, gums, timber, fuel and fodder. Tannins, which are isolated primarily from bark, are used extensively for tanning hides and skins. Some Acacia barks are also used for flavoring local spirits. Some indigenous species like A. sinuata also yield saponins, which are any of various plant glucosides that form soapy lathers when mixed and agitated with water. Saponins are used in detergents, foaming agents and emulsifiers. The flowers of some Acacia species are fragrant and used to make perfume. The heartwood of many Acacias is used for making agricultural implements and also provides a source of firewood. Acacia gums find extensive use in medicine and confectionery and as sizing and finishing materials in the textile industry. To date, approximately 330 compounds have been isolated from various Acacia species. Flavonoids are the major class of compounds isolated from Acacias. Approximately 180 different flavonoids have been identified, 111 of which are flavans. Terpenoids are second largest class of compounds isolated from species of the Acacia genus, with 48 compounds having been identified. Other classes of compounds isolated from Acacia include, alkaloids (28), amino acids/peptides (20), tannins (16), carbohydrates (15), oxygen heterocycles (15) and aliphatic compounds (10). (Buckingham, The Combined Chemical Dictionary, Chapman & Hall CRC, version 5:2, December 2001). Phenolic compounds, particularly flavans are found in moderate to high concentrations in all Acacia species. (Abdulrazak et al. (2000) Journal of Animal Sciences. 13:935-940). Historically, most of the plants and extracts of the Acacia genus have been utilized as astringents to treat gastrointestinal disorders, diarrhea, indigestion and to stop bleeding. (Vautrin (1996) Universite Bourgogne (France) European abstract 58-01C:177; Saleem et al. (1998) Hamdard Midicus. 41:63-67). The bark and pods of Acacia arabica Willd. contain large quantities of tannins and have been utilized as astringents and expectorants. (Nadkarni (1996) India Materia Medica, Bombay Popular Prakashan, pp. 9-17). Diarylpropanol derivatives, isolated from stem bark of Acacia tortilis from Somalia, have been reported to have smooth muscle relaxing effects. (Hagos et al. (1987) Planta Medica. 53:27-31, 1987). It has also been reported that terpenoid saponins isolated from Acacia victoriae have an inhibitory effect on dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced murine skin carcinogenesis (Hanausek et al. (2000) Proceedings American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 41:663) and induce apotosis (Haridas et al. (2000) Proceedings American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. 41:600). Plant extracts from Acacia nilotica have been reported to have spasmogenic, vasoconstrictor and anti-hypertensive activity (Amos et al. (1999) Phytotherapy Research 13:683-685; Gilani et al. (1999) Phytotherapy Research. 13:665-669), and antiplatelet aggregatory activity (Shah et al. (1997) General Pharmacology. 29:251-255). Anti-inflammatory activity has been reported for A. nilotica. It was speculated that flavonoids, polysaccharides and organic acids were potential active components. (Dafallah and Al-Mustafa (1996) American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 24:263-269). To date, the only reported 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor isolated from Acacia is a monoterpenoidal carboxamide. (Seikine et al. (1997) Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 45:148-11). The extract from the bark of Acacia has been patented in Japan for external use as a whitening agent (Abe, JP10025238), as a glucosyl transferase inhibitor for dental applications (Abe, JP07242555), as a protein synthesis inhibitor (Fukai, JP 07165598), as an active oxygen scavenging agent for external skin preparations (Honda, JP 07017847, Bindra U.S. Pat. No. 6,1266,950) and as a hyaluronidase inhibitor for oral consumption to prevent inflammation, pollinosis and cough (Ogura, JP 07010768). To date, Applicant is unaware of any reports of a formulation combining Free-B-ring flavonoids and flavans for use in the prevention and treatment of neurodegradation, neuroinflammation and cumulative cognitive declines, disorders and diseases.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to articulated arm transfer devices, such as Cluster Tool Robots, and more particularly to a method and means for shortening the transfer time during robot operation with frictionally held substrates. 2. Problem to be Solved Material handling robots, e.g., Cluster Tool Robots, are commonly used in the atmosphere or vacuum chambers for handling workpieces such as semiconductor wafers, flatpanel displays, and other like substrates, during processing. These tools consist of a rotatably and transferably mounted plurality of extendible and retractable arms, each having an end effector for supporting a workpiece during arm manipulation. Some examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,666,366, 4,730,976, 4,909,701, and 5,180,276. Unlike conventional Industrial Robots which provide means for securing payloads when held and manipulated, substrate handling robots, such as Cluster Tool Robots, typically rely on the friction between the load, i.e., the substrate, and the end effector to hold the substrate thereon. This is due to the fact that securing of the payload with mechanical clamping on the top side or edges usually results in objectionable particulate generation and contamination or in substrate damage. The use of a vacuum holddown for securing the payload in atmospheric robots avoids these problems but other control problems can arise if acceleration is changed instantaneously as will be discussed below. The problem in frictional hold applications is that the substrate will slide if the acceleration force at the load exceeds the frictional force holding it, so that the operating or transfer time of the robot arms in their working trajectory is limited by the magnitude of this frictional force. Accordingly, when attempting to increase substrate handling throughput by shortening the transfer time of the robot, a problem is presented in evaluating how the speed of the robot can be increased or optimized, during the multiple motions necessary to move material through a process tool, without causing sliding of the substrate on the end effector. With most existing substrate handling robots, a method known as "trapezoidal velocity profile" is used to profile their motion. Two problems with this method are: 1) the acceleration rate and velocity is fixed throughout the motion, so that they must be lowered to prevent any one point in the profile from violating a constraint, regardless of the fact that the rest of the profile is not optimal; and 2) sudden changes in the acceleration (transitional points in the velocity) excite vibrations in the system which limit acceleration since, when a substrate is being carried, the command velocity and acceleration must be lowered to account for the added acceleration due to vibration, and when a substrate is not being carried, the commanded acceleration must be lowered to account for the wasted torque used to control the vibrations. A modified form of the "trapezoidal" approach is the "S-curve trajectory" approach that controls the sudden change in acceleration and, in turn, reduces the vibration. However, since the "S-curve" approach, like the "trapezoidal" approach, does not maintain optimal velocity throughout the motion, ultimately time is lost. An illustration of the "trapezoidal velocity profile" and the "S-curve profile" as compared to an optimal profile for minimizing transfer time is seen in FIG. 1, which shows velocity with respect to time curves for commanded velocity at the robot arm drive motor. Corresponding acceleration with respect to time curves are shown in FIG. 2 for acceleration at the substrate. It will be seen that at the transitional points, i.e., at the velocity slope change, excessive vibration can occur with the "trapezoidal" approach due to abrupt acceleration change. These vibrations can disturb the substrate position on the end effector causing substrate placement errors and substrate damage in certain process tools. The closed form trapezoidal, i.e., "S-curve", algorithm generates trajectories substantially without the transition effects and the resulting vibration, but, it will be noted that the S-curve trajectory results in an acceleration sag at the transitional points which causes a loss in velocity and a sub-optimal total transfer time from start at the beginning end point to stop at the final end point. An algorithmic approach that can be used to find the time optimal trajectory for torque limited Industrial Robots is known and described in the following series of IEEE papers, incorporated herein by reference,: 1) K. G. SHIN ET AL, "Minimum-Time Trajectory Planning for Industrial Robots with General Torque Constraints", IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol.AC-31, No.6, June 1986, pps.412-417; 2) F. PFEIFFER ET AL, "A Concept for Manipulator Trajectory Planning", IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, Vol. RA-3, No.3, April 1987, pps.115-123; 3) J-J. E. SLOTINE ET AL, "Improving the Efficiency of Time-Optimal Path-Following Algorithms", IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Vol.5, No.1, February 1989, pps.118-124; and 4) Z. SHILLER ET AL, "Robust Computation of Path Constrained Time Optimal Motions", IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 1990, pps.144-149. The application of this algorithmic approach in unmodified form, however, can cause the excitation of resonances in the robot arm when changing command acceleration suddenly, and it does not constrain the acceleration of the payload or substrate so that, if applied to substrate handling robots, sliding of the substrate may occur. The components of the acceleration occurring at the substrate can be broken into this excitation of uncontrolled resonances and the commanded acceleration, but the algorithm offers no suggestion of how to control the resonances to avoid the sliding. Objects: It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and means for increasing the throughput of substrate handling tools, such as Cluster Tool Robots, by shortening the transfer time of the robot. It is another object of the invention to provide a method and means for producing a time optimal robot arm trajectory for increasing substrate handling tool throughput. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and means for producing a time optimal robot arm trajectory for increasing substrate handling tool throughput which avoids sliding of the payload or substrate with respect to its support. It is also an object to provide a method and means that minimize vibration in the robot arm and thus allow time to be minimized with or without a substrate.

The present invention relates to bleeder valves or vent valves and more particularly to a bleeder valve having an internal drill that automatically cleans the gas escape orifice and provides a lower bleed rate than traditional bleeder valves. A bleeder valve or vent valve is a valve connected to a pressurized container that, when released, permits the gas in the container to bleed or leak slowly out of the container. A typical bleeder valve includes an outer annular housing or valve body and an inner plug or valve member or adjusting screw that screws into the housing. The housing screws into an opening in a pressurized tank, and the valve member screws into the housing. A small opening, or orifice, in the housing permits the gas to escape from the interior of the pressurized container when the valve member is at least partially released. One problem with such valves is they become clogged from time to time and the orifice has to be cleaned out. Normally, it would be desired to have the orifice as small as possible, so the bleed rate would be as low as possible. When the orifice becomes clogged, however, it is usually necessary to clean the orifice using a conventional drill. The drill bit employed for cleaning out the orifice has to be large enough so that it will not break frequently. Because the orifice has to be substantially the same size as the drill bit, the orifice has to be correspondingly larger than would be optimum for a slow bleed rate in order to accommodate the larger drill bit. Additionally, cleaning out a clogged orifice with a conventional drill is generally cumbersome and inconvenient. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved bleeder valve wherein the valve member includes an integral orifice cleanout drill that decreases the bleed rate of the gas and cleans the orifice without the need to drill out the orifice with traditional drilling methods.

A major consideration in the use of computer workstations including word processing equipment, is the provision of an ergonomically correct support or holder for documents which are being viewed by the operator of the workstation. Document holders have been developed which are adapted to be placed to one side of the keyboard and video display unit or monitor. These holders require the operator to constantly look to the left or right to view documents supported by the holder when transferring information from the document to the computer or when comparing information on the document to that displayed on the monitor screen. Such motion can lead to eye strain and fatigue and other medical disorders because of the repeated head movements between the document and the monitor screen or the keyboard. The long hours of work spent by certain operators of computer equipment and word processing equipment requires serious consideration of the provision of a document holder which is adjustable in such a way as to place the document in a relatively precise position over a wide range of possible positions, considering the different physical characteristics, including visual acuity, of operators using computers and word processors. This precise positioning of a document being viewed for data input or comparison requires that the document holder be adjustable toward or away from the operator, be capable of being tilted to improve line of sight and reduce glare or light reflection, be adjustable from side-to-side, and be vertically adjustable. Moreover, different types of documents being viewed may require further position adjustment with respect to an operator. Accordingly, there has been a strongly felt need for the provision of a document holder which is more "universal" with regard to its ability to be precisely positioned with respect to the computer operator than has been available in prior art document holders. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.

Cigarette packs are currently displayed and sold in stores such as so-called convenience stores. The “cigarette pack” mentioned here does not mean a cigarette which is actually smoked, but means a rectangular solid package which accommodates a plurality of cigarettes. The cigarette display system for displaying cigarette packs includes a plurality of magazine units and a system frame, for example. The magazine unit is formed in the shape of a box which is elongated in a direction from front to back and has an opened top, using a colorless, transparent resin, for example. The magazine unit can then accommodate upright cigarette packs arranged in the direction from front to back, which are provided from above. A slider member is attached to the magazine unit on its bottom surface so as to be slidable in a direction from front to back. More specifically, at the bottom of the magazine unit, an elongated opening is formed in a direction from front to back. Upward-protruded ribs are formed on both left and right sides of the opening. And, the slider member is attached to the pair of ribs and the opening so as to be slidable in a direction from front to back. And, a wound plate spring to serve as an urging mechanism is attached at a rear of the slider member. One end of the plate spring is pulled out from the slider member and attached to a front bottom part of the magazine unit. Accordingly, a slider member, which is slidable in a direction from front to back, is resiliently urged by the plate spring. Therefore, a plurality of cigarette packs accommodated in the magazine unit is pushed to a forefront by the slider member. The system frame holds a plurality of magazine units arranged in the vertical and lateral directions. The system frame includes a plurality of guide rails and a single main frame. A pair of guide rails holds both sides of the magazine unit. The main frame is formed by, for example, metal bars in a solid shape. The plurality of guide rails is fixed in pairs to key points of the main frame. In the cigarette display system as mentioned above, for example, 20 magazine units are mounted in the system frame in an array of 4 rows and 5 columns. For example, 10 cigarette packs are accommodated in each of the magazine units. The cigarette packs are formed in a rectangular solid shape having surfaces of different sizes, and a brand name and the like are printed on its largest surface as its representative surface. In such cigarette display system, since cigarette packs are accommodated in colorless, transparent magazine units while the cigarette packs are in an upright state, the cigarette packs are displayed while their representative surfaces facing the front. Therefore, the cigarette display system can display, for example, 20 types of cigarette packs, while accommodating 10 packs for each type. When selling a cigarette pack, the cigarette pack is pulled out upward from the forefront part of the magazine unit and remaining cigarette packs accommodated in the magazine unit are pushed to the front by the slider member. Thereby, the magazine unit may keep the state of displaying the cigarette packs at the forefront position, even after one cigarette pack is pulled out. When replenishing cigarette packs in the cigarette display system, a magazine unit is detached from the system frame. Cigarette packs are accommodated in the magazine unit, and the magazine unit having the cigarette packs accommodated therein is mounted in the system frame. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a troublesome operation for replenishing cigarette packs in a magazine unit fixed in the system frame. In a cigarette display system as mentioned above, it is possible to wash and clean a magazine unit, by detaching the magazine unit from the system frame, for example. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open patent publication NO. 10-151047

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to ferromagnetic memory and more specifically to ferromagnetic memory utilizing giant magnetoresistance and spin polarization. 2. Description of the Background Art For many years, random access memory for computers was constructed from magnetic elements. This memory had the advantage of very high reliability, nonvolatility in the event of power loss and infinite lifetime under use. Since this memory was hand assembled from three-dimensional ferrite elements, it was eventually supplanted by planar arrays of semiconductor elements. Planar arrays of semiconductors can be fabricated by lithography at a much lower cost than the cost of fabricating prior art magnetic ferrite memory elements. Additionally, these semiconductor arrays are more compact and faster than prior art ferrite magnetic memory elements. Future benefits of increasingly smaller scale in semiconductor memory are now jeopardized by the concern of loss of reliability, since very small scale semiconductor elements are not electrically robust. Non-volatile magnetic memory elements that are read by measuring resistance have been previously demonstrated by Honeywell Corporation. These systems operate on the basis of the classical anisotropic magneto-resistance phenomena, which results in resistance differences when the magnetization is oriented perpendicular versus parallel to the current. Previous work by others has shown that a 2% change in resistance is sufficient to permit the fabrication of memory arrays compatible with existing CMOS computer electronics. Unfortunately, scaling of these elements down from the current 1 .mu.m size has proved challenging.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for effectively operating Supply Chain Management (SCM). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method in which a mobile terminal generates a sales information message to determine statistical data. 2. Description of the Related Art With the growing speed of technical developments and rapid changes in business management environments, businesses are competing aggressively to achieve competitive advantages. Such a trend is not limited to local businesses. For example, most businesses, particularly large businesses, are concerned about achieving competitive advantages with the aid of Supply Chain Management (SCM). Information technology, necessary to support the digital era, has rapidly been developed and is widely available. Using such information technology, such as the Internet and networking technology, businesses may interoperate with one another at a low cost. In addition, many businesses maximize the efficiency of business processes by implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, and effectively manage their customer information by implementing a customer relation management system. The SCM is an innovative management concept for maximizing efficiency by integrating logistics and business practices related to internal and external demand prediction procedures by utilizing the developed information technology. An SCM system operated by conventional mobile terminal manufacturers periodically performs demand prediction and statistical data determination on a periodic basis, for example weekly or monthly. In this case, a sales person manually updates the quantity of sales in their shop, and sales corporations update the quantity of deliveries in respective countries. Accordingly, the statistical data determination and demand prediction may not be performed on a real time basis in each region. Moreover, the updating of information requires manual input of data which may lead to errors due to an incorrect input. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method in which a mobile terminal effectively operates a Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Cells contain organelles, macromolecules and a wide variety of small molecules. Except for water, the vast majority of the molecules and macromolecules can be classified as lipids, carbohydrates, proteins or nucleic acids. Proteins are the most abundant cellular components and facilitate many of the key cellular processes. They include enzymes, antibodies, hormones, transport molecules and components for the cytoskeleton of the cell. Proteins are composed of amino acids arranged into linear polymers or polypeptides. In living systems, proteins comprise over twenty common amino acids. These twenty or so amino acids are generally termed the native amino acids. At the center of every amino acid is the alpha carbon atom (Cα) which forms four bonds or attachments with other molecules (FIG. 1). One bond is a covalent linkage to an amino group (NH2) and another to a carboxyl group (COOH) which both participate in polypeptide formation. A third bond is nearly always linked to a hydrogen atom and the fourth to a side chain which imparts variability to the amino acid structure. For example, alanine is formed when the side chain is a methyl group (—CH3) and a valine is formed when the side chain is an isopropyl group (—CH(CH3)2). It is also possible to chemically synthesize amino acids containing different side-chains, however, the cellular protein synthesis system, with rare exceptions, utilizes native amino acids. Other amino acids and structurally similar chemical compounds are termed non-native and are generally not found in most organisms. A central feature of all living systems is the ability to produce proteins from amino acids. Basically, protein is formed by the linkage of multiple amino acids via peptide bonds such as the pentapeptide depicted in FIG. 1B. Key molecules involved in this process are messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules and ribosomes (rRNA-protein complexes). Protein translation normally occurs in living cells and in some cases can also be performed outside the cell in systems referred to as cell-free translation systems. In either system, the basic process of protein synthesis is identical. The extra-cellular or cell-free translation system comprises an extract prepared from the intracellular contents of cells. These preparations contain those molecules which support protein translation and depending on the method of preparation, post-translational events such as glycosylation and cleavages as well. Typical cells from which cell-free extracts or in vitro extracts are made are Escherichia coli cells, wheat germ cells, rabbit reticulocytes, insect cells and frog oocytes. Both in vivo and in vitro syntheses involve the reading of a sequence of bases on a mRNA molecule. The mRNA contains instructions for translation in the form of triplet codons. The genetic code specifies which amino acid is encoded by each triplet codon. For each codon which specifies an amino acid, there normally exists a cognate tRNA molecule which functions to transfer the correct amino acid onto the nascent polypeptide chain. The amino acid tyrosine (Tyr) is coded by the sequence of bases UAU and UAC, while cysteine (Cys) is coded by UGU and UGC. Variability associated with the third base of the codon is common and is called wobble. Translation begins with the binding of the ribosome to mRNA (FIG. 2). A number of protein factors associate with the ribosome during different phases of translation including initiation factors, elongation factors and termination factors. Formation of the initiation complex is the first step of translation. Initiation factors contribute to the initiation complex along with the mRNA and initiator tRNA (fmet and met) which recognizes the base sequence UAG. Elongation proceeds with charged tRNAs binding to ribosomes, translocation and release of the amino acid cargo into the peptide chain. Elongation factors assist with the binding of tRNAs and in elongation of the polypeptide chain with the help of enzymes like peptidyl transferase. Termination factors recognize a stop signal, such as the base sequence UGA, in the message terminating polypeptide synthesis and releasing the polypeptide chain and the mRNA from the ribosome. The structure of tRNA is often shown as a cloverleaf representation (FIG. 3A). Structural elements of a typical tRNA include an acceptor stem, a D-loop, an anticodon loop, a variable loop and a TψC loop. Aminoacylation or charging of tRNA results in linking the carboxyl terminal of an amino acid to the 2′-(or 3′-) hydroxyl group of a terminal adenosine base via an ester linkage. This process can be accomplished either using enzymatic or chemical methods. Normally a particular tRNA is charged by only one specific native amino acid. This selective charging, termed here enzymatic aminoacylation, is accomplished by aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. A tRNA which selectively incorporates a tyrosine residue into the nascent polypeptide chain by recognizing the tyrosine UAC codon will be charged by tyrosine with a tyrosine-aminoacyl tRNA synthetase, while a tRNA designed to read the UGU codon will be charged by a cysteine-aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. These synthetases have evolved to be extremely accurate in charging a tRNA with the correct amino acid to maintain the fidelity of the translation process. Except in special cases where the non-native amino acid is very similar structurally to the native amino acid, it is necessary to use means other than enzymatic aminoacylation to charge a tRNA. Molecular biologists routinely study the expression of proteins that are coded for by genes. A key step in research is to express the products of these genes either in intact cells or in cell-free extracts. Conventionally, molecular biologists use radioactively labeled amino acid residues such as 35S-methionine as a means of detecting newly synthesized proteins or so-called nascent proteins. These nascent proteins can normally be distinguished from the many other proteins present in a cell or a cell-free extract by first separating the proteins by the standard technique of gel electrophoresis and determining if the proteins contained in the gel possess the specific radioactively labeled amino acids. This method is simple and relies on gel electrophoresis, a widely available and practiced method. It does not require prior knowledge of the expressed protein and in general does not require the protein to have any special properties. In addition, the protein can exist in a denatured or unfolded form for detection by gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, more specialized techniques such as blotting to membranes and coupled enzymatic assays are not needed. Radioactive assays also have the advantage that the structure of the nascent protein is not altered or can be restored, and thus, proteins can be isolated in a functional form for subsequent biochemical and biophysical studies. Radioactive methods suffer from many drawbacks related to the utilization of radioactively labeled amino acids. Handling radioactive compounds in the laboratory always involves a health risk and requires special laboratory safety procedures, facilities and detailed record keeping as well as special training of laboratory personnel. Disposal of radioactive waste is also of increasing concern both because of the potential risk to the public and the lack of radioactive waste disposal sites. In addition, the use of radioactive labeling is time consuming, in some cases requiring as much as several days for detection of the radioactive label. The long time needed for such experiments is a key consideration and can seriously impede research productivity. While faster methods of radioactive detection are available, they are expensive and often require complex image enhancement devices. The use of radioactive labeled amino acids also does not allow for a simple and rapid means to monitor the production of nascent proteins inside a cell-free extract without prior separation of nascent from preexisting proteins. However, a separation step does not allow for the optimization of cell-free activity. Variables including the concentration of ions and metabolites and the temperature and the time of protein synthesis cannot be adjusted. Radioactive labeling methods also do not provide a means of isolating nascent proteins in a form which can be further utilized. The presence of radioactivity compromises this utility for further biochemical or biophysical procedures in the laboratory and in animals. This is clear in the case of in vitro expression when proteins cannot be readily produced in vivo because the protein has properties which are toxic to the cell. A simple and convenient method for the detection and isolation of nascent proteins in a functional form could be important in the biomedical field if such proteins possessed diagnostic or therapeutic properties. Recent research has met with some success, but these methods have had numerous drawbacks. Radioactive labeling methods also do not provide a simple and rapid means of detecting changes in the sequence of a nascent protein which can indicate the presence of potential disease causing mutations in the DNA which code for these proteins or fragments of these proteins. Current methods of analysis at the protein level rely on the use of gel electrophoresis and radioactive detection which are slow and not amenable to high throughput analysis and automation. Such mutations can also be detected by performing DNA sequence analysis on the gene coding for a particular protein or protein fragment. However, this requires large regions of DNA to be sequenced, which is time-consuming and expensive. The development of a general method which allows mutations to be detected at the nascent protein level is potentially very important for the biomedical field. Radioactive labeling methods also do not provide a simple and rapid means of studying the interaction of nascent proteins with other molecules including compounds which might be have importance as potential drugs. If such an approach were available, it could be extremely useful for screening large numbers of compounds against the nascent proteins coded for by specific genes, even in cases where the genes or protein has not yet been characterized. In current technology, which is based on affinity electrophoresis for screening of potential drug candidates, both in natural samples and synthetic libraries, proteins must first be labeled uniformly with a specific marker which often requires specialized techniques including isolation of the protein and the design of special ligand markers or protein engineering. Special tRNAs, such as tRNAs which have suppressor properties, suppressor tRNAs, have been used in the process of site-directed non-native amino acid replacement (SNAAR) (C. Noren et al., Science 244:182-188, 1989). In SNAAR, a unique codon is required on the mRNA and the suppressor tRNA, acting to target a non-native amino acid to a unique site during the protein synthesis (PCT WO90/05785). However, the suppressor tRNA must not be recognizable by the aminoacyl tRNA synthetases present in the protein translation system (Bain et al., Biochemistry 30:5411-21, 1991). Furthermore, site-specific incorporation of non-native amino acids is not suitable in general for detection of nascent proteins in a cellular or cell-free protein synthesis system due to the necessity of incorporating non-sense codons into the coding regions of the template DNA or the mRNA. Products of protein synthesis may also be detected by using antibody based assays. This method is of limited use because it requires that the protein be folded into a native form and also for antibodies to have been previously produced against the nascent protein or a known protein which is fused to the unknown nascent protein. Such procedures are time consuming and again require identification and characterization of the protein. In addition, the production of antibodies and amino acid sequencing both require a high level of protein purity. In certain cases, a non-native amino acid can be formed after the tRNA molecule is aminoacylated using chemical reactions which specifically modify the native amino acid and do not significantly alter the functional activity of the aminoacylated tRNA (Promega Technical Bulletin No. 182; tRNAnscend™: Non-radioactive Translation Detection System, September 1993). These reactions are referred to as post-aminoacylation modifications. For example, the ε-amino group of the lysine linked to its cognate tRNA (tRNALYS), could be modified with an amine specific photoaffinity label (U. C. Krieg et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:8604-08, 1986). These types of post-aminoacylation modifications, although useful, do not provide a general means of incorporating non-native amino acids into the nascent proteins. The disadvantage is that only those non-native amino acids that are derivatives of normal amino acids can be incorporated and only a few amino acid residues have side chains amenable to chemical modification. More often, post-aminoacylation modifications can result in the tRNA being altered and produce a non-specific modification of the α-amino group of the amino acid (e.g. in addition to the ε-amino group) linked to the tRNA. This factor can lower the efficiency of incorporation of the non-native amino acid linked to the tRNA. Non-specific, post-aminoacylation modifications of tRNA structure could also compromise its participation in protein synthesis. Incomplete chain formation could also occur when the a-amino group of the amino acid is modified. In certain other cases, a nascent protein can be detected because of its special and unique properties such as specific enzymatic activity, absorption or fluorescence. This approach is of limited use since most proteins do not have special properties with which they can be easily detected. In many cases, however, the expressed protein may not have been previously characterized or even identified, and thus, its characteristic properties are unknown.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/426,951 filed May 1, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,821. The entire disclosure of the prior application Ser. No. 10/426,951 is hereby incorporated by reference. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image by using an electrophotography technique, such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine or the like. A related-art image forming apparatus is shown in FIG. 19. The apparatus comprises a photoreceptor (image supporting device) 1 having a photosensitive layer on the outer peripheral surface thereof, a charging device 2 for uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 1, an exposing device 3 for selectively exposing the outer peripheral surface uniformly-charged by the charging device 2 to light to form an electrostatic latent image, a developing device 4 for applying toner serving as developer to the electrostatic latent image formed by the exposing device 3 to form a visible image (toner image), and an intermediate transfer belt 5 suspended among plural rollers 5a to 5d with tension. The toner image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is primarily transferred at a position T1 onto the intermediate transfer belt 5 and further secondarily transferred at a position T2 onto a recording medium. The related-art apparatus further comprises a fixing device 6 for heating and fixing the toner image concerned on the recording medium on which the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 5 is transferred. These constituent elements are accommodated in a casing as shown in FIG. 19. In the related-art image forming apparatus described above, all the rollers 5a to 5d among which the intermediate transfer belt 5 is stretched are disposed in the neighborhood of the center portion in the casing 7. Therefore, the heat of the fixing device 6 is liable to bypass the intermediate transfer belt 5 and go around to the developing device 4 as indicated by an arrow A, so that the developing device 4 is easily heated. Heating of the developing device 4 causes toner accommodated in the developing device 4 to be heated, and thus there is a problem that the transfer characteristic of the toner is deteriorated or the toner is liable to cause a blocking phenomenon in the developing device. In the related-art image forming apparatus described above, the intermediate transfer belt 5 and the exposing device 3 are disposed to be far away from each other. Therefore, the heat of the fixing device 6 is liable to bypass the intermediate transfer belt 5 and go around to the developing device 4 as indicated by an arrow B, so that the developing device 4 is apt to be heated. Heating of the developing device 4 causes toner accommodated in the developing device 4 to be heated, and thus there is a problem that the transfer characteristic of the toner is deteriorated or the toner is liable to cause blocking in the developing device. In the related-art image forming apparatus described above, the fixing device 6 comprises an oil coating type fixing device. In FIG. 19, reference numeral 6a represents a fixing belt, and reference numeral 6b represents an oil coating roller for coating oil to the fixing belt 6a. In such a construction, oil is evaporated from both the surface of the fixing belt 6a and the surface of the oil coating roller 6b because the fixing device 6 is a heating type fixing device. The oil thus evaporated adheres to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 5, resulting in occurrence of a problem that transfer failure is liable to occur or cleaning failure (filming) of the intermediate transfer belt 5 is liable to occur. The filming (the phenomenon that toner adheres or fixes in the form of a thin film) on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 5 is further promoted by heating the toner in the developing device 4. By the way, an optical sensor is used in such an image forming apparatus. For example, there is used an optical sensor for detecting the density of a toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor or the surface of the intermediate transferring member. The optical sensor does not properly bring out its performance when the light emitting window or light receiving window thereof is soiled. When the image forming apparatus is operated, floating toner occurs inside the apparatus, and if the operating time is long, a large amount of floating toner would adhere to the light emitting window or light receiving window of the optical sensor, so that the performance of the optical sensor is remarkably deteriorated. Accordingly, the light emitting window or light receiving window of the optical sensor is required to be cleaned before it is considerably soiled with toner. However, it is not desirable to impose a cleaning work on a user. The imposition of the cleaning work on the user makes the user feel tangled, and it is not always that the cleaning is carried out by the user before the performance of the optical sensor is remarkably deteriorated. Therefore, there has been proposed a cleaning device for automatically cleaning an optical sensor periodically (for example, at a rate of once per 30 to 40 times of the image forming operation) by moving a cleaner on the detection face of the optical sensor in synchronism with the operation of the image forming apparatus (disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-82588B, for example). However, in such a related-art apparatus, it is necessary to provide a complicated mechanism for moving such a cleaner in synchronism with the operation of the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, since the optical sensor is automatically cleaned by the cleaner in synchronism with the operation of the image forming apparatus frequently (for example, at a rate of once per 30 to 40 times of the image forming operation), deterioration of the cleaner is promoted and finally no excellent cleaning effect can be achieved. In a case where a charger (for example, a charger using corona discharging technique) generating ozone is used, and if ozone thus generated stagnates in a casing of the image forming apparatus, the ozone would adversely affect the surface of the image supporter and thus deteriorate an image to be formed. Besides, when an image on the image supporter is developed by the developing device, toner sometimes scatters in the form of mist at the developing section (mainly at the downstream side in the rotational direction of the developing member which is the downstream side in the rotational direction of the image supporter), and the inside of the apparatus is polluted by the toner. In a case where the developing operation is carried out while switching the plural developing devices (developing colors) by intermittently rotating the rotator body. Therefore, toner is liable to scatter in the switching operation and this toner also pollutes the inside of the apparatus. As a countermeasure to the ozone and the scattering toner as described above, it may be considered that a toner suction duct for mainly sucking scattering toner is formed at the downstream side of the developing portion with respect to the image supporter in connection with the rotational direction of the developing member, so that ozone as well as scattering toner is sucked by the toner suction duct. However, it has been found that the following problem occur in such a construction. That is, when images having only a single color (for example, monochromatic images) are sequentially formed, the switching operation of the developing device is not carried out during the image forming operation, and a developing device for a specific color is kept to be in contact with or in close proximity to the image supporter, so that air flow directing from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotational direction of the developing member is interrupted at the developing portion or extremely reduced. Therefore, toner scattering to the downstream side in the rotational direction of the developing member is sucked by the toner suction duct, however, ozone stagnates at the upstream side in the rotational direction of the developing member, so that there occurs a problem that the stagnant ozone adversely affects the surface of the image supporter to deteriorate an image to be formed.

There is developed a semiconductor device in which semiconductor chips are stacked for a purpose of reducing a package density. A CoC (Chip on Chip) technology, in which a semiconductor chip is flip-chip bonded onto another semiconductor chip, is used for the purpose of reducing the package density. The flip-chip-bonding is hereinafter referred to as FCB. Au (gold), Cu (copper), solder or the like is used as a bump for the FCB. FIG. 1 illustrates a cross sectional view of a semiconductor device in accordance with a first conventional embodiment. A first semiconductor chip 11 is face-up mounted on an intermediate substrate 50 through a die attach member 88. A wiring 12 is provided on the first semiconductor chip 11. A second semiconductor chip 20 is flip-chip bonded onto a pad 12a of the wiring 12 through a bump 14. A first resin member 86 acting as an under fill member is formed between a bottom face of the second semiconductor chip 20 (a face on which a circuit is formed) and an upper face of the first semiconductor chip 11 (a face on which a circuit is formed). The first semiconductor chip 11 and the second semiconductor chip 20 are sealed with a second resin portion 80. A wiring 52 for a redistribution pattern or a flip-chip pad is provided on an upper face of the intermediate substrate 50. A wiring 54 for a land electrode is provided on a bottom face of the intermediate substrate 50. The wiring 52 and the wiring 54 are electrically coupled to each other with a coupling portion 56. A solder ball 58 is formed on the wiring 54. The first semiconductor chip 11 and the wiring 52 of the intermediate substrate 50 are electrically coupled to each other through a bonding wire 82. FIG. 2 illustrates a cross sectional view of a semiconductor device in accordance with a second conventional embodiment. The first semiconductor chip 11 is flip-chip bonded onto the intermediate substrate 50 through bump 84. The second semiconductor chip 20 is face-up mounted on the first semiconductor chip through the die attach member 88. An upper face of the second semiconductor chip 20 is electrically coupled to the wiring 52 of the intermediate substrate 50 through the bonding wire 82. Other structure is the same as that of the first conventional embodiment. And an explanation is omitted. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-156461 (hereinafter referred to as Document 1) discloses a third conventional embodiment where a semiconductor chip and a solder ball interposer are flip-chip bonded onto a semiconductor wafer, a resin is coated, and the resin is grinded. In the first conventional embodiment and the second conventional embodiment, a packaging density is reduced because the first semiconductor chip 11 and the second semiconductor chip 20 are stacked. However, either the first semiconductor chip 11 or the second semiconductor chip 20 is flip-chip bonded. There is a problem that it is difficult to reduce a thickness of a semiconductor chip to be flip-chip bonded to less than 100 μm. This is because it is difficult to handle a thin semiconductor chip from a wafer or a chip tray when the semiconductor chip is flip-chip bonded. And this is because handling is difficult, an under fill member reaches an upper face of the semiconductor chip having a small thickness, and the under fill member is adhered to a bonding tool for handling the semiconductor chip, when the flip-chip bonding is preformed with Au—Au compression method. It is difficult to reduce the thickness of the semiconductor chip in the first conventional embodiment and the second conventional embodiment where the semiconductor chip is flip-chip bonded. In FIG. 12 in Document 1, thickness of a semiconductor chip 130 is not reduced, although a coated layer is grinded. And it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the semiconductor device. An under fill member is provided in order to restrain an electrical short caused by a foreign material or the like, when the semiconductor chip is flip-chip bonded. However, a manufacturing cost is increased because the under fill member is provided in each of the semiconductor chips.