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The present invention relates to a power supply device, and more particularly, to a power supply device including a plurality of switching regulators which are synchronized with each other in their switching frequency. Most electronic devices such as video cassette recorders (VCR) and video cameras, whether portable or installed on vehicles or the like, use batteries for driving power. But the terminal voltage of batteries may vary greatly when there occurs a sudden change in the load as a result of mode switching. To suppress these variations and stabilize the operation of the electronic devices, stabilizing power suppliers are currently used. These power supply devices use a switching regulator, and to provide an output voltage adaptive to more than one load, a plurality of switching regulators are necessary. FIG. 1 shows a conventional separately excited switching regulator used in the power supply device contemplated by the present invention. A d.c. input Vi supplied across input terminals 2A and 2B has its ripple component removed in a capacitor 4 provided between the two input terminals. The input then is converted to an a.c. voltage in a switching transistor 6. The a.c. voltage is rectified in a d.c. reproducing circuit 14 composed of a diode 8, a choke coil 10 and a capacitor 12. Subsequently, the d.c. voltage is drawn from output terminals 16A and 16B as a stabilized d.c. output Vo. For drawing a voltage-divided bias from the d.c. output voltage Vo, resistors 18 and 20 are connected in series between terminals 16A and 16B. The divided output developing at the junction between the resistors 18 and 20 is fed to an error amplifier 22 where it is compared with a reference voltage provided by a reference power supply 24. The detected difference is fed to the non-inverting input terminal of a comparator 26, and an output comprising triangular waves as shown in FIG. 2A from a reference wave generator circuit 28 is supplied to the inverting input terminal of the comparator 26. In FIG. 2A, the varying output produced from the error amplifier 22 is denoted by Ve. Given the two inputs, the comparator 26 performs a pulse width modulating operation and generates pulses whose width is controlled by the varying output V.sub.e as shown in FIG. 2B. These pulses are fed to a transistor 30 as a control input, and in response to the switching operation of the transistor 30, a pulsive drive current flows into the switching transistor 6 through a resistor 32 and, thus, the transistor 6 conducts a switching operation. A bias resistor 34 is connected between the emitter and base of the switching transistor 6. If a plurality of switching regulators having the above-described circuit configuration are assembled to make up a power supply device, a reference wave generator is necessary for each switching regulator. This first of all makes the overall configuration of the power supply device complex. In addition, if the oscillating frequencies of the individual generator circuits are not in synchronism with each other, serious beating may occur, and this phenomenon must be prevented by all means because it produces a noise problem and can cause incorrect operation during the oscillation and signal processing in internal circuits of VCR or video cameras. The same problem occurs if the regulators used are of a self-excited switching type having respective oscillation control units.

Heretofore, there had not been developed any generally acceptable or workable device which lent itself to the ready retention or removal of tennis balls, golf balls, baseballs, etc. by players or umpires. Those devices which were attempted invariably were cumbersome, awkward, required considerable skill for the insertion and removal of the balls, and invariably interfered with the player utilizing the device. Consequently, there developed a desideratum for a device which avoided the disadvantages and drawbacks mentioned hereinabove. The apparent animadversion set forth hereinabove with respect to the prior art developments will be seen to be quite justified and accurate by directing attention to the following prior art developments discussed hereinbelow. In 1931 Frederick W. Bender was granted United States Letters Pat. No. 1,814,887 entitled "UMPIRE'S BELT" that discloses a belt which is to be worn by an umpire and which carries a number of baseballs for use. The belt has a plurality of spaced resilient open-ended supports, one for each ball. Each support is composed of two U-shaped flat spring members which are connected together in a cruciform at their base and which are attached to a belt in such a way as to prevent rotation. In 1937 Fred J. Hatley was granted United States Letters Pat. No. 2,074,180 entitled "TENNIS BALL HOLDER" which discloses a device to hold a tennis ball on the player by attaching it to the belt or the shorts of the player. The device is comprised of a pair of resiliently-mounted rings of approximately the same diameter as a tennis ball which are made of spring wire. The rings are attached to a base, which in turn hooks onto the belt or shorts of the player. In 1951 Eugene R. Wiseman was granted United States Letters Pat. No. 2,548,330 entitled "GOLF BALL HOLDER" which discloses a device for holding two golf balls on a golfer's belt. The holder is made from molded plastic material and consists of two hemispherical compartments to accept the golf balls which are held in place by two detents in the upper portion of each compartment. Also molded into the front of the holder is a clip to hold a pencil, and a second clip is molded in the rear to fasten to the golfer's belt. In 1975 Noel G. Goudreau was granted United States Letters Pat. No. 3,873,009 entitled "BALL HOLDER" which discloses a two-part device for holding tennis balls. The device includes a base and a retaining ring which are joined together by means of a protrusion on the ring snapping into a recess in the upper portion of the base. The base has a cavity defining a spherical portion which is less than a hemisphere to accept a portion of the tennis ball. The base also has an integral clip composed of two fingers which clip over the player's shorts or pockets. The present invention eliminates the disadvantages and shortcomings attendant with the conventional prior art technique, and at the same time provides a device and method which eminently fulfills the desideratum mentioned hereinabove with a minimum of parts and at an extremely surprising reduced cost of manufacture.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to valves, and more particularly but not exclusively to check valves for cooling mechanisms. 2. Description of the Background Art Enclosures for housing electronic circuits typically include one or more cooling mechanisms to maintain the circuits at an acceptable operating temperature. In the case of mission-critical equipment, such as a data center network switch or enterprise computer system, the cooling mechanism advantageously includes redundant components so that the equipment does not overheat even if one of its cooling components fail. For example, some equipment designs include multiple axial fans and/or blowers (hereafter referred to as fans when referring to both types) to ensure that there are a sufficient number of remaining functional fans in the enclosure to provide cooling in the event that one of the fans fail. A cooling mechanism with multiple fans typically includes a plenum arrangement through which the fans draw air through the equipment. When one of the fans fail, reverse airflow through the failing fan results in a reduction of airflow through the plenum, thereby increasing the operating temperature of the equipment. This condition may lead to overheating. As is well known, a check valve limits flow in one direction. Check valves have been employed to help minimize the negative impact of a failed fan in a plenum arrangement having multiple fans. However, these check valves are typically designed to work only on the exhaust side of an axial fan, occupy significant space outside the fan during normal operation, or can usually only be used with an axial fan. For example, because of their design, some of these check valves are not suitable for use with blowers. The present invention relates to check valves. In one embodiment, a check valve includes an outer region and a central region. One or more cuts wind from the outer region towards the central region. In the presence of flow along one direction, the check valve opens by extending the central region away from the outer region. In the presence of flow in the reverse direction, the check valve closes by retracting the central region towards the outer region. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the entirety of this disclosure, which includes the accompanying drawings and claims.

Technical Field This document relates to systems and methods for testing valves. For example, this document relates to systems and methods for accelerated life testing of prosthetic heart valves. Background Information Accelerated life testing (also known as accelerated wear testing or durability testing) is the process of testing an item by subjecting it to conditions (e.g., cycle time, stress, strain, temperatures, voltage, vibration, pressure, etc.) in excess of its normal service parameters in an effort to uncover faults and potential modes of failure in a reduced amount of time. Accelerated life testing can be been used to study materials, design concepts, design modifications, and durability variations caused by changes in manufacturing techniques. The ISO 5840-3:2013 standard outlines an approach for qualifying the design and manufacture of heart valve prostheses. ISO 5840-3:2013 requires that mechanical heart valves be tested for at least 600 million cycles (equivalent to 15 years in vivo), and that biological heart valve prostheses be tested for at least 200 million cycles (equivalent to 5 years in vivo) in pulsatile flow simulators using a range of pressures seen in physiologic conditions. The cyclic test must also meet the following two requirements: 1) the test valve must open and close sufficiently each cycle, and 2) during at least 5% of each cycle, the differential pressure across the valve (transvalvular ΔP) must be at least a specified pressure (e.g., 100 mmHg for aortic valves and 120 mmHg for mitral valves).

The concept of providing some kind of a device or article which is useful as a basis for an incentive program for children, is not new as suggested by the prior art including the patent of Doupnik, U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,603, of Dec. 9, 1958, which provides for receiving and temporarily storing coins for saving purposes. Also the patent of Holmes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,355, May 22, 1962, shows another form of device which is intended to provide reward or incentive for performance of certains tasks. However, these devices are relatively complex and store coins only in serial fashion, thus are not intended to make possible removal or change of position of the coins or display the same in an attractive manner. In fact they are more intended to limit access of particular coins and are not particularly attractive from the standpoint of accumulating coins in a manner to display the same. There are coin holders which provide more attractive display such as shown in patent of McDermut, U.S. Pat. No. 2,954,866, wherein an angular disposition of coins is provided, but only for display and not related to incentives in any way. Other patents provide for accepting and holding coins in various positions for display, but an incentive relationship is not contemplated in those certain patents.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid supply device comprising a liquid container configured to be mounted to a mounting portion comprising a stopper, an image printing apparatus comprising such a liquid supply device, and such a liquid container. 2. Description of Related Art A known image printing apparatuses is configured to print images on a sheet of paper using ink. The image printing apparatuses has an ink-jet print-head configured to selectively eject ink droplets from nozzles of the print-head toward the sheet of paper. A desired image is printed on the sheet of paper when the ink droplets land on the sheet of paper. The image printing apparatuses has a liquid container which contains ink to be supplied to the print-head. One example of the liquid container is a liquid cartridge, which is configured to be inserted into and removed from a mounting portion provided in the image printing apparatus. A liquid cartridge storing ink is also referred to as an ink cartridge. When the ink cartridge runs out of ink, the ink cartridge is removed from the mounting portion of the image printing apparatus, and a new ink cartridge having ink stored therein is mounted to the mounting portion. The mounting portion has a locking structure configured to lock or retain the ink cartridge in a specific position in the mounting portion. The mounting portion also has an urging member configured to urge the ink cartridge positioned in the mounting portion in a direction in which the ink cartridge is removed from the mounting portion when the ink cartridge is locked or retained by the locking structure. When a user intends to removed the ink cartridge from the mounting portion, the ink cartridge is released from the locked state, and the ink cartridge moves toward the outside of the mounting portion with a force applied by the urging member. Accordingly, a user is allowed to readily remove the ink cartridge from the mounting portion. When the ink cartridge is moved with a great force, the ink cartridge may jump out of the mounting portion. If the ink cartridge jumps out of the mounting portion, the ink cartridge may fall down and contact a surface, and the impact of contacting the surface may cause the ink stored in the ink cartridge to splash out. The cartridge also may be broken when the ink cartridge contacts the surface. A known mounting portion has a structure for preventing the ink cartridge from jumping out of the mounting portion. More specifically, the mounting portion has a resiliently deformable claw hook, and the claw hook is configured to engage an edge of an engaging recess formed in a bottom surface of an ink cartridge when the ink cartridge moves toward the outside of the mounting portion. With this engagement, the ink cartridge is prevented from jumping out of the mounting portion. The engagement between the ink cartridge and the claw hook is intended when the ink cartridge is removed from the cartridge mounting portion. However, when the ink cartridge is inserted into the mounting portion, this engagement may generate a force against the insertion operation of the ink cartridge, and may impair an operational feeling.

In recent years, a technology of an IC chip using a thin film integrated circuit provided over a glass substrate (also referred to as IC tag, ID tag, RF (Radio Frequency) tag, wireless tag, or electronic tag) has been developed. In such technology, a thin film integrated circuit provided over a glass substrate is required to be separated from the glass substrate, which is a supporting substrate, after the completion. Accordingly, as a technology for separating a thin film integrated circuit which has been provided over a supporting substrate from the supporting substrate; for example, there is a technology in which a release layer containing silicon is provided between a thin film integrated circuit and a supporting substrate and the release layer is removed with the use of a gas containing a halogen fluoride thereby separating the thin film integrated circuit from the supporting substrate (Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-254686). A plurality of thin film integrated circuits are provided over a glass substrate, and the plurality of thin film integrated circuits are separated individually while the release layer is removed. However, the production efficiency is low in the case of sealing the separated thin film integrated circuits individually. Further, a thin film integrated circuit is thin and lightweight, so that it is difficult to seal the thin film integrated circuit without damage or break.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a gasoline direct-injection engine including a cavity provided in a top portion of a piston and forming a portion of a combustion chamber defined between a cylinder head and the top portion of the piston, a fuel injection valve mounted in the cylinder head for injecting gasoline directly into the combustion chamber, and a spark plug also mounted in the cylinder head to face the combustion chamber. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART A gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 14 and a gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 15 are conventionally known. In the gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 14, a fuel injecting valve 22 with its axis inclined with respect to the axis of a piston 13.sub.4 is mounted in a cylinder head 14 to be able to inject gasoline into a cavity 21.sub.1 provided in a top portion of the piston 13.sub.4, and a spark plug 23 is mounted in the cylinder head 14 in such a manner that its front end faces into a flow of gasoline injected from the fuel injection valve 22. Before an air-gasoline mixture is uniformized within the combustion chamber 151, the gasoline can be burned by igniting the gasoline injected from the fuel injection valve 22, thereby enabling a lean laminar burn. In the gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 15, a fuel injection valve 22 facing a side of a combustion chamber 15.sub.2 is mounted in a cylinder head 14 to have its axis inclined with respect to the axis of a piston 13.sub.5, and a spark plug 23 is mounted in the cylinder head 14 to face a substantially central portion of a ceiling surface of the combustion chamber 15.sub.2. A cavity 21.sub.2 is provided in a top portion of the piston 13.sub.5 and has a shape permitting gasoline to be guided to a portion around the spark plug 23 by the penetration of gasoline injected from the fuel injection valve 22 and by a swirl flow generated within the combustion chamber 15.sub.2. Thus, it is possible to achieve a lean burn by injecting the gasoline from the fuel injection valve 22 in the later portion of a compression stroke. In an engine designed to ignite gasoline, which is being injected from the fuel injection valve 22, by a spark ignition provided by the spark plug 23 as in the gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 14, however, the vaporization of the gasoline and the mixing of the gasoline with air in the combustion chamber 15.sub.1 are insufficient. Therefore, it is difficult to provide a stable ignition by a usual igniting system and hence, a multiplex ignition is required, and problems arise such as a complication of the igniting system, an increase in cost, and wear in electrodes of the spark plug. In addition, due to an insufficient mixing of the gasoline and air, a smoke is liable to be produced, and the amount of unburned gasoline discharged is relatively large, thereby bringing about a deterioration in the nature of an exhaust gas. Further, the burning period is prolonged to make it difficult to improve the fuel consumption, and a stable lean laminar burn cannot be performed in wide ranges of rotational speed and load of the engine. In the gasoline direct-injection engine shown in FIG. 15, the combustible air-gasoline mixture is collected to a portion near the spark plug 23 by virtue of the shape of the cavity 21.sub.2 and by the swirl flow within the combustion chamber 15.sub.2, so that a laminar burn is carried out. Therefore, the timing of injection by the fuel injection valve 22 is limited and for this reason, it is impossible to perform a stable lean laminar burn in wide ranges of rotational speed and load of the engine. When an early injection is carried out by the fuel injection valve 22 in a full-load operation or the like in order to provide a uniform air-gasoline mixture, the injected gasoline is liable to be deposited to a cylinder wall surface on the side opposite to the fuel injection valve, and there is a possibility that a deterioration in engine lubricating oil, a degradation in durability of an engine body and a deterioration in the nature of an exhaust gas may be brought about.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for treating liver diseases, comprising a miRNA mimic containing a single strand RNA molecule of hsa-miR-21-3p (SEQ ID No: 35). In addition, the present invention also relates to a method for treating liver diseases and reducing the expression of specific enzymes. 2. Description of the Related Art Nonalchoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming one of the most common liver disease because of growing prevalence of overweight and obesity. Generally, NAFLD is defined by fat accumulation, mainly triglycerides, in hepatocytes exceeding 5% of its weight. In the progress of NAFLD, intrahepatic lipid accumulation and growth of lipid droplets result in different degrees of inflammation, thereby resulting in liver fibrosis. As the clinical pathologic spectrum, liver fibrosis may progress advanced cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic decompensation, and have increased all-cause mortality. However, there is no standard drug treatment or specific therapy to reverse fatty liver disease. Nowadays, researchers are going to uncover what processes may trigger fat build-up in the liver and how to prevent and treat the fatty liver disease. Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) is the cellular enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), the principal biological methyl donor and a key regulator of hepatocyte proliferation, death and differentiation[1,2]. Two genes, MAT1A and MAT2A, encode 2 distinct catalytic MAT isoforms. A third gene, MAT2B, encodes a MAT2A regulatory subunit. MAT1A is specifically expressed in the adult liver, whereas MAT2A is widely distributed[3-5]. Because MAT isoforms differ in catalytic kinetics and regulatory properties, MAT1A-expressing cells have considerably higher SAM levels than do MAT2A-expressing cells[6,7]. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the down-regulation of MAT1A and the up-regulation of MAT2A occur, which is known as the MAT1A:MAT2A switch[8-11]. The switch accompanied with up-regulation of MAT2B results in lower SAM contents, which provide a growth advantage to hepatoma cells[2,4,6,12,13]. SAM can selectively induce pro-apoptotic Bcl-Xs in hepatoma cells, but not in normal hepatocytes, through alternative splicing[14]. In addition, increased MAT2B expression in HCC also results in decreased SAM levels and facilitates cancer cell growth[15]. Because MAT2A and MAT2B play crucial role in facilitating the growth of hepatoma cells, they are valid targets for antineoplastic therapy. Recent studies have shown that silencing MAT2A and MAT2B by using small interfering RNA substantially suppress growth and induce apoptosis in hepatoma cells[16-19]. Acetyl-CoA-carboxylase, which catalyses the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to form malonyl-CoA, exists in 2 isoforms (alpha and beta) that are separately encoded by ACACA and ACACB in mammals. ACACA, a cytosolic enzyme, is the first committed step of fatty acid synthesis in lipogenic tissue[19]. Carnitine-palmitoyl-CoA transferase I (CPT1), a rate-limiting enzyme that shuttles long-chain fatty acyl-CoAs into the mitochondria for oxidation, is rapidly inhibited by the ACACB-produced malonyl-CoA[20, 21]. Diglyceride acyltransferase (DGAT), the terminal and the only committed enzyme in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerol, plays a key role in hepatic lipid droplet accumulation[22, 23]. There are 2 forms of diglyceride acyltransferase which are separately encoded by DGAT1 and DGAT2. Recent studies have shown that fatty liver disease can be ameliorated or reversed by reducing the expression of ACACA, ACACB, or DGAT2, indicating that pharmacologically inhibiting these genes could be a suitable approach to treating of NAFLD[24, 25]. Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from various medicinal herbs such as Coptis chinensis, and it has a wide range of pharmacological effects including anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic effects[28-29]. Recent studies have focused on its anti-tumor effects, including anti-proliferation, anti-invasion and apoptosis induction in broad tumor cell types[29-38]. In HCC, berberine has been reported to inhibit cell growth and survival through cell cycle arrest and the activation of autophagic and mitochondrial apoptotic cell death[39-41]. In addition, some reports have shown that berberine has hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and LDL-lowing effects, and animal studies have proved that berberine reduces the liver fat content in vivo. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules composed of 21-23 nucleotides that play a critical role in a wide variety of biological processes, including development, proliferation, and death[42, 43]. The deregulated expression of miRNAs is observed in numerous human cancer types, and they can act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in the tumorigenic process[44, 45]. Mature miRNAs typically direct their posttranscriptional repression by pairing the seed region of the miRNA to 3′ UTRs, the non-coding sequence at the 3′ end of target genes, leading to mRNA destabilization and translational silencing[46,47]. The seed region of miRNAs locates at the 5′ end, from the second to eighth nucleotide. When the seed region pairs with the 3′ UTR of the target gene, it silences the gene. It is not necessary for the miRNA being completely complementary to the 3′ UTR of the target gene. The processing of the precursor miRNA (pre-miRNAs) hairpin generates an miRNA duplex consisting of a guide strand and a passenger strand (also termed as miRNA and miRNA*). By convention, a guide strand is selectively loaded onto an Argonaute (AGO) protein to form an miRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC), and the passenger strand is believed to be preferentially degraded because of its lower steady-state level[48]. However, current research shows that numerous miRNA* species accumulate to substantial levels, and endogenous miRNA genes do not universally exclude miRNA* species from functional miRISC complexes, which suggests that miRNA* species should be considered[49-54].

The invention relates generally to welding systems, and, more particularly, to systems and methods for diagnosing an error in a weld secondary component of a welding system. Welding is a process that has become ubiquitous in various industries and applications, such as construction, ship building, and so forth. Welding systems typically include a variety of secondary components, which may include secondary cabling as well as secondary equipment. Such secondary components may include welding torches, weld fixturing, weld cables, and so forth, the quality of which may impact the quality of the weld obtained in a welding operation. Unfortunately, the high current levels associated with typical welding processes often lead to degradation of the secondary cabling and/or equipment over time. For example, the number of operational strands of copper, or their integrity within a weld cable may be reduced over time by environmental factors and incidences, such as the weld cabling being run over by construction vehicles. While a decrease in weld quality may be observed when the weld is impacted by such weld secondary issues, it is often difficult and time consuming to identify the root cause as the weld secondary issue. For instance, because copper strands are located within an insulation jacket of the weld cable, it may be difficult to readily identify weld cabling as the source of the observed decrease in weld quality. Furthermore, even when weld secondary equipment has been identified as the source of the poor weld quality, it may be difficult to determine which secondary weld component is the underlying source. Accordingly, there exists a need for improved systems and methods for the identification and location of weld secondary issues.

A digital television (DTV) receiver can receive DTV signals, process them and display them on an analog or digital monitor, allow for interactivity, and act as a personal video recorder (PVR). A DTV receiver may be embodied in a set top box (STB), or may be integrated with a television. DTV receivers generally use several processors, memories, and other electronic components. These components process the digital signals, store information, allow user interaction with the DTV set, and output the video and audio. These systems are becoming increasingly complex and expensive as more functionality is added to DTV receivers. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art digital television controller system. The DTV system 100 comprises several components. The central processing unit (CPU) 102 controls the system 100. A tuner 104 receives an analog or digital (DTV) signal. A digital signal may be a high definition (HD) or other signal. The output of the tuner 104 is sent to a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) decoder 106. The NTSC decoder 106 decodes the television signal received by the tuner 104 and sends the signal to an advanced universal DTV decoder 112, which outputs an analog TV signal suitable for display on an analog television monitor. The DTV decoder 112 outputs a signal to an analog chassis 114, which displays a TV image on a cathode ray tube (CRT) or other display device 116. The DTV decoder 112 also sends output to an audio digital to analog converter (DAC) 118, which outputs the TV audio to speakers. A panel driver 120 controls a panel 122, which allows for user interaction with the system. A synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) 124 is a memory for the DTV decoder 112. The tuner 104 also outputs the DTV signal to a demodulator 110, which then outputs a demodulated signal to an STB/PVR controller 126. The STB/PVR controller 126 can control the functions of the STB and a PVR. The STB/PVR controller 126 has its own SDRAM memory 128. The STB/PVR controller 126 is also coupled with a hard disk 130, which can store video and audio for a PVR. A boot read only memory (ROM) 132 provides data used by the system 100 to start up. An audio decoder 134 decodes digital audio. The audio decoder 134 has its own SDRAM memory 136. As can be seen in FIG. 1, three separate memories are being used to store data for three different subsystems. Other, additional systems may also have their own separate memories. Having many separate memories increases the complexity and the cost of the system 100. Further, there may be times when, for example, the audio decoder 134 is not being used because there is no audio. During those times, the memory 136 dedicated to the audio decoder 134 will be unused even though it may be useful for other subsystems. Since all of the memory in the system 100 is not available to all of the subsystems that require memory, the memories will be underutilized, and the system will be less efficient than it could be. Sometimes, data in one memory has to be transferred to another memory in order to be processed or shared with the processor attached to the second memory, and the system is less efficient because of the extra transfer operations required to share data.

This invention relates to wireless systems and, more particularly, to systems having more than one antenna at the receiver and at the transmitter. Physical constraints as well as narrow bandwidth, co-channel interference, adjacent channel interference, propagation loss and multi-path fading limit the capacity of cellular systems. These are severe impairments, which liken the wireless channel to a narrow pipe that impedes the flow of data. Nevertheless, interest in providing high speed wireless data services is rapidly increasing. Current cellular standards such as IS-136 can only provide data rates up to 9.6 kbps, using 30 kHz narrowband channels. In order to provide wideband services, such as multimedia, video conferencing, simultaneous voice and data, etc., it is desirable to have data rates in the range of 64-144 kbps. Transmission schemes for multiple antenna systems may be part of a solution to the problem of the currently available low data rates. Such schemes were first proposed in papers by Wittneben, and by Seshadri and Winters, where the problem was addressed in the context of signal processing. One prior art arrangement having a single transmitter antenna and multiple receiver antennas is shown in FIG. 1. Each of the receiver antennas receives the transmitted signal via a slightly different channel, where each channel i is characterized by transfer function αi. Using an approach known as “Maximum Ratio Combining”, the prior art approach to detection contemplates multiplying each received signal that had been influenced by αi, by the complex conjugate signal, αi*, summed, and then processed. In a co-pending application titled “Method and Apparatus for Data Transmission Using Space-Time Codes and Multiple Transmit Antennas”, filed on May 6, 1997, bearing the Ser. No. 08/847,635, and assigned to the assignee of this invention, a coding perspective was adopted to propose space-time coding using multiple transmit and receive antennas. Space-time coding integrates channel coding, modulation, and multiple transmit antennas to achieve higher data rates, while simultaneously providing diversity that combats fading. It may be demonstrated that adding channel coding provides significant gains over the schemes of Wittneben and Seshadri and Winters. In said co-pending application, space-time codes were designed for transmission using 2-4 transmit antennas. These codes perform extremely well in slowly varying fading environments (such as indoor transmission media). The codes have user bandwidth efficiencies of up to 4 bits/sec/Hz which are about 3-4 times the efficiency of current systems. Indeed, it can be shown that the designed codes are optimal in terms of the trade-off between diversity advantage, transmission rate, decoding complexity and constellation size. It can also be shown that as the number of antennas is increased, the gain increases in a manner that is not unlike a multi-element antenna that is tuned to, say, a particular direction. Unfortunately, however, when maximum likelihood detection is employed at the receiver, the decoding complexity increases when the number of transmit and receive antennas is increased. It would be obviously advantageous to allow a slightly sub-optimal detection approach that substantially reduces the receiver's computation burden.

The present invention relates to the burn-in of high power semiconductor devices and, in particular, to an apparatus that is capable of controlling the temperature of high power semiconductor devices during burn-in. The continuing miniaturization of electronic circuit components has resulted in the creation of semiconductor devices having extremely high power densities. During the burn-in of such devices, power dissipation is a major concern as the devices often generate a great deal of heat. A further concern regarding the burn-in of high power semiconductor devices is that individual devices in a single lot often have power dissipations which vary by a substantial amount. The amount of cooling each individual device needs during burn-in will therefore vary. One way in which semiconductor devices have been cooled during burn-in is through the continual circulation of air through the burn-in chamber. While this method may be adequate for the burn-in of ordinary semiconductor devices, it is not adequate for dissipating the heat generated by high power semiconductor devices during burn-in. Another way in which semiconductor devices have been cooled during burn-in is through direct immersion in a dielectric liquid. While more effective in cooling high power-semiconductor devices than forced air circulation, direct immersion presents many practical problems such as the difficult task of lowering the burn-in board into the liquid. In addition to their many problems, none of the above described methods for cooling semiconductor devices during burn-in is capable of sensing the temperature of each individual semiconductor device and providing a corresponding degree of cooling for that device.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a signal-delaying loop and a method for generating a signal, particularly to a delay lock loop (DLL) and a method for generating a clock signal. 2. Description of Related Art Generally speaking, digital electronic products need clock signals. However, when a clock signal propagates from one end of the electric circuitry to the other, the transmission lines cause extra delays, so the clock signal received by the receiving end is not synchronized to that at the transmitting end. Therefore, a delay lock loop (DLL) is often employed to synchronize the output clock signal and the input clock signal, in which a phase detector (PD) is required to compare the phases of the output clock signal and the input clock signal, such that a synchronized clock signal can be generated according to the obtained information. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional delay lock loop. Referring to FIG. 1, a delay lock loop 100 includes a voltage control delay line (VCDL) 110, a phase detector 120, a charge pump (CP) 130, and a low pass filter (LPF) 140. The signal CLKref is the input clock signal of the delay lock loop 100, and the signal CLKout is the output clock signal of the delay lock loop 100. The output clock signal CLKout outputted by the delay lock loop 100 is synchronized and coherent to the input clock signal CLKref of the delay lock loop 100. In the common design, the output clock signal CLKout of the delay lock loop 100 of lags by one period to the input clock signal CLKref. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 respectively show ideal timing diagrams of the phase detector in operation. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, there are two ideal conditions for the operation of the phase detector 120 herein: (1) the input clock signal CLKref and the output clock signal CLKout both have an about 50% duty cycle; and (2) the delay time of the output clock signal CLKout is between 0.5 T to 1.5 T. In FIG. 2(a), the delay time TdL, of the output clock signal CLKout of the delay lock loop 100 is less than one period T. The clock signal at timing a is delayed by the delay time TdL after passing through the VCDL 110 and then settles at timing b. The output clock signal CLKout has to lag the input clock signal CLKref by one period T, so the phase of the clock signal at timing b has to be compared with the phase of the clock signal at timing c. In FIG. 2(a), the clock signal at timing b leads the clock signal at timing c, so the phase detector 120 sends out a down signal with a logic high (i.e. the down signal DN=1) between the rising edge of the clock signal at timing b and the rising edge of the clock signal at timing c (i.e. the interval Tph), so as to increase the delay of the voltage control delay line 110. Thus, in FIG. 2(b), the rising edge of the clock at timing b is aligned to the rising edge of the clock at timing c. In FIG. 3(a) the delay time TdL of the output clock signal CLKout of the delay lock loop 100 is greater than one period T. The clock signal at timing a is delayed by TdL after propagating through voltage control delay line 110 and then settles at timing d. Because the output clock signal CLKout has to lag the input clock signal CLKref by one period T, the phase of the clock signal at timing d is compared with the phase of the clock signal at timing c. In FIG. 3(a), the clock signal at timing d lags the clock signal at timing c, so the phase detector 120 respectively sends out an up signal with the logic high (i.e., the up signal UP=1) between the rising edge of the clock signal at timing a and the rising edge of the clock signal at timing b (i.e. the first interval Tph) and between the rising edge of the clock signal at timing c and the rising edge of the clock signal at timing d (i.e. the second interval Tph), so as to shorten the delay time of the voltage control delay line 110. Thus, in FIG. 3(b), the rising edge of the clock signal at timing d is aligned to the rising edge of the clock signal at timing c. FIG. 4 shows a schematic logic circuit of the phase detector in FIG. 1. The phase detector 120 is composed of two D flip flops DFF1 and DFF2, of which D ends are tied to the logic high (mentioned as “1” hereafter), wherein the input signal to the two D flip flops DFF1 and DFF2 are flipped. That is, the input clock signal CLKref is inputted to the CLK end of the D flip flop DFF1 and the CLR end of the D flip flop DFF2, and the output clock signal CLKout is inputted to the CLR end of the D flip flop DFF1 and the CLK end of the D flip flop DFF2. The D flip-flop with its D end tied to 1 operates as follows: when the end CLR=1, the D flip-flop is reset, and the end Q=0; when the end CLR=0, the CLK end changes from the logic low (mentioned as “0” hereafter) to 1, and the end Q=1. FIG. 5 shows the timing diagram when the phase detector detects the phase difference, wherein the initial values of the up signal UP and the down signal DN are both 0. Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, at timing Ta, the input clock signal CLKref changes from 0 to 1, the output clock signal CLKout=0, and the up signal UP rises to the logic high; at timing Tb, the output clock signal CLKout changes from 0 to 1 to reset the D flip flop DFF1, and the up signal UP returns to the initial value 0. In the meanwhile, the input clock signal CLKref=1 resets the D flip flop DFF2, so the down signal DN=0. The drawback of the conventional phase detector lies in that resetting the up signal UP and the down signal DN is determined by the input clock signal CLKref or the output clock signal CLKout with the logic high. Thus, the logic high signal being too short or too long may cause an erroneous phase detection. For example, in FIG. 6(a), at timing Ta, if the output clock signal CLKout is not 0, the up signal UP is reset; in FIG. 6(b), at timing Tb, if the input clock signal CLKref=0, the down signal DN can not be reset. The conventional phase detector would erroneously detect the signal phase in the foregoing two situations. Therefore it is known in the art that for a conventional phase detector to operate normally, the interval Tph must be sufficiently long, and the delay of the output clock signal must be 0.5 T to 1.5 T. Furthermore, if the clock duty of the output clock signal CLKout generated by the delay lock loop is not good, or the clock duty of the input clock signal of the delay lock loop CLKref is not good, an erroneous phase detection is caused by a conventional phase detector, and the delay lock loop can not normally operate. Because the clock duty of the clock signal varies with the processes, the power and the temperature, the delay lock loop might not be able to generate a clock signal normally due to a deteriorated clock duty.

(1) Field of the Invention This invention generally relates to the treatment of particles and, in particular, to a process for the coating or enlargement of particles and an apparatus useful therefor. More particularly, it relates to a granulating process in which priming granules of a particulate material are coated or enlarged by spraying, together with a gas stream, a like or different material in the form of a liquid that is adherent and solidifiable by cooling or drying, and thus causing droplets of the liquid spray to be attached to the surfaces of the granules. (2) Description of the Prior Art The necessity of coating or enlarging particles by depositing a material on the surfaces thereof is great in various fields of industry. If the amount of particles to be treated is small, they can readily be coated or enlarged without posing any economic or technical problem. One process for coating or enlarging particles by depositing a material on the surfaces thereof is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,413. As will hereinafter be described with reference to FIG. 1, this process involves the use of a spouted bed granulator in which priming granules of a particulate material are introduced into a gas stream and caused to encounter, for a very short period of time, with a spray of liquid that is adherent and solidifiable by cooling or drying, and this treatment cycle is repeated until a build-up of desired thickness is obtained on the surfaces of the granules. Specifically, this process causes droplets of the liquid spray to collide with and adhere to the granules being suspended in and conveyed by the gas stream for a very short period of time. However, it will be unsatisfactory if the granules are introduced into the gas stream only once (that is, if it is only once that the individual granules enter the spouted bed where they can encounter with droplets of the liquid spray). The larger the particle diameter becomes, and the greater the amount of liquid to be deposited becomes, the more times the granules must enter the spouted bed. Referring now to FIG. 1, a spouted bed 22 is formed at the center of a bed 21 of accumulated priming granules (hereinafter referred to simply as a granular bed), extending upward through the granular bed 21. The surrounding annulus of this spouted bed 22 is constituted of the granular bed 21. Preferably, the granules existing at the lower end of the surrounding annulus are smoothly introduced into the spouted bed 22. Thereafter, they are conveyed upward by the gas stream and then allowed to fall on the upper surface of the granular bed 21. Since the entrance of granules into the spouted bed 22 continues to take place at the lower end of the granular bed 21, the granules which have fallen on the upper surface of the granular bed 21 descend gradually through the granular bed 21 and enter the spouted bed 22 again. As described above, the entrance of each granule into the spouted bed 22 must be repeated many times. Moreover, all the granules of the granular bed 21 must be as uniform in number of entrances as possible. In order that the above-described process of descent through the granular bed 21 and entrance into the spouted bed 22 may be carried on regularly and smoothly, the granular bed 21 is placed in an enclosure 7 having a bottom section of inverted frustoconical or similar shape. The spouted bed 22 is then formed by the action of a gas stream injected from below into the center of the bottom section of the enclosure 7 along its vertical axis. In order to form a stable spouted bed through the granular bed 21, the pressure of the gas stream injected into the bottom portion of the granular bed 21 must be elevated as the depth of the granular bed 21 increases. Accordingly, if the granulating capability of a granulator of the type in which priming granules are enlarged by placing a granular bed in an enclosure having a bottom section of inverted frustoconical shape and forming a spouted bed at the center thereof is enhanced by increasing the depth of the granular bed, the pressure of the gas stream to be injected and hence the amount of energy consumption may be increased to an undue extent. On the other hand, if the granulating capability of a granulator as illustrated in FIG. 1 is enhanced by increasing the diameter of the enclosure 7, the priming granules to be enlarged tend to lack uniformity in the number of entrances into the spouted bed and, therefore, the particle size distribution of the enlarged granules may be widened. This will increase the formation of granules having larger particle diameters than desired and thereby reduce the efficiency. For these reasons, the only possible measure for the mass production of granules on the principle of spouted bed granulation is to use a plurality of granulators.

1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains to swimming accessories, and more specifically, to manually operated, flip-style lap counters held along the side of a pool for viewing by a swimmer. 2. Description of the Related Art Current manual, flip-style lap counters consist of two sets of pages with numbers printed on one side that are held along the side of a pool for viewing by a swimmer to indicate the current lap. For the swimmer to view the lap counter, a swimmer""s assistant must temporarily hold it at or below water level, and then lift it out of the water to turn one or both pages on the lap counter to indicate the next lap. Flip-style lap counters include a planar, rigid base member with two stacks of pages pivotally connected together along their outer edges to the base member. A single digit is printed on the front surface of each page and on the front surface of the base member. During use, the pages in each stack pivot around the outer edges of the base member to display the single digit on the front surface on a lower page or the base member. Formed near the upper edge of the base member is a horizontally aligned, elongated oval-shaped slot. Formed near the upper edge and along the inside edge of each page is a horizontally aligned U-shaped slot. When the pages are placed over the front or back surfaces of the base member, the U-shaped slots are aligned and registered over the elongated slot on the base member thereby enabling the user to extend his or her fingers through the elongated and U-shaped slots to hold the lap counter with one hand. Currently, the assistant must kneel down next to the side of the pool and, with one hand, hold the bottom edge of the lap counter 12 to 16 inches below the water line with his or her fingers extending through the elongated and U-shaped slots. The assistant must then lift the lap counter out of the water and adjust the location of his or her fingers in the slots so that the pages may be changed with his or her opposite free hand. When changing the pages, the assistant may accidentally drop the lap counter into the water. Also, while kneeling down, the assistant may be splashed, or fall into the water. Since swimmers often swim up to sixty laps, the act of repeatedly kneeling down and changing pages to insert or remove the lap counter from the water makes it likely that one of the two undesirable events will occur. What is needed is a swimmer""s lap counter device that uses a standard, flip-style lap counter that allows the assistant to easily change pages, reduces the possibility that the lap counter may be dropped into the water, and allows the user to stand upright while holding and removing the lap counter from the water. Such a device should also enable an assistant to lock the pages in place on the lap counter so they do not turn when the device is inserted or removed from the water. It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding device for a manual, flip-style lap counter. It is another object of the present invention to provide such a holding device that enables the user to stand upright adjacent to the edge of the pool and extend the lap counter into the water for viewing by the swimmer. It is a further object of the invention that locks the pages on the lap counter in position as the device is inserted and removed form the water. These and other objects of the invention which will become apparent are met by a swimmer""s lap counter device used to inform swimmers of the number of laps they have completed. The device includes a planar body with parallel front and back surfaces and an upward extended neck. The neck has sufficient size and shape to act as a handle for holding the device with a lap counter attached thereto in the water. Formed inside the upper portion of the planar body and below the neck is a wide finger opening which allows the user to extend his or her fingers in the planar body to hold the device. Formed inside the neck is a threaded bore that may attach to an optional elongated pole that has sufficient length so that an assistant may stand upright adjacent to the edge of the pool and position the planar body at or below the water line. The planar body has at least one outward extending, transversely aligned alignment member formed on each front and back surface. The alignment members are located directly opposite each other near the lower edge of the front and back surfaces. In the preferred embodiment, the front and back surfaces are recessed with their upper edge extending outward and acting as an abutment surface for the upper edge of the lap counter. During use, the lap counter is longitudinally aligned and positioned over the front surface of the planar body so that the upper edges of the base member and pages in each stack are aligned with the upper edge of the recessed front surface. The upper elongated slot formed on the lap counter""s base member and the U-shaped slots on the individual pages are aligned around the alignment member on the front surface. When the pages are turned, the U-shaped slots are aligned around the alignment member on the rear surface. The alignment members both extend outward a sufficient distance from the front and rear surfaces so they extend through all to the pages when stacked on the front and rear surfaces. Attached to the front and rear surfaces is an adjustment knob that prevents the stacked pages from rotating when positioned around the alignment members. In the preferred embodiment, there are two pairs of adjustment knobs attached to the outer surface of each alignment member. Each alignment member is able to freely rotated 360 degrees between locking and non-locking positions. Also in the preferred embodiment, the alignment member located on the rear surface is located directly opposite the alignment member located on the front surface so that the lap counter""s U-shaped slots may be aligned with the alignment member when the pages are rotated to the back surface. During use, the adjustment knobs are turned to a non-locking position so that the pages may be turned. The adjustment knobs are then turned to a locking position to prevent the pages in each stack on the lap counter from turning. In the preferred embodiment, the two adjustment knobs on the front surface are coupled to the two adjustment knobs located on the back surface of the planar body so that the pages located on both surfaces can be simultaneously locked or unlocked.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method and apparatus to determine the extent and changes in the extent with time of Eustachian tube opening of a subject by measuring the phase difference and changes in the phase difference with time of sound waves applied to the nose and detected in the ear canal of a subject. 2. Description of the Prior Art French Pat. No. 2,459,648 teaches a method for measuring Eustachian tube opening wherein a signal of determined frequency is applied at the nostril of a subject, is transmitted through the Eustachian tube during swallowing and, finally, is picked-up and measured in the ear. The patent states that the peak amplitude of the signal picked up in the ear indicates the diameter of the opening of the Eustachian tube. However, the patent further states that the signal picked up by the auricular probe is likely to be fugitive and subject to interference. Therefore, the patented method prohibits measurement of the amplitude if the signal picked up does not show a predetermined number of consecutive impulses, i.e. does not last for a predetermined time. As the method of the French patent publication measurement of fleeting or fugitive amplitudes, it is substantially incapable of measuring rapidly changing opening sizes such as occur when the Eustachian tube diameter is changing rapidly from its fully closed state upon the onset of swallowing or from its fully open state at the end of a swallow. There remains a need, for both clinical and research purposes, to obtain information concerning changes in the amount of Eustachian tube opening as a function of time, which involves determinations concerning the tube while its diameter is changing from its fully closed to open state and vice versa.

A thread on an anchor bolt can be created by means of cross-rolling. A cylindrical blank is inserted between two roller profiles and is then rolled along the roller profiles while being rotated around its axis. In this process, the roller profiles emboss ridges for the thread into the circumference of the blank. The high quality of the thread that can be achieved is due, among other things, to the rolling procedure and to the associated uniform radial dimensions.

In electronics and telecommunication applications, plastics have been widely used to make structural or functional components of antenna or radiofrequency (RF) related devices. With each new generation of mobile communication technology, working frequencies continue to increase. For example the next generation (5G) mobile network is expected to have a working frequency of greater than 20 gigahertz (GHz), which is much higher than the current 3G and 4G networks running at around 2-3 GHz. In these high RF frequency environments the electro-magnetic (EM) wave or the signal generated by the antenna will be highly influenced by the surrounding materials such as plastics and metals. Intrinsically, plastics are dielectric materials, which can temporarily store EM energy. Polymeric materials having a high dielectric constant (Dk) and dissipation factor (Df) will rapidly consume the EM energy and change the strength and phase state of the EM wave, resulting in decreased antenna performance. As a result, thermoplastic compositions with low Dk and low Df properties are desired, which could improve antenna performance in future high frequency networks. International patent application publication WO2017/203467 describes polypropylene (PP)-based thermoplastic compositions with low Dk and low Df properties and good mechanical performance. It is difficult to further improve the stiffness, ductility (especially low temperate impact strength), and thermal performance of these PP compositions, however. These and other shortcomings are addressed by aspects of the disclosure.

This invention relates to a process for treating fly ash to render it highly usable as a concrete additive. The invention further relates to treated fly ash, to concrete mixtures containing treated fly ash, and to treated fly ash that entraps unwanted metals or heavy metals. Fly ash is the finely divided mineral residue resulting from the combustion of pulverized coal in coal-fired power plants. As used herein, fly ash includes similar ashes produced by the combustion of other fuel materials, including but not limited to bark ash and bottom ash. Fly ash may also include a mixture of different ashes. Fly ash consists of inorganic, incombustible matter present in the coal or fuel that has been fused during combustion into a glassy, part amorphous and part crystalline structure. Fly ash material is solidified while suspended in the exhaust gases and is collected by electrostatic precipitators or filter bags. Since the particles solidify while suspended in the exhaust gases, fly ash particles are generally spherical in shape and range in size from 0.5 μm to 100 μm. They consist mostly of silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3), and are hence a suitable source of aluminum and silicon for geopolymers. They are also pozzolanic in nature and react with calcium hydroxide and alkali to form cementitious compounds. Fly ash has been classified into two classes, F and C, based on the chemical composition of the fly ash. According to ASTM C 618, the chemical requirements to classify any fly ash are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1Chemical Requirements for Fly Ash ClassificationFly Ash ClassPropertiesClass FClass CSilicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, iron oxide70.050.0(SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3), min, %Sulfur trioxide (SO3), max, %5.05.0Moisture Content, max, %3.03.0Loss on ignition, max, %6.06.0 Class F fly ash is produced from burning anthracite and bituminous coals. This fly ash has siliceous or siliceous and aluminous material, which itself possesses little or no cementitious value, but will, in finely divided form and in the presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperature to form cementitious compounds. Class C fly ash is produced normally from lignite and sub-bituminous coals, and some class C fly ashes may contain significant amounts (higher than 10%) of calcium oxide (CaO) or lime. This class of fly ash, in addition to having pozzolanic properties, also has some cementitious properties (ASTM C 618-99). Color is one of the important physical properties of fly ash in terms of estimating the lime content qualitatively. It is suggested that lighter color indicate the presence of high calcium oxide and darker colors suggest high organic content. Coal combustion exhaust gases sometimes contain contaminants, such as heavy metals, that must be removed to meet environmental standards. This is often accomplished using activated carbon or other similar sorbents. The activated carbon is usually collected by electrostatic precipitators or filter bags together with the fly ash. Hence, the collected fly ash may be combined with carbon and adsorbed heavy metals. The carbon content may range up to 50% by weight, or more. Because bark ash has a high carbon content, fly ash that contains some bark ash may have a high carbon content. While most fly ash is disposed in landfills or similar large waste containment facilities, increasing amounts of fly ash are used in the production of concrete. Fly ash may partially replace cement and improve several properties of concrete. However, not all fly ash is suitable for use as a concrete additive. For example, fly ash that contains carbon may absorb air entraining agents (AEAs), which are added to concrete in order to improve its workability and resistance toward freeze-thaw damage. When carbon adsorbs air-entraining agents, they become less available to entrain tiny air bubbles in the concrete which are required to lend the concrete its protection against freeze-thaw conditions. ASTM C 457 defines a standard test method for microscopical determinations of the air content of hardened concrete and of the specific surface, void frequency, spacing factor, and cement paste-air ratio of the air-void system in hardened concrete. ASTM C 457 may be used to determine how well the AEA is working. The degree carbon adsorbs AEAs is dependent on the surface area, type of carbon (very coarse particles or soot), and the polarity of the carbon. Activated carbon, the type commonly used to capture heavy metals and other contaminants in flue gases, effectively captures AEAs. Air entraining agents can be costly. Fly ash is often added to concrete compositions because it is less expensive than the Portland cement it replaces. However, if the addition of fly ash to concrete compositions requires significantly increased amounts of AEAs, then there may be little or no cost savings gained by adding fly ash to the concrete composition. It would be an improvement in the art to provide a process for treating fly ash so that it substantially reduces the amount of AEA added to the concrete composition compared to untreated fly ash. Concrete manufacturers and concrete users in the construction industry require concrete to have consistent, predictable properties. Fly ash carbon content can vary widely depending upon the power plant configuration, boiler type, coal type, etc. Differences in fly ash can affect the amount of AEA that must be added to produce the desired concrete properties. It would be an advancement in the art to provide a process for treating fly ash that substantially reduces the affect of varying fly ash carbon content. Such a process is provided herein.

In industrial settings, control systems are used to monitor and control inventories of industrial and chemical processes, and the like. Typically, the control system performs these functions using field devices distributed in key locations in the industrial process and coupled to control circuitry in a control room by a process control loop or segment. The term “field device” refers to any device that performs a function in a distributed control system or process monitoring system, including all devices used in the measurement control and monitoring of industrial processes. Field devices are used by the process control and measurement industry for a variety of purposes. Usually, such field devices have a field-hardened enclosure so that they can be installed outdoors in relatively rugged environments and be able to withstand climatological extremes of temperature, humidity, vibration, mechanical shock, etc. These field devices can also operate on relatively low power. For example, some field devices are able to operate solely on power that they received through a process communication loop or a segment sometimes with an operating current at or below 20 milliamps. Some field devices measure a process characteristic and compute and transmit a process variable related to the measurement. These process variable transmitters can be used to provide information to the control room or monitoring station relative to temperature, pressure, flow, pH, turbidity, level, or any other suitable process variables. In some instances, it may be useful to provide an indication of the process variable next to a final control device or to display information from one or more transmitters that are mounted in relatively inaccessible locations. In such instances, a field device known as a remote indicator is used. A remote indicator can be located anywhere along the process control loop or segment to allow information to be displayed wherever it is required. In some instances, the remote indicator can also perform basic arithmetic operations on the process variable(s) such that the indicated quantity is a calculated value.

Automobile and other manufacturers are strongly demanding an electro-galvanized steel strip or an electro-zinc-alloy-galvanized steel strip (hereinafter generally referred to as "electro-galvanized steel strip") having a coating uniform in the chemical composition and thickness and having an excellent appearance. The following electro-galvanizing apparatuses are known for electro-galvanizing at least one of the surfaces of a steel strip with zinc or electro-zinc-alloy-galvanizing at least one of the surfaces of a steel strip with alloy comprising zinc and at least one of iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium and other metals (hereinafter generally referred to as "electro-galvanizing"): (1) a horizontal type electro-galvanizing apparatus comprising a horizontal type electro-galvanizing tank for receiving an electro-galvanizing bath and at least one electrode plate arranged in said electro-galvanizing tank substantially in parallel with a steel strip horizontally travelling through said electro-galvanizing tank, and (2) a vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus comprising a vertical type electro-galvanizing tank for receiving an electro-galvanizing bath, at least one first electrode plate and at least one second electrode plate arranged in said electro-galvanizing tank substantially in parallel with a steel strip vertically travelling down and then up through said electro-galvanizing tank. As compared with the horizontal type electro-galvanizing apparatus, the vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus has the following advantages: (1) In the horizontal type electro-galvanizing apparatus, wavy irregularities are produced in the steel strip during travelling through the horizontal type electro-galvanizing tank, and as a result, there occur variations in the distance between the steel strip and the at least one electrode plate, thus resulting in non-uniform thickness of the coating. In addition, contact of the steel strip with the at least one electrode plate may cause damages to the steel strip. In the vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus, in contrast, no wavy irregularities occur in the steel strip during travelling through the vertical type electro-galvanizing tank, thus permitting manufacture of an electro-galvanized steel strip free from damage, with a uniform thickness of the coating. (2) The vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus requires only a small site area for installation. As a vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus, an apparatus is disclosed in the publication entitled "Iron and Steel Handbook" (Tekko-Binran), Vol. IV, published on May 31, 1982 in Japan, which comprises: a vertical type electro-galvanizing tank for receiving an electro-galvanizing bath; a first conductor roll, arranged above a steel strip inlet side of said electro-galvanizing tank, for substantially vertically directing a steel strip downwardly into said electro-galvanizing tank and applying electricity to said steel strip; a sink roll, arranged in said electro-galvanizing tank, for upwardly reversing the travelling direction of said steel strip directed into said electro-galvanizing tank; a second conductor roll, arranged above a steel strip outlet side of said electro-galvanizing tank, for substantially vertically directing said steel strip upwardly from said electro-galvanizing tank and applying electricity to said steel strip; a pair of first electrode plates for electro-galvanizing the both surfaces of said steel strip, which are arranged in said electro-galvanizing tank between said first conductor roll and said sink roll substantially in parallel with said steel strip travelling downwardly through said electro-galvanizing tank with said steel strip therebetween; a pair of second electrode plates for electro-galvanizing the both surfaces of said steel strip, which are arranged in said electro-galvanizing tank between said sink roll and said second conductor roll substantially in parallel with said steel strip travelling upwardly through said electro-galvanizing tank with said steel strip therebetween; an electro-galvanizing solution supply means for supplying an electro-galvanizing solution into said electro-galvanizing tank to form an electro-galvanizing bath therein, and forming a flow at a prescribed flow velocity of said electro-galvanizing bath between said pair of first electrode plates and said steel strip travelling downwardly and between said pair of second electrode plates and said steel strip travelling upwardly; and an electro-galvanizing bath discharge means, provided at a top portion of said electro-galvanizing tank, for causing overflow of said electro-galvanizing bath in said electro-galvanizing tank (hereinafter referred to as the "prior art"). FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the above-mentioned apparatus of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 5, a first conductor roll 2 for substantially vertically directing a steel strip 5 downwardly into a vertical type electro-galvanizing tank 1 and applying electricity to the steel strip 5 is arranged above a steel strip inlet side of the electro-galvanizing tank 1. A sink roll 3 for upwardly reversing the travelling direction of the steel strip 5 directed into the electro-galvanizing tank 1 is arranged in the lower portion of the electro-galvanizing tank 1. A second conductor roll 4 for substantially vertically directing the steel strip 5 upwardly from the electro-galvanizing tank 1 and applying electricity to the steel strip 5 is arranged above a steel strip outlet side of the electro-galvanizing tank 1. A pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and a pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 for electro-galvanizing the both surfaces of the steel strip 5 are arranged in the electro-galvanizing tank 1. The pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 are arranged between the first conductor roll 2 and the sink roll 3 substantially in parallel with the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly through the electro-galvanizing tank 1 with the steel strip 5 therebetween. The pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 are arranged between the sink roll 3 and the second conductor roll 4 substantially in parallel with the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly through the electro-galvanizing tank 1 with the steel strip 5 therebetween. A pair of first nozzles 8, 8 and a pair of second nozzles 9, 9 for supplying an electro-galvanizing solution into the electro-galvanizing tank 1 to form an electro-galvanizing bath therein are arranged in the lower portion of the electro-galvanizing tank 1. The pair of first nozzles 8, 8 are upwardly arranged respectively below each of the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 near the lower ends thereof so as to form a rising flow of electro-galvanizing bath at a prescribed flow velocity between each of the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly. The pair of second nozzles 9, 9 are upwardly arranged respectively below each of the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 near the lower ends thereof so as to form a rising flow of electro-galvanizing bath at a prescribed flow velocity between each of the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip travelling upwardly. An electro-galvanizing bath discharge pipe 10 for causing overflow of the electro-galvanizing bath in the electro-galvanizing tank 1 is provided at a top portion 1a of the electro-galvanizing tank 1. Electro-galvanizing solution ejected into the electro-galvanizing bath from each of the pair of first nozzles 8, 8 and the pair of second nozzles 9, 9 rises between each of the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly, and between each of the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly, and overflows through the electro-galvanizing bath discharge pipe 10. The steel strip 5 travels downwardly and then upwardly in the electro-galvanizing tank 1 through the first conductor roll 2, the sink roll 3 and the second conductor roll 4, and the both surfaces of the steel strip 5 are electro-galvanized while the steel strip 5 passes between the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and between the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7. The above-mentioned apparatus of the prior art has the following problem: The flow velocity of electro-galvanizing bath which rises between the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly and between the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly, is reduced as the distance from the pair of first nozzles 8, 8 and the pair of second nozzles 9, 9 becomes longer, resulting in a non-uniform flow velocity of the electro-galvanizing bath. When the flow velocity of the electro-galvanizing bath rising between the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly and between the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly becomes non-uniform, irregularities are produced on the surfaces of the coatings formed on the surfaces of the steel strip 5, and particularly when the coating is a zinc alloy coating such as an iron-zinc alloy coating, there occur variations in the chemical composition of the zinc alloy coating. A problem similar to that mentioned above is also encountered when arranging the pair of first nozzles 8, 8 and the pair of second nozzles 9, 9 above the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 to form downward flows of electro-galvanizing bath respectively between the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly and between the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly, or when arranging the pair of first nozzles 8, 8 and the pair of second nozzles 9, 9 on the sides of the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 to form flows of electro-galvanizing bath in the width direction of the steel strip 5 respectively between the pair of first electrode plates 6, 6 and the steel strip 5 travelling downwardly and between the pair of second electrode plates 7, 7 and the steel strip 5 travelling upwardly. Under such circumstances, there is a strong demand for the development of a vertical type electro-galvanizing apparatus which can ensure a uniform flow velocity of an electro-galvanizing bath flowing respectively between at least one first electrode plate arranged in a vertical type electro-galvanizing tank and a steel strip travelling through the tank and between at least one second electrode plate arranged also in the tank and the steel strip to form a coating free from irregularities and having a uniform chemical composition on at least one of the surfaces of the steel strip, but such an apparatus has not as yet been proposed.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates in general to designing and simulating digital devices, modules and systems, and in particular, to a method and system for computer simulation of digital devices, modules and systems utilizing a hardware description language (HDL) model. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods, systems, and program products for data processing in which at least some higher-level signals referenced by instrumentation logic of a simulation model are unavailable. 2. Description of the Related Art Verifying the logical correctness of a digital design and debugging the design, if necessary, are very important steps in most digital design processes. Logic networks are tested either by actually building networks or by simulating networks on a computer. As logic networks become highly complex, it becomes necessary to simulate a design before the design is actually built. This is especially true when the design is implemented as an integrated circuit, since the fabrication of integrated circuits requires considerable time and correction of mistakes is quite costly. The goal of digital design simulation is the verification of the logical correctness of the design. In a typical automated design process that is supported by a conventional electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) system, a designer enters a high-level description utilizing a hardware description language (HDL), such as VHDL, producing a representation of the various circuit blocks and their interconnections. The ECAD system compiles the design description into a format that is best suited for simulation. A simulator is then utilized to verify the logical correctness of the design prior to developing a circuit layout. A simulator is typically a software tool that operates on a digital representation, or simulation model of a circuit, and a list of input stimuli representing inputs of the digital system. A simulator generates a numerical representation of the response of the circuit, which may then either be viewed on the display screen as a list of values or further interpreted, often by a separate software program, and presented on the display screen in graphical form. The simulator may be run either on a general-purpose computer or on another piece of electronic apparatus, typically attached to a general purpose computer, specially designed for simulation. In either case, a translation from an HDL description to a simulation format, hereinafter referred to as a simulation executable model or simulation model, is required.

Enclosed cartons with dispensing features have been used in the past. Many include a dispenser defining a dispenser. The dispenser is removable from the carton to create an opening from which articles can be removed from the carton. In many instances, after the user engages and opens the dispenser, some of the cans or articles, especially those disposed in lower columns, are positioned below the opening created by the dispenser, rendering removal of cans from the carton difficult.

It may be desirable in some applications to engineer and manufacture power devices to provide sufficient performance, cost, and reliability. One such application can include hybrid and electric vehicle applications. Semiconductor power devices are often manufactured discretely as opposed to being integrated in an integrated circuit (IC) process. is typical with power devices, thermal performance may dictate failure rates when components are heated above certain temperatures. Thus, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blowby gas circulation system for a drysump lubrication type engine and a method of circulating blowby gas. 2. Discussion of Background Arts Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Toku-Kai-Hei 11-148333 discloses a technology of a blowby gas circulation system for a drysump lubrication type engine. Specifically, in the blowby gas circulation system, a mixture of liquid (engine oil) and gas (blowby gas generated in a crankcase) is introduced to a breather chamber and the separation of gas from liquid is performed therein. The separated blowby gas is introduced to an intake system of the engine and the separated oil is returned to the crankcase. Further, the liquid and gas mixture in an oil tank is introduced to the breather chamber and the aforesaid separation of gas from liquid is performed. However, according to the aforesaid prior art, since the greater part of the liquid and gas mixture in the crankcase is guided directly to the breather chamber, in case where the amount of the liquid and gas mixture exceeds a capacity of separating gas from liquid, the separation of gas from liquid can not be effectively performed. As a result, the liquid and gas mixture blows out from the breather chamber and engine oil flows out to the intake system and an adverse effect is brought to an air cleaner and the like.

The present invention relates to coarse-foamed fracturing fluids and methods of using such fluids in subterranean fracturing operations. The term “coarse foamed” as used herein refers to the texture of the foam. A coarse foamed fluid has a relatively nonuniform bubble size distribution (e.g., a combination of large and small gas bubbles) whereas a fine texture foam has relatively uniform bubble size distribution and most of the bubbles are relatively small. (See FIG. 1 illustrating a coarse foam and a fine textured foam at nonlimiting examples of certain quality levels.) The term “quality” as used herein refers to a foam quality level above which a pure fine textured foam exists, which will depend, inter alia, on the particular fluid composition and the foaming agent used. On a schematic plot of viscosity versus quality in a foamed fluid, the foam transition point is the point at which the foamed fluid becomes a more coarse textured foamed fluid. The transition point is a level of maximum viscosity, which may be relatively well-defined in some instances. The foam transition point for a particular foam may vary as a result of, inter alia, the foam composition (e.g., whether it is an aqueous-based foamed fluid or an oil-based foamed fluid). The particular quality level of the foam at the transition point will similarly vary. The coarse-foamed fracturing fluids of the present invention are foamed fluids that have a quality level at or above the foam transition point for the particular fluid. Hydraulic fracturing is a process commonly used to increase the flow of desirable fluids from a portion of a subterranean formation. Traditional hydraulic fracturing operations usually comprise the steps of placing a viscous fracturing fluid (often an aqueous gelled fluid) into a portion of a subterranean formation at a rate and pressure such that fractures are created or enhanced in a portion of the subterranean formation. The fractures propagate, e.g., as vertical and/or horizontal cracks radially outward from the well bore. In such treatments, once the hydraulic pressure is released, usually the fractures will not remain fully open. Often, particulate materials, known as proppant, are suspended in the fracturing fluid during at least a portion of the fracturing operation. The particulates are carried into the fractures and deposited therein such that when the hydraulic pressure is released the particulates help prevent the fracture from fully closing, and thus, aid in forming conductive channels through which produced fluids may flow into the well bore. Without the particulate material, the fractures tend to close, thus potentially negating any permeability gained by the fracturing operation. Suitable particulate materials must have sufficient compressive strength to resist crushing, but also should be sufficiently non-abrasive and non-angular to preclude cutting and imbedding into the formation. Conventional fracturing operations are not universally acceptable treatments for all subterranean formations. One factor that may limit the universal application of a conventional fracturing operation is that they tend to leave behind a residue on the surfaces within the formation and the created fractures. This residue may act as a barrier to desirable fluids that could otherwise travel to the well bore and be produced. One source of such residue is the gelling agent used in the fracturing fluid to create the viscosity necessary to suspend particulates in the fracturing fluid. One method that has been employed to reduce the load of gelling agent in a fracturing fluid without affecting its ability to suspend proppant particulates has been to foam the fracturing fluid. For example, a gaseous internal phase may be mixed into a liquid fracturing fluid so that the liquid becomes an external phase to the gaseous internal phase. However, as the percentage of gas in the foam increases beyond a specific high quality limit, the ability of the foamed fracturing fluid to carry particulates is thought to decrease. Moreover, it may be difficult to maintain a competent foam with known foaming agents as the percentage of gas in the foam increases. While traditional foamed fracturing operations have a quality of between 50% and 75%, foams having qualities of 70% to 90% have been used in water sensitive formations. Moreover, it has long been believed that in order to successfully carry proppant particulates, a foamed fluid must have a fine, uniform texture rather than a coarse texture. Another factor that may limit the universal application of a traditional fracturing fluid operation is that some formations are sensitive to the introduction of liquids commonly present in fracturing fluids (be it an aqueous liquid or an oil-based liquid). Thus, alternative operations have been developed wherein a fracturing fluid used is made up entirely of a gas, such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide. Even pure nitrogen treatments have been performed. Such operations eliminate the undesirable liquids, and may be particularly suited for use in shale and coal seam formations. Unfortunately, such 100% gas treatments are not suitable for delivering proppant particulates as part of the treatment. While these alternative fracturing operations may show a benefit in increased production from a treated well bore, the benefits usually diminish as the fractured formation recovers and the fractures close. Generally, the benefit from such a job can be expected to last no more than 9 months. In order to get a more lasting benefit, it is necessary to have at least a portion of the fracturing fluid comprise a liquid so that the fluid may carry proppant particulates to the fractures. Thus, there is a tension between receiving more lasting benefit by including proppant and reducing the liquid load in the fracturing fluid when conducting fracturing operations in formations that are sensitive to the liquid components in a fracturing fluid.

Animal intestines, in particular the small intestines as connected between the stomach and the large intestines, when properly processed, are a valuable and well-appreciated natural product which can be used, for example, as casing, or case, or skin, of sausages, and for other purposes. This is especially true for intestines of pigs, cows and sheep. In an animal slaughtering process, a cluster of organs is removed from a body cavity of an animal. Next, organs and tissue are separated from the cluster to be further processed. In one of these separating steps, at least a part of the cluster comprising an intestine and at least one other organ, such as the stomach, and tissue, is brought to an intestine separating station for separating the intestine from a remainder of the cluster, or part of the cluster. The cluster or cluster part may be hanging from a support of a mechanical transport device, such as a conveyer. The conveyor, which may be an endless conveyor, comprises a series of supports, each carrying a cluster or cluster part. By moving the supports continuously, or intermittently, one cluster or cluster part at a time is presented at the intestine separating station. The intestine separating station may be part of a so-called gut room for processing intestines. Traditionally, at a separating station, a person separates the intestine by hand. The person holds a knife, comprising a handle and a one-sided elongated cutting blade, such as a razor blade, connected to the handle, in his or her hand. The knife and the intestine, while still connected to the cluster or cluster part, are moved relative to each other, whereby the knife moves closely along the intestine near its outer surface, and in its longitudinal direction. In the intestine separating process, the intestine needs to be separated from deformable fatty tissue in which blood vessels leading to and from the intestine are embedded. Such blood vessels are also indicated by the term “whiskers”. In the harvesting of the intestine, it needs to be ensured that a separation or cut is made as closely as possible to the intestine to remove the fatty tissue as much as possible, and to obtain whiskers having a shortest possible length, without damaging the intestine. The person, or operator, handling the knife must be educated and experienced in performing this task, which takes a relatively long time in practice. The required working position for the operator's hand holding the knife is quite unnatural and uncomfortable, and may lead to symptoms in the hand, arm and related body parts of the operator. As an example of a further tool for separating an intestine and fatty tissue from each other, reference US 2015/0017895 A1 discloses a device for separating an intestine subjected to a pulling force from a structure such as a fatty structure connected to the intestine by means of cutting. The device comprises a guide for guiding at least the intestine, and a cutting member connected to the guide for severing the structure in the vicinity of the intestine. The cutting member is adapted to sever the structure as closely as possible to the intestine. The cutting member has a cutting edge directed toward an open feed end of the guide. The guide comprises a gap arranged therein, the gap being adapted to guide the separation between the intestine and the fatty structure connected with the intestine from the feed end of the gap. The cutting member comprises a knife connected to the guide with its cutting edge at a distance from the guide. The cutting edge of the knife is connected to a holder in exchangeable manner at an angle differing from 90 degrees to the main direction of the gap. Both the knife as handled traditionally by a person, or operator, and the device of reference US 2015/0017895 A1 have a disadvantage in that in practice a scraping action is performed with the knife cutting edge to separate the intestine from other tissue. The knife blade can only be used to separate a few hundreds of intestines before the cutting edge of the blade becomes unsuited for further use, and the blade needs to be replaced. This impedes the separation process, and leads to relatively high costs. In addition, the device of reference US 2015/0017895 A1 is unsuitable for separating the intestine from the organ(s) to which it is connected in the digestive tract of the cluster of organs being processed, or to make a separation in the intestine. As an example, before performing the intended tissue separation in relation to a small intestine, the stomach usually has already been removed from the cluster of organs. Before the intended tissue separation, however, a short length section of the small intestine (previously) adjacent to the stomach must also be separated from the small intestine (herein referred to as “intermediate separation”), since this section cannot be used in the intended further processing of the small intestine. Furthermore, an opposite end of the small intestine must be separated from the adjacent large intestine by separating the connection between the small intestine and the large intestine (herein referred to as “large intestine separation”). For the intermediate separation and the large intestine separation, the small intestine cannot be brought into contact with the cutting edge of the knife, since the cross-section of the small intestine is too large to pass through the gap of the guide. Thus a further separating or cutting device is needed to cut said connections, which again impedes the tissue separating process, and therefore leads to inefficiency and loss of time and money. NL 34253 C discloses an apparatus for cutting away a layer of fat from an intestine, comprising a rotatable circular knife or a reciprocating knife, and a security device comprising a pair of horns to guide the intestine and the apparatus relative to each other. The horns define a gap across which the knife may cut.

The present invention describes novel compositions of matter consisting of molecules containing an amine oxide and phosphate ester as part of the same compound. Although, amine oxide and phosphate ester containing molecules as distinct compounds are known in the prior art, the combination of these two functional groups on the same molecule has not been disclosed or suggested. The literature describing the preparation of fatty alkyl based amine oxides and phosphate esters is both extensive and well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of surfactant manufacture and use; therefore it need not be reviewed. References to fatty alkyl based molecules with tertiary amine oxide and the salts of covalently bound acid groups on the same molecule are much less evident. For example Engelmann (U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,967) teaches the preparation and use of tertiary amine oxide carboxylates and sulfonates separated by 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Ulrich (U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,163) describes a rather ill defined tertiary amine oxide polyethoxylate subsequently sulphonated. Cahn and Kaniecki (U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,135 and 3,359,208 amongst others) teach the preparation and use of N-(2-hydroxyalkyl-)N-Methyltaurine-N-oxides. Stanford and Vogelsang (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,477,956; 3,692,881; 3,728,419 and 3,787,534,) teach the preparation and use of phosphated hydroxy amines but do not mention or suggest conversion of the subsequent tertiary amine phosphate ester salt into an amine oxide derivative. Tertiary amine oxides when acidified to low pH exist as cationic materials with three alkyl and one hydroxyl substituents; therefore, they can be considered under these conditions as quaternary ammonium derivatives. Surfactant molecules containing both quaternary ammonium and phosphate esters on the same molecule are known. For example, Verdicchio (U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,657) teaches the preparation of complex phosphate ester surfactants derived from a quaternary dihydroxy compound. Mayhew (U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,449) describes phosphate quaternaries prepared by the interaction of the tiglycidyl ester of mono sodium phosphate and selected tertiary aminoamides. Similiar chemistry is disclosed by Lindemann et. al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,064) dealing with selected mono and di glycidyl phosphate ester quaternizing agents and their reaction with a variety of selected fatty tertiary amines. Similiar reactions were originally described however by Shen (U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,349) who teaches the preparation in general of acid containing glycidyl ethers and their reaction into tertiary amines to form amphoteric or Zwitterionic fatty based surfactants. Phosphorus may be in other oxidation states. For example Diery (U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,893) is the first of a series (U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,978; 3,922,344 and 3,928,509) teaches the reaction of 1,3-dioxa-2-phosphorinanes with various tertiary amines to form hybrid ionic phosphorus compounds containing phosphate and quaternary ammonium salts attached to the same molecule. Organo-phosphono-amine oxide compounds are disclosed by Crutchfield and Irani (U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,914 and 3,483,178). They are prepared from amines, aldehydes and phosphorus acid. The condensation product of this reaction is then converted to an amine oxide with for example hydrogen peroxide. The phosphated amine oxide compounds of the present invention exhibit outstanding foaming, wetting, cleansing, viscosity-building, emulsification, lubricity and antistatic properties; therefore, they are of excellent utility in many industrial applications requiring surface active agents. Unlike the amine oxides, the phosphated derivatives resist loss by volatility from hot surfaces. This property allows these novel compounds to function as fiber processing aids where the processes call for high temperature exposure. In addition the greatly reduced volatility eliminates the change of atmospheric pollution. The multiplicity of ionic charge of these compounds also allows them to function as surfactants in the presence of strong electrolytes such as sodium hydroxide. This affords foam generation in the presence of strong electrolytes which is a desireable aid in cleaning. Foam stabilization is also achieved with selected candidates.

The present invention relates to a thermoplastic resin laminate produced by firmly bonding two layers composed respectively of different types of thermoplastic resins which are not bonded each other. As a conventional laminating method of bonding two layers composed respectively of a thermoplastic resin A and a thermoplastic resin B, which are not. bonded each other, for example, a method of chemically modifying the surface and a method of physically modifying the surface by means of sputtering, corona discharge, plasma, excimer laser, etc. are known. These methods had a problem that an interlaminar bonding force is small although a special processing device is required. Furthermore, in order to obtain a resin laminate, a successive melt molding is required and therefore the number of steps at the time of molding increases, which results in poor processing productivity. Even if a simultaneous co-extrusion method is used, it was limited to a co-extrusion method using a thermoplastic resin C which is bonded to both thermoplastic resin A and thermoplastic resin B. The present invention provides a thermoplastic resin laminate comprising at least three thermoplastic resin layers, wherein an intermediate layer interposed between a first layer comprising a thermoplastic resin A1 and a second layer comprising a thermoplastic resin B1, which are not bonded each other, comprises a thermoplastic resin composition which comprises as a main component a thermoplastic resin A2 having a bonding property to the thermoplastic resin A1 and a thermoplastic resin B2 having a bonding property to the thermoplastic resin B1 and forms a dispersion structure, wherein the thermoplastic resin A2 forms a continuous phase and the thermoplastic resin B2 forms a dispersed phase in the intermediate layer at the vicinity of the interface between the intermediate layer and the first layer, and wherein the thermoplastic resin B2 forms the continuous phase and the thermoplastic resin A2 forms the dispersed phase in the intermediate layer at the vicinity of the interface between the intermediate layer and the second layer. According to the present invention, a firm bonding strength can be accomplished between the first layer of the thermoplastic resin A1 and the second layer of the thermoplastic resin B1.

The present invention relates generally to protective eyewear used by medical personnel and particularly to composite optical lenses for use in protective laser eyewear. More particularly, the invention relates to composite optical lenses which provide an economical and versatile means to construct and provide laser eyewear. Various protective eye glasses and eyewear structures have been utilized in the past and also proposed for use in specific environments. For example, protective eye glasses are commonly utilized by medical personnel when laser devices are used in various medical procedures. Prior art protective eye glasses typically utilize laser absorbing lenses constructed of glass which are heavy and costly or polymeric in structure providing limited protection. Further, prior art protective eye wear typically protect against a specified laser wavelength or wavelength range thereby requiring the user to ensure that the proper protective wear is being utilized during specific procedures. The composite optical lens structure of the present invention overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing lightweight and less expensive protective eyewear structures which are versatile in design and which protect a user in a wide range of the laser wavelength spectrum.

It is generally known that synthetic resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin, etc., cause change of color, deterioration of mechanical strength, etc. due to heat deterioration and/or oxidation at molding or fabrication thereof and furthermore due to deterioration of weather resistance, that is, deterioration mainly by the action of ultraviolet rays and/or oxygen even after being formed into articles, and hence these articles can not endure the long use thereof. For overcoming these faults, it is necessary to restain the occurrences of various deteriorations by adding one or more kinds of heat stabilizers or light stabilizers to the synthetic resin. As such a heat stabilizer, a combination of a phenolic compound such as tetrakis[methylene-3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate]methane (Irganox 1010, trade name, made by Ciba-Geigy Aktiengesellschaft), etc., and a sulfur-series compound such as dimyristyl thiodipropionate, etc., is generally used and as such a light stabilizer, hindered amine-series compounds such as bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (Sanol LS770, trade name, made by Sankyo Co., Ltd.) are generally known. However, it is known that there is an antagonism between a certain kind of heat stabilizer and a certain kind of light stabilizer. When Irganox 1010 is used as a phenolic antioxidant for improving the heat resistance of a synthetic resin and simultaneously Sanol LS770 is added to the synthetic resin for improving the weather resistance, the synthetic resin having both the heat stability and the light stability can be obtained. However, when in the case of requiring more excellent heat stability, sulfur-series compound such as dimyristyl thiodipropionate, etc., which shows a synergistic effect with the phenolic compound, is additionally used for aforesaid synthetic resin, the thus obtained synthetic resin has the excellent heat stability but has the greatly reduced weather resistance. In other words, there clearly exists a phenomenon of antagonism between a hindered amine-series light stabilizer and a sulfur-series antioxidant.

Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) generate and present a realistic and intuitive simulated view (the SVS scene) of the world outside of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, a tank, an automobile, a boat, or a submarine. SVS provide the operators of vehicles, such as the pilots of aircraft, with clear and intuitive means of understanding their operating environment. By providing a clear and intuitive means of understanding an operating environment, SVS contribute to situational awareness. Situational awareness is the mental representation and understanding of objects, environmental conditions, and other situation-specific factors affecting human performance in complex and dynamic tasks. Increasing situational awareness for the operator of a vehicle increases operator performance and reduces operator error. The SVS scene is typically generated utilizing terrain, obstacle, geo-political, hydrological and other databases. The terrain displayed in the SVS scene is drawn utilizing a fixed field of view (FOV). A FOV is the angular extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. The FOV of the SVS scene is drawn to be conformal to the real world. By drawing the SVS scene including a FOV which is conformal to the real world, the operator of a vehicle is able to observe a simulated view of the world outside of a vehicle which would be observable through a window in the vehicle, even when conditions such as hazardous weather obscure visibility or when a window is not available, feasible, or desirable.

Hospital bed designs have recently been undergoing a transformation. Early beds were very basic devices providing limited patient support and care features. More recently, bed designs have been taking advantage of technological developments to provide improvements in bed articulation, mattress inflation, patient access, convenience and control. The following patents illustrate some of the designs that are currently known. 1. Pneumatic System Valves are an integral part of a mattress inflation system. Recently, valves have been designed in which a metal alloy that changes shape in response to a change in temperature is used as the valve actuator. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,479 issued to Thompson for a "Heat Motor and Valve", a valve using a heat-expanding rod to open a biased-closed valve seat is disclosed. Willson et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,732 entitled "Temperature-Responsive Valve Operators", discloses various valve configurations utilizing temperature-responsive operators made with a shape-memory alloy such as a nickel and titanium alloy. The disclosed configurations include single and double poppet designs, as well as coaxial, single poppet designs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,265 issued to Sakakibara et al. for "Electrically Operated Switching Valve" discloses the use of a warped plate controlled by a heat-activated element for selectively valving opposing ports relative to an intermediate port. Suzuki, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,587 entitled "Shape-Memory Electromechanical Drive" discloses the use of two shape-memory springs to move a slide member to couple alternate outer ports with a central port. A valve member that alternately opens and closes by heat-generating electrical current acting on a spring-biased linear alloy element is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,024 issued to Homma for "Valve Driven By Shape Memory Alloy". Hori, in Japanese Pat. No. JP61-17789 entitled "Valve Device", discloses a valve-opening device activated by a shape-memory alloy spring. The valve is held closed by a coaxial bias spring. These valve assemblies provide for effective valving, but there remains a need for a valve assembly that is able to inversely vary the flow of air or other fluid through respective inlet and outlet ports, and to independently control the flow of air through input and output ports, and that is self-contained for convenient installation and removal from a fluid-chamber housing. Inflatable mattress cushions or cells are often connected to a support surface of a base platform or frame. This connection may be provided by a connector having an inner channel or passageway, that attaches the cell to a port extending through the support surface. Further, it is known to connect two cells together with a passageway formed in the connection to allow air to flow between the connected cells. An example of such an arrangement is disclosed by Pertchik in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,824 for "Cushion for Decubitus Ulcers". Pertchik discloses a seat cushion formed of a plurality of elongate cells that are connected at contact points to provide inflation of all the cells from a single inlet. Hunt et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,885 entitled "Support Appliance for Mounting on a Standard Hospital Bed", discloses male and female parts of a connector assembly for connecting mattress cells to a mattress base inlet or outlet. Another form of connector for a mattress cell is shown in FIG. 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,413 issued to Goodwin for "Low Air Loss Bed". Hunt et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,968 entitled "Patient Support Appliances" also discloses a connector of an air tube to a housing (FIG. 4). This is a quick release connection to allow rapid deflation for cardiac arrest procedures. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,414 entitled "Modular Low Air Loss Patient Support System and Methods for Automatic Patient Turning and Pressure Point Relief", Thomas et al. also disclose in FIGS. 5 and 6 a connector for connecting a mattress cell to the platform. These connectors are constructed to be usable in a specific application, but do not permit use in various connections. For instance, there remains the need for fluid-transmitting connectors that are usable for coupling a cell to a support platform and for coupling cells together, with the integrity of the base cell remaining when a satellite cell is disconnected. Further, there is a need for a connector that can accommodate a reducer for connecting a tube to a cell. When used on an articulating bed, the fluid supply and exhaust systems used for inflating and deflating mattress cells must either be formed integrally as part of the bed platform, or must be provided by external hoses or ducts. These arrangements result in bending and wear of connecting hoses, and exposure of external tubes to wear and contact by other moving parts. The present invention makes use of expandable passageways, similar to bellows, for coupling manifolds supported on adjoining, articulating panels. Bellows-like support cells are known to be used in hospital beds. For instance, Hunt et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,276 entitled "Support Appliances Having Articulated Sections" shows the use of inflatable bellows to raise and lower the head end of a bed platform. Similar structures are also shown in patent '885 issued to Hunt et al., identified previously. A bellows-type mattress cell is disclosed by Sato in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,547 entitled "Pneumatic Mat with Sensing Means". There thus remains the need for a flexible passageway structure that can connect air passageways of adjoining bed panels, that conforms with the panel structure, is reliable, and expands and contracts in response to movement of the adjoining panels. There also is a need for a simple efficient structure for conveying pressurized and exhaust fluids to mattress cells, and along articulated panels. As was mentioned, flexible tubes are usually used to connect mattress cells to an air supply and exhaust port. For example, Hunt et al., in patent '885, and Goodwin, in patent '413, disclose the use of a flexible tube serving each mattress section. Goodwin shows them as being external to the bed platform, while Hunt et al. show them to be within the platform. Also, Evans, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,671 entitled "Controllably Inflatable Cushion", discloses individual cushions inflated in groups or zones with supply lines and exhaust lines serving each zone being controlled by a three way valve. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,590 issued to Ogura for "Valve for Fluid Mat and Apparatus for Controlling an Attitude Assumed by Fluid Mat", discloses air mattress supply ducts that are positioned between relative positive and negative pressure air chambers. Separate solenoid valves connect each air supply duct with each of the air chambers. Harkleroad et al. discloses, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,920 entitled "Air Mattress Pumping and Venting System", a pressure control system in which sensors control a venting valve and a pump for maintaining the mattress pressure between predetermined high and low values. The use of a valve having a rotatable disk for alternately connecting air supply and discharge pipes to two mattress sections is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,016 issued to Mori et al. for an "Air-Mat Apparatus". With the development of elaborate inflatable mattresses and articulating support platforms, it became difficult to take immediate action when a patient needed CPR or other procedures to treat a life-threatening condition. Various means have been developed to make the bed become a hard, flat surface to facilitate, rather than impair these procedures. For instance, in British Patent No. GB 2 141 333 entitled "Low Air Loss Support Appliance", Hunt et al. disclose in FIG. 2 and on page 2, lines 67-74, a quick release manifold that allows deflation from all ports. In patent '968, Hunt et al. disclose an air distribution chamber for supplying air to mattress cells. An exhaust plate on the chamber is manually moved to open an exhaust hole for rapidly deflating the mattress. An air pump must be separately turned off, but a switch activated by the handle to the exhaust plate transmits a signal to open the exhaust valves used on the head & foot articulating bellows. FIG. 12 of patent '414 issued to Thomas et al. discloses the use of a CPR switch connected to a circuit board. Various forms of cushions and mattresses have been designed in order to provide improved support for a patient. Viesturs et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,078 entitled "Body Supporting Mattress", disclose an elongate inner cell supported on a pad having a peripheral inflated tube. Generally U-shaped cells that alternate and are offset for use in turning a patient are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,654 issued to Vrzalik for a "Method and Apparatus for Alternating Pressure of a Low Air Loss Patient Support System". In U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,249 entitled "Patient Support Structure", Goodwin discloses a more conventional low air loss mattress formed of upright cells extending across the width of the bed. Such mattresses as shown by Goodwin and Vrzalik are prone to bend or lean into an adjoining cell location when the adjoining cell is deflated. This tends to reduce the effectiveness of controlling the support pressure and location, which is necessary in the avoidance and treatment of bed sores, and also in the articulation of the bed. It is also known to provide mattresses that have multiple layers. Grant, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,019 entitled "Dual Layer Cellular Inflatable Pad", describes a pad formed of offset layers of interdigitated inflatable sections. Welch, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,149 entitled "Beds and Mattresses", discloses a similar mattress, except the layer cells are aligned and separated by a preformed foam. Such mattresses assure resilient support for a patient, but provide limited control of support by adjacent cells. Various cushions are also known for restraining a person. An elaborate example is disclosed by Boyce in U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,103 entitled "Pneumatic Restraint System". This patent discloses a chair having inflatable bands shiftable in position for selectively restraining a person. A restraining device that is releasably attached to a support platform for placement across the body of an infant is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,669 issued to Hamann for "Diaper-Changing Aid". There thus remains a need for a means for restraining persons on a bed. In particular, it is desirable to have lateral cushions that conform to the sides of a patient, and selectively inflatable cushions that are positionable over a patient for keeping the patient in the bed. The pneumatic system of a conventional hospital bed typically includes a single pressurized air source with valves and ducts or other conduits providing distribution to the cushions in a mattress. Examples of such systems are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,799,276, 4,949,413, 4,993,920 and 5,044,029. A review of these patents shows the extent that people have gone in controlling air flow from a single source. The air flow is divided and distributed to cushions supported on several relatively articulatable panels. There typically are elaborate valves to control the amount of air flow and extensive flexible conduits and/or plenums to distribute the allocated air to each set of cushions. The air distribution system described herein with reference to FIG. 2 is an example of a more simplified air distribution scheme, but even it imposes significant structural requirements on the bed panels to form the air flow paths. The manner in which the cushions are attached to or supported on the platform panels may also be involved. For instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,879,776 and 3,909,858 illustrate elaborate structures for attaching inflatable cushions to a bed platform for anchoring the cushions and providing an air passageway for inflating them. There thus is a need for a pneumatic system that is simple in structure, readily serviced, and provides pressure control to individual sets of cushions supported on relatively articulatable panels. 2. Footboard Gate In most any patient care environment in which the patient is bedridden, it is desirable, and often necessary to provide support for equipment, documents, and other materials. Where it is sufficient to use a shelf or horizontal platform for this a movable tray on a stand separate from the bed is often utilized. In order to limit the amount of accessories around the bed or to provide a convenient table in the vicinity of the bed, various schemes have been developed. Slivoski, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,328 entitled "Mattress Extension", discloses a bed having a foot-end kick board that swings upward to form a platform. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,445 entitled "Side Panel Construction for Stretcher-Beds", Crawford discloses a side guard panel that converts into a platform. A board extending across an intermediate portion of a bed is disclosed by Donald in U.S. Pat. No. 535,945 entitled "Detachable Foot Rest and Table for Beds". The board is positionable as a table, and may be pivoted down to act as footboard for a person sitting in bed or extended beyond the foot of the bed for storage. A somewhat similar concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,555 issued to Poehner et al. for a "Hospital Bed Footboard". This footboard pulls out and pivots up to form a horizontal table. An alternative embodiment simply swings up to a horizontal, over-floor position and can slide partially over the foot of the bed. 3. Stand-Up Board The extended articulation capabilities of some beds includes the ability to raise the head of the bed, and correspondingly lower the foot of the bed until the bed is sufficiently inclined to allow the patient to exit the bed from a standing position. In order to accommodate this, it is necessary for the bed to have a footboard that is strong enough to hold the weight of the patient, and yet small enough that it will allow the mattress to be lowered near the floor. A bed developed by England and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,926 entitled "Bed with Automatic Tilting Occupant Support", is positionable in a stand-up position. A foot rest is shiftable between an inoperative position spaced from the end of the bed to an operative position adjacent to the end of the bed when the bed is inclined. The foot rest is disposed at an obtuse angled relative to the platform. This footboard has limited capabilities, and is always a part of the bed platform. Considering the infrequency that beds are used to raise a patient to a standing position, it is desirable to have a footboard that is adjustable, can serve different functions, and can be removed if desired. 4. Headboard When CPR or other emergency procedures are performed on a patient the attending personnel desire to be as close as possible to the patient. Surgical tables, for instance, are built without any form of side barriers. Beds, however, are normally used to support a patient when such procedures are not being performed, and therefore have restraining elements, such as side rails, headboards and footboards. It is conventional to provide a side rail that collapses below the level of the mattress to facilitate care by a nurse, doctor or other attendant. The number of attendants that can reasonably access a patient is limited to the number that can conveniently stand along the sides of a bed. There is thus a need for providing increased access to a patient supported in a bed. Also, for some forms of equipment, tables or trays are not adequate. For instance, intravenous (IV) equipment typically must be suspended above a patient to allow gravity to convey a fluid from a container to an intravenous needle. Also, traction devices must have an anchor connected to the bed frame. These requirements have led to other support configurations. In an article entitled "Problems of Patient Support: The Air Fluidised Bed as a Solution", pp. 269-275, Hargest discloses in FIGS. 1 and 2 conventional traction and equipment-supporting apparatus. Peck et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,066 entitled "Sidegate for Beds", discloses an extension rod mounted to a corner post cap for supporting equipment. The use of telescoping posts or members in beds are well established. U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,463 issued to Williams et al. for "Motor Operated Hospital Bed" discloses telescoping corner posts supporting end panels. A cable system provides motorized activation. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,020 issued to Nelson for an "Adjustable Height Bed", discloses A bed with leg posts having a spring-biased telescoping outer sleeve that raises and lowers with the bed platform. Hillenbrand et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,212 entitled "Retractable Bed", also discloses a bed with leg posts having spring-biased telescoping outer sleeves that raise and lower the bed platform. U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,527 was issued to Johnston et al. for a "Hospital Bed" having hydraulically driven telescoping corner legs and a guard rail with manually telescoping support legs. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,727 entitled "Convenience Bar Assembly for Hospital Bed", Wilkinson discloses a vertical bar and cross member for supporting various controls and patient equipment. The equipment supports thus known in the art are either disposed on the bed in usable position, where they get in the way of the patient and nurses when not used, or they must be removed and stored, and thus may not be readily available when needed. 5. Weight-Sensing System One of the advantages of the newer technologies has been the ability to monitor the patient while in the bed. An example of this is a system in which the weight of the patient is monitored while on the bed. The weight of the bed itself is compensated for in order to derive the patient's weight. One such system is used in a bed made by Kinetic Concepts,Inc. of San Antonio, Tex. That bed has a display for showing the patient weight and change in weight. The conventional structure providing this capability is the use of a stress gauge at each of four corners of the bed. Examples of this structure are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,136 issued to Waters et al. for "Combination Hospital Bed and Surgical Table" (col. 5, lines 13-25, col. 1, lines 58-60); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,951 issued to Carruth et al. for "Weigh Bed". This latter patent discloses a weigh system in which a load cell at each of four corners is supported on a base frame using a ball to transmit the vertical weight without creating any lateral torque. Horizontal position is maintained by three tie rods connecting the weigh frame to the base frame to prevent twisting of the weigh frame for certain patient or bed orientations. One problem with such systems is that warp inevitable exists in either or both the bed frame or the base frame. This warping results in inconsistencies in the stress on the stress gauges, and therefor produces inherent inaccuracies or complexities that must be compensated for in some other way. Not only is it useful to measure the weight of a patient without requiring the patient to leave the bed, it is also desirable to monitor the movement of a patient on the bed. Fleck et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,560 entitled "Bed Departure Detection System", discloses the use of tape switch detectors in a mattress to detect a person's departure from a bed. Restlessness of a person in the bed can be detected through the use of two or three tape switches. Peck et al. devised a system for sensing the departure of a patient from the bed of the invention by a decrease in pressure in a lower bladder, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,744 entitled "Inflatable Bed". 6. Control Unit As the complexity of beds and patient care systems increase, the complexity of control of the patient support system also increases. The control of some features, such as bed configuration, are made available to the patient, and control of other features, such as mattress pressure, air flow and temperature, are made available only to the attending personnel. Various control designs have been developed to accommodate these two control needs. An air suspension bed identified by the proprietary name TheraPulse.TM. of Kinetic Concepts,Inc. of San Antonio, Tex., includes a hand-held bed controller provided with a hook for hanging the controller on a side rail. The bed also has controls extending from the face of the footboard for use by attendants. Pauna discloses a control panel mounted on a guard rail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,348 entitled "Convertible Bed and Bathroom Combination". In U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,753 entitled "Hospital Bed", Benoit et al. disclose a nurse control panel located in the footboard and covered by a panel cover. These controls are in addition to patient controls. Drew et al. disclose various control units built into guard rails in U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,015 entitled "Side Guard for Bed Including Means for Controlling Remote Electrical Devices". This patent also mentions that removal, interchange, and replacement of the various controls is possible since the various controls are modular components. The controls may be easily replaced if service is required, or moved from one side to the other depending on the physical affliction of the patient. In patent '654, Vrzalik also discloses a control unit attached to the bottom of the footboard and control switches mounted in the footboard. Except for the pendant control unit of Kinetics Concepts, such control units are mounted in fixed positions. The pendant control unit requires two hands to use, and is limited to controls made available to the patient. There thus remains the need for a controller that provides both attendant as well as patient controls that is variable in position and even capable of being hand held or removable in order to clear the patient area of the bed. 7. Transport Guide Wheels One of the concerns with the newer, more elaborate beds is the strength and agility attendants need to maneuver them to different locations within a hospital. Typically, beds are provided with a wheel at each corner, with each wheel being free to turn about a vertical axis. This wheel arrangement is convenient for adjusting the orientation of a bed within a room, but makes turning corners and traveling along a straight line, such as when moving down a hallway, difficult. Paramedic gurneys exist that have a fifth, center wheel that is fixed in alignment with the length of the gurney and is slightly below the plane of the four corner wheels. This assures that the fifth wheel is always in contact with the floor. However, the resulting rocking effect when weight is shifted from one end to the other is particularly undesirable in a permanent bed. There is thus a need for a wheel system for hospital beds that allows maneuverability and yet assists in the movement of the bed significant distances. 8. Guard Rail Elevation System As has been mentioned, beds typically have guard rails that can be fixed in a position above the mattress level, in order to keep patients from inadvertently exiting the bed. During times of attendance, it is desirable to remove the guard rail from its position. This is typically accommodated by making the guard rail removable or, more commonly, adjustable so that it can be pivoted or otherwise lowered below the level of the mattress. One way that guard rails are lowered is by the use of telescoping support members, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,880 issued to Koncelik et al. for "Geriatric Bed Construction with Sideguards". Cable and pulley systems are also used in various movable bed mechanisms in order to facilitate movement of a portion of the bed. For instance, Williams et al. disclose a cable-activated telescoping end panel in patent '463. Hunt et al., in patent '276, disclose the use of a cable and spring to operate a valve controlled by rotation of a pulley around which the cable is wound. As is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,171 entitled "Hospital Bed Rail Assembly", Einsele et al. developed a rail that pivots sideways to a lower position. It includes a spring, a cable and a cam link to resist gravity when lowered and raised. There remains the need for a heavy duty side guard that raises and lowers in place, and is easy to operate with one hand. 9. Swing Arm Extension Brace Hydraulic operation provides a readily controlled way to move articulating bed members. For example, Morrison developed a hydraulic ram for moving a pin resting on the edges of travel slots, as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,772 entitled "Center-Pivoting Bed". This structure is confined to movement in the slots. Where a hydraulic arm is free to pivot it can experience a large bending moment when extended horizontally. It is therefore desirable to take advantage of the controllability of hydraulic arm movement while minimizing the size of the arm necessary to support a leveraged weight that can exist on the arm. 10. Platform Joint Healthy people typically spend approximately one third of their time sleeping. People of what may be considered less than optimum health spend even greater amounts of time reclining. Beds of various forms have been developed in order to provide comfort to the user. This is particularly true of patients in hospitals and health care facilities, as well as those in homes who, for various reasons, are bed ridden. Once one is in bed for extended periods of time in a situation or condition that does not allow movement in order to maintain comfort, complications, such as bed or pressure sores may develop. One way that this condition has been alleviated is to build beds having support surfaces that can be moved into various orientations and configurations. Representative examples of such beds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,081,463 issued to Williams et al.; 4,038,709 issued to Kerwit; 4,099,276 issued to Hunt et al.; 4,371,996 issued to Nahum; 4,745,647 issued to Goodwin; 4,935,968 issued to Hunt et al.; and 5,023,967 issued to Ferrand; and French Pat. No. 87 16722 issued to Pupovic. Each of these patents disclose beds having platforms formed of a set of panels that pivot for assuming configurations corresponding to various positions of a person's legs and torso. Each of these provide a back panel that supports a person's torso and a seat portion that supports the person's hips or hips and thighs. These panels are typically hinged together or caused to pivot about a fixed joint corresponding to the hip joint. It has been observed that the surface length of the buttocks increases when a person moves from a flat reclining position to a sitting position. Fixed joints do not allow for this variation in body surface length, thereby requiring the reclining person to adjust her or his body to accommodate it. If the person is immobile, such accommodation is not possible. There therefore remains a need for a bed interpanel joint that is not fixed, but rather compensates for changes in the body surface during bending. 11. Hydraulic Valve Many different forms of hydraulic valves exist for controlling fluid flow and fluid pressure. These valves typically involve a gate or plunger that closes an opening or other fluid passageway when in a closed position, and rapidly opens to relatively full flow conditions. There is thus very little intermediate control of the fluid flow. In order to control fluid flow rate over a range of positions of adjustment, proportionally adjustable hydraulic valves have been developed. These valves provide for continuous variation of a fluid opening over a range of adjustment positions. Although the change in opening varies proportionally with adjustment position, the relationship between the two is very complex, with control determined typically by measurements of the fluid flow or the effect of the fluid flow, independent of adjustment position. Articulating beds, and in particular hospital beds may use a hydraulic system to control movement of a support surface, such as a bed platform or hinging panels forming the platform, relative to a base supported on a floor. The platform may be moved as a unit, or the panels may move relative to each other. In such a bed, it is desirable to vary the speed of articulation of the support surface. For instance, it is desirable to raise the head panel slower than it is lowered. If the bed is capable of standing up a patient, it is desirable to use different stand up speeds for patients with different conditions. It is useful to tilt a bed from side to side. For patients with pulmonary complications, tilting the bed from side to side slowly for long periods of time helps them breathe. However, if a bed needs to be tilted to position a patient for transfer to a stretcher, the bed must be tilted more quickly. Also for emergency applications, such as CPR or Trendelenburg, it is desirable to get the bed in a particular configuration very quickly. Since the bed could be in any allowable configuration at the time of the emergency request, the cylinders must all move at one speed for normal use, and another speed for emergency use. It is seen that speed control over a wide range is desirable. Conventional valves typically of the spool type and have a wide dynamic range of operation. The portion of the range applicable to articulation speeds for beds is a small portion of that range. These valves also have flow rates that vary relative to valve shaft position according to complex equations. As a result they are themselves expensive and also require expensive systems to control them. There thus is a need for an hydraulic articulating system that provides control within a limited range that is economical, and is controllable simply. 12. Platform Support Various apparatus have been developed for supporting a bed platform. Current designs provide for changing the elevation and attitude of the platform relative to the base frame. Conventional systems use linear drives on parallel linkages or one or more hydraulic cylinders positioned to change the pitch and roll of the bed relative to a central universal joint. A simplified platform support system was developed by Ferrand, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,967, that involves a triangulation support system providing full platform articulation using three platform supports. The patent discloses the use of a universal joint mounted to the platform and supported on two opposing hydraulic arms. A pair of laterally opposing side arms are spaced from the universal joint. Coordinated adjustment in the lengths of the various hydraulic arms adjusts the three basic forms of platform orientation: pitch, roll and elevation. Although providing a simple and effective system for articulating a platform, the three-axis support system as disclosed by Ferrand requires the use of two heavy-duty base hydraulic rams for supporting the universal joint. A compact universal joint, as disclosed, results in a mechanically weak point when the forces of an articulating bed platform are applied to it. By attaching the upper ends of both base rams to the universal joint, the available range of motion of the platform is equal to the adjustable length of the rams. Further, by mounting the two side arms to the base frame or to the base of the adjacent base ram, elevation changes in the bed are further limited by the length of throw of the two side arms. The attachment of the universal joint and the side legs to different, relatively hingeable panels also requires the use of a control system that must account for changes in orientation between the associated panels. There thus is a need for a three-axis support system that is more economical to produce and easier to use. 13. Multifunction Control System As beds become more sophisticated with an increasing variety of different features, the use of the various features becomes more complicated and it becomes increasingly difficult to coordinate the various features and keep track of the state each feature is in at a given time. Such coordination becomes increasingly important when the bed is used to support a patient in a critical condition. Beds presently exist which allow an attendant to lockout the control of bed movement by the patient in order to assure that the bed is maintained in a selected support configuration. An example is where the patient is held in traction and the orientation and firmness of the mattress must stay the same. Also, if the bed has an equipment-support table that extends over the mattress, certain movements of the mattress could upset the table. As yet another example, it would be unsafe to tilt the mattress sideways if one or more of the "downhill" guardrails is not in an upright position. There is therefore a need for a bed having controls that assist in the coordination of various features of the bed to assure proper patient treatment and safety.

1. Field The disclosure relates to integrated circuit design, and, in particular, to techniques for designing amplifiers having a multi-cascode configuration. 2. Background In the design of CMOS RF power amplifiers (PA's), a multi-cascode circuit topology may be adopted, wherein multiple cascode transistors are provided at the drain of an input transistor. To generate bias voltages for the multi-cascode circuit, a resistive divider from a supply voltage to ground may be tapped and provided to the gates of the multiple cascode transistors, while a separate network may be used to bias the input transistor. One shortcoming of this solution is that the mapping between the bias voltages generated thereby and the desired currents in the devices may not be accurate, as the configuration of the bias networks of the input transistor is different from that of the cascode amplifier circuit. In a further aspect of amplifier design, a variable attenuation element may be coupled in series with the PA to provide the PA with variable gain. To adjust the power of the PA output, the attenuation provided by the attenuation element may be adjusted. A disadvantage of this approach is that the attenuation element needs to be provided directly in the signal path of the PA, and may thus undesirably contribute to noise in the PA output, and also vary both the input and output impedances of the PA. It would be desirable to provide accurate and efficient techniques for biasing a multi-cascode amplifier circuit, and further to provide variable gain to such a multi-cascode amplifier circuit without necessarily introducing a series attenuation element into the signal path.

Engines, for example vehicle engines, are being downsized and boosted, which is reducing the available vacuum from the engine. This vacuum has many potential uses, including use by the vehicle brake booster. One solution to this vacuum shortfall is to install a vacuum pump. Vacuum pumps, however, have a significant cost and weight penalty to the engine, their electric power consumption can require additional alternator capacity, and their inefficiency can hinder fuel economy improvement actions. Another solution is using aspirators that generate vacuum by creating an engine air flow path that is parallel to the throttle, referred to as an intake leak. This leak flow passes through a Venturi that generates a suction vacuum. The problem with presently available aspirators is that they are limited in the amount of vacuum mass flow rate they can generate and by the amount of engine air they consume. A separate vacuum source may be required to operate vehicle systems while the engine is either under boost or operating with an inadequate amount of manifold vacuum. A need exists for improved designs that include fewer parts and/or fewer components to generate vacuum when supplied with boost and also when supplied with manifold vacuum.

1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to holographic human-machine interfaces (“HMIs”) between humans and electronic or electro-mechanical devices. 2. Description of Related Art There are many methods and devices available for entering data and commands into computers and other electronic equipment, such devices including, for example, keyboards, key pads, light pens, mice, pushbuttons, touch screens and trackballs. All of these input devices share a common feature: they require tangible physical contact by a user of the computer or electronic equipment. However, holographic HMIs involve no tangible physical contact between the human operator and the control elements of the HMIs because the input devices are holographic images of keys or other customarily touch-activated tangible input elements. Operator interaction with those holographic images is detected through electromagnetic means or other means, obviating the need for direct physical contact with any solid input object or surface. Holographic HMIs between humans and electronic or electro-mechanical equipment are known in the art. Most notably, a “Holographic Control Arrangement” is described in U.K. Patent No. 2292711 (McPheters) and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,238 (McPheters), which are incorporated herein by reference. Known holographic HMI systems may be characterized by the holographic HMI devices being relatively large and bulky, and they may consume relatively large amounts of power, making them impractical for some uses. A problem may also occur with known holographic HMIs, when they are intended to replace touch screens or touch pads presenting multiple screens of information to the operator, because their holographic images cannot be smoothly integrated with input or output information available to the human operator on information presentation equipment of the electronic or electro-mechanical device being controlled. In addition, a problem may occur when more than one piece of electronic or electro-mechanical equipment is controlled by holographic HMIs, requiring multiple holographic images. In such situations, an operator is easily distracted by the multiple images. Another problem posed by present holographic HMIs is that, as compared with conventional interfaces, the operator of a holographic HMI receives no tactile feedback when interacting with a holographic HMI, which may cause the operator of the holographic HMI to lose track of the commands or information being entered into the electronic or electro-mechanical device. Further, a problem may occur when the footprint of known holographic HMIs is not smaller than the physical dimensions of the conventional human-machine interfaces of the electronic or electro-mechanical device(s) being controlled.

Hemostasis relies on the complex coagulation cascade, wherein a series of events mediated by blood clotting factors leads to conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. Factor X (FX) activation is the central event of both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of the coagulation cascade. The extrinsic pathway has been proposed as the primary activator of the coagulation cascade (Mackman et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Case. Biol., 27, 1687-1693 (2007)). Circulating Tissue Factor (TF) and activated Factor VII (FVIIa) interact to form the “extrinsic complex,” which mediates activation of FX. The coagulation cascade is amplified by the intrinsic pathway, during which successive activation of factors XII, XI, IX, and VIII results in formation of the “intrinsic” FIXa-FVIIIa complex that also mediates FX activation. Activated FX promotes thrombin formation, which is required for the body to create fibrin and effectively curb bleeding. Severe bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia, result from disruption of the blood coagulation cascade. Hemophilia A, the most common type of hemophilia, stems from a deficiency in factor VIII, while hemophilia B is associated with deficiencies in Factor IX (FIX). Hemophilia C is caused by a deficiency in Factor XI (FXI) (Cawthern et al., Blood, 91(12), 4581-4592 (1998)). There is currently no cure for hemophilia and other clotting diseases. Factor replacement therapy is the most common treatment for blood coagulation disorders. However, blood clotting factors typically are cleared from the bloodstream shortly after administration. To be effective, a patient must receive frequent intravenous infusions of plasma-derived or recombinant factor concentrates, which is uncomfortable, requires clinical settings, is expensive, and is time consuming. In addition, therapeutic efficacy of factor replacement therapy can diminish drastically upon formation of inhibitory antibodies. Approximately 30% of patients with severe hemophilia A develop inhibitory antibodies that neutralize Factor VIII (FVIII) (Peerlinck and Hermans, Haemophilia, 12, 579-590 (2006)). Few therapeutic options exist for patients with anti-Factor antibodies. Thus, there exists a need in the art for compositions and methods for treating blood coagulation disorders. The invention provides such compositions and methods.

This invention relates to devices for draining vessels and is particularly concerned with catheters for draining organs and body cavities such as, for example, urinary bladder catheters. Known cathers have a so-called balloon adjacent the insertion end which, once the catheter has been inserted into the bladder, is inflated to hold the catheter in position. The balloon surrounds the drainage tube in the known catheters and thus causes an increase in the diameter of the catheter in the balloon region even when the balloon is not inflated. Any increase in the diameter of a catheter is disadvantgeous since it impedes the insertion of the catheter through the urethra into the bladder. A further disadvantage of the known catheters is that, once inserted into the bladder and with the balloon inflated, the inlet to the drainage tube at the end of the catheter is spaced from the bladder wall by the length of the balloon so that a quantity of urine can collect and remain in the bladder as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. This residual urine can cause infection of the bladder and encrustation of products on the surface of the catheter.

The present invention relates to a technology for simultaneously testing a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a semiconductor wafer in a wafer condition. Advances in size reduction and cost reduction of recent electronic components incorporating semiconductor IC (integrated circuit) devices are so remarkable that requirements to the size reduction and cost reduction of the semiconductor IC devices are becoming more severe. In general, a manufacturing of a semiconductor IC device is as follows. First of all, a semiconductor chip and a lead frame are electrically connected with each other by means of a bonding wire. Thereafter, the semiconductor chip is sealed by resin or ceramic and then mounted on a printed board. However, the requirements of reducing the size of an electronic component have introduced a method of directly mounting on a circuit board a semiconductor IC device in a bare chip or chip condition to guarantee quality at low cost. The bare chip or chip condition generally represents a condition of semiconductor IC device which is just cut off a semiconductor wafer. In order to guarantee quality of bare chips, it is necessary to execute a burn-in screening of a semiconductor IC device in the wafer condition. However, the burn-in screening of the semiconductor wafer is complicated in handling the semiconductor wafer; thus, the requirement to low cost could not be satisfied. Furthermore, executing the burn-in screening of the plural bare chips on a semiconductor wafer is time-consuming since it requires to execute the burn-in screening separately and repeatedly one by ene or group by group. Thus, in view of time and cost, it does not bring practical merits. Accordingly, it is earnestly required to realize a simultaneous execution of the burn-in screening of all the bare chips in the wafer condition. FIG. 32 is a schematic view showing a testing method of a semiconductor wafer using a conventional prober. As shown in FIG. 32, a semiconductor wafer 202 is fixed on a wafer stage 201 provided in the prober. A probe card 204, having probe needles 203, - - - , 203 made of for example tungsten, is disposed above the semiconductor wafer 202. These probe needles 203, - - - , 203 are brought into contact with IC terminals on the semiconductor wafer 202, so that an electric power voltage or signal can be supplied to the integrated circuit by means of a tester or the like to detect an output signal from the integrated circuit chip by chip. For testing the same kind of integrated circuits in a short time, a full automatic prober is normally used since it has an alignment function and is capable of automatically executing a measurement of chip one by one. In FIG. 32, a reference numeral 205 represents a wiring pattern and a reference numeral 206 represents an external electrode terminal. Hereinafter, a conventional testing method of a semiconductor wafer using a full automatic prober will be explained with reference to FIGS. 32 and 33. First of all, in a step SB1, the semiconductor wafer 202 is automatically transported from a wafer carrier onto the wafer stage 201. Next, in a step SB2, positioning of the semiconductor wafer 202 is carried out using a CCD camera or the like so that IC terminals on the semiconductor wafer 202 can be brought into contact with the probe needles 203, - - - 203. Then, in a step SB3, the wafer stage 201 is shifted below the probe card 204 so that the semiconductor wafer 202 is placed below the probe card 204. Subsequently, in a step SB4, the probe needles 203, - - - , 203 are brought into contact with the IC terminals on the semiconductor wafer 202. An electric power voltage or signal is applied to the integrated circuit to measure an output signal from the integrated circuit, thereby executing a test of the integrated circuit. After finishing the test of one integrated circuit, the wafer stage 201 is shifted to the next integrated circuit. Then, the probe needles 203, - - - , 203 are brought into contact with the terminals of the next integrated circuit to execute a measurement of the next integrated circuit. According to the conventional testing method of a semiconductor wafer using a full automatic prober, a plurality of integrated circuits on the semiconductor wafer 202 are successively measured in the manner above-described. When the test of all the integrated circuits is completed, the semiconductor wafer 202 is returned from the wafer stage 201 to the wafer carrier in a step SB5. For a plurality of semiconductor wafers 202, - - - , 202, above-described steps are repeatedly executed to accomplish a measurement of each semiconductor wafer 202. When the measurement of all the semiconductor wafers 202 is finished, operation of the full automatic prober ends. A method of shortening a test time per chip would be, for example, to provide a self test circuit (i.e. BIST circuit) to execute the burn-in screening (high-speed operation) of memories such as DRAM by means of a prober. Executing the burn-in screening processing in the wafer condition according to the previously-described testing method of a semiconductor wafer using a prober would require a time not longer than 1 minute in total for the shifting of the semiconductor wafer 202 in the procedures of the steps SB1, SB3 and SB5 and the positioning of the semiconductor wafer 202 in the step SB2. However, the burn-in screening in the step SB4 usually requires several to several tens hours. The conventional testing method of a semiconductor wafer using a prober is disadvantageous in that it necessitates to test semiconductor wafers one by one. Accordingly, it takes an extremely long time to test a great amount of semiconductor wafers. This will results in a huge increase of cost for manufacturing an LSI chip. Another disadvantage of the testing operation using an automatic prober is an exclusive usage of the probe during tests, because the alignment function cannot be used for tests for other kinds of semiconductor wafers or other purposes. Providing a BIST circuit for shortening a test time per chip, applied to DRAM or the like, leads to an increase of a chip area and reduces the number of chips per wafer, thus causing a problem of increasing chip cost. To execute the burn-in screening of bare chips at a time in the wafer condition, it is necessary to simultaneously apply an electric power voltage or signal to a plurality of chips formed on the same wafer, to operate all of these plural chips. To this end, it will be necessary to prepare a probe card having numerous probe needles (e.g. several thousands or more). However, the conventional needle type probe card cannot meet such a need in view of great number of pins and cost increase. Proposed to solve such a problem is a thin film type probe card having bumps on a flexible substrate (Refer to Nitto Technical Reports Vol.28, No.2 (October 1990) PP. 57-62) Hereinafter, the burn-in screening using a flexible substrate with bumps will be explained. FIGS. 34(a) and 34(b) are cross-sectional views illustrating the probing condition when a flexible substrate with bumps is used. In FIGS. 34(a) and 34(b), a reference numeral 211 represents a probe card which comprises a polyimide substrate 218, a wiring layer 217 formed on the polyimide substrate 218, bump electrodes 216, - - - , 216, and a through hole wiring connecting the wiring layer 217 and the bump electrodes 216, - - - , 216. As illustrated in FIG. 34(a), the probe card 211 is pushed against a semiconductor wafer 212 serving as a tested substrate so that a pad 215 on the semiconductor wafer 212 is electrically connected to a corresponding bump 216 of the probe card 211. If testing condition is in a room temperature, a test will be feasible in this condition by simply applying an electric power voltage or signal to the bump 216 via the wiring layer 217. However, a diameter of the semiconductor wafer 212 possibly increases up to, foe example, 6 inches in the probing using the conventional probe card 211, causing deflection of the semiconductor wafer 212 and/or unevenness in height of the bump 216 which lead to a first problem of making some of electrical connections useless between the bumps 216, - - - , 216 and the pads 215, - - - , 215. The burn-in screening generally requires a step of increasing the temperature of the semiconductor wafer 212 to execute temperature acceleration. FIG. 34(b) shows a cross-sectional structure of the semiconductor wafer 212 heated from the room temperature 25.degree. C. to 125.degree. C. In FIG. 34(b), the left-hand portion shows condition of a center of the semiconductor wafer 212, while the right-hand portion shows condition of a periphery of the semiconductor wafer 212. Polyimide constituting the polyimide substrate 218 has a thermal expansion coefficient larger than that of silicon constituting the semiconductor wafer 212. (More specifically, the thermal expansion coefficient of polyimide is 16.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C., while the thermal expansion coefficient of silicon is 3.5.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C.) Thus, dislocation between the bump 216 and its corresponding pad 215 is found at the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer 212. More specifically, if the semiconductor wafer 212 of 6 inches and the probe card 211 are aligned in position at a room temperature and then heated to 100.degree. C., the probe card 211 will cause a thermal expansion of 160 .mu.m while the semiconductor wafer 212 will cause a thermal expansion of 35 .mu.m. In other words, a dislocation between the pad 215 and the bump 216 will increase up to an approximately 125 .mu.m at the outermost periphery of the semiconductor wafer 212. Such a dislocation due to difference of thermal expansion is so serious that electrical connection between the pad 215 and its corresponding bump 216 cannot be maintained in the peripheral region of the semiconductor wafer 212. As explained above, according to the conventional burn-in screening, the semiconductor wafer is heated during the burn-in screening. The probe card brought into contact with the semiconductor wafer is also heated. Thus, difference of thermal expansion coefficients between the semiconductor wafer and the probe card causes a serious dislocation therebetween, resulting in a second problem that electrical connection between a pad and its corresponding bump cannot be maintained at the periphery of the semiconductor wafer. To execute the burn-in screening of bare chips in the wafer condition, it is necessary to operate each bare chip by simultaneously applying an electric power voltage or signal to a plurality of bare chips formed on a single semiconductor wafer. However, supplying an electric power voltage or signal to each bare chip independently is not practical in view of cost since the number of wiring patterns exclusively formed on the semiconductor wafer increases up to several thousands or several tens thousands. To reduce the number of independently or exclusively provided wiring patterns, it is necessary to commonly use the wiring patterns as many as possible. However, if extraordinary current flows through one bare chip connected to such a common wiring pattern, adverse effect of extraordinary current will spread to other bare chips associated. Thus, it becomes impossible to execute an ordinary burn-in screening. Accordingly, in executing the burn-in screening, it is necessary to electrically remove such an extraordinary bare chip from the common wiring pattern. Hereinafter, a method disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 1-227467/1989 will be explained as one example of the burn-in screening of bare chips in the wafer condition. FIG. 35 shows one of plural bare chips formed on a semiconductor wafer. In FIG. 35, a reference numeral 240 represents a bare chip, a reference numeral 243 represents an electric power source pad of the bare chip 240, a reference numeral 244 represents a GND pad of the bare chip 240, a reference numeral 241 represents a burn-in electric power source pad, and a reference numeral 242 represents a P-channel type transistor. The transistor 242 has a drain connected to the burn-in electric power source pad 241 and a source connected to the electric power source pad 243. Furthermore, in FIG. 35, a reference numeral 245a represents a first pad connected to the gate of transistor 242, and reference numerals 245b and 245c represent second and third pads respectively connected to the first pad 245a via a thin aluminum pattern of, for example, 3 .mu.m width. A first resistance 246a is interposed between the GND pad 244 and the second pad 245b. This first resistance 246a has a relatively low resistant value (e.g. 10 k.OMEGA.). A second resistance 246b is interposed between the burn-in electric power source pad 241 and the third pad 245c. This second resistance 246b has a relatively high resistant value (e.g. 100 k.OMEGA.). First of all,-before a burn-in screening, a wafer test is executed by probing electric power source pad 243, GOND pad 244, first to third pads 245a-245c using a stationary probe needle (not shown) connected to an external measurement device (not shown) . The external measurement device applies an electric power voltage to the electric power source pad 243 and applies a GND voltage to the GND pad 244. Furthermore, the first pad 245a is given an "H" level signal. As the transistor 242 is in an OFF condition under such a condition, no current flows between the electric power source pad 243 and the burn-in pad 241. Thus, a test of the bare chip 240 is feasible. When the bare chip 240 is found to be a non-defective as a result of the test of the bare chip 240, the next bare chip is subsequently tested. On the contrary, if the bare chip 240 is found to be a defective, the external measurement device supplies large current (e.g. 100 mA) between the first pad 245a and the second pad 245b to fuse the shin aluminum pattern interposed between the first pad 245a and the second pad 245b before going on a test of the next bare chip. By doing the wafer test in this manner before the burn-in screening, the burn-in screening can be effectively carried out. More specifically, when the burn-in electric power source pad 241 is applied an electric voltage in the burn-in screening, the transistor 242 is turned on in the case the bare chip 240 is found a non-defective in the wafer test because the gate voltage of the transistor 242 becomes an "L" level due to existence of the second resistance 246b having a resistant value larger than that of the first resistance 246a. Thus, the burn-in voltage is supplied to the electric power source pad 243 through the transistor 242. On the other hand, the thin aluminum pattern between the first pad 245a and the second pad 245b is fused off in a case the bare chip 240 is found a defective in the wafer test. Therefore, the gate voltage of the transistor 242 becomes an "H" level, and the transistor 242 is turned off. Thus, the burn-in voltage is not supplied to the electric power source pad 243, preventing electric current from flowing through the defective bare chip 240. As described above, electric power source current is surely prevented from flowing through the defective chip even if an electric voltage is applied to the burn-in electric power source pad 241. Hence, adverse effect is not given to the non-defective chips in the burn-in screening. However, above-described arrangement requires to form on each bare chip 240 excessive elements such as transistor 242, first and second resistances 246a, 246b, burn-in electric power source pad 241, first to third pads 245a-245c and aluminum pattern acting as a fuse. Furthermore, an electric voltage is applied through the transistor 242 in the burn-in screening and, therefore, an electric voltage applied to the burn-in electric power source pad 241 is not directly applied to the internal electric power source. Thus, a third problem arises in that a significant voltage drop is induced in the bare chip 240.

In a basic database client/server arrangement, one or more database clients can make queries via a network to a back-end database server. The database server executes the queries and returns results to the client that requested them. The clients might be, for example, web servers or application servers or a mix of both. Typically all the clients transmit their queries to a common IP address and port number combination on the database server, and the database server transmits its results back to the IP address that originated each query. Usually an authentication process precedes the queries, in which the client provides the database server with authentication credentials (such as a username and password) and the database server establishes a “connection” through which the client can make its queries. A database server in this basic arrangement is often a single computer system, though in some implementations it might actually be a cluster of computer systems. Even such a cluster, however, is arranged so as to appear to the client as a single server reached via a single IP address and port number combination. When client applications need to access data from the database servers, database connections are created to let the application query the database for the same. When a connection is requested, the database server has to be first located, mode of communication established and then information exchanged. In many cases the connection also needs to be authenticated, which can involve significant compute-intensive cryptographic calculations taking place at both the client system and the database server. For many data-intensive applications, the need to repeatedly make connections becomes a bottleneck. The problem is compounded because in many traditional database client/server arrangements, a client might make only one or a few queries through a connection to the database server, before it tears down the connection. In addition, if a client application tries to make a new connection at a time when the maximum number of connections possible for a database server has already been reached, a database connection failure occurs causing subsequent connections and queries to be dropped. Many more sophisticated kinds of client/server database arrangements support the concept of connection pooling. Typically these arrangements involve the client system creating connections from a particular client system to the database servers on demand, but keeping them open when the application would otherwise close them. A pool of connections is thereby created. Thereafter, when the application requires a new connection, it is supplied from the pool if one is available, or a new connection is created if not. If the maximum number of available connections to the database server have already been made, then the connection request can be put on hold until a connection becomes available. On the other hand, many less sophisticated kinds of client/server database arrangements do not support connection pooling. It is the task of the application developer to provide this feature. Pre-written software modules are available for implementing connection pooling in an application, but inserting them into existing application software typically requires extensive modifications in other modules in the application. Modifying an application which is not built to support connection pooling can be expensive, and time consuming, and in some cases may require significant re-engineering of its underlying structure, rendering it incompatible with future updates to the original application. Closed source applications that do not support code editing are not even capable of being modified to handle the required connection pooling. Thus Applicants have recognized a need for a mechanism which can accelerate client/server database access, and do so transparently without requiring modification of software code in either the client application or the database servers.

A. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to materials in methods for use in concentrating and/or isolating cells from a sample using carboxylated surfaces. B. Brief Description of Related Art Carboxylated surfaces have found multiple uses in the biotechnological arts. Frequently, the surfaces are used to isolate specific biomolecules. For example, WO 2007-004687 discloses the formation of agglutinates of lipoproteins, other than a specific lipoprotein fraction, using magnetic nanoparticles which have anionic functional groups, such as a carboxylic acid group, on their surfaces. Carboxylated surfaces also have been used as supports for biomolecule- and biomaterial-specific ligands, which may be used to immobilize the biomolecule or biomaterial. In the typical scenario, the carboxyl group is activated, for example, using a carbodiimide. The activated carboxyl is then reacted with a reactive group (such as an amine) in an entity capable of binding to a target cell or class of target cells, such as an antibody, thereby immobilizing the entity to the surface. The cell may then be bound to the surface via an interaction between the immobilized entity and the cell. For example, in WO 2007-095279 carboxy-modified nanoparticles coated with DNA aptamers having a high affinity for a target cell are used to immobilize the cell and separate it from the sample by flow cytometry. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,713,627, “probe-bonded particles” are disclosed for use in separating bacteria, viruses, and cells. The “probe” specific for the target may be attached to the particle via chemical reaction with a surface functionalized with a carboxylic acid-bearing group. In EP 1118676, microorganisms are isolated using binding between the microorganism and a ligand, such as a carbohydrate to which the microorganism is known to bind, a nutrient for the microorganism, or an iron chelating compound. Others have described the use of carboxylated surfaces to directly isolate viruses from biological samples. For example, US 2003-0087284 discloses the use of particles coated with at least one cationic group and at least one anionic group to bind, separate, and detect viruses.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to the field of estimating material properties of porous media. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for estimating such properties using computer tomographic (CT) images of porous media such as subsurface rock formation. 2. Background Art Estimating materials properties such as effective elastic moduli, electrical resistivity and fluid transport properties of porous media, an example of the latter being mobility of hydrocarbon in subsurface rock formations, has substantial economic significance. Methods known in the art for identifying the existence of subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs, including seismic surveying and well log analysis, need to be supplemented with reliable methods for estimating how fluids disposed in the pore spaces of the reservoir rock formations will flow over time in order to characterize the economic value of such reservoir rock formations. One method known in the art for estimating fluid transport properties is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,080 issued to Nur. The method described in the Nur patent includes preparing a “thin section” from a specimen of rock formation. The preparation typically includes filling the pore spaces with a dyed epoxy resin. A color micrograph of the section is digitized and converted to an n-ary index image, for example a binary index image. Statistical functions are derived from the two-dimensional image and such functions are used to generate three-dimensional representations of the rock formation. Boundaries can be unconditional or conditioned to the two-dimensional n-ary index image. Desired physical property values are estimated by performing numerical simulations on the three-dimensional representations. For example, permeability is estimated by using a Lattice-Boltzmann flow simulation. Typically, multiple, equiprobable three-dimensional representations are generated for each n-ary index image, and the multiple estimated physical property values are averaged to provide a result. It is also known in the art to use x-ray computer tomographic (CT) images of samples of rock for analysis. CT images are input to a computer program that segments the images into rock grains and pore spaces. The segmented image can be used as input to programs such as the Lattice-Boltzmann program described above to estimate formation fluid transport properties. Wellbores drilled through subsurface formations typically have a pipe or casing cemented in place after drilling the wellbore is completed. The casing hydraulically isolates and protects the various rock formations and provides mechanical integrity to the wellbore. The wellbore is hydraulically connected to a formation from which fluid is to be withdrawn or injected by a process known as “perforating.” Perforating is typically performed by inserting an assembly of explosive shaped charges into the wellbore and detonating the charges. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,095 issued to Slagle et al. The process of shaped charge perforating creates a tunnel or flow conduit that allows reservoir fluids to enter the wellbore and subsequently flow or be pumped out of the wellbore. However, by creating the perforation tunnels the physical parameters of the rocks surrounding the tunnel are often altered in such a manner as to restrict or reduce flow. It is known in the art to test the effectiveness and performance of shaped charges. Testing is typically performed by the shaped charge manufacturer using a procedure specified by the American Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C. (“API”) known as Recommended Practice 43 (“RP43”). In performing RP43, a target material, typically in the shape of a cylinder, is placed proximate the shaped charge undergoing testing. A steel casing segment or plate and a layer of typical casing cement may be disposed between the target material and the shaped charge. The target material is typically a rock formation known as the Berea sandstone. After detonation of the shaped charge, the dimensions of the perforation made in the target are measured, and the fluid transport properties of the target may be measured in a laboratory. Laboratory evaluation of fluid transport properties can be difficult and expensive. Laboratory evaluation of perforated cores can also be highly inaccurate due to the presence of unknown fractures or heterogeneities within the core. It is desirable to be able to estimate or determine fluid transport properties of perforation test targets without the need for full laboratory evaluation.

Containers for solid snack foods of the particulate type, e.g, shelled peanuts, popped popcorn, unshelled peanuts, pretzel nuggets, pretzel sticks, hard candy and jelly beans, have many different forms. The containers for many of these snack foods are plastic bags that are torn open and disposed of immediately after or prior to consumption of the snack food in the bag. Glass bottles and metal containers are also used, particularly for peanuts, hard candies and jelly beans. While the glass bottles and some of the metal containers can be used again for different purposes, most are not specifically designed to be reused for different purposes. While some snack food containers are attractive, lending themselves to reuse and double use, most have mundane configurations and appearance. It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved solid particulate snack food container, particularly adapted to be used again for different purposes, and to a method of using and making same. An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved solid snack food container, particularly adapted to be used again as a coin bank, wherein the container is attractive and includes promotional materials for goods and services unrelated to the snack food in the container. An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved snack food container which can also be used as a coin bank, wherein the container includes a sealed token slot and a sealed cap, to assist in maintaining the freshness of perishable particulate snack foods and for security purposes.

In a spread spectrum communication system, when narrowband interference falls into a receive pass-band due to factors such as co-channel or inter-modulation, the unprocessed interference will deteriorate the normal demodulation performance of all subscribers in the cell and reduce capacity and coverage of the cell. Narrowband interference with high energy may even result in congestion in the cell. Moreover, the capacity and coverage of the neighboring co-channel cells will also be affected. Therefore, how to reduce the influence of narrowband interference on the limited frequency spectrum resource is a major concern. In a wideband communication system, such as a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) or Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) system, the influence of interference on the system may be reduced greatly and the overall communication quality and coverage reliability may be maintained by enhancing suppression of narrowband interference falling into the receive pass-band due to factors such as co-channel or inter-modulation. Usually, the characteristics of narrowband interference are difficult to be foreseen and may vary with time. Accordingly, the influence of interference on the system may be reduced as far as possible only if the interference is detected and suppressed in real time. Therefore, in some frequency bands that are not completely cleaned (e.g., that are unlicensed or shared) as well as in the initial stage after a base station is brought into use and during the maintenance of the base station, it is of great significance that the system provides adaptive detection and suppression of in-band narrowband interference. One of the prior arts related to the present invention is the patent application No. 00803299 filed by C. E. Jagger, which disclosed a notch filtering method and device inserted in a Radio Frequency (RF) signal path. Detection of interference is carried out by scanning a pre-segmented analog signal frequency band and a group of notch filters (the notch part includes a two-stage frequency mixer, a local oscillator, a band-pass filter and an intermediate frequency notch filter.) are provided to work serially according to the number of the detected interference, so as to achieve the suppression of narrowband interference. Though the above prior art can achieve interference suppression in the analog signal frequency band at the front end of the receiver and thereby prevent congestion resulted from extremely high interference, the method and device in the prior art require additional devices in the radio-frequency circuit, including a number of notch devices. Because the implementation procedure is complex and costs highly, it is not competitive in the market.

High data reliability, high speed of memory access, and reduced chip size are features that are demanded from semiconductor memory. Operation frequency of low-power dynamic random-access memory (LPDRAM) has doubled for each generation, and the data (e.g., prefetch) to be simultaneously accessed by a READ command or a WRITE command has also doubled as in the operation frequency. For example, in the case of a low-power double data rate 3 (LPDDR3) type synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) with an operation frequency of 1.6 Gbps and a word line having a word length of 1 Kb (=1024 bits), sixty-four bits are read from the word line in a READ operation, and sixty-four bits are written in one WRITE operation; however, the latest low-power SDRAM, such as a low-power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) type facilitates 128 bits data access through a word line having a word length of 1 KB. Such low-power type memory may have a general three-layered metal configuration. Metal wires of lower layers can be used as wires which have the same pitch as memory cells. For example, metal wires on the first layer of lower layers may be used for column select signals (YS) and metal wires on the second layer of the lower layers may be used for main word lines. Main input/output lines (MIO) may be metal wires, such as the third level aluminum interconnection (3AL), on the uppermost layer in order to couple peripheral read amplifiers and write buffer circuits to local IO lines (LIO) within the array. Due to the doubling of data provided per access, more metal wires may be included on the uppermost layer. The uppermost layer may also include power supply lines to distribute power supplies to all over the memory. Due to the increased number of wires for data access, the width of metal wires for the power supply may be reduced. This reduction of the width of metal wires for the power supply may result in deteriorating an operation margin due to a decrease of a power level when multiple operations are executed simultaneously.

1. Copyright Notice This patent document contains information subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 2. Field of the Invention Aspects of the present invention generally relate to machine vision. Other, aspects of the present invention relate to providing access to the results of machine vision operations. 3. Description of Background Information Machine vision technology is used around the world to automatically gauge part dimensions, guide robotic equipment, identify products, and inspect for defects in industries that include, but are not limited to, semiconductors, electronics, automotive parts, consumer products, electrical components, medical devices, and packaging. FIG. 2, for example, illustrates a machine vision system 200 in which an image acquisition subsystem 202, positioned on a production line, captures and stores an image of the part to be inspected. A machine vision computer 204 then uses machine vision image and data analysis software to extract information from the image and to produce a result that can be used to make decisions about the image. Once the vision system has processed and analyzed the image, the result 206 is communicated to the operator, or, as illustrated, to other manufacturing equipment 208 on the factory floor. The result may be used to control manufacturing equipment or to determine the quality of a part, or it may be input to another image analysis operation. The machine vision software on computer 204 performs image analysis operations. Examples of image analysis operations include, but are not limited to, pattern location algorithms, gauging algorithms, character recognition algorithms, and image filters such as a Gaussian filter. Suppliers of machine vision software may protect their software from unauthorized duplication by using a hardware or software security method. In addition, or as a substitute for hardware or software security methods, users of machine vision may be forced to support awkward licensing schemes imposed by machine vision vendors in an effort to protect their software from unauthorized use or duplication. Depending on the type of security used, licensees may be required to pay for licenses not needed to support their usage. In addition, machine vision systems are difficult to maintain in the field. For instance, it may be challenging to update a machine vision system with a new version of software, or a new license, after it has been installed on a manufacturing production line. Moreover, customers wishing to test proprietary machine vision software on a particular part may be required to purchase and install software and the associated licenses, which is a significant deterrent to “quick-turn” software development. To be more specific vendors may use one of the following three security methods to prevent improper copying or use of their software: Hardware security may be employed. For example, a security code may be programmed into a hardware device, such as EEPROM on a frame grabber; or a hardware dongle which plugs into a parallel port. The machine vision software would check whether the required security code is present before executing a protected algorithm. Dedicated software security may be employed. For example, protected software may be registered on a specific computer that is associated with a unique identifier on the computer, such as a hard disk serial number or an Ethernet address. Any attempt to copy the protected software to another computer would fail if that computer does not have the same unique identifier. Floating licenses may be employed. For example, licenses are granted from a central computer on a network. Other computers on the network must request and be granted a license in order to fun the protected software. When the computers are finished, they typically release the license so that other computers can use the license. A fixed number of licenses are issued, so if all the licenses are being utilized, the computer requesting a license must wait until the license is freed by another computer. These security methods present numerous problems that hinder the use of machine vision. The hardware and dedicated security methods are awkward to manage, and do not readily permit sharing of licenses among multiple computers. Floating licenses are subject to problems if the license server or any computer with a license crashes or goes of the network, or if the network itself ceases operation. Also, floating licenses do not readily handle inconsistent loads, i.e., periods of relative inactivity followed by periods when there are more requests for licenses than there are licenses. To accommodate these inconsistent loads, users must purchase additional licenses which are unused for significant portions of time, or queue up license requests. Additionally, these security methods make it difficult for users of machine vision software to efficiently maintain the latest version of software because the user must explicitly install the software on each computer that needs to run the latest version of software. This is often difficult once a computer has been installed at a manufacturing facility. It may also be difficult to install bug fixes, patches and service releases which fix problems with older versions of the software. Customers must also track which versions of software and patches they have installed one each computer. In addition, computers using hardware or dedicated software security may need to update their licenses in the field if the new software requires additional license permission in order to run.

Detection and analysis of biological samples may be performed using biological assays (“bioassays”). Bioassays conventionally involve large, expensive laboratory equipment requiring research scientists trained to operate the equipment and perform the bioassays. Moreover, bioassays are conventionally performed in bulk such that a large amount of a particular type of sample is necessary for detection and quantitation. Some bioassays are performed by tagging samples with luminescent markers that emit light of a particular wavelength. The markers are illuminated with a light source to cause luminescence, and the luminescent light is detected with a photodetector to quantify the amount of luminescent light emitted by the markers. Bioassays using luminescent markers conventionally involve expensive laser light sources to illuminate samples and complicated luminescent detection optics and electronics to collect the luminescence from the illuminated samples.

Prior art muldems have been designed for converting between DS3 (approximately 44 megahertz) transmission line signals and one or more of the lower frequency transmission line signals such as DS2 (approximately 6 megahertz), DS1 (approximately 1.5 megahertz) and DS1C (approximately 3 megahertz). In these system concepts, there is always the need for some type of redundancy in the event that one or more parts in the muldem fails. One method is complete redundancy so that any path can be switched into operation as a replacement for the failed component. However, in view of the costs of complete redundancy, especially where there are many demultiplexer, multiplexer and switch modules, etc., of each given type in a box, a single standby unit or module for each type of operational module is used and when an operational module fails or provides an indication of failure, the standby identical module is switched into operation. It has been found that quite often the apparent failure is merely due to momentary external conditions and the "failed" module is actually operating properly. Thus, there is a requirement that the "failed" module be tested to determine whether the module actually failed or the decision to switch was based on the momentary external conditions. If it is found that the module has not failed, then it is desirable to return operation to normal conditions so that the standby module can be utilized to replace other modules believed to have failed. Otherwise, the spare module would not be available for a true failure. As a consequence of having standby modules, it is necessary for proper operation of the system to periodically test the standby modules to insure that they are actually available for service. Thus, a properly designed digital muldem provides means of testing both the failed modules and the standby modules used to design the system. Prior art test devices have used a pseudorandom generator to generate a data stream that is passed through the module being tested and the output of the module is checked to see whether or not the data is passed in a standardized manner. It has been found that a pseudorandom pattern of data does not necessarily generate the same failure mode as does true data. In other words, a module can test operational with a given pseudorandom data pattern and still not pass data, in some other data stream configuration, correctly. The present invention illustrates a design method for constructing the digital muldem wherein the muldem is designed in two separate stages. The low speed muldem portion provides circuitry to convert the low speed customer interface whether it be DS1, DS1C or DS2 signals through an appropriate plurality of muldems to a common intermediate speed or data occurrence frequency. The signals are then switched or routed to a high speed muldem or its spare which converts from the common frequency to the DS3 frequency while multiplexing the data. In the present invention, economies have been realized by making the common frequency signal the same as the DS2 frequency and format. The low speed muldem spares can be used to replace any one of the identical type (DS1, DS1C or DS2) operational low speed muldems. In the present invention, data from a low speed active circuit is applied to a failed module for multiplexing as if the failed module were operational, as well as to the spare or other active module. However, the output of the failed module is rerouted from the output of the demultiplexer to the input of the multiplexer in a loopback configuration. (This loopback is from multiplexer to demultiplexer in the high speed circuit modules.) The circuitry for providing the loopback disconnects the failed module from the customer circuitry and thus the customer is isolated from the failed module. Since the demultiplexing and multiplexing of the signal in the loopback configuration produces identical data supplied to and received from the looped-back module in a correctly operating module, a comparator can be used to compare, on a bit by bit basis, the signals input to and output from the failed module thereby ascertaining whether or not the module has actually failed, or the apparent failure, as previously detected, was merely due to some momentary external condition. The same approach can be used for testing the high speed muldem and any of the spares since all of these units have a common frequency, a single comparator circuit can be used to test all of the muldems regardless of their multiplexing frequency. It is thus an object of the present invention concept to illustrate a method for testing muldems for operability in a muldem switching system. Another object of the present invention is to present a method whereby a muldem can be designed to simplify the circuitry required by eliminating one or more pseudorandom generators and using, instead, actual data for testing. The invention also includes using a common intermediate frequency in the apparatus so that testing of all of the different frequency muldems can be accomplished using a single test (bit comparator) device.

1. Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a lighting apparatus. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a lighting apparatus, an LED mounting substrate and a mold for manufacturing the LED mounting substrate. 2. Description of Related Art Because a light emitting diodes (LED) has advantages such as low power-consumption and high illumination efficiency, it has become a popular lighting device and been widely applied in illumination and backlight module. An LED package includes a lead frame, a reflective cup and an LED chip. The LED chip is disposed on the lead frame. The reflective cup is disposed on the lead frame and surrounds the LED chip. The reflective cup is generally formed by thermoplastic material or thermosetting material. The thermosetting material forms the reflective cup by the transfer molding process. In the transfer molding process, a channel is formed on the mold, and the thermosetting material is pressed into the tank in the mold through the channel by the pressure, thereby forming the reflective cup. Typically, only if the thermosetting material uniformly flows in the mold and two molten materials adjoin together simultaneously, the formed reflective cup exhibits higher structure strength. Because the shape of the reflective cup is complex, it is difficult for the thermosetting material to make the uniform flow and adjoin simultaneously, and the formed reflective cup may be of inadequate structure strength and easily crackable.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to implantable medical devices, and, more particularly, to systems and methods for implanting a medical device. Numerous medical devices exist today, including but not limited to electrocardiographs (“ECGs”), electroencephalographs (“EEGs”), squid magnetometers, implantable pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (“ICDs”), neurostimulators, electrophysiology (“EP”) mapping and radio frequency (“RF”) ablation systems, and the like. Implantable medical devices (hereafter generally “implantable medical devices” or “IMDs”) are configured to be implanted within patient anatomy and commonly employ one or more leads with electrodes that either receive or deliver voltage, current or other electromagnetic pulses (generally “energy”) from or to an organ or tissue for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Typically, an intra-cardiac IMD is introduced into the heart through a catheter. However, trans-catheter delivery of an entire IMD within a heart typically requires specialized tools. Often, the specialized tools are complex and may be difficult to manipulate and operate. In general, an IMD may be connected to a delivery system in a docked state, in which the IMD is securely attached to the delivery system. In the docked state, the catheter may be operated to guide the IMD to an implant site. Once the IMD is proximate to the implant site, because the IMD is securely connected to the catheter, the catheter may be used to torque the IMD into patient tissue. Once the IMD is secured into patient tissue, the IMD may be moved into a tethered state with respect to the catheter. In the tethered state, the catheter separates from the IMD, but remains connected thereto. In the tethered state, an implanting physician may test the IMD to make sure that the IMD is securely and electrically connected to patient tissue at a desired location. If the physical and/or electrical connection between the IMD and the patient tissue is less than optimal, the IMD may be re-docked to the catheter so that that the IMD may be moved to a better position for implantation. Once the implanting physician is satisfied with the location of the IMD within patient anatomy, the IMD is transitioned from the tethered state to a release state. In the release state, the IMD disconnects from the catheter. However, known systems and methods for releasing an IMD from a catheter are often susceptible to spontaneous release, in which the IMD inadvertently releases from the catheter. Further, known release systems and methods may not release the IMD smoothly and easily from the catheter. Also, known release systems and methods may malfunction and fail to release the IMD from the catheter.

Wireless mesh networks typically include wired gateways that are wirelessly connected to wireless nodes, or wirelessly connected directly to client devices. Many wireless nodes can collectively form a wireless mesh, in which client devices can associate with any of the wireless nodes. Wireless networks are typically subjected to environmental influences that make operation of the networks more problematic than wired networks. For example, the wireless links of wireless networks can suffer from fading or multi-path, which degrade the quality of transmission signals traveling through the wireless links. Additionally, wireless networks that include multiple access points can suffer from self-interference. Once a wireless network has been deployed, a potential customer of the wireless network can not always definitively determine whether or not access to the wireless network is possible. That is, it can be difficult for a potential customer to determine if he/she is physically located with respect to access points of the wireless network, so that connection to the wireless network is possible. Also, due to the previously described potentially problematic nature of wireless connections, it can be difficult for the customer to determine what quality of connection the customer can expect. It is desirable to have a method and apparatus for pre-qualifying potential wireless network customers. It is desirable that the customer pre-qualification process be easy to access, and provide the customer with an indication of the level of quality of wireless connection the customer should expect. It is additionally desirable to provide the customer with equipment suggestions that can improve the quality of the wireless connection.

(1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of producing a water-in-oil emulsion explosive (hereinafter, referred to as W/O emulsion explosive), and more particularly relates to a method of producing a W/O emulsion explosive, wherein a stable water-in-oil emulsion (hereinafter, referred to as W/O emulsion) is produced in a short time through a specifically limited emulsifying step, and the resulting W/O emulsion is kneaded together with hollow microspheres through a specifically limited kneading step, whereby the W/O emulsion and the hollow microspheres can be homogeneously kneaded in a short time without substantially causing breakage of the hollow microspheres. (2) Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,281 specification discloses a method of producing W/O emulsion explosive comprising aqueous solution of inorganic oxidizer, oil, emulsifier and hollow microspheres. This method comprises five steps as illustrated in FIG. 1, that is, a step for conditioning an aqueous solution of inorganic oxidizer, a step for conditioning a mixture of oil and emulsifier, a step for emulsifying the mixture of oil and emulsifier together with the above described aqueous solution of inorganic oxidizer into a W/O emulsion, a step for kneading the resulting W/O emulsion together with hollow microspheres, and a step for packing the resulting W/O emulsion explosive. Among these steps, the emulsifying and kneading steps are most important. That is, whether a good W/O emulsion is obtained or not has a high influence upon the quality and storage stability of the resulting W/O emulsion explosive. The kneading step is carried out in order to disperse homogeneously hollow microspheres having a very small specific gravity into a W/O emulsion having a relatively large specific gravity, and whether a good dispersion is formed or not has a high influence upon the explosion property and other properties of the resulting W/O emulsion explosive. However, the above described U.S. patent discloses the use of an ordinary continuous mixer in the emulsifying step, and the use of an ordinary continuous kneader in the kneading step, and does not disclose the use of a particular emulsifying machine and a particular kneader. Moreover, the method described in the above described U.S. patent comprises a large number of steps, and therefore a long time is required for the production of W/O emulsion explosive, and the method is not desirable as a commercial method. In order to overcome this drawback, the inventors have already proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,378 a method of producing W/O emulsion explosive, wherein emulsification and kneading are carried out in one step. That is, U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,378 discloses a method of producing a W/O emulsion explosive, wherein hollow microspheres, and a mixture of aqueous solution of inorganic oxidizer, oil and emulsifier are separately supplied into a common passage; the hollow microspheres and the mixture of the aqueous solution of inorganic oxidizer, the oil and the emulsifier are emulsified and kneaded on the surface of a disc, which is arranged on the downstream side of the passage and has projections, while rotating the disc; the emulsified and kneaded mixture is flowed down from the outer peripheral portion of the disc into a kneading room formed under the disc, while continuing the emulsification and kneading; and emulsified and kneaded mixture is taken out from the kneading room. Although the method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,378 can produce W/O emulsion explosive in a very short time, the method still has problems to be solved that, due to the concurrent emulsification and kneading, a high shear force acts on hollow microspheres, and some kinds of hollow microspheres, for example, shirasu hollow microspheres (shirasu is a kind of volcanic ash) and the like are broken in a large amount during the emulsifying and kneading step, and the resulting W/O emulsion explosive is poor in the quality and in the explosion performance. The inventors have made various investigations in order to solve this problem, and have found that, when the emulsifying and kneading machine used in the above described emulsifying and kneading step is used as an emulsifying machine in an emulsifying step and is connected to a specifically limited kneading machine used in a kneading step following to the above emulsifying step, the breakage of hollow microspheres can be noticeably decreased and a W/O emulsion explosive can be obtained in a short time. As the result, the present invention has been accomplished.

Solvent distribution in most labs remains a holdover from the 1950's where solvents are carried in, in four-liter glass containers and then manually poured into flasks, beakers and other laboratory glassware for their intended use. Waste solvents are similarly collected in small containers at the bench and then carried out of the lab where they are lab-packed or consolidated for hazardous waste disposal. Unfortunately, current large scale laboratory practices can no longer tolerate this archaic, inefficient method of solvent handling. Solvent use in today's labs is increasing significantly and competing for ever more critical lab space. Furthermore, when solvent is stored in bottles for long periods of time, much of it is wasted or expires before it is able to be used. On top of the cost of the wasted solvent, there is also the additional cost associated with proper disposal of the solvent.

Patent Document 1 describes that, in order to improve the dispersiveness of abrasive grains in a vitrified bonded grinding wheel in which abrasive grains of CBN or diamond are used, abrasive grains coated each with a single overcoat layer are subjected to pressure-molding and then sintered to manufacture a grinding wheel containing vacancies.

The drive toward miniaturization of electronics has resulted in computer-based systems that are becoming much more portable. Current portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, hand-held devices such as cellular telephones and personal media devices, such as the iPod™ from Apple Computer, Inc., and even devices such as compact disc players, are sufficiently compact and lightweight as to make them easily movable. Unfortunately, such ease of transport also implies ease of theft. While the rightful owner of a portable electronic device may conveniently transport it almost anywhere, so can a thief. One current anti-theft system is a simple mechanical lock that attaches to the housing of a device, with a cable that wraps around other objects so as to affix the portable device to these objects. In this manner, portable electronic devices can be effectively tethered to nearby fixtures, making theft difficult. However, such systems suffer from drawbacks. For instance, users are forced to carry around a bulky cable and lock, thus somewhat defeating the purpose of portable electronic devices. Also, users may sometimes wish to leave their devices in areas where there is no convenient fixture to tether to. It is therefore desirable to develop a theft detection system for portable electronic devices. It is further desirable to develop a theft detection system that does not require the use of additional bulky physical mechanisms, and which is capable of functioning in many different locations.

The present invention is directed to the use of selected modified starches, prepared by cooking at high temperature and pressure, as natural adhesives in the manufacture of cigarettes. Cigarettes are generally comprised of a cigarette rod and most often a filter or plug. The cigarette rod consists of a stream of tobacco wrapped in a paper tube, the paper tube being glued along one longitudinal edge with a suitable adhesive (side seam or lap seal). The filter or filter plug generally consists of a crimped textile tow of cellulose acetate fibers treated with a plasticizer and wrapped into a cylindrical form with paper. The center of the paper is attached to the fibers using an adhesive (centerline adhesive) and the paper is then wrapped around the plug rod, overlapping and attaching itself with an adhesive (overlap adhesive) to form the cylindrical filter plug. The filter or plug is then attached to the cigarette rod by wrapping another paper (tipping paper) which contains an adhesive (tipping adhesive) around the plug and overlapping it with an aligned rod. Most cigarette manufacturing processes involve high speed operations (2000-12000 cigarettes per minute) where the adhesive is typically applied by nozzle (side seaming, center-line and overlap), paste wheel (side seaming) and by rollers (filter tipping). Adhesives used in these operations are generally synthetic emulsions but because of increasing interest and tobacco regulation requirements in different countries, natural type adhesives are being sought to replace the synthetics. Starch has long been used as an adhesive material in various applications such as case and carton sealing, laminating, tube winding, papermaking, etc., as described in Starch: Chemistry and Technology, second edition by R. Whistler, J. Bemiller and E. Paschall, 1984, pp. 593-610. Dextrins and thin-boiling starches are disclosed as useful as side seam adhesives but generally at lower solids than being required at current high speed manufacturing operations. The cooking of starch at high temperature and pressure in continuous operations is well known as disclosed in Whistler noted above. One such method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 57-11579, published Mar. 5, 1982, involves continuous adhesive manufacturing of natural or synthetic adhesive materials using high pressure heating and forced stirring. Despite continued developments and improvements for adhesive properties and technological advances in the manufacturing techniques for producing adhesives, there still is the need for a natural adhesive material which will satisfy the requirements of current cigarette production. This has not been easy to accomplish particularly because of the demanding high speed operation and the required properties that adhesive materials used in these operations must possess including flow or fluidity, drying speed, cohesiveness, bonding strength, viscosity stability, machinability and other rheological characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to rheology-modified thermoplastic polyolefins, processes for making rheology-modified thermoplastic polyolefins and processes for shaping them into molded articles. In particular, this invention relates to rheology-modification of ethylene interpolymers such as ethylene/xcex1-olefin polymers. 2. Description of Related Art Polymers and numerous additives are typically compounded into formulations which are then totally cross-linked for enhanced strength properties of the finished article. The starting polymer, prior to cross-linking, must have adequate performance properties such that it may be formulated or compounded with various additives and still maintain processability. For example, in a wire and cable coating operation, the composition must have xe2x80x9cgreen strengthxe2x80x9d, also known as xe2x80x9cmelt strengthxe2x80x9d, to remain on the wire after coating, and not sag or deform on the wire until the composition is cured. Otherwise the wire will have thin spots and the insulating value of the composition is lost. The composition must also undergo a final cure step and achieve good physical properties, such as tensile strength, elongation, and 100% modulus (stress at 100% strain). Typical curing occurs through use of peroxide or irradiation, and for polyethylene in general, the curing through crosslinking phenomenon is well documented (see, for example, Radiation Effects in Materials, A. Charlesby, editor, Pergamon Press, 1960). Polyethylene, especially heterogeneous linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), when exposed to peroxide and/or radiation under proper conditions, forms gels as the molecular weight builds. Usually the polymer selected to compatibilize all of the various components used in wire and cable coating operations is an elastomer such as ethylene/propylene rubber (EPR) or ethylene/propylene diene monomer terpolymer (EPDM). These types of very low density polymers is (i.e., polymers typically having a density less than 0.92 g/cm3) are relatively expensive (as compared with traditional linear low density polyethylene polymers) and contain a very high percentage by weight of comonomer(s) (e.g., propylene, dienes). Lowering the density of the polymer also increases the ability of the polymer to hold more filler and oil. There have been a few recent announcements regarding new polymers which are said to be effective substitutes for EPR and EPDM. Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics, Inc., announced in 1990 that they have developed a new cost effective class of polyolefins trademarked Flexomer(trademark) Polyolefins that could replace expensive EPR or EPDM rubbers. These new polyolefins are said to have bridged the gap between rubbers and polyethylene, having moduli between the two ranges. While the development of new lower modulus polymers such as Flexomer(trademark) Polyolefins by Union Carbide or Exact(trademark) polymers by Exxon has aided the elastomeric formulation marketplace, there continues to be a need for other more advanced, cost-effective polymers which can ultimately be fully cross-linked to form a polymer aggregate such that the bulk polymer is a covalently bonded network of polymer chains, but which also have good physical properties and processability prior such to complete cross-linking. Others have attempted to modify polyolefins in various ways to try to achieve such goals. For example, in Chemical Modification of Linear Low Density Polyethylene, by T. K. Su, R. G. Shaw, P. J. Canterino, E. A. Colombo and T. H. Kwack, published in ANTEC ""87 SPE Technical Papers, vol. 33, pp. 1271-1275, linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was crosslinked using peroxide free-radical initiation. This modification is said to result in chemically modified LLDPE without creating gels. However, Su et al. also report that peroxide modification of LLDPE results in higher apparent viscosity throughout the range of shear rate (see FIG. 2 of Su et al.). This change in viscosity indicates growing molecular weight as a result of the peroxide modification and results in modified LLDPE which does not have the same processability as the unmodified LLDPE, especially in the high shear range. In PCT/GB85/00142 (published as WO 85/04664) (xe2x80x9cPCT ""142xe2x80x9d herein), LLDPE is treated to enhance the polymers"" suitability for extrusion conversion into hollow articles (e.g., tubes, sheathing, and wire and cable insulators). PCT ""142 states that treating LLDPE having a melt index over 3 g/10 minutes with xe2x80x9cmoderate quantities of peroxide does not bring about an adequate broadening of molecular weight distribution and may lead to treated LLDPE""s whose mechanical properties are unsatisfactory.xe2x80x9d Further, these treated LLDPE""s are said to produce finished extruded articles which have a xe2x80x9cnon-uniform wall and a rough surfacexe2x80x9d as a result of xe2x80x9cshark-skinxe2x80x9d melt fracture. PCT ""142 allegedly solves the difficulty by using thermo-mechanical treatment of the LLDPE in a molten state. The treatment involves introducing LLDPE having a density of 0.9 to 0.935 g/cm3 and a melt index over 3 dg/minute as a powder into a thermomechanical apparatus of an extruder while simultaneously introducing an organic peroxide at a level of over 0.05% and less than 1% (by weight of the polymer). U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,128 (Randall et al.) describes ethylene polymer compositions being a blend of a first and second ethylene polymer. The second ethylene polymer is characterized by molecules having long chain Y-branches. Both polyethylenes can be made using the high pressure process (producing homopolymer low density polyethylene (LDPE)) or in a low pressure process (producing linear polyethylene having essentially no long chain branching). The blend can be prepared by using an extrusion process in which a portion of the polyethylene is irradiated and both the irradiated and non-irradiated polymers subsequently melt blended. The long chain Y-branched polymer is said to have a broad molecular weight distribution. The resultant blended composition is also said to have altered rheological properties without significantly increasing the molecular weight of the polymers. The compositions are said to be useful for coatings and production of shaped and molded articles (e.g., pipes, gas tanks and other molded auto parts). While there have been several attempts at increasing the processability of linear heterogeneously branched polyethylene through use of irradiation, there continues to be a need for cost effective modification of polyethylene such that the resultant modified polymer is still useful for thermoplastic molding processes. In particular, there is a need for polyolefins having one or more improved processing characteristics such as higher zero shear viscosity, low high shear viscosities, improved melt flow (I10/I2) properties, improved critical shear rate at onset of surface melt fracture, improved critical shear stress at onset of gross melt fracture, improved rheological processing index (PI), improved melt strength, higher green strength, greater filler/plasticizer/oil loading capabilities, and/or improved peroxide cure efficiency, while maintaining or improving physical properties such as tensile strength, impact strength, modulus of elasticity and relaxation time. In blown film processes high bubble stability, particularly combined with high polymer throughput, is a particularly desirable objective and in cast film and extrusion molding processes the ability to increase or maintain the polymer throughput rate and/or reduce or maintain extruder back pressure while improving draw down and/or reducing neck in is particularly desired. These and other desired goals are satisfied by ethylene polymers selected and modified according to the present invention. One aspect of this invention is directed to a rheology-modified ethylene polymer having less than 0.5 wt % gel as measured via ASTM D2765, Procedure A, a Composition Distribution Branch Index (CBDI) greater than 50 percent and a molecular weight distribution less than 4.0, which is characterizable by one of the following equations: Zxe2x89xa6(log xcex70.1xe2x88x92log xcex7100)/log xcex7100xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I) log xcfx840=mxc2x7log (xcex70)xe2x88x92bxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II) Kxe2x89xa6MS150 Cxe2x88x9272.079xc3x97(log Mw)2+666.28xc3x97(log Mw)xe2x88x921539.5xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III) wherein xcex70 is the zero shear rate viscosity of the polymer, xcex70.1 is the viscosity of the polymer measured at 190 C and a shear rate of 0.1 radians/second, xcex7100 is the viscosity of the polymer at a shear rate of 100 radian/second, xcfx840 is the relaxation time of the polymer, Z, also referred to herein as the log viscosity ratio, is a number having a value of 0.30, m is a number having a value greater than or equal to 1.070, b is a number having a value less than or equal to 5.950, K, also referred to herein as the melt strength improvement constant, is a number equal to 0.50, MS150 C is the melt strength of the rheology-modified polymer in centiNewtons (cN) at 150 C and Mw is the weight average molecular weight of the rheology-modified polymer as measured via gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Another aspect of this invention is directed to a process for improving the processability of a thermoplastic ethylene polymer comprising treating at least one thermoplastic ethylene polymer having a molecular weight distribution less than 3.00 and a CBDI greater than 50 percent with a crosslinking agent in an amount less than the amount which would cause greater than or equal to 0.5 wt % gel formation under melt processing conditions wherein the process satisfies the condition: log xcex70.1mxe2x89xa7log xcex70.1v+xxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV) and log xcex7100mxe2x89xa6log xcex7100v+yxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(V) wherein xcex70.1m and xcex7100m are the viscosities of the modified polymer in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, xcex70.1v and xcex7100v are the viscosities of the unmodified polymer (i.e., the xe2x80x9cvirginxe2x80x9d polymer) in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, x is a number having a value of 0.50 and y is a number having a value of 0.10; log xcfx840mxe2x89xa7log xcfx840v+0.1xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VI) wherein log xcfx840m and log xcex70v are log relaxation times of the rheology-modified polymer and the polymer prior to modification, respectively; or MSmxe2x89xa7MSv+0.5 cNxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VII) wherein MSm and MSv are melt strengths in cN at 150 C of the rheology-modified polymer and the same polymer prior to modification, respectively. Another aspect of this invention is directed to an improved process for making a molded article comprising: a) treating at least one thermoplastic ethylene polymer having a molecular weight distribution less than 3.00 and a CBDI greater than 50 percent with a crosslinking agent; (b) heating the treated polymer to a temperature suitable for melt processing; (c) melt processing the heated polymer; (d) forming the melt processed polymer into a shape and (e) allowing the shaped polymer to cool, wherein the amount of crosslinking agent used in step (a) is less than that which would cause greater than or equal to 0.5 wt % gel formation under the melt processing conditions of step (c) and yet sufficient to satisfy the condition: log xcex70.1mxe2x89xa7log xcex70.1v+xxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV) and log xcex7100mxe2x89xa6log xcex7100v+yxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(V) wherein xcex70.1m and xcex7100m are the viscosities of the modified polymer in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, xcex70.1v and xcex7100v are the viscosities of the unmodified polymer (i.e., the xe2x80x9cvirginxe2x80x9d polymer) in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, x is a number having a value of 0.50 and y is a number having a value of 0.10; log xcfx840mxe2x89xa7log xcfx840v+0.1xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VI) wherein log xcfx840m and log xcfx840v are log relaxation times of the rheology-modified polymer and the polymer prior to modification, respectively; or MSmxe2x89xa7MSv+0.5 cNxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VII) wherein MSm and MSv are melt strengths in cN at 150 C of the rheology-modified polymer and the same polymer prior to modification, respectively. Yet another aspect of the present invention is directed to improved intermediates for making molded articles comprising a thermoplastic ethylene polymer having a CBDI greater than 50 percent treated with a crosslinking agent in an amount less than sufficient to cause the formation of 0.5 wt % or more gel under melt processing conditions and yet sufficient to satisfy the condition: log xcex70.1mxe2x89xa7log xcex70.1v+xxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV) and log xcex7100mxe2x89xa6log xcex7100v+yxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(V) wherein xcex70.1m and xcex7100m are the viscosities of the modified polymer in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, xcex70.1v and xcex7100v are the viscosities of the unmodified polymer (i.e., the xe2x80x9cvirginxe2x80x9d polymer) in poise measured at 190 C and shear rates of 0.1 and 100 radian/second, respectively, x is a number having a value of 0.50 and y is a number having a value of 0.10; log xcfx840mxe2x89xa7log xcfx840v+0.1xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VI) wherein log xcfx840m and log xcfx840v are log relaxation times of the rheology-modified is polymer and the polymer prior to modification, respectively; or MSmxe2x89xa7MSv+0.5 cNxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(VII) wherein MSm and MSv are melt strengths measured in cN at 150 C of the rheology-modified polymer and the same polymer prior to modification, respectively. Yet another aspect of this invention is a method of using the intermediates described above in a method for making an article comprising a polymer.

Many machines require the non-contact measurement of temperatures, such as bearings or heated surfaces, which may not be readily available or unsafe to measure directly due to moving machinery. These machines may also require measurement of rotating or linear speed. Present practices require the use of two different instruments to perform these tasks. This adds to the expense, and is inconvenient for the user.

This invention concerns engine compartment enclosures and more particularly engine compartment enclosures including displaceable side panels. Motor vehicles have received increasing attention in an effort to reduce the noise level associated with operating the vehicle. For example, it is common practice to completely enclose the engine compartment of an off-road vehicle. It is well known to provide side panels to the enclosure to allow access to the interior of the engine compartment. Because these vehicles require frequent engine servicing, continued attention has been directed to provide a side panels which are easily displaceable for engine access. Such efforts are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,863,729; 3,743,045; 3,865,210; 3,913,701; 3,826,327; 4,071,107; and 4,037,682. The side panel construction as exemplified by the aforecited patents do not render a completely satisfactory solution, especially when high floatation tires are employed on an off-road vehicle.

The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-170911, which is incorporated herein by reference. 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a Group III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting element. It is adapted for improvement in electrodes of a Group III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting element such as a blue light-emitting diode. 2. Description of the Related Art Various proposals have been made for obtaining uniform light emission from the whole surface of a Group III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting element such as a blue light-emitting diode. As a measure to obtain uniform light emission, there is a method in which a p seat electrode is provided on a thin-film light-transmissive electrode stuck onto an upper surface of a p-type layer (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-275934). The light-transmissive electrode and the p seat electrode are formed as follows. First, a material layer for forming a light-transmissive electrode is formed on a p-type layer, for example, by a lift-off method. Then, the material layer for forming a light-transmissive electrode is ashed according to an ordinary method, and a material layer for forming a p seat electrode is likewise formed by a lift-off method. Then, the two layers are heated to be alloyed with and bonded to each other. According to the prevent inventor"" examination, it has been found occasionally that gas is generated between a material for forming a light-transmissive electrode and a material for forming a p seat electrode when the two materials are heated to be alloyed with each other. There has been a fear that sufficient adhesion or ohmic contact cannot be obtained between the p seat electrode and the light-transmissive electrode because the p seat electrode is swollen by the gas after alloying. According to a trial to find the cause of generation of the gas, it has been found that gas is generated because so-called contaminant (organic matter, resist residue, etc.) deposited on a surface of the material for forming the light-transmissive electrode is decomposed by the temperature on the basis of heating for alloying. It may be conceived that strict control over the ashing condition or the like can prevent the contaminant from being deposited on the surface. It is, however, actually difficult to remove the contaminant thoroughly because the step condition (the state of an apparatus, the environmental factor in a clean room, the characteristic of each semiconductor layer, etc.) fluctuates. The invention is the fruit of the inventor""s eager examination for solving the problem. That is, the invention is configured as follows. A method of producing a Group III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting element, including the steps of: laminating a p seat electrode on a light-transmissive electrode; removing gas (degassing) from between the light-transmissive electrode and the p seat electrode; and alloying the light-transmissive electrode and the p seat electrode with each other after the degassing step is carried out. According to the producing method of the invention, the p seat electrode is prevented from being swollen because gas is removed from between the light-transmissive electrode and the p seat electrode before the two electrodes are alloyed with each other. Hence, sufficient adhesion is obtained between the light-transmissive electrode and the p seat electrode as well as ohmic characteristic is secured between the two electrodes. Features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the injection of supplemental fluids, through an improved check valve, into an IV line and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for selectively injecting supplemental fluids, through an improved check valve, into a closed intravenous channel which extends from a source of saline solution to a patient during an operation. 2. Description of the Background Art For many years it had been a common practice to establish an intravenous (IV) line or channel from a supply of solution to a patient who is being operated upon. The line is generally established by tubing coupled at its upper end to a bottle of solution such as normal saline solution and at its lower end to the vein of a patient through a needle. Such an arrangement establishes a continuous, sterile, closed channel or line which allows for the quick introduction of supplemental fluids which might be needed during the operation. Supplemental fluids may be added to the solution in the tubing and thus provided to the patient through a manifold and valve arrangement located intermediate the ends of the tubing. The large number of known devices and the extensive patent literature are evidence of the dissatisfaction which many medical people have with known intravenous systems and attest to their efforts to devise an optimum system. For example, supplemental fluids for IV lines are normally maintained in syringes couplable to the tubing and solution through selectively rotatable stopcocks. A conventional stopcock would allow for the passage of the channel fluid from its source of supply, its syringe, to the patient. Rotating the stopcock would shut off the supply of channel fluid and allow for the injection of the supplemental fluid through the tubing to the patient independent of the channel fluid. After injection of an appropriate quantity of supplemental fluid, the stopcock would be repositioned to preclude passage of additional supplemental fluid and to allow the continued flow of the solution. Under certain circumstances, if the stopcock of the prior art were not promptly returned to its position to preclude the flow of supplemental fluid, there could be a reverse flow to allow entry of solution into the syringe to contaminate the supplementary fluid. Some forms of stopcocks are configured to allow for the passage of solution but include two ports, one associated with each side of the tubing. In the first position, the solution would flow directly to the patient with the injection of supplemental fluid being precluded. In second and third positions, the flow of solution would be stopped to allow introduction of either one supplemental fluid through a first supplemental port or the introduction of a second supplemental fluid from a second supplemental port. As in the first technique discussed above, the flow of fluids to the patient is from either the source of solution, the source of the first supplemental fluid, or the source of the second supplemental fluid, but never from any two sources simultaneously. Further, unnecessary attention must be paid to the position of the stopcock mechanisms to insure that the intended valve port to the intended syringe is being opened rather than the other. In addition, other types of valves for adding supplemental fluid to a line can be found in the catheter art. Consider, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,949 to DeSee and 3,385,301 to Harautuneian. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,831,629 to Mackal et al; 4,209,485 to Greenspan; 4,429,856 to Jackson and 4,449,693 to Gereg disclose valves generally of the poppet type for uses in other than providing supplemental fluids to IV lines, as for example, to catheters. The opening of the valve would be effected by contact from a hypodermic needle in the prior art or pressure from the fluid therefrom. The use of such valves, however, is not suggested in the prior art for other than their intended purposes and certainly not for use as a replacement for the stopcocks commonly used in association with IV lines. An optimum system would be something new which combines the benefits of the prior practices without their shortcomings, i.e., something which provided for a large number of supplemental fluid ports for an IV line, the number being determined by an anesthesiologist for a particular operation and having the ability to allow for the injection of supplemental fluids into the flow of solution without closing off the primary flow of solution and without the possibility backflow of solution or other fluids into a syringe injecting the supplemental fluid. As illustrated by the great number of prior patents as well as commercial devices, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to inject supplemental fluids into IV channels more efficiently, conveniently, reliably and economically. None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, prior methods and apparatus do not suggest the present inventive combination of method steps and component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of method steps and component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a negligible cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for selectively injecting, through check valves, supplemental fluids into a closed intravenous line in tubing which extends from a source of saline solution to a patient during an operation. A further object of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of check valves. It is further object of the invention to preclude the backflow of fluids from an intravenous line into a syringe for injecting supplemental fluids into the intravenous line. It is yet a further object of the invention to conveniently position any number of syringes with supplemental fluids into operative position with respect to an IV line. Lastly, it is an object of the invention to inject any number of supplemental fluids, sequentially or concurrently, into the flow of solution in tubing to a patient being operated upon. The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a feed for a phased array antenna. In particular, the invention relates to a modular feed having a wide operating bandwidth, low system loss, and low complexity. The capacity of a wireless system may be increased by using phased array antennas in the base stations servicing a wireless service area. In wireless systems employing phased array antennas, the system loss and operating bandwidth associated with the antenna feed network are critical. A high system loss (or, a low system efficiency) in the feed network results in high power requirements in order for the antenna to broadcast at a certain power level. A narrow operating bandwidth of the feed network results in low bandwidth performance of the antenna. One conventional class of feed network for phased array antennas is the optical space feed. An optical space feed includes a transmitter for transmitting optical signals to an array of pickup horns. The pickup horns are connected to radiating elements for transmitting signals from the phased array antenna. Optical space feeds suffer the significant disadvantages of occupying a large volume, and of having high system losses. Another class of antenna feed network is the constrained feed. A first type of constrained feed, the series feed, is illustrated in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,462 to Hampel et al. A series feed has a relatively low system loss. However, the operating bandwidth of a series feed is narrow. A second type of constrained feed is the parallel feed. Parallel feeds may be rendered frequency independent by the use of delays. However, a parallel feed requires a different phase shifting value at each output branch of the antenna, which becomes difficult to achieve in high gain antennas having many parallel output branches. The differing phase shift values also add to the complexity of parallel feeds. A third type of constrained feed is the corporate feed. Examples of corporate feeds are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of Hampel et al. As in parallel feeds, a corporate feed""s operating bandwidth may be wide. However, corporate feeds are very complicated, which increases production costs. Corporate feeds also have large system losses because of the multiple bifurcations of the input power supply. A need therefore exists for a feed, for a phased array antenna, which has a low system loss, a wide operating bandwidth, and low complexity. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of conventional feed configurations by reducing both the transmission line length and the number of stages of power bifurcation, which increases the efficiency of the modular feed. An embodiment of the present invention is a modular feed for a phased array antenna, the modular feed comprising separate modules. A first type of module in the modular feed, the array module, has a series-type feed configuration and thus includes a plurality of radiating element feed lines for connection with radiating elements. A second type of module, the feed module, includes circuitry for feeding signals to a plurality of the array modules. In an exemplary embodiment, a power divider feeds two feed modules, each feed module feeds two array modules, and each array module includes four radiating element feed lines. The use of feed modules to feed the array modules having a series-type feed configuration reduces transmission line length and requires only two stages of power bifurcation. The array modules may be interchangeable, which decreases the complexity and production costs of the modular feed. The feed modules may also be interchangeable, further decreasing the complexity and cost of the modular feed.

A solar cell (or photovoltaic cell) is a core element in solar power generation to directly convert solar light into electricity. For example, if the solar light having energy greater than bandgap energy of a semiconductor is incident into a solar cell having the PN junction structure, electron-hole pairs are generated. As electrons and holes are collected into an N layer and a P layer, respectively, due to the electric field formed in a PN junction part, photovoltage is generated between the N and P layers. In this case, if a load is connected to electrodes provided at both ends of the solar cell, current flows through the solar cell. Recently, as energy consumption is increased, solar cells to convert the solar light into electrical energy have been developed. In particular, a CIGS-based solar cell, which is a PN hetero junction apparatus having a substrate structure including a glass substrate, a metallic back electrode layer, a P-type CIGS-based light absorbing layer, a high-resistance buffer layer, and an N-type window layer, has been extensively used. Various studies and researches have been performed to improve electrical characteristics of the solar cell, such as low resistance and high transmittance. Since CdS has a bandgap between those of the P-type CIGS-based light absorbing layer and the N-type window layer and represents superior electrical characteristics, the CdS has been extensively used for the high-resistance buffer layer. However, since the bandgap of the CdS is relatively fixed, the CdS is disadvantageous to form a buffer layer having a wide bandgap. In addition, since the CdS has the n-type electrical characteristics, techniques for improving the electrical characteristics by forming a P-type buffer layer on the P-type CIGS-based light absorbing layer are requested.

The present invention relates to a control system for a transmission. Transmissions are known which has two torque transmission paths, one being through a gearing mechanism, the other being through a V-belt type continuously variable transmission mechanism. Among the transmissions of the above kind, a transmission is known by the applicants. According to this transmission, there are provided a low clutch and a high clutch. When it is desired to transmit torque through the gearing mechanism, the low clutch is engaged, while when it is desired to transmit torque through the V-belt type continuously variable transmission, the high clutch is engaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a control system which is simple in construction and does not require any substantial modification of already existing control system for the V-belt type continuously variable transmission mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to storage systems and, more particularly, to device drivers for storage devices. 2. Description of the Related Art Tape drives may be an economical backup device due to both the relatively low cost of tape drives and tape media and the relatively large media size available for use in tape drives. Tape may be a sequential storage medium typically made of a flexible plastic with a ferromagnetic coating. Tapes may come in reels or cartridges of varying sizes and shapes. Tapes may have one or more tracks. These tracks may run parallel to the length of the tape (linear recording) or diagonally between the edges of the tape (helical scan). Modern cartridges often include 128 or more tracks. One or more tracks may be dedicated to storing parity for other tracks. Data is typically written in blocks of contiguous bytes to each track. Blocks are separated by spaces called inter-record or inter-block gaps. Locating a particular record involves sequentially reading records until the desired record is reached or searching for the inter-record gap in front of the desired record. Due to the sequential nature of tape, many tape operations take a significant amount of time to perform. While tape speed, which may be measured in inches per second, continues to improve, tape length, measured in inches, also continues to increase. As a result, newer drives tend to perform some operations (e.g., I/O (Input/Output) operations) more quickly than their predecessors do and other operations (e.g., erase and space operations) more slowly than their predecessors do. Some tape drivers specify either one or two timeout values to specify the amount of time the device driver should wait for a response from a tape drive. For example, one timeout may be used for I/O operations and may have a value equal to several minutes. Another timeout may be used for all other operations and may have a value around one hour. In order to accommodate the increasing amounts of time newer devices take to perform certain operations, tape drivers may include a multiplier flag or attribute. If the multiplier flag or attribute is set, one or both of the default timeout values are multiplied by a default multiplier. Accordingly, setting the flag or attribute causes the timeouts for all of the operations in a particular category to be lengthened. This may cause timeouts to be undesirably long for many tape drive operations. Accordingly, it is desirable to improve tape device timeout driver performance.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems have become increasingly popular tools for medical diagnostics. Such systems are based on the influence of controlled magnetic fields on gyromagnetic material within a subject of interest. The gyromagnetic material, typically molecules such as water, have characteristic behaviors in response to external magnetic fields. The precession of spins of such molecules can be influenced by manipulation of such fields to obtain magnetic resonance emissions which can then be detected and processed to reconstruct useful images of the subject. In MRI systems used in medical applications, a highly uniform primary magnetic field is produced by an electromagnet such that the field is generally aligned along the anatomy to be imaged. A series of gradient coils positioned around the subject produce additional magnetic fields used to select a desired slice of the anatomy to be imaged, and to encode positions of individual volume elements or voxels in the slice. Finally, a radio frequency coil is employed to pulse the gyromagnetic material to cause emissions from the material as it attempts to realign itself with the primary magnetic field. The emissions are sensed by a detection coil, which may be the same coil as the radio frequency coil. The sensed signals are then processed to identify the emissions emanating from specific locations of the voxels. A reconstructed image may be formed based upon the resulting data, wherein individual picture elements or pixels represent the voxels of the selected slice. A wide variety of pulse sequences have been developed for MRI systems, and specifically adapted to various imaging needs. One motivating impetus behind a number of new imaging pulse sequences has been the reduction in the time required to acquire the image data. Such reductions in time are particularly useful for imaging moving tissues (both due to natural movement and movement of a subject patient), as well as for reducing the discomfort of patients in the examination process. For example, dramatic reductions in acquisition time have been obtained through a technique referred to as echo planar imaging (EPI). In this technique, successive data echoes corresponding to emissions from gyromagnetic material in a given data acquisition line are used to encode position information. The technique obtains rapid acquisition of data by providing image encoding from a train of successive data echoes within one relaxation interval rather than through phase encoding of separate lines of data with each relaxation interval as in other techniques. Imaging sequences used in MRI systems, such as sequences used in EPI acquisition, employ bipolar readout gradients which oscillate in polarity many times during the readout phase of an examination. Such techniques often suffer from phase errors caused by misalignment of the data acquisition window with respect to the readout gradient pulse used to create a readout magnetic field. Other phase errors may result from eddy currents generated during the examination sequence, particularly by the readout gradients. Such eddy currents are created by rapidly changing drive currents used to generate the readout gradients, and tend to be more pronounced with stronger gradient fields and more rapid pulsing such as that used in EPI techniques. Several unwanted image artifacts can result from these phase errors, reducing the quality of the reconstructed image. Such artifacts include image ghosting, loss of image fidelity, and so forth. While certain phase errors can be corrected by estimating phase discrepancies between odd and even echoes in a readout sequence from a reference data set, such techniques are limited in their ability to accurately correct for the phase errors. Moreover, the reference data is typically acquired prior to an actual imaging sequence, adding substantially to the time required for the examination. Moreover, the use of reference data for phase error compensation in bipolar readout gradient pulse sequences is still somewhat useful in addressing the phase error problem, for real-time interactive MRI examinations, a single reference scan is often insufficient. Real-time imaging involves continuous changes in scan orientation, and phase errors introduced in such examination sequences depend upon the scanned plane. Consequently, new phase errors cannot typically be corrected using phase data derived from a single reference scan acquired in a different scan orientation. Although a new reference scan can be acquired at each scan location, imaging efficiency is further reduced by such additional reference scans, owing to the fact that such reference scans typically are non-phase encoded and so contain no useful image information. Moreover, since most reference data is obtained without the application of phase-encoding gradients, the data cannot account for phase errors contributed by the phase-encoding gradients used in actual imaging sequences. There is a need, therefore, for an improved technique for correcting or compensating for potential phase errors in bipolar readout gradient acquisition sequences in MRI systems. There is a particular need for a technique which does not significantly add to the data acquisition or processing time required, and which provides effective compensation for phase errors closely associated with the individual lines of data acquired during an examination sequence.

A current shunt provides for indirect measurement of current values by the measurement of the voltage developed across the shunt by the current passing through the shunt. Typical applications for current shunts include electricity usage control, over-current protection and metering of electricity consumption and generation. In use a shunt of known resistance is provided in series with a load and the voltage developed across the shunt by the load drawn current is measured. The current passing through the shunt is then determined on the basis of Ohm's Law in view of the measured voltage and the known resistance of the shunt. Certain applications, such as metering of electricity consumption and generation, require measurement to high accuracy over extended periods of time. For example in North America the ANSI C12.20 standard specifies an accuracy of ±0.5% for Class 0.5 consumption meters and ±0.2% for Class 0.2 consumption meters. Standards applicable in Europe and elsewhere, such as IEC 62053, specify similar accuracy requirements. It can therefore be appreciated that the resistance of the shunt must be known to high precision to enable a meter to meet regulated accuracy requirements. Although the shunt resistance is normally low to minimise power dissipation and undesirable circuit effects, the shunt is nevertheless liable to heating with temperature drift giving rise to a change in resistance which may cause a loss of measurement accuracy in a shunt of ordinary temperature coefficient of resistance. Shunt resistors formed from manganin alloy are therefore widely used in view of their very low temperature coefficient of resistance. It may also be apparent that accurate current measurement depends on measurement of the voltage developed across the shunt being accurate and stable with temperature and lifetime. This is because a change in the transfer gain or lack of precision in references used in the voltage measurement circuit will cause an error. It is normal for these reasons to perform a one-off factory calibration when the shunt and the readout electronics are combined so that a factor related to the actual combined transfer function for current to measurement value, which is determined largely by the shunt resistor and voltage measurement, can be stored and used in subsequent measurements to achieve the desired precision. An alternative known approach to measuring high values of current involves the use of a current transformer wound on a core, which is disposed around a conductor carrying current to be measured. The current transformer has the advantages over the shunt resistor of being less invasive and providing for isolation from the current carrying conductor. However the current transformer is capable of measuring AC current only. The current transformer generates a current in the secondary coil, which is a ratio of the current in the primary conductor, and the secondary coil current is then turned into a voltage by a load, known as a burden resistor. Accurate measurement of the voltage across the burden resistor combined with accurate knowledge of the transfer function of the primary current to voltage across the burden resistor (i.e. combining the effect of number of turns, the magnetic and the burden resistor) are needed to accurately and precisely measure the current. As with the current shunt, one-off factory calibration is often performed to compensate for inaccuracies in some or all of the elements that contribute to the overall transfer function of primary current to measurement value. In contrast another approach uses a Hall current probe which is capable of measuring both AC and DC. In an open loop configuration the Hall current probe is, however, liable to non-linearity and temperature drift. In a closed loop configuration the Hall current probe provides an improvement with regards to non-linearity and temperature drift although the weight and size of the configuration increases significantly where higher currents are measured. It is further known to use the Rogowski coil current probe to measure high levels of current. Most known approaches to current measurement, such as by way of the shunt resistor, the current transformer, the Rogowski coil and the Hall current probe, are described and discussed in Current Sensing Techniques: A Review, Silvio Ziegler Robert C. Woodward and Herbert Ho-Ching Iu, IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, April 2009. The different known approaches have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Load current measurement is often made in conjunction with line voltage measurement, which involves measuring the voltage between the conductors over which the current is delivered, in order to determine the electrical power. As the line voltage is often many times larger than the largest signal that can be safely or conveniently measured, the most common means of measuring the line voltage is through a resistive potential divider between the conductors, which lowers the voltage to be measured by the factor of the divider ratio. The divider ratio and the accuracy of the subsequent voltage measurement chain needs to be known and be sufficiently stable to meet the accuracy requirements of the power measurement application; accuracy requirements for power measurement are specified in the aforementioned standards. Accurate line voltage measurement normally depends on the use of components with good temperature coefficients and known values and on factory calibration, amongst other techniques. High accuracy power calculation also requires accurate and stable relative phase and frequency response of the load current and the line voltage measurements in order to accurately determine such metrics and differences between active and reactive power, power factor and harmonic content amongst others. The present inventor has become appreciative of the various shortcomings of known approaches to current measurement and power measurement, such as the approaches described in outline in the preceding paragraphs. It is therefore an object for the present invention to provide improved current measurement apparatus which is configured to provide for accurate measurement of current, for example in a circuit carrying mains current. It is another object for the present invention to provide an improved method of measuring current which provides for accurate measurement of current, for example in a circuit carrying mains current. It is a further object for the present invention to provide improved voltage measurement apparatus which is configured to provide for accurate measurement of line voltage, such as in a circuit carrying mains current, whereby accurate power measurement may be achieved. It is a yet further object for the present invention to provide an improved method of measuring voltage which provides for accurate measurement of line voltage, such as in a circuit carrying mains current, whereby accurate power measurement may be achieved.

As one of the fuel economy improvement measures of an automobile triggered by global environment problems, weight reduction of the vehicle body is advancing, and it is necessary to high-strengthen a steel sheet used for an automobile as much as possible. However, when a steel sheet is high-strengthened for weight reduction of an automobile, elongation EL and r value (Lankford value) drop, and press formability and shape freezing property come to deteriorate. In order to solve such problems, a hot-press forming method has been employed for manufacturing components in which a steel sheet is heated to a predetermined temperature (for example, a temperature at which a state of an austenitic phase is achieved), the strength is lowered (that is, forming is facilitated), the steel sheet is thereafter formed using a tool of a temperature (room temperature for example) that is lower compared with the case of a thin steel sheet, thereby impartation of a shape and a rapid heat treatment (quenching) utilizing the temperature difference of the both are executed simultaneously, and the strength after forming is secured. According to such hot-press forming method, because forming is executed in a low strength state, spring back is also reduced (shape freezing property is excellent), a material added with alloy elements such as Mn, B and the like and having excellent quenchability is used, and thereby the strength of 1,500 MPa class in terms of the tensile strength is obtained by rapid cooling. Also, such hot-press forming method is referred to by various names such as a hot forming method, hot stamping method, hot stamp method, die quench method, and the like in addition to the hot-press method. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory drawing showing a tool configuration for executing above-mentioned hot-press forming (may be hereinafter represented by “hot stamp”), 1 in the drawing is a punch, 2 is a die, 3 is a blank holder, 4 is a steel sheet (blank), BHF is a blank holding force, rp is punch shoulder radius, rd is die shoulder radius, and CL is punch/die clearance respectively. Also, out of these components, in the punch 1 and the die 2, passages 1a, 2a through which a cooling medium (water for example) can pass are formed inside of each, and it is configured that these members are cooled by making the cooling medium pass through these passages. In hot stamping (hot deep drawing for example) using such tool, forming is started in a state the steel sheet (blank) 4 is heated to a single-phase zone temperature of Ac3 transformation point or above and is softened. That is, in a state the steel sheet 4 in a high temperature state is sandwiched between the die 2 and the blank holder 3, the steel sheet 4 is pressed in to the inside of a hole of the die 2 (between 2, 2 of FIG. 1) by the punch 1, and is formed into a shape corresponding to the shape of the outer shape of the punch 1 while reducing the outside diameter of the steel sheet 4. Also, by cooling the punch 1 and the die 2 in parallel with forming, heat removal from the steel sheet 4 to the tools (the punch 1 and the die 2) is executed, holding and cooling are further executed at a forming bottom dead point (the temporal point the tip of the punch is positioned at the deepest point: the state shown in FIG. 1), and thereby quenching of the raw material is executed. By executing such forming method, a formed product of 1,500 MPa class with excellent dimensional accuracy can be obtained, the forming load can be reduced compared with a case a component of a same strength class is cold-formed, and therefore less capacity of the press machine is needed. As a steel sheet for hot stamping widely used at present, one using 22Mn—B5 steel as a raw material is known. The steel sheet has the tensile strength of approximately 1,500 MPa and the elongation of approximately 6-8%, and is applied to a shock resistant member (a member not causing deformation as much as possible and not causing breakage in collision). Further, development of further high-strengthening (1,500 MPa or more, 1,800 MPa class) is also advancing by increasing the C content on the base of 22Mn—B5 steel. However, the present situation is that a steel king other than 22Mn—B5 steel is scarcely applied, and a steel kind and a manufacturing method for controlling the strength and elongation of the component (for example, lowering the strength: 980 MPa class, elongation increasing: 20%, and the like) and widening the application range to other than shock resistant members are scarcely studied. In a passenger car of the middle class or more, there is a case that both functions of a shock resistant portion and an energy absorption portion are secured within a component such as a B-pillar, rear side member, front side member and the like considering the compatibility in a side collision and a rear collision (a function for protecting the counterpart side also when a small-sized car collides with). In manufacturing the members described above, a method of laser-welding a high strength super high-ten of 980 MPa class and a ductile high-ten of 440 MPa class (tailored weld blank: TWB) for example and press-forming in a cold state has been a mainstream. However, recently, development of a technology for separately achieving the strength within a component by hot stamping is advancing. For example, in non-patent literature 1, a method for hot stamping is proposed in which 22Mn—B5 steel for hot stamping and a material not achieving high strength even by quenching using a tool are laser-welded (tailored weld blank: TWB), and the tensile strength: 1,500 MPa (elongation: 6-8%) on the high strength side (shock resistant portion side) and the tensile strength: 440 MPa (elongation: 12%) on the low strength side (energy absorption portion side) are separately achieved. From a similar viewpoint, such technology as non-patent literature 2 has been proposed. According to the technology of the non-patent literatures 1, 2, although the tensile strength is 600 MPa or less and the elongation is approximately 12-18% on the energy absorption portion side, laser-welding (tailored weld blank: TWB) is required beforehand, the number of the manufacturing steps increase, and the cost rises. Further, the energy absorption portion for which quenching is not required essentially comes to be heated which is not preferable from the viewpoint of calorie consumption also. Furthermore, as a technology for separately achieving the strength within a component, such technologies as non-patent literatures 3, 4 for example have also been proposed. Out of them, according to the technology of the non-patent literature 3, the strength is separately achieved by making a blank a temperature difference (distribution) in a blank within a heating furnace, although 22Mn—B5 steel is a base, due to the effect of adding boron, the robust characteristic of the strength after quenching is inferior with respect to heating to a two-phase zone temperature, strength control on the energy absorption portion side is hard, and the elongation is only approximately 15%. On the other hand, according to the technology of the non-patent literature 4, although the strength is separately achieved by changing the cooling rate within a tool (by heating a part of the tool by a heater, or by using materials with different thermal conductivity), 22Mn—B5 steel is a base, which is not rational in that the 22Mn—B5 steel which essentially has excellent quenchability is controlled so as not to be quenched (tool cooling control).

This invention relates to an apparatus for and method of depositing adhesives, and more particularly to an apparatus capable of the precise deposition of adhesive strips on a length or piece of material, such as metal, plastic or fabric. In particular, the manufacture of garments from fabric materials has traditionally involved numerous sewing procedures. These sewing procedures were formerly carried out manually by individual tailors wielding needles and thread. The advent of the sewing machine signaled a vast improvement in the art, however, extensive human interaction is still necessary in virtually every phase of garment fabrication since sewing procedures are not readily adaptable to automation. In particular, numerous manual operations are required in the fabrication of components for a garment. For example, the construction of pockets alone involves many time-consuming manual operations which tend to boost the manufacturing cost for the entire garment. In an attempt to eliminate these time-consuming and costly manual operations, there recently has been some interest in the use of adhesive connection techniques as a replacement for stitched seams. However, the proficient utilization of adhesive materials in garment fabrication requires an accurate means for positioning adhesive material at a predetermined location on fabric material which has not heretofore been available, other than manually. The present invention comprises an apparatus for depositing adhesives which overcomes the foregoing and other problems long since associated with the prior art. In accordance with the broader aspects of the invention, a ribbon of adhesive is directed along a predetermined path adjacent to a length or piece of material for deposition. The adhesive ribbon can comprise a substance responsive to heat, radiation, pressure, or ultrasonic vibration. A precise length of adhesive formed from the ribbon is metered into proximity with the material before activation and engagement to attach the strip of adhesive thereto. Consequently, utilization of the invention permits predetermined strips of adhesive to be attached at precise locations to a length or piece of material prior to subsequent fabrication operations. The apparatus functions on an automatic basis, thus eliminating many heretofore required manual trimming and positioning operations associated with the use of adhesives in various operations. While the invention is particularly suited to the deposition of adhesives onto fabric, it will be understood that the invention can be utilized with metals, plastics or other materials. In accordance with more specific aspects of the invention, a ribbon of adhesive is drawn from a roll of ribbon. The adhesive ribbon may include a backing on one side of the adhesive. In a first embodiment of the invention, adhesive ribbon with a backing on one side thereof is engaged between measuring and feed rollers and directed into positioning structure. Prior to entering the positioning structure, separation means responsive to the measuring roller traverses and separates the adhesive layer of the ribbon from the backing to provide an adhesive strip of preselected length. Subsequent rollers draw the adhesive ribbon into positioning structure located adjacent a length or piece of material on which the adhesive is to be deposited. With the strip of adhesive disposed between the backing and the length of material, a movable head is actuated to press the material and the adhesive strip into engagement with the positioning structure, thereby securing the adhesive strip to the adjacent material. The head itself can be heated or ultrasonically vibrated to activate the adhesive, or an outside source of radiation or heat could be used, if desired. The deposited adhesive strip is disconnected from the backing strip, by which the next strip of adhesive is drawn into the positioning structure. In a second embodiment of the invention, measuring and feed rollers engage and advance the adhesive ribbon between fixed and movable blades into positioning structure adjacent a length or piece of material. The presence of a backing on one side of the adhesive ribbon is not required for the operation of this embodiment. After positioning of the adhesive ribbon, a movable portion of the positioning structure extends to simultaneously shear the ribbon and to press the material and sheared strip of adhesive into engagement with a stationary head. If desired, the material can then be advanced around a series of rollers to remove any backing from the attached adhesive strip. In both of the first embodiments, the material can be advanced through the apparatus at any desired orientation relative thereto. Thus, the first two embodiments of the invention function to deposit substantially straight strips of adhesive at precise locations on a piece of material. In a third embodiment of the invention, an apparatus for depositing strips of adhesive is mounted on steerable post structure. The incoming adhesive ribbon is engaged by a feed and metering pulley which is rotatably mounted in the post structure. The adhesive ribbon is directed toward a revolving wheel which is drivingly interconnected with the feed pulley. Means are provided for precision stopping and starting of the adhesive ribbon in the apparatus, if desired. Preferably, separation means responsive to the feed pulley are provided to separate the adhesive ribbon into strips of preselected length. The revolving wheel includes a circumferential recess for receiving and guiding the adhesive strip into engagement with the underlying material. The adhesive strip is activated as it is guided into engagement. The wheel itself can be heated or ultrasonically vibrated to activate the adhesive, or an outside source of radiation or heat can be used, if desired. In the third embodiment, the apparatus can be steered relative to the adjacent material, which affords directional capability whereby relatively longer adhesive strips can be precisely deposited in linear or curvilinear fashion.

A typical oil or gas well has a wellhead housing with a Christmas tree mounted thereon. One or more strings of casing extend into the well and are supported by casing hangers landed in the wellhead housing. In one type of wellhead assembly, a tubing hanger lands in the wellhead housing. The tubing hanger supports a string of production tubing suspended in the casing. Well fluid flows up the tubing to the tree. If the wellhead assembly is a surface installation, rather than subsea, normally the wellhead has a tubing annulus access port extending through its sidewall. The access port is located below the tubing hanger seal to provide access to the tubing annulus. In some wells a minimum velocity of the well fluid is desired as it flows through the tubing hanger. As the formation is depeleted, the bottom hole pressure declines, causing a reduction in velocity. An inner string of tubing may be installed in the previously installed tubing. In one technique, the tree is removed, and a tubing spool or tubing head is connected to the upper end of the wellhead housing. The inner string of tubing is lowered into the existing tubing, and an inner tubing hanger lands in the tubing spool. The inner string of tubing may be joints of production tubing secured together by threaded ends, or it may comprise a continuous string of coiled tubing. After securing the inner tubing hanger in the tubing spool, the tree is connected to the tubing spool. While workable, this adaptation increases the overall height of the wellhead assembly, which can create problems, particularly for wellhead assemblies mounted on offshore platforms.

The travel and hospitality industry in the United States and throughout the world is an ever increasing business sector. Advances in Internet and computing technology have significantly increased the opportunities to capture data from both travelers and travel properties (e.g., hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, condominiums, houses). For example, web site based systems are used to offer the sale and rental of many travel properties and are used to make a large percentage of travel bookings. During these bookings, a significant amount of user travel data is received. The travel data may include, for example, a destination city, specific properties, dates of arrival, length of stay, room type, property amenities, price quotes, availability information, and/or other travel information. Property owners and managers are looking for chances to use this travel data to improve decisions relating to the management and sale of units in their travel properties. The mere availability of this data, however, does not by itself improve decisions that may lead to increased profits for the travel property. Conventional revenue management systems and booking engines are not equipped to make sufficient use of the newly acquired user travel data to deliver actionable insights and analysis as needed.

This invention relates to semiconductor devices having on one side an anode zone and on the other side a cathode zone, with a high specific resistance zone and a lattice defect zone positioned between the anode and cathode zones. Semiconductor devices of the kind can be effectively utilized as, for example, static induction thyristors, insulated-gate bipolar transistors or the like.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electrochemical devices, and more particularly solid state electrochemical devices composed of one or more electrodes in contact with a solid state electrolyte and/or membrane. Solid state electrochemical devices are often implemented as cells including two electrodes, the anode and the cathode, and a dense solid electrolyte/membrane which separates the electrodes. In many implementations, such as in fuel cells and oxygen and syn gas generators, the solid membrane is an electrolyte composed of a material capable of conducting ionic species, such as oxygen ions, sodium ions, or hydrogen ions, yet has a low electronic conductivity. In other implementations, such as gas separation devices, the solid membrane is composed of a mixed ionic electronic conducting material (“MIEC”). In each case, the electrolyte/membrane must be gas-tight to the electrochemical reactants. In all of these devices a lower total internal resistance of the cell results in improved performance. The preparation of solid state electrochemical cells is well known. For example, a typical solid oxide fuel cell is composed of a dense electrolyte membrane of a ceramic oxygen ion conductor, a porous anode layer of a ceramic, a metal or, most commonly, a ceramic-metal composite (“cermet”), in contact with the electrolyte membrane on the fuel side of the cell, and a porous cathode layer of an ionically/electronically-conductive metal oxide on the oxidant side of the cell. Electricity is generated through the electrochemical reaction between a fuel (typically hydrogen produced from reformed methane) and an oxidant (typically air). This net electrochemical reaction involves mass transfer and charge transfer steps that occur at the interface between the ionically-conductive electrolyte membrane, the electronically-conductive electrode and the vapor phase (fuel or oxygen). The contribution of these charge transfer steps, in particular the charge transfer occurring at the oxygen electrode, to the total internal resistance of a solid oxide fuel cell device can be significant. Electrode structures including a porous layer of electrolyte particles on a dense electrolyte membrane with electrocatalyst material on and within the porous layer of electrolyte are known. As shown in FIG. 1, such electrodes are generally prepared by applying an electrocatalyst precursor-containing electrode material 102 (such as a metal oxide powder having high catalytic activity and high reactivity with the electrolyte) as a slurry to a porous (pre-fired; unsintered; also referred to as “green”) electrolyte structure 104, and then co-firing the electrode and electrolyte materials to densify the electrolyte and form a composite electrolyte/electrode/electrocatalyst 106. Oxides containing transition metals such as Co, Fe, Mn, are known to be useful as oxygen electrodes in electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, sensors, and oxygen separation devices. However, if such compounds were to be used with typical zirconia-based electrolytes, such as YSZ, a deleterious reaction in the temperature range of 1000-1400° C. typically needed to densify zirconia would be expected. The product of this reaction would be a resistive film 105 at the electrode/electrolyte interface, thereby increasing the cell's internal resistance. Similar problems may be encountered with sintering highly catalytic electrode materials on densified (fired) zirconia-base electrolytes since the sintering temperatures of about 1200° C. to 1400° C. are sufficient to cause the formation of a deleterious resistive film at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In order to avoid deleterious chemical reactions, attempts have been made to use barrier layers, such as ceria, or to use chemically compatible electrolytes, such as ceria with such transition metal oxides. Also, it has been proposed to add an electrolcatalytic precursor to a fired electrode/electrolyte composite, but only for a specific type of electrode material. Specifically, prior researchers have sought to fabricate electrodes with interpenetrating networks of ionically conductive and electronically conductive materials with subsequent infiltration of a catalytic electrode. However, this can hinder the performance of ionic devices, particularly at high current densities where ohmic drop due to current collection can lead to substantial efficiency losses.

Cellular communications systems typically include multiple base stations for communicating with mobile stations in various geographical transmission areas. Each base station provides an interface between the mobile station and a telecommunications network. Mobile telephone systems are in use, or being developed, in which the geographic coverage area of the system is divided into smaller separate cells, which communicate with the network via a fixed station located in the cell. Mobile telephones belonging to the system are free to travel from one cell to another. When a subscriber within the same system or within an external system wishes to call a mobile subscriber within this system, the network must have information on the actual location of the mobile telephone. Recently, the price of cellular telephones has been greatly reduced and become affordable to lots of people. It is common that a person owns more than one cellular phone. Some people even replace their cellular telephones as often as they replace their clothes or hairstyle. The cellular manufacturers have to release new models with different appearances, functions, and styles more frequently so as to attract the attention of the buyer and occupy a favorable market share. Furthermore, the conventional projector employs a white light lamp as a light source, therefore, at least two reflector lenses and at least three light-split lenses are required to split the white light into three colors (red, green, and blue). Some prior optical systems are expensive, complicated, and large in size. Further, the lamp light source will often generate a lot of heat.

Modern electronics have benefited from the ability to fabricate devices on a smaller and smaller scale. As the ability to shrink devices has improved, so has their performance. Unfortunately, this improvement in performance is accompanied by an increase in power as well as power density in devices, resulting in large amounts of heat. In order to maintain the reliability of these devices, the industry must find new methods to remove this heat efficiently. Many current systems include a plurality of printed circuit boards. These boards may each include a plurality of heat-generating devices requiring cooling to remain within their operating temperatures. Some commonly available current systems configure the printed circuit boards such that they are parallel with each other and then force airflow across the printed circuit boards, thus cooling the heat-generating devices attached to the printed circuit boards. The individual heat-generating devices may include heat sinks to make more efficient use of the heat transfer properties of the airflow. However, as devices shrink in size and heat generation increases, standard techniques such as individual heat sinks and wide gaps between parallel printed circuit boards are no longer sufficient to provide the compact size required of many devices today. Some printed circuit boards and their devices are configured to allow the use of a single heat sink across a plurality of individual heat-generating devices. This allows the use of larger heat sinks that are more efficient and cheaper and easier to manufacture than a plurality of individual heat sinks. Often, two printed circuit boards contain devices with functions that must be closely mated for optimal performance. For example, a power module board is most effective when it is as close as possible to the printed circuit board including the ASICs or microprocessors to which the power module board is supplying power. This closeness reduces voltage drops along the, now shortened, interconnect between the power module and the ASICs or microprocessors. Typically, devices on both the power module board and the microprocessor printed circuit board require heat sinks to efficiently dissipate the heat generated by the electronic devices on those boards. One technique involves placing the power module board and the printed circuit board back-to-back with their heat sinks facing outwards from the two boards. However, this technique results in a system requiring two airflows over the two sets of heat sinks for efficient cooling. This requirement causes the overall volume of the completed device to increase, along with the cost of providing two airflows. Similarly, when a single printed circuit board is used and the power module is placed on the opposing side of the printed circuit board, two sets of heat sinks and two airflows are still required. Other configurations may place the power module components on the same side of a single printed circuit board with the other components, reducing the airflows required to one. However, this configuration may not allow the shortest possible power supply connections to the ASICs, microprocessors, or other devices.

1. Technical Field The present invention generally relates to computer systems, and more particularly to a method of dynamically adjusting an audio subsystem of a computer system to support different types of audio output devices, e.g., speakers or headphones. 2. Description of Related Art A typical structure for a conventional computer system includes one or more processing units connected to a system memory device (random access memory or RAM) and to various peripheral, or input/output (I/O), devices such as a display monitor, a keyboard, a graphical pointer (mouse), and a permanent storage device (hard disk). The system memory device is used by a processing unit in carrying out program instructions, and stores those instructions as well as data values that are fed to or generated by the programs. A processing unit communicates with the other components by various means, including one or more interconnects (buses), or direct access channels. A computer system may have many additional components, such as serial, parallel, and universal serial bus (USB) ports for connection to, e.g., printers, and network adapters. Other components might further be used in conjunction with the foregoing; for example, a display adapter might be used to control a video display monitor, a memory controller can be used to access the system memory, etc. One other common feature of modem computers is audio capability. Many computers have built-in speakers, some offering quality stereo listening, not only in desktop computers, but in portable (laptop or notebook) computers as well. Desktop and portable computers also commonly provide an audio subsystem I/O device on the main circuit board (“motherboard”), having one or more jacks for connecting to various audio devices, such as speakers, headphones, microphones, MIDI music sources, etc. The ports for a typical audio subsystem are illustrated in FIG. 1. The ports are mounted on the motherboard 1 and include a line in jack 2, a line out jack 3, and a mic in jack 4. Line in jack 2 receives a plug from an audio source (i.e. cassette deck) 5, line out jack 3 receives a plug from a speaker pair 6, and mic in jack 4 receives a plug from a microphone 7. This configuration is typical of various computer types, particularly those computers referred to as IBM-compatible, or personal computers (PCs). Many computer vendors are driving the strategic direction of the consumer brand of PCs towards the direct model. This model is based on the idea of building a PC towards a customer's unique requirements or specifications. One area of concern in this regard has been the audio subsystem. The computer manufacturer cannot know at the factory what kind of audio devices may ultimately be installed on a unit; for example, a model may be shipped with “passive” speakers, or “active” speakers. Passive speakers are those having minimal integrated electronics and no power supply (typically small speakers). Active speakers are powered by a separate power source. To achieve the lowest possible cost for a consumer model, an audio amplifier can be mounted on the motherboard to provide adequate power for passive audio speakers. Such a setup requires the passive speakers to be powered from a separate jack with, e.g., three watts per channel. If one wishes to upgrade to a set of external active speakers (requiring a power AD/DC power adapter), they must be powered from another jack (line out jack 3), which is typically powered with one-quarter watt per channel. In the foregoing design, the planar (motherboard) provides both a line-out jack and a speaker out jack, but it is extremely rare that both of these ports would be in use. There is accordingly a cost increase of the planar due to the additional connectors and circuitry, and the size (area) of the planar is further negatively impacted. As the area of planars continues to decrease, there is less board edge to place these additional connectors. Another problem with providing two audio output jacks is the resulting customer confusion as to which jack is to be used. This confusion not only leads to excessive support calls which cost the manufacturer, but can further damage the audio subsystem (from overdriving active speakers). One solution to the foregoing problem is to simply provide only one audio output jack, and allow the customer to make appropriate hardware or software adjustments depending upon the intended audio output device. For example, a physical switch (jumpers) may be provided on the planar board, and the customer must open up the cover, go inside the PC and set the jumpers depending upon whether they wish to use passive or active speakers. If the customer orders a model (which is shipped preset for passive speakers) and they also order an upgraded pair of active speakers, the customer will have to open up the cover and change jumper settings to set the PC for active speakers. The primary problem with this approach is that, if the customer opens up the box and accidently manipulates the wrong set of jumpers (or otherwise damages any internal components), then the warranty for the PC becomes invalid. Also, if the customer sets these particular jumpers incorrectly, it can damage (overdrive) their active speakers, or they will not hear anything from their passive speakers. Either result again leads to increased costs on the manufacturer's part for support calls, as well as shipping new parts to replace damaged goods. Alternatively, the customer can make software adjustments, e.g., in the computers' basic input/output system (BIOS) to select either passive or active speakers. This approach requires the customer to enter the BIOS setup screen and modify the BIOS settings, but most consumers are unfamiliar with this process. This solution assumes the customer reads the relevant documentation first, but this is rarely the case. Most manufacturer's dislike customers adjusting BIOS settings unless it is critically necessary. If a customer accidentally makes an incorrect change to the BIOS settings, it may lead to severe trouble. There is generally no reason to take such risks just to support a speaker, and incorrect changes can again result in support calls, delivering new parts, and quality perception. It is also possible that incorrect settings may damage active speakers. In light of the foregoing it would be desirable to provide an improved method of determining which type of speaker is connected to the audio subsystem, and to power it appropriately. It would be further advantageous if the method did not require user intervention so as to avoid problems associated with incorrect user adjustments.

Hydraulic damping devices are used in a variety of applications to damp pressure fluctuations and forces in position controlled systems. One area where such devices are used is that of hydraulically powered actuators in aircraft systems. In an aircraft system, hydraulically powered actuators are used in a wide range of applications. One common area of application is in the actuation of control surfaces of the aircraft, for example in the actuation of nose wheel steering, elevators, rudders, ailerons, and so on. Typically the actuator must be able to extend and retract in order to allow deployment and retraction of the control system. To this end, the actuator will normally have an extension chamber into which hydraulic fluid is admitted to extend the actuator, and a retraction chamber into which hydraulic fluid is admitted to retract the actuator, i.e. move it in an opposite direction from extension. A series of valves selectively connect the extension and retraction chambers to a source of hydraulic fluid to effect the appropriate movement of the actuator. However, in certain operating or failure conditions, for example during flight, it may be desirable to suppress certain forces which act on the control surfaces and thus on the actuator, for example to prevent flutter, shimmy or other unwanted movement of the control system. To damp such forces, a bypass line is typically installed within the hydraulic circuit, linking the extension chamber and retraction chamber of the actuator through a damping orifice. In this damping mode, any movement of the control system, and therefore of the actuator which is connected to it, will cause hydraulic fluid to pass from one of the extension and retraction chamber into the other of the extension and retraction chamber through the damping orifice, thereby damping the movement of the actuator and the control surface. In some applications, multiple actuators may be used to move a control system. In this situation, it is common to place one actuator in an active mode, i.e. with hydraulic fluid being supplied to both extension and retraction chambers, and the other in the damped mode. Generally, when the damping ratio required is low, the damper is a quadratic damper, which means that should the control system be moved by the active actuator, the damping force generated in the damping device is proportional to the square of the actuator speed and moderate drag is generated at high speed. If the damping ratio required is high, then the drag forces generated by damped actuator at high speed will be very high, which means that the adjacent active actuator may need to be oversized to counteract this damping force. In some applications, therefore, a linear, rather than a quadratic, damping device may be used as this will reduce the damping force for a given velocity, meaning that a smaller actuator may be used.

Jig systems have been used to hold building elements, such as wood boards, in proper position while the building elements are attached to each other to construct a roof support truss. Known jig systems typically employ a horizontal surface (such as a table) for resting the building elements thereon and a plurality of adjustable stops for indicating the proper positions of the building elements in the desired truss design and for holding the building elements in those positions until the elements can be secured together in a permanent manner. For each different truss design, the stops must be repositioned on the jig surface to reflect the different positions of the building elements. Computer programs have been developed to calculate, for various truss designs, the positions of the stops from a reference line, such as an edge of the table. Conventional practice has been to measure the positions of the stops from the reference line, manually move the stops to the positions, manually secure the stops in the desired positions, place the building elements on the table against the stops, fasten the building elements together, remove the completed truss, and then repeat the process by releasing and then re-securing the stops for each different truss design. As there can be significant variation between the size and shape of roof support trusses used for the same building, a significant amount of the truss production time has been dedicated to resetting the positions of the stops, especially when only one or two trusses for each truss design are needed. One approach has been to employ a system that automatically moves the jig stops, sometimes referred to as pucks, along slots in the horizontal surface of the truss assembly table. While in concept these systems can save time otherwise needed to measure, move and secure the stops on the table, there have been problems that have cropped up with these systems that make them less time saving and reliable as they could be for optimum efficiency. Automatic jigging assemblies for use on truss assembly tables are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,093,829; 6,712,347 and 6,889,324 to Fredrickson, et al. and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,092,028 and 4,943,038 to Harnden. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by references for any and all purposes. The environment in which the jig systems are used is filled with debris and dust. Even when the building elements are cut and shaped at a location remote from the jig system, the building elements often carry sawdust and wood chips onto the surface of the table of the jig system. This debris falls or is pushed into the slot in which the puck moves. As each puck is typically mounted on a screw-threaded rod that is positioned below the puck in the slot, the debris often falls onto the rod. Since the rod rotates to move the puck, a rod caked with debris can hamper and even prevent movement of the puck along the rod. Thus, regular and frequent cleaning of the rod is needed to minimize the possibility of breakdowns of the system. Further complicating this situation is the fact that the screw-threaded rods typically are covered with some type of lubricant to facilitate movement of the puck along the rod, and this often sticky lubricant holds the debris on the surface of the rod. The encrusted rod can carry the debris into the cooperating parts of the system, and cause additional friction and failure. Still further exacerbating this problem in the known systems is the placement of the rod in a channel located below the slot with a closed bottom that holds the debris in close proximity to the rod, so that infrequent clearing of the channels can bring debris in contact with the rods from the bottom, as well as from the top as debris falls from the table surface. Desired is a mechanism that will set up to build trusses automatically from computer instruction. The improved mechanism needs to set up quickly, run smoothly to reduce wear and tear on assembly components, and provide a means to prevent the maintenance problems that come from the accumulation of dirt and debris produced by the truss assembly operation in the mechanism. Finally, the system needs to be durable enough to withstand potential damage from the activities of truss assembly. For truss jigging, the threaded rods that typically drive the pucks must be about 12 to 14 feet (3.65 to 4.27 meters) long. At this length, the threaded rod will sag under its own weight and, when turned at high revolutions per minute, will whip and gyrate violently unless it is properly constrained. Proper constraint is desired to achieve smooth operation of the rod. The improved mechanism of the current invention will set up very quickly under control of a motion control computer which receives its set up data directly from truss engineering analysis software. The mechanics of the system run very smoothly and thereby greatly reduce the wear on all components, both electrical and mechanical. None of the components of the system will allow the accumulation of dirt and debris. Finally, extraordinarily severe abuse of the system will not cause failure. Details of how this is accomplished are given below. Also desirable is a durable assembly that will resist extreme abuse from the truss assembly activity that occurs on the surface of the table. This abuse comes primarily from lumber that is being tossed onto the surface of the table and moved into position for truss assembly. Workers will also kick the pucks or hit them with hammers on occasion. Thus, while the known systems for automatically positioning the pucks on the jig assembly table are an improvement over jig systems requiring manual positioning of the stops, there are significant problems that have arisen with the use of automatic systems.

Underwater noise by way of example during offshore pile driving work can be perceived over great distances by marine mammals, by way of example porpoises and seals. Porpoises in particular are affected by underwater noise since with these animals their hearing is used for navigation and searching for food in addition to communication. Permanent damage to their hearing can in the case of these animals consequently lead to their death. Different techniques are known for reducing the sound. In the case of a bubble curtain compressed air tubes are placed around the underwater construction site. These are connected to compressors and pump compressed air into the tubes on the sea bed. This compressed air rises in the form of a curtain of air bubbles and thus forms a physically acoustically sound-absorbing barrier. Instead of the air bubbles which are volatile and difficult to regulate, balloons of elastic material can also be used as sound-reducing elements. A plurality of sound-reducing elements is thereby disposed on a support structure. This is by way of example a net which can be stretched flexibly round the source of the sound in the water. The nets are secured on the sea bed by weights. The complete unit of the sound-reducing elements with the support structure is called a hydro sound damper. A hydro sound damper provides additional damping action and can be matched exactly to the anticipated sound spectrum. A hydro sound damper is less susceptible to sea currents and has the optimum effectiveness in the entire relevant frequency range. Furthermore in the case of a hydro sound damper a continuous supply of compressed air is not required, unlike in the case of the bubble curtain. In order to reduce the hydro sound a hydro sound damper is known from the printed specification DE 10 2008 017 418 A1. This hydro sound damper consists of a plurality of damping elements spaced from one another to reduce the hydro sound and arranged spread out on a support structure, by way of example on a net. The support structure is arranged at the installation site around a source of noise. A source of noise is by way of example a pile which is introduced into the sea bed, which can be achieved by pile driving or boring. The printed specification WO 2013/102459 A2 describes a method and a device for handling a hydro sound damper in the region of an offshore construction site, more particularly in the case of a pile which is to be introduced into the sea bed. The disclosed device comprises a holding device on which a first end of the hydro sound damper is held, while a second end of the hydro sound damper which is remote from the first end of the hydro sound damper can be positioned movable relative to the holding device, more particularly at a distance from the holding device.

The present invention relates to a switch, and particularly to a switch having a light generator that lights up as the switch is actuated. Currently, switches are widely used in computer devices and mobile phones for switching the functions on a window or selecting icons on the windows. Generally, the prior switch includes a seat, a key body, a first elastomer, a second elastomer, and a cover for controlling the switching of various functions or selection desired items. In operation, as the key body is pushed, a neck portion 22 of the key body 2 will move in a space of the seat 1 so as to drive the rotary portion 23 to rotate. When the rotary portion 23 rotates, the free ends of the second elastomer 4 extend toward a second receiving portion 13. A contact end of the first elastomer 3 firmly secured to the back surface of the rotary portion 23 contacts the interior of the first receiving portion 12. Then, an electric signal is outputted, this signal is used for switching the functions on a window or selecting icons on the windows. Although this switch serves for switching the functions on a window or selecting icons on the windows, the user cannot know whether this switch has faults. It must be monitored by a window. Sometimes, disabling of the window is not induced from the destroy of the switch. The seat 1 has a solid portion 11. The solid portion 11 is formed with a first receiving portion 12 and a second receiving portion 13. The bottom of the first receiving portion 12 has a conductive wires 121. This conductive wires 121 is communicated with a pin 14 so as to form an power input and an output of control signal. The solid portion 11 is installed with a space 15 at position with respect to the first receiving portion 12 for operating the key body 2. The first receiving portion 12 has a pivotal shaft 16 pivotally connected to the key body 2. Moreover, the bottom of the solid portion 11 has a buckling portion 17. Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a switch with a light generator. As the switch is actuated, the light generator will light up to inform the condition of the switch and to present a vivid feeling. Another object of the present invention is to provide a switch having a light generator with two displaying colors which is used for displaying a correction operation and an incorrect operation. To achieve above object, the present invention provides a switch comprising a seat, a key body, a first elastomer, a second elastomer, and a cover. A neck portion of the key body has an assembling portion, and the assembling portion is installed with the light generator. As the key body is pushed, the second elastomer will contact the cover; the positive (negative) power connected to a conductive piece will be transferred to the positive (negative) end of the light generator; at the same time, the first elastomer contacts internal wires of a first receiving portion so as to provide negative (positive) power to the negative (positive) ends of the light generator; then, electric signals are outputted and the light generator lights up. The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to fuel cells, and more particularly to fuel cells capable of favorably measuring partial voltages within a stack of the fuel cells. 2. Description of the Related Art A fuel cell is generally known in which a membrane electrode assembly formed by integrating an electrolyte membrane with electrode catalyst layers, or the like, and separators are laminated or stacked together. In this type of fuel cell, a set of separators may be composed of two or more separator components (which will be hereinafter called “plates”). For example, a membrane electrode assembly is sandwiched between two plates, i.e., a cathode-side plate and an anode-side plate, to form a unit cell, and a plurality of unit cells are stacked together to provide a fuel cell stack, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-256992 (JP-A-2001-256992). In this fuel cell structure, two plates are present between the adjacent membrane electrode assemblies, and these two plates provide a set of separators. In the following description, the set of separators composed of two or more plates may be regarded as “separator assembly”. As another example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-267062 (JP-A-04-267062) discloses a separator assembly composed of three metal plates. In the fuel cell stack, terminals for detecting voltage may be provided on the separators, so as to monitor the power generation status in each of the membrane electrode assemblies. For example, it is disclosed in JP-A-2001-256992 that a terminal for measuring voltage is attached to the corresponding separator assembly such that two plates of the separator assembly are gripped by the terminal. In the separator assembly consisting of two or more plates, however, external force or vibrations may cause the plates to be displaced relative to each other. Therefore, if a terminal for measuring voltage is connected to the separator assembly, force may be applied to the terminal due to displacement of the plate(s), and the terminal may deform or fall off. In this case, voltage may not be measured with accuracy.

The invention relates to improvements in cutters (also called cutter heads) for gouging ore or rock from mine faces in underground excavations, strip mines, quarries and similar plants. Such cutters can be used in longwall shearing and heading machines to remove coal or rock in mines, in excavations for laying the foundations of buildings and for many other purposes. It is known to provide a rotary cutter with a support which carries several helically arranged sets of bits serving to penetrate into a rock or ore while the support is caused to rotate and move axially forwardly. The removed material is caused to enter helical grooves, which alternate with the sets of bits, and to flow rearwardly, i.e., counter to the direction of penetration of the cutter into a vein of ore or the like. As a rule, the bits are mounted on helical ribs or threads which are welded to or integral with the peripheral surface of a cylindrical or frustoconical support. Reference may be had to commonly owned German Offenlegungsschrift No. 26 53 706 and to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,626. The rate at which broken pieces of ore or rock advance in the helical grooves is of great importance because this determines the output of the cutter. The aforementioned prior publications disclose helical grooves each of which is bounded by a cylindrical or frustoconical bottom surface and by two spiral surfaces extending radially of the support. This entails the formation of corners wherein the particles are likely to gather and to stagnate rather than sliding rearwardly counter to the direction of axial movement of the cutter.

The present invention discloses two inventions, the first being directed to a pilf/theft resistant packaging system and the second being directed to a modular wall panel system. The first invention concerns pilf resistant packaging and systems thereof. Theft of various products from within a store is a huge problem. A thief will literally cut a product out of the clear plastic packaging and steal the product after discarding the packaging. For instance, some department stores claim they have four knives stolen for every one knife that they actually sell. In the prior art, many have attempted to reduce the theft of such goods. The prior art has focuses at making cutting through the clear packaging more difficult such that it is a deterrent to a potential thief. However, adding a deterrent also makes the packaging harder to open for a legitimate customer. Also, various deterrents can appear ugly and deter a customer from purchasing the product. Accordingly, the present invention overcomes these problems and provides other benefits and advantages. The second invention concerns construction of inside walls and surfaces of a building or domicile. In the prior art, construction of one's residence/home is dominated through the use of drywall. Drywall is placed over top of the studs of walls and usually insulation is placed between the spaces in the studs. Drywall is then either painted or wallpapered to finish the inside of a home. A problem exists when a resident wants to install shelving or other various features into a dry walled wall. The home owner must purchase and use a stud finder to locate where the studs are now located. Once the studs are located, the studs are marked and then shelving can be directly attached to the studs. Shelves can be installed into the drywall itself, with special drywall screws. However, drywall is not nearly as strong as screwing directly into the studs of the home. Many times during shelving installation the drywall is damaged or destroyed. This may occur from missing the studs when attempting to screw therein, marring the drywall with improper screws, having screws become jammed or having the threads on the screw head strip. Damage is also likely when electrical features are installed. For instance, to install a flat screen television onto a wall usually means the studs in a wall must be cross-drilled to accommodate the various electrical cords. To perform such work, a section of drywall must be removed to facilitate the installation of such electrical cords by running them through the studs. Accordingly, the present invention overcomes these problems and provides other benefits and advantages.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for operating self-propelled construction machines, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to methods and apparatus for operating slipform paving machines. 2. Description of the Prior Art One known arrangement for a self-propelled construction machine includes a generally rectangular machine frame having a swing leg mounted at each corner of the frame and having a crawler track mounted at the free end of each swing leg. The crawler tracks provide the motive force for the construction machine. The mounting of the crawler tracks on the swing legs allows the crawler tracks to be repositioned in a horizontal plane relative to the machine frame for various reasons. For example, a slipform paving machine utilizing such construction may need to spread the forward extending swing legs in order to make room for a paving kit or other equipment supported from the machine frame. Also, it may be desirable during operation of the machine to relocate one or more of the swing legs and its associated crawler track to avoid obstacles. Also, the swing legs allow the crawler tracks to be repositioned for transport of the construction machine. Various systems have been proposed for controlling the pivoting movement of the swing legs relative to the machine frame. One system set forth in Swisher U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,405 provides that each track is individually raised off of the ground surface one at a time, and then the swing leg is manually pivoted to the desired orientation where it is fixed in place using turn buckles. Disadvantages of this system include the need to individually raise each track off the ground one at a time, and the need to realign the steering after adjusting the leg orientation. Another approach is found in Aeschlimann U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,028 in which the swing legs are constructed as parallelogram linkages so that as the swing leg pivots in or out the steering direction of the crawler track remains unchanged. Another solution is provided in Guntert U.S. Pat. No. 8,459,898 which provides a hydraulic ram between the swing leg and the machine frame which pivots the swing leg to a desired orientation. An automatic controller senses the change in pivot angle of the swing leg and maintains the steering angle of the crawler track in response to the change in pivot angle as the swing leg pivots. The Aeschlimann and Guntert systems offer a solution to one problem present in the Swisher '405 patent, namely the need to individually raise each track off of the ground one at a time. However they create a new problem. Solutions like that of Aeschlimann or Guntert which maintain the steering angle of the crawler track while the swing leg pivots cause a sideways skidding of the crawler track across the ground surface. This sideways skidding contributes to wear of the crawler track and shaking of the machine, which is undesirable especially during paving. These machines are quite heavy and the footprint of the tracks is large, so the resistance to this skidding action is high. Thus there is a continuing need for improvements in the arrangements for the control of the pivoting of swing legs of such automotive construction machines.

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and device for controlling voltage or reactive power in an electrical system.

1. Field Example embodiments relate to a memory cell programming method and a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a memory cell programming method and a semiconductor device capable of simultaneously programming a plurality of memory block groups. 2. Description of Related Art Non-volatile memory devices that may be electrically erased and programmed may retain data even if supplied power is discontinued. Flash memory may be a representative example of non-volatile memory devices. Memory cells that constitute flash memory may include a cell transistor having a control gate, a floating gate, a source and a drain. A cell transistor of flash memory may be programmed or erased according to the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling mechanism. Data in a cell transistor may be erased by applying a ground voltage to a control gate of the cell transistor and applying a voltage higher than a power supply voltage to a semiconductor substrate (or bulk). Under such erasing bias conditions, a strong electric field may be formed between a floating gate and the semiconductor bulk due to a large voltage difference between the two. Thus electrons present in the floating gate may be discharged to the semiconductor bulk according to the F-N tunneling mechanism. In example embodiments, the threshold voltage of the erased cell transistor may decrease. The cell transistor may be programmed by applying a voltage higher than the power supply voltage to the control gate and applying a ground voltage to a drain and the semiconductor bulk. Under such bias conditions, electrons may be injected into the floating gate of the cell transistor according to the F-N tunneling mechanism. In example embodiments, the threshold voltage of the programmed cell transistor may increase.

This invention relates to antiinflammatory pyrroles. J. Szmuszkovicz et al. J. Med. Chem., 9 (4), 527-36 (1966) describe synthesis and biological activity of a clinically tested antiinflammatory agent of the formula ##STR1## Yoshida et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,906 disclose 2-alkyl-4,5-diphenylpyrrole derivatives which are useful as antiinflammatory agents. There is a continuing need for safe and effective antiinflammatory agents. Inflammation is a disease process characterized by redness, fever, swelling, and pain. Arthritis, in its various forms, is the most prevalent, chronic, and severe of the inflammatory diseases. Traumatic injury and infection also involve inflammation, and antiinflammatory drugs are often used in their treatment. The usefulness of most commercial antiinflammatories is limited because of toxicity and adverse side-effects. Many produce gastric irritation and other effects, such as changes in blood cells and central nervous system. Adreno-cortical steroids produce gastric irritation and suppression of normal adrenal function. In addition to antiinflammatory properties, compounds within the scope of this invention have demonstrated analgesic activity in a test procedure. This additional property is desirable in treatment of arthritis or related diseases; however, the compounds which exhibit this property can be employed solely to alleviate pain.

Customers demand more of the products and services they use than ever before. They insist that the companies they deal with on a regular basis provide them greater and greater levels of service and competitive pricing. More competitive pricing requires greater levels of information. Products can be priced more exactly when all the components that affect pricing are taken into account. For instance, in the insurance industry, information about an individual is used to properly quote insurance policies. Two 35 year old single males may appear, based on age and gender, to be similar. However, each of those individuals may have different jobs, different family medical histories, and different hobbies. By using all the information that may be obtained, the policy for the less risky of the two can be priced lower than the higher risk. By performing operations on exact data, or more robust data, risk to the company can be properly managed.

The present invention is directed to a method and device for determining the focal length of long focal length electron optical lenses especially electron optical lenses utilized in a microprojector. In the manufacture of highly integrated switching circuits, a microprojector is utilized so that an image of a large area transmission mask can be projected on a photosensitive surface layer on a wafer, for example a monocrystalline silicon wafer as a desired reduced image and after processing to form a desired structure, additional images are projected on additional photosensitive layer to produce subsequent structural features. With progressive miniaturization, the demands on the imaging system increase. If the structures with a position accuracy of 0.1 .mu.m are to be produced on an image field of 5 mm, the allowable error in alignment relative to the image field diameter amounts for approximately 2.times.10.sup.-5. In order to be able to obtain this accuracy even in the case of repeated exposures and for a setting of the microprojector, the focal length of the lenses used for the paths of rays and especially for an enlargement must be known very precisely. In the case of a conventional electron optical instrument, for example an electron microscope, the focal length can be determined through magnification measurements with a known test object. Due to the high possible magnification values and the lower accuracy requirement which is present in an electron microscope but not in a microprojector, this method is sufficient for conventional electron optical instruments. In the case of microprojectors, on the other hand, the image of a transmission mask is reduced only approximately by a factor of 1:10 onto the layer of the wafer. The known method for focal length measurement therefore does not provide the required accuracy.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an absorbent product, such as a sanitary towel, a panty liner, an incontinence pad, a nappy or the like, which product has a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, a front portion, a rear portion, a crotch portion located between the rear portion and the front portion, an absorbent element, a liquidtight layer, and also a stiffening element which is intended to contribute to the three-dimensional shape of the product during its use. 2. Background Art A great many features are desired in absorbent products, such as a sanitary towel, an incontinence pad, a nappy or the like, which are not easy to accomplish simultaneously. One such feature is that the product, for example a sanitary towel, will be capable of catching and absorbing bodily fluid discharged from the wearer. Conventional sanitary towels in sizes intended for heavy flows of menstrual fluid have been of thick and relatively wide design. Sanitary towels of this type are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,091. Thick and relatively wide sanitary towels of this type theoretically have great absorption capacity but in practice, when the sanitary towel is subjected to compression forces when squeezed together between the thighs of the wearer, much of the take-up capacity and absorption capacity can be lost. The sanitary towel is squeezed together into an arbitrary rope-like shape which frequently does not offer a sufficiently large receiving surface for the menstrual fluid discharged, and leakage occurs in the case of heavy flows of menstrual fluid. The sanitary towel can also be pressed together between the thighs of the wearer in such a manner that the side edges of the sanitary towel and the liquidtight layer are folded in over the liquid-permeable surface and in this way reduce the size of the liquid-receiving surface available. Sanitary towels are intended to be positioned inside a pair of briefs, the design of which may vary. In this connection, sanitary towels can be positioned incorrectly inside the briefs. There is therefore a risk of the sanitary towel being, by mistake, positioned too far forward or too far back or displaced slightly in the lateral direction and therefore of the absorption capacity and receiving surface of the whole sanitary towel not being optimally utilized. Conventional sanitary towels are generally retained in the briefs of the wearer by means of pressure-sensitive adhesive or friction coatings. The sanitary towel is fitted by being put in position in the briefs, after which the latter are pulled up into position. When fitting the product inside the briefs, however, it is difficult to achieve a positioning which is optimum in relation to the body of the wearer. Use is usually made of the crotch portion of the briefs in order to determine where the sanitary towel will be positioned. As sanitary towels are manufactured in a great many sizes and models, the position and design of the crotch portion provide a particularly unreliable indication of where in the briefs a sanitary towel is to be positioned, and the functioning of the sanitary towel during use is consequently not always as desired. Another cause of leakage occurring past sanitary towels attached inside the briefs of the wearer is that the sanitary towel moves together with the briefs instead of following the body movements of the wearer. This means that even a sanitary towel which was from the outset positioned correctly in the briefs in relation to the body can be pulled out of this position by the briefs. In order to attempt to reduce leakage arising as a result of the sanitary towel being pressed together between the legs of the wearer, it has become usual to provide the sanitary towels with special attachment flaps. It is known from, for example, SE 455 668, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343, EP 0 130 848, EP 0 134 086 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047 to provide sanitary towels with flexible side flaps or wings projecting from the longitudinal side edges. These are intended to be folded around the edge portions of the briefs of the wearer when the sanitary towel is put on and attached to the outside of the briefs. The side flaps per se constitute protection against side edge leakage and soiling of the briefs. Moreover, deformation of the absorption body of the sanitary towel is counteracted by virtue of the fact that the sanitary towel is anchored at the leg edges of the briefs and is held extended between these during use. However, a considerable disadvantage of providing absorbent products with such attachment flaps is that many wearers find it embarrassing that the attachment flaps are visible on the outside of the briefs. This also means that absorbent products with such attachment flaps cannot be used when, for example, the wearer is wearing a swimsuit. Another disadvantage of the attachment flaps is that they are relatively difficult to handle and require many manual operations in order to be fitted correctly around the leg edges of the briefs. Furthermore, especially in the case of attachment flaps which extend quite a long way along the side edges of a sanitary towel, it can be virtually impossible to fold the attachment flaps around the curved leg edges of the briefs without chafing and unattractive creases in the attachment flaps occurring. A further problem of sanitary towels with attachment flaps is that the functioning of the attachment flaps or wings depends on the design of the briefs. It goes without saying that a sanitary towel with attachment flaps interacts differently with briefs with a wide crotch compared with briefs with a very narrow crotch. Attachment flaps or wings on sanitary towels protect the leg edges of the briefs from soiling but, as emerged above, are far from being an entirely satisfactory solution. In order to improve leakproofness, EP 0 067 465 has proposed manufacturing a two-part sanitary towel in which the two parts are interconnected only at their end portions. The lower part is fastened in the briefs of the wearer, and the upper part makes contact with the body of the wearer. The idea is that the parts will be able to move slightly in relation to one another during use. The mobility between the parts is, however, very limited, and the known sanitary towel is still dependent on the movements of the briefs. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the upper part will be held in contact with the body of the wearer during use. PCT/SE96/01061 describes another two-part absorbent product in which the two parts are movable in relation to one another. This known product also has limited mobility between the parts and is to a certain extent dependent on the movements of the briefs. One way of attempting to reduce the risk of edge leakage caused by deformation of the sanitary towel during use is to provide the sanitary towel with a preshaped raised portion, what is known as a hump, which is intended to make contact with the genitals of the wearer during use of the sanitary towel. Discharged bodily fluid can in this way be caught as soon as it leaves the body of the wearer and be absorbed immediately into the product instead of running out over the surface of the latter. A raised portion also makes it easier for the wearer to position the product correctly in relation to the body. French patent publication FR-A-2 653 328 describes a sanitary towel with a hump in the form of a central, longitudinal, cylindrical raised portion. A common way of creating a raised portion has been quite simply to build it up by arranging a greater quantity of absorption material within the area of the raised portion. As the absorption material used is in most cases what is known as cellulose fluff pulp, however, such a raised portion collapses and loses its shape when it is wetted. In order to produce a raised portion which is sufficiently large in the wet state as well, a raised portion consisting of cellulose fluff pulp must comprise so much absorption material that it is altogether too high, hard and uncomfortable to wear in the dry state. It is also known to produce an article with a raised portion facing the wearer by positioning a shaping element on top of the absorbent core. The disadvantage is that this interferes with the liquid transport down to the absorbent, liquid-retaining absorption core and that leakage can occur because the shaping element does not have sufficient admission capacity or temporary retention capacity. The use of, for example, a foamed material in the raised portion has been proposed. However, it has proved difficult to produce a foamed structure with sufficiently open pores for good liquid admission into the latter at the same time as the material is to have such great retention capacity that liquid is not pressed out in the event of loading originating from the wearer, for example when the latter sits down. Another example of a raised portion is described in Swedish patent 507 798. Such a raised portion has a predictable shape, both before and during use, and also keeps its shape irrespective of the movements of the wearer and of the wetting to which it is subjected. The raised portion is anatomically designed, which means that it is relatively narrow in order to project in slightly between the labia of the wearer during use without causing discomfort for the wearer. Although such a raised portion functions well for its purpose, it has been found that when the raised portion is exposed to large quantities of bodily fluid over a relatively short period of time, there is a risk that some of the liquid will run on the outside of the raised portion and flow out past the side edges of the absorbent product. Such leakage can occur, for example, when the wearer of a sanitary towel has been sitting or lying down for a relatively long period of time and then suddenly rises. This is because, when the wearer is sitting or lying down, a relatively large quantity of menstrual fluid accumulates in the vagina of the wearer. In the event of a sudden change in body position, the entire quantity of accumulated liquid may be discharged at once. A narrow raised portion of the type described in SE 507 798 does not then have a sufficiently large surface to be capable of receiving and absorbing the entire quantity of liquid in one go, for which reason such sudden liquid flows often result in leakage. EP 0 335 252 and EP 0 335 253 have proposed providing an absorbent product with a deformation element. The deformation element is acted on by the transverse compressive forces between the thighs of a wearer. The purpose of the deformation element is to cause a portion of the product to bulge in the direction of the body of the wearer during use. It is difficult, however, to control or predict entirely the shape the product will adopt for each individual wearer. Moreover, it is difficult to ensure contact between the body of the wearer and the surface of the product, because the degree of bulging is determined entirely by how much the product is compressed in the transverse direction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,380 describes an absorbent product which has a permanent three-dimensional shape. The product has one end portion of flat or concave shape and one end portion provided with a raised portion. The flat or concave end portion is intended to be positioned in front of the mons Veneris of the wearer, and the end portion comprising the raised portion is intended to fit between the buttocks of the wearer. The three-dimensional design of the product is brought about by folding a fairly stiff absorption body. In order to make the raised portion permanent, the rear side of the product in the end portion which is to have the raised portion is provided with a glued surface. When the raised portion has been formed, it is maintained by means of the glue. There are absorbent products on the market which have a permanent, three-dimensional, boat-like shape and in which the outer shell consists of a moulded polymer foam. A considerable disadvantage of permanent three-dimensional products is that it is difficult to pack a stiff three-dimensional product. Such products require a great deal of space for transport and sale, and it can be embarrassing for a wearer to carry around a sanitary towel or an incontinence pad which it is impossible to fold and therefore cannot be concealed in the hand or in the worst case will not even fit in a handbag. EP 155 515 describes how an absorbent product, such as a sanitary towel, is imparted a bowl-shaped appearance by virtue of elastic being applied in a pretensioned state at the longitudinal side edges of the product. The use of elastic complicates manufacture, and there is a risk of the intended elastic effect being lost in connection with packing of the product or when the latter is stored in a folded packing state. It is previously known to design plane absorbent products which adopt a three-dimensional, essentially bowl-like shape when applied. An example of this is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,759. This discloses an elongate sanitary towel which consists of a layer of absorbent material, a flexible liquidtight outer layer and a liquid-permeable inner layer. The sanitary towel is provided with a pair of channels formed by stamping, the channels being located on both sides of a longitudinal center axis and extending along a curved path over the absorption material layer. The two paths together form an hourglass-like shape positioned centrally over the towel. Before use, the sanitary towels are essentially plane but, when they are applied to the wearer, they are folded into a bowl-like shape, that is to say with liquid-stopping upright borders outside the channels. A disadvantage of this bowl-like construction is that the borders hold the central portion of the sanitary towel at a distance from the genitals of the wearer, and liquid discharged from the wearer does not flow directly into the absorbent product but can run on the surface, the risk then being obvious that liquid may find an undesirable transport path in the form of a small crease or the like and run straight out of the product in the lateral or longitudinal direction. Stamped channels in an absorption body also have the disadvantage that the liquid spread in the absorption layer is disrupted and that absorption material outside the channels is not utilized, which increases the risk of local oversaturation and attendant leakage from those parts of the absorption layer which are used. Previously known sanitary towels and the various problems associated with them have in the main been discussed above. However, what has been said above also applies to incontinence pads. Nappies for children and adults also belong to the same problem area as far as fit in the crotch and take-up of liquid in an absorption body are concerned. As emerged above, great efforts have been made over many years in order to attempt to solve all the problems associated with absorbent products, such as sanitary towels. Although great improvements have been made, all the previously known solutions are associated with some disadvantages.

1. Technical Field The embodiments described herein relate to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly, to a semiconductor integrated circuit including a column redundancy fuse block. 2. Related Art As the scaled size of semiconductor integrated circuits are reduced, the number of devices integrated in a single semiconductor chip has increased. Accordingly, the defect density of the devices also increases, thereby lowering product yield of semiconductor devices. In extreme cases, a wafer used for manufacturing the semiconductor devices must be discarded. In order to reduce the defect density, a redundancy circuit is used to exchange defective cells with extra replacement cells. In the semiconductor devices, a redundancy circuit (or fuse circuit) can be installed corresponding to row interconnections, i.e., word lines, and column interconnections, i.e., bit lines, and may include a fuse set array for storing address information of the defective cell. The fuse set array includes a plurality of fuse sets having a plurality of fuse interconnections, wherein a program for each fuse set can be executed through a selective laser cutting (or blowing). FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional semiconductor chip. In FIG. 1, a column redundancy circuit block Y-Fuse is installed in a column control block 20 to relieve the column interconnections. Here, the column control block 20 is installed between banks that are adjacent to each other in the column direction. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional redundancy circuit unit of a semiconductor chip. In FIG. 2, the column control block 20 includes a main decoder (not shown), a predecoder 21, and a redundancy circuit unit 23. The main decoder (not shown) is a circuit for assigning an address position, and the predecoder 21 is a circuit for generating a column selection signal by receiving a column address signal. The redundancy circuit unit 23 includes a fuse circuit unit 25 and a fuse set array 27. The fuse circuit unit 25 provides redundancy selection information to the predecoder 21 based on the fuse cutting of the fuse set array 27. Here, reference numerals 10 and 30 represent a chip and a pad area, respectively. However, in a semiconductor device, energy (for instance, laser) is applied after a semiconductor chip has been fabricated to prevent interconnections or layers from being formed on an upper portion of a fuse set (not shown) such that the interconnections are prevented from being influenced during the fuse blowing. For this reason, data input/output interconnections are configured to detour the upper portion of the fuse set. Thus, there are limitations in the layout of the interconnections and the circuits. In addition, although an integration density and a process technology of the semiconductor device have been improved, a pitch between fuses is not sufficiently reduced due to the laser alignment tolerance, so that the area of the fuse set array 27, i.e., an area occupied by the fuses in the semiconductor chip, may be increased. This makes it difficult to ensure the effective net die of the semiconductor chip. In particular, the fuse circuit unit 25 and the fuse set array 27 must be aligned in a space dedicated for the redundancy circuit unit 23, so that the fuse sets constituting the fuse set array 27 must be aligned in the multi-layer structure. For this reason, the area of the column control block 20 is enlarged, so that the area of the bank cannot be increased.

1. Field of Invention This present invention generally relates to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts and, more particular, to a device and method for testing for the presence, absence and/or rate of flow in the shunt tubing implanted under the skin. 2. Description of Related Art Approximately 69,000 people are diagnosed with hydrocephalus each year in the United States [1]. There are approximately 300,000 shunted hydrocephalus patients in the US [3][4]. The one-year shunt failure rate of shunts is approximately 40% [15, 16], and the mean period to failure is typically only 5-10 years [17]. Obstruction of the ventricular catheter is overwhelmingly the greatest cause [4, 15, 18-20]. Since catheter replacement requires surgery, a need for shunt revision must be reasonably established. Hydrocephalus is a condition of CSF dysregulation, resulting in accumulation of fluid in the brain ventricles. It can lead to neurodegeneration and death if untreated. It is most commonly treated by diverting CSF to the peritoneal cavity by means of a permanent prosthetic shunt. The usual clinical manifestations of shunt failure (headaches, vomiting) are non-specific, making shunt obstruction difficult to differentiate from less serious illnesses, particularly in pediatric patients in whom three false alarms are seen for every true malfunction [4]. Physical examination, including pumping of the shunt reservoir, is unreliable [21]. CT (computed tomography) remains the gold standard [4, 9], however advanced imaging techniques produce static results, are expensive and cannot be used to investigate every headache, and result in repeated radiological exposures of patients (often children). Current dynamic measures of shunt flow generate only bivariate analyses of “flow” or “no flow” (FIG. 7). New technologies under development are complex (ultrasound tracking of bubbles), lacking in precision (FLIR) or require implantation (implanted thermal flow technologies) and have not reached the clinic. Thus, there remains a need for a device capable of determining absolute CSF flow rate which has two clinically important applications that are not possible with imaging or bivariate flow measures: (1) prediction of impending catastrophic shunt failure, i.e., monitoring shunt flow in routine examinations enables early recognition of a diminishing flow rate trend in a failing shunt and pre-emption of catastrophic failure; and (2) monitoring and adjusting shunt valve settings to accommodate individual needs for CSF drainage. The degree of impairment in draining CSF varies from hydrocephalic patient to patient. Adjustable shunt valves avoid under drainage and over drainage by the shunt. While the settings for these valves in each patient must currently be determined empirically over a number of weeks, the invention of the present application provides guidance to neurosurgeons and quicker stabilization of CSF homeostasis. In addition to these clinical applications, the shunt flow detection device developed here provides an important research tool for CSF flow behavior in hydrocephalus patients. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

1. Field The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus and a light-transmissive cover plate. 2. Background In the related art, an electronic apparatus such as a digital camera or a mobile phone with an image display device such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic electroluminescent (EL) panel is used. Recently, portable electronic apparatuses (alternatively known as portable electronic devices) such as smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, which display a relatively large image on an image display device and include an input device such as a touch panel, have become widespread. A light-transmissive cover plate for protecting the image display is arranged in the portable electronic apparatus. If the electronic apparatus is dropped, then the light-transmissive cover plate may be subjected to a strong impact.

Adenosine is a well-known component of several endogenous molecules (ATP, NAD+, nucleic acids). It plays an important regulatory role in many physiological processes. The effect of adenosine on the heart function was described already in 1929 (Drury and Szentgyörgyi, Physiol. 68:213, 1929). The identification of an increasing number of physiological functions mediated by adenosine and the discovery of new adenosine receptor subtypes are offering possibilities for the therapeutic application of specific ligands (Poulse, S. A. and Quinn, R. J. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 6:619, 1998). To date, the receptors for adenosine have been classified into three main classes: A1, A2 and A3. The A1 subtype is partly responsible for the inhibition of the adenylate cyclase by coupling to Gi membrane protein, and partly influences other second messenger systems. The A2 receptor subtype can be subdivided into two further subtypes—A2a and A2b—, which stimulate the adenylate cyclase activity. The sequence of the adenosine A3 receptors have been first identified from rat testis cDNA library. Later it was proved that it corresponds to a novel, functional adenosine receptor. The activation of the A3 receptors is also connected with several second-messenger systems: inhibiting of adenylate cyclase, stimulating phospholipase C and D. The adenosine receptors are found in several organs and regulate their functions. Both A1 and A2a receptors play important role in the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. In the CNS, the adenosine inhibits the release of synaptic transmitters which effect is mediated by A1 receptors. In the heart, the A1 receptors also mediate the negative inotropic, chronotropic and dromotropic effects of adenosine. The adenosine A2a receptors, which are located in a relatively high amount in the striatum, display functional interaction with the dopamine receptors in regulating the synaptic transmission. The A2a adenosine receptors on endothelial and smooth muscle cells are responsible for adenosine-induced vasodilation. On the basis of RNA identification, the A2b adenosine receptors are widely distributed in different tissues. They have been identified in almost every cell type, but its expression is the highest in the intestine and the bladder. This subtype probably also has important regulatory function in the regulation of the vascular tone and plays a role in the function of mast cells. Contrary to A1 and A2a receptors, where the tissue distribution was detected on the protein level, the presence of A2b and A3 receptors was detected on the basis of their mRNA level. Expression levels for A3 adenosine receptors are rather low compared to other subtypes and they are highly species dependent. A3 adenosine receptors are expressed primarily in the central nervous system, in the testis and in the immune system, and appear to be involved in the modulation of the mediator release from the mast cells in immediate hypersensitivity reaction. For therapeutic use, it is essential to ensure that the molecule does not bind, or binds only in the case of very high concentration to the A1, A2a and A2b sub-types of the adenosine receptor. A3 antagonists published so far in the literature, belong to the groups of flavonoides, 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives, triazoloquinazolines, thiazolonaphthyridines and thiazolopyrimidines. Most of the effective and for the adenosine subtypes selective antagonists, however posses strong lipophilic character, and they are therefore sparingly soluble in water. This feature hinders the in vivo applicability of the compounds. In the literature more and more studies are to find aiming the preparation of water-soluble adenosine A3 receptor antagonists (Ch. E. Müller et al., J. Med. Chem. 45:3440, 2002; A. Maconi et al., J. Med. Chem. 45:3579, 2002). Patent application WO 02/096879 discloses 2-amino-3-cyanoquinoline derivatives as structurally novel type, effective A3 antagonists. The compounds described in patent application WO 02/096879 are A3 antagonists with high selectivity of the following general formula: R1′ stands for hydrogen atom or straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group; R2′ stands for hydrogen atom or straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group; R3′ stands for hydrogen atom or straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, phenyl, thienyl, or furyl group, optionally substituted with one or more straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, straight or branched C1-4 alkoxy group or halogen atom; a six- or five-membered heteroaromatic ring containing one, two or three nitrogen atoms, or one nitrogen atom and one oxygen atom, or one nitrogen atom and one sulphur atom, optionally substituted with one or more straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, straight or branched C1-4 alkoxy group or halogen atom; R9′, R10′, R11′, and R12′ independently stand for hydrogen atom, straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, straight or branched C1-4 alkoxy group, hydroxy group or halogen atom, or R9′ and R12′ stand for hydrogen atom and R10′ and R11′ form together a methylenedioxy group; R6′ stands for hydrogen atom or a cyano group, aminocarbonyl group, C1-4 alkoxycarbonyl group, or carboxy group; R7′ stands for hydrogen atom or straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, phenyl, benzyl, thienyl, or furyl group, optionally substituted with methylenedioxy-group or with one or more straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, straight or branched C1-4 alkoxy group, hydroxy group, trifluoromethyl group, cyano group or halogen atom; or a six- or five-membered heteroaromatic ring containing one, two or three nitrogen atoms, or one nitrogen atom and one oxygen atom, or one nitrogen atom and one sulphur atom, optionally substituted with one or more straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group, straight or branched C1-4 alkoxy group or halogen atom; X′ stands for —CH2— group, —NH— group, —NR8′— group, or sulphur atom, oxygen atom, sulpho group or sulphoxy group, wherein R8′ stands for straight or branched C1-4 alkyl group or C3-6 cycloalkyl group; n′ represents zero, 1 or 2; These compounds too, have the characteristic disadvantage that they are only sparingly soluble, which hampers their development into a drug. What would be useful would be compounds having solubility profiles that are far better than those of the known 2-amino-3-cyanoquinolines, besides, and which would also be highly active.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cantilever allowing observation of physical properties of samples, and to a method of manufacturing the cantilever. 2. Description of the Related Art A cantilever for an ordinary scanning probe microscope (SPM) is mounted through semiconductor crystal etching or the like. The maximum value of a distal end diameter of a probe of a cantilever is usually specified in specifications, whereas the minimum value thereof is not particularly specified, that is, it is not a known value. This is because there is a demand for a probe as thin as possible. Thus, with the current state of the art, when the probe is brought into contact with the sample, it is rather difficult to keep the contact area therebetween at a known value. When measuring physical properties of a surface of a sample, for example, viscoelasticity or the like of the sample surface, by using a cantilever, in order to perform accurate measurement, it is desirable that a contact area between the sample and the probe be a known value and that the measurement be conducted under a fixed pressure while controlling the pushing force. That is, the deformation amount of the sample is a value proportional to the pressure, so, if the measurement is conducted with solely the force set, it is rather difficult to meet the above-mentioned requirement with a cantilever with an ordinary probe as described above. In this connection, a cantilever is known which adopts a spherical configuration of a specified diameter (see, for example, JP 2002-62253 A and JP 10-170530 A). Generally speaking, in manufacturing a cantilever of this type, there is adopted a method in which a spherical body is fixed to a distal end of a conventional probe by adhesive or the like or a method in which a spherical body is fixed to a distal end of a flat lever portion by adhesive or the like and is used as a probe. In the cantilever, which has a spherical probe of a predetermined diameter, it is possible for the contact area between the probe and the sample to be a know value. Thus, it is possible to accurately measure physical property, such as viscoelasticity. However, in manufacturing the conventional cantilever described above, the following problems are still involved. That is, when bonding the spherical body to the distal end of a pointed probe or to the distal end of a flat lever portion, an operator usually conducts a bonding operation by using a manipulator while checking parts to be bonded. Thus, the operation is rather difficult to perform and requires experience, which means it is not to be easily performed just by anybody; the operation can only be performed by a skilled operator. In particular, when bonding the spherical body, setting of a position of the spherical body is difficult to perform. Further, it is necessary to apply a predetermined amount of adhesive solely to a predetermined position, such as the distal end of a probe or the distal end of a lever portion, so the operation is difficult to perform even for a skilled operator. Further, the above-mentioned method only allows handling of a spherical body of a size allowing observation with an optical microscope, so a further reduction in the contact area between the probe and the sample is impossible. Further, the fact that the spherical body has to be manipulated by a manipulator also makes it necessary for the spherical body to be of a size not smaller than a fixed level so that it can be handled properly, which means handling of a minute spherical body is impossible. Further, after application of adhesive, the operator must quickly mount the spherical body before the adhesive is cured. That is, the operator is compelled to quickly perform a delicate and precise mounting operation. This restriction in terms of time also makes the mounting operation difficult to perform. Further, even when the mounting operation is conducted by a skilled operator, it can happen that the adhesive is applied in excess, resulting in a surface of the spherical body being excessively covered with a part of the adhesive. Thus, there is a fear of a change in the contact area between the probe and the sample, that is, a fear of a deterioration in product quality. Further, in some cases, when using a cantilever, the spherical body is previously modified with some substance according to the use. In the conventional method, which requires a number of steps for the mounting operation, if the modification is effected on the spherical body-prior to the adhesion, the modified portion will be damaged or affected by the adhesive. In view of this, instead of performing the modification on the spherical body beforehand, there is nothing for it but to modify the spherical body together with the cantilever after it has been mounted to the cantilever. However, when the modification is performed on the spherical body together with the cantilever, there is a fear of the cantilever being adversely affected; thus, there are limitations in terms, for example, of the kind of substance to be used for modification, thus making the handling of the spherical body and the cantilever rather difficult. Further, this also leads to a deterioration in terms of a degree of freedom in design.

This invention relates to the field of baskets or pots for potting nursery plants. Such containers hold soil or a growth medium, and serve to support and restrain the plant root structure from its initial sprouting through continued growth. The container also provides for ready transportation of the plant, and should provide for easy transplanting of the plant into the ground. U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,480 to Welty is the closest known prior art in regards to removable inner liner for potting a plant and transplanting the same. This patent discloses a perforated, sectionalized liner made of flexible material, folding upwards or away from a base member. A group of finger members permits the ready removal of the enclosed liner with its contained potting soil and root ball from a pot and the subsequent removal of the root ball from the liner. U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,798 to Linstaedt discloses a nursery pot constructed of an outer metal mesh reinforcing material and having, as a liner, tar paper (asphaltum felt). This construction provides an impermeable, decoratable pot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,235 to Smith discloses a two section, inner and outer pot construction where roots are intended to grow through the inner pot mechanism. However, this structure is designed specifically for hydroponics and utilizes a porous inner pot bottom (screen) through which the roots can grow into a hydroponic medium. U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,324 to Magyar, Jr. discloses a potting system in which a pot liner is provided with an inner and outer sleeve, rotatable to permit the plant roots to extend through the walls of the pot. The entire construction is rotated open for transplanting and planted, pot, root ball and all. The pot of this patent is therefore properly considered part of the root ball. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 250,940 discloses a visual depiction of a Plant Container having a spaced distance from an inner liner to the base of the container. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 255,555 likewise discloses a pot having an apparently porous inner liner spaced a distance from the bottom of the pot and additionally apparently includes tubes vertically ascending from the base of the pot through the screen into the upper, root ball area of the pot which are hollow and which have periodically spaced holes. U.S. Pat. No. 879,613 to Edwards discloses an early transplanting basket in which the root ball is suspended within a coarse metal mesh basket. The entire outer surface of the root ball is exposed to the air rather than just those root tendrils which penetrate through the lining. U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,429 discloses another form of pot in which an inner ring within the base of the pot creates a spaced annular water reservoir in the bottom of the pot upon which is placed, loosely, a soil supporting disk which supports the soil and the plant. The bottom of the pot is open and the disk can be pushed upward through the bottom of the pot to remove the soil or root ball for planting. None of these patents disclose a structure in which the soil is contained within a permeable soft plastic membrane, enclosing the root ball but through which the roots can grow, permitting roots to air prune at the far tips only without exposure of the rest of the root system within the root ball to air, the ball being supported within a wire basket which minimizes inhibition of root growth, but which supports the liner and its contained liner with root ball for free air circulation.

1. Field of the Invention The invention pertains to a turn-indicator light module for a vehicle mirror assembly. More particularly, the invention pertains to a vehicle mirror assembly having a turn-signal light module having at least one light source directly away from the side of the motor vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art Modern vehicles are equipped with different turn indicator light modules for signaling a turn maneuver to neighboring drivers thus enhancing passive safety of the vehicle and the surrounding traffic. For instance multiple forward and backward directed turn indicator lights and also separate sideward directed turn indicator lights signal an intended turn maneuver of a vehicle to following vehicles, oncoming vehicles and pedestrians so that they are prepared for a sudden driving direction change of the vehicle. Well known turn indicator light modules comprise one or several blinking light sources in a housing, which directly emit light outwards to the surrounding traffic. Directly emitted light can cause blending effects to drivers and pedestrians and suffers from a non-uniform light distribution such that the turning light signal can not be seen in all directions with a uniform intensity and brightness. For instance a turn indicator light positioned in a different height as a driver's position of a neighboring vehicle can often not be seen clear enough by the driver, e.g. a turning light of a truck which is close to a low riding sports car can often be overseen by the driver of the sports car. Various external rear-view side mirrors enclosing light modules are disclosed in US 2005/0243568 A1 in which light guides are used for transporting light from a light source at one side of the light guide to the other side of the light guide. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,464 B2, a turn indicator light module is integrated in a rear view mirror of a vehicle and includes one or several light emitting sources for signaling a turn intend towards a driving direction of the vehicle for informing oncoming vehicles and also for signaling a turn intend towards a sideward direction of the vehicle for informing pedestrians and crossing vehicles of a turning intend. The light emitting sources emit light directly towards the surrounding traffic, using light guiding elements and one or several lenses cause non-uniform light distribution and blending effects. A German disclosure identified by DE 102 39 839 describes a turn indicator light module being integrated in an outside mirror of a vehicle wherein at least a light emitting source emits a signal light indirectly via a reflector surface towards a driving direction of a vehicle. The light emitting source is not visible from the outside. Another German disclosure identified by DE 200 11 341 U1 teaches a light emitting module for an outside mirror of a vehicle comprising a turning light indicator element and a separate near field illumination element. The turning light indicator element comprises a reflector and at least one light emitting source which emits light indirectly to a sideward direction of the vehicle by reflection via the reflector. In a Japanese disclosure identified by JP 2006 205785 A, a door field illumination module is described which is integrated in an outside mirror of a vehicle and which illuminates a lower peripheral region of a vehicle door by directly emitted and indirectly reflected light of a light source and a reflector assembly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a circuit configuration for generating a reference current. In order to provide a precisely defined rise time in a given external wiring, a phase-locked loop (PLL) component, for instance, requires an exact reference current that is independent of temperature. If a CMOS-type PLL is used, then generating that reference current at the PLL component involves overly high tolerances, since the corresponding CMOS process is not especially "analog-capable". A reference current generated by CMOS technology would thus involve tolerances and be unsuitable for a downstream PLL circuit, for instance.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a process for the production of coatings using coating compositions containing as binder highly compatible and readily pigmentable mixtures of lacquer-grade polyisocyanates with selected polyhydroxy polyacrylates. 2. Description of the Prior Art German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,460,329 and British Pat. No. 1,515,868 describe a process for the production of low molecular weight acrylate resins, i.e. acrylate resins having a molecular weight of from about 500 to 2000, which are obtained by radical copolymerization in bulk or in an organic solvent or solvent mixture at temperatures in the range from 80.degree. to 120.degree. C. In conjunction with certain diisocyanates and polyisocyanates, the acrylate resins in question, which consist of from 10 to 50 parts by weight of a hydroxy alkyl ester of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, from 0 to 80 parts by weight of styrene or derivatives thereof, from 10 to 90 parts by weight of a (meth)acrylic acid ester containing from 1 to 12 carbon atoms in the alcohol radical and from 0 to 50 parts by weight of an .alpha.,.beta.-monoolefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic or dicarboxylic acid containing from 3 to 5 carbon atoms, give lacquers which are suitable for two-component lacquering. However, one disadvantage of the resins in question is that, in some cases, they show poor compatibility with a number of polyisocyanates which may be reflected both in clouding of the mixed solution when the two components of the lacquer are combined with one another and also in clouding of the dried, hardened lacquer film. In most cases, the resins also show relatively poor compatibility with a number of cellulose derivatives of the type often added to the lacquers as levelling agents or as an additional lacquer component. Another serious disadvantage of the lacquer mixtures in question lies in their generally poor pigment wetability. Accordingly, pigmented, hardened lacquer films on this basis generally show very little gloss, if any, and lack uniformity in their appearance on account of the irregular distribution of the pigment particles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,002,959 and 3,375,227 and German Auslegeschrift No. 1,038,754 also describe polyacrylate resins containing hydroxyl groups and processes for their production. The polyacrylate resins in question may be hardened with crosslinking agents, including diisocyanates, to form lacquer layers. There are no concrete references in any of these patents as to how the difficulties referred to above can be obviated, particularly where higher than difunctional polyisocyanates containing biuret, urethane or isocyanurate groups are used as crosslinking agents. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a new process for the production of coatings using binders based on lacquer-grade polyisocyanates and polyacrylate resins containing hydroxyl groups which are not attended by any of the disadvantages referred to above. This object is achieved by the process according to the invention which is described in detail in the following.