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In a typical computing environment, before documents are sent to a printer for printing they are converted into a printer-ready format by a printer driver executing on a computer. For example, users generally work within an application program on a computer to generate or acquire a document or application file. The application program typically permits the user to view the document, manipulate its content, and print the document by selecting a print command. Selecting the print command cues the application program to initiate the print services of the operating system. The print services present a user interface in the form of a print dialog box that allows the user to select various print options prior to printing the document. When the user selects the print option within the print dialog, the application program uses a particular operating system API (application programming interface) to “draw” the document. The operating system collects the drawing commands and uses the printer driver to convert them to a PDL (page description language) format that is specific to the printer. The printer driver then directs the PDL to the printer where it is rendered as hardcopy output. Although the above process is functional, there are several disadvantages associated with the printer driver. Most operating systems come with various types of printer drivers for the most common types of printers. When a particular driver is installed, the associated printer can be used. One problem is that each printer driver is closely associated with the operating system because the imaging system API used by an application to “draw” a document or application file is particular to the operating system. Therefore, a specific printer driver must be developed for each printer (or closely associated group of printers) to function with the various operating system platforms (e.g., Macintosh, Windows, Linux). Thus, a single printer requires the development of as many printer drivers as there are operating systems with which the printer must function. Costs associated with developing numerous printer drivers for each new printer are significant. Another disadvantage related to the specific nature of printer drivers is their consumption of computing resources. Operating systems must include an ever-increasing number of printer drivers to accommodate the various types of printers. Maintaining the numerous printer drivers on a computer can consume valuable memory resources on the computer. In addition, executing printer drivers consumes valuable computer processing resources. Furthermore, if an operating system does not support or include a particular printer driver, the printer driver is typically available for downloading and installation from various locations on the Internet. However, this takes time, effort, and usually a little more know-how than an average user possesses. Yet another disadvantage associated with operating system specific printer drivers is that they are typically activated by a print command from within an application program. Thus, in order for a user to print an application file associated with a particular application program, the application program must be installed on the user's computer. Therefore, users are not typically able to locate particular application files and generate a hardcopy documents if a copy of the associated application program used to create the application files is not resident on the user's computer. Accordingly, the need exists for a way to print application files from computers that does not involve the use of operating system specific printer drivers installed on every computer.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an earpiece/wire organizer and method for using same to house and maintain wires in an untangled manner; and more particularly, to a wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with a plurality of mating spine pieces coated with an interlocking self-adhering surface appointed to releasably engage with itself. 2. Description of the Prior Art Typical earphone or headset constructions comprise a main audio wire which is adapted to connect to a jack integrated within an electronic, audio or optical device. In one form of these organizers, left and right wires connect with the main audio wire to form a “Y”-type construct which delivers audio from an electronic device such as a music device, mp3 player, and/or cellular phone. The left and right wires, or upper legs of the Y, are associated with left and right ear buds which, when worn, allow the user to hear music or sound transmitted from the electronic device. Other earphone or headphone devices involve a single wire attached to a first ear bud and a second ear bud. A microphone jack may additionally be included to transmit audio from the user to the electronic device, and to another user's electronic device; such wiring arrangements are used in the mobile phone industry. In practice, headphone wires are stored in a pocketbook, gym bag, pocket or the like. Unfortunately, the wires forming the headphones tend to tangle and knot making it difficult to quickly connect and use the ear piece with the electronic device or transmission device. This entanglement can be very annoying. Oftentimes untangling of the wires can be difficult and time consuming. Even still, frequent entanglement and untangling can cause eventual damage to the left and right wires, impacting sound quality. Various devices are currently provided for organizing wires. However, none of the devices provide the ability to compress and elongate the wires in a manner which maintains severability of the wires and prevents entanglement thereof. Several of the wire organizer devices heretofore disclosed and utilized involve coverings or jackets constructed with a unilateral elongated body having edges appointed with engageable zipper elements. Exemplary of these types of jacket coverings, are the following patents. U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,054 to Stachura discloses a flexible sheet of electrically conductive material having meeting but separable closure edges with engageable tooth and groove zipper elements adapted to encircle a conductor; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,838 to Plummer discloses a rectangular casing with inner and outer surfaces and edges having a conventional zipper provided there along so that the casing may be closed to form a removable tube around conductors to be shielded. These devices are generally separate from the wires and merely operate to wrap around or encase the wires in order to neatly store same when the zipper elements on the edges of the elongated body are engaged. Organization of the wires by application of these jacket-like devices results from bundling within the jacket covering; the wires themselves are not provided with integrated organization means. The wires located within the jacket are not maintained in a separate yet joined manner. Consequently, they may be subject to tangling within the jacket. When the jacket is removed, the wires must be untangled from one another. Other wire organizers involving zip-up devices are generally constructed with zip-up mechanisms integrated along bodies of wires operable to releasably join the wires upon engagement of a zipper or sliding element. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,026 to DeFlorio discloses a pair of tangle resistant electrical test leads attached to a nonconductive slide fastener, such as a nylon zipper, that co-joins cords by engaging the slide fastener or zipper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,909,050 to Bradford discloses an electrical cable system including a first electrical cable and a second electrical cable constructed to releasably join to form a co-joined cable by strip and groove mating; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0069147 to Pedersen discloses a headset wire for a portable electronic device including a zipper used to releasably join or separate pairs of wires; Foreign Patent Publication No. EP 1509062 to Fung et al. discloses a headphone apparatus appointed with a zipper slider for sliding along cords of the headphone and thereby joining or disjoining two cords; Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 07211146 to Tateno discloses a stereophonic earphone cable having a fastener on a side of each the left and right earphone cables and a chuck or slider to co-join the cables; and Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 2004056636 to Kihachiro discloses a headphone apparatus integrated with a slider type fastener over substantially the entire length of each cable so that each branch cable can be co-joined. These integrated zip-up devices, as well as aforediscussed jacket constructs, fail to provide a sleeve surface that enables scrunching or compression and elongation or lengthening of the wires. As such, the co-joined and bundled wires cannot be compressed for enhanced compact storage. Coiling of the co-joined wires and/or jacket containing the bundled wires may be an option to achieve a more orderly neat maintenance; however, this would subject the co-joined wires and/or jacket of the bundled wires to tangling. Another broad categorical type of apparatus for organizing wires involves devices having a member for pulling two wires together without lengthwise co-joining of the wires. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,126 to MacDonald et al. discloses a hands-free earpiece headset configured such that a second earpiece is integrally mounted and stowed against a first earpiece. The headset further includes a sliding member which is configured to slidably advance and retract about the first and second cords for organization of same. Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 10308992 to Masuda et al. discloses a device having two left headset wires that are appointed to be completely contained in a cylindrical bag which slidably engages to house the wires therein when the headset is being carried. These types of organization apparatuses fail to provide compression or elongation of the enclosed wire in an orderly, tangle free manner. The wires are not co-joined together, but are merely housed in close proximity with engagement of the slide or bag, respectively. As a result, the wires are subject to entangling with one another, especially within the bag assembly storage structure. Various wire organizing devices involve a spool type member engageable with associated wires for stowage thereof. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,638 to Burger et al. discloses a cord stowage device that includes a spool having opposed ends with cup-shaped members and a channel through which a cable slidably passes, cavities shaped to receive earphones therein for storage are also provided on the outside of the cup-shaped members; U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,693 to Symons discloses a cable management device having a body with an axis and at least one planar flange and cable retainer for allowing removable attachment of a cable during axial winding in a single plane via a spool; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0123164 to Yao et al. discloses a mobile device cord holder constructed with retaining regions defining a cord holding area appointed to hold a cord in a non-tangling manner as the wire is wrapped or spooled around the cord holding area. Wires associated with these spool type devices do not engage with one another to form a single/co-joined wire. Nor do these spool type devices provide the functionality of compressing or elongating the wires. Instead the wires are merely spooled within the device for storage. As the wires wrap around the spool, the wires are prone to tangling. Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct an earpiece or wire organizer that prevents or mitigates entanglement of wires during storage and carrying, there remains a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that can be readily engaged by simply scrunching or compressing and pulling or elongating wires together with a single hand motion. Specifically, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that includes a sleeve appointed to house a substantial portion of a wire. Further, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with mating spine pieces coated with an interlocking self-adhering surface that attaches to itself to releasably engage the mating spine pieces with one another in a stacked relationship. Moreover, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with mating spine pieces coated with an interlocking self-adhering surface that attaches to itself to releasably engage the mating spine pieces, and thereby compress and elongate a wire housed within the sleeve.

When Unix was being developed in 1969 based on a filesystem, the concept of device drivers was already well defined, when it was also viewed as an extension of the same filesystem. Also the model of a portable operating system was already decided early on when it was broken into two main components; the device independent component (the logical layer of the device) which required it to be written in a high-level language such as C and the hardware-dependent (the physical layer of the device) component in which the device driver model maps the low-level data structures of the physical device to high level data structures of the logical device. Therefore the Unix filesystem has no explicit device associated with the way the information is laid down as it deals with data as a block entity and has no knowledge of how a block is composed, in an effort to make the OS kernel as portable as possible. This model which was also adopted by Posix (portable-operating-system-interface-for-unix) continued to this day, especially in the world-wide use of the GNU/Linux system in all professional applications. Though current (2012) OS models such as Unix, Linux, and GUI (Graphical-User-Interface) such as Windows, and Android use a number of hardware-abstraction-layer (HAL) in the virtual-file-system (VFS), block device, the driver codes specific to a hardware can exist in the kernel as the Kernel-Mode-Driver-Framework (KMDF), or by loadable module which is called upon only when needed. Also another method, the User-Mode-Driver-Framework (UMDF) moves driver codes outside the kernel. Nevertheless, the OS at some point will need to execute the physical driver codes which exist in the visible memory space that requires device-specific control. In effect, this makes the kernel hardware-dependent rendering it not only unportable, but unusable to an upgrade of the same platform. Though the HAL insulates an OS from vendor-specific hardware, the HAL still resides in the OS memory space. This has two major impediments: first, the system processor cannot run another process when it is executing the physical driver codes or parallel processing (not multitasking), and second, a device manufacturer must supply the physical device driver. That is why the need for specific kernel upgrades even for the most basic change of computer devices such as video and sound. There is then a need for the HAL to move to the device end itself and implementing FIFOs which is the subject of this patent. When this happens, a correspondingly beneficial effect emerges which creates a new model requiring the device to be treated as a homogenous device. It does not only stop at this, but other spin-offs are created as well; with the addition of FIFOs for every device ports, traditional computer components can be removed as well; the DMA engine, multi-arbiters, multi-bus, and an I/O bus such as the PCI. A very similar invention was initiated by the I2O (intelligent-I/O) Special Interest Group (I2OSIG) which published the I2O specification in 1996. The steering committee members included HP, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, Adaptec, 3Com and more than sixty other members which included corporations such as Acer, ARM, Dell, Fujitsu, Samsung, Seagate, Siemens and Western Digital among many others. The only similarity is that the HAL is also moved outside the OS address space and into the device end itself. But the FIFO oriented view was not included which made the two inventions diverged radically, making the I2O a far more complex implementation with its message passing interface and protocol.

This invention relates to a hobbing machine of the type in which a hob on a rotatable hob spindle is rotated in precisely timed relation with a gear blank on a rotatable work spindle in order to form gear teeth around the periphery of the gear blank. Under very specialized circumstances, the axis of the hob spindle may extend perpendicular to the axis of the work spindle. In most instances, however, the hob spindle is inclined relative to the work spindle at a predetermined setting angle which is other than a right angle. The setting angle is determined as a function of the thread angle of the particular hob being used and, in cases where a helical gear is being formed, the setting angle is also a function of the helix angle of the gear. In virtually every hobbing machine, it is necessary to be able to adjust the center-to-center distance between the axis of the hob spindle and the axis of the work spindle while maintaining the same setting angle. Adjustment of the center distance is necessary, for example, to enable a gear blank to be loaded onto or unloaded from the work spindle, to enable the depth of cut of the hob into the work to be established and/or to enable the hob to be brought into proper working relationship with the work after the hob has been re-sharpened and reduced in diameter. Most hobbing machines which presently are in commercial use are so-called universal hobbing machines. That is, the hobbing machine is adapted to be used with several different hobs and is adapted to be changed over to enable the formation of many different types and sizes of gears. While a universal hobbing machine is extremely versatile, that very versatility causes the overall construction of the machine to be both complex and expensive. Most universal machines include adjustable hob and work slides, an adjustable hob swivel and other adjustable components and also include a complex drive train with several sets of change gears for driving the hob and work spindles in various timed relationships. The complexity and expense of a universal machine are of little value to a gear manufacturer who wishes to make only a single type of gear or a very narrow range of gears. Moreover, the various adjustment capabilities which are present in a universal machine tend to introduce a lack of stiffness and precision into the drives for the spindles, several disadvantages resulting therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connection for an electric motor. 2. Description of the Prior Art In electrical connections, it is generally known to provide so-called single-wire seals (German abbreviation: EADs) to seal cables in plugs. The individual electrical conductors in them are routed through a through opening provided in the sealing element. The sealing element usually has at least one radial sealing lip that rests against a surface of the conductor inside the through opening in order to produce a seal. Additional radial sealing lips provided on the outside of the sealing element then produce a seal in relation to a housing containing the sealing element and electrical conductors. The housing accommodating the sealing element then tapers in a funnel shaped so that only the electrical conductor, sealed in the smaller-diameter funnel-shaped section, is routed further to the plug. The sealing element consequently functions on the one hand radially in relation to the electrical conductor and on the other hand, radially in relation to the housing. This is known as a “radial-radial”-acting seal. The disadvantage to this kind of seal for an electrical connection is the relatively high complexity, both of the housing that accommodates the sealing element and of the funnel embodiment. Usually, the housing and funnel require cost-intensive finishing work.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a linear motion guide bearing apparatus which is used in an ordinary industrial machine or in a delivery apparatus and, in particular, to a guide rail or a slider which is a composing part of the linear motion guide bearing apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a linear motion guide bearing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8, as composing parts thereof, comprises a guide rail 1 extending in a given direction and a slider 2 crossingly mounted on the guide rail 1 so as to be movable with respect to the guide rail 1 along the guide rail 1. In the two side surfaces of the guide rail 1, there are formed rolling element rolling grooves 3 which respectively extend in the axial direction of the guide rail 1. Also, in the inner surfaces of the slider 2 as well, there are formed rolling element rolling grooves 4 which are respectively disposed opposed to the rolling element rolling grooves 3. And, within a load rolling passage which is formed between the mutually opposed rolling element rolling grooves 3, 4, there are inserted a plurality of rolling elements (such as rollers or balls). In FIG. 8, reference character 6 designates a return passage and 7 stands for an end cap. FIG. 9 is a section view of a conventional guide rail 1, when it is viewed from the axial direction (extending direction) of the rolling element rolling groove 3. And, FIG. 10 is a section view of a conventional slider 2, when it is viewed from the axial direction (extending direction) of the rolling element rolling groove 4. Each of the rolling element rolling grooves 3, 4 has a substantially circular section shape; and, boundary portions A, B, which are formed between land surfaces existing continuously with the two sides of the rolling element rolling grooves 3, 4, are respectively formed in a shape having an angle formed by the mutual intersection of an arc and a straight line (which is hereinafter sometimes referred to as an edge shape). By the way, in the rolling element rolling grooves 3, 4, in some cases, there can be formed such a relief as shown in FIG. 8. In the case of the guide rail 1 shown in FIG. 9, the upper-side rolling element rolling grooves 3 are formed in the corner portions between the side surfaces and upper surface of the guide rail 1. In the case of the present rolling element rolling grooves 3, the section shape thereof provides a substantially ¼ arc shape; and, the respective boundary portions A between the land surfaces (side surfaces and upper surface) existing continuously with the present rolling element rolling grooves 3 and the present rolling element rolling grooves 3 also provide an edge shape having an angle formed by the intersection between an arc and a straight line. However, when the linear motion guide bearing is in operation, in case where there exists a clearance between a load rolling passage and the half-arc-shaped circulation passage formed in a rolling element circulation part such as an end cap, a rolling element, when passing through the clearance, can shift from its normal passage and interfere with the land portion. At the then time, in case where the rolling element 5 is higher in hardness than the guide rail 1, for example, the guide rail 1 is made of metal and the rolling element 5 is made of ceramic, there arises a problem that the boundary portion A softer than the rolling element 5 is easy to wear. That is, as in the above-mentioned conventional structure, when the boundary portions A, B are respectively formed in an edge shape, in case where there occurs such a load state in which the rolling element 5 is pressed against the boundary portions A, B, since the contact area of the rolling element 5 with the boundary portions A, B is small, the maximum contact pressure increases. As a result of this, the boundary portions A, B are easy to wear. Depending on the progress of such wear, there is a fear that such wear can have an ill effect on the linear motion accuracy of the slider 2. This problem become obvious especially in such a using condition that the slider 2 must be moved at a high speed with respect to the guide rail 1, or the slider 2 must be positioned with high precision. Especially, since the moving speed of the rolling element has been enhanced, when a corner portion exists in the land portion 2b (see FIG. 11), in the case of the guide rail 2 made of steel, there arises a problem that the rolling element 5 and land portion 2b are easy to flake. Also, in case where the guide rail 2 is made of ceramic material, since the guide rail 2 is hard, the surface of the rolling element 5 can be damaged; and, because the ceramic material is fragile material, a crack can be caused in the land portion 2b. On the other hand, when the moving speed of the rolling element 5 is low, in the case of the guide rail 2 made of steel, the surface of the rolling element 5 and the groove surface of the rolling element rolling groove 4 of the guide rail 2 are worn due to the rolling motion of the rolling element 5 and the roughness of these surfaces is thereby reduced (the surfaces are smoothed), which makes it hard for the surfaces to wear any further. However, in case where the guide rail 2 is made of ceramic material, since the guide rail 2 is much harder than the rolling element 5, there hardly arises the possibility that the groove surface of the rolling element rolling groove 4 of the guide rail 2 can be worn due to the rolling motion of the rolling element 5 and the roughness of the groove surface can be thereby reduced (the groove surface can be smoothed). Therefore, as the linear guide apparatus is operated, the rolling element 5 continues to wear. As a result of this, in case where the preload amount of a linear guide apparatus is small, especially, in the case of a small-size linear guide apparatus, the rigidity of the linear guide apparatus is lowered due to shortage of the preload, so that the durability of the linear guide apparatus is reduced.

A motor vehicle comprises at least two axles, wherein each axle is generally assigned two wheels. Furthermore, in each case one axle and the two wheels are assigned a so-called stabilizer which has at least one torsion body and limbs arranged thereon, wherein each limb is directly or indirectly connected to a wheel. The stabilizer can be used to damp and/or compensate fluctuations of the wheels in the vertical direction perpendicularly with respect to a direction of travel of the motor vehicle and perpendicularly with respect to the axle, and therefore to achieve rolling stabilization for the motor vehicle. Document DE 10 2008 000 240 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a method for operating a motor vehicle which has two axles with wheels mounted in a sprung fashion thereon, wherein each axle is assigned an electromechanical stabilizer. For this purpose, wheel movements of the individual wheels are detected and fed to a control, as a result of which an electric motor of the stabilizer is controlled in such a way that spring compression movements on one side are prevented from being copied on to another side of the axle. DE 10 2010 051 807 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a rolling stabilization device for a motor vehicle comprising a stabilizer which is assigned two wheels of an axle of the motor vehicle and is divided into two stabilizer halves, an actuator which is capable of rotating the two stabilizer halves with respect to one another, and a control device which is designed to operate the actuator as a function of driving state parameters, at least in a first operating state of the motor vehicle, in such a way that a rolling movement of the vehicle is counteracted by a torque transmission between the two stabilizer halves. A control device for a stabilizer of a motor vehicle is described in document EP 1 577 127 A2, which is incorporated by reference herein. Here, the stabilizer comprises a pair of stabilizer rods which are arranged between two wheels of an axle, and an actuator which is arranged between the stabilizer rods and which comprises an electric motor and a mechanism for reducing the speed. A desired torque for the electric motor is calculated on the basis of behavior of the motor vehicle and of steering operations of a driver. Furthermore, a torque is estimated for each stabilizer rod. The electric motor is controlled as a result of a comparison of the desired torque with the estimated torque. A stabilizer arrangement which is known from document EP 1 925 472 A2, which is incorporated by reference herein, comprises a two-part stabilizer with in each case one radius link which runs in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and whose stabilizer sections execute a rotational relative movement with respect to one another. The stabilizer sections are operatively connected to an adjustable torque generating device which has such high control dynamics that the stabilizer arrangement applies an adapted opposing torque to a torque acting on the stabilizer arrangement, even when a torsional section inside the stabilizer arrangement is dispensed with. Against this background, a method and a system having the features of the independent patent claims are presented.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a pipelined computer and methods in the same. 2. Description of the Prior Art In a pipelined computer having instruction pipelines of different types, the instruction pipelines sometimes spend different respective times in execution of respective instructions. In such a case, although a slight change in the sequence of actual execution of instructions is allowed, the contents of registers in the computer are required to be updated in the same sequence as the sequence of execution of the instructions. Controlling the sequence of completion of execution of instructions referred to as establishing the synchronization between the pipelines. Prior art methods of synchronization in a pipelined computer will be listed in the following. 1) Asynchronous: Controlled units are not synchronized with each other, and communication between the units is performed via flags and handshakes. 2) Horizontal Control: A composite instruction controls the operation of setting different units at respective clock periods. A long instruction is divided into a large number of fields. Processors are parallelly and independently controlled by the respective fields, and thereby the synchronization between the processors is established. When the degree of the parallel is low, the efficiency of bit use of the instruction is small. It is necessary to prepare a process of judging the possibility of parallel processing during the instruction execution, or a process of extracting the possibility of parallel processing during the instruction compiling. Thus, in the case where the controls of the processors are determined in accordance with the results of the processings by the processors respectively, the instruction is rearranged and then the instruction is required to be decoded, thereby necessitating expenditure of additional time. 3) Lockstep: A set of equal processors is synchronously controlled so that the processors will simultaneously execute equal processings. 4) Issue-When-Ready: As soon as a required unit or register becomes free, an instruction is transmitted to an execution unit. The prior art methods 1)-3) have problems as follows. The prior art method 1) is unsuited to the realization of high-speed synchronization since a handshake spends a considerable time. In the case where an exception occurs in a controlled unit and simultaneously the execution of an instruction in another controlled unit needs to be interrupted, it is difficult for the prior art method 1) to realize a method of disabling the processing of the instruction at a high speed. In the prior art method 2), since all units are controlled by a common horizontal instruction, the units can not operate independently and also processors can not be operated independently. In the prior art method 2), since the execution times of the processors are sometimes different, the process of disabling the processing of the instruction tends to be complicated during the occurrence of an exception in one of the processors. The prior art method 3) requires units to be equal. The prior art method 3) can not be applied to the case where units independently execute different operations although the units are equal.

1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a device for producing compacted or pressed articles with a main cylindrically-shaped element and a secondary helically-shaped element from powdered material such as powdered metal, and in particular for producing helical gearwheels in which the helical gearing or toothing is the secondary element. 2. Description of the Related Art A conventional device as described in European Patent Publication 0 528 761 A1 produces pressed articles, e.g., helical-toothed gearwheels, from metal powder. This known metal powder press has a linearly movable upper ram in which is supported a top punch which is rotatable about the longitudinal axis in the pressing direction and a bottom ram which is also moveable linearly against a bottom stop and in which a bottom punch is rotatably supported. A die plate forms a mold cavity and is movable linearly in the pressing cycle. The rotatable bottom punch and the rotatable top punch each have a toothing profile corresponding to the toothing profile or helical toothing of the mold shell or casing, i.e., the mold cavity. The bottom punch which is supported so as to be freely rotatable is constantly engaged with the profile of the mold cavity and therefore rotates compulsorily in a corresponding manner when linear relative movements occur between the bottom punch and die plate during the press cycle. In contrast, a rotational movement corresponding to the helical toothing is externally forced upon the top punch during the press cycle corresponding to its penetration depth in order to reduce the friction between the outer surfaces of the top punch and mold cavity of the female mold. The toothed-wheel mechanism provided for this purpose is driven via a mechanical linkage control corresponding to the desired helical toothing of the pressed article. The linkage control contains linkage cores, rigidly connected to a guide plate and guided in a positive engagement and in a sliding manner in the coaxially arranged driving wheels of the toothed-wheel mechanism. During the press cycle, the guide plate is temporarily rigidly coupled with the die plate and moves jointly therewith. A withdrawal process is used to remove the produced pressed articles from the mold. This known metal powder press gives rise to considerable costs with respect to mechanical construction and also retooling since for every different pressed article a set of linkage cores corresponding to this pressed article must be prepared and exchanged, aside from the special tool set including the female mold, top punch and bottom punch. Added to this is the cost of the guide plate and the mechanically operated locking device for rigidly coupling the guide plate to the die plate. There also remains the problem of friction between the bottom punch with respect to its rotational movement and the female mold, the bottom punch not being positively driven externally. This not only results in increased tool wear in this region, but also leads to an uneven density distribution in the pressed article. A press with electronically controlled movements which is used for the rotary press process is described in the publication entitled "Quality control through process monitoring of rotary forming press", Metal Powder industries Federation, Volume 6, May 6-11, 1994, 125-137. A press of this type is used for subsequent treatment of already sintered molded articles produced by powder metallurgy in order to give them a density in the range of 95% to 98% of the theoretically possible density of the material in question. The special construction of these presses makes it possible to generate extremely high local pressing pressures in the pressing tool with a comparatively low overall pressing force of the press. The special construction for this purpose includes an upper punch die that moves in a gyrating and rotating manner and applies locally defined extremely high pressing forces on the workpiece in order to compact the latter in directed manner. This reference contains no suggestion that the top punch and bottom punch, which participate directly in the shaping of the helically shaped secondary element of the article to be pressed, may be controlled with respect to their movement in the mold cavity of the female mold by electronic means for the purpose of producing compact with main cylindrically shaped elements and secondary helically shaped elements from powdered material.

The present invention relates to implantable tissue and, more particularly to a system and method for making a calotte-shaped sheath of implantable tissue. In various types of neurosurgery it is common to interpose a sheath of tissue between a patient""s brain and skull for dural substitution, such as for use in neurosurgical procedures. Typically the sheath is actual dura mater from a human cadaver that has been appropriately treated. Alternatively, a sheath of biocompatible tissue may be used. Because certain curved shapes are difficult to reproduce, a generally flat sheath of biocompatible tissue typically used. Therefore, a new approach is desirable that is able to produce curved implantable sheaths, such as generally semi-spherical (or calotte-shaped) sheaths. The present invention relates to system and method for making a calotte-shaped implantable sheath. A sheet of biological tissue, such as animal pericardium, is positioned onto a curved surface. A fixation solution is applied to a substantial portion of the tissue, as at least that portion is held generally flush against the curved surface. After the tissue has been appropriately fixed, peripheral portions of the sheath may be trimmed so as to form a calotte-shaped sheath of tissue suitable for implantation. The sheath conforms to the contour of the curved surface against which it was fixed. As a result, the sheath is able to conform to the shaped of a curved structure, such as an organ or brain, when implanted. One aspect of the present invention provides a system for creating a calotte-shaped implantable sheath. The system includes a curved tissue-engaging surface and means for holding a sheet of biological tissue against the tissue-engaging surface during fixation. A volume of a fixation solution is operable to fix at least a substantial portion of the tissue substantially to the shape of the tissue-engaging surface. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for forming a calotte-shaped implantable sheath. A sheet of tissue is placed against a curved surface and fixed with a fixation solution while at least a substantial portion of the tissue is held against the curved surface so that at least that portion of the tissue conforms to the shape of the curved surface.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to air conditioning systems and more particularly to an air conditioning system and a method which detects a low-charge state. 2. Discussion Modern air conditioning systems typically include a compressor, a condenser, a throttling device and an evaporator. Operation of the compressor adds heat to a gaseous refrigerant as well as increases its pressure. High-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant exiting the compressor is delivered to the condenser where excess heat is removed, causing the refrigerant to condense to a relatively low-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant is then discharged to the expansion valve. The expansion valve meters the amount of refrigerant that is discharged to the evaporator, causing the low-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant to change to a lower-temperature, low-pressure gaseous state. A blower forces air over a heat exchanger surface on the evaporator causing the gaseous refrigerant to absorb heat, cooling the air. Gaseous refrigerant is then returned to the compressor. To maintain the performance of the air conditioning system, it is necessary that the system be properly charged (i.e., the system must have a quantity of refrigerant that exceeds a predetermined minimum amount). If the air conditioning system looses a sufficient amount of refrigerant, the air conditioning system will not cool the air to the maximum extent possible. Furthermore, operation of the air conditioning system in a low-charge state may damage the compressor, which is typically the most expensive component of the air conditioning system. Conventional air conditioning systems do not include a means for detecting a low-charge state. Consequently, it is necessary to rely on the perception and judgment of the users of these systems to detect symptoms that are characteristic of a low-charge state. The symptom most readily detected with such systems is an output temperature of air exiting the evaporator that is xe2x80x9cwarmer than normalxe2x80x9d. Unfortunately, as the loss of refrigerant from an air conditioning system is usually gradual, the user is not likely to notice the change in the output temperature until a substantial amount of refrigerant has been lost from the system. Complicating matters is that technicians responsible for trouble-shooting and maintaining these air conditioning systems have no direct means for detecting a low-charge state. As such, the technician is typically forced to employ a decision-making process having several steps of relatively low reliability to develop a plan for dealing with the observations of the air conditioning system user. The process usually includes the verification that the output temperature is relatively high and the re-charging the air conditioning system. Recharging the air conditioning system is a time consuming process, requiring that the refrigerant in the air conditioning system first be evacuated and then a proper quantity of fresh refrigerant be delivered to the air conditioning system. This process typically requires several hours to complete, tying up not only the technician, but also other resources such as the tooling, equipment and possibly even a service bay. Considering modern standards of accuracy and repeatability, this trouble-shooting process renders it highly likely that some air conditioning systems are being recharged unnecessary. Furthermore, it is also likely that other air conditioning systems may not be being serviced when necessary. To avoid these situations, some air conditioning systems have proposed the use of a dedicated sensor in an attempt to more reliably detect a low-charge state. One such system relies on a low-pressure switch placed between the compressor and the evaporator. This system is premised on the fact that the liquid refrigerant delivered from the evaporator to the compressor will have a relatively lower pressure if the compressor is operated in a low-charge state. Not only does this approach add a considerable amount of cost to the air conditioning system, this approach requires a substantial reduction in the pressure of the refrigerant delivered to the compressor before a low-charge state is detected. Accordingly, it is possible in a system of this type that the low-charge state will go undetected for a considerable period of time, permitting the compressor to be operated repeatedly and damaged. A second system relies on a sub-cool temperature sensor placed between the expansion valve and the condenser which monitors the temperature of the gaseous refrigerant delivered to the expansion valve. While this arrangement has been shown to be effective at detecting a low-charge state, it is extremely costly, being approximately three times more expensive than the low-pressure switch discussed above. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an air conditioning system which is able to detect a low-charge condition in a reliable manner and at a relatively low cost. It is one object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a low-charge state in an air conditioning system which provides early yet reliable results. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a low-charge state in an air conditioning system which may be economically incorporated into an air conditioning system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a low-charge state in an air conditioning system which employs the slope of the difference between the ambient temperature and the evaporator temperature to determine the existence of a low-charge state. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a low-charge state in an air conditioning system which employs the temperature of the evaporator to determine the existence of a low-charge state. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system which detects a low-charge state in a reliable yet economical manner. In one preferred form, the present invention provides a method for detecting a low-charge state in an air conditioning system. The method includes the steps of detecting a temperature of air exiting an evaporator and responsively producing an evaporator temperature signal; detecting an ambient air temperature and responsively producing an ambient air temperature signal; detecting at least one operational characteristic of the air conditioning system and responsively producing an operational signal in response thereto; and receiving the evaporator temperature signal, the ambient air temperature signal and the operational signal and responsively detecting a low-charge condition of the air conditioning system. An air conditioning system having a controller which prevents a compressor from cycling on the detection of a low-charge state is also provided.

1. Field The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for driving a pneumatically operated implantable device, such as an artificial heart. 2. Discussion of Related Art Artificial hearts are typically constructed with right and left ventricles that function generally like and may replace the right and left ventricles of a native heart. The right ventricle receives oxygen-poor blood from the subject's body and delivers this blood to the lungs for oxygenation. The left ventricle receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs of a subject and delivers this blood throughout the subject's body. Each ventricle of the artificial heart 100, like that shown in FIG. 1, includes a movable diaphragm 102 that is positioned between an air chamber 104 and a blood chamber 106 within the ventricle. The air chamber includes a single inlet/outlet 108 that is in fluid communication with a pneumatic driver. A blood inlet valve 110 provides a one-way entrance into the blood chamber 106 from the circulatory system of a subject and a blood outlet valve 112 provides a one-way outlet from the blood chamber. To replicate the systole of a native heart, pressurized air is provided to the air chamber in each ventricle of the artificial heart. The pressurized air displaces the diaphragm within the ventricle, reducing the volume of the blood chamber and causing blood to be ejected through the outlet valve and into the circulatory system of the subject. To replicate the diastole of a native heart, pressure is relieved from the air chamber of the ventricle, which allows blood to enter the blood chamber from the circulatory system of the subject. One example of an artificial heart is the CARDIOWEST Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t), as illustrated in FIG. 1. The TAH-t has left 114 and right 116 ventricles with a displacement of 70 cubic centimeters each. The TAH-t is used as a bridge-to-transplant type device, whereby the TAH-t is configured to replace a diseased heart on a temporary basis until a subject receives a transplanted human heart. The TAH-t may potentially, however, also be used as a permanent replacement for a native heart.

1. Field of the Invention Embodiments of the present invention relate to an exhaust gas control system for an internal combustion engine. 2. Description of Related Art An air purifier has been known that includes: an air purification catalyst that is disposed in an air passage and purifies air; and a microwave irradiator that is disposed on an upstream side of the air purification catalyst in the air passage and irradiates the air purification catalyst with a microwave at a specified frequency, in which the air purification catalyst includes a carrier substrate and a catalytic substance that is disposed on the carrier substrate and purifies the air, in which the carrier substrate contains a heating body that can absorb the microwave, and in which the heating body absorbs the microwave from the microwave irradiator and thereby generates heat (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-158947 (JP 2006-158947 A), for example). Typically, the catalytic substance does not function as a catalyst until it reaches an activation temperature or higher. Thus, in JP 2006-158947 A, the heating body generates the heat by using the microwave and heats the carrier substrate, and the catalytic substance on the carrier substrate is thereby heated to the activation temperature or higher.

The present invention relates generally to articulated chairs and, more particularly, to an articulated chair operable to move between a generally upright patient entry/exit position and a reclined patient examination and treatment position. Articulated examination and treatment chairs are used to position a patient to a variety of different positions which may be selected in accordance with the particular procedure being performed and with reference to the preferences of the particular operator or doctor. For dental procedures, by way of example, the chair may be moved between a generally upright patient entry/exit position and a reclined patient examination and treatment position. The chair has a seat section and a back section that provide a comfortable support surface for the patient throughout movement of the chair. Arm rests are provided on opposite sides of the chair to support the patient""s arms as the chair is moved through the various positions. To provide patient comfort, the arm rests must move or tilt to accommodate the change in position of the patient as the patient moves through the various positions. To accomplish this need, arm rests have either been connected for pivotal movement with the seat section or the arm rests are pivotally connected to the back section through a rotatable shaft and linkages. In the generally upright patient entry/exit position of known examination and treatment chairs, the arm rests obstruct the patient""s entry into or exit from the chair. Therefore, the arm rests are constructed either to be temporarily removed or to pivot out of the way to allow patient to enter or exit the chair. Either of these solutions has a tendency to be cumbersome, especially for handicapped and elderly patients. Therefore, there is a need for an chair that improves patient entry or exit while providing comfort to the patient during movement of the chair between entry/exit and examination and treatment positions. The present invention overcomes the foregoing and other shortcomings and drawbacks of examination and treatment chairs heretofore known. While the invention will be described in connection with certain embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention includes all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. An examination and treatment chair in accordance with the principles of the present invention is operable to move between a generally upright patient entry/exit position and a reclined patient examination and treatment position. The chair includes a chair support for supporting a seat section and back section of the chair. The back section is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the chair support between a generally upright position and a reclined position. A pair of arm rests are rigidly connected to the back section for movement with the back section between the generally upright position and the reclined position. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the arm rests are automatically positioned to allow a patient unobstructed entry into or exit from the chair when the back section is moved to the generally upright position. The arm rests are automatically positioned to support the patient""s arms when the back rest is moved to the reclined position. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the back section includes a back frame and a back cushion supported on the back frame. The arm rests may be integrally formed with the back frame such as by a unitary casting of the back frame and the arm rests or, alternatively, the arm rests may be rigidly connected to the back frame. The back frame and foam cushion are dished so that the arm rests and the dished or contoured back section comfortably cradle the patient in a natural, relaxed position to maximize patient comfort and reduce patient anxiety. The chair of the present invention provides a patient with unobstructed entry into or exit from the chair in the generally upright patient entry/exit position and a natural, relaxed and comfortable support in the reclined patient and treatment position. The foam cushion provides patient comfort in the lumbar region of the patient""s back and forces the patient""s shoulders back, which naturally elevates the patient""s chin and puts the patient in a good working position. The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention shall be made apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description thereof.

The present invention relates to a light scanning device. Light scanning devices are known as a device for writing and reading information by scanning a light beam. In one type of such a light scanning device, a light beam emitted from a light source is focused as a linear image, and a rotating polygon mirror has a reflecting surface positioned near the linearly focused image for deflecting the light beam at a constant angular velocity. The deflected light beam is focused as a beam spot on a surface by a focusing lens system for scanning the surface. FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a conventional light scanning device of the type described. A light beam emitted from a light source 1 is focused as a linear image near a reflecting surface 4 of a rotating polygon mirror 3 by a first focusing optical system 2. The light beam reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 3 is deflected at a constant angular velocity upon rotation of the rotating polygon mirror 3. The deflected light beam is then focused as a beam spot on a surface 7 by a second focusing optical system comprising lenses 5, 6 for scanning the surface 7. The light scanning device employing a rotating multi-faceted polygon, however, suffers from the problem of a facet error. That is, the mirror facets of the polygon may not lie parallel to the axis of rotation of the polygon mirror. One known method of solving this problem is to use an anamorphic optical system as the second focusing optical system disposed between the rotating polygon and the surface to be scanned, and to position the reflecting position on the rotating polygon and the scanning surface in conjugate relationship with respect to an auxiliary scanning direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3). In FIG. 3, the second focusing optical system couples the reflecting position on the rotating polygon 3 and the scanned surface 7 in substantilly conjugate relationship as viewed in the auxiliary scanning direction. Therefore, even if a mirror facet 4 of the rotating polygon suffers from a deviant orientation as represented by 4', the focused position on the scanned surface 7 is not virtually moved in the auxiliary scanning direction by the second focusing optical system. The facet error is corrected in this manner. When the polygon mirror 3 rotates, the reflecting surface or facet 4 rotates about an axis 3A, and there is developed an optical path length change (sag) between the first focusing optical system 2 and the reflecting surface 4. Therefore, a positional deviation .DELTA.X is produced between the position P of the focused linear image and the reflecting surface 4, and hence the position P' of a conjugate image of the linear image generated by the second focusing optical system or f.theta. lens system is deviated from the scanned surface 7 by .DELTA.'X. The amount of deviation .DELTA.'X is given as .DELTA.'X=.beta..sup.2 .multidot..DELTA.X where .beta. is the lateral magnification of the lens system, as is well known. Where the angle formed in the light deflecting plane between the optical axis of the lenses and the principal ray of the deflected light beam is expressed by .theta., the relationship between .theta. and .DELTA.X is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The curves in FIG. 5 are plotted with an angle .alpha. (which is the angle between the principal ray of the light beam applied to the rotating polygon and the optical axis of the second focusing optical system) being 90.degree. and the radius R of a circle inscribed in the rotating polygon 3 being used as a parameter. In FIG. 6, the curves are plotted with the radius R of the inscribed circle being 40 mm and the angle .alpha. being used as a parameter. As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, .DELTA.X is greater as the radius R of the inscribed circle is greater and the angle .alpha. is smaller. The relative positional deviation between the linear image and the reflecting surface upon rotation of the reflecting surface is developed two-dimensionally in the light deflecting plane and is asymmetrically moved with respect to the lens optical axis. Therefore, with the light scanning device as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary that the curvature of field in each of the main and auxiliary scanning directions of the second focusing optical system be well corrected. As described above, the positional deviation .DELTA.X is produced by the sag. Since the configuration of a rotating polygon, or optimum conditions thereof, i.e., the number of reflecting surfaces or facets and the position of the axis of rotation thereof, are determined by the radius of a light beam applied and the angle of incidence to the second focusing optical system, the sag is also determined as one of the characteristics of the rotating polygon. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-147316 discloses a known light scanning device of the kind described above. However, the problem of curvature of field developed by sag has not sufficiently been studied in the disclosed light scanning device.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video apparatus, and more particularly, to a video apparatus simplifying the checking and adjustment of a specific single module which constitutes the video apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video apparatuses are manufactured (assembled) by combining a plurality of parts which have been modularized for every function unit. Accordingly, by changing the parts (modules) to be combined variously, many types of products can be designed and manufactured easily and efficiently. At the same time, it is well-known that broadcasting is done in different broadcasting systems from country to country throughout the world. For example, there are three major television broadcasting systems: NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Each of these systems may still differ in minute details from country to country, particularly in the ex-Communist bloc, even though the same system is used. To cope with such circumstances, there is a need for video apparatus that is able to receive various broadcasts in different television broadcasting systems. At the same time, there is also a need to improve design efficiency and to develop products that have global usefulness by using modular parts to perform functions which differ from one broadcasting system to another. For example, the intermediate-frequency signal processing circuit part and the sound multiplex signal processing circuit part may be used as module parts, while circuit parts which are common regardless of the broadcasting systems remain part of the basic apparatus. Meanwhile, for the adjustment of various devices comprising the module, a method to adjust by using a microcomputer through the BUS line is used. This technique is called the BUS control and replaces the conventional hand-operated volume adjustment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram to show an example of an adjustable tester for modules controlled by the BUS control, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the checking and adjustment procedures for conventional modules. In FIG. 4, the adjustable tester 25 carries out a temporary adjustment and the check of the operation on the module 7. The tester 25 has a microcomputer 3, an inputting/outputting means 4, a memory 8 and a BUS line 6. The microcomputer 3 is provided with various test programs and test data which are necessary for the temporary adjustment of the module 7. The inputting/outputting means 4 inputs control commands and control data to the microcomputer 3, and at the same time, outputs responses to the control commands and control data. The memory 8 stores data for the temporary adjustment of the module 7 and the like. The BUS line 6 is connected to the microcomputer 3, the memory 8 and the module 7. The module 7 comprises a TV receiver's intermediate frequency signal processing circuit, a sound multiplex signal processing circuit, a sound processor, etc. The BUS line 6 is connectable to each of these circuits. The module 7 is also provided with terminals to input to the intermediate frequency signal processing circuit, to output video signals from the intermediate frequency signal processing circuit, and to output sound signals from L (left) and R (right) of the sound processor. On the other hand, the main unit of a TV receiver includes a tuner for receiving signals from the antenna and supplying intermediate frequency signals to the module 7, a video signal processing circuit to which the module 7 supplies video signals, a display which is supplied with the output from the video signal processing circuit, and a means to regenerate sound signals from the module. The main unit also has a channel selecting circuit which is connected to the tuner and selects received channels, a memory which is connected to this channel selecting circuit and can store channel data, etc., and a means to receive remote control signals. The channel selecting circuit is controlled by the microcomputer. This microcomputer is connectable to the tuner, video signal processing circuit, and each circuit of the module 7 through the BUS line. The module 7 is a replaceable part corresponding to the difference in the broadcasting systems. Consequently, replacing this module 7 in accordance with the characteristic of a broadcasting system enables a user to use a main unit of a TV receiver for each of the broadcasting systems and thus, improve design efficiency. Next, a description will be given on the conventional manufacturing process of video apparatuses based on the checking and adjustment process on a single module 7 shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, in order to improve the reliability on the modularized parts, first of all, the module 7 is connected to the BUS line 6 of the adjustable tester 25 shown in FIG. 4, and the temporary adjustment of the single module 7 is performed by, for example, inputting some commands or data from the inputting/outputting means (adjusting means) 4 to the microcomputer 3. At this time, the data (offset value, etc.) for each adjustment (temporary adjustment) on each device which comprises the module 7, such as an intermediate-frequency signal processing circuit, a sound multiplex signal processing circuit and a sound processor are stored in the memory 8 of the adjustable tester 25. The temporary adjustment of the module 7 is carried out on each device. For example, the intermediate-frequency signal processing circuit adjustment is done on the AGC level, the sound multiplex signal processing circuit adjustment is done on the inputting level, on the separation of L (left) and R (right) signals, on the DC value of VCO at the PLL circuit, and on other filters, while the sound processor adjustment is carried out on the levels of bass, treble and balance. When the temporary adjustment of this single module 7 is finished, the check of the operation of the single module 7 follows using a prescribed means which is not shown in the figures (Step T1). The module 7, which has been proved to be normal (good product) through the check of its operation, is mounted on the main unit of a video apparatus (television receiver) (Step T2), and as described above, each device constituting a module 7 is readjusted by, for example, inputting some commands or data to the microcomputer in the main unit from the remote controller. The data for adjustment of each device, including an intermediate-frequency signal processing circuit, a sound multiplex signal processing circuit and a sound processor, is stored in the memory of the main unit (Step T3). After that, other devices of the main unit, that is, a tuner, a video signal processing circuit and the like are adjusted. The adjustment data on each device is stored in the memory of the main unit (Step T4). As for the adjustment of each device of the main unit, on the tuner, for example, the channel selection is adjusted, and on the video signal processing circuit, contrast, brightness and hue are adjusted. As described above, according to the procedure of the checking and adjustment process on a single module which operates under the conventional BUS control, none of the modules have a dedicated memory (for example, EEPROM) to store the adjustment data on each device comprising the module 7. This requires the same adjustment twice. The first adjustment is performed before the shipment of modules as parts. The parts are adjusted module by module. The second adjustment is performed when the module is mounted and assembled on the set (the main unit). The module undergoes the same adjustment as the first adjustment, together with other devices of the main unit. The data for adjustment of each device is written in the memory which is built in the set (the main unit). In other words, the process which is carried out in Step T1 in FIG. 5 is repeated in Step T3, thus resulting in additional man-hours for adjustment. As stated above, for a conventional video apparatus, a single module undergoes various adjustments at the time of manufacture to prepare the apparatus for proper operation before it is shipped. When the module is assembled into a video apparatus, various kinds of adjustments on the module are performed again. This adjustment must check more parts than in the previous adjustment of other circuit parts (for example, the video/chromaldeflection processing circuit), and thus, is time-consuming.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and fabrication processes, and more specifically to semiconductor gate electrode architectures which provide improved work function tuning. In the conventional CMOS process, poly silicon is used as a gate electrode material up to 90 nm node. The conventional process has several advantages such as: (i) it is compatible with high temperature processing, (ii) well behaved poly-Si/thermal SiO2 interfaces, (iii) more reliable than metal gate electrode like Al, (iv) conformal deposition over steep topography (v) and most significantly it introduces self-aligned dual work function for both n-MOSFETs and p-MOSFETs by selection of proper dopant. The polysilicon gate electrode, however, also represents a major challenge for near-term and long-term CMOS scaling. Some major limitations of the process include gate depletion, high gate resistance and boron penetration into the channel region. The poly depletion causes an effective increase in the gate dielectric thickness, which operates to reduce the current drive. Boron diffusion from p+ polysilicon gate to the channel degrades device performance significantly. Both the effective increase in the gate dielectric thickness associated with depletion and the channel autodoping associated with boron out-diffusion from the p+ polysilicon gate will eventually require the phase-out of polysilicon as gate material beyond the 45 nm technology node. Metal gate electrodes offer a potential solution to the aforementioned problem. Metal gate electrodes provide advantages such as: (i) no boron penetration from polysilicon gate into channel through very thin gate dielectric, (ii) much lower gate resistance, (iii) and perhaps the most desirable advantage of reduced electrical thickness of gate dielectric. The last and most significant advantage is derived through elimination of depletion in heavily doped polysilicon gates, which can amount to a 3-5 Å reduction in equivalent oxide thickness (EOT)—the equivalent of ˜2 generation advancement. A key requirement for gate electrode material in CMOS is that of dual work function. Gate metal for NMOS and PMOS devices should have work functions which closely correspond to conduction and valence band edge respectively for surface channel mode of operation. In conventionally fabricated CMOS devices, the dual work function of the polysilicon gate is achieved by implanting the polysilicon material with either n or p-type dopants (during deep S/D implantation) as mentioned above. In the case of refractory metals or metal nitrides, work function is not a strong function of doping, and S/D implantation cannot be used for work function tuning. Further, conventional approaches of using two different bulk metals to fabricate NMOS and PMOS gate electrodes require the use of exotic metals and alloys to meet the work function requirements, which complicates CMOS processing and results in lower device yield. What is needed is a gate electrode architecture capable of a dual work function, and which can be preferably fabricated using technology close to conventional CMOS fabrication.

The present invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and their manufacture. More specifically, the present invention relates to the fabrication of vertically stacked nanosheet transistors having inner spacers and improved source to drain sheet resistance. In contemporary semiconductor device fabrication, a large number of semiconductor devices, such as field effect transistors (FETs), are fabricated on a single wafer. Non-planar transistor device architectures, such as vertical field effect transistors (VFETs) and nanosheet (a.k.a., nanowire) transistors, can provide increased device density and increased performance over planar transistors. In nanosheet transistors, in contrast to conventional planar FETs, the gate stack wraps around the full perimeter of multiple nanosheet channel regions, which enables fuller depletion in the channel regions and reduces short-channel effects.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating which is fixed to the surface of material from which a deposit is easily removed with water, such that the coated material can be repeatedly cleaned easily. 2. Description of Related Art Hitherto it was difficult to remove a water-insoluble deposit from a material surface. For example, liquid oil should be cleaned by water containing a surfactant with considerable labor, or by an organic solvent which is harmful to both the human body and the environment. Since a waxy or solid deposit is difficult to remove using the surfactant, it should be removed by the organic solvent or mechanically scraped off, which requires heavy work. But such deposit may not be completely removed, or the material to which the deposit is adhered may be damaged. In many cases, the waxy or solid deposit may not be removed. It is possible to remove the deposit by forming a releasable or soluble coating on the material and removing the deposit together with the coating. However, whenever the coating is removed, a fresh coating must be reformed, or the removed coating generates an additional waste. Therefore, this technique does not provide a viable solution. As a coating from which the deposit can be repeatedly removed, a coating of polyterafluoroethylene (hereinafter referred to as "PTFE", (for example, TEFLON.TM. of DuPont is known. However, it is not widely used since it is expensive, the kind of surface on which the PTFE coating can be formed is limited, and it has poor transparency. It is greatly desired to develop a coating such that a deposit can be repeatedly removed from the material surface and which solves the above problems. As explained above, to remove the deposit from the material's surface, a large amount of work is required, or some other methods applied which use an organic solvent which is harmful to the human body and the environment. In the case of Over Head Project or (OHP) films or office automation papers such as copying papers, they are used and wasted in a large scale to cause a environmental problem, since ink cannot be removed from their surfaces. This is because there is no coating from which the deposit, such as the ink, is repeatedly removed with ease and which is cheap and has good flexibility in use.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog converter which converts a quantized digital signal into an analog signal, and more specifically, to an improvement in a current addition type digital-to-analog converter which uses weighted resistors. 2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional current addition type 16-bit digital-to-analog converter which uses weighted resistors. A 16-bit digital signal consisting of a train of pulses, each being quantized data "1" or "0", is applied to an input terminal IN. The pulses of the digital signal are successively stored in a shift register 1 in accordance with a shift clock input to a clock terminal CLK1. The digital signal stored in the shift register 1 is input to a latch 2 in accordance with a latch pulse which is input to a clock terminal CLK2 after all the 16 bits are stored in the shift register 1. 16 output terminals D0-D15 of the latch 2 are connected, through respective resistors R0-R15, to an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier 3, which functions as an adder. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 3 is coupled to an output terminal OUT thereof via a resistor R16, and a non-inverting input terminal thereof is grounded. The resistors R0-R16 each has a weighted resistance equal to a multiple of 2. More specifically, the following relationships are established: R16=2R15, R15=2R14, Rn=2Rn-1, ..., R1=2R0. Assuming that voltages output via the output terminals D0-D15 of the latch 2 are V0-V15 in the above-mentioned structure, an output voltage Vout of the operational amplifier 3 is: EQU Vout=(V15/R15+V14/R14+...+Vn/Rn+...+V0/R0)R16 Thus, when output data via the output terminals D0-D15a are "0", zero volt is generated, and when the output data are "1", 1 volt is generated. Thus, the 16-bit digital signal which consists of 16 data pieces, each having "1" or "0", and which is input to the input terminal IN are completely converted into an analog signal. For example, in a case where a 12-bit D/A converter is used so that it converts a 16-bit digital signal into an analog signal, it is necessary to omit any four bits of the 16 bits. (1) Normally, in many cases, four low-order bits are omitted. In a case where the digital signal ranges equally from the strongest sound to the weakest sound, the low-order bits are omitted. In this case, if the original digital signal has no distortion, an analog signal converted from the 12-bit digital signal does not deteriorate greatly. However, weak sound components expressed by the omitted four low-order bits are lost. (2) If there is no strong sound, four high-order bits are omitted. When weak sound components are meaningful, and strong sound components are not significant (or does not appear frequently), the four high-order bits are omitted. (3) Some high-order bits and some low-order bits are omitted. This method is intermediate between the above-mentioned methods (1) and (2) and suitable for cases where strong and weak sound components must be handled. It should be noted that none of the above-mentioned methods (1), (2) and (3) provide a dynamic range equal to or higher than 72 dB. Further, in each of the methods (1), (2) and (3), the input has information equal to 16 bits (92 dB), while each conventional method utilizes only 12 bits (72 dB). In the aforementioned circuit configuration, the precision of the resistance values of the resistors R0-R15 which serve as an input resistor of the operational amplifier 3 directly determines the converting precision of the digital-to-analog converter. In the 16-bit digital-to-analog converter, the resistance ratio of the resistor R16 to the resistor R0 is equal to 2.sup.16 (=65536). Assuming that the resistor R0 is selected to have a resistance equal to 10 k.OMEGA., the resistor R16 must have a resistance of 655.36 M.OMEGA.. It is difficult to realize such a high resistance by a highly precise resistor. When the aforementioned digital-to-analog converter is formed on a single LSI chip, it is necessary to form large resistor cells in order to secure the required resistance precision. This leads to an increase in the chip size. In order to overcome the problems as described above, a circuit is known which does not utilize a plurality of high-order and low-order bits. However, since predetermined high-order and low-order bits are always omitted, an output waveform may deteriorate greatly when input data mainly includes strong sound components or weak sound components.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to manufacturing methods and structures of a wafer level image sensor module with package structure, and more particularly, to a manufacturing method and structure of an image sensor module with an encapsulant coupled to a lateral side of the module. 2. Description of the Prior Art Mobile devices equipped with an image retrieving unit are all the rage, and thus image retrieval is indispensable to portable electronic devices nowadays, such as notebook computers, cellular phones, and PDA. In this regard, the quality of an image retrieving unit depends on the performance of an image sensor module inside the image retrieving unit. In turn, the performance of an image sensor module extremely depends on an image sensing chip package therein. The purpose of packaging is to prevent an image sensor module from being damaged by an external force or for an environmental reason in the course of use, and provide electrical connection between the image sensor module and an external device to thereby enable signal transmission. However, various packaging methods in use have drawbacks or rooms for improvement as follows: 1. Space: a conventional chip-on-board (COB) package occupies relatively large space, because it comprises metal wires for use in wire bonding; a conventional COB package involves adhering an image sensing chip to a substrate or a circuit board, and thus it is difficult to reduce the total height of the package (i.e., the sum of the height of the package and the height of the substrate or circuit board); in an attempt to solve the problem with the space-consuming wire bonding structure based on COB packaging, a combination of a chip scale package structure and a wafer level lens assembly package (CSP+WLO) was put forth but found to be ineffective in reducing the total height of the module, because a chip scale package (CSP) structure requires a piece of glass for protecting a chip sensing region, and thus the total optical focal length increases with the glass thickness; also, COB packaging requires a substrate or a circuit board and therefore incurs manufacturing costs. 2. Side light leakage: all conventional packaging methods are susceptible to side light leakage and thus require an extra light mask or a masking layer coated on one side of a lens assembly; as a result, the extra light mask or coating not only incurs raw material costs but also increases the steps of a working procedure. 3. Focusing: conventional packaging methods entail performing the step of focusing by means of a focusing unit in order to focus on the image sensing chip; however, this step requires a specific apparatus and work procedure which incur costs.

1. Field The following description relates to time synchronization technology, and more particularly, to a parallel processing-based time synchronization apparatus, which provides more precise and reliable time synchronization between a master device and a slave device based on parallel processing. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, to establish time synchronization between at least two devices located in a packet switching network, a protocol specific for time synchronization is required. A device which provides a reference time for the time synchronization is set as a master, and a device which is to be time synchronized to the master device is set as a slave, and then a message containing time information of each device is exchanged between the master and the slave to realize the time synchronization therebetween. Packet switching networks which deploy low cost Ethernet technologies are gradually replacing circuit switching networks, and the need for high precision time synchronization protocol is increasing for a real time streaming service. To this end, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has developed and standardized the precision time protocol (PTP) which is a synchronization protocol with high precision. FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a procedure of establishing time synchronization between a master device and a slave device according to the PTP. The PTP is a synchronization protocol that synchronizes a slave device to a master device by allowing the slave and master devices to exchange synchronization messages, each of which is formed of synchronization packets and delay packets and contains Time of Day (ToD) which is time information, at intervals of a predetermined period TP when clocks of the devices to be synchronized have a master-slave relationship. According to the synchronization protocol, the slave device computes differences (hereinafter, referred to as “time offset”) between its time information and time information of the master device at intervals of a synchronization message exchange period of the synchronization protocol by use of Equations 1 and 2 below, and filters the computed value using a filter to obtain a filtered time offset value. The slave device uses the filtered time offset value to adjust time information and frequency information driven by a local clock, thereby establishing time synchronization with the master device.Propagation delay Dly=[(TM4−TM1)−(TS3−TS2)]/2  (1)Time offset Offs=TS2−TM1−Dly  (2) Here, Offs represents a time offset value between a master device and a slave device, and Dly represents a propagation delay value between the master device and the slave device. Furthermore, TM1/represents time information about when a synchronization packet departs from the master device, TM4 represents time information about when a delay packet arrives at the master device, TS2 represents time information about when the synchronization packet arrives at the slave device, and TS3 represents time information about when the delay packet departs from the slave device. The precision of the time synchronization indicates the degree of accuracy in time synchronization between a master device and a slave device through computation of a time offset value and delay time. Factors that improve the precision of the time synchronization include a synchronization message exchange period, a filter design, and a time stamping method. For example, to achieve high precision time synchronization, the synchronization message exchange period may be shortened, a low-pass filter may be designed to have a narrow bandwidth or time stamping procedures for identifying starting or arrival time of synchronization messages may be implemented in a hardware fashion so that precision of a time stamp value can be increased. In general, a series of procedures for time synchronization using synchronization protocol are implemented by software, except for a time stamp procedure. However, when it is required to accelerate the synchronization message exchange period for higher precision time synchronization, or when the load of general packets to be processed by software is increased, it is difficult to update a filter output computed by software to the slave device at each synchronization message exchange period, and if delays occur periodically, the updating of time information is accordingly delayed. Thus it becomes very difficult for reliable time synchronization to be achieved. Moreover, when the entire time information value of the slave device is simultaneously changed in order to update a time offset value computed at each synchronization message exchange period to the slave device, phase changes abruptly occur according to the change of the time information, and as a result a problem occurs which leads to the phase noise of a reference clock generated based on the slave device increasing. That is, when time synchronization is performed in a software manner, a processing speed is decreased due to overload of the operation processing or short synchronization message exchange period, and hence time synchronization performance deterioration and failure in synchronization may occur. On the other hand, when the time synchronization is performed in a hardware manner in order to expedite the processing speed, the design of such hardware and implementation thereof may be complicated. Thus, a need for a technology providing a more precise and reliable time synchronization between a slave device and a master device is increasing.

Stroke, defined as an abnormality in brain function resulting from disruption of cerebral circulation, is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Even when a stroke does not result in death, the costs it imposes on the victim may include serious physical and emotional damage, which may result in loss of productivity. These costs stem from the tremendous damage done to the victim's brain by the stroke. With a reduction in oxygen and glucose, cells display a rapid disruption of protein synthesis, depletion of intracellular energy stores, destabilization of the cell membrane, and activation of the NMDA receptor, leading to excitotoxic and oxidative cell damage in the brain. In an attempt to survive and repair the oxidative damage and return the cell to homeostasis, numerous compensatory energy-consuming processes are activated. However, over-activation of these pathways can deleterious, further depleting cellular energy, and resulting in further brain damage. Such brain damage is, generally, irreversible. Accordingly, a method of protecting brain tissue from damage during a stroke (neuroprotection) would be tremendously important. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a member of a metabolite-sensing protein kinase family, is a known sensor of peripheral energy balance (Carting D., “The AMP-activated protein kinase cascade—a unifying system for energy control.” Trends Biochem Sci 6:314 (2): 580-585, 2004.) AMPK is a heterotrimeric protein composed of a catalytic α subunit (α1 or α2), and 2 regulatory subunits (β and γ). AMPK is phosphorylated and activated when cellular energy levels are low. AMPK in turn regulates cellular metabolism and chronically regulates gene expression to restore ATP levels. Increases in the AMP/ATP ratio, changes in cellular pH and redox status, and increases in the creatine/phosphocreatine ratio are known to activate AMPK (Hardie D G, Salt I P, Hawley S A, Davies S P, “AMP-activated protein kinase: an ultrasensitive system for monitoring cellular energy charge,” Biochem J 338:717-22, 1999; Hawley S A, Davison M, Woods A, et al., “Characterization of the AMP-activated protein kinase kinase from rat liver and identification of threonine 172 as the major site at which it phosphorylates AMP-activated protein kinase,” J Biol Chem 271:27879-87, 1996.) AMPK increases fatty acid oxidation and restricts fatty acid synthesis in an attempt to augment ATP levels in energy-depleted cells. However, in neurons that have a restricted capacity for fatty acid oxidation, this effect could be deleterious (Almeida A, Moncada S, Bolanos J P, “Nitric oxide switches on glycolysis through the AMP protein kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase pathway,” Nature Cell Biology 6:45-51, 2004). Inhibition of fatty acid synthase (FAS), the enzyme responsible for the de novo synthesis of palmitate, with C75, a synthetic FAS inhibitor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,575 (incorporated herein by reference), increases ATP levels in a number of cell types, including neurons. AMPK is highly expressed in neurons in the hypothalamus, where it appears to play a role in the regulation of food intake. Hypothalamic phosphorylated AMPK (pAMPK) is increased with starvation; C75 treatment inactivates and dephosphorylates AMPK, and induces profound anorexia. The consequences of AMPK activation in neurons that do not have access to energy supplies is unknown. Until the present invention, it has been unclear whether AMPK activation during stress was protective or damaging. There have been no prior studies examining the role of AMPK in stroke.

1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor processing, and in particular, to chemical vapor deposition in a high density plasma reactor. 2. Related Art High density plasma (HDP) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes are used in the fabrication of integrated circuits for depositing films on a substrate. One application of an HDP CVD process is to fill gaps on a semiconductor device having high aspect ratios (e.g., about 2.5:1 or greater) and close spacing (e.g., about 0.25 xcexcm or less). Existing HDP CVD processes typically employ deposition with a process gas mixture that includes oxygen, silane, and inert gases, such as argon, to achieve simultaneous dielectric etching and deposition. In an HDP process, RF bias is applied to a wafer substrate in a reaction chamber. As a result, the flux of deposition precursors is perpendicular to the wafer, and the net film growth occurs perpendicularly to the bottom of the feature. Some of the gas molecules (particularly argon) are ionized in the plasma and accelerate toward the wafer surface when the RF bias is applied to the substrate. Material is thereby sputtered when the ions strike the surface. As a result, dielectric material deposited on the wafer surface is simultaneously sputter-etched to help keep gaps open during the deposition process, which allows higher aspect ratio gaps to be filled. An important goal in HDP deposition of these and other layers is to deposit a film of uniform thickness across the surface of a substrate and across different batches of substrates. One factor mitigating against uniform deposition is dopant concentrations in the processing environment. In HDP CVD processes, this is important because the reactor can act either as a sink or a source for dopants that affect the growth rate on the wafer. A typical HDP CVD reactor includes a reaction chamber having an upper lid or dome, typically made of a ceramic such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3). During the deposition process, process gases are introduced into the chamber, and a plasma of the processing gases is generated within the chamber to effectuate chemical vapor deposition onto the substrate. However, the deposition typically occurs on all the surfaces exposed to the processing gases, including the interior surfaces of the chamber. If the dopant concentration of the processing environment is not in equilibrium, a shift in deposition rate can occur. This shift in deposition rate due to changing reactor conditions can be as high as 500 xc3x85/min. When the reactor is in an idle state, an argon and oxygen plasma, Known as an xe2x80x9cidle plasmaxe2x80x9d, is used maintain the reactor temperature. The oxygen in the idle plasma will deplete the fluorine species adsorbed to the sidewalls over time. This creates an environment that is not in equilibrium. For example, when depositing fluorine-doped silicon oxide layers, such as fluorosilicate glass (FSG), a reactor in an idle condition has been depleted of the dopants adsorbed to the chamber surfaces. When FSG deposition begins again, SiF species are adsorbed again to the reactor walls. This retards the deposition on the substrate surface. As the reactor approaches an equilibrium state, the deposition rate on the substrate rises and eventually levels off. Depending on the reactor conditions, the dopant concentration, and the target thickness of the FSG on the wafer, 200 or more deposition sequences may be required to reach a steady state. Once the reactor is in a steady state, processing must be continuous or the idle plasma will again begin to deplete the adsorbed dopants in the reactor causing the deposition rate on subsequent wafers to be reduced. Accordingly, it is desirable to deposit a dielectric film without the problems discussed above that are associated with conventional techniques. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, prior to beginning deposition of doped dielectric layers on wafers, a high density plasma (HDP) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber is first conditioned by forming a layer of the doped material within the chamber walls. This conditioning quickly brings the chamber to an equilibrium state so that subsequent deposition of the doped dielectric material onto wafers yields consistent deposition rates because dopants are already adsorbed to the chamber walls. Approximately constant deposition rates can be maintained as long as the reactor is running and depositing layers onto wafers. However, if the deposition is halted for a certain amount of time, e.g., 20 minutes, and the reactor becomes idle, the chamber is plasma cleaned and a thin layer of the doped material is deposited onto the chamber walls. Periodically, for example, every 12 hours, the chamber is plasma cleaned and the thin layer is re-deposited. This allows consistent deposition rates even when the reactor has been idle for prolonged periods of time. In one embodiment, initial conditioning, such as after a wet clean, is carried out by introducing a gas containing silicon fluoride (SiF4), argon, and oxygen into the chamber to form a fluorosilicate glass (FSG) approximately 10 to 30 xcexcm thick. After idle (e.g., 20 minutes without processing), the chamber is plasma cleaned and a thin FSG layer of approximately 1 to 3 xcexcm is deposited. The plasma clean and deposition of the thin FSG layer is repeated periodically, e.g. every 12 hours, to maintain the chamber in an equilibrium state. The present invention will be more fully understood when taken in light of the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawings.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmission gate and a semiconductor device. 2. Description of the Related Art A conventional transmission gate is described. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating the conventional transmission gate. The transmission gate includes a PMOS transistor 91 and an NMOS transistor 92. In those transistors, gates thereof are controlled by complementary signals, and thus the transistors are turned ON/OFF simultaneously. When a low level voltage is input to the gate of the PMOS transistor 91, and a high level voltage is input to the gate of the NMOS transistor 92, electrical continuity of the transmission gate is established. Then, the transmission gate outputs an input voltage Vin as an output voltage Vout. Here, a gate-to-source capacitance of the PMOS transistor 91 is represented by Cgsp, a gate-to-source capacitance of the NMOS transistor 92 is represented by Cgsn, a parasitic capacitance at an output terminal is represented by Ch, a threshold voltage of the PMOS transistor 91 is represented by −Vtp, and a threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor 92 is represented by Vtn. Further, a voltage magnitude applied to the gate of the PMOS transistor 91 is represented by V5, and a voltage magnitude applied to the gate of the NMOS transistor 92 is represented by V4. When the transmission gate is set so as to satisfy the following Expression (11), influence of clock feedthrough is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to attain high S/N characteristics (for example, see JP 07-169292 A).(V5−Vout−Vtp)·Cgsp/(Cgsp+Ch)=(V4−Vout−Vtn)·Cgsn/(Cgsn+Ch)  (11) However, in the related art, Expression (11) is satisfied based on the presupposition that the input voltage Vin is a constant voltage (for example, (VDD+VSS)/2) and does not fluctuate. In other words, when the input voltage Vin fluctuates and therefore the output voltage Vout fluctuates, Expression (11) is not satisfied. Therefore, the S/N characteristics are degraded due to the influence of clock feedthrough.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical alignment polymer, an alignment layer using the same, and a liquid crystal display device having the alignment layer, and more particularly, to an optical alignment polymer having excellent optical alignment performance and stability against heat or impact, an alignment layer formed using the optical alignment polymer and a liquid crystal display device having the alignment layer. 2. The Related Art In general, a liquid crystal display device has upper and lower substrate, transparent electrodes and alignment layers formed on the upper and lower substrates and a liquid crystal layer between the upper and lower alignment layers. In the LCD having the aforementioned structure, according to an externally applied voltage, the arrangement of liquid crystals is changed by the electric field. According to the changed arrangement, external light introduced to the LCD is shielded or transmitted. The LCD is driven by such a property. In other words, if a voltage is applied to the transparent electrode layers, an electric field is formed in the liquid crystal layer. Thus, liquid crystals are driven in a predetermined direction. The light introduced into the liquid crystals of the LCD is shielded or transmitted according to the driving of the liquid crystals. The functions of the LCD as a display device, i.e., light transmittance, response time, view angle or contrast, are determined by the arrangement characteristic of the liquid crystal molecules. Therefore, controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules uniformly is a very important factor. The uniform alignment state of the liquid crystals is difficult to accomplish by merely interposing the liquid crystals between the upper and lower substrates. Thus, it is generally known to form the alignment layers for aligning liquid crystals on the transparent electrode layers. The alignment layer is conventionally formed by a rubbing method in which a thin film made of an organic polymer material such as polyimide or polyamide is formed, cured and then rubbed with a special cloth. The rubbing method is easy to conduct and the process thereof is simple. However, minute particles or materials such as cellulose may separate from the cloth used in the rubbing treatment and contaminate the alignment layer. Further, depending on the material for forming the alignment layer, the alignment may not be accomplished smoothly. A thin film transistor may be damaged by static electricity generated during the rubbing treatment. To solve the above-described problems, an optical alignment technology has been developed in which dust, static electricity or other pollutant particles are not generated and cleanliness is maintained during the overall process. According to such a non-destructive alignment method, polarized light is irradiated onto the optical alignment layer to cause anisotropic photopolymerization. As a result, the optical alignment layer has alignment characteristic, thereby uniformly aligning the liquid crystals. The polymer for the optical alignment layer includes polyvinylcinnamate (PVCN) and polyvinylmethoxyxinnamate (PVMC). These polymer compounds have an optically aligning functional group introduced into either a main chain or a side chain thereof. If the alignment layer is formed using the optical alignment composition having such a polymer, the alignment performance by light and thermal stability becomes poor, and a pretilt angle of a liquid crystal of liquid crystal display device having the alignment layer decreases to almost 0.degree. C.

Soil contamination from waste impoundments or ponds, leakage of buried waste, or dumping of waste directly onto the ground, has heretofore been recognized as a serious problem both in this country and abroad. Many techniques have been proposed for addressing this problem, ranging from removal of contaminated soil for redisposal or treatment, to in-situ treatment by chemical reaction in an effort to neutralize contaminants or encase the contaminated soil in solid concrete or the like. One particular method for in-situ-treatment of contaminated soil heretofore proposed in the art involves driving one or more augers into the earth while simultaneously injecting treatment fluid through nozzles in or associated with the auger drill bits. The auger is carried by apparatus suitable for movement between successive drill positions, so that holes are drilled and soil is treated in a pattern that ultimately includes an entire contaminated field. While this technique and theory have the significant advantages of economy, and of not requiring removal of contaminated soil, with consequent danger of dispersing gaseous contaminants and dust, these theoretical advantages have not heretofore been realized in fact. One disadvantage of auger-type devices heretofore proposed lies in the small surface area and depth that can be treated in a single drilling operation. In an effort to increase coverage area and treatment efficiency, it has been proposed to provide multiple parallel augers rotated in an interlocking pattern. However, such multiple-auger systems still only cover a surface area of up to about thirty square feet in each penetration, and typically have a maximum penetration depth of about thirty-five feet. Furthermore, a rock or other obstruction can become wedged between the auger blades, locking the drill system and causing significant downtime for removal and repair. It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for contaminated soil treatment that obtain the advantages of auger-type techniques heretofore theorized but not in fact obtained in the art. A more specific object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the described character that are capable of enhanced depth of soil penetration as compared with techniques heretofore proposed, that cover greater surface area on each drilling operation, and that thus may be operated more efficiently than techniques heretofore proposed. Another and related object of the invention is to provide a single-bit apparatus of the described character in which the drill bit is driven with enhanced power as compared with prior art devices, thereby enabling both greater surface area coverage and greater depth of soil penetration. A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method that are adapted for enhanced control of fluid injection for soil treatment for obtaining greater drilling speed, increased treatment efficiency and more efficient treatment control than prior art techniques of a similar character.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion which is utilized for display elements, image/information recording elements and spatial light modulators, to a method of producing the dispersion and to a liquid crystal display element utilizing the dispersion. 2. Description of the Related Art A cholesteric liquid crystal display element has, for example, the characteristics that it has a memory storing ability which can retain a display without any power source, it has the ability to obtain a bright display because no polarizing plate is used, and it enables color displaying without using a color filter. Attention has been therefore focused on such display elements in recent years (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 05-080303). A cholesteric liquid crystal, in particular, is made of rod-shaped molecules oriented spirally and reflects interference light having a wavelength which corresponds to the spiral pitch (called selective reflection). It therefore has the characteristics that bright color display is possible without using any color filter by designing the spiral pitch to have a length corresponding to the wavelength of a red color, a green color or a blue color. Cholesteric liquid crystal sealed into a cell constituted by a pair of substrates provided with electrodes is known to take any of three types of oriented states: planar (P) orientation, focal conic (F) orientation and homeotropic (H) orientation as shown in FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C. In the figures, reference numeral 2 represents cholesteric liquid crystal, 21 and 22 represent a pair of substrates, and 11 and 12 represent electrodes. The P orientation is a state in which the spiral axis is oriented substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate and provides selective reflection. The F orientation is a state in which the spiral axis is oriented substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate, and light is transmitted in this state. The H orientation is an oriented state that appears when a sufficiently high voltage is applied between the pair of electrodes. In this state, the spiral is loosened, molecules are oriented perpendicular to the surface of the substrate, and light is transmitted. These three oriented states can be switched among each other by applying voltage between the electrodes. Accordingly, if a light absorber having a color such as a black color is disposed on the backside of the cell, it is possible to obtain a bright display colored with the selective reflection color during the P orientation and a dark display colored with the black color of the light absorber during the F or H orientation. Among the above orientation forms, both the P orientation and the F orientation can exist stably without using any power source. The utilization of this property makes it possible to attain a memory display in which a display is maintained without using any power source. On the other hand, a structure is known in which a polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion 4 obtained by dispersing a cholesteric liquid crystal 2 as particles in a polymer 1 is sandwiched between a pair of substrates 21 and 22 having electrodes 11 and 12, as shown in FIG. 9, instead of sealing the cholesteric liquid crystal directly between a pair of substrates having electrodes. In this case as well, the above display principle may be similarly utilized. The polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion is more resistant than ordinary liquid crystal cells to stresses applied from the outside. Therefore, the dispersion is not only resistant to the breakdown of a stored image but can also be apparently handled as a solid. As a result, there are advantages in that the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion can be handled in, for example, a production process more easily than a liquid cholesteric liquid crystal and can be laminated on other functional films such as an optical conductor. As shown in FIG. 10, however, the reflection spectrum of the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion is largely different from that of a liquid crystal cell, and the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion has the following problems: (1) the spectrum of the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion at the time of light reflection has significantly larger short-wavelength components than those of a liquid crystal cell, whereby only a color display having low color purity can be obtained and (2) the spectrum at the time of a dark display has large short-wavelength components, whereby only a display having a low contrast is obtained. There is also a problem in that (3) although a liquid crystal cell has a relatively stable reflectance at the time of a dark display (dark reflectance) over time, the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion has a strong tendency toward an increase in this reflectance, which is accompanied by a display being made lighter in color over time. The above problems are characteristics found to be common to several methods of producing the polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion, such as a cholesteric liquid crystal microcapsule using a gelatin and gum arabic as its wall material, a cholesteric liquid crystal microcapsule using a polyurethane resin as its wall material, and a polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion obtained by dispersing cholesteric liquid crystals in an aqueous solution of a polyvinyl alcohol resin, followed by drying. Conventionally, the problems (1) and (2) have been caused by the superpositioning of boundary light scattering caused by a difference in refractive index between the polymer and the liquid crystal and have been considered to be unavoidable in polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersions containing numerous cholesteric liquid crystal droplets in the direction of the film thickness. For this reason, as a measure for solving this problem, a method is disclosed, for example, in which a polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal dispersion is formed so as to contain only one liquid crystal droplet in the direction of the film thickness to decrease the influence of light scattering, in JP-A No. 6-160817. Although contrast is certainly improved according to this method disclosed in JP-A No. 6-160817, the method has a problem in that the area percentage of the cholesteric liquid crystal is reduced, whereby reflectance is reduced. The problem (3) cannot be explained by interfacial light scattering, and neither the cause of nor a preventive measure for the problem has been known.

In carrying several fishing rod and reel assemblies at the same time, it frequently occurs that the fishing lines of the various rods may become entangled. Further, there is frequently no convenient place to store small items of equipment associated with the fishing rods such as fishing tackle. The prior art is already aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,190 to Wright which carries plural fishing rod and reel assemblies along a backbone member. However, the device of Wright is both complicated in regard to the purposes of the present invention and does not provide a place for storing fishing tackle.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the field of corn breeding. In particular, the invention relates to inbred corn seed and plants of the variety designated I181664, and derivatives and tissue cultures thereof 2. Description of Related Art The goal of field crop breeding is to combine various desirable traits in a single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits include greater yield, better stalks, better roots, resistance to insecticides, herbicides, pests, and disease, tolerance to heat and drought, reduced time to crop maturity, better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value, and uniformity in germination times, stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, and fruit size. Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant""s method of pollination. There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates if pollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower of the same plant. A plant cross-pollinates if pollen comes to it from a flower on a different plant. Corn plants (Zea mays L.) can be bred by both self-pollination and cross-pollination. Both types of pollination involve the corn plant""s flowers. Corn has separate male and female flowers on the same plant, located on the tassel and the ear, respectively. Natural pollination occurs in corn when wind blows pollen from the tassels to the silks that protrude from the tops of the ear shoot. Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over many generations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce a uniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A cross between two such homozygous plants produces a uniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many gene loci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number of loci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically and are not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performance unpredictable. The development of uniform corn plant hybrids requires the development of homozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and the evaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection are examples of breeding methods used to develop inbred plants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine the genetic backgrounds from two or more inbred plants or various other broad-based sources into breeding pools from which new inbred plants are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new inbreds are crossed with other inbred plants and the hybrids from these crosses are evaluated to determine which of those have commercial potential. The pedigree breeding method involves crossing two genotypes. Each genotype can have one or more desirable characteristics lacking in the other; or, each genotype can complement the other. If the two original parental genotypes do not provide all of the desired characteristics, other genotypes can be included in the breeding population. Superior plants that are the products of these crosses are selfed and selected in successive generations. Each succeeding generation becomes more homogeneous as a result of self-pollination and selection. Typically, this method of breeding involves five or more generations of selfing and selection: S1xe2x86x92S2; S2xe2x86x92S3; S3xe2x86x92S4; S4xe2x86x92S5, etc. After at least five generations, the inbred plant is considered genetically pure. Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait, the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristic being transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almost all other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to give pure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred. A single cross hybrid corn variety is the cross of two inbred plants, each of which has a genotype which complements the genotype of the other. The hybrid progeny of the first generation is designated F1. Typically, F1 hybrids are more vigorous than their inbred parents. This hybrid vigor, or heterosis, is manifested in many polygenic traits, including markedly improved yields, better stalks, better roots, better uniformity and better insect and disease resistance. In the development of hybrids only the F1 hybrid plants are typically sought. An F1 single cross hybrid is produced when two inbred plants are crossed. A double cross hybrid is produced from four inbred plants crossed in pairs (Axc3x97B and Cxc3x97D) and then the two F1 hybrids are crossed again (Axc3x97B)xc3x97(Cxc3x97D). The development of a hybrid corn variety involves three steps: (1) the selection of plants from various germplasm pools; (2) the selfing of the selected plants for several generations to produce a series of inbred plants, which, although different from each other, each breed true and are highly uniform; and (3) crossing the selected inbred plants with unrelated inbred plants to produce the hybrid progeny (F1). During the inbreeding process in corn, the vigor of the plants decreases. Vigor is restored when two unrelated inbred plants are crossed to produce the hybrid progeny (F1). An important consequence of the homozygosity and homogeneity of the inbred plants is that the hybrid between any two inbreds is always the same. Once the inbreds that give a superior hybrid have been identified, hybrid seed can be reproduced indefinitely as long as the homogeneity of the inbred parents is maintained. Conversely, much of the hybrid vigor exhibited by F1 hybrids is lost in the next generation (F2). Consequently, seed from hybrid varieties is not used for planting stock. It is not generally beneficial for farmers to save seed of F1 hybrids. Rather, farmers purchase F1 hybrid seed for planting every year. North American farmers plant tens of millions of acres of corn at the present time and there are extensive national and international commercial corn breeding programs. A continuing goal of these corn breeding programs is to develop corn hybrids that are based on stable inbred plants and have one or more desirable characteristics. To accomplish this goal, the corn breeder must select and develop superior inbred parental plants. In one aspect, the present invention provides a corn plant of the variety designated I181664. Also provided are corn plants having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of the inbred corn variety I181664. The inbred corn plant of the invention may further comprise, or have, a cytoplasmic or nuclear factor that is capable of conferring male sterility or otherwise preventing self-pollination, such as by self-incompatibility. Parts of the corn plant of the present invention are also provided, for example, pollen obtained from an inbred plant and an ovule of the inbred plant. The invention also concerns seed of the corn plant I181664. A sample of this seed has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-3226. The inbred corn seed of the invention may be provided as an essentially homogeneous population of inbred corn seed of the corn plant designated I181664. Essentially homogeneous populations of inbred seed are those that consist essentially of the particular inbred seed, and are generally free from substantial numbers of other seed, so that the inbred seed forms between about 90% and about 100% of the total seed, and preferably, between about 95% and about 100% of the total seed. Most preferably, an essentially homogeneous population of inbred corn seed will contain between about 98.5%, 99%, 99.5% and about 99.9% of inbred seed, as measured by seed grow outs. Therefore, in the practice of the present invention, inbred seed generally forms at least about 97% of the total seed. However, even if a population of inbred corn seed was found, for some reason, to contain about 50%, or even about 20% or 15% of inbred seed, this would still be distinguished from the small fraction (generally less than 2% and preferably less than 1%) of inbred seed that may be found within a population of hybrid seed, e.g., within a commercial bag of hybrid seed. In such a bag of hybrid seed offered for sale, Federal regulations require that the hybrid seed be at least about 95% of the total seed, or be labeled as a mixture. In the most preferred practice of the invention, the female inbred seed that may be found within a bag of hybrid seed will be about 1% of the total seed, or less, and the male inbred seed that may be found within a bag of hybrid seed will be negligible, i.e., will be on the order of about a maximum of 1 per 100,000, and usually less than this value. The population of inbred corn seed of the invention can further be particularly defined as being essentially free from hybrid seed. The inbred seed population may be separately grown to provide an essentially homogeneous population of inbred corn plants designated I181664. In another aspect of the invention, single locus converted plants of variety I181664 are provided. The single transferred locus may preferably be a dominant or recessive allele. Preferably, the single transferred locus will confer such traits as male sterility, yield stability, waxy starch, yield enhancement, industrial usage, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, resistance to bacterial, fungal, nematode or viral disease, male fertility, and enhanced nutritional quality. The single locus may be a naturally occurring maize gene introduced into the genome of the variety by backcrossing, a natural or induced mutation, or a transgene introduced through genetic transformation techniques. When introduced through transformation, a single locus may comprise one or more transgenes integrated at a single chromosomal location. In yet another aspect of the invention, an inbred corn plant of the variety designated I181664 is provided, wherein a cytoplasmically-inherited trait has been introduced into said inbred plant. Such cytoplasmically-inherited traits are passed to progeny through the female parent in a particular cross. An exemplary cytoplasmically-inherited trait is the male sterility trait. Cytoplasmic-male sterility (CMS) is a pollen abortion phenomenon determined by the interaction between the genes in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Alteration in the mitochondrial genome and the lack of restorer genes in the nucleus will lead to pollen abortion. With either a normal cytoplasm or the presence of restorer gene(s) in the nucleus, the plant will produce pollen normally. A CMS plant can be pollinated by a maintainer version of the same variety, which has a normal cytoplasm but lacks the restorer gene(s) in the nucleus, and continue to be male sterile in the next generation. The male fertility of a CMS plant can be restored by a restorer version of the same variety, which must have the restorer gene(s) in the nucleus. With the restorer gene(s) in the nucleus, the offspring of the male-sterile plant can produce normal pollen grains and propagate. A cytoplasmically inherited trait may be a naturally occurring maize trait or a trait introduced through genetic transformation techniques. In another aspect of the invention, a tissue culture of regenerable cells of a plant of variety I181664 is provided. The tissue culture will preferably be capable of regenerating plants capable of expressing all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the variety, and of regenerating plants having substantially the same genotype as other plants of the variety. Examples of some of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the variety I181664 include characteristics related to yield, maturity, and kernel quality, each of which is specifically disclosed herein. The regenerable cells in such tissue cultures will preferably be derived from embryos, meristematic cells, immature tassels, microspores, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, silk, flowers, kernels, ears, cobs, husks, or stalks, or from callus or protoplasts derived from those tissues. Still further, the present invention provides corn plants regenerated from the tissue cultures of the invention, the plants having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of variety I181664. In yet another aspect of the invention, processes are provided for producing corn seeds or plants, which processes generally comprise crossing a first parent corn plant with a second parent corn plant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent corn plants is a plant of the variety designated I181664. These processes may be further exemplified as processes for preparing hybrid corn seed or plants, wherein a first inbred corn plant is crossed with a second corn plant of a different, distinct variety to provide a hybrid that has, as one of its parents, the inbred corn plant variety I181664. In these processes, crossing will result in the production of seed. The seed production occurs regardless of whether the seed is collected or not. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first step in xe2x80x9ccrossingxe2x80x9d comprises planting, preferably in pollinating proximity, seeds of a first and second parent corn plant, and preferably, seeds of a first inbred corn plant and a second, distinct inbred corn plant. Where the plants are not in pollinating proximity, pollination can nevertheless be accomplished by transferring a pollen or tassel bag from one plant to the other as described below. A second step comprises cultivating or growing the seeds of said first and second parent corn plants into plants that bear flowers. Corn bears both male flowers (tassels) and female flowers (silks) in separate anatomical structures on the same plant. A third step comprises preventing self-pollination of the plants, i.e., preventing the silks of a plant from being fertilized by any plant of the same variety, including the same plant. This is preferably done by emasculating the male flowers of the first or second parent corn plant, (i.e., treating or manipulating the flowers so as to prevent pollen production, in order to produce an emasculated parent corn plant), Self-incompatibility systems are also used in some hybrid crops for the same purpose. Self-incompatible plants still shed viable pollen and can pollinate plants of other varieties but are incapable of pollinating themselves or other plants of the same variety. A fourth step comprises allowing cross-pollination to occur between the first and second parent corn plants. When the plants are not in pollinating proximity, this is done by placing a bag, usually paper or glassine, over the tassels of the first plant and another bag over the silks of the incipient ear on the second plant. The bags are left in place for at least 24 hours. Since pollen is viable for less than 24 hours, this assures that the silks are not pollinated from other pollen sources, that any stray pollen on the tassels of the first plant is dead, and that the only pollen transferred comes from the first plant. The pollen bag over the tassel of the first plant is then shaken vigorously to enhance release of pollen from the tassels, and the shoot bag is removed from the silks of the incipient ear on the second plant. Finally, the pollen bag is removed from the tassel of the first plant and is placed over the silks of the incipient ear of the second plant, shaken again and left in place. Yet another step comprises harvesting the seeds from at least one of the parent corn plants. The harvested seed can be grown to produce a corn plant or hybrid corn plant. The present invention also provides corn seed and plants produced by a process that comprises crossing a first parent corn plant with a second parent corn plant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent corn plants is a plant of the variety designated I181664. In one embodiment of the invention, corn seed and plants produced by the process are first generation (F1) hybrid corn seed and plants produced by crossing an inbred in accordance with the invention with another, distinct inbred. The present invention further contemplates seed of an F1 hybrid corn plant. Therefore, certain exemplary embodiments of the invention provide an F1 hybrid corn plant and seed thereof An example of such a hybrid which can be produced with the variety designated I181664 is the hybrid designated 9901269. In still yet another aspect of the invention, the genetic complement of the corn plant variety designated 181664 is provided. The phrase xe2x80x9cgenetic complementxe2x80x9d is used to refer to the aggregate of nucleotide sequences, the expression of which sequences defines the phenotype of, in the present case, a corn plant, or a cell or tissue of that plant. A genetic complement thus represents the genetic make up of an inbred cell, tissue or plant, and a hybrid genetic complement represents the genetic make up of a hybrid cell, tissue or plant. The invention thus provides corn plant cells that have a genetic complement in accordance with the inbred corn plant cells disclosed herein, and plants, seeds and diploid plants containing such cells. Plant genetic complements may be assessed by genetic marker profiles, and by the expression of phenotypic traits that are characteristic of the expression of the genetic complement, e.g., isozyme typing profiles. Thus, such corn plant cells may be defined as having an SSR profile in accordance with the profile shown in Table 6, or a genetic isozyme typing profile in accordance with the profile shown in Table 7, or having both an SSR profile and an isozyme typing profile in accordance with the profiles shown in Table 6 and Table 7. It is understood that variety I181664 could also be identified by other types of genetic markers such as, for example, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms (SSLPs) (Williams et al., 1990), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., 1998). In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides hybrid genetic complements, as represented by corn plant cells, tissues, plants, and seeds, formed by the combination of a haploid genetic complement of an inbred corn plant of the invention with a haploid genetic complement of a second corn plant, preferably, another, distinct inbred corn plant. In another aspect, the present invention provides a corn plant regenerated from a tissue culture that comprises a hybrid genetic complement of this invention. In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method of producing an inbred corn plant derived from the corn variety I181664, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a progeny plant derived from corn variety I181664, wherein said preparing comprises crossing a plant of the corn variety I181664 with a second corn plant, and wherein a sample of the seed of corn variety I181664 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-3226; (b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation; (c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second plant; and (d) repeating steps (c) and (d) for an addition 3-10 generations to produce an inbred corn plant derived from the corn variety I181664. In the method, it may be desirable to select particular plants resulting from step (c) for continued crossing according to steps (b) and (c). By selecting plants having one or more desirable traits, an inbred corn plant derived from the corn variety I181664 is obtained which possesses some of the desirable traits of corn variety I181664 as well potentially other selected traits.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cathode ray tube and, in particular, a cathode ray tube for applying a predetermined voltage to a corresponding electrode via a resistor unit which is disposed in the neck of a cathode ray tube. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a color CRT is known as a CRT which is supplied with high voltage. The color CRT, usually, comprises an envelope 3 comprising a panel 1, a funnel 2 and a neck 6, as shown in FIG. 1. A phosphor screen (target) 5 is formed on the inner surface of the panel 1 and a shadow mask 4 is provided opposite to the phosphor screen (target) 5 which is composed of a three-color phosphor layer for emitting R (red), B (blue) and G (Green) light. At a time of use, a deflection yoke 20 is mounted near a boundary between a funnel 2 and a neck 6. An electron gun assembly 7 is located in the neck 6 to emit three electron beams 9. The electron gun assembly 7 is composed of a plurality of electrodes, such as a cathode serving as an electron beam generating section, an electrode for controlling the generation of the electron beams 9 emitting from the cathode, and an electrode for focusing the electron beams toward the phosphor screen at accelerated speed. It is necessary to supply a high anode voltage of about 25 to 30 KV and medium voltage of about 5 to 8 KV (focusing voltage) to the corresponding electrodes. A voltage which is to be applied to the associated electrode in the electron gun assembly 7 is applied there via a corresponding stem pin 17 which extends through a stem section 6a of the neck 6 in airtight fashion, noting that anode voltage is applied via an inner conductive film 16 which is formed on the inner surface of an anode terminal 8 and funnel 2. Supplying a medium voltage, such as a focusing voltage, via the stem section 6a poses a "arcing or flashover" problem as involved at a supply section such as a socket which is connected to the stem pin 17. This causes a complex structure. A way for obtaining a requisite medium voltage through the division of anode voltage which is made by a resistor unit located within the CRT is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Disclosure (KOKAI) Nos. 48-21561 and 55-38484 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,932,786 and 4,413,298. However, there is no adequate space for the resistor unit to be arranged within the CRT. For this reason, the resistor unit is located in a small space in the neck 6 such that it is situated near the electron gun assembly 7. FIG. 2 is one form of an electron gun assembly having a resistor unit arranged in it. In an arrangement shown in FIG. 2, reference numeral 7 denotes electron gun assembly 10a, 10b, 10c (10b, 10c hidden from view in FIG. 2), heaters; 11a, 11b, 11c (11b, 11c hidden from view in FIG. 2), cathodes; G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5, first, second, third, fourth and fifth grids, respectively; 12, a shield cup; 13a, 13b, a pair of insulating support rods; 15, a spacer; 16, an inner conductive film and 17, a stem pin. In the electron gun assembly 7, a resistor unit 14 is located at the back surface of the insulating support rod 13a. The resistor unit 14 is formed as shown in FIG. 3. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, 18 denotes an insulating board; 19, a high resistance section; T1 . . . T4, voltage pickup terminals; and CN, a connector. If the resistor unit 14 is arranged in a narrow space in the neck 6 such that it is located near the electron gun assembly 7, a relatively complex potential distribution is created in the space in the neck of the CRT, which is caused by a potential on each electrode in the electron gun assembly 7 and on the inner conductive film 16. For this reason, a problem occurs as set out below. That is, since the surface of the neck 6 and those of the insulating support rods 13a, 13b and resistor unit 14 are formed with an insulating material, electrons leaking from an "electrode side" opening of the electron gun assembly 7 as well as electrons emitted from the electrode in the presence of a strong electric field are accelerated from a low to a high potential zone. Upon the collision of electrons on the insulating material as set forth above, many secondary electrons are generated, moving toward the high potential section while increasing in number. As a result, a greater discharge occurs, sometimes destroying a drive circuit for the CRT, the resistor unit 14, insulating support rods 13a, 13b and so on. Even in the case where no greater discharge takes place, a tiny steady discharge may occur between the aforementioned material and the electrode. At that time, bluish white light is observed as a discharge, causing a variation in the potential on the insulating material as set forth above and in a potential distribution around the insulating material. This variation exerts an adverse effect upon an electron lens, thus degrading an electron beam spot configuration on the phosphor screen 5 and hence reducing image quality. As a solution to the problem as set out above, Japanese Patent Disclosure (KOKAI) 57-119437 discloses the technique of using a metal ring for surrounding such an insulating support rod against a low or a medium potential electrode. Even in the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, a metal ring SR is placed at that location of the third grid G3 as near to an electrode pickup terminal T3 as possible to surround the insulating support rods 13a, 13b and resistor unit 14 with it. The metal ring SR is heated to form an evaporated matter on the inner wall of the neck 6. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a metal evaporation film, that is the evaporated matter. In the arrangement using such a technique, an electric field still stays strong in the area of the resistor unit 14 which is situated near an electrode pickup terminal T2. A tiny discharge is developed between an involved location near to the electrode pickup terminal T2 and the metal deposition film 101 on the inner wall of the neck and between that and the insulating support rods 13a, 13b, causing a variation in a division voltage on the resistor unit 14. The variation of the division voltage fails to exhibit a given performance of an electronic lens. It is, therefore, not possible to prevent a deterioration in an electron beam spot pattern on the phosphor screen 5 and in an image quality. In the case where a given voltage is applied to a corresponding electrode on the electron gun assembly 7 through a given division resistance on the resistor unit 14 which is located near the electron gun assembly 7 in the narrow space of the neck 6, if such a metal ring SR is used so as to prevent the occurrence of a discharge in the neck 6, there is less beneficial result in the event of the resistor unit's voltage pickup terminal being higher in voltage than the metal ring SR, failing to achieve complete prevention of a discharge in the neck 6 of the color CRT, that is, to achieve a normal operation of the color CRT.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to removable safety rail systems installed around rooftops to prevent workers from falling to the ground below. More particularly, the invention relates to a modular stanchion holder for such a removable guard rail system that can be mounted on either a parapet or an overhanging ledge rooftop periphery, as necessary. 2. Description of the Related Art Construction sites are generally known to be very dangerous places. For this reason there are numerous federal and state laws that address the various health and safety issues associated with construction work and work conducted at construction sites, including rooftops and elevated areas. For instance, in the United States, Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standards require contractors to install protective railings about a rooftop worksite according to specific guidelines. Moreover, state regulations and insurance companies mandate similar requirements. Because of this, several guardrail systems have been developed to comply with the many safety codes in existence. Among these is a safety rail system invented by the present applicant and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,281. As a part of providing such a safety rail system, it is necessary to temporarily install vertical stanchions or support posts at spaced intervals around the perimeter of the work area to support the horizontal rails of the safety rail system. A variety of stanchion holders are known from safety rail systems of the prior art. For example, in the safety rail system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,900, each stanchion is provided with a horizontal foot that serves as a fixed jaw portion cooperating with a positionable and adjustable jaw portion to form a clamp that adjusts to clamp along a vertical clamping direction, whereby the stanchion can be clamped to an overhanging ledge. U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,833 teaches a safety rail system wherein each stanchion comprises a pair of telescopically adjustable tube segments, and each segment includes a jaw portion fixed thereto for clamping in a vertical direction to an overhanging ledge. A device for mounting a stanchion to a horizontal I-beam is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,037,824 and 5,029,670, and includes a vertical stanchion-receiving sleeve fixed to a horizontal member having a fixed jaw portion and a movable jaw portion cooperating with the fixed jaw portion to clamp in a horizontal direction to a top leg of the I-beam. A safety rail system marketed by Protective Roofing Products Ltd. of Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, under the designation PR-100 provides a stanchion that is connectable at right angles to a mounting bracket that clamps in a horizontal direction, whereby the stanchion can be mounted to a parapet. Finally, it is known use cement anchors or other fasteners to secure a stanchion holder to a structure. The clamping style systems of the prior art lack versatility in that they are designed to mount only to an overhanging ledge or only to a parapet. Systems requiring anchors are time-consuming and often require special tools to install. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stanchion holder that can be mounted on either a parapet or an overhanging ledge of a rooftop in a fast and simple manner to enable efficient installation of a safety rail system about the rooftop perimeter. It is another object of the present invention to provide a versatile stanchion holder that can be constructed from readily available component parts. In view of these and other objects, a stanchion holder formed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention generally comprises a clamp having a first stanchion sleeve fixed thereto, and a right-angle stanchion sleeve adapter having a second stanchion sleeve and a male portion sized for removable receipt within the first stanchion sleeve. The first stanchion sleeve extends in a direction substantially orthogonal to a clamping direction of the clamp, such that a stanchion can be inserted vertically into the first stanchion sleeve when a horizontal clamping direction is required, as with clamping to a parapet, and the adapter is omitted. When the male portion of the stanchion sleeve adapter is received by the first stanchion sleeve, the second stanchion sleeve provided on the adapter extends in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of clamping, whereby a stanchion can be inserted vertically into the second stanchion sleeve and the clamp can be secured to an overhanging ledge by applying clamping force in a vertical direction. The clamp itself has a C-shaped frame including a spine portion, a first leg portion fixed with respect to the spine portion, and a second leg portion opposite the first leg portion and adjustable along the spine to change its distance from the first leg portion. The first sleeve portion is fixed to and extends along the first leg portion of the clamp frame. The male portion of the adapter and the stanchion are preferably held in place within a corresponding sleeve passage by transverse pins, however other means of releasably retaining these members are contemplated.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a pipeline-type analog-to-digital converter. 2. Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a pipeline-type analog-to-digital (A/D) converter in which an A/D converting stage (stage) of a small bit number is cascade-connected and digital values obtained in each stage are computed so as to obtain a final digital value. For example, refer to JP-A-2005-252326. In each stage, an input analog signal is quantized by a sub A/D converter to be converted into a digital signal, and then the digital signal is digital-to analog converted by a sub D/A converter. The input analog signal and the analog signal produced by the sub D/A converter are subjected to a subtraction process. The resulting signal is amplified by an operational amplifier to be outputted to a subsequent stage. In the pipeline-type A/D converter, a good linearity is required in which a relation between an analog input and a digital output shows a line. The linearity of the input and output signals, however, has not been thoroughly examined in known patents. Thus, improving the input-output linearity has been expected.

A typical form of apparatus for testing non-rotationally symmetrical hollow bodies for defects comprises a feed means for continuously conveying the hollow bodies into a test region of the apparatus, a means for conveying the hollow bodies through the test region of the apparatus, and a discharge means for conveying the hollow bodies out of the test region. Such an apparatus is used when there is a wish to check and inspect glass bodies of the above-indicated kind for surface defects such as for example cracks or irregular wall thicknesses in an automated procedure after production of the glass bodies, and to separate out glass bodies which are found to be defective.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a shift control apparatus and shift control method for a vehicular automatic transmission, which enables suppression of a drop in rotational speed of an input shaft which occurs during a clutch-to-clutch downshift executed while a vehicle is decelerating. 2. Description of the Related Art A shift control apparatus for a vehicular automatic transmission is known which, when executing a clutch-to-clutch downshift, executes shift hydraulic pressure control so as to reduce an apply pressure of a hydraulic friction device to be released, which was applied in order to achieve a predetermined speed before the downshift, while increasing an apply pressure of a hydraulic friction device to be applied in order to achieve a predetermined speed after the downshift. According to JP(A) 11-287318, for example, during the clutch-to-clutch downshift, feedback control is performed on the apply pressure of the hydraulic friction device to be applied so that a transmitted torque capacity of the hydraulic friction device to be applied becomes constant, i.e., so that a rotational speed of an input shaft of the automatic transmission increases at a constant rate. In the aforementioned shift control apparatus for a vehicular automatic transmission, the engine speed drops during the clutch-to-clutch downshift when the vehicle is decelerating, and then increases again when the hydraulic friction device to be applied is applied. This combination of a drop followed by an increase in engine speed results in shift shock or a delay in the shift time. Also, fuel efficiency may be reduced if the drop in engine speed is large enough to require that the fuel supply be restarted. In comparison, it is conceivable to automatically suppress the drop in engine speed during the clutch-to-clutch downshift while the vehicle is decelerating, and appropriately reduce or eliminate shift shock or a delay in shift time caused by that drop. It is also possible to appropriately reduce the adverse effect on fuel efficiency caused by fuel being supplied to the engine again due to a further drop in engine speed. However, doing so may result in shift shock occurring when there is little or no drop in engine speed.

The invention relates to methods and equipment for establishing data security in an e-mail service between an e-mail server and a mobile terminal. Data security in an e-mail service is achieved by using cryptographic techniques in which traffic in a potentially insecure channel is encrypted using cryptographic information, commonly called encryption keys. A problem underlying the invention relates to distributing such encryption information. Prior art techniques for distributing the encryption information are commonly based on public key encryption techniques, such as Diffie-Hellman. A problem with this approach is that the parties have to trust the underlying mobile network and its operator, which they are surprisingly reluctant to do. Another problem is that mobile terminals tend to have small and restricted user interfaces.

Arachidonic acid (all-cis-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) containing 20 carbon atoms with four double bonds. The double bonds are arranged with the last one located six carbon atoms from the methyl end of the chain. Therefore, arachidonic acid is referred to as an omega-6 fatty acid. Arachidonic acid is one of the most abundant C.sub.20 PUFA's in the human body. It is particularly prevalent in organ, muscle and blood tissues. Arachidonic acid is a direct precursor for a number of circulating eicosenoids, such as prostaglandins, thromboxanes, leukotrienes and prostacyclins, which are important biological regulators. These eicosenoids exhibit regulatory effects on lipoprotein metabolism, blood rheology, vascular tone, leukocyte function, platelet activation and cell growth. The application of arachidonic acid to an infant's diet is particularly important due to the rapid body growth of an infant. Arachidonic acid is an important precursor to many of the eicosanoids which regulate cellular metabolism and growth in infants. It is found naturally in human breast milk but not in most infant formula. In an effort to have infant formula match the long chain fatty acid profile found in breast milk, scientific and food regulatory bodies have recommended that arachidonic acid be added to infant formula, especially in formula utilized for premature infants. In particular, it is preferable that arachidonic acid containing oil produced for use with infant formula contain little or no other long chain highly unsaturated fatty acids (e.g., eicosapentanoic acid). Such other long chain highly unsaturated fatty acids are not preferred because some of these fatty acids can interfere with the utilization of arachidonic acid by the infant, and/or can inhibit blending of the arachidonic acid-containing oil with other oils to achieve the appropriate ratio of fatty acids matching breast milk or other desired applications. Highly unsaturated fatty acids are defined as fatty acids containing 4 or more double bonds. Traditional sources of arachidonic acid include poultry eggs, bovine brain tissue, pig adrenal gland, pig liver and sardines. The yield of arachidonic acid, however, is usually less than 0.2% on a dry weight basis. The use of microorganisms capable of producing arachidonic acid de novo have been suggested by various investigators, including Kyle, PCT Publication No. WO 92/13086, published Aug. 6, 1992; Shinmen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,250, issued Apr.20, 1993; Shinmen et al., pp. 11-16, 1989, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., vol. 31; Totani et al., pp. 1060-1062, 1987, LIPIDS, vol. 22; Shimizu et al., pp. 509-512, 1992, LIPIDS, vol. 27; Shimizu et al., pp. 342-347, 1989, JAOCS, vol. 66; Shimizu et al., pp. 1455-1459, 1988, JAOCS, vol. 65; Shimizu et al., pp. 254-258, 1991, JAOCS, vol. 68; Sajbidor et al., pp. 455-456, 1990, Biotechnology Letters, vol. 12; Bajpai et al., pp. 1255-1258, 1991, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., vol. 57; Bajpai, pp. 775-780, 1991, JAOCS, vol. 68; and Gandhi et al., pp. 1825-1830, 1991, J. Gen. Microbiol., vol. 137. The arachidonic acid productivity by the microorganisms disclosed by prior investigators, however, is less than 0.67 grams per liter per day. Such amounts are significantly less than the amounts of arachidonic acid produced by the microorganisms of the present invention. These lower productivity values are the result of employing strains: (1) with slow growth or lipid production rates leading to long fermentation times (i.e., greater than 2-3 days) ( Kyle, 1992, ibid.; Shinmen et al., 1993, ibid.; Shinmen et al., 1989, ibid.; Bajpai et al., 1991, ibid.; Bajpai, ibid.; and Gandhi et al., ibid.); and/or (2) that contain low arachidonic acid contents (expressed as % fatty acids) in the final oil produced (Shinmen et al., 1993, ibid.; Shimizu et al., 1989, ibid.; and Kendrick and Ratledge, 1992, pp. 15-20, Lipids, vol. 27); and/or (3) which require long periods of stress (i.e., aging a biomass for 6-28 days) to achieve high levels of arachidonic acid in a biomass (Bajpai et al., 1991, ibid. and Shinmen et al., 1989, ibid.); and/or (4) that only exhibit high arachidonic acid content in non-commercial growth conditions (e.g., malt agar plates) (Totani and Oba, 1987, pp. 1060-1062, Lipids, vol. 22). In addition, non-Mortierella schmuckeri microorganisms that have been proposed for producing arachidonic acid, in particular Pythium insidiosum microorganisms, disclosed by prior investigators (Kyle, 1992, ibid.), have been reported to be pathogenic to humans and/or animals. Thus, there remains a need for an economical, commercially feasible method for producing arachidonic acid. The present invention satisfies that need. There also remains a need for the an economical, commercially feasible food product for the introduction of arachidonic acid produced according to the present invention into the diet of human infants.

1. Field of the Present Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to an array of flash memory cells, in which a unit cell includes a single transistor and to methods for programming and erasing the same. 2. Discussion of the Related Art An ideal memory element allows for easy programming (writing), easy erasing, and retains a memory state even if power is removed, i.e., is nonvolatile. Nonvolatile semiconductor memories (NVSM) are classified into two typesxe2x80x94a floating gate type and a metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) type. The MIS type also may have two or more kinds of stacked dielectric films. The floating gate type memory uses a potential well to implement memory functions. ETOX (EPROM Tunnel Oxide) structure, which has recently been the most applicable technology for the flash EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Read Only Memory), is typical of the floating gate type. The floating gate type structure can be used to implement a memory cell using a single transistor. On the other hand, the MIS type memory function uses traps formed in a dielectric film bulk, a boundary layer between two dielectric films, or a boundary layer between a dielectric film and a semiconductor. The MONOS/SONOS (Metal/Poly Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Semiconductor) structure, which is used as a full-featured EEPROM, is typical. To execute the program and erase operations in these memory cells, it is essential that selection transistors be included in addition to the transistors of MONOS/SONOS structure. In other words, each memory cell must include at least two transistors. The array of conventional flash memory cells and the methods for programming and erasing the same are explained in detail by referring to the accompanying drawings FIGS. 1-2B. As seen in FIG. 1, a unit cell of the conventional flash memory cells includes two transistors. FIG. 2A shows an array of conventional flash memory cells using the cell in FIG. 1 as the unit cell, and bias conditions for programming the cells. FIG. 2B shows the array of conventional flash memory cells using the cell in FIG. 1 as a unit cell and the bias conditions for erasing the cells. As seen, the array of conventional flash memory cells is constructed by arranging unit cells in a form of matrix. Each cell includes two transistorsxe2x80x94a memory transistor having a MONOS/SONOS structure and a selection transistor for determining whether the cell is selected or not. A plurality of word lines are constructed in a direction so that the gates memory transistors arranged in a row are commonly connected. A plurality of word selection lines are constructed in a direction parallel to the word lines so that the gates of selection transistors arranged in a row are commonly connected. A plurality of bit lines are constructed in a direction perpendicular to the word lines so that the drains of memory transistors arranged in a column are commonly connected. A plurality of bit selection lines are constructed in a direction parallel to the bit lines so that the drains of selection transistors arranged in a column are commonly connected. As mentioned above, the conventional unit cell includes a memory transistor having the MONOS/SONOS structure and a selection transistor. A cell is selected by selecting the selection transistor, and program and erase operations are performed on the associated memory transistor. As shown in FIG. 1, the memory transistor has an ONO (Oxide Nitride Oxide) structure including a first oxide film 11, a nitride film 12, and a second oxide film 13 sequentially stacked on a portion of a semiconductor substrate 10. A first gate electrode 15a is formed on the oxide film 13. The selection transistor includes a gate oxide film 14 and a second gate electrode 15b formed on the gate oxide film 14. The gate oxide film 14 of the selection transistor is thicker than the first and second oxide films 11 and 13 so that a portion of the selection transistor is isolated from the first gate electrode 15a. A common source region 16a is formed in a portion of the semiconductor substrate 10 between the memory transistor and the selection transistor. Drain regions 16b are formed in portions of the semiconductor substrate 10 at the outside of the memory and selection transistors. In the conventional flash memory cell, programming is accomplished by applying a high positive voltage to the first gate electrode 15a. When the high voltage is so applied, electrons from the semiconductor substrate 10 tunnel through the first oxide film 11 and are injected into the nitride film 12. Thus, the first oxide film 11 is called a tunneling oxide. The second oxide film 13 prevents electrons injected into the nitride film 12 from leaking into the first gate electrode 15a. The second oxide film 13 also prevents electrons from being injected from the first gate electrode 15a into the nitride film 12. Thus, the second oxide film 13 is called a blocking oxide. Since the program operation uses traps in the boundary layer between the nitride film 12 and the second oxide film 13, electrons should be injected into or emitted from the entire region of a substrate channel to perform the program and erase operations. When performing a programming operation, the array of cells is biased in a certain manner. The programming bias condition for the array of conventional flash memory cells is explained as follows. Referring to FIG. 2A, a unit cell, among the plurality of flash memory cells, is selected for programming. Thereafter, a voltage Vp is applied to the word line connected to the gate of the selected memory transistor. Vp is also applied to the word selection line connected to the gate of the selection transistor of the selected cell. Due to the arrangement, the gates of memory transistors and selection transistors of other cells in the same row are also applied with the same Vp voltage. However, a ground voltage is applied to the word lines of the non-selected rows. Also, the word selection lines of the non-selected rows have their voltages left floating. For the bit line connected to a drain of the selected memory transistor, the ground voltage is applied. However, for the non-selected bit lines, a voltage Vi is applied. Similarly, for the bit selection line connected to the drain of the selected selection transistor, voltage is left floating, while the non-selected bit selections lines have ground voltages applied. Finally, ground voltage is also applied to the well (semiconductor substrate) at the lower portion of all the cells regardless of whether that cell is selected or not. The aforementioned bias conditions are simultaneously applied. Table 1 describes the bias conditions for the programming operation in a table form. Note that multiple cells maybe selected at a time for programming, such as a byte at a time. When performing an erasing operation, the array of cells is differently biased from the programming operation. The erasing bias condition for the array of conventional flash memory cells is explained as follows. Referring to FIG. 2B, a unit cell is selected for erasing. Thereafter, the ground voltage is applied to the word line connected to the gate of the selected memory transistor. Also, Vp is applied to the word selection line connected to the gate of the selection transistor of the selected cell. However, for the non-selected word lines, voltage Vp is applied, while the word selection lines are left floating. For the bit line connected to a drain of the selected memory transistor, the ground voltage is applied. However, for the non-selected bit lines, a voltage Vi is applied. Similarly, for the bit selection line connected to the drain of the selected selection transistor, voltage is floating, while the non-selected bit selection lines have ground voltages applied. Finally, as in the programming operation described above, ground voltage is applied to the well (semiconductor substrate) at the lower portion of all the cells regardless of whether that cell is selected or not. The aforementioned bias conditions are simultaneously applied. The table 2 describes the bias conditions for the erasing operation in a table form. Again, multiple cells may be selected for erasing, such as a byte at a time. The array of conventional flash memory cells and the program and erase methods using the same have the following problems. First, because two transistors are used for a single cell, the area for a chip becomes large and it is difficult to isolate cells from each other. Second, programming the chip is complex. It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the integrity of a chip by using a single transistor for a single cell. It is another object of the present invention to easily implement the program operation by the byte and the erase operation in bulk by providing an array whose single cell comprises a single transistor. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. To achieve these and other advantages in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, an array of flash memory cells according to the present invention comprises a plurality of flash memory cells, each of the cells having a MONOS/SONOS structure and being arranged in the form of a matrix, a plurality of word lines arranged in one line direction so that the gates of the flash memory cells arranged in one and the same row are commonly connected, a plurality of selection lines arranged in a direction perpendicular to the word lines so that the sources of the flash memory cells arranged in one and the same column are commonly connected, and a plurality of bit lines arranged in a direction parallel to the selection lines so that the drains of the flash memory cells arranged in one and the same column are commonly connected. A data program method using the array of the flash memory cells according to the present invention, in a plurality of word lines, selection lines and bit lines respectively connected to the gates, sources and drains of a plurality of flash memory cells arranged in the form of a matrix and wells formed in the lower portion of each of the flash memory cells, comprises a first step for selecting one cell among a plurality of the flash memory cells; a second step for applying a power supply voltage Vcc to the word line connected to the gate of the selected cell and a voltage xe2x88x92Vpp to the well in the lower portion of the selected cell and to the selection and bit lines connected to the source and drain of the selected cell; a third step for performing the second step and at the same time applying a ground voltage to the selection and bit lines of the cells connected to the same word line as the selected cell and a voltage xe2x88x92Vpp to the wells; and a fourth step for performing the first and second steps and at the same time applying a ground voltage to the word lines of the cells not connected to the same word line as the selected cell and a voltage xe2x88x92Vpp to the wells and to the selection and bit lines of the cells not connected to the same word line as the selected cell. A data erase method using the array of the flash memory cells according to the present invention, in a plurality of word lines, selection lines and bit lines which are connected, respectively, to the gates, the sources and the drains of a plurality of flash memory cells arranged in the form of a matrix and wells formed in the lower portion of each of the flash memory cell, comprises a first step for applying a voltage xe2x88x92Vpp to the word lines of the cells and a second step for performing the first step and at the same time applying a power supply voltage Vcc to the selection and bit lines of the cells and to the wells in the lower portion of the cells. Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

1. Technical Field The present invention generally relates to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly, to electronic musical instruments capable of generating musical sounds with plural timbres in response to a sound generation instruction. 2. Related Art Electronic musical instruments having a plurality of keys composing a keyboard, in which, upon depressing plural ones of the keys, different timbres are assigned to each of the depressed plural keys, and musical sounds at pitches designated by the depressed keys are generated with the timbres assigned to the depressed keys, are known. An example of such related art is Japanese Laid-open Patent Application SHO 57-128397. Another electronic musical instrument known to date generates musical sounds with multiple timbres concurrently in response to each key depression. For example, musical sounds that are to be generated by different plural kinds of wind instruments (trumpet, trombone and the like) at each pitch may be stored in a memory, and when one of the keys is depressed, those of the musical sounds stored in the memory and corresponding to the depressed key are read out thereby generating the musical sounds. In this case, when one of the keys is depressed, musical sounds with plural timbres are simultaneously generated, which provides a performance that sounds like a performance by a brass band. However, when plural ones of the keys are depressed, musical sounds with plural timbres are generated in response to each of the depressed keys. Therefore, when the number of keys depressed increases, the resultant musical sounds give an impression that the number of performers has increased, which sounds unnatural. Another known electronic musical instrument performs a method in which, when the number of the keys depressed is fewer, musical sounds with a plurality of timbres are generated in response to each of the keys depressed; and when the number of the keys depressed is greater, musical sounds with a fewer timbres are generated in response to each of the keys depressed. However, in the electronic musical instruments of related art, timbres that can be assigned according to states of key depression are limited, and the performance sounds unnatural or artificial when the number of keys depressed changes. For example, when one of the keys is depressed, a set of multiple musical sounds is generated; and when another key is depressed in this state, the musical sounds being generated are stopped, and another set of multiple musical sounds is generated in response to the key that is newly key-depressed. Furthermore, when plural ones of the keys are depressed at the same time, timbres to be assigned to the respective keys are determined; but when other keys are newly depressed in this state, the new key depressions may be ignored, which is problematical because such performance sounds unnatural.

This application claims priority to Patent Application No. 2003-281029 filed in Japan on 28 Jul. 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The present invention pertains to a magnetically coupled device in which insulator layer(s) intervene between mutually magnetically coupled transmitting coil(s) and receiving coil(s), input of signal(s) at transmitting coil(s) causing output at receiving coil(s) of signal(s) produced at least partially by induction due to magnetic coupling therebetween; and to electronic equipment employing same. As is known, optically coupled devices, employed in a wide variety of electronic equipment, are provided with light-emitting element(s) at input side(s) thereof and light-receiving element(s) at output side(s) thereof, signal transmission taking place with input side(s) being electrically isolated from output side(s). It so happens that in recent years magnetically coupled devices, with their faster communication rates, have drawn more attention than optically coupled devices due to increases in transmission speed (on the order of between 50 Mb/s and 100 Mb/s), representative of which is the situation existing with respect to fieldbus networks for factory automation equipment and the like. Among such magnetically coupled devices is, for example, that disclosed at U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,933. In this magnetically coupled device, which comprises bridge circuitry including magnetoresistive sensor(s) for which resistance varies in correspondence to magnetic field strength, magnetoresistive sensor(s) is/are used to detect input magnetic field(s), output signal(s) from magnetoresistive sensor(s) is/are extracted from bridge circuitry, such output signal(s) is/are fed back thereinto, output magnetic field(s) is/are produced, and output signal(s) from magnetoresistive sensor(s) is/are extracted to the exterior while control is carried out so as to cause input magnetic field(s) and output magnetic field(s) to cancel out one another. Here, because output signal(s) is/are fed back thereinto, input magnetic field(s) and output magnetic field(s) being made to cancel out one another, internal noise generated at output-signal-side circuitry is canceled out. However, the foregoing conventional magnetoresistive devices have had the problem that, even where it may have been possible to reduce internal noise, as no consideration had been made for reduction of geomagnetism and other such external noise, there has been occurrence of distortion of output signal waveform(s) and/or phenomena such as dropped bits during communication of output signal(s), preventing normal communication. The present invention was therefore conceived in light of the foregoing conventional issues, it being an object thereof to provide a magnetically coupled device capable of reducing effects of external noise and of stably carrying out high-speed communication.

A wide variety of consumables (e.g., foods, beverage, cosmetics, etc.) contain contaminants, toxins, allergens, and/or other substances that are of interest to all or specific types of consumers. In particular, in recent years, an increase in the number of consumers with an identified allergy (e.g., gluten allergy, dairy allergy, fish allergy, nut allergy, soy allergy, cosmetic allergy, etc.) has contributed to a number of products that omit ingredients having an associated allergen; however, such consumers are still at risk for consuming items with a harmful substance when the items do not have adequate labeling or documentation. Various systems and methods exist for detection of toxins and harmful substances present in a sample; however, current systems and methods are deficient due to one or more of: a time-intensive manner of receiving test results, a labor-intensive manner of receiving test results, a non-automated manner of processing samples, system bulk, system non-portability, and other factors that contribute to inconveniencing a consumer using such systems. Due to these and other defects of current systems and methods for detecting harmful substances in consumables, there is thus a need for an improved system and method for detecting target substances. This invention provides such a system and method.

In copending application Ser. No. 912,268, filed June 5, 1978 by Daniel M. Cap and William H. Lake, titled High Pressure Metal Vapor Discharge Lamps of Improved Efficacy, which is a continuation-in-part of an earlier application Ser. No. 812,479, filed July 5, 1977 similarly assigned, useful and efficient high pressure discharge lamps are disclosed having much smaller sizes than have been considered practical heretofore, namely discharge volumes of one cubic centimeter or less. In preferred form achieving maximum efficacy, these high intensity lamps utilize generally spheroidal thin-walled arc chambers which may vary in shape from slightly oblate to substantially prolate. Remarkably high efficacies are obtained by raising the metal vapor pressure above 5 atmospheres and to progressively higher pressures as the size is reduced. In such miniature lamps, the convective arc instability usually associated with the high pressures utilized is avoided, and there is no appreciable hazard from possibility of explosion. Practical designs provide wattage ratings or lamp sizes starting at about 100 watts and going down to less than 10 watts, the lamps having characteristics including color rendition, efficacy, maintenance and life duration making them suitable for general lighting purposes. A less desirable characteristic of these miniature high pressure metal vapor lamps is the very rapid deionization to which they are subject. In operation on 60 Hz alternating current, deionization is almost complete between half cycles so that a very high restriking voltage is required to be provided by the ballast. Particularly in metal halide lamps, during lamp warm-up within the first few seconds after arc ignition, the reignition voltage reaches extremely high levels. In view of these deionization limitations associated with low frequency operation of miniature metal halide lamps, the use of conventional 60 Hz ballasts has many disadvantages. The object of the invention is to provide an improved method or operating system for miniature metal halide lamps which overcomes the limitations imposed by rapid deionization at low operating frequencies and which permits the design of compact, practical and efficient high frequency ballasts.

The transmembrane protein CD47, also known as integrin-associated protein (IAP), ovarian cancer antigen OA3, Rh-related antigen and MER6, is an immunoglobulin superfamily member involved in multiple cellular processes, including cell migration, adhesion and T cell function. CD47 was originally identified as a tumor antigen on human ovarian cancer and was subsequently shown to be expressed on multiple human tumor types, including both hematologic and solid tumors. The interaction between CD47 and signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα), an inhibitory protein expressed on macrophages, prevents phagocytosis of CD47-expressing cells. CD47 is expressed at low levels on virtually all non-malignant cells, and loss of expression or changes in membrane distribution can serve as markers of aged or damaged cells, particularly on red blood cells (RBC). However, high expression of CD47 on cancer cells blocks phagocytic uptake, subsequent antigen cross-presentation and T cell activation, which collectively contribute to tumor immune evasion. Certain human leukemias upregulate CD47 to evade macrophage killing (U.S. Pat. No. 8,562,997). In many hematologic cancers, high CD47 expression is believed to be associated with poor clinical outcomes, for example, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, etc. (U.S. Pat. No. 9,045,541). Similarly, high CD47 expression has been observed in solid tumors such as small cell lung cancer (see, Weiskopf et al. (2016) J. CLIN. INVESTIGATION 126(7): 2610-2620). Agents that block the CD47-SIRPα interaction can restore phagocytic uptake of CD47+ target cells and lower the threshold for macrophage activation, which can enhance the efficacy of therapeutic antibodies with ADCC-enabling activity. Despite the advances made to date, there is still ongoing need for additional agents that block the CD47-SIRPα interaction for use in the treatment of various diseases, including cancers, that are associated with elevated levels of CD47 expression.

Nowadays, as processes for producing fat powder, in general, two processes are known, that is, a process for producing fat powder comprising spray-drying a fat or oil which has been emulsified into an oil-in-water type emulsion with water, an emulsifying agent and a hydrophilic base (spray-drying method); and a process for producing fat powder comprising atomizing a molten fat or oil in the atmosphere at a temperature which is lower than the melting point of the fat or oil (spray-cooling method). Among them, by the spray-drying method, stable, free-flowing fat powder can be obtained regardless of the melting point or S.F.I. (Solid Fat Index) of the fat or oil used because the surface of the fat or oil is coated with the hydrophilic base. However, there are many problems such as energy cost for evaporating water, deterioration of flavor of the fat at high temperature, and loss of volatile flavor by volatilization. To the contrary, in the spray-cooling method, although such problems as the above energy cost and deterioration of the flavor are not present, there is a marked disadvantage in that it is difficult to powder a fat or oil having a low S.F.I. and, even if it is powdered, the resulting powder has a low fluidity since the fat or oil containing unsaturated fatty acids segregates on the surface of the powder to make it adhesive. Due to this marked difference in fluidity, fat powder obtained by the spray-drying method has been predominantly and widely used in the fields such as various mixes for bread, cakes and cookies, instant milk powder, soup powder, fodder powder and the like. However, recently the consumers' have demanded products of a higher grade and genuine taste, thus, the excellent flavor peculiar to fat powder obtained by the spray-cooling method has been reevaluated. Nevertheless, the improvement of the fluidity of products obtained by the spray-cooling method is strongly needed. Heretofore, as a process for improving fluidity of fat powder, 10 to 50% by weight of wheat flour, starch and sugar have been added to the powder. Further, in Japanese Pat. Kokoku No. 50-14650 entitled "Process for Producing Fat Powder", there is disclosed a process of melting a starting fat or oil material at a temperature of at highest 15.degree. C. higher than the melting point thereof; cooling it to a temperature of the range between the solidifying point and the melting point of the fat or oil and lower than one third from the bottom of the range; forming a stable b-type crystal nucleus completely by maintaining it at this temperature for 2 to 30 minutes; and then heating to a temperature of at highest 10% higher than the melting point (1st crystalization step); and followed by spraying it into a crystalization chamber maintained at -15.degree. C. to -30.degree. C.; aging the powder obtained at 0.degree. C. to 10.degree. C. for 0.5 to 10 minutes successively in an aging chamber (2nd crystalization step); and mixing the powder with powder of non-oil soluble natural solid material. However, in order to practice this process, an extremely complicated adjustment of the starting liquid material and strict control of the temperature are required and, therefore, many difficulties in operation must be overcome, if it is to be produced on an industrial basis.

This invention relates to a sensor, particularly to an accelerometer, its fabrication method and acceleration sensors which includes such accelerometer. Nowadays, accelerometers have been used in various applications, such as, measuring the magnitude of earthquake and gathering seismic data, detecting the magnitude of collision during a car collision, and detecting the tilting direction and angle of a mobile phone or a game console. As the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology continues to progress, many nano-scale accelerometers have been widely commercially used. In general, the accelerometers can be categorized into two kinds, one is parallel plate accelerometer, such as Chinese invention patent with publication No. CN102768290A. The parallel plate accelerometer measures the acceleration through the parallel plate capacitor formed between the top cap, the mass, and the bottom cap. When there is an acceleration, the frame displaces towards the direction of acceleration, but due to inertia, the displacement of the mass is relatively small causing the distance or the area of projection between the top cap, the mass, and the bottom cap to change. The capacitance between the top cap, the mass, and the bottom cap also changes. Integrated circuits calculates the direction and magnitude of the acceleration based on the change of capacitance. Another type of accelerometer is comb structure accelerometer, such as Chinese invention patent with publication No. CN1605871. Comb structure accelerometer detects acceleration by measuring the change in capacitance of two spaced apart comb structures. The comb structure comprise movable teeth provided on the mass, and fixed teeth adjacent to the movable teeth. As the mass displaces due to acceleration, the movable teeth also displaces; thus the distance or the area of projection between the movable teeth and the fixed teeth changes, leading to a change in capacitance. Integrated circuits calculates the direction and magnitude of the acceleration based on the change of capacitance. In a parallel plate accelerometer, the mass is relatively large, and the relation between the measurement accuracy and the mass is shown in: Acceleration ⁢ ⁢ due ⁢ ⁢ to ⁢ ⁢ noise ⁢ : ⁢ ⁢ a ¨ _ = F n _ A 1 = F n _ m = 4 ⁢ ⁢ k B ⁢ T ⁢ ⁢ ω 0 mQ where kB represents Boltzmann constant, T represents temperature, ω0 represents resonance frequency, Q represents quality factor, m represents mass. Therefore, when the resonance frequency and the quality factor are fixed, increasing the mass reduces the effect by noise. The capacitance formed between the mass and the cap is also relatively large, which means the sensitivity is high. However, during fabrication, parallel plate accelerometer has a high squeeze-film damping force; thus it requires vacuum environment for packaging, which dramatically increases the packaging and fabrication cost. In comparison, the comb structure accelerometer has a low squeeze-film damping force. Based on the book “Analysis and Design Principles of MEMS Devices” the coefficient of damping force in MEMS chip can be calculated by: c rec = μ ⁢ ⁢ LB 3 h 3 ⁢ β ⁡ ( B L ) , where ⁢ ⁢ L ⪢ B , β = 1 , β = 0.42 ; For example, the coefficient of damping force of 1000 um×1000 um accelerometer with 100 pairs of 500 um×20 um comb teeth is 1.5% of the coefficient of damping force of 1000 um×1000 um accelerometer without comb teeth. Therefore, comb structure accelerometers can be packaged under non-vacuum environment, which means the packaging cost is low. However, due to the characteristics of comb structure, the mass is relatively small, and the capacitance in a comb structure accelerometer is smaller than parallel plate accelerometer. Thus, the sensitivity of comb structure accelerometer is lower compared with parallel plate accelerometer. Furthermore, comb structures are fabricated by using photolithography and etching. The spacing between the movable teeth and the fixed teeth is limited by the etching process to 2 um. On the other hand, parallel plate accelerometers are fabricated by bonding, the spacing between the mass and the caps can be controlled in 1 um. However, the accuracy of bonding technique is lower than photolithography and etching. In conclusion, both parallel plate accelerometers and comb structure accelerometers have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Many people have a flag bracket attached to the eaves of their home in order to fly a national flag on appropriate holidays, to fly a flag commemorating various holidays, to fly a state flag, or simply to fly a decorative flag. The present invention relates to providing a system for improved installation of a flag into a bracket and raising it to the desired height and angle of flying from ground level without the need for a ladder. More particularly this invention relates to providing a system for placing a flag into a bracket, securing the flagpole in the bracket, and raising the flag to the desired height and angle of flying from ground level without the need to climb a ladder. Moreover, the present invention provides a feature which will prevent the flag from wrapping around the pole on a windy day, allowing the flag to always be visible while flying. Additionally, the present invention provides a system for doing all of the above with a bracket that is hidden on the underside of the eaves of the roof so that the bracket, when not in use, cannot be easily seen.

The present invention relates to storage tanks and, in particular, to a hatch cover system for bulk carriers. Dry bulk carriers are typically used to transport dry particulates, such as dry granular bulk cement, and will be described with reference to mobile units commonly known as dry bulk transports. Therein, a mobile storage unit transported by a tractor includes a main pressure reservoir for loading, holding, and unloading material. The material is loaded through a hatch on the top of the reservoir. After loading, the hatch is mechanically closed and sealed. For unloading, a pneumatic system is used to pressurize the reservoir and discharge the material through discharge openings in the bottom of the reservoir. According, the hatch system for such units must provide a plurality of distinct functions. First the hatch must open for the delivery of contents. Second, the hatch must close securely for transport. Third, the hatch must be securely sealed for operation of the pneumatic discharge system. Conventional hatches for such storage reservoirs typically provide a cylindrical sleeve defining a cylindrical port at the top of the unit. A hatch cover is pivotally connected to the sleeve for movement between an open position for loading and a closed position for latching, sealing and delivery. The hatch cover generally carries an annular seal that establishes an interface between the sleeve and the hatch cover. A plurality of over-center levers are circumferentially disposed about the sleeve and pivotally connected thereto. The levers include an offset cam surface that engages the top of the cover and upon inward rotation engages the periphery of the cover and downwardly biases the cover to compress the sealing interface. At the delivery site, the above procedure is reversed, the levers being disengaged and the hatch cover pivoted to the open position. With such hatch cover system, the loader, typically the vehicle driver, must vertically climb a ladder on the reservoir leading to the cover. Oftentimes, such covers are located a substantial distance above ground. Such reservoirs also typically have a curved upper surface adjacent the hatch. Accordingly, the loader must assume a position thereat and exert substantial force to unlock the levers and pivot the cover, which can weigh between 20 to 40 pounds. In addition to the substantial time to accomplish the above activities, the same must be done in precarious positions during various types of inclement weather, excessive heat and cold, rain, snow, sleet and wind. As should be apparent, conventional hatch cover system require inordinate loading and unloading time and effort and pose substantial risks to the workers under operating conditions. One approach for providing a lower level operator platform for accessing the hatch is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,286 to Hoff wherein a platform is positioned intermediate a pair of pressure vessels and requires that the hatches be offset from the top of the vessels. Such platforms and offset are not usable in conventional bulk transports wherein a single elongated tank is employed and optimum storage capacity obtained with the hatch located at the top of the transport. Accordingly, a need exists for a hatch cover system that decreases the time required for loading the transport units, simplifies the latching procedure and reduces the safety risks to the operator. The present invention provides a ground level operated load and latch system for mobile and stationary pneumatic storage reservoirs that reduces associated operator filling time and enables the filling of the reservoir under all conditions without the operator risks set forth above. The present hatch cover system is specifically desireable for dry bulk transports of the type having a upwardly opening hatch communicating with a storage vessel through which the cargo material is loaded. A hatch cover has an upper annular sealing surface for engaging the hatch. The cover is raised and lowered by a lifting pneumatic actuator carried on a support frame that pivots about a vertical axis. A lock bar is shifted by a pneumatic locking actuator between a locked position interposed between the support frame and the cover to maintain a compressive sealing interface for transportation and pressurization of the reservoir. The lock bar is shifted by the locking actuator to an unlocked position to permit raising and lowering of the cover. A pivoting actuator moves the support frame and the cover between the raised position overlying the hatch and an open position remote from the hatch for loading and maintenance. The control system for the actuators is conveniently located at ground level enabling the operator to view easily the operation of the hatch closure system. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic closure system for the hatch of a bulk carrier that can be operated at ground level without requiring the operator to climb atop the carrier body. Another object of the invention is to provide a hatch closure system for the hatch of a dry bulk transport that can be selectively remotely actuated to provide pressure sealing of the hatch and a fully open position for loading and maintenance. A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic hatch closure system for a mobile pneumatic bulk carrier wherein the hatch cover may be remotely controlled to provide unobstructed loading of the carrier reservoir and shifted to a securely closed and locked condition for transportation, delivery and maintenance.

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for biochemical reactions, and more particularly to an apparatus which permits adequate agitation of solutions that undergo biochemical reactions. Following description is made with reference to an apparatus for immunological reactions by which the present invention can be most appropriately practised. In the immunological reactions, either the antigen or the antibody is marked with a convenient label (for example, a fluorescent or radioactive material or an enzyme) and the immunological reaction is utilized to form a complex body of the antigen and the antibody. The antibody having the label in it gives a measure to estimate the amount of the object antigen or antibody. For the reaction to proceed adequately, to increase the accuracy and precision of estimation, to carry out the process more rapidly, and to enhance the efficiency of operations, the procedure of stirring is preferable as it is in most chemical reactions. However, in biochemical reactions such as immunological reaction where a small volume of sample, say from several hundreds microliters to several tens milliliters, is commonly employed, difficulties are often met in agitating the solution. A stirrer with blades cannot be used practically and, if the stirring means is brought into contact with the solution, the the estimation may bring about loss in accuracy probably due to "carry over". Stirring by oscillating the vessel itself cannot be expected to be effective and loss of the solution by spattering is feared. Stirring by ultrasonic waves as non-contact stirring may cause the reacting substances to be destroyed and therefore is not universally applicable.

Ultrasonic scanners for detecting blood flow based on the Doppler effect are well known. Such systems operate by actuating an ultrasonic transducer array to transmit ultrasonic waves into a body and receiving ultrasonic echoes backscattered from the body. In the measurement of blood flow characteristics, returning ultrasonic waves are compared to a frequency reference to determine the frequency shift imparted to the returning waves by flowing scatterers such as blood cells. This frequency shift, i.e., phase shift, translates into the velocity of the blood flow. The blood velocity is calculated by measuring the phase shift from firing to firing at a specific range gate. The change or shift in backscattered frequency increases when blood flows toward the transducer and decreases when blood flows away from the transducer. Color flow images are produced by superimposing a color image of the velocity of moving material, such as blood, over a black and white anatomical B-mode image. Typically, color flow mode displays hundreds of adjacent sample volumes simultaneously, all laid over a B-mode image and color-coded to represent each sample volume's velocity. In standard color flow processing, a high pass filter, known as a wall filter, is applied to the data before a color flow estimate is made. The purpose of this filter is to remove signal components produced by tissue surrounding the blood flow of interest. If these signal components are not removed, the resulting velocity estimate will be a combination of the velocities from the blood flow and the surrounding, non-flowing tissue. The backscatter component from non-flowing tissue is many times larger than that from blood, so the velocity estimate will most likely be more representative of the non-flowing tissue, rather than the blood flow. In order to obtain the flow velocity, the non-flowing tissue signal must be filtered out. In a conventional ultrasound imaging system operating in the color flow mode, an ultrasound transducer array is activated to transmit a series of multi-cycle (typically 4-8 cycles) tone bursts which are focused at a common transmit focal position with common transmit characteristics. These tone bursts are fired at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) that is typically in the kilohertz range. A series of transmit firings focused at a common transmit focal position with common transmit characteristics is referred to as a "packet". Each transmit beam propagates through the object being scanned and is reflected by ultrasound scatterers such as blood cells. The return signals are detected by the elements of the transducer array and formed into a receive beam by a beamformer. For example, the traditional color firing sequence is a series of firings (e.g., tone bursts) along a common position, producing the respective receive signals: EQU F.sub.1 F.sub.2 F.sub.3 F.sub.4 . . . F.sub.N where F.sub.i is the receive signal for the i-th firing and N is the number of firings in a packet. These receive signals are loaded into a corner turner memory, and a high pass filter (wall filter) is applied to each downrange position across firings, i.e., in "slow time". In the simplest case of a (1, -1) wall filter, each range point is filtered to produce the respective difference signals: EQU (F.sub.1 -F.sub.2) (F.sub.2 -F.sub.3) (F.sub.3 -F.sub.4) . . . (FN.sub.N-1 -F.sub.N) and these differences are supplied to a color flow velocity estimator. One of the advantages of Doppler ultrasound is that it can provide noninvasive and quantitative measurements of blood flow in vessels. Given the angle .theta. between the insonifying beam and the flow axis, the magnitude of the velocity vector can be determined by the standard Doppler equation: EQU .nu.=c.function..sub.d /(2.function..sub.0 cos .theta.) (1) where c is the speed of sound in blood, .function..sub.0 is the transmit frequency and .function..sub.d is the motion-induced Doppler frequency shift in the backscattered ultrasound. A conventional ultrasound imaging system collects B-mode or color flow mode images in a cine memory on a continuous basis. The cine memory provides resident digital image storage for single image review and multiple image loop review, and various control functions. The region of interest displayed during single-image cine replay is that used during the image acquisition. If an ultrasound probe is swept over an area of interest, two-dimensional images may be accumulated to form a three-dimensional data volume. The data in this volume may be manipulated in a number of ways, including volume rendering and surface projections. In particular, three-dimensional images of power and velocity data have been formed by projecting the maximum pixel values onto an imaging plane. In this process, noise is introduced due to inherent error in estimating the velocity of power level because of a multiplicity of small scatterers present in most body fluids (e.g., red cells in blood). Noise present in the velocity and power signals causes errors in selection of the maximum value and affects uniformity within the projected image and sharpness of edges. Thus, there is need for a method for improving the uniformity and edge sharpness of three-dimensional images of velocity and power data.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum pump with a dust collecting function for use when a vessel for a process, in which various processes of productions by reaction or melting and crystallization processes are carried out under a reduced pressure atmosphere evacuated by a vacuum pump, is used. The process may be a process of epitaxial growth for producing monocrystalline film of silicon, in which an amount of dust is produced when the reaction process or a melting and crystallization process take place and the produced dust flows into the vacuum pump together with the existing gas. 2. Description of the Related Arts In general, the process of productions by reaction and the melting and crystallization processes in a vessel for processing under a reduced pressure are carried out in vacuum. Therefore, the specific gravity of the gas which flows into a vacuum pump is very small. When the gas, together with the dust, flows into the vacuum pump, the gas flows appropriately but has less ability to convey the dust, and therefore a greater portion of the dust is accumulated in the vacuum pump. In prior arts, the increased amount of the accumulated dust prevents the satisfactory running of the vacuum pump to cause difficulty in continuing the running of the vacuum pump so that frequent operations to remove the dust in the vacuum pump are needed. Also, there is a problem that, if the sizes of grains of the dust which flows together with the gas into the vacuum pump are large, the internal structures of the vacuum pump, such as rotors, collect the grains of the dust to which can lead to a failure or a stoppage of the vacuum pump. To prevent dust from flowing into the vacuum pump attempts have been made to separate the dust by providing filters or the like between the vacuum pump and the dust producing device. There is a problem, however, in that the dust causes blocking of the through-paths in the filter which are then greatly reduced. The effective evacuation performance of the vacuum pump for the process of production by reaction and the melting and crystallization in the vessel for processing prevent the reaction process and the melting and crystallization in the vessel for processing from continuing. It is possible to provide a dust separator for separating dust utilizing the flow of gas, such as a cyclone type separator, between the vacuum pump and the vessel for processing. However, in this case, to reduce the loss of the pressure by the cyclone type separator, if the cross-sectional area of the gas flow in the separator is increased, no sufficient gas flow velocity is obtained so that the satisfactory separation of the dust cannot be realized in the cyclone type separator. Since the process is carried out under high degree of vacuum in the vessel for processing, the amount of the flow of the gas entering into the vessel, coming out from the vessel and being sent to the vacuum pump is relatively small. Therefore, the ability of the vacuum pump to transfer the dust to discharge the dust is low, and accordingly the dust tends to be accumulated in the vacuum pump to lead to a stoppage of the vacuum pump. Since the dust is discharged together with the gas from the vacuum pump, a large amount of dust flows into the exhaust gas processing system. Therefore, there is a problem that the exhaust gas processing system is quickly contaminated and this prevents the functioning of the system.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to continuous thickeners, clarifiers and similar gravititational settling devices for separating feed slurries or pulps into clarified liquid and sludge and is particularly concerned with a method and device for controlling the operation or design of such settling devices. 2. Description of the Prior Art Continuous thickeners, clarifiers and similar gravitational settling devices are widely used in the chemical and metallurgical industries for the removal of liquids from slurries, metallurgical pulps, sewage and other liquid-solid suspensions. Such devices generally include a circular tank having a cylindrical center feedwell which extends downwardly into the vessel and is open at the bottom. The incoming slurry or pulp passes through a feed pipe or launder into the upper part of this central feedwell and is introduced into the surrounding liquid through the bottom of the feedwell in a manner designed to create a minimum of turbulence. This makes it possible to contain the bulk of the solids near the center of the unit. On leaving the feedwell, the liquid entering with the pulp or slurry tends to move outwardly in a radial direction and flow upwardly toward a peripheral overflow launder. The solids suspended in the slurry or pulp settle downwardly through the slow-moving liquid and accumulate on the bottom of the unit. These solids are compacted as they accumulate and are slowly moved toward a bottom sludge discharge opening by means of slowly rotating rakes suspended a short distance above the bottom. The rakes aid in compacting the sludge and reduce its liquid content. During the normal operation of a thickener, decanter, clarifier or similar continuous gravity settling device of the type referred to above, a series of relatively well-defined, vertically-spaced zones exist within the settler. The uppermost of these zones comprises a layer of clear liquid from which most of the solids have settled out. Below this is an intermediate layer containing suspended solid particles which is generally referred to as the settling zone. The interface between the clear solution and the settling zone may be referred to as the upper boundary or slime level. At the bottom of the unit is a layer of settled sludge. Such a system is a dynamic one characterized by the movement of liquid and solid particles between the above zones. The levels of the three zones may vary considerably, depending upon the feed stream, operating conditions and other variables. To achieve maximum capacity with such a settling unit, it has generally been thought that the upper boundary should be maintained as close to the top of the unit as possible and that only a relatively thin layer of clarified solution be maintained above the floc layer. It is conventional to add flocculants or coagulants to thickeners, decanters, clarifiers and similar settling devices to increase their capacity. These materials cause the suspended particles in the slurry or pulp to flocculate or agglomerate and thus settle more rapidly. The amount of flocculant or the like which is required at any particular moment depends in part upon the slurry or pulp feed rate, the solids content of the feed, the solids size range and distribution, the densities of the solid particles, and the temperature and other operating conditions. Under constant conditions, the amount of flocculant needed to achieve maximum capacity in a particular gravity settling unit is generally determined by trial and error. However, in actual practice the conditions may change due to variations in the amount and compositions of the solid suspended in the feed stream and other variables over which the operator of the unit may have relatively little or no control. Adjustments of the amount of flocculant added to the system is therefore necessary to compensate for the variations and maintain the desired capacity and degree of separation while at the same time keeping operating costs within acceptable bounds by eliminating overflocculation, and its related problems in downstream operations such as in the final polishing filtration. It has been common practice to use the upper boundary of the settling zone within a settler as a measure of the settler's performance and to monitor this level as a means for determining the need for changes in the flocculant rate. In general, the higher the upper boundary, the more flocculant that is needed. This location of the upper boundary has generally been done manually by means of measuring sticks lowered into the vessel near the outer edge of the unit. Vacuum tubes, depth samplers, ultrasonic probes may also be used. The upper boundary is, however, not a direct measure of the settling characteristics of solids in the pulp or slurry and instead is the result of the combination of variables, including flocculant type and flow rate, solids feed rate, solids and liquid characteristics, mixing etc. There is normally a long time lag between the changes in the rate of addition of flocculant and corresponding changes in the upper boundary and hence the operator must estimate the amount of change in the rate of addition of flocculant which will be needed to produce a desired change in upper boundary. If he overestimates or underestimates the change in rate required, the unit may become unstable and eventually have to be shut down to avoid overloading or the carryover of solids. The upper boundary therefore provides at best a visible means for assessing the state of the thickener or clarifier operation and, if it increases progressively, it may serve as an delayed warning that the capacity of the settler has been exceeded. Attempts have also been made to control the operation of a settler by sampling the incoming feed slurry to the feedwell at regular intervals downstream of the point at which flocculant is added to the feed slurry. The samples thus collected are passed to a laboratory sized gravity separation vessel where representative settling can take place. By sensing the interface level between the liquid and solid phases in the separation vessel and adjusting the rate of flocculant addition to the feed stream in accordance with variations in the level of the interface during operation of the system, it was hoped that the rate of addition of flocculant could be controlled automatically and that the flocculant consumption could be thereby substantially reduced. However, attempts to develop such a system in the past were abandoned because none was capable of providing reliable data necessary for the control and operation of a full size commercial settler. One example of sampling equipment for measuring sedimentation rate is that described in Parker et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,296, issued Mar. 9, 1982. This system includes a sampling chamber for a sample to be tested, Elmer means for controlling a control means to stop the feed of suspension to the sampling chamber and means for retaining the height of the sample at a preselected level in the sampling chamber during a settling period. It also includes detector means for detecting when a boundary level defined by the settling solids in the sample in the sampling chamber reaches a further preselected level. The timer means determines the period of time elapsing between the stare of the settling period when the height of the sample is at the preselected level and the time when the detector means detects that the boundary level has reached the further preselected level. Another control system is described in Valheim, "Flocculant Optimization Cuts Chemical Costs and Boosts Performance"; Process Control in Engineering; August 1990, pp. 34-35. That system measures continuously the concentration of suspended solids in the total flow of incoming slurry, the flow raze of the slurry and the turbidity of the material leaving the full size industrial settling unit. The turbidity is the control parameter for the flocculant dosage system. In Eisenlauer et al "Z. Wasser Abwasser Forsch." 16, (1983) pp. 9-15 there is described a process for the control of flocculant to a settler which involves adding a varying amount of flocculant to a side stream of the suspension to be treated, and passing this mixture through a flow-through cell where the particle size distribution of the flocs is measured by a laser light scattering. This information determines the concentration at which flocculation begins, and the size and strength of the flocs. Other control attempts have been made directly to full size settling devices such as that described in Chandler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,954, issued Aug. 9, 1977. This describes a process for controlling the settling rate by measuring continuously the turbidity of the suspension at a selected height in the full size settling vessel. The position corresponds to the upper limit of cloudy liquor or floc layer above the bottom layer of mud in a state of hindered settlement. This is done by measuring the light transmittance through a continuous sample withdrawn from the settling vessel, using a light beam from a light source directed through a curtain of liquor. When the turbidity is higher than the desired set point, indicating that the interface is going higher, the amount of flocculant is increased. It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved testing system for measuring the settling characteristics of slurries and flocculant samples and using the results to either control a full size continuous industrial gravity settler or to construct such a full size settler.

Conventionally, in the field of handicraft such as patchworking, various tools for facilitating the making of handicraft have been proposed. For instance, Patent Document 1 given below discloses a pattern set for facilitating the work of cutting cloth in making a patchwork. Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-169238 A yo-yo quilt is known as one of patchwork quilts which has excellent decoration effect. A yo-yo quilt is made using e.g. a plurality of circular quilt parts (yo-yos). To make a yo-yo quilt, a plurality of yo-yos are first formed. A yo-yo is formed by folding back the edge of circular cloth, sewing the cloth along folded edge and then pulling and knotting the thread tightly. As shown in FIG. 19 of the present application, the yo-yo made in this way has a circular shape formed with gathers on the front side. By connecting a plurality of such yo-yos by sewing the respective edges together or sewing the connected yo-yos onto cloth as the base, a yo-yo quilt is completed. Yo-yo quilts require a large number of yo-yos depending on the design, and to make a large number of yo-yos may be a burden. Further, to make a large number of yo-yos of uniform size and gathers requires experiences and skills.

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as, for example, voice, video, packet data, messaging, or broadcast. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks. A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs), also referred to as mobile devices or mobile entities. A UE may communicate with a base station via a downlink and an uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station. As used herein, a “base station” means an eNode B (eNB), a Node B, a Home Node B, or similar network component of a wireless communications system. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) represents a major advance in cellular technology as an evolution of Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The LTE physical layer (PHY) provides a highly efficient way to convey both data and control information between base stations, such as an evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and mobile devices, such as UEs. In prior applications, a method for facilitating high bandwidth communication for multimedia has been single frequency network (SFN) operation. SFNs utilize radio transmitters, such as, for example, eNBs, to communicate with subscriber UEs. In unicast operation, each eNB is controlled so as to transmit signals carrying information directed to one or more particular subscriber UEs. The specificity of unicast signaling enables person-to-person services such as, for example, voice calling, text messaging, or video calling. In multicast broadcast operation, several eNBs in an area broadcast signals in a synchronized fashion, carrying information that can be received and accessed by any subscriber UE in the broadcast area. The generality of multicast broadcast operation enables greater efficiency in transmitting information of general public interest, for example, event-related multimedia broadcasts. As the demand and system capability for event-related multimedia and other multicast broadcast services has increased, system operators have shown increasing interest in making use of multicast broadcast operation in 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks. In the past, 3GPP LTE technology has been primarily used for unicast service, leaving opportunities for improvements and enhancements related to multicast broadcast signaling. Analogous multicast operations may also be implemented in wireless communications outside of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 context.

Often touted as the holy-grail of gaming, three dimensional (3D) gaming has not yet reached the commercial success desired by many game developers and suppliers. There are several problems associated with 3D gaming. 3D displays for the home market are not readily available. Typical displays are single-purpose, in that a display is configured either for two-dimensional (2D) rendering or 3D rendering, but not both. Displays configured to render in both 2D and 3D are typically prohibitively expensive. Further, very little 3D game content exists. Content producers typically do not want to invest in a new technology until the technology is proven and consumers typically do not want to invest in the technology if there is limited content available. Additionally, true 3D content requires multiple cameras to film objects from different viewpoints.

In such a digitizing device, as has become known from, e.g., West German Patent No. DE-PS 19,43,217, the scanning element is moved manually in two mutually perpendicular coordinate directions over a defined curve path. At predetermined points on this curve path, coordinate signals, which correspond to the actual position of the scanning element, are generated automatically or manually via a release element. These signals are sent to a memory. The prior-art digitizing devices have a highly sophisticated design and are therefore expensive.

E-selectin, which has also been called ELAM-1 for endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 and LECAM-2 for lectin cell adhesion molecule, is a glycoprotein that is found on the surface of endothelial cells, the cells that line the interior wall of capillaries. E-selectin recognizes and binds to the carbohydrate sialyl-Lewis.sup.x (sLe.sup.x), which is present on the surface of certain white blood cells. E-selectin helps white blood cells recognize and adhere to the capillary wall in areas where the tissue surrounding the capillary has been infected or damaged. E-selectin is actually one of three selectins now known. The other two are L-selectin and P-selectin. P-selectin is expressed on inflamed endothelium and platelets, and has much structural similarity to E-selectin and can also recognize sialyl-Lewis.sup.x. The structure of sialyl-Lewis.sup.x and sialyl-Lewis.sup.a (sLe.sup.a) are shown in formulas I.sub.a and I.sub.b below: ##STR2## When a tissue has been invaded by a microorganism or has been damaged, white blood cells, also called leukocytes, play a major role in the inflammatory response. One of the most important aspects of the inflammatory response involves the cell adhesion event. Generally, white blood cells are found circulating through the bloodstream. However, when a tissue is infected or becomes damaged, the white blood cells must be able to recognize the invaded or damaged tissue and be able to bind to the wall of the capillary near the affected tissue and diffuse through the capillary into the affected tissue. E-selectin helps two particular types of white blood cells recognize the affected sites and bind to the capillary wall so that these white blood cells may diffuse into the affected tissue. There are three main types of white blood cells: granulocytes, monocytes and lymphocytes. Of these categories, E-selectin recognizes sLe.sup.x presented as a glycoprotein or glycolipid on the surface of monocytes and neutrophils. Neutrophils are a subclass of granulocytes that phagocytose and destroy small organisms, especially bacteria. Monocytes, after leaving the bloodstream through the wall of a capillary, mature into macrophages that phagocytose and digest invading microorganisms, foreign bodies and senescent cells. Monocytes and neutrophils are able to recognize the site where tissue has been damaged by binding to E-selectin, which is produced on the surface of the endothelial cells lining capillaries when the tissue surrounding a capillary has been infected or damaged. Typically, the production of E- and P-selectins are increased when the tissue adjacent a capillary is affected. P-selectin is present constitutively in storage granules from which it can be rapidly mobilized to the cell surface after the endothelium has been activated. In contrast, E-selectin requires de novo RNA and protein synthesis, and peak expression does not occur until about 4-6 hours after activation, and declines to basal levels after about 24-48 hours. White blood cells recognize affected areas because sLe.sup.x moieties present on the surface of the white blood cells bind to E- and P-selectin. This binding slows the flow of white blood cells through the bloodstream, since it mediates the rolling of leukocytes along the activated endothelium prior to integrin mediated attachment and migration, and helps to localize white blood cells in areas of injury or infection. While white blood cell migration to the site of injury helps fight infection and destroy foreign material, in many instances this migration can get out of control, with white blood cells flooding to the scene, causing widespread tissue damage. Compounds capable of blocking this process, therefore, may be beneficial as therapeutic agents. Thus, it would be useful to develop inhibitors that would prevent the binding of white blood cells to E- or P-selectin. For example, some of the diseases that might be treated by the inhibition of selectin binding to sLe.sup.x include, but are not limited to, ARDS, Crohn's disease, septic shock, traumatic shock, multi-organ failure, autoimmune diseases, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and reperfusion injury that occurs following heart attacks, strokes and organ transplants. In addition to being found on some white blood cells, sLe.sup.a, a closely related regiochemical isomer of sLe.sup.x, is found on various cancer cells, including lung and colon cancer cells. It has been suggested that cell adhesion involving sLe.sup.a may be involved in the metastasis of certain cancers and that inhibitors of sLe.sup.a binding may be useful in the treatment of some forms of cancer.

The invention relates to a top for a convertible vehicle, comprising a rigid, moveable roof part with an outer surface and an inner surface, a linkage, it being possible for the linkage to be moved in relation to the roof part during an opening movement of the convertible top, and a cover which is designed as a flexible, sheet-like element. A basic problem with the construction of such modern tops for convertible is vehicles, which usually comprise a plurality of roof parts designed as rigid shell parts, is that the linkage parts which pivot the roof parts are moved relative to the roof parts during an opening movement of the convertible top, with the result that it is not possible to provide a continuous inside roof lining to cover over the linkage parts in the closed state of the convertible top. It is therefore generally the case that the linkage parts, which in the closed state of the convertible top are usually arranged parallel, and along the border beneath the solid shell parts, in link channels, remain visible to the passengers in the vehicle. Already known solutions for covering the linkage parts by means of brush strips or rigid flaps are either inadequate from an aesthetic point of view or complex and costly to produce. German Patent Document DE 40 31 270 C1 describes means for attaching an inside roof lining of a convertible top with a linkage and a flexible outer covering, pulling means which are guided on moveable linkage parts being used to tension the inside roof lining during a closing movement of the convertible top and, conversely, to release the same at the beginning of an opening movement of the convertible top. Such an arrangement does not provide any solution for the problems which arise specifically in the case of hard-shell tops, and are brought about by linkage parts pivoting to a large extent relative to the hard roof-shell parts.

Automotive vehicles are typically equipped with various user actuatable switches, such as switches for operating devices including powered windows, headlights, windshield wipers, moonroofs or sunroofs, interior lighting, radio and infotainment devices, and various other devices. Generally, these types of switches need to be actuated by a user in order to activate or deactivate a device or perform some type of control function. Proximity switches, such as capacitive switches, employ one or more proximity sensors to generate a sense activation field and sense changes to the activation field indicative of user actuation of the switch, typically caused by a user's finger in close proximity or contact with the sensor. Capacitive switches are typically configured to detect user actuation of the switch based on comparison of the sense activation field to a threshold. Switch assemblies often employ a plurality of capacitive switches in close proximity to one another and generally require that a user select a single desired capacitive switch to perform the intended operation. In some applications, such as use in an automobile, the driver of the vehicle has limited ability to view the switches due to driver distraction. In such applications, it is desirable to allow the user to explore the switch assembly for a specific button while avoiding a premature determination of switch activation. Thus, it is desirable to discriminate whether the user intends to activate a switch, or is simply exploring for a specific switch button while focusing on a higher priority task, such as driving, or has no intent to activate a switch. Capacitive switches may be manufactured using thin film technology in which a conductive ink mixed with a solvent is printed and cured to achieve an electrical circuit layout. Capacitive switches can be adversely affected by condensation. For example, as humidity changes, changes in condensation may change the capacitive signal. The change in condensation may be sufficient to trigger a faulty activation. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for a proximity switch arrangement which enhances the use of proximity switches by a person, such as a driver of a vehicle. It is further desirable to provide for a proximity switch arrangement that reduces or prevents false activations due to condensation events.

A conventional laser beam level instrument is quite complex for its structure or mechanism and also occupies a larger volume. The automatic optical levelling, plumbing and verticality-determining apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,540 also granted to the same inventor of this application includes a frame (3) for securing the illuminators (6, 7, 8) and the plumb device (4) on the frame (3) rotatably mounted on the base (1), easily causing precision problem by such a rotatable mechanism; and a longer stem (42) for mounting the plumb device (4) on the stem on the frame (3), thereby increasing the total height of the instrument and causing unstable standing and inconvenient handling of the instrument. The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional laser levelling or calibrating instrument and invented the present compact optical calibrating apparatus. The object of the present invention is to provide a compact optical calibrating apparatus including: a housing having a base formed on a bottom of the housing, a horizontality calibrator universally pendulously mounted in the housing, a plurality of illuminators embedded or secured in a plumb pendulously secured to the horizontality calibrator, and a switch device pivotally secured in the housing for switching on or off a power source supplied to the illuminators and for braking or releasing the pendulous movement of the plumb; whereby upon embedding of the illuminators in the plumb, the height and volume of the calibrating apparatus is decreased for obtaining a compact optical calibrating instrument.

Various tumors express oligosaccharide sequences which are different from the non-malignant glycosylation of the same cell or tissue type. Examples of the known or speculated cancer associated oligosaccharide structures include: glycolipid structures such as globo-H (Fucα2Galβ3GalNAcβ3Galα4LacβCer), gangliosides: GM1 Galβ3GalNAcβ4(NeuNAcα3)LacβCer or GD2 GalNAcβ4(NeuNAcα8NeuNAcα3)LacβCer; Lewis-type fucosylated structures such as Lewis a and x: Galβ3/4(Fucα4/3)GlcNAc, Lewis y: Fucα2Galβ4(Fucα3)GlcNAc, sialyl-Lewis x: NeuNAcα3Galβ4(Fucα3)GlcNAc, and some combinations of these on polylactosamine chains; O-glycan core structures, such as T-antigen Galβ3GalNAcαSer/Thr-Protein, Tn-antigen GalNAcαSer/Thr-Protein or sialyl Tn-antigen NeuNAcα6GalNAcαSer/Thr-Protein. Presence of non-human structures such as N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid in cancers has also been indicated. Association and specificity of oligosaccharide structures with regard to cancers have been well established only in few cases, some of the structures are present in normal cells and tissues and are possibly only more concentrated in cancers. One report has indicated that structures with terminal GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAc sequence are present in human leukaemia cells (Hu et al., 1994). The structures may also be equally present on normal leukocytes. Thus, the relation of the finding to glycosylation patterns generally present in solid tumors was not indicated. This type of saccharide structures may be a part of rare normal glycosylations of human tissues: GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAcβ6 sequence linked on O-glycans is probably present on human gastric mucin. A study shows that a monoclonal antibody recognizing GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAcβ6 sequence may possibly recognize similar structures on malignant tissues, such as mucinous ovarian neoplasms, pseudopyloric metaplasia of gallbladder and pancreatic epithelia, gastric differentiated carcinoma of stomach, gallbladder and pancreas, and on non-malignant tissues, such as human amniotic fluid, but, however, the structures from malignant tissues were not characterized (Hanisch et al., 1993). The antibody did not recognize neoglycolipid structure GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAcβ3Galβ4 nor carcinomas of lung, colorectum, endometrium or other organs. Another monoclonal antibody raised against testicular cells probably recognizes branched N-acetyllactosamines such as GlcNAcβ3(GlcNAcβ6)Galβ4GlcNAc- (Symington et al., 1984). Terminal GlcNAc has also been reported from mucins of human foetal mucin (Hounsell et al., 1989). In normal tissues terminal GlcNAc may be present in minor amounts as biosynthetic intermediates in the biosynthesis of poly-N-acetyllactosamines. Several monoclonal antibodies has been raised against a semisynthetic glycolipid GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAcβ3LacβCer, these antibodies were shown to recognize glycolipids from cultured colon cancer cell lines and tumors (Holmes et al., 1991). However, the antibodies recognized several structures and the binding data was contradictory. Moreover the glycolipids were not recognized by all of the antibodies and the glycolipid structures from cancer cells or tumors were not characterized. Therefore the presence of terminal GlcNAc structures on tumors were not established. Another study showed production of a monoclonal antibody against GlcNAcβ3LacβCer (Nakamura et al., 1993). This antibody also weakly recognized the pentasaccharide structure described above. Moreover, the antibody recognized a protease sensitive epitope on COS-1 cells, which cell line is not of human origin. The immunization protocols of these studies did not describe induced antibody responses against polyvalent conjugates of the saccharides, but immunization by glycolipids. Normally there are large amounts of antibodies recognizing terminal GlcNAc structures in human serum. There are also a class of natural antibodies recognizing terminal Galα3Galβ4GlcNAc- structures. The Galα antigen is not naturally present in man and recently it was also shown that the natural antibodies bind structures such as GalNAcα3Galβ4GlcNAc, GalNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAc, and GlcNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAc (Teneberg et al., 1996). The X2-structure, GalNAcβ3Galβ4GlcNAc, is a normal antigen on human tissues and structures GalNAcα3Galβ4GlcNAc and Galα3Galβ4GlcNAc have not been described from normal or cancer tissues. Thus, the present finding that the terminal GlcNAc structure is a tumor antigen indicates that the actual function of the natural antibodies might be the prevention of cancers having terminal GlcNAc structures. The following patents describe cancer antigens and their use for making antibodies for therapeutic and diagnostic uses and for cancer vaccines. The antigen structures are not related to saccharides of the present invention: Cancer vaccines: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,663; 5,660,834; 5,747,048; 5,229,289 and 6,083,929. Therapeutic antibodies: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,851,511; 4,904,596; 5,874,060; 6,025,481 and 5,795,961. Diagnostics: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,725,557; 5,059,520; 5,171,667; 5,173,292; 6,090,789; 5,708,163; 5,679,769; 5,543,505; 5,902,725 and 6,203,999. In the prior art tumor diagnostic and therapeutic antibodies recognizing chitobiose-mannose trisaccharides has been described in DE 38 07 594 A1. The application also describes other N-glycans with numerous varying terminal structures some of which may also comprise non-reducing terminal N-acetyl glucosamine. Several of the desired structures have been later characterized as normal glycans and not cancer specific structures. The application claims to describe structures useful for cancer applications. However, it is not quite clear from the application what the structures of desired glycan are. It is indicated that the GlcNAc residues can be α2, α4, or α6-linked. The present invention is not directed to such unusual structures. Another patent application WO 00/21552 claims several unusual O-glycan structures isolated from bovine submaxillary mucin. Some of the structures such as GlcNAcβ6GalNAcα6GalNAc and GalNAcβ3(GlcNAcβ6)GalNAc comprise terminal GlcNAc-residues. Present invention is not directed to these structures comprising two GalNAc-residues. The application contains speculation about potential therapeutic use of the structures as antigens related to cancer. It has not been shown that the structures are related to bovine cancer but the structures are present in bovine normal submaxillary secretion. Moreover, it is even less probable that the structures would be present in human tissues, as the glycosylations are species specific and vary between human and bovine, so that glycosyltransferase and glycosylation profiles are different in bovine and human. The human genome is also known and glycosyltransferases which could be related to synthesis of the claimed bovine structures has not been produced and characterized. So far none of the six novel glycosyltransferases claimed has been described from human, or human cancer (nor from bovine cancer). Moreover, any bovine glycosylations has not been found from human salivary mucins which have been carefully characterized.

Known couplings, of the type defined above employ an exterior power means such as a source of fluid under pressure (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,315 and FR-A-2,187,051 and 1,085,087).

In recent years, technologies have emerged which can provide high density electrical interconnections between an integrated circuit (IC) chip and a substrate to form IC assemblies, otherwise known as IC packages. These technologies for forming electrical connections between an IC chip and a substrate are commonly known as wire bonding, tape-automatic bonding (TAB) and solder flip-chip bonding. Although, all these bonding techniques can be used to form high density electrical interconnections, the use of one particular technique over another is typically dictated by the desired number and spacing of the electrical connections on the IC chip and the substrate, as well as the permissible cost for assembling the IC package. In a comparison of these three techniques, wire bonding is the most common technique for electrically connecting an IC chip to a substrate. This is due to that fact that this technique provides the maximum number of chip connections with the lowest cost per connection. A disadvantage of wire bonding is that inductance present in the wires used in connecting the IC chip to the substrate degrades the electrical performance of the assembled IC package. Moreover, since the wires connect perimeter connections of the IC chip to contacts on the substrate in areas not occupied by the IC chip, wire bonding electrical interconnects require a relatively large surface area of the substrate. Lastly, since wire bonding requires each connection between the IC chip and the substrate to be made one at a time, the process of electrically interconnecting an IC chip to a substrate using the wire bonding technique is somewhat time consuming. TAB bonding permits a higher density of electrical interconnects when compared to wire bonding. However, TAB bonding is more expensive than wire bonding because TAB bonding requires special tooling for each different IC chip design. Also, like wire bonding, TAB bonding requires perimeter connections and therefore a relatively large surface area of the substrate to accomplish the IC chip and substrate electrical interconnect. Moreover, like wire bonding, undesirable inductance as a result of TAB bonding degrades the electrical performance of the IC chip circuitry. Flip-chip bonding is achieved by providing an IC chip with an area array of solder wettable contact pads which comprise the signal terminals on the chip. A matching footprint of solder wettable contact pads are provided on the substrate. Before assembly onto the substrate, solder bumps are deposited on the metal pads of the chip and/or the substrate. The chip is then placed upside down on the upper surface of the substrate such that the metal pads (solder bumps) of the chip are in alignment with the metal pads (solder bumps) of the substrate. All connections between the chip and the substrate are then made simultaneously by heating the solder bumps to a reflow temperature at which the solder flows and an electrically conductive joint is formed between the contact pads of the IC chip and the substrate. When compared to wire bonding and TAB bonding, flip-chip bonding of an IC chip to a substrate provides the advantage of requiring less surface area on the substrate, and thereby facilitates high-density interconnections commonly required in IC assemblies. Since the interconnections between the substrate and the IC chip in flip-chip bonding are short, well controlled electrical characteristics are provided, and undesirable inductance that can degrade the electrical performance of the IC chip circuitry is minimized. In other words, high speed signals are thus propagated in and through the packaged integrated circuits with minimum delay and distortion. There is a need for improved integrated circuit assemblies. In particular there is a need for an improved integrated circuit assembly that can be assembled using flip-chip bonding techniques to achieve a packaged integrated circuit having low interconnect capacitance, thereby improving signal speed and eliminating some need for off chip driver cells. The improved integrated circuit assembly should provide these features while being amenable to high volume low defect manufacturing.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates primarily to the treatment of cereal grains to recover the starch and protein fractions. 2. Description of the Art Practices U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,938 issued to Kerkkonen et al on Apr. 20, 1976 describes a process for separating the components of a cereal grain into a starch and gluten fraction. The '938 process is stated to be advantageous over the Martin process which while initially using small quantities of water eventually uses larger quantities of water than the '938 process. The differences between the presently described process and the '938 process are described in detail infra. The agglomeration of protein is a necessary step as conventional processing requires that the protein be screened to be recovered. The larger the agglomerates of protein are, the easier the screening process is conducted. More importantly, when the protein is efficiently agglomerated less is lost to the waste stream. Throughout the specification and claims percentages and ratios are by weight and temperatures are in degrees Celsius unless otherwise noted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,938 is herein incorporated by reference.

Semiconductor light-emitting devices including light emitting diodes (LEDs), resonant cavity light emitting diodes (RCLEDs), vertical cavity laser diodes (VCSELs), and edge emitting lasers are among the most efficient light sources currently available. Materials systems currently of interest in the manufacture of high-brightness light emitting devices capable of operation across the visible spectrum include Group III-V semiconductors, particularly binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys of gallium, aluminum, indium, and nitrogen, also referred to as III-nitride materials. Typically, III-nitride light emitting devices are fabricated by epitaxially growing a stack of semiconductor layers of different compositions and dopant concentrations on a sapphire, silicon carbide, III-nitride, or other suitable substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), or other epitaxial techniques. The stack often includes one or more n-type layers doped with, for example, Si, formed over the substrate, one or more light emitting layers in an active region formed over the n-type layer or layers, and one or more p-type layers doped with, for example, Mg, formed over the active region. Electrical contacts are formed on the n- and p-type regions. A light emitting device such as an LED is often combined with a wavelength converting material such as a phosphor. FIGS. 1A-1E are side cross-sectional views illustrating process steps needed to fabricate a wavelength conversion chip, described in more detail in US 2012/0086028. The process is described as follows in US 2012/0086028: The first step in the process for forming wavelength conversion chips is to select a substrate 100, which is shown in a side cross-sectional view in FIG. 1A. The substrate provides a physical support for the subsequent deposition of the wavelength conversion layer. Substrate 100 has a bottom surface 120 and a top surface 140 opposite bottom surface 120. Substrate 100 can be a polymeric material or an inorganic material. See, for example, paragraph 77. The next process step is to deposit a wavelength conversion layer 200 on the top surface 140 of substrate 100 as illustrated in a side cross-sectional view in FIG. 1B. The wavelength conversion layer 200 has a bottom surface 220 in direct contact with the top surface 140 of substrate 100 and a top surface 240. The wavelength conversion layer 200 is formed from wavelength conversion materials. The wavelength conversion materials absorb light in a first wavelength range and emit light in a second wavelength range, where the light of a second wavelength range has longer wavelengths than the light of a first wavelength range. The wavelength conversion materials may be, for example, phosphor materials or quantum dot materials. The phosphor materials may be in the form of powders, ceramics, thin film solids or bulk solids. See, for example, paragraphs 78 and 79. The next process step is an optional annealing step, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, to thermally anneal or radiation anneal 300 the wavelength conversion layer 200 in order to increase the wavelength conversion efficiency of the layer or, in the case of a phosphor powder, to sinter the powder to form a ceramic layer. See, for example, paragraph 85. The next process step is to segment the wavelength conversion layer 200 into a plurality of wavelength conversion chips 500. Grooves or streets 400 are formed through the wavelength conversion layer 200 as shown in a side cross-sectional view in FIG. 1D. The streets 400 are fabricated in two directions (only one direction is shown) to form a plurality of wavelength conversion chips 500 that can be square, rectangular or any other planar geometric shape. See, for example, paragraph 88. The final step is to remove the plurality of wavelength conversion chips 500 from substrate 100. For example, the plurality of wavelength conversion chips 500 can be removed by directing a pulsed laser beam 600 though substrate 100 to destroy the adhesion of the bottom surface 220 of the wavelength conversion layer 200 to the top surface 140 of the substrate 100 as shown in a side cross-sectional view in FIG. 1E. See, for example, paragraph 89.

In connection with the field of corrosive fluids transport, coupling assemblies are already known for connecting a tube to a body part of another component, comprising a ring part mounted on the periphery of the tube and receiving at one end a curved end portion of the tube, and wherein the sealing is achieved by axially clamping the curved end portion of the tube against a receiving surface through said ring. A connector assembly of this type is described, for example, in patent application EP 0 584 009. However, this connector assembly has the disadvantage of not being easily adaptable to the connection of tubes of different diameters.

Currently a health care provider (for example, a doctor) does not know at the time of service what portion of the doctor's bill for services will be the patient's responsibility and what portion will be paid by a payer (for example, an insurance company). Only after the patient's visit is the patient responsibility amount determined. This patient responsibility amount is determined by the doctor and the payer in what is called an “adjudication”. This means that the doctor typically cannot bill the patient at the time of service, but rather must wait until the amount is known to bill the patient for the patient responsibility amount. The result is paperwork, administrative expense, and a delay in collection. If the patient later chooses not to pay, the expense to the doctor of collecting payment from the patient may be so great that the doctor elects just to write off the uncollected amount. A solution is desired.

Mechanical equipment refers to a machine or machinery that is formed of a defined arrangement of multiple components. A component may represent a part, an assembly of parts, a subassembly of a part, an element, or another constituent of a machine. A component is not limited to mechanical elements and is broadly defined to include an electrical assembly, an electrical system, an electronic system, a computer controller, software, or the like. Mechanical equipment includes heavy equipment and capital-intensive equipment that is movable or fixed. Mobile mechanical equipment includes airplanes, busses, locomotives, ships, cranes, heavy trucks, earth-moving equipment, or the like. Fixed mechanical equipment includes electrical power generators, industrial presses, manufacturing equipment, or the like. A configuration defines the identity of the components (e.g., parts), a specification of the components, and the relationship among the arrangement of components of the mechanical equipment, among other things. Because some components are interchangeable with substitutes, the configuration of mechanical equipment may vary throughout a life span of the mechanical equipment as equipment-related work (e.g., maintenance, repair, or overhaul work) is performed. The configuration of mechanical equipment may change because of a revision of product definitions or a review (e.g., a financial and performance review) of the mechanical equipment. Further, even during the manufacturing process, the manufacturer of the mechanical equipment may substitute different components (e.g., parts) from different suppliers to customize the mechanical equipment, to meet a certain technical specifications for the mechanical equipment, or to save manufacturing costs on the mechanical equipment. For example, the manufacturer may change technical specifications of mechanical equipment to rectify manufacturing anomalies or to facilitate more reliable production. Thus, standard as-built documentation on the mechanical equipment may contain erroneous information on the configuration of the equipment. Maintenance, overhaul and repair personnel may keep few records of the actual configuration of the equipment because of over-reliance on the manufacturer's specifications, manuals, and as-built documentation. Even if configuration records are available, the records may be difficult to use or access. Thus, a need exists for promoting the maintenance of accurate records on equipment-related work with ready access to maintenance, overhaul and repair personnel. In the context of an airplane as the mechanical equipment, the airplane may be viewed as a member of a fleet subject to the fleet specifications in general manuals, rather than a unique configuration. If generalizations from the fleet specifications are applied to an airplane, the generalization may not apply because of changes in the configuration made during maintenance (e.g., maintenance, repair or overhaul) or earlier manufacturing changes. While the practical experience of the mechanic or technician may overcome the informational gap between the documentation and the actual configuration, such practical experience is often communicated inefficiently by word of mouth and documentation may be unavailable. Moreover, repair and maintenance may become more costly where the mechanic or technician needs to figure out the implications of departures from expected or wrongly documented configurations on an ad-hoc basis. The operator or owner of the mechanical equipment may operate equipment with a sub-optimal configuration that does not comply with a desired technical specification because of a lack of adequate procedures for identification of the desired technical specification and tracking compliance with the desired technical specification. For example, a typical performance guarantee or warranty for an airplane, as the mechanical equipment, may cover the number of landings/takeoffs, engine hours, and general availability of flight readiness of the aircraft. However, an operator or an owner of an aircraft may fail to enforce the warranty or performance guarantee against the manufacturer because the lack of adequate record-keeping and monitoring of the actual performance of the aircraft that are necessary to demonstrate a performance deficiency. Thus, a need exists for a procedure that facilitates monitoring of compliance with a desired technical performance objective for the mechanical equipment. In regulated industries, such as the airline industry, the noncompliance with a desired technical specification may represent a violation of a regulatory standard, which can subject the operator or owner of the mechanical equipment to economic penalties. Moreover, noncompliance with a configuration may pose a serious threat to the safety of passengers aboard a noncompliant aircraft. Thus, a need exists for facilitating compliance of a configuration of mechanical equipment with applicable safety requirements on a timely basis.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to device to temporarily elevate the position of eyeglasses having multifocal lenses relative to a user's eyes for proper visual and head alignment for certain activities, such as computer use. 2. Description of Related Art Multifocal eyeglasses have been used for many years to provide different focal points to correct a user's vision for different activities, such as close-up reading or viewing a movie at a distance. These types of eyeglasses include bifocals, trifocals, and progressive no-line lenses. For certain activities, a user must adjust his or her head position to bring the portion of the glasses having the required focal point into the line of vision for the activity. This can cause neck and shoulder discomfort and headaches. One particular activity that is problematic is use of a computer. Viewing a computer screen typically requires the intermediate or near focal region of one's eyeglasses. However, the computer monitor is typically positioned such that most of the screen is viewed through the distance focal area of the glasses, with the intermediate or near focal zones of the glasses being too low, when the user's head is held in a normal position (see FIG. 12 A, for example). Computer users frequently tilt their heads back, away from the computer screen, in order to elevate the near or intermediate focal area and bring it into alignment with the screen (see FIG. 12B, for example). The angle of tilt, which can be 10 to 30 degrees from a normal or natural head tilt position for computer usage, can result in pain and discomfort, particularly for prolonged periods of computer use. Similar issues arise when using portable electronic devices, piano music, art easels and the like. There are many known devices that are specifically designed for elevating multifocal eyeglasses on a user's face. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,144,165 discloses bifocal frames having rotatable nose pads configured to elevate the position of the glasses in one position and lower them when rotated 180°. The supporting member for the rotatable nose pads is fixed to the eyeglasses frame, so it is not useful as a retrofit device for existing glasses. Additionally, the moving parts increase the likelihood of failure from wear and use. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,422 discloses several adjustable nose rest devices that allow the eyeglass frame to slide up and be held in place by a set screw. The devices in the '422 patent involve several parts capable of moving relative to other parts to position the device and secure it in place during use, increasing the likelihood of failure. Additionally, many of the devices disclosed in the '422 patent are only for use with specially designed eyeglass frames, while others are limited to eyeglass frames having a certain frame dimensions, such as thickness, and cannot be used with standard eyeglass frames without modifying the frame. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,717, which discloses a pad device that sits on the user's nose behind the bridge of the eyeglasses frame and includes a hook that attaches to the bridge of the frame. The device in the '717 patent pushes the eyeglasses frame forward relative to the user's face, which may displace the temple tips that curve behind the ear resulting in discomfort. The forward displacement of the frame may also diminish the area of corrected vision as the lenses move further from the eyes, depending on the frame/lens size/shape. Additionally, the hook portion of the device in the '717 patent limits use of the device to eyeglasses frames of particular sizes and shapes. Similarly, the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,801,569 and 3,087,383 have a slot into which the bridge of the eyeglasses frame is inserted, pushing the eyeglasses forward and limiting use to eyeglasses frames of particular sizes and shapes. The devices in these patents also have side flange parts that attach to the lower end of the eyeglasses frame, which further limits use of the devices to particular types and sizes of frames and may partially obstruct the view through the lenses. The known prior art devices suffer from several drawbacks. These include that they are mechanically complicated, are useable with only certain types or sizes of eyeglass frames, push the eyeglasses forward relative to the user's face, partially obstruct the lenses, are not easily positioned relative to the user's face and eyeglasses frame, and are not discrete in appearance. There is a need for a simple universal device that is easily positioned and used with varying styles and sizes of eyeglass frames.

In this day of age, safety is the utmost importance for all people in the world because of all the car jackings and kidnappings that are going on, it is almost impossible to be safe. Some people are being held hostage and are hidden in trunks to be transported from place to place. There is a need to be able to unlock the trunk from the inside and to be able to escape if bound.

The present invention relates to a timing mechanism and more particularly to a timing mechanism that provides a single and a double upper circuit for controlling the function of an appliance. Timing mechanisms have been used for many years to control the functions of dishwashers, washers, and dryers. In such applications, it is sometimes necessary to provide several circuits between the timing mechanism and the appliance to perform several functions. In the present invention, a single and a double upper circuit have been provided in a very simple and economical manner.

The present invention relates to printing of patterns with extremely high precision on photosensitive surfaces, such as photomasks for semiconductor devices and displays. It also relates to direct writing of semiconductor device patterns, display panels, integrated optical devices and electronic interconnect structures. Furthermore, it can have applications to other types of precision printing such as security printing. The term printing should be understood in a broad sense, meaning exposure of photoresist and photographic emulsion, but also the action of light on other light sensitive media such as dry-process paper, by ablation or chemical processes activated by light or heat. Light is not limited to mean visible light, but a wide range of wavelengths from infrared (IR) to extreme UV. Of special importance is the ultraviolet range from 370 nm (UV) through deep ultraviolet (DUV), vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) down to a few nanometers wavelength. EUV is in this application defined as the range from 100 nm and down as far as the radiation is possible to treat as light. A typical wavelength for EUV is 13 nm. IR is defined as 780 nm up to about 20 xcexcm. In a different sense the invention relates to the art and science of spatial light modulators and projection displays and printers using such modulators. In particular it improves the grey-scale properties, the image stability through focus and image uniformity and the data processing for such modulators by application of analog modulation technique. The most important use of the analog modulation is to generate an image in a high-contrast material such as photoresist with an address grid, i.e. the increment by which the position of an edge in the pattern is specified, that is much finer than the grid created by the pixels of the spatial light modulator. It is known in the current art to build precision pattern generators using projection of micromirror spatial light modulators (SLMs) of the micromirror type (Nelson 1988, Kxc3xcck 1990). To use an SLM in a pattern generator has a number of advantages compared to the more wide-spread method of using scanning laser spots: the SLM is a massively parallel device and the number of pixels that can be written per second is extremely high. The optical system is also simpler in the sense that the illumination of the SLM is non-critical, while in a laser scanner the entire beam path has to be built with high precision. Compared to some types of scanners, in particular electrooptic and acoustooptic ones, the micromirror SLM can be used at shorter wavelengths since it is a purely reflective device. In both references cited above the spatial modulator uses only on-off modulation at each pixel. The input data is converted to a pixel map with one bit depth, i.e. with the values 0 and 1 in each pixel. The conversion can be done effectively using graphic processors or custom logic with area fill instructions. In a previous application by the same inventor Sandstrxc3x6m (Sandstrxc3x6m et. al. 1990), the ability to use an intermediate exposure value at the boundary of a pattern element to fine-adjust the position of the element""s edge in the image created by a laser scanner was described. It is also known in the art to create a grey-scale image, preferably for projection display of video images and for printing, with an SLM by variation of the time a pixel is turned on or by printing the same pixel several times with the pixel turned on a varying number of times. The present invention devices a system for direct grey-scale generation with a spatial light modulator, with a special view to the generation of ultra-precision patterns. Important aspects in the preferred embodiments, are uniformity of the image from pixel to pixel and independence of exact placement of a feature relative to the pixels of the SLM and stability when focus is changed, either with intention or inadvertently. Specifically, there is a problem with achieving a finer and more precise address resolution with the previously known equipment. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an pattern generator with improved address resolution. This object is achieved with an apparatus according to the appended claims, providing an finer address resolution.

Motion-transmitting remote control cable assemblies, such as “push-pull cables,” are used for transmitting force or load and/or motion, typically along a curved path e.g. in aircraft, automotive, and marine environments, etc. Known cable assemblies can be used for transmitting load and motion in both push and pull type applications. In the automotive environment, typical applications include, but are not limited to, accelerators, or similar applications. A motion-transmitting remote control cable assembly for transmitting motion along a curved path typically includes a flexible core element (core or strand) slidably enclosed within a flexible outer sheath (conduit) with a conduit fitting attached to each end. Each conduit fitting attaches to a corresponding bracket or other mounting fixture, support structure or the like. The cable assembly further includes, typically, a terminal sub-assembly at each end. A first terminal sub-assembly is secured (or adapted to be secured) to a controlled member, e.g., a movable lever, etc. of a motor vehicle transmission. The terminal sub-assembly at the other end is secured (or adapted to be secured) to an actuator, i.e. a control member such as a handle, motor output member, etc. Typically, the actuator member and the controlled member each provides a mounting pin or other suitable feature at a mounting point for suitable connection to the corresponding terminal sub-assembly, such that the cable assembly is able to transfer load or motion between the two mounting points. That is, moving the actuator member transmits force/motion via longitudinal movement of the strand within the sheath, to correspondingly move the controlled member. (It should be understood that in some applications the control member and the controlled member may from time to time reverse roles or may otherwise share the control and controlled roles.) The strand of a motion-transmitting cable assembly is often secured to a mounting pin or other attachment component at the aforesaid mounting point of the controlled or control member by a terminal or core-adjuster assembly. Mounting pins and other such attachment components can have a relatively large dimensional tolerance range due to manufacturing variations and the like. Large dimensional tolerance ranges are seen, for example, in the attachment pins of automobile transmission shift systems. As a result of this large tolerance range, there can be a difference in fit from one unit to the next, between the terminal or core-adjuster assembly and the mounting pin, which in some units results in a gap and the possibility of relative movement between the fitting and the pin referred to as lash. In certain cases lash causes inaccuracy in the transmission shift system throughout its full range of movement. Additionally, these known terminal assemblies often have large installation loads (the forces required to attach the terminal sub-assembly to the pin or other mounting component) in order to obtain correspondingly high extraction loads (the forces required to inadvertently remove the terminal sub-assembly from the pin or other mounting component). Traditionally, the problem of lash is mitigated by the use of an isolator at the interconnection between the pin and the terminal sub-assembly, designed to absorb vibration. The problem with traditional isolators is that by their very nature they must be made of a softer material that has significant give or resiliency to absorb the vibration and as a result suffer from increased wear and breakdown in areas were the force or load is concentrated, i.e. where the pin contacts the isolator. Another problem with traditional terminal assemblies is determining correct orientation during assembly and installation. Having a number of interconnecting part to be assembled and installed on an assembly line can provide a potential for improperly assembled or installed parts that could lead to future failure of the device. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved motion transmitting remote control cable assemblies and for end fittings for motion transmitting remote control cable assemblies, which account for dimensional tolerance ranges of mating components and are operative to reduce vibration during operation. There is also a need for motion transmitting remote control cable assemblies and end fitting for such cable assemblies, which require relatively low installation loads while maintaining relatively high extraction loads. There is also a need for motion transmitting remote control cable assemblies and end fittings for same, resistant to wear or breakdown at the area of the interconnection between the terminal sub-assembly and a mounting pin. There is also a need for terminal assemblies that are simple to assemble and install with proper orientation. It is an object of the present invention, to provide cable assemblies addressing some or all of the above problems. It is another object to provide end fittings for motion transmitting cable assemblies, addressing some or all of the above problems.

In certain electronic circuits, a converted voltage may be used. For example, in a modern PC (personal computer) system, a real time clock (RTC) produces a frequency output that is then used to provide a time base for the system, which thus requires constant power. For this purpose, an RTC Crystal Oscillator (RTCCO) resides on an I/O (input/output) controller hub chip, which is sometimes referred to as the “south-bridge”. An RTC circuit provides an accurate oscillator output (commonly a frequency of 32.768 kHz) that is used as the main clock to maintain system time. The output of the RTC circuit is divided to obtain time in units of seconds, minutes, and hours. The time is stored by the system and used as the time basis for the system, which is maintained when the system power is either on or off. When PC system is powered down, the RTC circuit derives power from another power source, such as a self-contained source in the PC. A 3.0-volt coin cell lithium battery is generally used because such batteries are widely available and very inexpensive. In certain systems, another power source, such as a charged capacitor, may provide the power for the RTC circuit when the system is powered down. A PC system may be turned off for long periods of time, possibly for years, depending upon usage and the length of time a system may stay in storage. Therefore, an RTC circuit may potentially need to derive power from a coin cell battery or other such power source for a period of years to maintain system time. As computer processes move towards lower voltages in order to reduce power consumption and to increase speed in digital sections, the voltage of a coin cell may need to be stepped down to a lower voltage, such as a voltage range of less than 2 volts, depending upon the process voltage. The process of converting a DC voltage to a lower voltage consumes some amount of power, thereby reducing the length of time that the system can maintain the system time. Further, a certain minimum voltage is needed to operate the supplied circuit. Because the voltage of a battery or capacitor power source will fall over time as power is consumed, the voltage response of the DC-to-DC converter has an impact on the operation of the supplied circuit. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a conventional DC-to-DC converter. A voltage supply 105, such as a coin battery, provides a voltage to the circuit. The voltage supply is connected to the source of circuit is comprised of diode-connected transistors Q2 110 and Q3 115, which provide voltage drops and step down the voltage to the gate of output device 135. A reference load is provided, shown in FIG. 1 as comprising diode-connected transistors Q4 120 and Q5 125. Connected between Q4 120 and Q5 125 is transistor device Q1 130. A current through Q1 130 to adjust the reference load is provided by a clamping control circuit 160, which is controlled by a signal 165. The output voltage 140 from the circuit is supplied to certain devices, shown as an RTC oscillator 145 and RTC logic 150 utilized in maintenance of system time. FIG. 2 is a graph of voltage output for a conventional DC-to DC converter, such as that shown in FIG. 1. The graph is provided for illustration and is not necessarily drawn to scale. FIG. 2 shows Vin 205 on the X-axis versus Vout 210 on the Y-axis for various voltages. Vin 205 is the voltage supplied by the power source, such as a battery or capacitor. Vout is the voltage output provided by the converter. A value for Vs 215 is shown on the Y-axis, Vs being the supply voltage required for operation of the devices that receive the output voltage. The graph curve 220 for Vin versus Vout falls off relatively quickly as the value of Vin drops. Therefore, the output voltage will drop off as a battery or other power source is depleted, eventually dropping below the needed voltage for operation of supplied devices, such as an RTC circuit.

A multi-RAT UE having capability to access two or more radio access technologies (RATs) can be present. To access a specific RAT, connection to the specific RAT is established on the basis of a request of the UE and transmission and reception of data are performed. However, the multi-RAT UE cannot simultaneously access multiple RATs even though the multi-RAT UE has capability to access two or more RAT. That is, current UEs cannot simultaneously transmit and receive data through different RATs even if the UEs have multi-RAT capability. Conventional multi-RAT has a problem of low system efficiency since the conventional multi-RAT does not require interworking between a wireless LAN and a cellular network. Furthermore, the problem has not been studied.

The field covers the combination of an opposed-piston engine with a hypocycloidal drive. In particular, the field covers the use of a piston coupled to a hypocycloidal drive to generate electrical power. The opposed piston internal-combustion engine was invented by Hugo Junkers around the end of the nineteenth century. In Junkers' basic configuration, two pistons are disposed crown-to-crown in a common cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports near bottom dead center of each piston, with the pistons serving as the valves for the ports. The engine has two crankshafts, each disposed at a respective end of the cylinder. The crankshafts are linked by rods to respective pistons and are geared together to control phasing of the ports and to provide engine output. The advantages of Junkers' opposed piston engine over traditional two-cycle and four-cycle engines include superior scavenging, reduced parts count and increased reliability, high thermal efficiency and high power density. Nevertheless, Junkers' basic design contains a number of deficiencies among which is excessive friction, between the pistons and cylinder bore caused by side forces exerted on the pistons. Each piston is coupled by an associated connecting rod to one of the crankshafts. Each connecting rod is connected at one end to a piston by a wristpin internal to the piston; at the other end, the connecting rod engages a crankpin on a crankshaft. The connecting rod pivots on the wristpin in order to accommodate circular motion of the crank pin. As the connecting rod pushes the piston inwardly in the cylinder, it exerts a compressive force on the piston at an angle to the axis of the piston, which produces a radially-directed force (a side force) between the piston and cylinder bore. This side force increases piston/cylinder friction, raising the piston temperature and thereby limiting the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) achievable by the engine. An engine coupling invented by Mathew Murray in 1802 converted the linear motion of a steam engine piston and rod into rotary motion to drive a crankshaft by a “hypocycloidal” gear train coupling the rod to the crankshaft. A hypocycloid is a special plane curve generated by the trace of a fixed point on a small circle that rolls within a larger circle. In Murray's gear train, the larger circle is the “pitch circle” of a ring gear with teeth on an inner annulus and the small circle is the pitch circle of a spur gear with teeth on an outer annulus. (See the definition of “pitch circle” in American National Standard publication ANSI/AGMA 1012-G05 at 4.5.3.1.1, page 10). The spur gear is disposed within the ring gear, with its teeth meshed with the teeth of the ring gear. As the spur gear rotates, it travels an orbit on the inner annulus of the ring gear. Murray's gear train represents a special hypocycloid in which the pitch diameter (D) of the ring gear's pitch circle is twice the pitch diameter (d) of the spur gear's pitch circle. When D=2d, a point on the spur gear pitch circle moves in a straight line along a corresponding pitch diameter of the ring gear as the spur gear orbits within the ring gear. Murray connected one such point to a piston rod; the linear motion of the piston rod caused the spur gear to revolve within the ring gear, and the gear train converted the piston's linear motion to rotary motion. Cycloidal gear arrangements have been used in numerous internal combustion engine configurations, including opposed piston engines. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,199,625, for example. In the engine disclosed in the '625 patent, opposed pistons are coupled to cycloid crank drives by means of connecting rods. However, the '625 patent omits two critical insights in this regard. First, the plane curve traced by the spur gear is not linear in any embodiment taught in the '625 patent: thus, connecting rod motion is not linear. In fact, each connecting rod conventionally engages a wristpin internal to a piston, which allows the connecting rod to pivot with respect to the axis of the piston in order to accommodate the non-linear plane curves traced by the spur gear. Consequently, as the connecting rod pivots on a return stroke while moving a piston into a cylinder, it imposes side forces on the piston, which causes friction between the piston and cylinder bore. Thus, an unrealized advantage of coupling the pistons of an opposed piston engine to hypocycloidal drives in which the ratio between the pitch diameters of the ring and spur gears is 2:1 is that the pistons, and their connecting rods, undergo purely linear movement along a common axis, thereby eliminating radially-directed side forces that cause friction between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder in which they are disposed. The '625 patent does indicate that grafting a hypocycloidal output to an opposed piston engine construction can add a dimension of flexibility to engine design and operation. For example, the ratio between the pitch diameters is varied to accommodate piston strokes of varying length, which, according to the patent, can be tailored to improve scavenging and piston cooling. However, the '625 patent omits the case where D=2d, in which the linear motion of the spur gear is sinusoidal. The '625 patent therefore lacks a second critical insight: the sinusoidal characteristic of the resulting linear motion can support useful adaptations of a hypocycloidally-coupled engine to produce a desirable sinusoidal output. For example, an internal-combustion engine may be adapted to generate AC electrical power by mounting a coil to the skirt of a piston and coupling the piston to a hypocycloidal drive in which D=2d. The action of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the straight linear motion of the piston. As the piston transports the coil though a magnetic field, a sinusoidal voltage is induced in the windings of the coil.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to methods and compositions for reducing post-surgical adhesions in the mammalian abdominal or thoracic cavity or other body spaces, whether accidentally or surgically created. 2. Description of the Prior Art There is a need for a method and composition suitable for use in preventing adhesion formation/reformation in mammals following injury to the organs of the peritoneal, pelvic or pleural cavity, or other body spaces, such as subdural, extraocular, intraocular, otic, synovial, tendon sheath, whether accidentally or surgically created. According to Ellis in a review entitled "The Cause And Prevention Of Post-operative Intraperitoneal Adhesions" in Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics for September 1971, volume 133, pages 497-509, at pages 502-503, the prevention of adhesions has been the subject of an enormous amount of work since the beginning of this century. According to Ellis, these attempts have included means of preventing the fibrin-coated walls of the intestine from reaching each other by distending the abdomen with oxygen or filling the abdomen with saline solution, paraffin, olive oil, lanolin, concentrated dextrose solution, macromolecular solutions of all sorts, and silicones. Menzies and Ellis in an article entitled "Intestinal Obstruction from Adhesions--How Big is the Problem?" Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, volume 72, pages 60-63, 1990 reported adhesions findings in 10.4% of 115 patients with first-time laparotomies while 93% of 210 patients had intra-abdominal adhesions due to previous surgery. Admission for intestinal obstruction was made for 0.9% of 28,297 general surgery patients while 3.3% of 4,502 laparotomy patients were admitted for adhesive obstruction. These data emphasize the magnitude of readhesion after adhesiolysis or from subsequent surgical procedures. The authors state on p. 62, that there is currently no effective treatment that prevents their recurrence. Caspi, Halperin, and Bukovsky in an article entitled "The Importance of Periadnexal Adhesions in Reconstructive Surgery for Infertility" appearing in Fertility and Sterility for Mar. 1982, volume 31, number 3, pages 296-300, at page 299 indicate that despite experimental and clinical efforts in the prevention of adhesion formation following surgery, no major advances have thus far been achieved. The authors discuss the use of post-operative intraperitoneal instillation of a mixture of hydrocortisone acetate (a glucocorticoid), promethazine, and ampicillin. As an alternative method of treatment, a low molecular weight dextran (a branched polysaccharide composed of glucose units) was also instilled intraperitoneally in another group of patients. The authors conclude that the intraperitoneal instillation of high doses of glucocorticoids combined with early hydrotubations seems to be a worthwhile method. Musich and Behrman in an article entitled "Infertility Laparoscopy In Perspective: Review of 500 Cases" appearing in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology for Jun. 1, 1982, pages 293-303, at page 300 in the discussion section of the article disclose that there is a need to prevent adhesions subsequent to surgery in view of a study of 35 patients which indicated that 30 of these patients having previous tuboplasties had severe adhesions, one-third of which were judged to be inoperable. High molecular weight dextran either alone or in combination with dextrose has been used in the prevention of peritoneal adhesions subsequent to surgery. Dextran is clinically standardized to a low molecular weight of about 75,000 by partial hydrolysis and fractional precipitation of the high molecular weight particles which normally have molecular weights of up to 200,000. Dextran is a polymer of glucose which has a chain-like structure and is produced from sucrose by Leuconostoc bacteria. In articles appearing in Fertility and Sterility, volume 33, number 6, June 1980, pages 660-662, Holtz, Baker, and Tsai and volume 34, number 4, October 1980, pages 394-395, by Holtz and Baker, results are reported of the adhesion reducing effects of a 32% (aqueous) solution of dextran 70 containing 10% dextrose (sold under the trade name HYSKON by Pharmacia, of Piscataway, N.J.). Holtz et al postulate several mechanisms of action in the prevention of peritoneal adhesions utilizing HYSKON including a simple mechanical separation of adjacent surfaces, termed a hydroflotation effect. Project coordinator diZerega and several contributors have reported the results of a large study in an article entitled "Reduction of Post-operative Pelvic Adhesions with Intraperitoneal 32% Dextran 70: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Trial" in Fertility and Sterility, volume 40, number 5, for November 1983, pages 612-619. The authors, at page 618, indicate that the use of Dextran intraperitoneally has limitations such as the reported tendency of HYSKON to support bacterial proliferation and concern over the anaphylactoid potential of dextran. In addition, the benefit of Dextran 70 in preventing post-operative adhesions was shown to be limited to the more dependent regions of the pelvis. Borten, Seibert, and Taymor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, volume 61, number 6, June 1983, pages 755-757 report in an article entitled "Recurrent Anaphylactic Reaction to Intraperitoneal Dextran 75 Used for Prevention of Postsurgical Adhesions". These authors indicate that anaphylactic reaction to Dextran administered intravenously is well documented and report such a reaction after intraperitoneal administration of Dextran. Linsky in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine for Jan. 1987, pages 17-20 in an article entitled "Adhesion Reduction in the Rabbit Uterine Horn Model Using an Absorbable Barrier, TC-7". These authors report that the use of a resorbable fabric barrier provides a significant reduction in post-operative adhesion formation and that no gross remnants of the fabric barrier material were noted, subsequent to initial placement, after a two week period. Oelsner et al in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine for November 1987, volume 32, number 11, pages 812-814, report results of a comparison of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 32% dextran 70, and chondroitin sulfate to prevent the formation of postoperative adhesions in the rabbit uterus. The authors report superior results with chondroitin sulfate which is described as a member of a family of biochemical compounds referred to as glycosaminoglycans (formerly termed mucopolysaccharides), to which hyaluronic acid, heparitin sulfate and heparin also belong. Peterson et al in The Journal of Hand Surgery for Jan. 1990, volume 15A, number 1, pages 48-56 state on page 48 that despite refinements in surgical technique and improved postoperative rehabilitation programs, results (of repair of lacerated flexor tendons) are often unsatisfactory because of the formation of adhesions around the repair site which restrict tendon gliding and prevent flexion of the digit. The authors on page 49 refer to use of biological barriers including paratenon, endothelial vein grafts, arterial grafts, fascial sheath grafts, and synthetic materials such as, metal tubes, cellophane, celloidin, polytef (Teflon), polyethylene, millipore cellulose tubes, and silcone sheeting. Complications from use of these materials included severe inflammatory response, ingrowth of adhesions around the edges of the material, and prevention of nutrient diffusion leading to tendon necrosis. They conclude that a suitable biologic or synthetic flexor sheath patch has not yet gained widespread clinical acceptance. The authors tested primary tendon sheath repair, autogenous fascia lata patches, and a synthetic patch of expanded polytetraflorethylene surgical membranes. They concluded on p. 55 that restoration of the sheath integrity was beneficial in reducing adhesion formation, but it is not possible to advocate one particular method. The use of ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block copolymers as surfactants for use in surgical scrub solutions and the topical application of 10% solutions of these copolymers to wounds is described in Edlich et al in the Journal of Surgical Research, volume 14, number 4, April 1973, pages 277-284. The test results indicate that the copolymers having an ethylene oxide:propylene oxide ratio of 4:1 provide less inflammatory response in a wound to which the copolymer is applied in comparison with a copolymer having an ethylene oxide:propylene oxide ratio of 1:4. There is no indication in Edlich et al or any cited prior art that such copolymers are useful in reducing post-operative adhesions or that isotonic, aqueous solutions of such copolymers are useful in reducing post-operative adhesions. Over the years, methods have been developed to achieve the efficient delivery of a therapeutic drug to a mammalian body part requiring pharmaceutical treatment. Use of an aqueous liquid which can be applied at room temperature as a liquid but which forms a semisolid gel when warmed to body temperature has been utilized as a vehicle for drug delivery since such a system combines ease of application with greater retention at the site requiring treatment than would be the case if the aqueous composition were not converted to a gel as it is warmed to mammalian body temperature. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,373, PLURONIC.RTM. polyols are used in aqueous compositions to provide thermally gelling aqueous systems. Adjusting the concentration of the polymer provides the desired sol-gel transition temperature, that is, the lower the concentration of polymer, the higher the sol-gel transition temperature. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,474,751; '752; '753; and 4,478,822 drug delivery systems are described which utilize thermosetting polyoxyalkylene gels; the unique feature of these systems is that both the gel transition temperature and/or the rigidity of the gel can be modified by adjustment of the pH and/or the ionic strength, as well as by the concentration of the polymer. Other patents disclosing pharmaceutical compositions which rely upon an aqueous gel composition as a vehicle for the application of the drug or cosmetic preparation are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,883,660; 4,861,760; 4,810,503; 4,767,619; and 4,511,563. While the prior art is silent with respect to the use of aqueous drug delivery vehicles which are isotonic to mammalian bodily fluids, osmotic drug delivery systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,196 which utilize a multi-chamber compartment for holding osmotic agents, adjuvants, enzymes, drugs, pro-drugs, pesticides, and the like. These materials are enclosed by semipermeable membranes so as to allow the fluids within the chambers to diffuse into the environment into which the osmotic drug delivery system is in contact. The drug delivery device can be sized for oral ingestion, implantation, rectal, vaginal, or ocular insertion for delivery of a drug or other beneficial substance. Since this drug delivery device relies on the permeability of the semipermeable membranes to control the rate of delivery of the drug, the drugs or other pharmaceutical preparations, by definition, are not isotonic with mammalian blood.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to strips of material which are folded over a cord and placed at the edge or seam of a piece of upholstery such as a slip cover, carpet or the like to reinforce and to decorate it. 2. Description of the Prior Art As is well-known, phosporescent paints once they have been excited remain luminous with a soft, slowly decaying radiation. Such paints can generate a useful level of luminous flux for several hours when placed in the dark after having absorbed sunlight or artificial light of a suitable wavelength. Although they do not require continuous irradiation to maintain such levels, the initial, most intense luminescence can only be restored by once again exposing the paints to either a natural or an artificial light. In the event of a blackout or other emergency in which the normal electric power supply is cut off, objects coated with phosphorescent paint will glow for extended periods of time, helping to demarcate walkways, exit doors and the like if they are so coated. Phosphorescent paints have also been employed for ornamentation; such applications include the once popular artifice of decorating wallpapers and lampshades with phosphorescent designs which, after the light is switched off, remain luminous for hours. In phosphorescent paints, the luminescent material or phosphor, which is almost exclusively a zinc sulfide or alkaline earth sulfide, is formed of relatively large particles. Contrary to standard paint practice, which is to get the pigment ground as finely as possible, the phosphors in these paints are ordinarily reduced to grains of not less than about 0.1 mm diameter, corresponding to 200 mesh, since grinding the phosphor further decreases its luminous efficiency. Because of the coarseness of the grains, phosphorescent coatings on an exposed surface tend to flake off, requiring frequent replacement. Although in some cases this problem can be obviated by applying a transparent overcoat as soon as the surface is dry, the protective layer itself is easily eroded and must be repeatedly renewed. Moreover, protecting the paint with an overcoat is not always feasible and is especially difficult to achieve in the case of phosphorescent designs on carpets, upholstery and other flexible surfaces. When an overcoat is bonded to such surfaces, it tends to crack after they have been repeatedly flexed. Not only must a phosphorescent coating be protected from erosion but also the phosphor in the paint must be shielded from the oxidizing action of the atmosphere and from moisture. An overcoat, if feasible, can do both, extending the lifetime of a coating by reducing the rate of oxidation of its phosphor and by keeping out water as well as by minimizing flaking. On the other hand, if no overcoat is provided, chemical attack by the atmosphere on the phosphor can result in a coating losing its capacity to phosphoresce in six to twelve months.

Pitching or otherwise throwing a baseball involves a coordinated body movement culminating in straightening the elbow joint as the baseball is released from the hand. More specifically, pitching involves four general phases: wind-up, cocking, acceleration, and follow-through. The wind-up and cocking phases involve bending the elbow joint and rotating the shoulder backward in preparation for propelling the baseball in a forward direction. During acceleration, the shoulder rotates forward while simultaneously straightening the elbow joint in order to accelerate the baseball. Once the baseball has achieved sufficient velocity, the baseball is released from the hand and flies in the forward direction. The pitcher then follows-through on the pitch, which may involve further extension of the elbow joint. During both the acceleration and follow-through phases, a relatively large extension and valgus load may be placed on the elbow joint. More particularly, valgus stress may be placed on the elbow joint during the acceleration phase. Tensile forces that result from the valgus stress may cause injury to the flexor musculature, injury to the medial collateral ligaments, avulsion fractures of the medial epicondyles, and traction spurs of the ulnar coronoid, for example. Compressive forces associated with the acceleration phase may also result in osteochondral fracture of the capitellum, osteochondritis dissecans, deformity of the radial head, lateral epicondylitiss, and lateral collateral ligament sprain, for example. During the follow-through phase of the throwing motion, the triceps muscle forcefully extends the elbow, which may develop tensile forces along the length of the muscle-tendon unit. These forces may result, for example, in olecranon avulsion fractures, triceps strains, olecranon spurs, and joint degeneration. Although the specific motions necessary to properly throw a fastball, curveball, and knuckleball, for example, may vary significantly, repeatedly pitching a baseball during practice or competition induces stresses in the elbow joint. As the number of pitches increases during a particular game, practice session, or over the course of a season, the repeated application of stresses to the elbow joint may lead to overuse syndromes of the elbow joint.

There has been entertained a communication system in which Av apparatus, such as a video tape recorder (VTR), a monitor or a tuner, are connected to a bus for exchanging digital video signals or digital audio signals. FIG. 8 shows an example of such communication system, which is provided with a root node 21, a leaf node 22, a branch node 23, a leaf node 24 and a leaf node 25. Input/output ports between the nodes 21 and 22, also referred to as nodes 21-22, hereinafter the same, the nodes 21-23, the nodes 23-24 and the nodes 23-25, are connected by two sets of twist pair cables. The nodes 21 to 25 are the digital VTRs, tuners or personal computers, as discussed above, each having one or more input/output ports. Each node 21 to 25 has an amplifier and a relay enclosed therein. The communication system shown in FIG. 8 is equivalent to a communication system in which the nodes 21 to 25 are connected to a bus 26. The structure shown in FIG. 8 is a hierarchical structure in which the nodes 22 and 23 are connected in the lower layer relative to the node 21 and the nodes 24 and 25 are connected in the lower layer relative to the node 23. In other words, the node 21 is a master node for the nodes 22 and 23, while the node 23 is a master node for the nodes 24 and 25. The sequence for determining such hierarchical structure is now explained. If the nodes 21-22, 21-23, 23-24 and 23-25 are connected by cables, the node only one input/output port of which is connected to an other node notifies the node to which it is connected that the latter node is the master node. In the case of FIG. 8, the nodes 24 and 25 notify the node 23 of the fact that the node 23 is the master node, while the node 22 notifies the node 21 of the fact that the node 21 is the master node. The node plural input/output nodes of which are connected to other nodes notifies a node other than the node which has notified the firstly-stated node that the firstly-stated node is the master node that such other node is the master node. In the case of FIG. 8, the node 23 notifies the node 21 that the node 21 is the master node, while the node 21 notifies the node 23 that the node 23 is the master node. Since in such case the nodes 21, 23 notify each other that the counterpart node is the master node, the node which has made such notification first becomes the master node. FIG. 8 shows a case in which the node 21 has become the master node. The sequence of according an address to each node is explained. Basically, the node address is accorded by the master node permitting an address to be accorded to a slave node. If there are plural slave nodes, addresses are accorded in the order of the smaller port numbers to which the slave nodes are connected. In FIG. 8, in which the node 22 is connected to a port #1 of the node 21 and the node 23 is connected to a port #2 of the node 22, the node 21 permits an address to be accorded to the node 22. The node 22 accords the address (i) to itself and transmits data indicating that the address (i) has been accorded to itself over a bus 26. The node 21 then permits the node 23 to set its own address. The node 23 permits an address to be accorded to the node 24 connected to its port #1. The node 24 accords the address (ii) to itself. The node 23 permits an address to be accorded to a node 25 connected to its port #2. The node 25 accords an address (iii) to itself. After having accorded addresses to its slave node 24 and slave node 25, the node 23 accords an address (iv) to itself. After having accorded addresses to its slave node 22 and slave node 23, the node 21 accords an address (v) to itself. With the present communication system, it is possible to carry out synchronous communication or continuous communication at a constant data rate and asynchronous communication for transmitting control commands, for example, non-periodically, that is whenever the necessity arises. With the present communication system, communication is carried out at a communication cycle having a pre-set period, such as 125 .mu.s, as shown in FIG. 10. The communication cycle starts with a cycle start packet csp, followed by a period for transmitting a packet for synchronous communication. By affixing channel numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . N to the respective packets for synchronous communication, plural synchronous communication cycles may be carried out. For example, if the channel 1 is allocated to the communication from the node 22 to the node 23, communication is carried out by the node 22 transmitting the packet for synchronous communication having the channel number 1 directly after the cycle start packet csp and by the node 23 monitoring the bus 26 and fetching the packet for synchronous communication having the channel number 1. Similarly, the communication from the node 24 to the node 21 can be accorded to the channel 2, while the packet of a channel can be received by plural nodes. If plural synchronous communication cycles are carried out, it is attempted to transmit the packets for synchronous communication over plural channels directly after the cycle start packet cps. In such case, the packet of synchronous communication of a channel is first transmitted by arbitration means (such as CSMA/CD) as determined by the bus 26. The packets of synchronous communication of other channels are then transmitted sequentially. After termination of transmission of the packets of synchronous communication of all of the channels, the time interval until the next cycle start packet csp is employed for asynchronous communication. To the packets for asynchronous communication (packets A and B in FIG. 10) are affixed addresses of the transmitting node and the receiving node. The respective nodes fetch the packets having the addresses proper to the nodes affixed thereto. Since the details of the above-described communication system are publicized as "IEEE P1394 Serial Bus Design Statement, they are not explained herein specifically. In order for the above-described communication system to operate correctly, it is necessary for the respective synchronous communication packets to have different channel numbers, while it is necessary for the sum total of the communication time of the synchronous communication packets of the respective channels not to exceed the period of the synchronous communication. To this end, it is necessary to check before the start of synchronous communication of a node that the communication capacity necessary for the communication is available on the bus and to have an un-used channel allocated for the communication if there is any residual communication capacity in the bus. For supervising the communication capacity and the channel number employed for synchronous communication, it is commonplace practice that one of the nodes connected to a bus become a bus management node and to effect required management. In such case, other nodes indicate the communication capacity desired to be employed to the bus management node, using the asynchronous communication packet, and require channels to be allocated to them. The bus management node checks if the communication capacity in use added to the communication capacity newly requested does not exceed the maximum communication capacity of the bus. If the sum is not in excess of the maximum communication capacity of the bus, the bus management node notices the channel number and the effect of permission of synchronous communication. If the sum is in excess of the maximum communication capacity of the bus, the bus management node notices that the channel allocation is not permitted. After termination of the synchronous communication, the management node is notified of the channel number and the channel capacity which will not be in use. Since the bus supervision is in need of complex processing operations, it is commonplace practice with the communication system centered about e.g., a personal computer to use the personal computer as a bus management node and to perform the processing operations using the software possessed by the personal computer. However, if this method is employed for the communication system between the AV apparatus, such as a digital VTR, tuner or a monitor, it becomes necessary to interconnect an apparatus having powerful data processing functions, such as personal computer, to the bus, in addition to the AV apparatus, thus raising the cost of the communication system. In view of the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for realizing facilitated management of a bus in a system for carrying out synchronous communication between plural nodes connected to the bus.

Related Applications This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 08/189,139, now abandoned, entitled "Dual Bus Concurrent Multi-Channel Direct Memory Access Controller and Method", and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/189,131, now abandoned, entitled "Direct Memory Access Channel Architecture and Method for Reception of Network Information", each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and filed concurrently herewith.

Automotive vehicles include various door assemblies for allowing access to the vehicle, such as passenger doors allowing access to the passenger compartment. The vehicle doors typically include a mechanical latch assembly that latches the door in the closed position and is operable by a user to unlatch the door to allow the door to open. For example, a passenger may actuate a pivoting release mechanism by pulling on the mechanism to unlatch the vehicle door. The latch may be locked further with a door lock mechanism that typically is actuated with another input by the user.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display technology has advantages such as low energy consumption. However, The OLED has a short lifespan as luminance of the emitted light is frequently changed according to displayed contents in operation. For this, there is a technology combining OLED display and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). In a display device of such display device, an OLED substrate is provided, which comprises a plurality of OLEDs configured to emit light of different colors, a LCD panel which comprises a plurality of sub-pixels configured to filter light is disposed outside of the OLED substrate, light emitted from the respective OLED is filtered by the sub-pixels so as to have a desired luminance and to perform display. In such a display device, the luminance is controlled by filtering light through the sub-pixels of the LCD panel. Thus, the luminance of light emitted from the OLEDs is not required to be changed frequently, and the lifespan of OLEDs will be elongated. Obviously, in order for normal operation, both the OLED substrate and the LCD panel require a driving circuit for supplying driving signal (for example, gate scanning signals, data voltage signals, common voltage signals, and the like) thereto. Conventional driving circuits are integrated in a Driver IC which is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB) and is electrically connected to the OLED substrate and the LCD panel through a flexible printed circuit (FPC). Clearly, in such a display device, the OLED substrate and the LCD panel are respectively controlled by different driving circuits, and two different driver IC and two flexible printed circuits are required, thereby causing a large amount of elements, a complex structure and high cost.

In recent years, non-volatile static random access memory has been widely used. Non-volatile static random access memory (nvSRAM) does not lose data stored therein, even when the power to the nvSRAM is interrupted. A unit memory cell of an nvSRAM is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,895. That unit memory cell includes a non-volatile circuit configured as a non-volatile memory element for maintaining non-volatile data. It also includes an SRAM configured as a volatile memory element for performing read and write operations of volatile data. FIG. 1 is a schematic equivalent circuit illustrating a unit memory cell 10 of the nvSRAM described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,895. Referring to FIG. 1, the memory cell 10 includes an SRAM 12 and a pair of non-volatile memory circuits (hereinafter, referred to as NVM) 14. The SRAM 12 includes a pair of access transistors 30, 32 and a latch circuit 33. The latch circuit 33 includes two NMOS transistors and two PMOS transistors which are cross-coupled to each other. A data true level signal and a data complement level signal are output to data nodes 20 and 22, respectively. The data nodes 20, 22 are located within the latch circuit 33. The data true level signal and the data complement level signal are opposite to each other. The access transistor 30 is coupled between the data node 20 and a signal line BT. The access transistor 32 is coupled between the data node 22 and a signal line BC. The signal line BT is a bit line for the data true level. The signal line BC is a bit line for the data complement level. The bit lines BT and BC extend to all the stacked cells in a single vertical column in a memory cell array. Each vertical column of cells has a common pair of bit lines. The access transistors 30, 32 are controlled by a signal applied to a signal line WL. The signal line WL is a word line connected in common to the gate terminals of the access transistors 30, 32 and to the gate terminals of all the other access transistors in all the stacked cells in a single low. The NVM 14 is a circuit connected to each of the data nodes 20, 22 for storing data at the data nodes 20, 22 such that the stored data is not volatile. The NVM 14 of FIG. 1 is configured as a pair of tri-gate transistors 41, 42 including recall transistors 41a and 42a, SONOS (silicon/oxide/nitride/oxide/silicon) transistors 41b and 42b, and pass transistors 41c and 42c. The SONOS transistors 41b, 42b, which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,895 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,950, have an ONO (oxide/nitride/oxide) structure. The SONOS transistors 41b, 42b store the data levels of the data nodes 20, 22 such that the data levels stored in the latch circuit 33 are not volatile. The data levels stored in the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b are removed when a control signal Vse is applied thereto. The recall transistors 41a, 42a recall the data levels stored in the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b and write the data levels stored in the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b into the latch circuit 33 when a control signal Vrcl is applied to the recall transistors 41a, 42a. The pass transistors 41c, 42c read the state of the data true level signal and the complement level signal in the latch circuit 33, or write the data levels stored in the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b into the latch circuit 33 when a control signal Vpas is applied to the pass transistors 41c, 42c. The operation of the conventional nvSRAM 10 will now be described. When a power source is on and the nvSRAM operates normally, all of the voltages of the control signals Vrcl, Vpas and Vse are set to 0[V] so that all of the transistors of the tri-gate transistors 41, 42 are turned off. As a result, the SONOS transistors 41b and 42b are isolated from the latch circuit 33 and, thus, are not affected by state variations of the levels at the data nodes 20, 22 of the latch circuit 33. However, when the power source is turned off, the nvSRAM 10 stores the levels at the data nodes 20, 22 of the latch circuit 33 in the SONOS transistor 41b, 42b, or erases the levels while passing through an erase mode and a program mode. In the erase mode, a voltage of −10 to −15 [V] (depending on erase speed, erase time, the ONO structure, etc) is applied to the gate electrodes of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b. Also, a voltage of 0 [V] is applied to the control signal line Vrcl and to the control signal line Vpas for a predetermined time. In general, the bias voltage is usually applied for less than 10 [msec] in the erase mode. Under the bias conditions of the erase mode, the recall transistors 41a, 42a and the pass transistors 41c, 42c are held in an off state, and the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b are placed in an accumulation mode. Most of the electric field associated with the voltage applied to the gate electrodes of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b is concentrated on the ONO layer. As a result of the intensive electric field concentrated on the ONO layer, holes accumulated on a silicon substrate surface on which the gate electrodes of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b are placed tunnel through the tunnel oxide film of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b, and are trapped in traps which are present in the nitride film of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b. Then, the electrons which have been trapped in the nitride films tunnel the tunnel oxide and escape into the silicon substrate, thereby resulting in erasure whereby a threshold voltage of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b is lowered. Next, in the program mode, a voltage of +10 to +15 [V] (depending on program speed, program time, the ONO stack structure, etc) is applied to the gate electrodes of the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b. Also, 0 [V] is applied to the control signal line Vrcl, and a voltage “H” (herein, “H” refers to a voltage representing a high logic state; typically 2.5 [V]) is applied to the control signal line Vpas for a predetermined time. In general, the bias voltage is usually applied for less than 10 [msec] in the program mode. Under the bias conditions of the program mode, the recall transistors 41a, 42a are held in an off state, and accordingly, do not conduct current from the Vcc voltage. The conducting states of the pass transistors 41c, 42c are determined by the logic levels (“H” and “L”) stored in the data nodes 20, 22 of the latch circuit 33. For example, if we assume that a high voltage level “H” is stored in the data node 20 and a low voltage level “L” is stored in the data node 22, since a high level Vpas is applied to the gate electrode of the pass transistor 41c connected to the data node 20 and the data node 20 is connected to the source electrode of the pass transistor 41c, the voltage difference between the gate electrode and the source electrode becomes nearly 0 [V]. Accordingly, the pass transistor 41c does not conduct current. As a result, the silicon substrate below the gate electrode of the SONOS transistor 41b goes into a deep depletion state due to the positive voltage applied to the gate electrode of the SONOS transistor 41b. During this deep depletion, since the electric field caused by the positive voltage Vse applied to the gate electrode of the SONOS transistor 41b is mostly applied to a depletion region of the silicon substrate and, thus, is only slightly applied to the ONO layer, the program mode (where electrons tunnel the tunnel oxide film and are trapped into the traps of the nitride film) does not occur. This phenomenon is called a dynamic write inhibition (DWI). Since this deep depletion occurs in a non-equilibrium state, it disappears over time as the non-equilibrium state turns to an equilibrium state. When the deep depletion condition disappears, DWI does not occur any longer. In other words, although programming is not conducted due to the DWI phenomenon occurring at the beginning of the program mode, programming is conducted as the DWI phenomenon disappears after a predetermined period of time elapses. The characteristic of the DWI phenomenon depends on the device structure. The DWI phenomenon typically lasts for 1 to 100 [msec]. On the other hand, since the voltage Vpas applied to the gate electrode of the pass transistor 42c has a high level “H, a low voltage level “L” is stored in the data node 22, and since the data node 22 is connected to the source electrode of the pass transistor 42c, a voltage difference between the gate electrode and the source electrode becomes nearly “H” [V]. Consequently, the pass transistor 42c is turned on. As a result, the voltage applied to the silicon substrate below the gate electrode of the SONOS transistor 42b becomes nearly an “L” [V]. Thus, most of the program voltage applied to the gate electrode of the SONOS transistor 42b is applied to the ONO layer. Accordingly, electrons accumulated on the surface of the silicon substrate tunnel the tunnel oxide film, and the program mode is conducted to trap the electrons in the traps of the nitride film. The trapped electrons increase the threshold voltage of the SONOS transistor 42b. In other words, the SONOS transistor 41b maintains an erase state at the beginning of the program mode and, thus, has a low threshold voltage because the program mode is suppressed due to the DWI phenomenon. However, the SONOS transistor 42b has a high threshold voltage as the program mode is conducted. When the power source is on, a recall mode for recalling data stored in the SONOS transistors 41b, 42b to the latch circuit 33 is performed. In the recall mode, a low voltage 0 [V] is applied to the control signal line Vse, and a high voltage “H” is applied to the control signal line Vrcl and to the control signal line Vpas. Under the bias conditions of the recall mode, since the control signal line Vrcl and the control signal line Vpas are set to a logic high voltage “H”, the recall transistors 41a, 42a and the pass transistors 41c, 42c go into an on state. Since the SONOS transistor 41b is in an on state, current flows therethrough and the data node 20 goes into a logic high state “H”. Since the programmed SONOS transistor 42b is in an off state, it does not flow current therethrough and the data node 22 goes into a logic low state “L”. Accordingly, even though a memory element configured by the nvSRAM is powered off while passing through the erase mode, the program mode and the recall mode, the data of SRAM can be securely stored in the NVM 14. However, in an nvSRAM using conventional SONOS transistors 41b, 42b, due to the DWI phenomenon when data is stored, one data node is programmed and the other data node is not programmed depending on the states of the data nodes 20, 22 of the latch circuit 33. In such a selective program mode, it is important to improve the DWI characteristic and the programming speed. However, it is very difficult to improve the DWI characteristic. Although programming time is prolonged when the selective program mode is conducted by a DWI mechanism, a threshold voltage window (i.e., a difference between a threshold voltage of a SONOS transistor to be programmed and a threshold voltage of a SONOS transistor in which the DWI phenomenon occurs) cannot be increased beyond a certain voltage. In addition, since the thickness of the tunnel oxide film of the SONOS transistor is very small (typically about 20 Å), the retention characteristic of the SONOS transistor is very poor. Furthermore, since the programming speed of the SONOS transistor is relatively low, a significantly large capacitance is required to maintain a constant voltage required to store the data of the SRAM for a predetermined time when the power is off. In the drawings and the following detailed description, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference.

The epigenome directs the genome to execute gene expression programs required for normal life. It comprises two different components: the chromatin structure, and a pattern of DNA methylation1. A gene can be found in different epigenetic states resulting from differences in histone modification and DNA methylation. Epigenetic modifications play an important role during normal development by regulating gene expression through stable activation or silencing of differentiation-associated genes. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes do not alter the primary DNA sequence and are therefore reversible. Collas et al2 describe strategies for reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotency. More specifically, Collas describes how an extract of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells (ESC) can elicit pluripotency and differentiation plasticity in an otherwise more developmentally restricted cell type. This procedure involves reversible permeabilization of a somatic cell, transient incubation of the permeabilized somatic cells with intracellular extracts of ESCs, and resealing of the somatic cells. The reprogrammed ESC-like pluripotent cells may then be differentiated into a particular cell type, and then be used for treating a patient in need of that particular cell type. Hendrix et al3 show methods for altering the behavior of metastatic melanoma by employing embryonic stem cell-preconditioned 3 dimensional matrices. WO/2008/014426 discloses methods of isolating compounds from the microenvironment of ESCs and using these compounds to treat and/or prevent the growth and/or dissemination of aggressive tumor cells in a patient. More specifically, the invention relates to the administration to the patient of inhibitors of Nodal activity, including, but not limited to, those that are exclusively produced by human ESCs. Such compounds may be isolated from a substrate or a matrix, such as MATRIGEL, that was conditioned by human ESCs. WO/2008/014426 also provides methods for contacting tumor cells with a matrix, such as MATRIGEL, that comprises human ESCs or a matrix that has been preconditioned by human ESCs. Ingber D. E.4 raises the possibility of developing a tissue engineering approach to cancer therapy in which biologically-inspired materials that mimic the embryonic microenvironment are used to induce cancers to revert into normal tissues. It is further suggested that since physical factors may contribute to cancer formation, then biomaterials and scaffolds used for medical devices and tissue engineering applications could provide yet another modality for cancer therapy. WO09/098698 discloses scaffolds prepared from cell extracts for use in conditions necessitating tissue/organ regeneration, repair or replacement. Although many drugs are in use for cancer treatment, there is a desire for additional and more effective compositions and methods for cancer treatment and prevention. The present invention addresses this need.

Gas turbine engines, such as turbofan gas turbine engines, may be used to power various types of vehicles and systems, such as, for example, aircraft. Typically, these engines include turbine blades (or airfoils) that are impinged by high-energy compressed air that causes a turbine of the engine to rotate at a high speed. Consequently, the blades are subjected to high heat and stress loadings which, over time, may reduce their structural integrity. Modern aircraft jet engines have employed internal cooling systems in the blades to maintain the blade temperatures within acceptable limits. Typically, the blades are air cooled using, for example, bleed air from a compressor section of the engine. The air may enter near the blade root, and then flow through a cooling circuit formed in the turbine blade. The cooling circuit typically consists of a series of connected passages that form serpentine paths, which increase the cooling effectiveness by extending the length of the air flow path. The internal cooling system is formed in the blade during its production. For example, if utilizing a lost wax casting process a ceramic core is produced which includes a pattern for the blade internal cooling circuit. The ceramic core is placed in a wax pattern die and wax is injected around the ceramic core to produce a wax pattern of the turbine blade. The wax pattern is dipped in ceramic slurry and dried forming a mold. The mold is then heated and the wax removed therefrom. Next, the mold is placed in a furnace, heated, and filled with a metal material to produce a turbine blade casting. Typically, the metal material is a nickel base superalloy. After the metal material solidifies and the blade is formed, the mold is removed from the blade outer surface and the internal ceramic core is chemically removed leaving internal cavities that form the cooling circuit of the turbine blade. At times, for example, during research and development, the cooling circuit may need to be modified. Currently, modifications are made by changing the flow circuit pattern in the internal ceramic core die, and then using the modified core die to produce new ceramic cores, which are then used to produce new wax patterns and eventually new cast turbine blades. Although this process yields high quality blades, it suffers from certain drawbacks. Specifically, current modification processes are relatively expensive and extremely time-consuming, taking up to a year to perform. Consequently, schedules for research and development programs may be significantly delayed. Attempts to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks generally have not been successful. Most processes have utilized the blade outer surface features to approximate locations of particular internal core features, and modifications have been made based on those approximations. However, in some cases, the internal core floats around within the outer shell during blade production, and the locations of the particular internal flow features are not accurately identified based on the blade outer surface. Thus, because internal cooling circuit modifications need to be extremely precise, these processes have not yielded favorable results. Hence, there is a need for a method for modifying an internal cooling circuit of a blade that is relatively simple and efficient to employ. Additionally, it is desirable that the method yield high quality blades. Moreover, it is desirable for the method to be relatively inexpensive to practice.

Millions of users submit queries to search engines, provider websites, or merchant websites every day. Often the users are looking for information that is stored as structured data. Many merchants and providers store information about their products and services as structured data such as tables of attributes having various values associated with the products and services. Examples of structured data include product catalogs, travel databases about hotels, airlines or rental cars databases, and image databases. While storing information as structured data may make it easier to use the data to populate webpages or catalogs or to generate reports, for example, the use of structured data may cause problems with respect to traditional keyword based methods for fulfilling queries. Typically, the language used by users posing queries is different from the representation used in the underlying structured data. For example, the query “brown sweater” may fail to match a product having structured data that includes the color “chestnut” using traditional text based or keyword based searching methods even though the product may in fact be relevant to the query.

Treatments for chronic diseases often require repeated and prolonged access to the vascular system to, for example, provide therapeutic agents thereto and/or remove fluids therefrom. However, complications are associated with most of the various methods for providing this access.

Mixing between a reference signal and a data signal is often necessary to extract information about an optical device or network. A probe signal and a reference signal originating from the same source typically mix or interfere, resulting in optical interference “fringes.” A positive fringe occurs when the light is in phase and constructively combines (interferes) to a greater intensity, and a negative fringe occurs when the light is 180 degrees out of phase and destructively combines (interferes) to cancel out the light. The fringe intensities can be detected and used to assess information about the device being probed. In interferometric sensing, a reference signal is mixed with a reflected probe signal whose phase and/or amplitude is modified by a parameter to be measured. The mixing produces an interference signal, and the amplitude of the interference signal depends on how efficiently the two optical signals mix. Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR) may be used to provide data related to one or more optical characteristics (e.g., backscatter, dispersion, etc.) of a fiber or fiber optic device that is part of a fiber over relatively short fiber distances, e.g., less than several hundred meters, but with relatively high “spatial” resolutions, e.g., centimeters and less. High spatial resolution is valuable for many reasons. For example, it allows more precise location and/or determination of optical characteristic of “events” like fiber flaws, cracks, strains, temperature changes, etc. and devices like couplers, splitters, etc. High resolution also allows performing such operations with a level of precision that distinguishes between events or devices located close together. Without that high resolution, measurements for closely located events or devices cannot be made on an individual event or device level. For these and other reasons, it would be very desirable to apply OFDR to longer fibers in order to attain this high resolution along longer distances. Unfortunately, there are two major unsolved obstacles to successfully applying OFDR to longer fibers. One is dynamic phase changes caused by time varying changes in the length of the fiber under test. One source of those time-varying changes is vibration. As a fiber vibrates, its length changes causing different time delays in the reflected light traversing those different fiber lengths. For OFDR to work well, the phase of the reflected light along the fiber should be static and not vary with time. If the time variance of the phase occurs slowly relative to the speed with which the interference pattern intensity data is acquired, then the phase changes are not a problem. But if the speed with which the interference pattern intensity data is detected/acquired is slower than the speed at which the phase changes, then the phase changes cannot be ignored. The speed at which OFDR interference pattern intensity data is acquired is a function of how fast the tunable laser in the OFDR is “swept” over the frequency range of interest and the fiber length. There is a limit on how fast tunable lasers can be swept in terms of bandwidth, amplifier costs, increased power requirements, and processing speed. Regardless of laser sweep speeds, longer fibers require more time to acquire the measurement data, and there is much more of that data. That large amount of data is the second obstacle because there are practical constraints on how much data can be efficiently and cost effectively stored and processed. To avoid these obstacles, the inventors discovered how to compensate for the time-varying phase caused by vibrations and any other cause so that laser sweep speed and data set size need not be increased. An optical device under test (DUT) is interferometrically measured. The DUT can include one or more of an optical fiber, an optical component, or an optical system. The DUT can be coupled to the measurement system (e.g., an OFDR) via optical fiber, via some other medium, or even via free space. First interference pattern data for the DUT is obtained for a first path to the DUT, and second interference pattern data is obtained for a second somewhat longer path to the DUT. Because of that longer length, the second interference pattern data is delayed in time from the first interference pattern data. A time varying component of the DUT interference pattern data is then identified from the first and second interference pattern data. The identified time varying component is used to modify the first or the second interference pattern data. One or more optical characteristics of the DUT is determined based on the modified interference pattern data. For example, if the DUT includes a fiber having a length greater than 500 meters, the modified interference pattern data may be used to determine one or more optical characteristics at any position along the fiber. Indeed, that position along the fiber may be determined with a resolution, for example, of one or two centimeters based on the modified interference pattern data. The first and second interference pattern data each include static phase information and dynamic phase information. The time varying component includes the dynamic phase information. The first and second fringe interference pattern data is combined to substantially remove the static phase information. For example, the first or the second interference pattern data can be combined to remove the vibration-induced phase changes that adversely affect the interference pattern data obtained for the DUT. A preferred, non-limiting, example is implemented as an Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometer (OFDR) to obtain the first interference pattern data and the second interference pattern data. Preferably, the first and second interference pattern data is compensated for non-linearity associated with a tunable laser used in the OFDR to obtain compensated first and second interference pattern data (compensated for the affect on the data due to non-linearities in the laser tuning). One example processing approach that can be used by the OFDR includes the following steps: transforming the first and second interference pattern data into the frequency domain, capturing a first window of frequency domain data for the first interference pattern data corresponding to a portion of the DUT under analysis, capturing a second window of frequency domain data for the second interference pattern data corresponding to the portion of the DUT under analysis, converting the first and second windows of frequency domain data into first and second corresponding phase data, and combining the first and second corresponding phase data. Other aspects of this technology includes advantageous methods for processing interference pattern data generated by an interferometer. The interferometer provides a laser signal from a tunable laser along a given optical path having an associated path delay and to a reference optical path and combines light reflected from the given optical path and from the reference path, thereby generating the interference pattern data. (The given optical path may be, for example, associated with a device under test (DUT)). A first laser optical phase of the laser signal is estimated, and an expected complex response for the given optical path is calculated based on the estimated laser optical phase. The interference pattern data from the interferometer is multiplied by the expected complex response to generate a product. The product is filtered to extract interference pattern data associated with the given optical path from the interference pattern data generated by the interferometer. In one non-limiting example implementation, calculating the expected complex response for the given optical path based on the estimated laser optical phase includes estimating a delayed version of the laser optical phase of the laser signal, determining a difference phase between the delayed version of the estimated laser optical phase and the estimated first laser optical phase, calculating the cosine of the difference phase to form the real part of the expected complex response, and calculating the sine of the difference phase to form the imaginary part of the expected complex response. This expected complex response is then multiplied by the interference pattern data. The real and imaginary parts of the resulting complex signals are low pass filtered and decimated to extract interference pattern data associated with the given optical path from the interference pattern data generated by the interferometer. Estimating the laser optical phase includes coupling a portion of the laser light to a second interferometer, converting an interference fringe or pattern signal from the second interferometer into a digital signal corresponding to the interference pattern data, the digital signal being a sampled form of the interference fringe signal, and estimating the laser phase based upon the digital signal. A first derivative of the laser optical phase may be estimated based on the digital signal by Fourier transforming the digital signal, windowing the transformed signal to identify a portion of the transformed signal that corresponds to the given optical path delay, inverse Fourier transforming the windowed signal, and computing the phase of the signal. Equivalently, a second derivative of the laser optical phase may be estimated by identifying zero crossings of the digital signal and counting a number of samples between the zero crossings of the digital signal. Calculating an expected complex response for the given optical path based on the estimated laser optical phase may be accomplished by estimating a second derivative of the laser optical phase, calculating a running sum of the second derivative of the laser optical phase, where a length of the running sum is associated with a length of the given optical path delay, accumulating the running sum, calculating a sine of the accumulated sum to form the imaginary part of the expected complex response, and calculating a cosine of the accumulated sum to form the real part of the expected complex response. The real and imaginary parts of the expected complex response are low pass filtered and decimated to extract interference pattern data associated with the given optical path from the interference pattern data generated by the interferometer.

Dementia is a syndrome that can be caused by a number of progressive disorders that affect memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities. About 36 million people worldwide are suffering from dementia today. The number of people with dementia is projected to double by 2030, and more than triple to 115.4 million people by 2050. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. Currently, one in nine people age 65 and older (11 percent) and nearly half of those over age 85 have Alzheimer's disease. According to Alzheimer's Disease International, current global costs of caring for these patients exceeds $600 billion annually. These costs are likely to rise even faster than the prevalence of disease, especially in the developing world, as more formal social care systems emerge, and rising incomes lead to higher opportunity costs (B. Winblad and L. Jonsson, World Alzheimer Report 2010). The brains of AD patients have an abundance of two abnormal structures, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This is especially true in certain regions of the brain that are important in memory. There is also a substantial loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. Both neurofibrillary tangles and neuronal loss increase in parallel with the duration and severity of illness (T. Gomez-Isla et al., Ann. Neurol. 1997; 41:17-24) and neurofibrillary load has been shown to correlate with cognitive decline (H. Braak and E. Braak, Neurobiol. Aging 1997 July-August; 18(4):351-7). Neurofibrillary tangles are intraneuronal lesions that are composed of hyperphosphorylated and insoluble accumulations of the microtubule-associated protein, tau. These accumulations are a histopathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases, which are collectively known as tauopathies. Tauopathies include, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD), Pick's disease (PiD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). In human tauopathies, pathology progresses from one brain region to another in disease-specific patterns (H. Braak and E. Braak, Neurobiol. Aging 1997 July-August; 18(4):351-7; Raj et al., Neuron. 2012; 73:1204-1215; Seeley et al., Neuron. 2009; 62:42-52; and Zhou et al. Neuron. 2012; 73:1216-1227), the underlying mechanism of which is not yet clear. Tau pathology is involved in and may be a cause of many tauopathies. In its normal form, tau is a highly soluble microtubule-associated protein (Jeganathan et al., Biochemistry 2008, 47:10526-10539) that binds and promotes the assembly of microtubules (Drechsel et al., Mol. Biol. Cell. 1992, 3:1141-1154). However, in tauopathies, tau becomes hyperphosphorylated, causing detachment from microtubules, and ultimately accumulation as neurofibrillary tangles that are visualized within dystrophic neurites and cell bodies (Mandelkow and Mandelkow, Cold Spring Harbor, Perspect. Med. 2, 2012: a006247). The amount of tau pathology correlates with progressive neuronal dysfunction, synaptic loss, and functional decline in humans and transgenic mouse models (Arriagada et al., Neurology 1992 March; 42(3 Pt 1):631-9; Bancher et al., Neurosci. Lett. 1993, 162:179-182; Polydoro et al., J. Neuroscience 2009, 29:10741-10749; and Small and Duff, Neuron. 2008 Nov. 26; 60(4):534-42). While there have been no tau mutations observed in Alzheimer's disease, mutations in the tau gene appear to cause some forms of frontotemporal dementia (Cairns et al., Am. J. Pathol. 2007, 171:227-40), presenting with tau-positive inclusions and signifying that tau dysfunction is sufficient to cause neurodegeneration. Moreover, pathological tau appears to be an integral part of Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in cell culture and transgenic animal models (M. Rapoport, PNAS 2002, 99:9, 6364-6369; E. D. Roberson et al., Science 2007, 316:750-754; A. M. Nicholson and A. Ferreira, J. Neurosci. 2009, 29:4640-4651; H. Oakley, J. Neurosci. 2006, 26(40):10129-10140). Passive and active immunizations against tau have been analyzed in mice using several different mouse models, including different phospho-tau peptides for active immunizations and anti-tau antibodies for passive immunotherapy (A. A. Asuni et al., J. Neurosci. 2007, 27(34):9115-9129; E. M. Sigurdsson, Curr. Alzheimer Res. 2009, 6(5):446-450; A. Boutajangout et al., J. Neurosci. 2010, 30(49):16559-16566; H. Rosenmann et al., Arch. Neurol. 2006, 63(10):1459-1467; M. Boimel et al., Exp. Neurol. 2010, 224(2):472-485). In the first report describing immunizations with a 30-amino acid phosphorylated tau peptide, an effect on the ratios of soluble and insoluble tau, reduction of tangle formation in the immunized mice, and functional benefits observed in behavior testing for these mice were shown (A. Boutajangout et al., J. Neuroscience 2010, 30:16559-16566). Passive immunization with well-characterized anti-tau antibodies, which react with phosphorylated Ser396 and Ser404 of the hyperphosphorylated tau protein at an early pathologic conformational epitope on tau, confirmed the results seen in active immunization studies. Mice treated with these antibodies showed marked reductions in tau pathology, which was measured by biochemical methods and histology, as well as a significant delay in loss of motor-function decline that was assessed in behavioral testing (A. Boutajangout et al., J. Neurochem. 2011, 118(4):658-667; X. Chai et al., J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 286(39):34457-34467). Tau-based therapies have only been analyzed in mouse models to date. But in view of the severity of tauopathies in general, and to the cost to society of Alzheimer's disease specifically, there is an ongoing need for effective means to diagnose, monitor, prevent and treat tauopathies.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, an etching process is performed to various semiconductor layers. As one of such semiconductor layers, a polycrystalline silicon layer may be used. When a polycrystalline silicon layer as an etching target layer is etched, generally, a mask made of silicon oxide is formed on the etching target layer, and an etching process is performed to the etching target layer with the mask. Such an etching method is described in, for example, Patent Document 1. To be more specific, in the etching method described in Patent Document 1, a silicon oxide layer is formed on the etching target layer which is a polycrystalline silicon layer, and a resist mask is formed on the silicon oxide layer. Then, the silicon oxide layer is etched using the resist mask, and, thus, a mask made of silicon oxide is formed. Then, the resist mask is removed. Thereafter, the etching target layer is etched with plasma of an etchant gas with the mask made of silicon oxide.

A variety of different techniques have been developed to increase the amount of processing resources that are available to a computing device. One such technique involves the use of multiple processors. For example, a single integrated circuit may be configured to include multiple processors (e.g., processor cores), thereby providing increased processing resources for a computing device that employs the integrated circuit. However, the use of multiple processors traditionally resulted in increased power consumption, which may make use of multiple processors less suitable in certain configurations. For instance, a computing device may be configured for an office environment and therefore have access to an external power source. In another example, however, the computing device may be configured for mobile applications and therefore may not have ready access to an external power source. Consequently, a computing device configured for use in mobile applications may also incorporate a power source (e.g., a battery) that may be considered limited when compared to the external power source. For example, the amount of power that may be obtained from the battery by the processor and other resources of the computing device may be limited. Therefore, this limited power may make traditional multiprocessor techniques unsuitable for mobile applications.

The present invention relates to an image shake correction device and an optical apparatus for correcting image shake caused during photographing by camera shake. Recently, many types of optical apparatuses, such as a lens barrel and a camera, are provided with an image shake correction device for correcting image shake caused by camera shake. One of such an image correction device is configured such that a part of a lens system provided in a lens barrel is formed as a correction optical system, camera shake caused in the lens barrel during photographing is detected, and the correction optical system is driven and decentered to cancel the detected camera shake. However, such a correction optical system tends to be moved and decentered by an external force applied to the lens barrel, and in this case the correction optical system may be damaged by contacting or colliding with a fixed part of the lens barrel. In order to prevent occurrence of such damage of the correction optical system, a locking mechanism for holding the correction optical system in a fixed state with respect to the fixed part is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Publications No. H10-26782A (hereafter, referred to as patent document 1) and No. H04-34514A (hereafter, referred to as patent document 2).

A synthetic route that provides access to chlorin building blocks bearing substituents at the meso- and/or β-positions has recently been described (Strachan, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:3160-3172; Balasubramanian, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:7919-7929). In addition to selected patterns of functional group handles at the perimeter of the macrocycle, each chlorin bears a geminal dimethyl group to lock in the hydrogenation level yet lacks steric congestion or other unwanted fumctionality around the reduced ring. The synthesis involves the construction of an Eastern half and a Western half, which are joined to form the chlorin macrocycle in the final step (Scheme 1). This convergent coupling of the Eastern half and Western half is performed in a two-flask procedure involving acid-catalyzed condensation to give a dihydrobilene-α, followed by metal-mediated oxidative cyclization to give the chlorin. The Eastern half, a bromodipyrromethane-monocarbinol, is readily available by the acylation and bromination of a dipyrromethane at the 1- and 9-positions, respectively, followed by reduction. The Western half is a dihydrodipyrrin (1). The Western half has liminted stability and generally must be prepared from the stable nitro-hexanone pyrrole precursor and used within a few days. In our initial search for routes to a suitable Western half, we investigated the synthesis of a tetrahydrodipyrrin via an intermediate tetrahydrodipyrrin N-oxide (comprised of a pyrrole and a pyrroline N-oxide)(Strachan, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:3160-3172). The formation of N-oxides by cyclization followed by deoxygenation affords a convenient entry to a number of heterocycles (Katritzky and Lagowski, Chemistry of the Heterocyclic N-Oxides, Academic Press: London and New York, 1971, pp. 166-231; Ochiai, E. Aromatic Amine Oxides, Elsevier: Amsterdam, 1967, pp. 184-209; Albini, A.; Pietra, S. Heterocyclic N-Oxides, CRC Press: Boca Raton, 1991, pp. 120-134). Indeed, pyrroline N-oxides played a central role throughout Todd's studies related to the synthesis of vitamin B12 (Bonnett, et al. (1959) J. Chem. Soc. 2094-2102; Bonnett et al. (1959) J. Chem. Soc. 2102-2104; Bonnett, et al. (1959) J. Chem. Soc. 2105-2108; Brown et al. (1959) J. Chem Soc. 2109-2116; Brown et al. (1959) J. Chem. Soc. 2116-2122; Clark, et al. (1959) J. Chem. Soc. 2123-2127; Bowering et al. (1963) Annalen 669:106-113; Brown, et al. (1965) J. Chem. Soc. 2337-2340; Brown et al. (1966) Tetrahedron, Suppl. 8, Part 1:15-26; Black, et al. (1976) J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I (18):1942-1943; Black, et al. (1976) J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I (18):1944-1950; Black, et al. (1976) J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I (18):1951-1954; Alderson et al. (1976) J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I (18):1955-1960). Battersby synthesized a tetrahydrodipyrrin N-oxide, converted it to the corresponding tetrahydrodipyrrin, and upon reaction with a 1-bromo-9-bromomethyldipyrrin in the presence of copper acetate obtained the copper chlorin in 6.9% yield (2.8 mg) (Battersby, et al. (1984) J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I (12):2725-2732). Though Battersby's pyrrole component was substituted with one ester and two alkyl groups, the route employed also proved suitable for our synthesis of a tetrahydrodipyrrin N-oxide incorporating an unsubstituted pyrrole unit (Strachan, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:3160-3172). Thus, cyclization of a nitro-hexanone pyrrole (2) afforded the corresponding tetrahydrodipyrrin N-oxide (3), but we were unable to deoxygenate the cyclic nitrone and form the tetrahydrodipyrrin Western half (4) (Strachan, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:3160-3172). We resorted to the cyclization of the nitro-hexanone pyrrole 2 with NaOMe/THF followed by TiCl3 in NH4OAc-buffered solution, forming the dihydrodipyrrin 1 directly (without isolating the N-oxide) in yields of 20-30% (Strachan, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem. 65:3160-3172; Balasubramanian, et al. (2000) J. Org. Chem 65:7919-7929).

In the construction of window and door assemblies, it is common to use insulated glass panel units of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,003,747 and 6,675,537 which issued to or are owned by the assignee of the present invention. Usually, the insulated glass units include two parallel spaced rectangular glass panels having peripheral edge portions which receive a rectangular spacer frame. The edge portions and spacer frame are bonded and sealed together by a bonding compound such as a butyl rubber compound or a similar bonding material surrounding the spacer frame. The insulated glass panel unit is assembled into a surrounding rectangular sash frame and is retained by glazing members or beads. Preferably the sash frame and glazing beads are formed from extrusions of plastics material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Such insulated glass panel units are commonly used in fixed window assemblies such as picture windows, single hung windows, sliding windows, bow and bay windows and sliding and swinging patio door assemblies such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,036 which issued to the assignee of the present invention. In insulated glass panel units as described above, it is common for the outer edges of the glass panels to be exposed and unprotected during handling and shipping or be covered by a thin layer of the bonding and sealing compound. When the outer edges of the glass panels are relatively unprotected, insulated glass panel units must be carefully handled and carefully protected during shipping. Also, when the edge surfaces of the glass panels are exposed, the personnel handling the insulated glass panel units need to wear gloves in order to avoid cutting their fingers or receiving glass splinters. It is also desirable for a fixed window assembly, such as a picture window assembly, to provide for conveniently removing the insulated glass panel unit in the event of glass breakage or damage or moisture seeps into the space between the glass panels and results in etching the inner surfaces of the glass panels.

Stand-alone electronic cash registers including payment card readers and receipt printers have been used for years in stores, retail outlets and service outlets to facilitate the completion of cash, cheque, credit card or debit card transactions for the purchase of goods and/or services. With the advent of sophisticated and inexpensive computing equipment, input devices and secure communication networks, point-of-sale (POS) stations have, for the most part, replaced such stand-alone electronic cash registers. POS stations typically include a host device and a plurality of peripherals connected to the host device. The host device is commonly in the form of a personal computer that executes a POS application. The peripherals often include a keyboard, a display screen, a cash drawer, a printing device, a payment card reader and a barcode reader. In some cases, a touch-sensitive display screen is used instead of separate keyboard and display screen peripherals. The POS application communicates with the peripherals via application program interfaces (APIs) to allow product and/or service transactions to be completed. When payment is effected using a debit or credit card, the host device establishes a connection to the appropriate financial institution over an information network so that approval for the transaction may be obtained. Upon completion of any transaction, the host device signals the printing device causing the printing device to generate a transaction receipt and possibly a signing receipt, if payment is made using a credit card. In larger stores, retail outlets and service outlets, POS stations are typically linked via a local area network and communicate with a backend computing device that maintains a database for transaction, inventory, accounting, sales, tax, etc. information. Transaction data received by each of the POS stations is conveyed to the backend computing device for storage in the database allowing all transaction data to be stored in a common location. Collectively storing all transaction data in one common location allows retailers to track, account for and maintain inventory, collected taxes and pricing information. Also, by linking the POS stations, updates relating to sales on products and/or services, tax, etc. can be communicated to each POS station over the local area network avoiding the need to update the POS stations one at a time. Two initiatives to standardize the development of POS stations based on the UnifiedPOS standard have been developed, namely object linking and embedding POS (“OPOS”) and Java for Retail POS (“JavaPOS”). Java and all Java-based marks are a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. These standards have enabled peripherals to be readily interchanged and easily integrated into POS stations allowing POS stations to be configured to meet changing needs. This of course has been a leading factor to POS station acceptance. In JavaPOS environments, information relating to the configuration of peripherals is stored in one or more files, typically in XML format, that is separate from POS application run by the host device. Each configuration XML file contains information for all peripherals connected in a given configuration. The configuration XML file associated with the desired configuration is selected for use. To link the POS application and the configuration XML files, the POS application comprises a compressed Java archive (JAR) file that embodies a properties file storing pointers to the configuration XML files. When a configuration XML file is deployed, i.e the selected configuration XML file is saved to a new location or a new configuration XML file that is to be used is saved, in order to update the pointer associated with the deployed configuration XML file, it has been necessary for a user to extract manually the compressed JAR file, locate and access the properties file therein and then update the appropriate pointer entry so that the pointer entry correctly points to the deployed configuration XML file. As will be appreciated, updating the pointer entry in this manner is cumbersome and time consuming. Methods for enhancing the use of Java archive files and Java implemented applications, and improving file management are well documented in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,389 to Spyker et al. discloses a method, system, and computer-readable code for improving the manageability and usability of a Java environment. A technique that combines the advantages of applets and applications while avoiding particular disadvantages of both is employed whereby all Java programs are executed without relying on the use of a browser to provide a run-time environment. Dependencies are specified in a manner that enables the Java programs to be dynamically located and installed, and in a manner that enables sharing dependent modules (including run-time environments) among applications. The dependency specification technique ensures that all dependent code will be automatically available at run-time, without requiring a user to perform manual installation. The run-time environment required for an application is specified, and a technique is provided for dynamically changing the run-time that will be used (including the ability to change run-times on a per-program basis), without requiring user intervention. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0225795 to Abdallah et al. discloses a mechanism for extending a Java archive file to include additional information that describes the contents of the archive file as update information. The mechanism comprises a program for determining differences between an initial file system tree and a final file system tree and for encoding the differences into entries in a Java archive file. An extractor class is included in the Java archive file and named as the main class. The Java archive file may be transported to a site that needs a file system update. The Java archive file may be executed in a Java runtime environment to update a target file system. The extractor class is executed to decode and effectuate the difference entries in the Java archive file. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0123285 to Berg et al. discloses application configurations, including applications themselves, application components, and modules associated with applications, which are installed on an application-server machine and stored in system-determined locations. The system-determined locations, or absolute paths, are then stored in a “loose configuration”. As new versions of applications, application components, and/or modules are installed, they are placed in unique locations and given unique version numbers. Records of each application configuration version are stored and are referred to as “snapshots”. These snapshots provide a record of, and pointers to, the various elements that make up the various application configuration versions, so that at any time, a current version of an application configuration can be “rolled back” to a previous version of an application configuration. The methodology can be utilized to provide a self-healing configuration, whereby a faulty version of an application configuration can be rolled back to a previous version automatically. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0021688 to Felts et al. discloses a system and method of configuring a domain. The method comprises providing a first user interface operable to configure the domain and a second user interface operable to configure a cluster. Configuration of the domain is based on a domain template. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0234987 to Cyphers discloses a method for updating values within the contents of a Java archive (JAR) file without altering the JAR file structure. A smart archive program (SAP) creates a temporary directory in memory and stores the JAR file structure in the memory. The SAP then extracts the JAR file content into the temporary directory and allows the user to update the field values within the JAR file content. When the user has finished updating the field values in the JAR file content, the SAP archives the JAR file content into a new JAR file according to the JAR file structure stored in the memory. Consequently, field values within the JAR file content can be updated without altering the JAR file structure. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0240902 to Bunker et al. discloses a system and method for an extendable application framework, comprising a user interface, at least one service, and at least one extension. At least one of the extensions provides access to functionality in the user interface and at least one of the services provides access to functionality in at least one of the extensions. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0278280 to Semerdzhiev et al. discloses a system for updating files in a computer system. The update system downloads files from a centralized database during a start up process. The start up process completes loading of all services and applications to be provided by the computer system and then initiates an update process. During the update process, open archive files are closed and may be replaced by downloaded files. File replacement is handled by an updated module without requiring the generation of scripts or code to be executed during a subsequent start up process in order to complete the update. As will be appreciated, although the above references disclose Java management techniques, there exists a need for an improved method of dealing with POS peripheral configuration updates. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel configuration tool and method of updating an archive file property relating to at least one point-of-sale (POS) peripheral.

In the past, coating compositions were commonly prepared by dissolving or dispersing film forming organic polymers in volatile organic compounds. Environmental and health concerns associated with applications involving large-scale vapor emissions have led to research in the development of coating compositions wherein the emission of volatile organic compounds is minimized. Among the various methods of reducing the vapor emissions of coating compositions, the use of reactive diluents to replace all or part of the volatile organic solvent component of a coating composition is of particular interest. As used herein, the term "reactive diluent" refers to non volatile or nearly non volatile organic solvents or dispersants having as an integral part of their structures functional groups which are reactive with a film forming polymer and/or cross linking agent. In addition to providing a low level of volatile emissions, a coating composition should have a sufficiently low viscosity to permit easy handling and application. Other desirable properties in a coating composition are sufficient stability to ensure a commercially acceptable shelf life and the ability to provide a cured coating having suitable properties such as toughness, adhesion, gloss, uniformity, impact resistance, abrasion resistance, scratch resistance, weatherability, and resistance to attack by solvents, acids, bases and other chemicals. Coating compositions wherein all or a portion of the volatile organic solvent component thereof is replaced by a reactive diluent are illustrated by the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,022, to Chang et al. discloses coating compositions, the vehicle portion of which consists essentially of from about 60 percent to about 97 percent of a curable film-forming component and from about 3 percent to about 40 percent of an organic reactive diluent capable of chemically combining with the curable film forming component. Disclosed as reactive diluents are ethers having less than five ether groups, amides, esters, urethanes, ureas, sulfur containing compounds, and mixtures thereof which have one primary or secondary hydroxyl group. The reactive diluents disclosed by Chang et al. are further characterized as having a retained solids value of greater than about 80 percent, a hydroxyl equivalent of from about 180 to about 800, and a liguid viscosity of less than about 10 poise at 60.degree. C. Preferred reactive diluents disclosed by Chang et al. are ester containing reactive diluents, with ester containing reactive diluents having allyl side chains being most preferred. Coating compositions having ester-containing reactive diluents to produce cured coatings which lack desirable adhesion, hardness and/or weatherability. As a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,167 to Blank et al. discloses a coating compsition comprising (a) a hydroxyalkyl carbamate of the formula: ##STR1## wherein n=0 or 1, R is a C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 organic moiety which may contain one or more constituents selected from the class consisting of hetero-atoms and hydroxyl groups, and each of R.sub.1, R.sub.2, and R.sub.3 is independently H or CH.sub.3 ; (b) an aminoplast cross-linker; and (c) a polymer containing active sites which at elevated temperature are reactive with the amide-aldehyde cross-linker (b). Blank et al. exemplifying as suitable reactive diluents compounds of the formula: ##STR2## Cured coatings formed from the coating compositions containing the reactive diluents exemplified by Blank et al. are, within a range of environmentally acceptable formulations, widely variable as regards the surface properties possessed by same. Among the compounds which have been offered for use as reactive diluents in coating compositions are dicyclopentenyl oxyethyl ethyl methacrylates, modified caprolactones, and unsaturated melamines. In general, these compounds are poor solvents, have relatively high viscosities and/or produce cured coatings having undesirable chemical and/or physical properties. A cured coating's toughness, adhesion, impact resistance, abrasion resistance, scratch resistance, weatherability and resistance to chemical attack depend to a large extent upon the film-forming polymer and reactive diluent components of the composition used to produce same. As disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 759,172 filed on July 26, 1985, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 807,738 filed on Dec. 11, 1985, both in the name of K. L. Hoy, et al., coating compositions containing carbamate and urea derivatives as reactive diluents are found to provide cured coatings having desirable toughness and adhesion. The ability of a coating composition to form a defect-free film depends in part on (a) the ability of a composition to cover or "wet" a substrate and (b) the rheology of composition flow during coating application and cure. A coating composition's ability to "wet" a substrate is related to the degree of surface energy which exists between the coating composition and the substrate surface. As the industry has moved to higher solid content compositions to satisfy ecological considerations, the molecular weight, functionality and geometry of the coating polymers have been lowered, increased and altered, respectively, to minimize the viscosity of the polymer which is reguired for application of the composition contents. In doing so, the wetting of the substrate by the coating compositions has been degraded to the point where many coatings have marginal film forming properties. Indeed, molecules having a higher reactive polar functionality content (increased cohesive character) tend to associate with themselves rather than orient towards the substrate surface. In doing so they tend to pull away from the substrate surface, especially at points of substrate imperfection. The tendency of a coating to shrink away from a substrate surface results in various types of coating defects, a more severe form of which is termed "cratering". Cratering refers to a surface defect caused by a coating composition covering patches of a substrate surface very thinly and other areas of the substrate more thickly, giving rise to the appearance of gullies or "craters" in the finished coating. In order to reduce the severity of surface defects caused by the inability of a composition to properly wet a surface, common practice is to provide a coating composition with one or more anti-cratering additives which, typically, are surfactants. Owing to its biphilic nature, a surfactant additive is effective in reducing the surface energy at coating substrate interfaces of high chemical potential, thereby improving the ability of the coating to wet a substrate surface. These materials, however, tend to exude and migrate to the substrate and surface of the coating during curing. In the extreme, they can cause loss of adhesion, film haze (loss of gloss), and loss of corrosion protection, all of which are serious defects in a coating system. Flow properties of a coating composition depend to some extent on the composition's viscosity. Compositions having higher viscosities generally flow onto substrate surfaces less evenly than compositions having lower viscosities. Coating compositions having poor flow ability tend to produce cured coatings having uneven or irregular surfaces. Among the imperfections attributed to poor composition flow is a surface appearance which, as a result of its resemblance to the rind of an orange, is termed "orange peel". For several applications (e.g., automotive and appliance finishes), the loss of surface uniformity and gloss resulting from orange peel is deemed a commercially unacceptable surface defect. Coatings art teaches that the addition of a high boiling but volatile "reflow" or "tail" solvent will circumvent many of these undesirable flow properties. This formulation strategy provides for the applied coating to flow and level during the early part of a curing cycle before chain extension and cross linking reactions can take place. This practice does, however, contribute to the volatile emissions and in the case of polymer systems designed for high solids finishes, results in the surface defects previously decribed. The optimum viscosity for a given coating application depends in part on the method by which the coating is applied. For example, low pressure spray applications may reguire the use of lower viscosity compositions than high pressure spray applications. As previously noted, reactive diluents oftentimes increase the viscosities of the coating compositions into which they are incorporated. Undesirably high composition viscosities are commonly reduced by volatile organic compound addition. Owing to the environmental constraints on volatile organic compound emission levels, reactive diluent containing compositions typically have relatively narrow formulation ranges. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a high solids coating composition suitable for use in the production of cured coatings having commercially acceptable chemical and physical properties. It is a further object of this invention to provide a high solids coating composition capable of providing cured coatings having optimum surface appearance. Additionally, it is an object of this invention to provide a high solids coating composition which may be formulated over a relatively broad compositional range.

A number of pneumatically or hydraulically operated impact tools have been designed for driving nails into metal/metal or metal/concrete workpieces, with the fasteners being fed from a spring-loaded magazine. As used herein, the term "nail" is intended to include various type of fastening pins that are designed to be driven into a workpiece. The term "workpiece" denotes a multi-layered arrangement of separate members that are to be fastened together by fastening pins, e.g., a corrugated steel decking plate overlying a framework (substrate) formed of interconnected beams, e.g., I-shaped or H-shaped beams or bar joists (2 L-shaped angle irons secured back to back). Such impact tools, often called "powered drivers" or "powered nail drivers" and exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,253,598 4,227,637, 4,196,833, 4,040,554, 3,952,398, 3,711,008, 3,638,532 and 3278103 and the prior art cited therein, generally comprise a housing having a hammer guide track in the form of a bore along which a fastening pin driver element (also known as a "hammer") is reciprocated rapidly on command, and a side opening intersecting the guide track which functions as a fastening pin feed port, whereby a fastening pin may be introduced from a magazine into the guide track in the path of the driver element immediately after the driver element has completed a cycle of operation consisting of a drive stroke and a return stroke. While it is possible to load the magazine with loose fastening pins on a one by one basis, loading is facilitated if the fastening pins are pre-assembled in a plastic strip so as to form a clip which can be easily and rapidly inserted into the magazine, and the magazine is provided with a spring biased pusher element for advancing the clip along a guideway in the magazine through the fastening pin feed port into the hammer guide track. Examples of clips of fasteners that have been used in powered nail-driving tools are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3954176, issued on May 4, 1976 to Harry M. Haytayan, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4106618 and 4106619, both issued on Aug. 15, 1978 to Harry M. Haytayan; and U.S. Pat. No. 4106819, issued on Aug. 16, 1978 to Harry M. Haytayan; and the prior art cited in the aforementioned patents. Prior to this invention, the preferred form of nail clip was one that comprised a plastic strip in the form of a row of interconnected sleeves, with a nail extending through and gripped by portions of each sleeve. Such plastic strips are arranged so that the leading sleeve may be sheared off from the remainder of the strip when the nail carried by that sleeve is driven by the hammer of the driver. However, providing strips of nail-supporting sleeves that can be sheared off as intended without jamming the tool has presented problems. It is essential that the plastic strip be designed so as to avoid or minimize any tendency of the leading nail to tilt as it is introduced into the hammer guide track or while it is in the hammer guide track, since whenever a nail is not aligned with the axis of the guide track, there is an increased likelihood that such nail will jam the tool when the hammer commences its drive stroke. Accordingly it is known that each sleeve should be sized so as to make a close sliding fit in the hammer guide track. Typically the guide track is a bore of circular cross-section and the sleeves have a generally cylindrical shape with a maximum outer diameter ("o.d.") about 0,010" less than the diameter of the hammer guide track. This requirement is particularly acute for nail clips where the plastic sleeves do not surround the nail shanks for their full lengths and are spaced from one another by interconnecting web sections. Another known design technique for reducing the likelihood of jamming is to connect them with web sections that minimize the spacing or gap between adjacent sleeves but extend for substantially the full height of the sleeves, whereby the web sections are better able to keep the sleeves perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the nail strip. Also the web sections are made thin to minimize the shear force required to separate the leading nail sleeve from the next nail sleeve. Typically the web sections have a length measured along the length of the strip of about 0.015 to 0.020" and a width (thickness) of about 0.035". Another design guide rule to prevent tilting of the nail disposed in the hammer guide track is to make the strip of a relatively high density plastic. As used herein the term "high density plastic", e.g., high density polyethylene, means a material with a durometer value of at least 70 on the A scale. A strip of the type described made of a 70-80 durometer plastic provides a stiffness adequate to keep the leading nail straight in the hammer guide bore, thus minimizing jamming of the tool. However, using a high density plastic nail strip suffers from the handicap that the plastic sleeves do not squash as readily as they would if made of a low density material, so that often a substantial portion of the squashed sleeve will be trapped between the workpiece and the driven nail. The stiffness of the nail strip is more critical in steel decking applications where metal deck fastening pins (nails) are required to penetrate a relatively thin steel decking, such as a 0.029" thick (22 gage) corrugated steel sheet, and anchor it to a steel substrate, e.g., to the flange of a bar joist as previously described, such flange typically having a thickness of 0,125" . If a plastic sleeve holding the decking pins is made of a relatively stiff material such as an 80 durometer polyethylene, when a decking pin is driven into the steel decking, the plastic sleeve surrounding that pin tends to act as a piston, deforming the decking and thereby transmitting a force that causes the substrate (bar joist) to (a) separate from the decking so as to leave a gap therebetween and/or (b) deform the substrate by bending and twisting the leg portion of the angle rods that make up the bar joists, and/or (c) preventing the pin from being driven fully into the substrate. In that particular circumstance, the plastic sleeve surrounding the driven nail may or may not completely disintegrate or squeeze out from between the nail head and the steel decking; but regardless of what happens to the squashed sleeve, the holding power of the pin is diminished, frequently enough to require application of another pin to assure that the decking is adequately secured to the substrate. In order to achieve maximum holding force, and thus transmit maximum shear strength to the deck complex, it is essential that the underside of the head of the pin (nail) be in full contact with the steel deck when the steel deck is fastened to the bar joist. Making the strips of a relatively low density polyethylene, e.g., a 40-60 durometer polyethylene, allows the decking pins to be driven so as to achieve maximum holding power. However, the softer low density strips are plagued by the aforementioned tendency of the leading nail to tilt in the hammer guide bore, thereby increasing the likelihood of jamming. This tendency is increased when the tool is used outdoors in hot weather, since a thermoplastic material such as polyethylene will soften with increasing temperature, thereby decreasing the stiffness of the nail strip. In connection with the concern about softening of the nail strip due to increasing temperature, it is important to appreciate that the pushing force exerted on the nail clip by the clip pusher member of the magazine of a tool such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4253598 tends to compress and hence deform the leading sleeve that is disposed in the hammer guide track, and, depending on the ambient temperature and how long the tool lays idle in the sun, the deformation can be sufficient to cause the nail carried by the leading sleeve to be misaligned in the hammer guide track bore, with the result that the tool will jam the next time it is operated.

The present invention relates to catalyst components for the polymerization of olefins, to the catalysts obtained therefrom and to the use of said catalysts in the polymerization of olefins CH2xe2x95x90CHR in which R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical with 1-12 carbon atoms. In particular the present invention relates to catalyst components, suitable for the stereospecific polymerization of olefins, comprising Ti, Mg, halogen and an electron donor compound selected from heteroatom containing esters of malonic acids (heteroatom containing malonates). Said catalyst components when used in the polymerization of olefins, and ill particular of propylene, are capable to give polymers in high yields and with high isotactic index expressed in terms of high xylene insolubility. The use of some esters of malonic acid as internal electron donors in catalysts for the polymerization of propylene is already known in the art. In EP-A-45977 is disclosed the use of an ester of malonic acid (diethyl 2,2-diisobutylmalonate) as internal donor of a catalyst for the polymerization of olefins. EP-A-86473 discloses a catalyst for the polymerization of olefins comprising (a) an Al-alkyl compound, (b) an electron donor compound having certain reactivity features towards MgCl2 and (c) a solid catalyst component comprising, supported on MgCl2 a Ti halide and an electron donor selected from many classes of ester compounds including malonates. None of the above-cited applications discloses malonates containing heteroatoms. The same applies to EP-A-86644 that discloses the use of diethyl 2-n-butyl malonate and diethyl 2-isopropylmalonate as internal donors in Mg-supported catalysts for the polymerization of propylene. It is apparent from the analysis of the polymerization results reported in the above-mentioned applications that a common drawback experienced in the use of the mentioned malonates was represented by a still unsatisfactory polymerization yield and/or a not suitable isotactic index of the final polymer. This is confirmed also by the disclosure of JP-08157521. This application relates to a process for preparing a solid catalyst component for polymerization of olefins which is characterized by contacting a solid catalyst component produced by the reaction among a magnesium compound, a titanium compound and an halogen compound, with one or more electron donating compounds represented by the general formula: wherein Rc and Rd are, the same or different, a straight-chain or branched-chain hydrocarbon group having 1-10 carbon atoms, and Ra and Rb are the same or different, a saturated or cyclic saturated hydrocarbon group containing one or more secondary or tertiary carbons and having 3-20 carbon atoms. Although an improvement in terms of yields and isotactic index over the previously cited documents is obtained, the results are still not satisfactory for an economical use of the catalyst components disclosed therein. It has now surprisingly been found that the polymerization yields and the isotactic index of the polymer can be improved by using catalyst components comprising heteroatom containing malonates as internal donors. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a solid catalyst component for the polymerization of olefins CH2xe2x95x90CHR in which R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbon radical with 1-12 carbon atoms, comprising Mg, Ti, halogen and an heteroatom containing malonate. The term heteroatom means any atom, different from C and H, in addition to the oxygen atoms deriving from the malonic acid. In particular, the electron donor compounds can be selected from esters of malonic acids of formula (I): wherein R1 and R2 equal to or different from each other, are H or a C1-C20 linear or branched alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl or alkylaryl group and said R1 and R2 can also be joined to form a cyclic group; R3 and R4 are independently selected from C1-C20 linear or branched alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl or alkylaryl group and R3 and R4 can also be joined to form a cyclic group; with the proviso that at least one of the R1 to R4 groups contains at least one heteroatom selected from the group consisting of halogens, N, O, Si, Ge, P, and S. The heteroatoms, are preferably selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and Si, and, in a preferred embodiment, they are contained in the R1 or R2 groups. Preferably, R3 and R4 are primary alkyl, arylalkyl or alkylaryl groups having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms which may contain heteroatoms. More preferably, they are primary branched alkyl groups optionally containing heteroatoms. Examples of suitable R3 and R4 groups not containing heteroatoms are methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, neopentyl, 2-ethylhexyl. Examples of suitable R3 and R4 groups containing heteroatoms are 2-chloroethyl, 1-trifluoromethylethyl, 2-trifluoromethylpropyl 2-trimethylsilylethyl, 2-bromoethyl, 2-trifluoromethylpropyl, 4-chlorobenzyl, 2-fluoroethyl, 3-trimethylsilylallyl. R2 is preferably, and particularly when R1 is H, a linear or branched C3-C20 alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl group; more preferably R2 is a C3-C20 secondary alkyl, cycloalkyl, or arylalkyl. Particularly preferred are also compounds of formula (I) in which R1 is H and R2 is a C5-C20 primary linear or branched alkyl, a C5-C20 cycloalkyl, a C7-C20 arylalkyl or alkylaryl group. Preferably R2 contains at least one heteroatom. Specific examples of suitable monosubstituted malonate compounds are diethyl 2-(1-trifluoromethylethyl)malonate, diethyl 2-(1-trifluoromethylethylidene)malonate, bis(2-chloroethyl) 2-isopropylmalonate, diethyl 2-(trimethylsilylmethyl)malonate, diethyl 2-p-chlorobenzylmalonate, diethyl 2-piperidyl malonate, diethyl 2-(2-ethylpiperidyl)malonate, diethyl 2-(1-trifluoromethyl-1-methylethyl)malonate, diethyl 2-xcex1-phenyl-p-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl malonate, bis(2-fluoroethyl) 2-isopropylmalonate, bis(2-fluoroethyl) 2-ethylmalonate. Among disubstituted malonates preferred compounds are those in which at least one of R1 and R2 is a primary C3-C20 alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl group. Specific examples of suitable disubstituted malonate compounds are: diethyl-2(1-trifluoromethylethyl)-2-benzylmalonate, diethyl 2-(1-trifluoromethylethyl)-2-methylmalonate, diethyl 2-methyltrimethylsilyl-2-methylmalonate, diethyl 2-p-chlorobenzyl-2-isopropylmalonate, diethyl 2-piperidyl-2-methylmalonate, diethyl 2-(1-trifluoromethyl-1-methylethyl)-2-methylmalonate, bis(2-trimethylsilylethyl) 2-isopropyl-2-isobutylmalonate bis(p-chlorobenzyl) 2-cyclohexyl-2-methylmalonate. It has been surprisingly found that catalyst components in which the internal donor is a heteroatom containing malonate perform better, in term of yields and isotactic index, than catalyst components comprising analogous malonates not containing heteroatoms. As explained above, catalyst components according to the invention comprise, in addition to the above electron donor, Ti, Mg and halogen. In particular, the catalyst component comprises a titanium compound, having at least a Ti-halogen bond and the above mentioned electron donor compound supported on a Mg halide. The magnesium halide is preferably MgCl2 in active form which is widely known from the patent literature as a support for Ziegler-Natta catalysts. Patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,718 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,3,538 were the first to describe the use of these compounds in Ziegler-Natta catalysis. It is known from these patents that the magnesium dihalides in active form used as support or co-support in components of catalysts for the polymerization of olefins are characterized by X-ray spectra in which the most intense diffraction line that appears in the spectrum of the non-active halide is diminished in intensity and is replaced by a halo whose maximum intensity is displaced towards lower angles relative to that of the more intense line. The preferred titanium compounds used in the catalyst component of the present invention are TiCl4 and TiCl3; furthermore, also Ti-haloalcoholates of formula Ti(OR)nxe2x88x92yXy, where n is the valence of titanium and y is a number between 1 and n, can be used. The preparation of the solid catalyst component can be carried out according to several methods. According to one of these methods, the magnesium dichloride in an anhydrous state and the heteroatom containing malonate are milled together under conditions in which activation of the magnesium dichloride occurs. The so obtained product can be treated one or more times with an excess of TiCl4 at a temperature between 80 and 135xc2x0 C. This treatment is followed by washings with hydrocarbon solvents until chloride ions disappear. According to a further method, the product obtained by co-milling the magnesium chloride in an anhydrous state, the titanium compound and the heteroatom containing malonate is treated with halogenated hydrocarbons such as 1,2-dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, dichloromethane etc. The treatment is carried out for a time between 1 and 4 hours and at temperature of from 40xc2x0 C. to the boiling point of the halogenated hydrocarbon. The product obtained is then generally washed with inert hydrocarbon solvents such as hexane. According to another method, magnesium dichloride is preactivated according to well known methods and then treated with an excess of TiCl4 at a temperature of about 80 to 135xc2x0 C. which contains, in solution, a heteroatom containing malonate. The treatment with TiCl4 is repeated and the solid is washed with hexane in order to eliminate any non-reacted TiCl4. A further method comprises the reaction between magnesium alcoholates or chloroalcoholates (in particular chloroalcoholatcs prepared according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,554) and an excess of TiCl4 comprising the heteroatom containing malonate in solution at a temperature of about 80 to 120xc2x0 C. According to a preferred method, the solid catalyst component can be prepared by reacting a titanium compound of formula Ti(OR)nxe2x88x92yXy, where n is the valence of titanium and y is a number between 1 and n, preferably TiCl4, with a magnesium chloride deriving from an adduct of formula MgCl2. pROH, where p is a number between 0.1 and 6 and R is a hydrocarbon radical having 1-18 carbon atoms. The adduct can be suitably prepared in spherical form by mixing alcohol and magnesium chloride in the presence of an inert hydrocarbon immiscible with the adduct, operating under stirring conditions at the melting temperature of the adduct (100-130xc2x0 C.). Then, the emulsion is quickly quenched, thereby causing the solidification of the adduct in form of spherical particles. Examples of spherical adducts prepared according to this procedure are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,054 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,648. The so obtained adduct can be directly reacted with the Ti compound or it can be previously subjected to thermal controlled dealcoholation (80-130xc2x0 C.) so as to obtain an adduct in which the number of moles of alcohol is generally lower than 3 preferably between 0.1 and 2.5. The reaction with the Ti compound can be carried out by suspending the adduct (dealcoholated or as such) in cold TiCl4 (generally 0xc2x0 C.); the mixture is heated up to 80-130xc2x0 C. and kept at this temperature for 5-2 hours. The treatment with TiCl4 can be carried out one or more times. The heteroatom containing malonate can be added during the treatment with TiCl4. The treatment with the electron donor compound can be repeated one or more times. The preparation of catalyst components in spherical form is described for example in European Patent Applications EP-A-395083, EP-A-553805, EP-A-553806, EP-A-601525 and WO98/44001. The solid catalyst components obtained according to the above method show a surface area (by B.E.T. method) generally between 20 and 500 m2/g and preferably between 50 and 400 m2/g, and a total porosity (by B.E.T. method) higher than 0.2 cm3/g preferably between 0.2 and 0.6 cm3/g. The porosity (Hg method) due to pores with radius up to 10.000 xc3x85 generally ranges from 0.3 to 1.5 cm3/g, preferably from 0.45 to 1 cm3/g. A further method to prepare the solid catalyst component of the invention comprises halogenating magnesium dihydrocarbyloxide compounds, such as magnesium dialkoxide or diaryloxide, with solution of TiCl4 in aromatic hydrocarbon (such as toluene, xylene etc.) at temperatures between 80 and 130xc2x0 C. The treatment with TiCl4 in aromatic hydrocarbon solution can be repeated one or more times, and the heteroatom containing malonate is added during one or more of these treatments. In any of these preparation methods the desired heteroatom containing malonate can be added as such or, in an alternative way, it can be obtained in situ by using an appropriate precursor capable to be transformed in the desired electron donor compound by means, for example, of known chemical reactions such as esterification, transesterification etc. Generally, the heteroatom containing malonate is used in molar ratio with respect to the MgCl2 of from 0.01 to 1 preferably from 0.05 to 0.5. The solid catalyst component according to the present invention are converted into catalysts for the polymerization of olefins by reacting them with organoaluminum compounds according to known methods. In particular, it is an object of the present invention a catalyst for the polymerization of olefins CH2xe2x95x90CHR, in which R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical with 1-12 carbon atoms, comprising the product of the reaction between: (a) a solid catalyst component comprising a Mg, Ti and halogen as essential elements and an heteroatom containing ester of malonic acids; (b) an alkylaluminum compound and, optionally, (c) one or more electron-donor compounds (external donor). The alkyl-Al compound (b) is preferably selected from the trialkyl aluminum compounds such as for example triethylaluminum, triisobutylaluminum, tri-n-butylaluminum, tri-n-hexylaluminum, tri-n-octylaluminum. It is also possible to use mixtures of trialkylaluminum""s with alkylaluminum halides, alkylaluminum hydrides or alkylaluminum sesquichlorides such as AlEt2Cl and Al2Et3Cl3. The external donor (c) can be of the same type or it can be different from the heteroatom containing malonate. Suitable external electron-donor compounds include silicon compounds, ethers, esters such as ethyl 4-ethoxybenzoate, amines, heterocyclic compounds and particularly 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine, ketones and the 1,3-diethers of the general formula (II): wherein RI, RII, RIII, RIV, RV and RVI equal or different to each other, are hydrogen or hydrocarbon radicals having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and RVII and RVIII, equal or different from each other, have the same meaning of RI-RVI except that they cannot be hydrogen; one or more of the RI-RVIII groups can be linked to form a cyclic group. Particularly preferred are the 1,3-diethers in which RVII and RVIII are selected from C1-C4 alkyl radicals. Another class of preferred external donor compounds is that of silicon compounds of formula Ra5Rb6Si(OR7)c, where a and b are integer from 0 to 2, c is an integer from 1 to 3 and the sum (a+b+c) is 4; R5, R6, and R7, are alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl radicals with 1-18 carbon atoms optionally containing heteroatoms. Particularly preferred are the silicon compounds in which a is 1, b is 1, c is 2, at least one of R5 and R6 is selected from branched alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl groups with 3-10 carbon atoms optionally containing heteroatoms and R7 is a C1-C10 alkyl group, in particular methyl. Examples of such preferred silicon compounds are methylcyclohexyldimethoxysilane, diphenyldimethoxysilane, methyl-t-butyldimethoxysilane, dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane, 2-ethylpiperidinyl-2-t-butyldimethoxysilane and 1,1,1, trifluoropropyl-2-ethylpiperidinyl-dimethoxysilane. Moreover, are also preferred the silicon compounds in which a is 0, c is 3, R6 is a branched alkyl or cycloalkyl group, optionally containing heteroatoms, and R7 is methyl. Examples of such preferred silicon compounds are cyclohexyltrimethoxysilane, t-butyltrimethoxysilane and thexyltrimethoxysilane. The electron donor compound (c) is used in such an amount to give a molar ratio between the organoaluminum compound and said electron donor compound (c) of from 0.1 to 500, preferably from 1 to 300 and more preferably from 3 to 100. As previously indicated, when used in the (co)polymerization of olefins, and in particular of propylene, the catalysts of the invention allow to obtain, with high yields, polymers having a high isotactic index (expressed by hitch xylene insolubility X.I.), thus showing an excellent balance of properties. This is particularly surprising in view of the fact that, as it can be seen from the comparative examples here below reported, the use as internal electron donors of malonate compounds not containing heteroatoms gives worse results in term of yields and/or xylene insolubility. Therefore, it constitutes a further object of the present invention a process for the (co)polymerization of olefins CH2xe2x95x90CHR, in which R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical with 1-12 carbon atoms, carried out in the presence of a catalyst comprising the product of the reaction between: (a) a solid catalyst component comprising a Mg, Ti, halogen arid a heteroatom containing malonate, (b) an alkylaluminum compound and, optionally, (c) one or more electron-donor compounds (external donor). Said polymerization process can be carried out according to known techniques for example slurry polymerization using as diluent an inert hydrocarbon solvent, or bulk polymerization using the liquid monomer (for example propylene) as a reaction medium. Moreover, it is possible to carry out the polymerization process in the gas-phase operating in one or more fluidized or mechanically agitated bed reactors. The polymerization is generally carried out at temperature of from 20 to 120xc2x0 C., preferably of from 40 to 80xc2x0 C. When the polymerization is carried out in the gas-phase the operating pressure is generally between 0.5 and 10 MPa, preferably between 1 and 5 MPa. In the bulk polymerization the operating pressure is generally between 1 and 6 MPa preferably between 1.5 and 4 MPa. Hydrogen or other compounds capable to act as chain transfer agents can be used to control the molecular weight of polymer.

In manufacturing semiconductor devices such as LSI and super-LSI or in manufacturing a liquid crystal display board or the like, a pattern is made by irradiating a light to a semiconductor wafer or an original plate for liquid crystal, but if a dust particle is attached to a photo mask or a reticle (hereinafter collectively referred to as “photo mask” for simplicity) which is used during the irradiation operation, the dust particle would block off or reflect the light so that the resulting pattern would have roughened edges or black stains on the base, which would lead to problems such as damaged dimensions, poor quality, and deformed external appearance. Thus, these works are usually performed in a cleanroom, but it is still not easy to keep the photo mask clean all the time; therefore, a pellicle is attached to a surface of the photo mask as a dust-fender before light exposure is carried out. Under such circumstances, dust particles do not directly adhere to the surface of the photo mask but adhere only to the pellicle film, and since this film is sufficiently remote from the photo mask surface if the photo focus is set on a lithography pattern on the photo mask, the foreign particles on the pellicle film fail to transfer their shadows on the photo mask and thus no longer become a cause for problems to the image transfer performance. In general, a pellicle is made by adhering a transparent pellicle film, which is made of a highly light transmitting material such as cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, fluorine-containing polymer and the like, to an upper annular end face of a pellicle frame made of aluminum, stainless steel, polyethylene or the like, using as the glue either a solvent capable of dissolving the pellicle film, which is applied to said upper annular end face (hereinafter this face is called “upper end face”) and then air-dried before receiving the film (ref. IP Publication 1), or an adhesive such as acrylic resin, epoxy resin or the like (ref. IP Publication 2). Further the other annular end face (hereinafter called “lower end face”) of the pellicle frame is covered with an agglutinant layer made of polybutene resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, acrylic resin, silicone resin or the like for attaching the pellicle frame to the photo mask, and over this agglutinant layer is laid a release liner (separator) to protect the agglutinant layer. Now, in recent years, the semiconductor devices and the liquid display board have undergone further improvement in integration and densification. Currently, a technology of forming a fine pattern having a resolution level of 32 nm on a photo resist film is on the verge of realization. Such patterning can be effectively achieved by improved technologies such as the immersion exposure method, wherein the space between the semiconductor wafer or the original plate for liquid crystal on one hand and the projection lenses on the other is filled with a liquid such as super pure water and the photo resist film is exposed to an argon fluoride (ArF) eximer laser, or the double exposure method, which uses a conventional argon fluoride (ArF) eximer lasar, to which the photo resist film is exposed. However, the next-generation semiconductor devices and the liquid display board are called on to have even denser patterning of a level of 10 nm or smaller, and there is scarce room for the conventional exposure technology depending on excimer laser to improve to answer such high demand of making a dense pattern of the level of 10 nm or smaller. Now, as a most promising method for forming a pattern of a density of 10 nm or smaller, an EUV exposure technology which uses an EUV light of a dominant wavelength of 13.5 mm is in the spotlight. In order to achieve a pattern formation on the density level of as high as 10 nm or smaller on the photo resist film, it is necessary to solve the technical problems with regard to the choices of light source, photo mask, pellicle, etc., and in respect of light source and photo mask there have been considerable progress and various porposals have been made. With respect to the pellicle that could improve yields of semiconductor device products or liquid crystal displays, IP Publication 3, for example, discloses a silicon film of a thickness of 0.1-2.0 micrometers to act as the pellcile film for EUV lithography which is transparent and does not give rise to optical distortion; however there remain unsolved problems in this film, which have prevented realization of the EUV light exposure technology.

The access gateway allows particularly equipment or devices located on a customer site to access a wide area communication network WAN (for “wide area network”), such as the Internet network. These devices are also called CPEs, for “customer premises equipment”. For a local area network, they are particularly the access gateway, a TV decoder “set-top box” and a mobile terminal. Within the context of a home automation network, they are also household appliances, alarm systems and sensors. In order to guarantee quality services, it is preferable for an operator of the wide area communication network to be able to manage such devices remotely. Remote management of the devices particularly requires: detection and knowledge of the devices that are present in the local area network, for example their serial numbers, their hardware and software versions; supervision of these devices, for example by obtaining supervision information and performance indicators. Remote management of the devices of a local area network is reliant on a technical report drafted by the Broadband Forum, TR-069 “CPE WAN Management Protocol”. This technical report defines a CWMP protocol, allowing communication between a piece of administrative equipment, called remote auto-configuration equipment ACS (for “auto-configuration server”), and a device of the local area network. The CWMP protocol defines a mechanism that allows, in particular, secure auto-configuration of the equipment of the local area network and other functions for managing these devices. It is particularly possible for the operator of the network to make remote interventions, such as: updating the software or the firmware of a device when the software version or the firmware needs to move on; making a diagnosis when a device has a malfunction; dynamically installing and configuring new services; monitoring the state and the performance of a device. The CWMP protocol is reliant on the Internet protocol, more precisely on TCP/IP (for “transmission control protocol”). The data allowing remote management of the devices of the network, for example data for assisting in diagnosis, are transmitted by each device to the administrative equipment by means of the CWMP protocol. When access to the wide area communication network WAN is no longer possible via the access gateway, it is then impossible to make contact with the administrative equipment in order to transmit data for assisting in diagnosis to it. Consequently, it is impossible for a customer support advisor of the operator to automatically retrieve the data for assisting in diagnosis when the access gateway no longer allows access to the wide area communication network. The advisor therefore has to question the customer orally in order to be able to establish a technical diagnosis, making this work difficult and not very reliable.