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Display systems are incorporated in, or used by, a plurality of devices, including televisions, computer monitors, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and watches. Often, there is a need for these devices to incorporate a more or less static component into the image or images that they project. The static image component may take various forms, including those of: a company logo, a battery status indicator, a signal strength indicator, a recording indicator, or an alarm indicator. Static image components may also take the form of text and/or graphic images. To display such an indicator, a new set of control signals must typically be generated for the display system. Sometimes, this can require a great deal of overhead.

The invention relates to a mirror projection system for use in a step-and-scan lithographic projection apparatus for imaging a mask pattern, present in a mask, on a substrate by means of a beam of EUV radiation, which beam has a circular segment-shaped cross-section. The invention also relates to a lithographic apparatus for step-and-scan imaging of a mask pattern on a number of areas of a substrate, which apparatus comprises such a mirror projection system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,310 describes a mirror projection system for use in a step-and-scan lithographic apparatus with which an IC mask pattern is imaged on a number of areas of a semiconductor substrate, using EUV radiation. EUV, extreme ultraviolet, radiation is understood to mean radiation having a wavelength in the range between several nm and several tens of nm. This radiation is also referred to as soft X-ray radiation. The use of EUV radiation provides the great advantage that extremely small details, of the order of 0.1 .mu.m or less, can be imaged satisfactorily. In other words, an imaging system in which EUV radiation is used has a very high resolving power without the NA of the system having to be extremely large, so that also the depth of focus of the system still has a reasonably large value. Since no suitable material of which lenses can be made is available for EUV radiation, a mirror projection system must be used for imaging the mask pattern on the substrate, instead of a hitherto conventional lens projection system. The lithographic apparatuses currently used in the production of ICs are stepping apparatuses. In these apparatuses, a full field illumination is used, i.e. all areas of the mask pattern are illuminated simultaneously and these areas are simultaneously imaged on an IC area of the substrate. After a first IC area has been illuminated, a step is made to a subsequent IC area, i.e. the substrate holder is moved in such a way that the next IC area will be positioned under the mask pattern, whereafter this area is illuminated, and so forth until all IC areas of the substrate of the mask pattern are illuminated. As is known, it remains desirable to have ICs with an increasing number of components. It is attempted to meet this desire not only by reducing the dimensions of these components but also by enlarging the surface areas of the ICs. This means that the, already relatively high, NA of the projection lens system must be further increased and, for a stepping apparatus, the image field of this system must also be further increased. This is practically impossible. It has therefore been proposed to change from a stepping apparatus to a step-and-scan apparatus. In such an apparatus, an annular segment-shaped sub-area of the mask pattern and hence also such a sub-area of an IC area of the substrate is illuminated, and the mask pattern and the substrate are moved synchronously through the illumination beam, taking the magnification of the projection system into account. A subsequent annular segment-shaped sub-area of the mask pattern is then imaged each time on a corresponding sub-area of the relevant IC area on the substrate. After the entire mask pattern has been imaged on an IC area in this way, the substrate holder performs a stepping movement, i.e. the beginning of a subsequent IC area is introduced into the projection beam and the mask is set to its initial position, whereafter said subsequent IC area is scan-illuminated via the mask pattern. This scan-imaging method may be used to great advantage in a lithographic apparatus in which EUV radiation is used as projection radiation. The embodiment of the projection system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,310, intended for use with EUV radiation having a wavelength of 13 nm, has an NA of 0.25 at the image side. The annular image field has an inner radius of 29 mm and an outer radius of 31 mm and a length of 30 mm. The resolution of the system is 30 nm and the aberrations and distortions are sufficiently small to form a good image of a transmission mask pattern on an IC area of a substrate by way of a scanning process. This projection system comprises six imaging mirrors, and an intermediate image is formed between the third and the fourth mirror. The mask is situated at one geometric end of the projection system, and the substrate is situated at the other geometric end of this system. When such a mirror system is used in a lithographic projection apparatus, the small quantity of radiation incident on the substrate presents a problem. This problem is caused by the fact that the mirrors are considerably less than 100% reflective. Each of these mirrors comprises a multilayer structure whose composition is optimized for the relevant wavelength. Examples of such multilayer structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,898. With such multilayer structures, maximum reflections can be achieved which are theoretically of the order of 75% but, in practice are currently not larger than 65%. When six mirrors are used, each with a reflection of 68% in a projection system, only 9.9% of the radiation originating from the mask pattern and entering the system reaches the substrate. For a lithographic apparatus, this means in practice that the illumination time should be relatively long so as to obtain the desired quantity of radiation energy on an IC area of the substrate, and the scanning rate should be relatively small for a scanning apparatus. However, it is essential for these apparatuses that the scanning rate is as high as possible and the illumination time is as low as possible, so that the throughput, i.e. the number of substrates which can be illuminated per unit of time, is as high as possible.

IGF-I is a hormone with a molecular structure similar to insulin. It is a peptide produced by the liver and contains 70 amino acids in a single chain with three intramolecular disulfide bridges. IGF-I has a molecular weight of about 7,649 Da, and is highly protein bound in serum. Production is stimulated by growth hormone and can be retarded by undernutrition, growth hormone insensitivity, lack of growth hormone receptors, or failure of a downstream signaling pathway. IGF-I plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults. Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) is also a hormone with a molecular structure similar to insulin. It is a single chain peptide that contains 67 amino acids. IGF-II has a molecular weight of about 7,505 Da, and is highly protein bound in serum. IGF-II is used as an adjunct to insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in clinical evaluation of growth hormone-related disorders. IGF-II plays a role primarily in fetal growth and development by interplaying with IGF-I and different cell surface receptors and circulating binding proteins to modulate tissue growth. IGF-II levels are reduced in children and adults as a result of growth hormone deficiency or malnutrition. Increased IGF-II serum levels may be observed in acromegaly or with exogenous administration of IGF-I. Thus, measurement of circulating IGF-II levels (i.e. in plasma/serum) is an important tool in management of several growth hormone-related disorders. In addition, measurement of circulating IGF-II is also a valuable tool in various epidemiological research areas and clinical trials. IGF-I and IGF-II have proven to be particularly challenging to quantitatively analyze with a “bottom up” approach (i.e., enzymatic digestion and quantitation of one or more of the resulting peptides). For example, de Kock, et al. reported that typical trypsin, chymotrypsin, and pepsin digestion methods result in low digestion yield and non-specific enzyme cleavage. de Kock, et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 2001, 15:1191-97. de Kock, et al. suggested that the unsatisfactory digestion results were likely due to steric restriction of the proteolytic enzymes by IGF-I's three disulfide bonds. Id. Efforts have been made to develop methods to analyze IGF-I and IGF-II, including by a variety of mass spectrometric techniques. For example, analysis of IGF-I has been reported using LC-ion trap MS with single ion monitoring (SIM). See, e.g., Id.; Bobin, et al., Analyst, 2001, 126:1996-2001; and Popot, et al., Chromatographia, 2001, 54:737-741 (Popot I). These references disclose LC-ESI-ion trap MS of intact IGF-I at charge states ranging from 4+ to 9+ in SIM mode. More recently, LC-MS/MS techniques using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) have been disclosed. Popot II reports quantitative analysis of IGF-I at charge states ranging from 4+ to 9+ using LC-ion trap MS with SIM, followed by qualitative confirmation of the analyte with LC-ion trap MS/MS using MRM. Popot, et al., Anal Bioanal Chem, 2008, 390:1843-52 (Popot II). The MRM experiments use selected multicharged IGF-I ions (7+ and 8+) as precursor ions in the fragmentation experiments. Bredehöft, et al. reports using an orbitrap mass spectrometric instrument to qualitatively determine the mass to charge ratios of precursor and product ions of IGF-I and use of the identified ions for subsequent IGF-I quantitation using LC-triple quadrupole MS/MS. Bredehöft, et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 2008, 22:477-485. Similarly, analysis of IGF-II has been reported using enzymatic digestion followed by mass spectrometric analysis of the digestion products. See, e.g., Smith et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1989, 16:9314-9321; and Bayne et al., Peptide Research, 1990, 6:271-273. Other studies have been reported for analysis of mass spectrometric detection of intact IGF-II. See, e.g., Hampton et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1989, 32:19155-19160; Hayne, et al., J. Chromatog. 1991, 52:391-402; Wadensten, et al., Biotech. and App. Biochem., 1991, 13:412-421; Jespersen, et al., J. Mass Spectrom., 1996, 31:893-900; and Nelson, et al., J. Proteome, 2004, 3:851-855. These references report detection of intact IGF-II with plasma desorption and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric techniques. Hampton et al. detects charge states ranging from 1+ to 3+. All but Hampton et al. detect IGF-II at a 1+ charge state.

Magnetic materials that concentrate magnetic flux lines have many industrial uses from permanent magnets to magnetic recording heads. In particular, soft magnetic materials that have high permeability and nearly reversible magnetization versus applied field curves find widespread use in electrical power equipment. Commercial Iron-Silicon transformer steels can have relative permeabilities, as high as 100000, saturation inductions around 2.0 T, resistivities up to 70 μΩcm and 50/60 Hz losses of a few watts/kg. Even though these products possess favourable characteristics, the losses of power transmitted in such transformers represent a significant economic loss. Since the 1940's, grain oriented Fe—Si steels have been developed with lower and lower losses [U.S. Pat. No. 1,965,559 (Goss), (1934) and see, for example, the review article: “Soft Magnetic Materials”, G. E. Fish, Proc. IEEE, 78, p. 947 (1990)]. Inspired by the Pry and Bean model [R. H. Pry and C. P. Bean, J. Appl. Phys., 29, p. 532, (1958)] which identifies a mechanism for anomalous losses based on domain wall motion, modern magnetic materials benefit from magnetic domain refinement, for example, by laser scribing [I. Ichijima, M. Nakamura, T. Nozawa and T. Nakata, IEEE Trans Mag, 20, p. 1557, (1984)] or by mechanical scribing. This approach has led to losses around 0.6 W/kg at 60 Hz. By careful control of heat treatment, and mechanical surface etching, very low losses can be obtained in a thin sheet [K. I. Arai, K. Ishiyama and H. Magi, IEEE Trans Mag, 25, p. 3989, (1989)], 0.2 W/kg at 1.7 T and 50 Hz. However, commercially available materials exhibit losses down to 0.68 W/kg at 60 Hz. Over the last 25 years, a refinement of crystal grain size in many ferromagnetic systems has led to a significant decrease in hysteresis losses. According to Herzer's random anisotropy model [Herzer, G. (1989) IEEE Trans Mag 25, 3327-3329, Ibid 26, p. 1397-1402] for grains (less than about 30 nm diameter) that are of diameter less than the magnetic exchange length, the anisotropy is significantly reduced and very soft magnetic behaviour occurs, characterized by very low coercive field values (Hc) below 20 A/m and thus low hysteresis losses. Often, these materials consist of a distribution of nano-crystals embedded in an amorphous matrix, for example: metallic glasses (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,135 (Luborsky et al.)). Often, to achieve these desirable properties, a careful stress relief and/or partial recrystallization heat treatment is applied to the material which has been initially produced in a predominantly amorphous state. Metallic glasses are generally fabricated by a rapid quenching and are usually made of 20% of a metalloid such as silicon, phosphorous, boron or carbon and of about 80% of iron. These films are limited in thickness and width. Moreover, edge-to-edge and end-to-end thickness variation occurs along with surface roughness. The interest of such materials is very limited due to the high costs associated with the production of such materials. Amorphous alloy can also be prepared by vacuum deposition, sputtering, plasma spraying, rapidly quenching and electrodeposition. Typical commercial ribbons have a 25 μm thickness and a 210 mm width. Electrodeposition of alloys based on the iron group of metals is one of the most important developments in the last decades in the field of metal alloy deposition. FeP deserves special attention as a cost effective soft magnetic material. FeP alloy films can be produced by electrochemical, electroless, metallurgical, mechanical and sputtering methods. Electrochemical processing is extensively used permitting control of the coating composition, microstructure, internal stress and magnetic properties, by using suitable plating conditions and can be done at low cost. The following provides certain patent examples related to iron-based alloys. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,389 (Uedaira) discloses the electrodeposition of an amorphous iron-phosphorous or iron-phosphorous-copper film on a copper substrate from an iron (0.3 to 1.7 molar (M) divalent iron) and hypophosphite (0.07-0.42 M hypophosphite) bath using low current densities between 3 and 20 A/dm2, a pH range of 1.0-2.2. and a low temperature of 30 to 50° C. The P content in the deposited films varies between 12 to 30 atomic % with a magnetic flux density Bm of 1.2 to 1.4 T. There is no production of a free-standing foil. U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,927 (Chessin et al.) discloses the addition of minor amounts of phosphorus in the iron electrodeposits to harden iron for hard facing or coating of such parts as shafts and rolls. This patent cites adding between 0.0006 M and 0.06 M of hypophosphite in the iron bath at a temperature between 38 to 76° C. over a current density range of 2 to 10 A/dm2. But for fissure-free deposit, the bath is operated at 70° C., at currents lower than 2.2 A/dm2 and at concentrations of sodium hypophosphite monohydrate of 0.009 M. There is no mention of a free-standing foil production. U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,430 (Fujishima et al.) describes amorphous metal alloys employed in a magnetic head as core materials. Such alloys are generally composed of M and Y, wherein M is at least one of Fe, Ni and Co and Y is at least one of P, B, C and Si. The amorphous metal alloys used are presented as a combination of the desirable properties of conventional permalloys with those of conventional ferrites. The interest of these materials as a constitutive element of a transformer is, however, limited due to their low maximum flux density. U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,441 (Gamblin) describes that iron-phosphorous electroforms may be fabricated electrically from a plating bath which contains at least one compound from which iron can be electrolytically deposited, at least one compound which serves as a source of phosphorus such as hypophosphorous acid, and at least one compound selected from the group consisting of glycin, beta-alanine, DL-alanine, and succinic acid. The alloy thereby obtained, that is always prepared in presence of an amine, is characterised neither for its crystalline structure nor by any mechanical or electromagnetic measures and can only be recovered from the flat support by flexing the support. U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,006 (Sawa et al.) discloses a Fe-based soft magnetic alloy having soft magnetic characteristics with high saturation magnetic flux density, characterized in that it has very small crystal grains. The alloy may be treated to cause segregation of these small crystal grains. The following provides certain patent examples related to cobalt and nickel phosphorous alloys. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,903 (Oda et al.) discloses a process for the electrodeposition of a peeled foil-shaped or tape-shaped product of CoFeP having good workability and good soft magnetic properties. The amorphous alloy contains at least 69 atomic % of Co and 2 to 30 atomic % of P. There is no mention of a FeP amorphous alloy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,464 (Lichtenberger) discloses an electrodeposited amorphous alloy of NiP as a free-standing foil of improved ductility. There is no mention of a FeP amorphous alloy. The following provides certain examples of publications related to FeP alloys. Several papers were concerned with the formation of FeP deposits on a substrate with good soft magnetic properties. T. Osaka et al., in “Preparation of Electrodeposited FeP Films and their Soft Magnetic Properties”, [Journal of the Magnetic Society of Japan Vol. 18, Supplement, No. S1 (1994)], mentions electrodeposited FeP films, and the most suitable FeP alloy film exhibits a minimum coercive field, 0.2 Oe, and a high saturation magnetic flux density, 1.4 T, at the P content of 27 atomic %. In order to improve the magnetic properties, in particular the permeability, a magnetic field heat treatment was adopted, and the permeability was increased to 1400. The most suitable film was found to be a hyper-fine crystalline structure. The thermal stability of the FeP film was also confirmed to be up to 300° C. (annealing without magnetic field in vacuum). K. Kamei and Y. Maehara [J. Appl. Electrochem., 26, p. 529-535 (1996)] found the lowest Hc of about 0.05 Oe obtained with an electrodeposited and annealed FeP amorphous alloy, with phosphorous content of about 20 atomic %. This paper cites adding up to 0.15 M of sodium hypophosphite in the iron bath at a temperature of 50° C. over a current density of 5 A/dm2 and a pH of 2.0. K. Kamei and Y. Maehara [Mat. Sc. And Eng., A181/A182, p. 906-910 (1994)] used a pulsed-plating bath to electrodeposit FeP and FePCu on a substrate and a low Hc value of 0.5 Oe was obtained for the FePCu at a relatively high current density of 20 A/dm2. The microstructure of electrodeposited FeP deserves large attention in the literature. It was established that the crystallographic structure of FeP electrodeposited film gradually changes from crystalline to amorphous with increasing P content in the deposited film until 12-15 atomic %. There was a need for new amorphous material free of at least one of the drawbacks traditionally associated with the available amorphous material. There was also a need for a new amorphous material presenting improved mechanical and/or electromagnetic and/or electrical properties, in particular good soft magnetic properties that are very useful for different applications. There was also a need for a new process allowing the preparation of an amorphous free foil with predetermined mechanical and/or electromagnetic properties, in particular with a low stress and good soft magnetic properties. There was particularly a need for an economic process for producing such materials. There was also a need for a new practical, efficient and economic process for producing amorphous foils with a thickness up to 250 microns and without limitation in the size of the foil. There was, therefore, a need for a new amorphous material as free-standing foil free of at least one of the drawbacks of known amorphous materials and presenting the magnetic properties, namely high saturation induction, low coercive field, high permeability and low power frequency losses, which are required when the material is used to form the ferromagnetic cores of transformers, motors, generators and magnetic shieldings.

1. Field This invention relates generally to the field of network communications and more particularly to the field of communications over a network with a gaming machine. 2. Description of Related Art Wagering game makers continually provide new and entertaining games. One way of increasing entertainment value associated with casino-style wagering games (e.g., video slots, video poker, video black jack, and the like) includes offering a base game and a variety of bonus events. However, despite the variety of bonus events, players often lose interest in repetitive gaming content. In order to maintain player interest, wagering game machine makers frequently update game themes, game settings, bonus events, and other gaming content. In order to satisfy player demands, gaming machine operators continuously license and deploy new gaming content to gaming machines operating in the field. Gaming machine operators typically update gaming content by manually delivering updated gaming content to each gaming machine. For example, when a gaming machine's gaming content becomes undesirable or a license expires, an operator typically replaces existing media (e.g. ROM, CD-ROM, or flash RAM) with new media containing updated gaming and licensing content. For gaming machine operators owning scores of machines, this process can be laborious and expensive.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light-emitting device using a light-emitting diode as a light source, and particularly, to a light-emitting device which is excellent in productivity as well as light resistance, moisture resistance, heat resistance, and heat dissipation. 2. Description of the Related Art As conventional representative light-emitting devices using a light-emitting diode (LED) element as a light source, there are light-emitting devices in which an LED element and specified portion of leads (power-feeding members) are integrally sealed with a sealing material having light transmissivity. As such sealing materials, there are generally used sealing materials of resin, such as epoxy resin, silicon resin, or the like, from the points of view of molding property, mass productivity, and cost. In recent years, blue LEDs with as high brightness as that of red and green LEDs have been developed, and thereby used in applications of LED traffic lights, white LEDs, and the like. Also, in order to obtain higher brightness, the development of high-power LEDs has proceeded, and high-power LEDs of a few watts have already been manufactured. In high-power LED elements, large current flows therethrough so that, from the points of view of light-emitting property and durability, an unnegligible level of heat is produced. In such LEDs, resin sealing materials have large thermal expansion coefficient, so that increasing heat with increasing power and light of LED elements causes an increase in internal stress due to thermal expansion, and therefore cracking in the package, and peeling resulting from thermal expansion differences between the members. There is also the disadvantage of fast optical deterioration in resin sealing materials, such as yellowing. Because particularly in high-power LEDs, the above-mentioned tendencies are developed notably, LEDs with excellent durability are desired. To improve such optical deterioration, heat resistance, and durability of LEDs, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 11-204838, for example, discloses using glass material as the sealing material. According to the conventional light-emitting device, because sealing LED elements, etc. with glass generally requires softening and thermocompression-bonding glass material, or fusing and molding glass for being integral with the LED elements, etc., the portions to be sealed expand thermally due to exposure to heat during the processing, and are formed integrally and with no stress in this state, which is returned to normal temperature. In this case, however, if the thermal expansion coefficient differences between the LED elements and mounting substrate, etc. are large, there are the problems that peeling thereof is caused in the mounting interface by thermal stress due to the thermal contraction differences, and that cracking is caused in the sealing glass material, which reduce reliability.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to art for a printer connectable to a network and to a controller therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to art for a multitask program that is executed by this controller. 2. Description of the Related Art Pursuant to the advancement in network technology in recent years, printers have come to be connected to a network via a network interface and shared by a plurality of host computers. This network interface is equipped with a dedicated processor and a buffer, and communicates with the host computers by a specific protocol, thereby receiving printing job data and storing them in the buffer. The controller connected to the printer unit is also equipped with a processor, and prints by receiving image data stored in the network interface buffer whenever necessary, while generating image data and issuing control commands to a print engine. Specifically, with the above-mentioned conventional network printer, the network interface and the controller each have a processor, and the network interface and the controller are connected by internal dedicated buses. Consequently, the processor of the controller performs its print control while making image data transmission requests to the network interface so that there is no undesired variance in the printing results, without any consideration given to controlling the communication with the host computers.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an opaque, biaxially oriented polymer film and a method for its preparation. In particular, it relates to an opaque, biaxially oriented film containing voids and its preparation from a composition comprising a film-forming polymer and void-forming microspheres dispersed therein.

The genus Bifidobacterium is one of the most commonly used types of bacteria cultures in the dairy industry for fermenting a variety of dairy products. Ingestion of Bifidobacterium-containing products furthermore has a health-promoting effect. This effect is not only achieved by a lowered pH of the intestinal contents but also by the ability of Bifidobacterium to repopulate the intestinal flora in individuals who have had their intestinal flora disturbed by, for example, intake of antibiotics. Bifidobacterium furthermore has the potential of outcompeting potential harmful intestinal micro-organisms. Galacto-oligosaccharides are known to enhance the growth of Bifidobacterium. This effect is likely achieved through the unique ability of Bifidobacterium to exploit galacto-oligosaccharides as a carbon source. Dietary supplement of galacto-oligosaccharides is furthermore thought to have a number of long-term disease protecting effects. For example, galacto-oligosaccharide intake has been shown to be highly protective against development of colorectal cancer in rats (Wijnands, et al., 1999). There is therefore a great interest in developing cheap and efficient methods for producing galacto-oligosaccharides for use in the industry for improving dietary supplements and dairy products. The enzyme β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) usually hydrolyzes lactose to the monosaccharides D-glucose and D-galactose. In the normal enzyme reaction of β-galactosidases, the enzyme hydrolyzes lactose and transiently binds the galactose monosaccharide in a galactose-enzyme complex that transfers galactose to the hydroxyl group of water, resulting in the liberation of D-galactose and D-glucose. However, at high lactose concentrations some β-galactosidases are able to transfer galactose to the hydroxyl groups of D-galactose or D-glucose in a process called transgalactosylation, whereby galacto-oligosaccharides are produced. Enzymes capable of transgalactosylation have been isolated from a wide range of micro-organisms, including bacteria and yeasts. The observation that galacto-oligosaccharides enhance the growth of health-promoting Bifidobacterium has stimulated investigations of Bifidobacterium and their β-galactosidase enzymes. Two DNA sequences of B. breve and B. longum β-galactosidase genes have been deposited in GeneBank (accession numbers E5040 and AJ242596, respectively). Dumortier et al. (1994) have reported that B. bifidum DSM 20215 contains three β-galactosidases and one of these enzymes has trans-galactosylating properties. However, no identification of the enzyme possessing this activity or any sequence of the enzyme or the corresponding gene from B. bifidum DSM 20215 has been published. Production-of galacto-o-ligosaccharides by-the use of β-galactosidases has been reported in several papers. For example, β-galactosidase from E. coli has been shown to produce oligosaccharides at high lactose concentrations (0.5 M or approximately 20% lactose; Huber et al. 1976) Various thermophilic microorganisms have been shown to produce oligosaccharides at high temperatures and high lactose concentrations, e.g. Sterigmatomyces elviae can produce 39% oligosaccharides from 20% lactose at 60° C. (Onishi & Tanaka, 1995), and Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula can synthesize 41% oligosaccharides in 1.75 M lactose at 70° C. (Nako et al., 1994). However, the enzymes described above all have the drawbacks of requiring either high temperatures or high lactose concentrations or both in order to exhibit significant transgalactosylase activity. There is thus a need for developing cheaper and more efficient methods of producing galacto-oligosaccharides for use in the industry.

Conventionally, arrangements are known in which a three way catalyst (which will simply be referred to as “catalyst” in this specification, as well) is provided to an exhaust path of the internal-combustion engine for detoxifying exhaust from the internal-combustion engine. The three way catalyst has a function (oxidation function) of oxidizing unburned components (HC, CO) in the exhaust flowing therethrough, as well as a function (reduction function) of reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust, thereby detoxifying harmful emissions such as HC and CO, which are unburned components, NOx, and so forth. Furthermore, in general, the three way catalyst has an oxygen adsorption function (O2 storage function) for adsorbing (storing) oxygen. Specifically, in a case that exhaust flows through the three way catalyst at a richer air/fuel ratio than the theoretical air/fuel ratio, the three way catalyst oxidizes the unburned components such as HC, CO, and so forth, contained in the exhaust using oxygen stored therein (i.e., discharge oxygen). On the other hand, in a case that exhaust flows through the three way catalyst at a leaner air/fuel ratio than the theoretical air/fuel ratio, the three way catalyst reduces oxygen and NOx contained in the exhaust and stores the oxygen, captured in the reduction, therein. This oxygen adsorption function enables effective detoxification of HC and CO, which are unburned components, and NOx, over a range of air/fuel ratios around the theoretical air/fuel combustion ratio of the exhaust of the exhaust flowing through the three way catalyst around the theoretical air/fuel combustion ratio. With such an arrangement, in order to maintain satisfactory oxygen adsorption function over the range of the air/fuel ratio around the theoretical air/fuel ratio from a certain lean air/fuel ratio up to a certain rich air/fuel ratio, the amount of oxygen adsorbed on the catalysis (oxygen adsorption amount) is preferably kept around a predetermined suitable amount, e.g., around half of the maximum oxygen amount which the catalysis can absorb (maximum oxygen adsorption capacity). Recently, internal-combustion engines are known having a function of performing operation without fuel injection (fuel cut) depending on the operation thereof, e.g., in a case that the driver releases the accelerator pedal during driving of the vehicle, and so forth, thereby improving the fuel efficiency. With such internal-combustion engines, exhaust flowing through the catalysis includes only air during the fuel cut operation. That is to say, in this case, exhaust continuously flows through the catalysis at an extremely lean air/fuel ratio. Note that the fuel cut operation will also be referred to as “F/C” hereafter. This often increases the oxygen adsorption amount of the catalysis up to the maximum adsorption amount thereof at the point in time after F/C (i.e., the start point of fuel injection (combustion)). In this state, the catalysis cannot exhibit satisfactory oxygen adsorption performance, leading to difficulty in efficient detoxification of NOx in the exhaust. In order to solve the aforementioned problems, a technique is known in which the flow of the exhaust passing through the catalysis (i.e., the flow of mixture supplied to the engine) is temporarily adjusted to a rich air/fuel ratio after F/C, thereby controlling the oxygen adsorption amount of the catalysis around the aforementioned suitable amount. Such operation will also be referred to as “rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C” hereafter. On the other hand, the air/fuel ratio supplied to the engine will also be referred to as “air/fuel ratio of the engine” hereafter. For example, with a fuel-injection control device (fuel supply control device) which has a function of the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C, and which has been disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-172176, the operation of the engine is performed while gradually reducing the air/fuel ratio from a richer air/fuel ratio than the theoretical air/fuel ratio by a predetermined amount after F/C up to the theoretical air/fuel ratio over time after the end of F/C. FIG. 17 shows an example of change in the air/fuel ratio of the engine over the period of time including the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C, performed by the fuel-injection control device disclosed in the above-described Document. Specifically, the drawing shows an example in which the air/fuel ratio of the engine is controlled to the theoretical air/fuel ratio (stoichiometric ratio) before the point in time t1 at which F/C begins. Subsequently, in this example, F/C is executed from the point in time t1 up to the point in time t2. In this case, the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C is executed over the time from the point in time t2 which is the end point of F/C up to the point in time t3. This adjusts the air/fuel ratio of the engine to a level richer than the stoichiometric ratio by a predetermined amount after the point in time t2. Subsequently, the air/fuel ratio is gradually reduced so as to approach the stoichiometric ratio over the following time. Eventually, the air/fuel ratio of the engine is adjusted to the stoichiometric ratio after the point in time t3. On the other hand, the air/fuel ratio of the engine somewhat greater than the theoretical air/fuel ratio provides the maximum output of the engine. Furthermore, a relation is known according to which, as the air/fuel ratio of the engine is richer than the theoretical air/fuel ratio of the engine, the output of the engine becomes gradually smaller. Accordingly, control of the air/fuel ratio to a considerable rich air/fuel ratio as compared with the theoretical air/fuel ratio for a considerably long duration leads to the user experiencing sensation that a desired output cannot be obtained (which will also be referred to as “lag sensation” hereafter). Here, an excessively rich air/fuel ratio that causes apparently reduced output of the engine which leads to the driver experiencing lag sensation will also be referred to as “over-rich air/fuel ratio” hereafter. Accordingly, in order to perform operation without driver experiencing such a lag sensation due to the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C, control of the air/fuel ratio of the engine to such an over-rich air/fuel ratio for a relatively long period of time should be prevented. On the other hand, it has come to be known that in a case of maintaining the operation of the engine at a shallow rich air/fuel ratio leaner than the over-rich air/fuel ratio (i.e., at a rich air/fuel ratio at which the operation of the engine for a relatively long duration does not leads to the driver experiencing lag sensation) during the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C, the catalysis cannot provide sufficient detoxification of NOx in the exhaust flowing therethrough over an extremely short period of time immediately after the end of F/C, leading to a problem that a relatively large amount of NOx passing through the catalysis without detoxification. It is thought that such a phenomenon occurs due to insufficient region of the catalysis which can exhibit the aforementioned reduction function (which will be referred to as “reducing region” hereafter) during an extremely short period of time immediately after F/C. Furthermore, it has come to be known that such a phenomenon can be avoided by operating the engine at an over-rich air/fuel ratio immediately after the end of F/C. It is thought that the reason is that the operation of the engine at an over-rich air/fuel ratio provides a sufficient area of the reducing region in an extremely short period of time immediately after F/C (detailed description will be made later). Now, let us consider an arrangement in which the fuel-injection control device disclosed in the aforementioned document controls rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C at an over-rich air/fuel ratio immediately after the end of F/C. Here, let us say that an air/fuel ratio which is richer than the value AFrich is an over-rich air/fuel ratio as shown in FIG. 17. In this case, the operation of the engine is controlled at an over-rich air/fuel ratio over a relatively long period of time from the point in time t2 up to the point in time tA (see the hatched region in FIG. 17). Accordingly, the fuel-injection control device disclosed in the aforementioned document has a problem that the rich air/fuel ratio control after F/C sufficient for preventing NOx from being discharged even over an extremely short period of time immediately after the end of F/C leads to the aforementioned phenomenon involving the user's lag sensation.

The field of the present invention is the area of cellulolytic enzymes, nucleotide sequences encoding them and recombinant host cells and methods for producing them. Cellulose, the most abundant structure of plant cell walls, exists mostly as insoluble microfibril which are formed by hydrogen bonds between individual cellulose chains. Conversion of cellulose to glucose provides readily available carbon sources for fuel and chemical production. Such conversion requires several types of enzymes including endoglucanases (E.C. 3.2.1.4), cellobiohydrolases (also called exoglucanase, E.C. 3.2.1.91), .beta.-glucosidase (also called cellobiase, E.C. 3.2.1.21). Endoglucanases hydrolyze .beta.-glycoside bonds internally and randomly along the cellulose chains whereas cellobiohydrolases remove cellobiose molecules from the reducing and non-reducing ends of the chains (Barr et al., 1996). .beta.-Glucosidases hydrolyze the cellobiose to two molecules of glucose, and therefore eliminate the inhibition of cellobiose on cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases. Microorganisms have evolved diverse strategies for efficient break down of plant cell wall constitutes, particularly cellulose. Aerobic organisms tend to secrete individual enzymes whereas some anaerobic bacteria produce high molecular weight enzyme complexes on the cell surface. Examples of such enzyme producers are the fungus Trichoderma reesei and bacteria Cellulomonas fimi and Thermomonospora fusca. Cellulases of these organisms consist of cellulose binding domains (CBD) and catalytic domains joined by linker sequences. Anaerobic bacteria whose cellulolytic systems received extensive investigations include Clostridium thermocellum (Felix and Ljungdahl. 1993. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 47:791-819; Aubert et al. 1993. In: M. Sebald (ed.) Genetics and Molecular Biology of Anaerobic Bacteria. p. 412-422. Springer-Verlag, NY) and C cellulovorans (Doi et al. 1994. Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 20:87-93). The high molecular weight cellulase complex, more often called the cellulosome, of C. thermocellum contains about 26 polypeptides with a mass in a range of 2.times.10.sup.6 to 6.5.times.10.sup.6 Da (Lamed et al., 1983). These polypeptides include at least one scaffolding protein termed cellulosome integrating protein A (CipA) and a number of catalytically active proteins. The protein and protein interactions forming the cellulosome are effected by conserved duplicated regions (CDR) of the catalytically active proteins and nine internal repeated elements (IRE) of CipA. Highly efficient cellulases of anaerobic fungi have been demonstrated (Wood et al. 1986. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 34:37-40; Lowe et al. 1987. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53:1216-1223; Bomeman et al. 1989. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55:1066-1073). A high molecular weight cellulase/hemicellulase complex has been isolated from Neocallimastix frontalis (Wilson and Wood. 1992. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 14:258-264). No individual native cellulases have been purified from anaerobic fungi. On the basis of morphology of sporangia, mycelia and zoospores, anaerobic fungi have been classified into two groups, monocentric and polycentric (Bomeman et al., 1989, supra; Bomeman and Akin. 1994. Mycoscience 35:199-211). Monocentric fungi have only one sporangium developed from one zoosporium, whereas polycentric isolates have multiple sporangia originating from one zoosporium. Most investigations on anaerobic fungi have focused on monocentric isolates, particularly isolates of the genera Neocallimastix and Piromyces. Gene cloning and sequencing of polysaccharidases from the monocentric anaerobic fungi have shown that multiple cellulases and hemicellulases of these fungi may form high molecular weight complexes (HMWC) similar to the cellulosomes of Clostridia (Gilbert et al. 1992. Mol. Microbiol. 6:2065-2072; Zhou et al. 1994. Biochem. J. 297:359-364, Fanutti et al. 1995. J. Biol. Chem. 270:29314-29322). Evidence provided by these studies is three fold: 1) Most of the hydrolases lack cellulose binding domains; 2) They have repeated peptide (RP) domains at the carboxyl termini or between two catalytic domains although they lack sequence homology with the CDRs of cellulosomal catalytic proteins. These regions are not required for catalysis; and 3) The RP domain of a Piromyces xylanase binds to other proteins in the Neocallimastix and Piromyces HMWCs. More recently, however, a cellulase (CelA) of Neocallimastix, which lacks the RP domain but contains a typical fungal CBD and a cellobiohydrase catalytic domain, has been reported (Denman et al., 1996). By contrast, the polysaccharide hydrolyzing enzymes of aerobic fungi are generally secreted as individual enzymes, including endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases and .beta.-glucosidase which act synergistically on the substrate.

Pretension spiral window balances have advantages over non-pretension balances. Pretension balances have a spiral rod that is pre-wound and set with a certain amount of tension. This saves the window manufacturer having to manually turn or wind the lift force onto the spiral rod of the balance prior to attaching the end of the spiral rod to a window sash. Pretension balances also eliminate the possibility of the window manufacturer applying an incorrect number of windings (lift force) to the balance, which could result in the improper operation or outright failure of the window balance. When a non-pretension balance is installed into the jamb channel of a window frame, the rod is free to drop below the window sash and the rod end can be accessed for winding the lift force into the balance and then attaching it to the window sash. However, this requires specific tooling and which may be prone to human error. In a pretension balance, the lifting force is machine wound. Then the pre-wound rod is locked in position by the balance manufacturer, by means of the balance spring torque, inside a special pretension balance anchor. After a pretension balance is mounted within the jamb channel of a window frame, the rod end may not be accessible from below the window sash because it is not free to drop below the bottom end of the sash. This makes it difficult for the window manufacturer to install the balance in the jamb channel and attach the end of the spiral rod to a ledge on the window sash. There is a need, therefore, for a device to extend the end of the spiral rod so that the spiral rod can be pulled below the sash and secure a clip which is located at the end of the spiral rod onto a ledge on the sash. A conventional window industry balance installation tool can now be attached to the extension device and used to attach the spiral rod end to a ledge on the window sash.

This invention relates to a diffusion bonding method to be adapted to a superalloy based on Ni, Co, Fe or Ti. Recently, gas turbine blades have been produced by joining structural members consisting of superalloys together in a predetermined configuration. In bonding the superalloys, however, they must have the same properties as those of the superalloy base metals and hence, no definite bonding method has yet been established. Fusion welding or high temperature brazing using a Ni-based brazing material has generally been employed. However, strict limitations exist in applying the fusion welding techniques to turbine structural members and a number of structural elements can not be adapted simply because of their complicated shapes. Though brazing offers a number of advantages in comparison with fusion welding, it has very limited application because the brazed joint portion has relatively low strength and its melting point is low. Diffusion bonding, which involves the movement of the atoms between the contact base metals, is known as a bonding method having high reliability. To practise this method, however, severe requirements must be satisfied. That is, the surface coarseness of the joint surfaces must be minimized, the joint surfaces must be completely cleaned and a non-joint interface must be eliminated. To satisfy the last mentioned requirement, diffusion treatment must be carried out under high pressure contact conditions for an extended period of time. To facilitate the finish of the joint surface and to improve the joint strength, there have been proposed a method which arranges a powder insert material between the base metal surfaces to be joined and carries out diffusion bonding until the insert material finishes the reaction with the base metals (U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,319) and a method which places a foil-like insert material between the base metals to be joined and carries out diffusion bonding until the insert material finishes the reaction with the base metals (U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,570). When the foil is used as the insert material in accordance with the prior art methods, two interfaces exist between the base metals and the insert material and when the powder is used as the insert material, an extremely great number of interfaces exist between them. The greater the number of the interfaces between the joint surface of the base metals and the reactive metallic insert material, the severer becomes the pre-treating condition of the base metal surface and the longer becomes the time required for diffusion treatment. Incidentally, diffusion treatment is carried out for about 24 hours in order to obtain the joint portion having substantially the same characteristics as those of the base metals.

The present invention relates to labels, and more particularly, to a two-ply label for pharmaceutical products having printing on three surfaces and a resealable top panel. As regulation of the pharmaceutical industry continues to increase, more and more information is required to be prominently displayed for consumers on the pharmaceutical product packaging or containers. Many pharmaceutical products also comprise a plurality of ingredients, all of which must be indicated on the product containers. While over-the-counter products sold in boxed packaging often have ample space for all the required consumer information, pharmaceutical products requiring physician prescriptions are sold by pharmacists in pill containers to which identification labels are affixed. The significant amount of information required to be included on these pharmaceutical bottle labels poses considerable problems when traditional labels are used. Labels are either required to be very large in order to be able to contain all the required identification information, or the information is minutely printed to ensure it fits on the label. As well as the slightly increased cost of printing larger labels, the use of a larger container simply to be able to accommodate the increased label size would become necessary. As a result, labels having more than one printed surface are becoming increasingly common. This permits a significant amount of information to be accommodated on the pharmaceutical bottle label, with legible sized printing and without resulting in an extremely crowded appearance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,827 issued Oct. 15, 1991 to Sasso, for example, discloses a pharmaceutical label having a printed front and back side. Each end of the label is permanently adhered to the pharmaceutical bottle, and a central double-sided printed portion of the label is attached between the two glued ends. The printed underside of the label can be accessed by tearing away a perforated strip separating the central printed portion from one of the glued ends. Canadian Patent Application 2,297,193, laid open Jul. 27, 2000, similarly discloses a label for a pharmaceutical bottle having a double sided printed section which can be peeled away from the permanently adhered end sections. However, after reading the information located on the reverse side of the printed section of the label, this section can then be resealed to its original position on the bottle. Minute spots of adhesive on the rear of the printed label section permit the peeled away section to be re-fixed in place. Several problems with these labels nevertheless remain. The quantity of information now required has become too much to fit in a visibly pleasing way even on two sides of a standard sized label. Without increasing the size of the label, smaller printing is the only other solution at present. Another disadvantage of the resealable label of Canadian Patent Application 2,297,193 remains in that the small spots of adhesive quickly lose their adhesive properties once the label has been peeled back and replaced several times. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved label for pharmaceutical bottles. It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-adhesive two-ply label. It is another object of the present invention to provide a resealable label that permits the label to be peeled back and re-adhered many times. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a two-ply label having printing on three sides of the label. Therefore, according the present invention, there is provided a two-ply label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and a bottom ply; said top ply having a front and rear printable surface, and said rear printable surface having deadened permanent adhesive thereon; said bottom ply having a front printable surface and a rear surface having permanent adhesive thereon, adapted to adhere said label to an object; and said rear printable surface of said top ply being immediately superimposed on said front printable surface of said bottom ply. There is also provided a label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and a bottom ply; said top ply at least partially superimposed on said bottom ply, and having a front and rear printable surface; said top ply being removably adhered to said bottom ply; and said bottom ply being adapted to be permanently adhered to an object. According to the present invention, there is additionally provided a two ply label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and bottom ply, hinged together along a common edge; said top ply having a front and rear printable surface; said bottom ply having a front printable surface and a rear surface having permanent adhesive thereon, adapted to adhere said label to an object; and said rear printable surface of said top ply being immediately superimposed on said front printable surface of said bottom ply.

An OTPROM is used in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the purpose of storing boot code of a system or it can be used as a look-up table. The most common OTPROM, a NAND type, is formed of an array of n-type field effect transistors (NFETs), as depicted in FIG. 1. Adverting to FIG. 1, drain terminals 101 of storage devices 103 through 133, e.g., NFETs, in the same column are connected to the same bit line of bit lines 135, 137, 139, and 141. For example, storage devices 103, 111, 119, and 127 are connected to bit line 135. Similarly, gate terminals 143 of storage devices 103 through 133 in the same row are connected to the same word line of word lines 145, 147, 149, 151. For example, storage devices 103, 105, 107, and 109 are all connected to word line 145. Also, source terminals 153 are connected to ground supply 155, 157, 159, and 161, respectively. Each drain terminal 101 is programmed and, therefore, stores either a 0 or a 1. Consequently, when a storage device 103 through 133 is uniquely selected, the selected device of devices 103 through 133 either gives current in the micro amp (μA) range or a comparatively negligible current. Also, one binary sense amp resolves one bit line, e.g., bit line 135, and stores the data read. A known approach for programming an OTPROM includes using gate oxide thickness of the core devices as a programming method, i.e., storing either a 0 or a 1 at any one device. Another known approach for programming an OTPROM is to make use of one of the reliability effects in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices. In particular, a time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) stress can be applied to the gate oxide layer of a storage device as a programming method. Each of the above methods results in two possible levels of bit line read current that can be read and stored by any conventional sense amplifier. However, an OTPROM array as depicted in FIG. 1 tends to consume a lot of area on a chip because of the largely repeated devices 103 through 133, with one device storing only one bit of memory. A need therefore exists for methodology enabling an increasing of the storage capacity of an OTPROM array without requiring additional area on a chip.

1. Field The present disclosure relates to a charger that charges a battery, and in particular, relates to a charger that charges a battery of a vehicle that runs with a motor as a power source. 2. Related Art Examples of this kind of vehicle include an electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle. A battery of a high voltage dangerous to a human body is mounted as a power supply of a motor in this kind of vehicle, and a vehicle-mounted charger for charging the vehicle-mounted battery also uses high voltage, because of which sufficient consideration needs to be given to safety. ISO26262, officially published in 2011, is included as one automotive functional safety standard (see, for example, www.jari.or.jp/tabid/112/Default.aspx). An object of ISO26262 is to control risk to the extent that it is acceptable. Providing a function that forcibly stops all functions of the vehicle-mounted charger when a fault is detected is specified in ISO26262. This kind of vehicle-mounted charger commonly has such a configuration that an AC/DC converter and a DC/DC converter are connected in series, and it is conceivable that a function that forcibly stops both the AC/DC converter and the DC/DC converter when a fault occurs is provided in the charger.

The invention relates to a line element composed of an inner and outer element. Such line elements are preferably installed in exhaust pipes in motor vehicles and flexibly connect individual, rigid line units with each other. In the exhaust system of motor vehicles, vibrations are always produced, which are mostly caused by imbalances of rotating elements in the engine, turbo or ancillary units. Furthermore, vibrations are excited by the pulse-shaped pressure curves of the internal combustion engine. In addition to these higher-frequency vibrations, frequencies in the single-digit and lower two-digit Hertz range can be excited by the driving movements in conjunction with road bumps and their feedback into the chassis. The line elements described above have the task of decoupling such vibrations and movements in the exhaust system of motor vehicles. In addition, they compensate for possible installation tolerances. In the case of flexible line elements which are insufficiently damped, the vibrations induced in the exhaust system during operation cause excitation of natural frequencies, which when severe have a service-life-reducing effect on the flexible line element. Their vibration behavior is characterized by their masses and spring stiffness. In the case of metal bellows with corrugations formed symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis, the natural modes associated with the small natural frequencies are frequently standing longitudinal waves in the bellows structure, with the number of oscillation nodes increasing with the order of the natural frequency. The amplitude of these natural frequencies decreases with decreasing rigidity. Therefore, the natural frequencies of such components generally decrease with increasing diameter and length. Especially in the commercial vehicle sector, where the diameters and lengths of the flexible line elements are larger due to the system design, the use of metal bellows without a damping system adapted to the specific configuration is not promising. Flexible line elements therefore have damping units which when, subjected to vibrational loads, preferably operate on the basis of frictional contact. In this case, metal mesh or metal braids are primarily used. The patent DE 196 41 963 C1 discloses a damped line element, which includes in the exterior region as well as in the interior region a metal braid that is in contact with the turns of the line element over the entire component length. In this case, the contact area between the line element and metal mesh extends in the radial direction in a completely enclosing manner. Line elements attenuated by an outer metal mesh are known from the published patent applications DE 199 24 476 A1, DE 40 42 291 A1 and DE 10 2005 052 204 A1, wherein a portion of the turns is in frictional engagement with the mesh for producing the damping, while other turns are positively or non-positively connected specifically with the mesh. The outer contact region extending over the entire component length is completely encircling in the radial direction. The line elements with damping known from the prior art have the disadvantage that, to provide the damping function, additional components must always be installed in the line element, which represents an increase in weight and material. Furthermore, DE 199 13 562 A1 discloses a flexible hose composed of an outer bellows and a metal hose arranged therein, which are in contact with one another for the purpose of damping vibrations.

The present invention relates generally to a tandem axis vehicle and, more particularly, to a forward carrier assembly for a tandem axle vehicle. It is ordinarily desirable that a vehicle have at least one reverse gear in addition to one or more forward gears. Typically, this is accomplished by providing a transmission including one or more countershafts with a plurality of countershaft gears thereon, the countershafts usually being driven by a geared connection with an input shaft driven by an engine. The gears on the countershaft mesh with gears mounted on, for example, an output shaft. At any given time, one of the gears on the output shaft drives is drivingly coupled to the output shaft, such as by a gear shift, to drive the output shaft. For the reverse gear, an idler gear is disposed between the countershaft gear and the output shaft gear so that rotation of the output shaft when the reverse gear is engaged is in the opposite direction from rotation of the output shaft when any of the forward gears is engaged, without having to alter the direction of rotation of the input shaft or the countershaft. Providing additional reverse gears adds complexity to the transmission. It is desirable to provide a vehicle and powertrain that does not require a transmission with a separate reverse gear. It is also desirable to provide a vehicle and powertrain that permit provision of a substantial number of reverse gears without substantial additional transmission complexity. According to an aspect of the present invention, a tandem axle vehicle comprises a powertrain, the powertrain comprising an input shaft, a forward drive axle assembly comprising a forward carrier assembly including a forward differential, a rear drive axle assembly coupled to the forward drive axle assembly via a connecting driveshaft and comprising a rear carrier assembly including a rear differential, the forward carrier assembly comprising an inter-axle differential (IAD), the IAD comprising an IAD housing, a differential spider comprising a plurality of legs attached to the IAD housing and a plurality of spider gears mounted on the legs, a first side gear engaged with the spider gears on a first side of the spider and arranged to drive a shaft for driving the driveshaft, and a second side gear engaged with the spider gears on a second side of the spider and arranged to drive the forward differential, and a clutch movable between an unlocked position, the clutch rotationally coupling the input shaft and the IAD housing when in the unlocked position, and a reverse position, the input shaft being rotationally decoupled from the IAD housing when the clutch is in the reverse position. According to another aspect of the present invention, a forward carrier assembly for a tandem axle vehicle comprises an inter-axle differential (IAD), the IAD comprising an IAD housing having an internal spline, a differential spider comprising a plurality of legs attached to the IAD housing and a plurality of spider gears mounted on the legs, a first side gear engaged with the spider gears on a first side of the spider, the first side gear having an internal spline, a second side gear engaged with the spider gears on a second side of the spider, and a collar having one more external splines, the collar being movable between a first position in which the one or more external splines engage with the internal spline of the IAD housing and the internal spline of the first side gear, and a second position in which the one or more external splines is disengaged from the internal spline of the IAD housing and engaged with the internal spline of the first side gear.

Current organ preservation techniques typically involve hypothermic storage of the organ in a chemical perfusate solution on ice. In the case of a heart, it is typically arrested, and cooled with the storage/cardioplegic solution in a hypothermic, non-functioning state. These techniques utilize a variety of cardioplegic solutions, none of which sufficiently protect the heart from myocardial damage resulting from ischemia. Such injuries are particularly undesirable when an organ, such as a heart, is intended to be transplanted from a donor into a recipient. In addition to myocardial damage resulting from ischemia, reperfusion of a heart may exacerbate the myocardial injury and may cause coronary vascular endothelial and smooth muscle injury, which may lead to coronary vasomotor dysfunction. Using conventional approaches, such injuries increase as a function of the length of time an organ is maintained ex-vivo. For example, in the case of a heart, typically it may be maintained ex-vivo for only a few hours before it becomes unusable for transplantation. This relatively brief time period limits the number of recipients who can be reached from a given donor site, thereby restricting the recipient pool for a harvested heart. Even within the few hour time limit, the heart may nevertheless be significantly damaged. A significant issue is that there may not be any apparent indication of the damage. Because of this, less-than-optimal organs may be transplanted, resulting in post-transplant organ dysfunction or other injuries. Thus, it would be desirable to develop techniques that can extend the time during which an organ can be preserved in a healthy state ex-vivo. Such techniques would reduce the risk of transplantation failure and enlarge potential donor and recipient pools. Effective preservation of an ex-vivo organ would also provide numerous other benefits. For instance, prolonged ex-vivo preservation would permit more careful monitoring and functional testing of the harvested organ. This would in turn allow earlier detection and potential repair of defects in the harvested organ, further reducing the likelihood of transplantation failure. The ability to perform simple repairs on the organ would also allow many organs with minor defects to be saved, whereas current transplantation techniques require them to be discarded. In addition, more effective matching between the organ and a particular recipient may be achieved, further reducing the likelihood of eventual organ rejection. Current transplantation techniques rely mainly on matching donor and recipient blood types, which by itself is a relatively unreliable indicator of whether or not the organ will be rejected by the recipient. A more preferred test for organ compatibility is a Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matching test, but current cold ischemic organ preservation approaches preclude the use of this test, which can often require 12 hours or more to complete. Prolonged and reliable ex-vivo organ care would also provide benefits outside the context of organ transplantation. For example, a patient's body, as a whole, can typically tolerate much lower levels of chemo-, bio- and radiation therapy than many particular organs. An ex-vivo organ care system would permit an organ to be removed from the body and treated in isolation, reducing the risk of damage to other parts of the body. In view of the foregoing, improved systems, methods, and devices for caring for an organ ex-vivo are needed.

This invention relates to shaft cracking and incipient pinion slip, and more particularly, to monitoring shaft cracking and incipient pinion slip in an operating system such as a geared system of a locomotive. In a geared system, the motion or torque from one shaft is transmitted to another shaft by means of direct contact between toothed wheels or gears. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a geared system 10 for propelling a locomotive. Geared system 10 includes an electric motor 12 having a drive shaft 14 rotatably supported by bearings 16 which are attached to the locomotive, a rotor 11, a stator 19 with stator windings 21 and leads 23. Attached to one end of drive shaft 14 is a pinion 18. Typically, pinion 18 is fitted and shrunk onto a tapered end 15 of drive shaft 14. Pinion 18 engages a bull gear 20 which attaches to and drives a wheel shaft 22 rotatably supported by bearings 24. The ends of wheel shaft 22 are attached to respective wheels 26 of the locomotive. Although electric motor 12 is resiliently supported to the locomotive, geared system 10 experiences large mechanical vibrations, e.g., shock loadings due to uneven portions of rails 30. Often, after some period of heavy usage, drive shaft 14 may crack due to fatigue. Similarly, pinion 18 may slip relative to drive shaft 14 without any advanced warning so that torque is no longer transmitted to wheels 26. Such failures can be catastrophic, and repairs such as removal of electric motor 12, refitting of pinion 18, or replacement of drive shaft 14, are expensive, labor intensive, and require that the locomotive be temporarily pulled from service. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method for low cost, on-line monitoring of an operating geared system in which the apparatus and method are capable of warning of shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip. The above-mentioned need is met by the present invention which relates to diagnostic techniques for monitoring shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip in an operating system. In one aspect of the present invention, a method for monitoring shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip in an operating system includes the steps of determining a characteristic natural frequency of the operating system at a first time, determining the characteristic natural frequency at a second time, and comparing the characteristic natural frequency determined at the first time to the characteristic natural frequency determined at the second time to detect a shift in the characteristic natural frequency in response to at least one of shaft cracking and incipient pinion slip. For monitoring shaft cracking, the characteristic natural frequency is a natural frequency of a shaft of the operating system. For monitoring pinion slip, the characteristic natural frequency is a natural frequency of an assembly including a pinion of the operating system or the characteristic natural frequencies of two coupled assemblies which includes the pinion. The steps of determining the characteristic natural frequency may include measuring vibrations of the operating system, measuring current of a motor of the operating system, measuring torsional oscillations of the operating system, or measuring current and voltage of a motor of the operating system. Advantageously, the steps of determining the characteristic natural frequency may include the step of performing a fast Fourier transform analysis. In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for monitoring shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip in an operating system, includes a controller adapted to determine a characteristic natural frequency of the operating system at a first time, determine the characteristic natural frequency at a second time, and compare the characteristic natural frequency determined at the first time to the characteristic natural frequency determined at the second time to detect a shift in the characteristic natural frequency in response to at least one of shaft cracking and incipient pinion slip. In still another aspect of the present invention, an article of manufacture comprises at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing the monitoring of shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip in an operating system. The computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprises computer readable program code means for determining a characteristic natural frequency of the operating system at a first time, determining the characteristic natural frequency at a second time, and comparing the characteristic natural frequency determined at the first time to the characteristic natural frequency determined at the second time to detect a shift in the characteristic natural frequency in response to at least one of shaft cracking and incipient pinion slip. In yet another aspect of the present invention, at least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine, performs a method for monitoring shaft cracking or incipient pinion slip in an operating system, as noted above.

The present invention relates to an electric double layer capacitor of high electrostatic capacitance which utilizes the principles of an electric double layer that is composed of an interface between activated carbon and electrolyte. Recently, high-capacitance capacitors based on the electric double layer principles have been developed as backup power supplies for memories in electronic systems, and are widely used with microcomputers and IC memories. One type of electric double layer capacitor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,936, for example. FIG. 11 of the accompanying drawings shows the structure of the disclosed electric double layer capacitor. The electric double layer capacitor comprises a single basic cell composed of a pair of current collectors 101 of an electron conductor which serves as a pair of collector electrodes, a pair of carbon electrodes 102 made of activated carbon particles, a pair of nonconductive gaskets 103, and an isolating plate 104 positioned between the carbon electrodes 102 for preventing electrons from moving between the electrodes 102. The carbon electrodes 102 are made as paste electrodes from a concentrated slurry which is a mixture of powdery or particulate activated carbon and an electrolyte. The electrolyte has three functions to perform. It serves as a promoter of ion conductivity, an ion source, and a binder for the carbon particles. It is important that the internal resistance of an electric double layer capacitor be low. The internal resistance of an electric double layer capacitor is greatly affected by the contact resistance of active carbon of the polarized electrodes and the contact resistance between the collector electrodes and the polarized electrodes. Therefore, in order to reduce the internal resistance of the polarized electrodes and the contact resistance between the collector and polarized electrodes, each basic cell should be kept under vertical pressure to bring the particles of the paste activated carbon into good electric contact with each other. Conventional electric double layer capacitors require each cell to be kept under a pressure of about 100 kg/cm.sup.2 though it depends on the size of the electrodes, the size of the particles of the carbon material, or the kind of the electrolyte used. In prior electric double layer capacitors, the cells are kept under pressure by deforming the outer cases of the capacitors or bonding the current collectors strongly to gaskets. If an electric double layer capacitor is to be used as a large-capacitance capacitor, e.g., a power supply for energizing a motor, then it is necessary to increase the cross-sectional areas of the electrodes of the basic cell. Therefore, the pressure to be applied to the basic cell has to be increased. Increasing the pressure, however, causes some practical problems such as the selection of means for applying the pressure and the need for high rigidity for the outer cell which houses the basic cell.

Many modalities for measuring blood flow in the human body are in use today, including ultrasound and phase contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR), and the results of such measurements are usually displayed in a variety of ways. However, existing medical software for rendering blood flow information typically presents the information in a rather abstract form. A more clinically useful way of displaying blood information would allow the clinician to visualize the dynamics of a plurality of blood flows in an anatomical context. Such a display could be visually analyzed and utilized as a tool for diagnosis and surgery planning in order to treat medical problems such as stroke.

Field Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to access of resources over a computer network. In particular, embodiments of the present invention relate to retrieval and evaluation of client reputation (CR) score of a user and assigning policies to the user for accessing network resources based on the CR score. Description of the Related Art In a network such as a computing network or a telecommunication network that is coupled to resources such as computers, laptops, mobiles, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), virtual server, virtual machines, widgets, among other computing devices, the resources are generally susceptible to hostile attacks arising as a result of malicious objects such as malware, web robots or BOTS, phishing, modified virus codes, and other viruses. Global networks, such as the Internet, when coupled with the ability of remote access, increase the vulnerability of corporate data, the risk of information leaks, the risk of unauthorized document access and the disclosure of confidential information, the risk of fraud, and also the risk of attacks on privacy. Such malicious objects may contaminate the resources and initiate risky activities in the network such as bad connection attempts, file sharing applications, session initiation for incoming connections, and so forth. Therefore, a resource contaminated with one or more malicious objects may be considered as a malicious resource for the network. At the time, it would also be appreciated that it is often the case that vulnerability of a resource depends on the actions that a user takes while communicating with external resources. For instance, the extent, manner, and mode of access to websites, portals, and applications that have high likelihood of causing threat to a resource is proportional to an actual attack that might take place on the resource. Such malicious resources may further contaminate other resources that are operatively coupled with each other in the network. For instance, if a user, using a first computing device, is connected to other users over a local area network (LAN), the probability of computing devices of such other users being attacked by malware, virus codes, among others is likely to increase in case the first computing device is affected by such network level threats or attacks, and therefore detecting, evaluating, and appropriately handling the first computing device becomes a top priority. Employees are among the greatest threats to an organization's information security and also significantly responsible for network level threats that an organization faces for its resources. Employees, with access to information resources including email, the Internet, and on-line networks, significantly increase the security risks, making it extremely important to proactively monitor the kind of data that employees share through multiple messaging platforms or try to access or receive from external networks, and accordingly take necessary measures to prevent any potential misuse of information or exposure of internal resources to the outside networks. Setting appropriate, flexible, and robust security policies is a recommended method for creating order and for setting standards for network use. However, most existing techniques for setting security policies are not individual user based and largely apply the policies to the entire organization at large. Such techniques also do not take into account each user's network access behavior and rather take departments or groups of employees as a whole and implement network access policies on them based on the organizational requirements. Such policies, as a result, do not evaluate the condition of each internal resource/computing device, its pattern of network access, files accessed, network activity, external resource violations, and its vulnerability to network attacks, among other parameters for setting network access policies and hence are loosely implemented. In view of the foregoing, there is therefore a need for new and more effective techniques for assigning appropriate network policies to users based on their reputation scores, which is computed based on network level activities and activities/interactions of the users.

A number of devices have been available for locking or stabilizing the position of a boom of a sail boat when sailing with a following or quartering breeze. The importance of some control will be recognized by those skilled in the art who have experienced the effects of an accidental jibe due to a shift in wind direction or when the helmsman accidently changes course so that the wind is on the opposite side of the main sail and the boom suddenly swings across the deck. Such accidental jibes are hazardous to the crew, can cause serious damage to the rigging and may even cause a knockdown of the vessel. Even controlled jibes can be hazardous if not done with care. Short of lashing the boom or through use of a preventer or similar boom locking device, a number of sail boat boom brakes utilizing the frictional resistance applied by a friction device to a line which restrains movement of a boom have become available and are a part of the prior art. One of these systems known as the Heinson boom control system produced by the Heinson Co., Moraga, Calif. works on the principle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,962. In this type of system, a friction device in the form of a single friction drum is carried by a hanger attached to the boom of the boat. A line attached to one or more cleats accessible from the cockpit extends forwardly to a swivel block mounted on the deck. The line extends from the swivel block to the drum, is wrapped around the drum several times and then extends downwardly to a second cleat or another swivel block on the opposite side of the boat from which it is extended aft to a second cleat accessible from the cockpit. When the line is cleated, frictional resistance with the drum locks the boom in place. Tension may be released from the cockpit entirely or may be gradually released as a jibe occurs, thereby easing the boom to the desired position. More recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,617 illustrates another type of boom brake mounted on a hanger attached to the boom. In this patent, the hanger carries three spools or sheaves. A line secured adjacent one side of the deck extends to the boom and in a serpentine path is in contact with the friction surfaces of the three spools. Two of the spools are fixed against rotation and the third, offset between the first two, is rotatable and is provided with a manually adjustable brake so that a variable frictional resistance to motion can be applied. In a further embodiment of the patent, where adjustable braking is not required, the three spools are all non-rotatable. Many sailors object to devices of the kind described due to the fact that they are relatively difficult to control by the helmsman while he is in the act of steering the boat and also because the relatively heavy braking device is located where it can strike the head of a crew member, creating the kind of hazard that such devices are intended to eliminate.

This invention relates to controlling a burning flame, e.g., controlling the burning of a candle. Safety is a typical concern when candles are burned in a house or otherwise where people or flammable objects are present. The open flame of a candle is capable of catching curtains, clothing or other objects on fire, or burning a person through even inadvertent contact. Another consideration when burning candles is the tendency of high wind or other air movement to blow the flame out. As is known in the art, various devices, such as lanterns, shades, etc., have been developed to help prevent a candle flame from being extinguished by wind.

It is well known to use battens in roof construction. Battens are generally metal strips or bars which are used to secure or hold down materials upon building roofs. In constructing roofs, one or more flexible cover membranes, such, as for example, thermoplastic or elastomeric sheets, are placed over a rigid substrate so as to form a part of the roof structure. The flexible membranes serve to seal the roof structure against liquid penetration and also may serve to provide an insulating effect. Such membranes are secured in place by means of batten strips or bars which are placed at spaced intervals over the flexible membrane. Headed fasteners, such as, for example, screws or nails, are then passed downwardly through the batten strips or pre-punched holes therein and the flexible membranes so as to secure the battens and membranes to the roof substrate. The batten strips should be of such nature as to permit a pointed mechanical fastener to pass therethrough without destroying the hold-down effectiveness of the batten bar. Under certain conditions wind can uplift the membrane causing it to pull, upwardly away and thereby, in turn, causing the batten strip to rip or tear about the fastener with the headed fasteners thereby passing through the batten strip so as to no longer secure either the batten strip or the membrane to the roof substrate. The batten bars, to be satisfactory, must exhibit high pull-through resistance, that is, good tear or split resistance at points where pointed mechanical fasteners penetrate the bars. Batten bars can also be used in accordance with this invention to secure a layer or layers of insulation to a roof substrate or upon vertical building walls. They also can be used to secure flashing upon buildings and in other fastening applications where strips or bars are employed. For example, "batten strips" can be used as termination bars in order to secure membranes to the edges of vertical parapet walls to rough structure along the periphery of the roof. Thus, as used herein the term "batten strip" is not limited to roof battens but includes fastening means in building construction applications where strips or bars are useful in fastening building members. Roofing batten bars should not unduly curl, kink or distort when penetrated by means of a fastener. Metal batten bars made of sheet metal have been used, but such bars are relatively heavy constituting a relatively dead weight upon the building roof and can be difficult to penetrate by means of a threaded mechanical fastener unless pre-drilled openings are provided therein. Metal bars are also known to corrode and diminish the soundness of the roof structure. Aluminum batten bars have also been used, but are more expensive and unless quite thick are subject to curling, kinking or distortion when penetrated by means of a threaded fastener. Wood battens decay. Plastic batten strips have also been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,211 discloses batten bars of a particular configuration made having plastic. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,306 discloses an elongated fastening bar made of plastic which has a flat batten surface and a convex top surface. The batten strips and fastening bars disclosed in these patents have a thickness at one point of approximately 1/4 inch and have pre-drilled holes therein so as to receive the fasteners.

Catheters are thin tubes utilized for insertion into the vessels of a body to perform a variety of medical procedures, including draining fluids, administering fluids, measuring internal body pressures, angioplasty procedures, delivery and deployment of stents or other prostheses (e.g. heart valve prostheses), and other such procedures. The catheters are often made of highly flexible material, capable of following the path of an artery or vein until the target area is reached and the medical procedure is begun. It is, however, difficult to know the exact location of a catheter within use in the body during a medical procedure. In some procedures, to achieve proper placement within the vessel, a physician must know the exact location of the distal end of the catheter within in the body. Fluoroscopy can be used to determine the location of a catheter within the body. Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique that utilizes a stream of X-rays to generate a series of images of the internal features of a body on a screen. The images are continuously updated in a way that resembles a real-time video. However, catheters are often made from materials that are not easily seen via fluoroscopy. Therefore, radiopaque marker bands are often added to catheters at critical locations, such as a distal end of the catheter or the location of a stent within the catheter. In another example, radiopaque material may embedded within the polymers of the catheter. In yet another example, radiopaque ink may be applied to an exterior surface of the catheter. In many procedures, multiple catheters and other devices may be simultaneously present in the body of the patient. Therefore, while radiopaque markers enable a treating clinician to view a particular area of a catheter, the clinician may not be able to distinguish one particular catheter from other catheters or devices in the body. Additionally, information such as the catheter brand, size of a balloon or stent, batch number, etc. are of importance to prevent or eliminate the chances that one catheter or medical tool is mistaken for another. Accordingly, there exists a need for a catheter with an identifier that can be seen under fluoroscopy and can provide certain information regarding the catheter.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses continually seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users of information is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary with regard to the kind of information that is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use, including such uses as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. In conventional compute blade chassis designs, each compute blade has its own couple of local hard disk drives that are used for bootstrapping the operating system and/or local storage. These two local hard disk drives are typically mirrored using a host-based and/or an operating system-based RAID solution to provide fault tolerance. However, such a design impacts compute blade density, form factor, air flow, and thermal cooling, and, in addition, adds cost to the overall compute blade design. It is typical to include a minimum of two hard disk drives on each compute blade of the system. For example, assuming a compute blade configuration has ten compute blades, at least twenty local hard disk drives would be needed, a minimum of two per compute blade, to support the compute blade configuration.

To perform CT scan examination, a doctor generally sets a scan protocol based on basic information of a patient, such as the gender, a body part to be scanned and a scanning mode. A scan protocol includes a scanning voltage, a scanning current, a scanning duration and a scanning irradiation dose, and the like. It is especially important to set the irradiation dose parameter in the scan protocol. If a low irradiation dose is applied to both a fat patient and a thin patient, a scan image noise of the fat patient is lager than that of the thin patient; and if a high irradiation dose is applied to both the fat patient and the thin patient, the irradiation dose is wasted for the thin patient and the thin patient is subjected to excessive and unnecessary radiation. Hence, a high irradiation dose should be applied to the fat patient, and a low irradiation dose should be applied to the thin patient. However, different doctors may have significant subjective difference in determining a scan protocol for a patient due to their different working experiences. The differences between scan protocols set by different doctors for the patient, especially between the irradiation doses in the scan protocols, are significant. In this case, the set irradiation dose may be deficient such that definition of a CT image is negatively affected, or the set irradiation dose may be excessive such that the patient is subjected to redundant radiation.

This invention relates to a radiation image storage panel by use of a stimulable phosphor, more particularly to a radiation image storage panel which can stand uses for a long term. Radiation image such as X-ray image has been frequently used for diagnosis of diseases, etc. For obtaining this X-ray image, the so-called radiation photography has been utilized, in which X-ray which has passed through a subject is irradiated on a phosphor layer (fluorescent screen), thereby forming visible light, and the visible light is irradiated on the film by use of a silver salt and developed similarly as in conventional photographing. However, in recent years, there has been contrived the method in which images are directly taken out from the phosphor layer without use of a film coated with a silver salt. As this method, there is the method in which the radiation passed through a subject is absorbed in a phosphor, then the radiation energy stored by the above absorption in the phosphor is permitted to be radiated as fluorescence by excitation of the phosphor with, for example, light or heat energy, and the fluorescence is detected to form an image. Specifically, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,527 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 12144/1980 disclose radiation image converting method with visible ray or IR-ray as the stimulating light by use of a stimulable phosphor. This method employs a radiation image storage panel having a stimulable phosphor layer formed on a support, and a latent image is formed by irradiating the radiation passed through a subject on the stimulable phosphor layer of the radiation image storage panel and accumulating the radiation energy corresponding to the transmission degree of the radiation at the respective portions of the subject, and thereafter the radiation energies stored at the respective portions are permitted to be radiated to be converted into light by scanning the stimulable phosphor layer with stimulating light, whereby images are obtained by the light signals according to intensity of the light. The final image may be reproduced as hard copy or reproduced on CRT. The radiation image storage panel to be used in the radiation image converting method accumulates radiation image information and thereafter releases the stored energy by scanning of stimulating light, and therefore accumulation of radiation image can be again effected after scanning, thus enabling repeated uses. Accordingly, the above radiation image storage panel should desirably have performances which can stand repeated uses for a long term or for a large number of times without deteriorating the image quality of the radiation image obtained. For this purpose, the stimulable phosphor layer in the above radiation image storage panel is required to be sufficiently protected from physical and chemical stimulations from outside. Particularly, stimulable phosphors are strong in moisture absorption and when the above stimulable phosphor layer absorbs water, barium fluoride bromide type phosphor (e.g. BaFBr:Eu), etc. is decomposed to be lowered in sensitivity to radiation. Also, alkali halide type phosphors (e.g. RbBr:Tl), etc. are fluctuated in sensitivity to radiation by moisture absorption and dehumidication, and also increased or decreased in the fading speed of the radiation energy stored, whereby photographing conditions become unstable and also image quality of the radiation image obtained is deteriorated. For this reason, it has been desired to protect the above stimulable phosphor layer so that no water may be contained therein. In the radiation image storage panel of the prior art, for solving the above problems, there has been employed a protective layer covering the stimulable phosphor layer, on the support of the radiation image storage panel. This protective layer, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 42500/1984, is formed by direct coating of a coating solution for protective layer on the stimulable phosphor layer, or alternatively by adhering a previously separately formed protective layer onto the stimulable phosphor layer. Further, the present inventors have proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 176900/1986 and Japanese Patent Application No. 156346/1985 a method for forming a protective layer by applying a coating solution for protective layer, containing a resin material which is cured by polycondensation or crosslinking reaction by irradiation of radiation and/or heating, on the stimulable phosphor layer and then curing the above resin material. For increasing the life of the radiation image storage panel, further improvement, particularly in humidity resistance has been desired, but under the present situation, substantially no investigation has been made concerning moisture prevention except for the method for lowering moisture permeability of the above protective layer.

1. Field One or more embodiments relate to a display apparatus and a method of controlling the display apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, examples of display devices include organic light-emitting displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electrophoretic displays (EDs), surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SEDs), vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), etc. Display apparatuses may be used in mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet personal computers, laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), or may be used in electronic products, such as slim-type televisions, displays, and advertisement panels. Recently, research into manufacturing slimmer display apparatuses has been conducted. Among the display apparatuses, flexible display apparatuses, which are portable and applicable to devices of various shapes, have drawn attention as next-generation display apparatuses. In particular, flexible display apparatuses based on an organic light-emitting display technique are the most favorite display apparatuses. Research into display apparatuses at least partially curved by using flexible display panels or bendable or foldable by a user are being conducted. Information disclosed in this Background section may contain information that does not form the prior art.

A narrow MWD of linear low density polymers is desirable as the tear strength of films blown from these resins will be much improved. The exact MWD is influenced by catalyst composition whereas the actual molecular weight is more usually altered by altering process conditions in (co) polymerization reactions.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to ink jet printheads for solid ink jet imaging apparatus, and more particularly to ink jet printheads that consume less energy during ink jetting operation. 2. Description of the Related Art Consumer ink jet printers typically use water-based inks with a low concentration of pigment or dye. When these water-based inks are jetted on a print medium, the water evaporates or gets absorbed by the print medium. However, with respect to a solid ink or phase change printer, solid blocks of colored material are melted and jetted in molten form. These molten inks have the consistency of crayons or candle wax and, when transferred on to the print medium, solidify to form a printed image. The solid ink printer produces vivid colors and crisp lines because the ink stands on the surface of the paper instead of penetrating as with water-based inks. One such example of a solid ink printer 10 is shown in FIG. 1. During an imaging operation, blocks of solid ink 12 are disposed within an ink loader 14. The ink loader 14 has a retaining plate 16 that retains the blocks of solid ink 12. Further, ink loader 14 also has a heating plate 18 disposed therein to make contact with the blocks of solid ink 12 within the ink loader 14. The heating plate 18 melts and transforms the blocks of solid ink 12 into molten form 20. The molten ink 20 is then injected into the printhead assembly 22, which in turn gets jetted on to an imaging drum 24 present within the solid ink printer 10. Accordingly, the molten ink 20 gets transferred on to the print medium 26 to form an image. However, there are considerable drawbacks associated with such a prior art solid ink printer 10. One such drawback is that a delay of 15 minutes or more may be required for the solid ink printer 10 to warm up sufficiently to melt the solid ink to be used in printing from a powered-off state. Another drawback is that the heating plate 26 requires a large amount of energy in melting blocks of solid ink 12, in heating the printhead assembly 18, and in maintaining the solid ink jet printer 10 in a ready mode. As such, there is a need to provide solid ink jet printers that consume less energy and also reduce time required for start-up before printing.

Growth factors are important mediators of inter-cellular communication. These potent molecules are generally released by one cell type and act to influence proliferation of other cell types (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984), Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292). Interest in growth factors has been heightened by evidence of their potential involvement in neoplasia (Sporn, M. B. and Todaro, G. J. (1980), N. Eng. J. Med. 303, 878–880). The v-sis transforming gene of simian sarcoma virus encodes a protein that is homologous to the B chain of platelet-derived growth factor (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292; Doolittle, R. F., et al. (1983) Science 221, 275–277). Moreover, a number of oncogenes are homologues of genes encoding growth factor receptors (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292). Thus, increased understanding of growth factors and their receptor-mediated signal transduction pathways is likely to provide insights into mechanisms of both normal and malignant cell growth. One known family of growth factors affecting connective tissue cells includes acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and the related products of the hst, and int-2 oncogenes. Further, it is known that some growth factors, including the following, have heparin-binding properties: aFGF (Maciag, T., Mehlman, T., Friesel, R. and Schreiber, A. B. (1984) Science 225, 932–935; Conn, G. and Hatcher, V. B. (1984) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 124, 262–268); bFGF (Gospodarowicz, D., Cheng, J., Lui, G.-M., Baird, A. and Bohlen, P. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 6963–6967; Maciag, T., Mehlman, T., Friesel, R. and Schreiber, A. B. (1984) Science 225, 932–935); granulo-cyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292); and interleukin 3 (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292). Each of these poly-peptide factors is produced by stromal cells (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292, Doolittle, R. F., Hunkapiller, M. W., Hood, L. E., Devare, S. G., Robbins, K. C., Aaronson, S. A. and Antoniades, M. N. (1983) Science 221, 275–277, Roberts, R., Gallagher, J., Spooncer, E., Allen, T. D., Bloomfield, F. and Dexter, T. M. (1988) Nature 332, 376–378). Such factors appear to be deposited in the extracellular matrix, or on proteo-glycans coating the stromal cell surface (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292, Roberts, R., Gallagher, J., Spooncer, E., Allen, T. D., Bloomfield, F. and Dexter, T. M. (1988) Nature 332, 376–378). It has been postulated that their storage, release and contact with specific target cells are regulated by this interaction (Roberts, R., Gallagher, J., Spooncer, E., Allen, T. D., Bloomfield, F. and Dexter, T. M. (1988) Nature 332, 376–378, Vlodavsky, I., Folkman, J., Sullivan, R., Fridman, R., Ishai-Michaeli, R., Sasse, J. and Klagsburn, M. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 2292–2296). It is widely recognized, however, that the vast majority of human malignancies are derived from epithelial tissues (Wright, N. and Allison, M. (1984) The Biology of Epithelial Cell Populations (Oxford University Press, New York) Vol. 1, pp. 3–5). Effectors of epithelial cell proliferation derived from mesenchymal tissues have been described (James, R. and Bradshaw, R. A. (1984) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 53, 259–292, Doolittle, R. F., Hunkapiller, M. W., Hood, L. E., Devare, S. G., Robbins, K. C., Aaronson, S. A. and Antoniades, M. N. (1983) Science 221, 275–2772, Waterfield, M. D., Scrace, G. J., Whittle, N., Strooband, P., Johnson, A., Wasteton, A., Westermark, B., Heldin, C.-H., Huang, J. S. and Deuel, T. F. (1983) Nature 304, 35–39), however, their molecular identities and structures have not been elucidated. In light of this dearth of knowledge about such mesenchymal growth factors affecting epithelial cells, it is apparent that there has been a need for methods and compositions and bioassays which would provide an improved knowledge and analysis of mechanisms of regulation of epithelial cell proliferation, and, ultimately, a need for novel diagnostics and therapies based on the factors involved therein. This invention contemplates the application of methods of protein isolation and recombinant DNA technologies to fulfill such needs and to develop means for producing protein factors of mesenchymal origin, which appear to be related to epithelial cell proliferation processes and which could not be produced otherwise. This invention also contemplates the application of the molecular mechanisms of these factors related to epithelial cell growth processes.

The removal of sulfur contaminants, specifically H2S, from wastewater streams using aqueous salt streams is known. Likewise, the removal of H2S from hydrocarbon containing gas streams is known. However, such known processes for treating gas streams do not directly produce useful chemicals. Accordingly, there is a need to develop economical processes that can selectively scrub and remove H2S from industrial gas streams at ambient temperatures and at the same time produce a useful liquid product. These and other advantages will become evident from the following more detailed description of the present disclosure.

This invention relates to inflatable air bladders, such as mattresses and the like, composed of three layers fused together to form plurality of air cells on opposite surfaces of the bladder. More particularly, the invention relates to an inflatable air bladder in which the middle layer is coated on opposite sides with barrier material which inhibits heat-sealing of one outer layer onto one side of the middle layer at the same sites that the middle layer is sealed to the other outer layer. Air mattresses consisting of individual air cells formed by sealing together two or three layers of heat-sealable polymeric material are known in the prior art. In this connection, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,691,179 to Kann discloses an air mattress comprising a pneumatic structure for a mattress formed by sealing together two sheets of heat-sealable material. To overcome sagging of the mattress, known as the "hammock" effect, the cells are superimposed in two layers, with the cells in one layer disposed transversely to the cells in the other layer. U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,652 to Bishop also discloses an air mattress formed by heat-sealing together two sheets of heat-sealable material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,030 to Flick, et al, discloses an air pad formed by heat-sealing two sheets of heat-sealable material to a middle layer in a selective rectangular pattern. During the fabrication of the air pad, a sealing barrier mechanism 54 is used having a plurality of parallel fingers 58 so that the middle layer will not be heat-sealed to both the outer sheets at corresponding points. U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,929 to Ostertag also discloses the use of a barrier apparatus for fabricating air mattresses composed of two outer sheets and center layer whereby the center layer will not be fused to both outer sheets at corresponding fusion points. In this patent, laterally-spaced, comb-like elements 5' and 6' are fitted between the opposite surface of the center layer and the two outer sheets whereby the center layer is alternately sealed to the outer sheets along laterally-spaced seal lines. It is the principal object of this invention to provide a multi-layer, inflatable air bladder construction in which the middle layer thereof is treated with a barrier material so that it will be adapted to be heat-sealed to both outer sheets of the bladder in a predetermined air cell pattern, but without corresponding points of the middle layer being sealed to both outer sheets. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved method of fabricating an inflatable air bladder which is simpler and more economical than methods heretofore available for the same purpose.

Energy dampening devices have been known for many years. A most common usage for such energy dampening devices is in the vehicle bumpers so that the force of impact will be dissipated by such energy dampening apparatus, thereby minimizing the actual damage to the motor vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,960,397 to Janci, 3,961,818 to Roth, 4,366,876 to Granig and 4,257,581 to Keeler are representative of such devices for absorbing shock and preventing damage to a motor vehicle by connecting such energy dampening devices to the bumper thereof.

The present invention relates to a mullion assembly and, more particularly, to a mullion assembly for a double door mounted in a double doorway. It is usual to mount a mullion assembly in a double doorway for engaging with two latches of two doors (or known as a double door) pivotably mounted on opposite sides of a door frame. Easy removal of the mullion assembly is required when a full door opening is desired for unobstructed pass purposes. Furthermore, to prevent the doors from being opened when exposed to a fire, it is desirable for the mullion assembly to have enhanced structural strength and fire resistant functions. In a proposed design, the mullion assembly includes a top fitting mounted to the top of a door frame, a bottom fitting assembly mounted to the bottom of the door frame, a mullion head detachably engaged with the top fitting, and a mullion tube mounted between the mullion head and the bottom fitting assembly. A fusible spacer is disposed between the top fitting and the mullion head for accommodating thermal expansion of the mullion assembly in case of fire to resist warping of the mullion assembly. The top fitting includes a vertical slot into which a locking bolt extends. The locking bolt moves upwardly in the vertical slot due to thermal expansion of the mullion assembly to maintain the locked condition without buckling the mullion assembly when the fusible spacer melts due to the heat of the fire. However, a high pressure gas could be generated due to high temperature of combustion or explosion in the fire to destroy the mullion assembly. This is because the engaging force between the mullion tube and the top fitting depends only on the locking bolt and is, thus, insufficient to withstand the high pressure gas, resulting in undesired opening of the doors and flowing of smoke and fire from the outside into the inside. Thus, a need exists for a mullion assembly with a removable post that allows easy assembly while having improved structural strength to withstand fire.

The present disclosure relates generally to wheeled vehicles. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to embodiments of an apparatus providing wheeled vehicles such as bicycles capable of assuming a reduced size for transport. Currently, most vehicles are not capable of quickly folding into a small footprint.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass setting plate for a glass polishing system, and more particularly to a glass setting plate that supports a lower surface of a glass in a glass polishing system for polishing a glass used for liquid crystal displays. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, it is very important that a glass (or, a glass pane) applied to a liquid crystal display keeps its flatness to a certain level so as to accurately realize images of the liquid crystal display. Thus, fine waviness or unevenness existing on a surface of a float glass formed in a float manner should be removed. Such a glass polishing process may be classified into so-called ‘Oscar’ type polishing in which glasses are individually polished one by one, and so-called ‘inline’ type polishing in which a series of glasses are successively polished. Also, the glass polishing process may be classified into ‘single side polishing’ in which only one surface of a glass is polished, and ‘double side polishing’ in which both surfaces of a glass are polished. In a conventional glass polishing device, while a polishing plate (or, an upper plate) having a polishing pad installed thereto is moved in a horizontal direction and a polishing stage (or, a lower plate or a glass setting plate) having a glass located thereon is rotated, the glass is polished using a polishing slurry freely falling down onto the polishing plate. However, as a glass to be polished becomes bigger to cope with the tendency that liquid crystal devices are larger, the upper plate serving as a polishing plate and the glass setting plate serving as a polishing stage naturally become bigger. Here, the glass setting plate should have sufficient flatness in order to ensure flatness of a glass pane completely polished. Also, it is important that the glass setting plate has a sufficient rigidity against deformation so as not to cause permanent deformation. In order to meet such requirements, it is urgently demanded to develop a glass setting plate using light and rigid materials. A conventional glass setting plate for polishing so-called 8th generation glass panes still has a burden on weight (for example, about 10 tons) though it can ensure good rigidity against deformation, because the conventional glass setting plate is generally made of carbon steel.

I. Field of the Invention The invention relates in general to apparatus for lifting objects into a structure and, more particularly, to a folding, lightweight apparatus that easily can assist in lifting panels or the like into preformed openings of a building under construction. II. Description of the Prior Art Modern tall office buildings are generally constructed as a shell with openings for panels and windows or the like. Buildings of this type can reach heights of 70 stories. The shell of the building is constructed with openings. Precast or prefabricated panels are then placed within these openings. These construction panels are of various sizes, shapes and thicknesses. Precast panels are made of reinforced concrete and may have heights as tall as 10 feet and lengths to 20 feet. These thicknesses may vary from 3 to 12 inches. Reinforced concrete panels with dimensions of this order are extremely heavy. Maneuvering of such heavy reinforced concrete panels is therefore difficult. The openings for receiving such a concrete panel may be at or above the 10th story making it necessary to lift panels to the 10th story or higher, and place them within the openings. Ordinarily, cranes are used to lift the panel up to the openings. The cranes may be situated on the ground or as the number of stories of the building increases, it is necessary to position the crane on the top floor of the building as it is being constructed or use a tower crane. A further complication arises in the construction of modern concrete steel buildings in that spandral beams are required. These spandral beams are so constructed that the openings for precast concrete panel may be as much as 3 feet inside the face of the spandral beam. The spandral beam therefore functions as a hindrance to the insertion of the precast concrete panel into the opening of the building. Without going into unnecessary detail, it is well known that the spandrals are required. The spandrals are required to be in place before the precast concrete panels are fit into the opening. Normally, the method of installing a panel of this type in the recessed opening in the building would be to attach lifting rings to the top of the panel. The rings would be attached with suitable bolts and a crane would be hooked to the lifting ring to lift the precast panel to the desired height in the building. Once the panel is lifted in close proximity to the opening it is to be fit into, construction workers will begin attempting to grab the panel and pull the panel into the opening. It is to be appreciated that the panel is large and heavy and the workers must manually pull the panel into the opening. After the panel has been pulled into the opening, it must be secured in place within the opening. The panel may be secured in place by bolting the panel to the structure in the building, welding the panel to the building, or by other suitable means. This procedure has obvious shortcomings. These shortcomings include the amount of time that workers take to fit one panel in place, and also due to the awkwardness of grabbing and fitting the panel in the opening, the possibility of an accident involving the workers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,721 issued to applicants on Jun. 9, 1987, addressed the problems previously outlined above. In this embodiment, an apparatus and method for positioning an object in a building was disclosed. This invention showed that precast panels can be delivered to openings in office buildings in a controlled manner which facilitated placing the panels in the building. The invention had many advantages over the prior art. On the other hand, the invention had a shortcoming in that the apparatus used to lift the panels was of itself extremely bulky and heavy. Although this shortcoming did not necessarily affect the performance of what can be described as "the flying forklift," it did affect its use in construction sites as transportation of the apparatus to and from various sites became a major drawback. Put simply, it would be desirable to have an apparatus that can be transported by a pickup truck as opposed to other more costly methods, and still make installation of precast panels or the like in openings in a building easier and safer than had been in the prior art. Applicants have therefore come up with a new apparatus which fulfills all the desired requirements, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,721 and has further advantages in its use and transportation as will become clear from the specification herein.

The regularity of operation of an escapement mechanism is conditional upon the proper control of maintenance of oscillations and particularly of the impulse, whose intensity may be irregular in a watch whose barrel torque varies. The search for optimum operating security is a constant preoccupation of designers of timepiece movements. FR Patent Application No 2928015A1 in the name of LENOBLE discloses a tangential impulse escapement device with a pallet lever for a watch, including a toothed escape wheel, a pallet lever and at least one sprung balance. The pallet lever is in two parts each pivoting on a distinct axis, the two parts are hinged to each other via two transmission arms terminating at their adjacent ends in a common hinge, so that the two parts of the pallet lever rotate at the same speed but in opposite directions. Each part of the pallet lever includes a locking pallet-stone and an impulse pallet-stone, the latter receiving impulses from the escape wheel teeth in a tangential manner. This escapement device includes two sprung balances with distinct axes of oscillatory rotation, and each part of the pallet lever comprises a fork engage able in driving mesh on an impulse pin of the corresponding sprung balance. Patent Application No WO 2011/064682 A1 in the name of FERRARA concerns a pallet lever in two parts hinged to each other, the hinge including an eccentric cam integral with the part of the pallet lever carrying the horns and guard pin, and cooperating with a fork integral with the part of the pallet lever carrying the pallet-stones. Patent Application No EP2444 860A1 in the name of AUDEMARS PIGUET RENAUD ET PAPI discloses a pallet lever which includes two parts, each pivoting about an axis, and hinged to each other, the pivoting of one of the parts causing the other to pivot with higher amplitude. Patent No EP2105806 in the name of GIRARD PERREGAUX discloses an escapement mechanism arranged to transmits impulses from a drive source to an oscillating regulator such as a sprung balance, via a strip spring which works by buckling about an inflection point. This strip spring is capable of accumulating energy from the drive source between two impulses and transmitting it to the oscillating regulator on each impulse via first and second levers. To optimise adjustment of the tension of the strip spring, the spring is mounted on a frame which is deformable symmetrically relative to a first axis passing through the axes of rotation of the regulator, of the first and second levers, and through the inflection point, and relative to a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and passing through the ends of the strip spring.

This invention relates to a paint system including a flexible conduit or hose arrangement to supply a liquid coating composition from a paint supply system to a spray gun. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved spray gun for the paint system. As those familiar with the prior art will appreciate, in previous paint supply systems, a base coat of paint is applied at a first station and then the article, such as an automobile body, is conveyed to a new station where a clear coat paint is applied, the clear coat paint adding the feeling of depth to the paint. The ability to apply a clear coat and a base coat at the same time would provide a dramatic reduction in the cost of painting the car in the sense that half of the spray booths could be eliminated or deactivated and therefore half of the equipment and half of the manpower could be eliminated from the painting operation. Additionally, the modern factory is typically spread out and paint booths are not localized in one area or arranged so as to be parallel to one another. As a result, the use of a series connection between paint booths requires extensive tubing, particularly when the paint must be supplied to opposite sides of each booth. Accordingly, it would be desirable to minimize the number of lines needed to supply paint in a paint system and the cost associated with these lines. A continuing problem associated with the spray application of liquid paints is the presence of foreign particulate matter in the liquid paint supply which causes imperfections on the surfaces of the article being spray painted, frequently necessitating a refinishing or repainting thereof. Such foreign particulate matter, sometimes referred to as "seeds," or "strings," or "snotters" are formed in many instances as a result of an agglomeration of the paint constituents during standing or recirculation of the liquid paint necessitating removal prior to discharge through the spray nozzle. The foregoing problem is particularly pronounced in recirculating type liquid paint systems, although they are present in direct Line systems as well. Recirculating paint supply systems conventionally comprise a mixing tank equipped with suitable agitation for maintaining the liquid coating composition uniformly mixed and a pump for transferring the liquid coating composition under a desired pressure to a manually manipulable supply conduit connected to the spray nozzle. A suitable return hose is provided for returning the excess quantity of paint back to the mixing tank for recirculation and to keep the paint in suspension. Typical of such a system is the recirculating paint supply system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,861, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this paint supply system, the supply and return hoses are interconnected by suitable fluid fittings so as to form a single conduit having coaxial passages for supplying and returning the liquid composition. This and like paint systems typically will utilize many different fittings, connectors and coupling arrangements to complete the necessary fluid interconnections. Such fittings are often generally made of metal which can result in the conduit being relatively heavy. However, the paint supply hoses or unitized fluid conduit, and the associated fluid fittings, should be as light as possible to reduce operator fatigue and enable the operator to manipulate the position of the spray gun. Moreover, conventional spray guns are also generally made of metal which results in the spray gun, including the fittings to be relatively heavy. This weight may cause operator fatigue or ailments based upon the continuous and repetitive use of the heavy spray gun, which typically weighs about 22 ounces. Still further, as the work day draws on, this fatigue increases which may cause an appreciable decrease in finish quality of the object being coated. This decreased quality generally occurs because the operator may angle the spray delivered from the spray gun as opposed to maintaining the spray substantially perpendicular to the object which is desired. Seals and filters are also included in the paint supply line to seal the interconnections as well as to remove particulate matter from the paint being provided to the spray gun. In spite of the seals and filters, foreign matter can still be present. For example, the quick connectors used for the spray gun tend to create spit at the quick disconnect upon disconnecting which is generally not noticeable but, when dry, will cause leakage and contamination to occur. Further, to prevent leakage, it is known to cover the threaded sections of fluid fittings with pipe dope and then assemble the fittings. While this arrangement works well in many fluid sealing applications, it has several disadvantages. First, a pipe fitter must be called to assemble or disassemble the unit, which can be an inconvenience. Further, exposed threads create voids in the joint between the components which causes paint to accumulate and generates paint particles (dirt, etc.) that will be sent downstream and end up on the car, resulting in the need to rebuff and/or repaint the car. Various flow control devices or paint restrictors are also used with paint supply systems. In many cases such prior art constructions have been handicapped by their tendency to become plugged over periods of use, necessitating frequent replacement and/or downtime to permit cleaning to restore them to proper operating conditions. The build up of deposits in such flow regulators cause a progressive decrease in the pressure of the liquid coating composition supplied to the spray nozzle, thereby resulting in variations in the quality and thickness of the coating, thus detracting from their use. Moreover, a flow control device must include an element that moves relative to its valve body in order to change the flow rate. For example, a conventional ball valve has a rotatable ball member through which fluid can flow and seal portions positioned at the opposing upstream and downstream faces of the ball to inhibit flow therearound. Extended use of the valve member in one flow position can result in paint coagulating in voids formed around the seal portions. When the ball member is rotated, paint portions can break loose, thus detracting its use. Paint flakes, particles and dirt can result from the mating of fluid connector members, notwithstanding a seal being positioned to prevent flow around mated portions. Accordingly, it would be desirable to Limit or replace the use of threaded fittings with compression fittings, or those that use only pressure, thereby eliminating voids which tend to cause the paint to accumulate. Moreover, it would also be desirable to reduce the weight of the conventional spray gun and fittings, thereby reducing operator fatigue and increasing finish quality.

Two principles for adjusting the circumferential register in rotary printing machines are known from the prior art: first, a rotary shift of the forme cylinders via a planetary gear, or second, an axial shift of helical gears in the drive trains. However, it is known per se that planetary gears necessitate an expensive gear mechanism. On the other hand, in apparatus with helical gears, usually only a relatively coarse adjustment is usually possible. Furthermore, the problem generally arises in these geared mechanisms either that there is a great amount of play, or if they are designed for play-free operation then that they are extremely expensive to manufacture.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor LSI design device and designing method used for control devices in which high safety is required. 2. Description of the Related Art In nuclear power plants, a safety protection system is installed to perform control such as emergency nuclear reactor shutdown, shutoff of various valves for preventing leakage of radioactive materials, and the like on the basis of an input from a radiation measurement device or various other sensors. In the past, a microcomputer has been used as a control device, but when the same software is used for a redundant system by device multiplexing, there is a possibility of a device multiplexing function being damaged due to a defect of software. Further, when a memory cell of a storage device is irradiated with radiation such as cosmic rays, a phenomenon called a soft error in which charges are lost and data is rewritten is likely to occur, leading to an accidental abnormal operation. In addition, there is a growing demand for tamper resistance such as software rewrite prevention. For this reason, in a control device of a nuclear power plant or the like in which high safety is required, a processor-less hardwired system is required for the purpose of improving security. A background art is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4371856 (patent document 1). “An safety instrumentation system of a nuclear reactor constructed using a digital logic mounted on hardware selected from an ASIC and an FPGA, including a digital logic portion which is configured using at least one of a functional unit which is verified in advance at a stage before output logical patterns with respect to all input logical patterns are mounted and a functional module constituted by combining the verified functional units, wherein the functional module is configured only with functional units having the same logical configuration as the verified functional units” is disclosed in patent document 1.

Many vehicles include a collision avoidance system that comprises a vehicle-mounted sensor to warn a driver of any dangers that may lie ahead on the road. Many vehicles also comprise safety equipment, such as an internal or an external airbag, which is arranged to be deployed if/when the vehicle collides with an object.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to an LCD device and a method of fabricating the LCD device. 2. Description of the Related Art Presently, LCD devices are being developed as the next generation of display devices because of their light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption. In general, an LCD device is a non-emissive display device that displays images using a refractive index difference utilizing optical anisotropy properties of a liquid crystal material that is interposed between an array (TFT) substrate and a color filter substrate. Among the various type of LCD devices commonly used, active matrix LCD (AM-LCD) devices have been developed because of their high resolution and superiority in displaying moving images. The AM-LCD device includes a thin film transistor (TFT) in each pixel region as a switching device, a pixel electrode in each pixel region, and a second electrode used for a common electrode. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an LCD device according to the related art. In FIG. 1, first and second substrates 10 and 30 are arranged to face each other with a liquid crystal material 50 interposed therebetween. On an inner surface of the first substrate 10, a color filter layer 12 and a common electrode 16, which functions as an electrode for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer 50, are subsequently formed. The color filter layer 12 includes a color filter for passing only a specific wavelength of light, and a black matrix (not shown) that is disposed at the boundary of the color filter and shields light from a region in which alignment of the liquid crystal material is uncontrollable. On an inner surface of the second substrate 30, a plurality of gate lines 32 and a plurality of data lines 34 are formed in a matrix array defining individual pixel regions P. A TFT T, which functions as a switching device, is disposed in each pixel region P where a gate line 32 and a data line 34 cross. A pixel electrode 46 is connected to the TFT T. Although not shown, the thin film transistor T includes a gate electrode to where a gate voltage is applied, source and drain electrodes for applying a data voltage to the pixel electrode. First and second polarizing plates 52 and 54, which transmit only light parallel to a polarizing axis, are disposed on outer surfaces of the first and second substrates 10 and 30, respectively. An additional light source, such as a backlight, is disposed under the polarizing plate 54. Although not shown, first and second alignment layers contacting the liquid crystal layer 50 are formed on inner surfaces of the first and second substrates. The surfaces of the first and second alignment layers are aligned along predetermined rubbing directions, respectively. FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic views showing a liquid crystal display device according to the related art. FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II—II of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2A, a plurality of pixel regions P are defined on a substrate 60. A black matrix 64 is formed on the substrate 60 and has a plurality of open portions 62. Each of the open portions 62 corresponds to each of the pixel regions P. A color filter layer 66 is formed over the substrate 60 having the black matrix 64 and includes red, green and blue sub-color filters 66a, 66b and 66c. The red, green and blue sub-color filters 66a, 66b and 66c are located in the open portions 62. In addition, a common electrode 68 and an alignment layer 70 are sequentially formed over the black matrix 64 and the color filter layer 66 on the substrate 60. The black matrix 64 is made of one of chromium (Cr)-based materials and resin materials. Typically, the black matrix material is made of resin materials. A black matrix formed by coating a resin material is formed thicker than a black matrix formed by depositing a Cr-based material. Therefore, a large step difference is created by a portion of the color filter layer 66 that overlaps edges of the black matrix 64, as shown in FIG. 2B. When a rubbing direction rl of the substrate 60 is from a right upper portion to a left lower portion in 45 degrees as shown in FIG. 2A (similarly, the rubbing direction is from right to left in the cross sectional view of FIG. 2B), a rubbing defect occurs at a first sloped side SR, as shown in FIG. 2B, that causes light leakage. This light leakage severely degrades a black picture state. To improve an aperture ratio by reducing an align margin, a structure in which both the thin film transistors and color filters are formed on the same substrate has been suggested. In such a structure, the black matrix has a thicker thickness than the black matrix shown in FIG. 2B in order to effectively block light due to an increased step difference caused by forming a the thin film transistor. Thus, a rubbing defect caused by an even larger step difference becomes more severe. Hereinafter, color filter layer on thin film transistor (COT) type LCD device in which the color filter device is formed on the substrate having the thin film transistor will be explained. FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views showing a COT type LCD device according to the related art. FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view taken along a line III—III of FIG. 3A. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a gate line 72 is formed on a substrate 70 along a first direction, a data line 80 is formed along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. A thin film transistor T is located adjacent to a crossing of the gate line 72 and the data line 80. A color filter layer 86 that includes red, green and blue sub-color filters 86a, 86b and 86c is formed over the thin film transistor T, the gate line 72 and the data line 80 on the substrate 70. Each of the red, green and blue sub-color filters 86a, 86b and 86c is located in a pixel region P defined by the gate line 72 and the data line 80. Specifically, each of the red, green and blue sub-color filters 86a, 86b and 86c overlaps portions of the gate and data lines 72 and 80. A black matrix 88 is formed over the thin film transistor T as an island pattern. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed over the entire surface of the color filter layer 86 and the black matrix 88. A pixel electrode 92 is formed on the insulating layer and is connected to the thin film transistor T. As shown in FIG. 3B, the black matrix 88 is thickly formed to minimize parasitic capacitance in the COT structure. Therefore, when the rubbing direction rl is from a right upper portion to a left lower portion at a 45 degree angle from one corner of the pixel electrode, as shown in FIG. 3A, and from right to left, as shown in FIG. 3B, light leakage caused by a rubbing defect in region RD can occur.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to inserting advertisements in web pages, or more generally any medium in which ad performance can be measured and quantified. In particular, the present invention is directed towards determining an optimal allocation of advertisements in response to specified objectives and constraints. 2. Description of the Related Art Web site advertising has traditionally included a variety of models. In one model, known as an auction model, advertisers bid for space on a web site. In the auction model, an advertising space, also known in the art as an impression, is given to the highest bidder (or bidders). In another model, called a guarantee model, the site guarantees a certain number of impressions to an advertiser in exchange for a fixed fee. The guarantee model also supports additional arrangements—for example, a site can guarantee that an impression will receive a minimum number of clicks, or will result in a minimum number of transactions. The number of impressions available on a site is known as the site's inventory. Inventory is traditionally hard to precisely measure because of difficulties in estimating site traffic, since the amount of traffic on a site can be highly variable, and hence the number of impressions available in the future is unknown. In addition, available inventory is hard to track because of the existence of guarantee-based contracts. Consider the following example, which illustrates the difficulty of tracking inventory. Assume that a site has five keywords in its inventory of slots to which impressions can be allocated. Assume also that the site charges an advertiser a first amount for each impression and a second amount for each click on that impression. Assume the following amounts for four clients: Client A pays $0.25 for clicks on keywords 1, 2 and 3, and $0.05 for each displayed impression. Client 1 has been guaranteed 10,000 impressions. Client B pays $0.35 for clicks on keywords 2, 3 and 4, and $0.10 for each displayed impression. Client 2 has been guaranteed 15,000 impressions. Client C pays $0.85 for clicks on keywords 2 and 4, and $0.05 for each displayed impression. Client 3 has been guaranteed 5,000 impressions. Client D pays $0.05 for clicks on keywords 1 and 3, and $0.02 for each impression. Client 4 has been guaranteed 15,000 impressions. Now assume that a potential client, client E, is willing to pay $0.20 for clicks on keywords 1 and 5, and is willing to pay $0.02 for each impression. Client E demands a guarantee of 11,000 impressions. The site has estimated its inventory of keyword 5 at 6,000 impressions, and inventory of keyword 1 as 4,000 impressions. To determine whether accepting the contract with client E is possible, the site operator must determine whether an additional 1,000 impressions can be delivered for keywords 1 and 5 by shifting the existing allocation of keywords and not violating any guarantees made to the other advertisers. As the number of advertisers, keywords and guarantees grows, this problem becomes increasingly complex. Accommodating even a single new advertiser may necessitate the rescheduling of hundreds or even thousands of other advertisers (and their associated creatives) due to a ripple effect caused by moving one advertiser's allocation, which then causes another advertiser's allocation to be moved, etc. There is therefore a need in the art for an efficient way to allocate advertising impressions across a web site while maximizing revenue for the site and honoring guarantees made to advertisers.

This invention relates to a novel method for precision etching of a succession of articles from a moving metal strip. The method is particularly useful for preparing flat apertured masks which are subsequently formed and installed in color television picture tubes. Precision etching is employed to produce articles with complex arrays of apertures therein, where the sizes and shapes of the apertures are to be held within very narrow size tolerances. An apertured mask, which is an important part of a shadow-mask-type picture tube used in color television receivers, is one such article. The production of flat apertured masks by photoexposure and precision etching has been described previously. In a typical process, light-sensitive coatings are applied to both major surfaces of a continuous strip of thin sheet metal. In one practice, both major surfaces of a cold-rolled-steel strip about 0.15 mm (6 mils) thick and about 550 mm (22 inches) wide are coated with a dichromate-sensitized casein composition. The light-sensitive coatings are exposed to a succession of actinic light images, as by contact-printing exposure, to render the exposed portions thereof less soluble in water. The exposed coatings are developed to remove the more-soluble unexposed portions, thereby producing a succession of stencils on each surface of the strip, and then baked to render the retained, less-soluble, exposed portions etch resistant. Then, the strip with the etch-resistant stencils thereon is advanced through an etching station where it is selectively etched from both surfaces with an etching solution that is sprayed on the strip. The strip continues to advance beyond the etching station through successive stations where the strip is rinsed, the stencils are removed, the strip is dried and the light transmissions through the masks are monitored. The flat masks produced by the foregoing method have an array of apertures therein, which apertures are usually round holes or rectangular slits, but may be of any desired shape. Round apertures are typically about 0.30 to 0.38 mm (12 to 15 mils) in diameter, and rectangular apertures are typically about 0.13 to 0.20 mm (5 to 8 mils) wide by about 0.76 to 1.27 mm (30 to 50 mils) high. The flat mask is formed to a desired shape and detachably mounted in the faceplate panel of the tube. The formed and mounted mask is then used as an optical master for photographically depositing one or more screen structures of the tube. The mask is also used to shadow the scanning electron beams during the operation of the picture tube. The sizes and shapes of the apertures are critical towards reliably and reproducibly implementing these functions. Many factors affect the sizes of the apertures in the mask. Some important process variables relating to the photoexposure and etching steps that are now carefully controlled are (1) temperature of the etching solution, (2) density of the etching solution, (3) pressure applied to spray the etching solution, (4) thickness of the stencils, (5) baking temperature of the stencils, (6) size of the apertures in the developed stencils, and (7) conditions for photoexposing light-sensitive coating. Even though these many process controls are applied, there is still a need to reduce the variation in aperture sizes in the etched masks. We have found that: (a) the prior photoexposure-and-etching process produces mask apertures whose sizes, and therefore light transmissions of the masks, are very dependent on small changes in the thickness of the metal strip, and (b) the ordinary thickness range of the metal strip received from the metal supplier can produce variations in aperture sizes which are greater than can be tolerated by the user of the mask. For example, 0.025 mm (0.1-mil) change in the thickness of a 0.150 mm (6-mil)-thick steel strip can cause a change of 0.3% in the light transmission of the etched mask, or about one third of the allowable etching tolerance. Steel strip, as received from the supplier, may have a thickness variation of .+-.0.0125 mm (.+-.0.5 mil), which would, if uncompensated for, produce masks with a greater than allowable variation in transmission. Where these wide variations in strip thickness exist, the masks must be more thoroughly inspected and a substantial proportion of the etched masks must be discarded as being out of tolerance. Frequently, masks selected for retention are classified into one of several groups according to light transmission so that wider ranges of aperture sizes can be tolerated through other compensations made later in the manufacturing processes.

This invention relates generally to automotive vehicle clutches. It is well known to those acquainted with the particular field that after a long time of use, a clutch mechanism of a vehicle becomes worn out, and the clutch face plate friction pads become worn thin so that they must be replaced with new friction pads. On conventional clutches now used on automotive vehicles, this necessitates the engine-transmission separation in order to gain access to the pads, and which dismantling operation is accordingly time consuming and costly. This situation is objectionable, and is therefore in need of an improvement.

Because of the natural flammability of organic polymer resins, it is common practice to incorporate a flame retardant into the formulation of a resin based composition or system in order to improve the safety of the final product. A common approach to flame resistance is to incorporate into the resin certain flame inhibiting hydrated minerals, such as alumina trihydrate (ATH). When compounded into resins at sufficient levels, these hydrated minerals impart both flame and smoke retardancy by evolving non-toxic gases, such as water, to dilute the combustion products and to promote char formation. Although these hydrated minerals have met with much success as flame retardants, certain problems exist. Because of the technique used in the production of crude alumina trihydrate, particulate fillers made from this material contains varying amounts of basic alkali metal salts. These alkali metal salts form sites of basic salt concentrations on the surface which are conventionally known as "hot spots". These hot spots, or active sites, are well known to cause problems in various resin matrix systems. Surface activity promotes the absorption of water by filled resins such that the electrical properties of the resins are adversely effected. Another problem attributed to surface activity, and discussed in more detail below, is the adverse effect on polyurethane foam manufacture as, for example, in carpet backing manufacture. In urethane foam, these "hot spots" or active sites are known to interfere with the rate of reaction of the urethane precursors. These reaction rates vary from time to time making precise prediction of urethane cure rate very difficult. Second, the presence of these active sites on the filler surface can promote excessive foaming during the urethane reaction. One way to combat surface activity is to vigorously water wash the ground ATH until the amount of basic salts, expressed as percent titratable soluble soda (Na.sub.2 O), is greatly reduced. This technique, though effective, is very expensive and is not economically feasible. A second technique is to carefully monitor the soluble soda levels on the filler and use only low soda crude. However, this approach severely limits sources of feedstock and may result in production of large quantities of unacceptable flame retardant. A third technique is aging the ground flame retardant. Some believe that aging the filler for up to a week prior to use can reduce surface activity. This approach requires excessive inventory storage demands and is often ineffective. In the case of urethane foam manufacture, one of the more preferred techniques for combating surface activity is to use a less active catalyst in the urethane reaction to slow down the process to the point that variation is more easily handled. Although slowing down the reaction rate makes the problem easier to handle, it does not solve the problem itself and result in significant variations in production working time. Because of this variation, work must be done in smaller or less efficient batches, there is greater scrap resulting from premature setup, lumping can occur because of different reaction rates throughout the batch, the process is resistant to automation, and machines must run slower to permit constant adjustment for the less predictable reaction time. Coupled with all of the above techniques is the practice of using a filler flame retardant having as large a particle size, and hence the least surface area, as practical. However, high loading level of relatively large filler in a matrix significantly degrades certain physical properties of the composite and thus fine particle size hydrated fillers are preferred. These and other disadvantages of the prior art hydrated mineral flame retardants are overcome by the novel composition and method disclosed herein.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to controls associated with manual transmissions and, more specifically, to techniques to enhance the repeatability with which such controls may be installed on transmissions to provide reliable operation thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art A manual transmission typically includes a range of gears which may be engaged to accomplish appropriate torque multiplication to provide propulsion of a vehicle. Additional gear ranges may be provided by use of auxiliary transmissions added in series with a primary manual transmission. An example of such an auxiliary transmission is a range transmission which includes a low and high range which provides twice as many gear ranges as are available on the primary transmission. A primary transmission operated in conjunction with a range transmission must coordinate shift control therebetween. Such coordination typically includes a mechanical interlock feature which prevents a range shifter change from high to low or visa versa if the primary transmission is not in neutral position. The interlock feature is accomplished by use of an interface between the pneumatic valve typically and air spool valve that controls the position of the actuator cylinder of the range shifter and the mechanical linkage manipulated by the driver to select gear ranges. The interlock feature typically involves a pin which is translated from a neutral position to an in-gear position in response to any gear range selection. The pin includes a portion having a tapered end which engages detents formed in a shaft which translates in conjunction with the air spool valve which controls the operation of the range gear selection actuator. The air spool valve and detent shaft have an axis which is oriented orthogonal to the axis along which the pin translates. Establishing a proper aligned relationship between the valve body and the pin is critical to assure reliable operation. Conventionally, alignment of the valve body to the translating pin is accomplished by the alignment achieved via fasteners securing the valve body to the transmission. In such an implementation, the alignment achieved is a function of the tolerance stackup which may result in substantial misalignment of the respective components. Therefore, there is a need to accomplish alignment between the valve body and the transmission case which results in a reliable alignment of the translating pin with the interlock detents in the air spool valve.

With the ongoing development of technology, digital products, such as digital cameras, PDAs, or digital video cameras, have become more widely used. In poor light conditions, such as on a cloudy day, a photoflash is necessary to obtain a quality image. The photoflash generally comprises a lamp and a capacitor. When the photoflash is used, the capacitor discharges causing the lamp to flash. Referring to FIG. 3, a related photoflash apparatus 100 includes a light sensitive element 10 for converting light signals to electrical signals, a signal processor 12 for receiving the electrical signals to output the brightness (Y) information, a comparing unit 14, a calculating unit 16, and a photoflash module 18. The photoflash module 18 includes a lamp 17 and a capacitor 19. The capacitor 19 is discharged to make the lamp 17 flash to provide additional light for the image. The comparing unit 14 is configured for comparing a current brightness value with a predetermined brightness value stored in the comparing unit 14. When the current brightness value is less than the predetermined brightness value, the calculating unit 16 calculates the photoflash time of the photoflash module 18 based on the brightness Y. The calculating unit 16 outputs the photoflash time to control the photoflash module 18. However, when the calculating unit 16 calculates the photoflash time, the second voltage value of the capacitor 19 is gradually reduced. The photoflash time calculated by the calculating unit 16 is based on a first voltage value of the capacitor 19. However, the capacitor 19 has been discharged to provide additional light. Therefore, the residual voltage of the capacitor 19 is not enough to provide sufficient brightness during the photoflash time.

In many applications, including digital communications, clock and data recovery (CDR) must be performed before data can be decoded. Generally, in a digital clock recovery system, a reference clock signal of a given frequency is generated together with a number of different clock signals having the same frequency but with different phases. In one typical implementation, the different clock signals are generated by applying the reference clock signal to a delay network. Thereafter, one or more of the clock signals are compared to the phase and frequency of an incoming data stream and one or more of the clock signals are selected for data recovery. A number of existing digital CDR circuits use voltage controlled delay loops (VCDL) to generate a number of clocks having the same frequency and different phase for data sampling (i.e., oversampling). For example, published International Patent Application No. WO 97/14214, discloses a compensated delay locked loop timing vernier. The disclosed timing vernier produces a set of timing signals of similar frequency and evenly distributed phase. An input reference clock signal is passed through a succession of delay stages. A separate timing signal is produced at the output of each delay stage. The reference clock signal and the timing signal output of the last delay stage are compared by an analog phase lock controller. The analog phase lock controller controls the delay of all stages so that the timing signal output of the last stage is phase locked to the reference clock. Based on the results of the oversampled data, the internal clock is delayed so that it provides data sampling adjusted to the center of the “eye.” The phase of the VCDL is adjusted to keep up with phase deviations of the incoming data. While such voltage controlled delay loops effectively generate the sampling clocks and control the delay stages to maintain alignment of the reference clock signal and the last timing signal, they suffer from a number of limitations, which if overcome, could further improve the utility of such voltage controlled delay loops. For example, the analog implementation of the phase lock controller is complex and generally cannot be easily ported from one technology to another. In addition, digital-to-analog conversion is required to convert lo the digital phase adjustment control into analog signal control. A need therefore exists for voltage controlled delay loops with digital phase control.

As shown in FIG. 1, alternating current (AC) chopping is one of the best techniques to achieve voltage regulating of commercial power. If an inductive load is connected to an AC chopping, because of an effect of inductive reactance, a freewheeling must be proceeding when the chopping switch is off. Currently, the commonly used solutions of freewheeling are realized by parallel connecting an AC chopping switch with an electronic switch for freewheeling. That is to say, regardless of the specific structure of the chopping switch circuit, parallel connecting a chopping switch 1 with a freewheeling switch 2 is essential. Both the chopping switch and the freewheeling switch adopt Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) switch components. It takes some time to turn on and turn off the IGBT switch components. To prevent a short circuit on the chopping circuit that might be caused by turning on the freewheeling switch 2, control signals for chopping electronic switch and freewheeling electronic switch has to be accurately controlled, and an interval time has to be set between the turning off time of the chopping wave electronic switch and turning on time of the freewheeling electronic switch. The interval time is called as “dead time”. Because of the dead time, there is a delay with the freewheeling when the chopping electronic switch is turned off, and because of the dead time, there is a limit to further improve the frequency of the AC chopping. When proceeding three phase AC chopping, a more accurate and complicated controlling to a phase position of the control signals of chopping electronic switch and freewheeling electronic switch is needed.

Low rate speech coding research has recently gained new momentum due to the increased national and global interest in digital voice transmission for mobile and personal communication. The Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) is actively pushing towards establishing a new "half-rate" digital mobile communication standard even before the current North-American "full rate" digital system (IS54) has been fully deployed. Similar activities are taking place in Europe and Japan. The demand, in general, is to advance the technology to a point of achieving or exceeding the performance of the current standard systems while cutting the transmission rate by half. The voice coders of the current digital cellular standards are all based on code-excited linear prediction (CELP) or closely related algorithms. See M. R. Schroeder and B. S. Atal, "Code-Excited Linear Predictive (CELP): High Quality Speech at Very Low Bit Rates," Proc. IEEE ICASSP'85, Vol. 3, pp. 937-940, March 1985; P. Kroon and E. F. Deprettere, "A Class of Analysis-by-Synthesis Predictive Coders for High Quality Speech Coding at Rates Between 4.8 and 16 Kb/s," IEEE J. on Sel. Areas in Comm., SAC-6(2), pp. 353-363, February 1988. Current CELP coders deliver fairly high-quality coded speech at rates of about 8 Kbps and above. However, the performance deteriorates quickly as the rate goes down to around 4 Kbps and below.

A business which subscribes to a storage area network (SAN) may scale up its storage area network (SAN) by adding or upgrading the hosts, fabric hardware, storage devices, and/or business applications to meet growing demands of the business. Hence, the input/output (I/O) traffic volume, pattern, and distribution in the SAN may undergo a complex change over time. This can cause a congestion and/or uneven distribution of I/O traffic in the SAN that are hard to detect, thereby noticeably degrading the performance of the SAN with time. To improve the performance of the SAN, a trend analysis and/or forecasting may be performed based on the current configuration of the SAN. For example, some of currently existing solutions may support a trend analysis of the SAN on a per-component basis which allows the business to manually correlate current changes in the performance across the components due to possible changes in the configuration of the SAN's workload. However, the decision involving in the trend analysis, such as the extent and/or timing of the trend analysis, may be made by a whim of authorized personnel rather than by a systematic triggering event. Therefore, the decision may not result in the optimal analysis which leads to the most viable recommendation of the SAN performance upgrade. Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follow.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audience response determination apparatus, a playback output control system, an audience response determination method and a playback output control method suitable for use in entertainment facilities where a large audience gathers for watching movies, concerts, plays, shows, sports events and various other events. The invention also relates to a recording medium suitable for realizing these apparatus and methods. 2. Description of the Related Art A wide variety of entertainment is currently available, including movies, concerts, plays, shows, sports events and other events, where a large audience gathers. In response, techniques and equipment for increasing the level of satisfaction felt by the audience to the entertainment content have been called for and proposed. It is generally the case that in movie theaters, concert halls and other places (hereafter collectively referred to as a hall) where an audience gathers for watching and/or listening to movies or various types of performance, the audience are expected to simply be there to passively watch or listen to the content being performed or shown. When the audience in the hall is large enough, they often display a greater response to the show or performance than in the case of watching or listening to similar content at home. This is due to what is known as mob psychology or a sense of being involved in the entertainment (the story, performers, players, etc.). Such responses include clapping of hands, cries, shouts, standing ovations, cheers, chorus, and gestures. In response to those reactions shown by the audience, it is commonplace for the group of performers playing live music, for example, to voluntarily change the performance schedule or play encores so as to fuel the audience's excitement. However, in the case of movies or when the entertainment content cannot be easily changed, it has been difficult to pick up the audience's response and respond accordingly. It has also been difficult to adjust stage effects in response to the audience's reaction. It is even more difficult to accurately pick up and judge the audience's overall response, given the fact that the audience comprise various types of people, some with loud voices and action, some without, some may be interested at the moment while some may be not, for example.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a jet aircraft. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved jumbo jet aircraft for mid-flight rescuing of another aircraft in distress. 2. Description of the Prior Art One main cause of mid-flight disasters is the malfunction of the engines. Aircraft engines are typically attached to the wing of an aircraft by means of nacelle struts or pylons which enclose the pneumatic, electric, fuel, and hydraulic connections to the engine as well as links and spars supporting the engine from the airplane wing. Struts are essentially frame and skin structures riveted and bonded together to form a torque box. The aircraft engine operates at high temperatures whereby a strut fire seal and fire wall are desirably incorporated to protect the wing and upper strut systems from exposure to high temperatures and fire wall damage. Fire wall continuity is desirably maintained with the stainless steel primary exhaust nozzle sleeve of the engine serving as a continuation of a strut fire wall. An engine fire must be contained and must not penetrate the adjacent strut structure. The unusual contour of the exhaust nozzle, however, can produce a gap that is uneven in dimension between the nozzle upper forward edge surface and the strut structure lower surface. The engine is, of course, very heavy and is subject to relative motion with respect to the airplane structure due to thermal and loading conditions. Numerous innovations for aircraft safety devices have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach an improved jumbo jet aircraft for mid-flight rescuing of another aircraft in distress. FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,729 to Bergman et al. teaches an escape slide container that is mounted for selective, upward movement with a track-mounted, overhead sliding door in an aircraft fuselage. Slide deployment mechanism for releasing the container from the door and for attaching it to the floor of the aircraft allows the door to move upwardly independently of the container, leaving the container attached to the floor. An over-center linkage supports the container above the floor while upward movement of the door trips the over-center linkage to propel the container outwardly through the door opening to deploy the escape slide under the urging of gravity. ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,403 to Poland teaches a waterproofed explosive charge that is suspended within a frangible, spherical shell containing an aqueous solution. The assembly is dropped from an airplane or helicopter towards a fire below. Either a shock-actuated percussion cap or a fuse-ignited detonation cap activates the explosive charge at the appropriate moment and the resultant explosion creates a vapor-like fog. A portion of the combustion-supporting oxygen is displaced by the fog droplets. The minute water droplets also absorb heat energy, thereby lowering surrounding air and fuel temperatures. These effects, coupled with the concussive shock wave, act to snuff the fire. STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,985 to Banks teaches an emergency escape slide for a commercial passenger airplane that includes a girt bar which connects the slide to the airplane. The girt bar includes a middle portion having a rectangular cross section to which the slide is connected, and cylindrical end fittings which are attached to opposite ends of the middle portion. When the escape slide is armed, the cylindrical end fittings are positioned within floor mounted receptacles which permit the end fittings to rotate. Thus, when the escape slide is deployed, the girt bar is permitted to rotate so that the wide axis of the girt bar remains aligned with the loads generated by the slide deployment. In this manner, the strongest portion of the girt bar is in position to react the loads. YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,846 to Shine et al. teaches a system for protecting the strut and wing structure of an airplane from high temperatures proximate the exhaust nozzle end of a jet engine that employs a set of outer spring metal fingers attached to the exhaust nozzle outer sleeve and which bear against the strut structure, and a second set of inner spring metal fingers, interleaved with the first, which close off interfinger slots in the first or outer set whereby to maintain firewall integrity. Hot gases are thereby prevented from passing forwardly into the strut structure and wing area so as to protect the same in the event of an engine fire. It is apparent that numerous innovations for aircraft safety devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

Many wireless networks, including UWB networks, send information between devices in the network through the use of discrete data frames. Data at a transmitter is broken up into discrete pieces of data, which are processed, placed into frames, and sent over a wireless channel. The receiver then takes the received frames, extracts the embedded information, and reconstructs the data that was sent by the transmitter. Some of the parameters for a data frame must remain fixed, such as its header composition. But others, such as frame size can vary a great deal. For example, frame size can be varied in response to the quality of the channel being used for transmission. Smaller data frames generally have a lower probability of packet error rate and so using smaller packets can improve the probability that a frame will be successfully transmitted. A device could thus use a large frame size when the channel is of good quality, and then move to a smaller frame size when the channel quality deteriorates. Then, if the channel quality improves, the device could return to using the larger frame size. Frame size is generally handled at a medium access control (MAC) layer. The MAC layer receives data in discrete blocks and then can either forward these blocks on for transmission as they are, group multiple blocks together for transmission, or break a block up into multiple pieces for transmission. Aggregation is what happens when multiple blocks of data are grouped together, and fragmentation is what happens when one block of data is broken up into multiple pieces. But although aggregation and fragmentation provide advantages in allowing for greater flexibility in frame size, they also impose some disadvantages. Primarily, they require additional circuitry and time to handle the aggregation and fragmentation on the transmitting end, and also additional time and circuitry on the receiving end split apart aggregated data and reassemble fragmented data (called defragmentation). Of these two, defragmentation data is much more complex and is also more time consuming. Accordingly, it would be desirable in the art for a solution to the problems associated with fragmentation. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a UWB device that avoids the use of fragmentation, yet still provides flexibility in determining data frame size.

Substantial effort has been expended by a wide variety of entities in attempting to develop highly effective pesticides, particularly insecticide and/or insect repellents, which are capable of eradicating or controlling insects which destroy ornamental and agricultural plants, crops, trees, etc. or which attack, harm, or annoy humans and animals. Particularly bothersome for humans and animals are blood-sucking insects, such as mosquitos, ticks, fleas, lice, etc. These insects are annoying as well as possibly harmful due to the potential transmission of diseases. Although substantial need has existed in the industry for products which control or eradicate these insects, prior art attempts have failed to provide effective formulations which are capable of fully eradicating or controlling insects, while also being non-toxic to humans and animals. In an attempt to meet the consumer demand for products of this nature, various pesticides, insecticides and insect repellant formulations have been developed. However, these prior art formulations typically incorporate active ingredients which are highly toxic to humans and to many animals. Consequently, the usable concentration of these toxic chemicals must be reduced, typically to the point of rendering the resulting formulation ineffective in providing the desired killing effect. Another problem that exists with prior art pesticides is the ability of the insects to become resistant or immune to the pesticide. Due to the highly adaptive nature of most insects and the manner in which pesticides typically function, many prior art insecticides are effective initially, but lose their effectiveness over time due to insect developed immunity or resistance. Insects which cause injury to plants, crops, trees, food supplies, humans and animals have existed for centuries and have always been considered as pests. Virtually all of these pests are members of the phylum Arthropoda, which comprises about 75% of known animal species. More than 930,000 arthropod species have been described and over 6,000,000 species are estimated to exist. Of particular importance to the present invention are the species of arthropods found in the classes Insecta, Arachnida, Anoplura, and Siphonaptera. The need for pest control by developing pesticides dates back to ancient times, where fumigation was employed in an attempt to control pests on plant growth. In this century, numerous chemical formulations have been developed. Initially, inorganic metallic compounds were used as the principal active ingredients. More recently, purely organic pesticides have been employed. One most well-known organic pesticide which has been developed and which had been particularly effective is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Although this compound was found to have extraordinary insecticidal properties and had been widely used as one of the most effective pesticides, its use has now been banned in the United States and in other countries due to its more recently discovered toxicity to humans and animals. Following the discovery of the efficacy of DDT, numerous other organochlorides, such as cyclodienes were developed as practical pesticides, with further discoveries revealing organophosphate compounds as highly effective pesticides. However, as use of these chemical compounds grew, the deleterious effects of these compounds were also discovered and their use was restricted. Another group of pesticides that have been employed in the prior art comprise pyrethroids or pyrethrins. Compounds, coming within this classification, have been widely used in a wide variety of insecticides and insect repellant products. However, although originally effective, the pyrethroids are examples of pesticides which are now increasingly ineffective, due to acquired resistance by the insects. Presently, many insects have developed resistance or immunity to the insecticidal effect of the pyrethroids and, as a result, these compounds are increasingly unusable for effectively controlling undesirable insects and pests. While other attempts have been made to eliminate the toxicity of pesticides or develop non-toxic pesticides, these attempts have failed to provide a completely effective, non-toxic pesticide. In particular, most of these prior art pesticides are non-biodegradable, causing the pesticide to continuously build up in the soil and, subsequently, in the food chain. This long-term build up has been found to be particularly hazardous to the long-term health of the population. As a result, use of many such pesticides has been either banned or severely restricted by recent legislation. Although the need for an effective, non-toxic, biodegradable pesticide has existed for decades, an effective pesticide has not been realized. As an alternative, non-chemical methods have been used. However, little success has been attained with non-chemical methods. As a result, in addition to these non-chemical methods, pesticides continue to be used in limited concentrations with reduced efficacy. Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an effective pesticide which is capable of providing long-term control and eradication of a wide range of insects which attack or feed on plants, crops, trees, animals, and ht mans without harming the plants, crops, trees, animals, or humans coming in contact with the pesticide. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pesticide having the characteristic features described above which is completely non-toxic to humans, animals, and the environment. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pesticide which effectively functions as an insecticide for killing a wide range of insects as well as an acaricide for controlling lice, mites and ticks. Another object of the present invention is to provide an insecticide having the characteristic features described above which is completely biodegradable and completely safe for application directly to desired plants, humans and animals. A further object of the present invention is to provide an insecticide having the characteristic features described above which is not harsh or irritating to the skin of humans and animals and can be safely applied, without harm, to skin, scalp, or hair. Another object of the present invention is to provide an insecticide having the characteristic features described above which kills insects in a manner that prevents the insects from developing a resistance or immunity thereto. Another object of the present invention is to provide an insecticide having the characteristic features described above which can be employed as an insect repellant without harmful side effects to the user. Another object of the present invention is to provide an insecticide having the characteristic features described above which has no adverse effects on the food products produced by treated plants, crops, and trees, as well as no adverse effect on the soil or water. Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

With the miniaturization of various communication devices or electronic devices, piezoelectric vibrating devices such as crystal oscillators or crystal controlled oscillators need to be downsized. A crystal vibrating piece using piezoelectric vibrating devices is attached to a ceramic package by thermosetting resin. On this occasion, the thermosetting resin is heated up either 150° C. or 250° C. to attach the crystal vibrating piece. Therefore, the crystal vibrating piece is heated up either 150° C. or 250° C. as well. Also, when a packaged piezoelectric vibrating device is mounted to an epoxy laminate, the piezoelectric vibrating device is treated with heat by a solder reflow furnace and the crystal vibrating piece in the package is also heated up to 200° C. After the temperature of piezoelectric vibrating device became 200° C. through the heat treatment, the piezoelectric vibrating device is back to a room temperature. However, sometimes piezoelectric vibrating devices are not back to a designated primary frequency form a varied frequency. In such a case, those products are considered as defective products at the shipment. Supposedly, when such defective products of piezoelectric vibration devices are mounted to the epoxy laminate, they go through a heat treatment such as solder reflow furnace. Inside of the solder reflow furnace is set to 180° C. or 250° C. and after ten seconds, the piezoelectric vibrating device is treated with heat. As described above, after the piezoelectric vibrating device is treated with heat, its frequency is varied as well, even if it is back to a room temperature, and the whole epoxy laminate is considered as defective products. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-17977 disclosed that although such piezoelectric vibrating device considered as a defective product, it is acknowledged that it vibrated proper frequency after few months because remaining stress of crystal vibrating piece was released. However, if it does not work properly for few months, the product cannot be shipped. Especially, when it is more than 100 MHz, it tends to have a greater frequency change. Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to provide a piezoelectric vibrating piece and piezoelectric vibrating device having less frequency change for a heat change a heat treatment.

An improved tobacco smoke filter for use with cigarettes has a plurality of expansion chambers and ambient air inlets for greater cooling of the smoke and increased nicotine and tar removal.

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel having a rigid rim on which can be mounted a pneumatic tire. The rim has rim flanges that essentially extend radially inwardly. The wheel also has a drop base that is centrally disposed relative to the rim, and is open radially outwardly. Disposed on the radially inner side of the rim, between the drop base and each rim flange, are respective recessed mounting portions for receiving the beads of a tire.

As an example, from German Published Patent Application No. DE 196 26 576 an electromagnetically actuable fuel injector is known, in which, for the electromagnetic actuation, an armature cooperates with an electrically energizable magnetic coil, and the lift of the armature is transmitted to a valve-closure member via a valve needle. The valve-closure member cooperates with a valve-seat surface to form a sealing seat. A plurality of fuel channels is provided in the armature. The armature is reset by a resetting spring. Disadvantageous in the fuel injector known from German Published Patent Application No. DE 196 26 576 is, in particular, that the fuel quantity qdyn flowing through the fuel injector cannot be metered with sufficient precision when the valve-closure member lifts off from the sealing seat. The ratio of maximally sprayed-off fuel quantity relative to minimally sprayed-off fuel quantity, qmax/qmin, is relatively low. The characteristic curve of the fuel injector, which represents the profile of the dynamic flow rate qdyn as a function of the valve needle lift, is relatively flat, so that considerable fluctuations occur in the dynamic flow rate.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for insulating elements and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for simultaneously insulating a plurality of electrically conductive elements to achieve a more reliable bonded flat electrical cable in a more economical manner, for facilitating exposure of the electrically conductive elements to allow electrical contact to be made, and for bonding flexible electrical circuits. 2. Description of the Prior Art Electrical cable is simple a plurality of electrically conductive elements aligned parallel one another in a predetermined spacing encapsulated (except for the ends of the cable) with synthetic resin electrical insulative material. Physically, the cable appears as a thin flexible strip of synthetic resin having small embedded metallic wires. Efforts to make electrical cable less expensively, quicker, and more reliable have spawn many methods and apparatus exemplified by the prior art. One such method, sometimes referred to as the hot-roll method, comprises locating two grooved rollers closely adjacent one another, heating the rollers to a temperature to cause fusion of the synthetic resin insulative material used and passing a plurality of conductive elements sandwiched between insulative strips to achieve a bonded electrical cable. Another method, such as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,292 to R. W. Gore, comprises moving the sandwich of electrical wire and insulator between two grooved rollers and then passing the formed but unbonded cable to an oven to achieve bonding. Yet, another method as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,045 to L. L. Emmel et al., commonly referred to as the chill-roll process, comprises passing the layered electrically conductive elements and insulative material through a heating device to heat the entire unbonded cable to well over the temperature necessary for bonding and then passing the cable through two grooved rollers which are at a temperature below that of bonding. Each of the prior art processes provided an unreliable bond; that is, fusion of the abutting surfaces of the insulative material could not be reliably accomplished without causing substantial difficulties with other portions of the cable. For example, some of the methods required heating to a substantially higher temperature than necessary to cause fusion to compensate for heat loss before maximum pressure is brought to bear to cause bonding; this excessive heat frequently oxidized the electrically conductive elements thereby making future electrical contact difficult. Excessive heat creates the generation of excessive amounts of gas causing gas bubbles in the cable. Still another problem related to internal stresses formed in the insulative material during the insulative material's manufacture. When heated, the areas, representing overly stressed and normally stressed regions, expand at different rates causing wrinkles in the insulative cover. Removing wrinkles requires critical machine adjustments and excessive machine tension applied to the insulative material during the cable-making process. Upon cutting such a cable for use, the insulative material tends to recede from the conductive elements leaving the ends of the conductive elements undesirably exposed. A further problem with overheating occurs after pressure has been released; if the cable is still above fusion temperature, there is a tendency for the insulative material to deform to its original flat shape and unbond. One solution to the latter problem is to use more adhesive material to retard undesirable deformation. However, this results in a cable which is substantially thicker than need be and which concurrently increases material expenses. Another major difficulty facing the electrical cable industry and its customers is quickly, economically and reliably exposing the electrically conductive elements of a bonded cable to allow electrical contact to be made. Present methods include grinding away the insulative material in order to expose the conductive elements; this frequently causes damage to the conductive elements since it is difficult to accurately control the grinder. Another method includes the application of heat to the insulative material to allow its separation from the conductive elements; this causes deformation of the cable, oxidizes the conductive elements and enhances the chance of cable delamination. Neither of the above methods are suited for fully automatic operation since both methods disturb the positioning of the conductive elements which is critical for automatic connection to another electrical element such as an electrical connector having multiple electrical contact positions. For example, a three inch wide cable may easily contain sixty electrically conductive wires in alignment, each wire parallel to the others. Position tolerances are .+-. 0.0005 inches. Grinding heating or cutting through insulation which may be 0.005 inches is exceedingly delicate and difficult. Still another problem faces the flexible circuit industry. A flexible circuit may be defined as a specifically designed layer of electrically conductive material bonded between two layers of insulative material. Insuring a reliable bond between the two insulative layers and achieving this bond in a relatively short time span has always eluded solution.

Within the field of networking and internetworking, communications and information traffic continues to grow. Increases to computer processing speeds and enhanced transmission mediums such as optical fiber and Internet-capable cellular phones further add to the amount of potential network traffic. In parallel, increased network traffic corresponds to still further increases in the variety of information moving through the network. Businesses are interconnecting more with each other, with customers, with vendors, with government agencies, and with the public. Two major concerns within such an increasingly busy network are managing the movement of such traffic and ensuring the integrity of information content in terms of connectivity and security. Previous solutions to protecting information assets has included more secure computers and software with virus detection and prevention, firewalls, host and network intrusion detection, encryption, secure host configurations. Such systems, however, suffer from continuous software-patch management, access control and review, penetration testing, and vulnerability assessments. This is a labor intensive and expensive manner of ensuring adequate and timely connectivity and security. As an evolving alternative to piecemeal approaches to network security, another solution to this growing challenge of includes unified threat management (UTM). UTM de-emphasizes threat avoidance and instead focuses on threat management. Threats to a network are readily apparent outside of almost any firewall. These include a continual stream of low-level network attacks, peppered from time to time with serious break-in attempts by computer hackers and malicious code including virus-infected E-mails. worms, spam, and spyware. UTM devices are typically defined as security appliance products that unify and integrate multiple security features integrated onto a single hardware platform. Further, such UTM devices often include network firewall capabilities, network intrusion detection and prevention, and gateway anti-virus functionality. Larger enterprises and service providers are typically suitable users for UTM devices due to the centralized nature of such UTM devices. Currently the solution of security and connectivity is addressed by deploying dedicated separate devices, each dedicated to either switching or security. While this is a potential way to solve the problem of implementing a secured network infrastructure, it increases network complexity and administrative overhead. There are also situations when critical traffic required by the security device to determine if network attacks are occurring is “absorbed” by the switch minimizing the effectiveness of the security device. One example of such a known network 100 is shown by way of FIG. 1 where several users 12 are networked to the Internet via a security device 10 (e.g., a UTM device). Connectivity within such a known network 100 is accomplished via a switch 11 (e.g., a layer 2 router or the like). While such systems can offer cost-effective coordination between organizations and between technologies by streamlining administration and interoperability, certain bundling of key information-security functions and simplified administration remain obstacles to effective unified threat management. Moreover, the rise in blended threats to networking requires a greater breadth of integrated functionality and deployment flexibility. It is, therefore, desirable to provide improved network connectivity and security through integrated security, administration, and networking functions.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,951 discloses a series of 6'-acylaminopenicillanoyloxymethyl penicillanate 1,1-dioxides of the formula I: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents certain acyl groups, said compounds of formula I being of value as antibacterial agents. One method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,951 for the preparation of said antibacterial agents of formula I comprises acylation of the corresponding compound of formula I, wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen (6'-aminopenicillanoyloxymethyl penicillanate 1,1-dioxide). In turn, it is disclosed that 6'-aminopenicillanoyloxymethyl penicillanate 1,1-dioxide can be prepared by coupling a salt of a 6-(protected-amino)penicillanic acid compound of the formula ##STR2## wherein Z is an amino protecting group and M is a carboxylate salt forming cation, with a compound of the formula ##STR3## wherein X is a good leaving group, followed by removal of the protecting group. Groups which are disclosed as being useful for the group Z are the benzyloxycarbonyl group, the 4-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl group and the 2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl group. However, it has now been discovered that the aforesaid process for the preparation of the compound of the formula I, wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen, can be improved by using certain alternate groups for protection of the 6-amino group in the 6-aminopenicillanic acid, i.e. the group Z. Specifically, said process for the preparation of the compound of formula I, wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen, can be improved by using for Z certain groups obtained by reacting 6-aminopenicillanic acid with certain beta-dicarbonyl compounds. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved process for the preparation of the compound of the formula I, wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen, which uses certain alternate protecting groups.

Process gas is a hydrocarbon gas which contains benzene, butadiene, and other hydrocarbon compounds. For health and environmental reasons, it is important that this gas not be allowed to escape to the atmosphere. In Assignee's olefins units, a process gas compressor (PGC) is used to compress pyrolysis furnace effluent (process gas) from an inlet pressure of 8 psi to an outlet pressure of 570 psi. The PGC may be, for example, a turbine-driven, 3-case, 4-stage machine. Each compressor case is split horizontally to allow access for maintenance. A closed- loop lubrication system provides lubrication to the turbine and compressor bearings. The PGC does, however, permit some leakage of process gas to the atmosphere. This leakage occurs because of a combination of factors. Over time and exposure to heat and stress, the mating surfaces of the top and bottom halves of each compressor case may have become non-coplanar resulting in process gas leakage across the splitline. This situation, along with the design of the compressor case, makes it difficult to properly torque all of the case bolts. Further, the case bore and rotor may no longer be perfectly concentric because of distortion from years of thermal and pressure cycles. With the compressor case in this condition, process gas will leak past the compressor seals and into the bearing housings of each compressor case. Inside each bearing housing, the leaking process gas is entrained in the lube oil from the closed-loop lubrication system. After exiting each bearing housing, this entrained mixture of lube oil and process gas is returned to the lube oil reservoir where the lube oil begins its recirculation through the closed-loop lubrication system. Inside the reservoir, the lube oil and process gas separate into liquid and gas phases. Prior to the invention, the process gas escaped to the atmosphere through atmospheric vents in the top of the lube oil reservoir. Further, as a result of the process gas leakage, it became necessary to utilize a lube oil reclaimer to remove benzene, butadiene, and other contaminants from lube oil exposed to process gas. (Process gas-contaminated lube oil is commonly referred to as "sour lube oil".) The lube oil reclaimer uses a small vacuum flasher to vaporize contaminates and is well known by those skilled in the art of reclaiming contaminated lube oil. Prior to the invention, these vapors were also vented to atmosphere.

Eutrophication is the process of excessive fertilization of aquatic plants through enrichment of waters with nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, trace metals and vitamins. Although there is no present adequate proof, it has been postulated that the phosphorus-containing builders present in detergent compositions can be a factor in eutrophication. Therefore any substitutes which do not contain phosphorus may decrease to some extent the eutrophication. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide novel compounds which are useful as detergent builders. It is another object of the present invention to provide novel compounds which function as surface active agents and as detergent builders. It is still another object of the present invention to provide detergent compositions which are free of phosphorus-containing builders such as the alkali metal condensed phosphates.

Electrophotography is a system in which a latent image formed on a photoconductive solid member using its photoconductivity is developed by allowing a toner in the form of colored particles to electrostatically adhere thereto, and the thus developed toner image is transferred and then fixed on a paper, etc. The electrophotographic system has been extensively used in the applications such as copying machines and printers, and further recently applied to general printing machines. In the electrophotographic development, when using a toner having no magnetism, carrier particles called a magnetic carrier have been used together with the toner. The magnetic carrier serves not only for imparting an adequate amount of a positive or negative electrical charge to the toner owing to frictional electrification therebetween, but also for delivering the toner through a developing sleeve accommodating a magnet to near the surface of a photosensitive member on which a latent image is formed, by utilizing a magnetic force of the developing sleeve (A mixture of the magnetic carrier and the toner, etc., is a developer which is ready for immediate development of the latent image). In recent years, in the field of electrophotography, coloration of toner images developed tends to rapidly proceed. However, a color toner used for the above purpose has no magnetism, and there is therefore a rapidly increasing demand for the magnetic carrier. At the same time, there is a demand for a high quality of the resulting color images and a high copying speed thereof. To meet the requirements, the magnetic carrier is also required to have further improved functions. Hitherto, as a material of a central portion of the magnetic carrier (hereinafter occasionally referred to as a “carrier core”) or a material of the magnetic carrier itself, there have been developed iron powder carriers, ferrite carriers or binder-type carriers, and these carriers have been put into practice. The iron powder carriers are in the form of a carrier core prepared by pulverizing an iron powder, and have a flake shape, a sponge shape or an amorphous shape in many cases. The iron powder carriers thus prepared from an iron powder is inexpensive, but have a large true specific gravity ranging from 7 to 8 and a large bulk density ranging from 3 to 4 g/cm3. Therefore, a large driving force is required to stir the iron powder carriers in a developing device so that the iron powder carrier tends to frequently suffer from severe mechanical abrasion. For this reason, there tend to occur spent toners and deterioration in charge properties of the carrier itself, which tends to result in poor functions of the carrier for a short period of time or risk of damage to a photosensitive member used therewith. The ferrite carriers are in the form of a magnetic carrier prepared by pulverizing ferrite having a smaller specific gravity than that of the iron powder, and frequently have a spherical shape as compared to the iron powder carriers. The ferrite carriers have a smaller true specific gravity of 4.5 to 5.5 and a smaller bulk density of 2 to 3 g/cm3 than those of the iron powder carriers owing to the ferrite material, and therefore are enhanced in durability and cause a less damage to the photosensitive member as compared to the iron powder carriers. However, in the ferrite carriers, there tend to be used metals such as copper-zinc, manganese-magnesium-strontium, lithium-magnesium-calcium, etc., which are not safe for environments and human bodies. Further, since the ferrite carriers are prepared through the pulverization step, it may be difficult to finely control a shape thereof and reduce a particle diameter thereof. Thus, the ferrite carriers are not sufficiently suitable for high-image quality development in future. The binder-type carriers are in the form of a magnetic carrier prepared by molding magnetic fine particles with a binder such as resins, and have a good durability and cause a less damage to the photosensitive member owing to a small bulk density of about 2.5 g/cm3. The binder-type carriers are further classified into pulverized carriers and granulated carriers. The pulverized carriers tend to be hardly finely controlled in their shape, and the particle diameter tends to be hardly reduced. Therefore, the pulverized carriers are not sufficiently suitable for high-image quality development in future. The granulated carriers are likely to be adjustably controlled in their shape and formed into a spherical shape, a rice-grain shape, etc., and therefore tend to be readily controlled in fluidity or degree of contact with the toner. Further, the granulated carriers have a narrow particle size distribution, so that the particle diameter thereof tends to be readily reduced. For this reason, the granulated carriers are capable of realizing an enhanced durability and a high image quality. From these viewpoints, it is considered that the granulated binder-type carriers are extensively used in future. The carrier cores have been coated with a resin, etc., in order to impart a good frictional electrification performance (electrical charge amount) and a good electrical resistivity thereto, and the thus coated carrier cores are used as a magnetic carrier. As the resin used for coating the carrier cores therewith or the binder resin used for the binder-type carriers, there have been employed thermoplastic resins such as vinyl-based resins and polyester-based resins, and thermosetting resins such as phenol-based resins, melamine-based resins and epoxy-based resins. Almost all of these resins are resins derived from underground sources such as petroleum and coal. However, environmental burden caused by using these underground sources has not been taken into consideration. In recent years, the environmental problems such as exhaustion of underground sources and global warming have been noticed worldwide. For this reason, in order to realize medium- or long-term prosperity of human beings, it is required that the use of underground sources is reduced to a level as small as possible to suppress generation of carbon dioxide causing the global warming. In consequence, it is largely expected that various products are obtained from bio-based polymers which can be produced from vegetable raw materials, etc., and are therefore regenerative and reusable, and further generate a less amount of carbon dioxide. At present, in the market of carriers for electrophotography, the magnetic carriers have been used in an amount of about 9,700 tons (quoted from the “Results of Business of Japanese Makers, 2007”, Nippon Data Supply Co., Ltd.), and it is considered that the magnetic carrier market becomes more and more expanded with the progress of coloration in future. If a part of several thousand tons of resin components used in the magnetic carriers are replaced with the bio-based polymers, it is considered to be effective for reduction in environmental burden such as saving of underground sources and prevention of global warming. In addition, it is known that the bio-based polymers have a low toxicity to human bodies and is therefore safe. Thus, from the viewpoint of enhanced safety, the use of the bio-based polymers is desirable. Also, some of the bio-based polymers have a biodegradability (of course, there are present those bio-based polymers having no biodegradability). Since the biodegradability tends to cause deterioration in durability and strength, the use of the bio-based polymers is not necessarily recommended in the above applications. However, there are known the techniques in which the bio-based polymers having a biodegradability are used as a part of the resin components in favor of their biodegradability (Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 7-98520 Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 7-295300

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface mountable chip antenna module for a portable wireless terminal, and more particularly, to a dual-band chip antenna module having elements connected in series to allow a high-band antenna element to utilize a low-band antenna element, such that the antenna module can have an increased current distribution and gain and thereby have an improved radiation performance. 2. Background of the Prior Art Recently, mobile wireless terminals, such as the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), the Personal Communication Service (PCS) terminal, the Distributed Communication System (DCS) terminal, Global Positioning System (GPS) terminal, cellular phones and wireless notebook computers, are becoming more popular, and terminals with various functions and designs are being introduced. Further, small-sized, slim, and lightweight terminals are also being introduced, and at the same time the terminals are required to have various functions to satisfy user's demand. Therefore, the designs of the terminals are focused on size reduction while maintaining or improving the functions to satisfy the user's demand. Specifically, a rod antenna (or whip antenna) and a helical antenna, which protrude outward from the terminal, are easy to break, and deteriorate the external appearance and portability of the terminal. Therefore, an antenna installed within the terminal is becoming more popular (and referred to as a built-in antenna, internal antenna, or intenna), and efforts are ongoing to improve the performance and productivity of the built-in antenna. There are two types of built-in antennas in common use: a planar inverted F antenna (PIFA) module having a feeding point and a ground point, and a chip antenna module suitable for mounting on a ceramic dielectric substance and having a copper coil the turns of which are adjusted according to the operating frequency of the terminal. Since the chip antenna module is mounted on an RF mainboard of a terminal in the form of surface mounted device (SMD), it takes less space than the PIFA type antenna and thereby enables the terminal to have a slim, simple, and lightweight appearance. The chip antenna module is commonly used for a dual-band terminal. That is, the dual-band terminal has two antenna elements mounted on its mainboard, for example, a low-band antenna element for a 900-MHz CDMA or GSM application and a high-band antenna element for an 1800-MHz PCS or DCS application. The arrangement of the low-band and high-band antenna elements of the chip antenna module is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/969,589, filed on Oct. 20, 2004, and assigned to the present assignee, in which an RF connector of a mainboard and two antenna elements of different frequency bands are connected in parallel, and a radiation plate is employed to improve a radiation characteristic of the antenna.

The present invention relates to anticoagulant compositions based on coagulant factor Xa and methods for the production and use thereof. Coagulation is the end result of a complex series of reactions in which the end product of each reaction initiates the next reaction. Following vascular injury, there is a rapid activation of an otherwise largely passive process to produce a response at the site of the injury. There are a variety of modulating events that regulate the process in a positive or negative fashion to maintain vascular integrity while retaining general plasma fluidity. As recently summarized by Kenneth G. Mann, in "Membrane-Bound Complexes in Blood Coagulation", Progress in Hemostasis and Thrombosis, edited by T. H. Spaet, pages 1-23 (Grune & Stratton 1984), the extensive network of interdependent protein interactions can be represented as a collection of four reaction complexes: ##STR1## Factor II (prothrombin), Factor X, Factor IX, and Factor VII are vitamin K-dependent proteins which normally circulate as zymogens that are activated to trypsin-like enzymes with active site serine and histidine. In blood, prothrombin is present at about micromolar concentrations; Factor V and Factor X are present at about one-tenth that amount (10.sup.-7 M). The reaction rate converting Factor II to IIa (thrombin) is about 278,000 fold greater when all components of the complex interact (i.e., Factor II, Factor V, Ca++, and the phospholipid or membrane surface)(Nesheim, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 254, 10952-10062 (1979). Deletion of any one component in the complex leads to a drastic reduction in reaction rate. Although the mechanisms for regulating coagulation and preventing thrombosis ordinarily are remarkably efficient, they can be disrupted by disease, congenital defect or dysfunction, or an inflammatory stimulus which elicits the release of inflammatory mediators such as the monokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 1 (IL-1). A wide variety of pathological conditions, including sepsis, especially gram-negative septic shock, beta Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus septicemia, and injuries involving substantial tissue damage, such as burns and crush injuries, can cause the release of inflammatory mediators. Inflammatory mediators are also released in adult respiratory distress syndrome and reperfusion inflammatory syndrome. In septic shock, the response of the endothelium to the inflammatory stimuli involves both coagulopathy and abnormal permeability. The stimulus activates circulating monocytes and the fixed tissue macrophages in the liver and the lungs. After a lag period of about two to four hours, these blood cells release the monokine inflammatory mediators tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 1 (IL-1). These inflammatory stimuli lead to the conversion of endothelial cell surfaces from an anti-coagulant to a procoagulant state, causing intravascular coagulation. When this dysfunction is systemic, it is referred to as disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC). In DIC, the endothelial cell loses its ability to selectively control porosity. The endothelial cells swell and fluid begins leaking into the surrounding tissues, causing anoxia and parenchymal damage. This is accompanied by increased peripheral resistance, decreased venous return and, in many instances, death due to shock. Septic shock can be simulated in a clinical model by infusion of a lethal dose of Escherichia coli in a baboon, F. B. Taylor, "Baboon model of E. coli Septic shock staging and observations on the role of the vascular endothelium", chapter 13 Critical Care State of the Art, B. F. Fuhrman and W. C. Schoemaker, editors volume 10 (Soc. Critical Care Medicine 1989). The clinical course is characterized as a four stage process. Stage I begins with the inflammatory stimulus, for example, a lethal infusion of Escherichia coli, and continues for about 120 minutes. In this stage, the scavenger cells (monocytes and macrophages) and PMNLs are activated and the inflammatory mediators (TNF, IL-1, free hydroxyl radicals, elastase and others) are released. Stage II begins next and continues for about four hours, or from two to six hours after the insult. During this stage, the mediators cause the endothelial cells to become inflamed or perturbed, converting them from an anticoagulant to a procoagulant state. Fibrinogen levels fall and fibrin degradation products increase. The fibrinolytic activity of whole blood increases markedly by one or two hours and then decreases almost immediately at three hours after the insult. Stage III occurs at about six hours following the insult and continues for about four hours. In this stage, the endothelial lose their ability to selectively control permeability and fluid begins to leak into the tissues injuring target organs. In the fourth and final stage, the parenchymal edema produces shunting, peripheral and eventually central anoxia, and decreased mean systemic arterial pressure. Death occurs typically about 24 to 32 hours after the insult. Treatment for these disorders involving inflammatory mediators usually involves the administration of anticoagulants. Anticoagulants are also used in the prevention of reocclusion following angioplasty, acute organ rejection, and deep vein thrombosis following surgery, and in the treatment of unstable angina, mural thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, and pulmonary embolism. There are currently a number of known and medically accepted anticoagulant agents. Heparin and vitamin K antagonists such as Coumarin and aspirin are the most widely used anticoagulants. Heparin works in conjunction with another plasma protein, antithrombin III, to inhibit coagulation. Heparin treatment is not effective in all cases since antithrombin III is often at low levels in severe shock and other consumptive coagulation processes. In addition, patients may have adverse reactions to heparin, including heparin induced thrombocytopenia. Further, maintenance of an effective heparin dose in vivo has proven difficult. Coumarin drugs are slow to be effective, taking several days before antithrombotic effects are observed. Bleeding is a common complication of vitamin K antagonist treatment and, as with heparin, the effective dose is hard to monitor since the required dose is impacted by both diet and other drugs that are present in the patient especially antibiotics. In addition, there is a rare complication that leads to skin necrosis and potential loss of limbs or, in exceptional cases, the individual's life (Esmon, C. T., et al., "Anticoagulant Proteins C and S". in New Dimensions of Warfarin Prophylaxis. Wessler, et al., eds., Plemum Publishing Corp., New York, 47-54, 1987). Aspirin is limited to inhibition of platelet aggregation and is of little efficacy in treating patients at severe risk of thrombosis. An alternative method for the suppression of clotting which has been proposed is the direct administration of compounds which inhibit thrombin. Many studies have been done wherein the active site of the coagulation enzymes is inhibited in vitro using a variety of different types of inhibitors, especially low molecular weight serine esterase inhibitors such as diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) or phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). For example, Skogen, et al., in J. Biol. Chem. 259(4), 2306-2310 (1984), used the serine esterase inhibitor (p-amidinophenyl)methanesulfonyl fluoride (pPMSF) to inhibit the active site of factor Xa, both in its native form and in modified form, to determine the role of factor Va binding to factor Xa in formation of the prothrombinase complex. Hanson, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85:3184-3188, (1988), used a synthetic antithrombin, D-phenylalanyl-L-prolyl-L-arginyl chloromethyl ketone, PPACK, to block arterial thrombosis by specific interaction with thrombin. A disadvantage to this approach, however, is the requirement for administration of high levels of reactive compounds having unknown potential side effects. Further these small compounds are cleared rapidly form the blood stream and the monitoring of a maintenance dose is complex. There are many problems in trying to extrapolate from in vitro studies involving inhibition of coagulation factors to in vivo uses of an inhibited protein as an anticoagulant. Modified proteins, such as an inactivated coagulation factor, may be cleared much more rapidly from the blood by cells of the reticuloendothelial system than the unmodified proteins. The coagulation process is complex, involving interactions between proteins in the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways and cell surface receptors. In vitro, the proteins are usually present in purified form and there are generally no cell surface receptors or other plasma protein components present which may alter interactions with the inhibited protein. For example, in vivo studies using thrombin with the active site inactivated demonstrated that infusion of this proteolytically inactive protein actually induced a procoagulant state, possibly because of binding with endogenous inhibitors of coagulation, such as thrombomodulin. A rapid and effective anticoagulant having a relatively long half-life in vivo and free from the side effects and shortcomings of the ones presently in use would have utility in the prevention of reocclusion following angioplasty, acute organ rejection, and deep vein thrombosis following surgery, and in the treatment of unstable angina, mural thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, and pulmonary embolism. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a safe, effective, and fast acting anticoagulant composition for use in vivo. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for the production of anticoagulant compositions for in vivo application. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method of treating individuals in need of such treatment with an effective amount of an anticoagulant composition.

1. Field of the Invention This invention is broadly concerned with a motor drive apparatus for moving a vehicle and is intended particularly to be used in an electric vehicle which employs wheel motors for movement thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art A conventional electric vehicle has a battery and an electric motor, wherein the electric motor is adapted to change electric power stored in the battery into a rotational output to rotate driving wheels. A relatively high motor speed is appropriately reduced by a deceleration means such as a differential gear unit between the electric motor and the driving wheels to control the travelling speed of the vehicle. Another type electric vehicle employs wheel motors inside of respective fenders, with each wheel motor driving one vehicle drive wheel. In this type electric vehicle, a planetary gear unit is generally used as a deceleration means to effectively utilize the inside space of the driving wheel. One type of planetary gear unit conventionally used for this type electric vehicle is oriented relative to a motor drive apparatus case secured to a vehicle body as described and taught by the present applicants in U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,579, issued Oct. 20, 1992 to Wakuta et al., which is entitled "LUBRICATING DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE MOTOR" and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,528, issued Nov. 17, 1992 to Kawamoto et al., which is entitled "WHEEL MOTOR PROVIDED WITH A REDUCTION GEAR". More specifically, a magneto stator of the electric motor is fixed to the motor drive apparatus case and a corresponding rotor is arranged inside of the magneto stator to rotate relative to the motor drive apparatus case. The rotor of the electric motor is connected with a sun gear of the planetary gear unit via an output axle thereof. Referring now to other components of the planetary gear unit, a ring gear is fixed to the motor drive apparatus case and a carrier having at least one pinion meshing both with the sun gear and the ring gear is connected to an axle of a vehicle drive wheel. The axle for the vehicle drive wheel is rotatably supported at a central portion thereof by bearings in the motor drive apparatus case. Accordingly, the motor speed is reduced by the above-mentioned planetary gear unit and then transmitted to the vehicle drive wheel at a desired rotary speed to move the vehicle. It is known that the clearance between the magneto stator and the rotor defining the electric motor should be narrowly and carefully maintained to obtain stable operation of the electric motor. Accordingly, the electric motor must have both longitudinal end portions of the output axle of the rotor rigidly supported to obtain stable operation. However, the structure described in the prior application entitled "MOTOR DRIVE APPARATUS WITH DECELERATION UNIT AND AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE USING THE SAME" suffers from a disadvantage in terms of stable operation. Specifically, while one end portion of the output axle for the rotor is rotatably supported by the case via a bearing assembly, the other end portion thereof is not supported by the case but, rather, connects to the sun gear which engages the ring gear secured to the case through the pinion. Therefore, upon acceleration of the motor speed up to the travelling speed of the vehicle, the pinion meshing with the sun gear also accelerates, which causes an undesirable vibration of the output axle of the rotor at the end unsupported by the case, so that the clearance between the magneto stator and the rotor cannot be narrowly and carefully maintained. Furthermore, when the electric vehicle goes around a bend at high speed, the output axle for the inside driving wheel is urged by centrifugal force outwardly of the planetary gear unit and, at the same time, that of the outside vehicle driving wheel is oppositely affected, i.e. urged toward the planetary gear unit. When the electric vehicle rattles on a bumpy road with hard shock to the suspension assembly provided for the driving wheel, the output axles of the driving wheels may be damaged. But, as already mentioned, the output axle of the driving wheel is only supported, at the center portion thereof, in the bearing assembly relative to the motor drive apparatus case, so that the output axle of the driving wheel tends to be easily vibrated by any external forces acting axially and/or radially thereon. As a result, it is likely that the pinion attached to the carrier will be irregularly urged toward the sun gear and the ring gear with an unstable force to cause a biased wear and/or nicking of the pinion, sun and ring gears and unusual noise will emanate from the planetary gear unit. One solution providing a narrow clearance between the magneto stator and the rotor is a rotor having a hollow portion and an output axle which is stably supported, at both longitudinal ends thereof, on the motor drive apparatus case via bearing assemblies. The planetary gear unit is mounted in the hollow portion of the rotor. However, the bearing assemblies which rotatably support the rotor should be large in size because the planetary gear unit is provided in the hollow space of the rotor. As the peripheral velocity of each bearing supporting the rotor becomes high, friction-loss within the motor may increase. Because the sun gear in such a planetary gear unit is supported by additional bearing assemblies, the result is an increase in the number of bearing assemblies in the motor drive apparatus, which is costly. This structure still involves the disadvantages of biased wear and nicking of the pinion, sun and ring gears or emanates unusual noise from the planetary gear unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a motor drive apparatus consisting of minimum components to avoid biased wear and nicking of the pinion, sun and ring gears, to avoid unusual noise from the planetary gear unit and to decrease the friction-loss of the motor.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a naturally occurring post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism present in most eukaryotic cells that uses small double stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules to direct homology-dependent gene silencing. Its discovery by Fire and Mello in the worm C. elegans {Fire, 1998} was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006. Shortly after its first description, RNAi was also shown to occur in mammalian cells, not through long dsRNAs but by means of double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) 21 nucleotides long {Elbashir, 2001}. The process of RNA interference is thought to be an evolutionarily-conserved cellular defence mechanism used to prevent the expression of foreign genes and is commonly shared by diverse phyla and flora, where it is called post-transcriptional gene silencing. Since the discovery of the RNAi mechanism there has been an explosion of research to uncover new compounds that can selectively alter gene expression as a new way to treat human disease by addressing targets that are otherwise “undruggable” with traditional pharmaceutical approaches involving small molecules or proteins. According to current knowledge, the mechanism of RNAi is initiated when long double stranded RNAs are processed by an RNase III-like protein known as Dicer. The protein Dicer typically contains an N-terminal RNA helicase domain, an RNA-binding so-called Piwi/Argonaute/Zwille (PAZ) domain, two RNase III domains and a double-stranded RNA binding domain (dsRBD) {Collins, 2005} and its activity leads to the processing of the long double stranded RNAs into 21-24 nucleotide double stranded siRNAs with 2 base 3′ overhangs and a 5′ phosphate and 3′ hydroxyl group. The resulting siRNA duplexes are then incorporated into the effector complex known as RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), where the antisense or guide strand of the siRNA guides RISC to recognize and cleave target mRNA sequences {Elbashir, 2001} upon adenosine-triphosphate (ATP)-dependent unwinding of the double-stranded siRNA molecule through an RNA helicase activity {Nykanen, 2001}. The catalytic activity of RISC, which leads to mRNA degradation, is mediated by the endonuclease Argonaute 2 (AGO2) {Liu, 2004; Song, 2004}. AGO2 belongs to the highly conserved Argonaute family of proteins. Argonaute proteins are ˜100 KDa highly basic proteins that contain two common domains, namely PIWI and PAZ domains {Cerutti, 2000}. The PIWI domain is crucial for the interaction with Dicer and contains the nuclease activity responsible for the cleavage of mRNAs {Song, 2004}. AGO2 uses one strand of the siRNA duplex as a guide to find messenger RNAs containing complementary sequences and cleaves the phosphodiester backbone between bases 10 and 11 relative to the guide strand's 5′ end {Elbashir, 2001}. An important step during the activation of RISC is the cleavage of the sense or passenger strand by AGO2, removing this strand from the complex {Rand, 2005}. Crystallography studies analyzing the interaction between the siRNA guide strand and the PIWI domain reveal that it is only nucleotides 2 to 8 that constitute a “seed sequence” that directs target mRNA recognition by RISC, and that a mismatch of a single nucleotide in this sequence may drastically affect silencing capability of the molecule {Doench 2004; Lewis, 2003}. Once the mRNA has been cleaved, due to the presence of unprotected RNA ends in the fragments the mRNA is further cleaved and degraded by intracellular nucleases and will no longer be translated into proteins {Orban, 2005} while RISC will be recycled for subsequent rounds {Hutvagner, 2002}. This constitutes a catalytic process leading to the selective reduction of specific mRNA molecules and the corresponding proteins. It is possible to exploit this native mechanism for gene silencing with the purpose of regulating any gene(s) of choice by directly delivering siRNA effectors into the cells or tissues, where they will activate RISC and produce a potent and specific silencing of the targeted mRNA. RNAi has been applied in biomedical research such as treatment for HIV, viral hepatitis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, metabolic disease, neurodegenerative disorders and cancer {Angaji S A et al 2010}. Many studies have been published describing the ideal features a siRNA should have to achieve maximum effectiveness, regarding length, structure, chemical composition, and sequence. Initial parameters for siRNA design were set out by Tuschl and co-workers in WO02/44321, although many subsequent studies, algorithms and/or improvements have been published since then. siRNA selection approaches have become more sophisticated as mechanistic details have emerged, in addition further analysis of existing and new data can provide additional insights into further refinement of these approaches {Walton S P et al 2010}. Alternatively, several recent studies reported the design and analysis of novel RNAi-triggering structures distinct from the classical 19+2 siRNA structure and which do not conform to the key features of classical siRNA in terms of overhang, length, or symmetry, discussing the flexibility of the RNAi machinery in mammalian cells {Chang C I et al 2011}. Also, a lot of effort has been put into enhancing siRNA stability as this is perceived as one of the main obstacles for therapy based on siRNA, given the ubiquitous nature of RNAses in biological fluids. Another inherent problem of siRNA molecules is their immunogenicity, whereby siRNAs have been found to induce unspecific activation of the innate immune system. The knockdown of unintended genes (mRNAs) is a well-known side effect of siRNA-mediated gene silencing. It is caused as a result of partial complementarity between the siRNA and mRNAs other than the intended target and causes off-target effects (OTEs) from genes having sequence complementarity to either siRNA strand. One of the main strategies followed for stability enhancement and OTE reduction has been the use of modified nucleotides such as 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, 2′-amino nucleotides, or nucleotides containing 2′-0 or 4′-C methylene bridges. Also, the modification of the ribonucleotide backbone connecting adjacent nucleotides has been described, mainly by the introduction of phosphorothioate modified nucleotides. It seems that enhanced stability and/or reduction of immunogenicity are often inversely proportional to efficacy {Parrish, 2000}, and only a certain number, positions and/or combinations of modified nucleotides may result in a stable and/or non-immunogenic silencing compound. As this is an important hurdle for siRNA-based treatments, different studies have been published which describe certain modification patterns showing good results, examples of such include EP1527176, WO2008/050329, WO2008/104978 or WO2009/044392, although many more may be found in the literature {Sanghvi Y S. 2011; Deleavey et al 2012}. Allergic diseases are characterized by an overreaction of the human immune system to a foreign protein substance (“allergen”) that is eaten, breathed into the lungs, injected or touched. Allergies have a genetic component. If only one parent has allergies of any type, chances are 1 in 3 that each child will have an allergy. If both parents have allergies, it is much more likely (7 in 10) that their children will have allergies. There are no cures for allergies; however they can be managed with proper prevention and treatment. About 30% of people worldwide suffer from allergic symptoms and 40-80% of them have symptoms in the eyes {Key B. 2001}. Allergic diseases affecting the eyes or ocular allergies constitute a heterogenic group of diseases with a very broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. An ocular allergy usually occurs when the conjunctiva (membrane covering the eye and the lining of the eyelid) reacts to an allergen. An ocular allergy can happen independently or in conjunction with other allergy symptoms (such as rhinitis or asthma). Basic and clinical research has provided a better understanding of the cells, mediators, and immunologic events which occur in ocular allergy. The eye, particularly the conjunctiva, has a relatively large number of mast cells. When allergens are present they can bind to immunoglobulin, IgE, in the FcϵRI receptors on the surface of these mast cells and trigger their activation and release of mediators of allergy (a process known as degranulation). Degranulation releases mast cell components, including histamine, prostaglandins, tryptase and leukotrienes, into the environment outside the mast cell. Through a variety of mechanisms these components produce the signs and symptoms of the ocular allergy. The activation of the mast cells of the allergic inflammation is frequently designated as an acute phase response or early phase of the ocular allergy. The acute phase response can progress to a late phase response characterized by recruitment of inflammatory cells to the site of the allergic inflammation, for example as an influx of eosinophils and neutrophils into the conjunctiva. Ocular allergy represents one of the most common conditions encountered by allergist and ophthalmologists. Ocular allergy is usually associated with the following symptoms and signs: conjunctivitis, blepharitis, blepharoconjuntivitis or keratoconjunctivitis. The eye becomes red and itchy and there occurs lacrimation and slight discharge. Severe cases may also show eye burning sensation, pain and photophobia. Allergic diseases affecting the eyes include mild forms such as seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) and perennial allergic conjunctivitis (PAC); and more severe manifestations such as vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC); atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) and giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC). The latter ones can be associated with complications such as corneal damage and may cause vision loss. SAC and PAC are commonly IgE-mast cell mediated hypersensitivity reaction to external allergens; whereas AKC and VKC are characterized by chronic inflammation involving several immune cell types. SAC and PAC allergens, with the help of antigen presenting cells (APCs), trigger a Th2-predominant immune response that induces B cells to release IgE. Activation of the allergic response usually involves infiltration and degranulation of mast cells. SAC is the most common allergic disease in the eye, usually caused by allergens like airborne pollen, dust, and animal dander. The signs and symptoms usually occur during the spring and summer, and generally abate during the winter months. Itching, redness and swelling of the conjunctiva are the most characteristic symptoms, but also tearing, burning sensation, and photophobia. In most cases, SAC is not serious. However, it may be very disturbing to patients because it can affect their quality of life and can have significant socioeconomic impact {Kari O. and Saari K M 2010}. PAC is the second most common allergic disease in the eye, usually caused by animals and mites. The symptoms and signs are much the same as in SAC, the difference is the specific allergens to which the patient is allergic and that PAC can occur throughout the year with exposure to perennial allergens. PAC affects all age groups but mostly young and middle-aged people of both sexes. In addition, PAC is often connected to dry eye syndrome. SAC and PAC are the most common forms of ocular allergies. Estimates vary, but these types of allergy are said to affect at least 15-20% of the general population. SAC and PAC are often underdiagnosed and consequently undertreated. In SAC and PAC allergen induced local release of IgE prompts degranulation of mast cells in Ca2+ dependent mechanism. IgE-activated mast cells liberate preformed inflammatory mediators such as histamine and leukotriene 4 that are the first mediators of the allergic response. These mediators attract eosinophils that infiltrate the region amplifying the allergic response. VKC is a relatively rare chronic allergic inflammation of the ocular surface that mainly affects children and young adolescents. Main symptoms are itching, redness, swelling, discharge and photophobia. The most characteristic sign is giant papillae in the upper tarsal conjunctiva. AKC is a bilateral chronic inflammatory disease of the ocular surface and eyelid. The most characteristic sign are eczematous lesions on the eyelid which are itchy. It is not unusual for AKC patients to have cataract surgery at a young age {Kari O. and Saari K M 2010}. GPC is an inflammatory disease characterized by papillary hypertrophy of the superior tarsal conjunctiva. GPC is caused by inert substances rather than allergens. When these irritative stimuli are removed the conjunctival papillary changes resolve. Protein deposits on the surface of the contact lens could become antigenic and stimulate the production of IgE {La Rosa M. et al 2013}. Current treatments for ocular allergy include non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic strategies. Avoidance of the antigen is the primary behavioural modification for all types of ocular allergies. Artificial tear substitutes provide a barrier function and help to improve the first-line defence at the level of the conjunctiva mucosa. When non-pharmacologic strategies do not provide adequate symptom relief, pharmacologic treatments may be applied. The mainstay of the management of ocular allergy involves the use of anti-allergic therapeutic agents such as antihistamine, dual-action or combination treatments and mast cell stabilizers. Topical antihistamines (such as Emedastine and Levocabastine) competitively and reversibly block histamine receptors and relieve itching and redness, but only for a short time. Antihistamines do not affect other proinflammatory mediators which remain inhibited. A limited duration of action necessitates frequent dosing and topical antihistamines may be irritating to the eye, especially with prolonged use. Combination treatments using decongestants (such as oxymetazoline, tetrahydrozoline, and naphazonline) in combination with antihistamines act as vasoconstrictors but are known to sting or burn on instillation. Other adverse events include mydriasis and rebound hyperemia, rendering these combination treatments more suitable for short-term relief. In addition, these drugs are not recommended for use in patients with narrow-angle glaucoma. Mast cell stabilizers (such as cromoglycate, lodoxamide, nedocromil) have a mechanism of action that is unclear. They do not relieve existing symptoms and can be used only on a prophylactic basis to prevent mast cell degranulation with subsequent exposure to the allergen. They require a loading period during which they must be applied before the antigen exposure {La Rosa M. et al 2013}. When the above mentioned anti-allergic drugs do not allow adequate control of the allergic inflammatory process, anti-inflammatory agents are used. Corticosteroids remain among the most potent pharmacologic agents used in the more severe variants of ocular allergy {La Rosa M. et al 2013}. However, steroidal drugs can have side effects that threaten the overall health of the patient. Chronic administration of corticosteroids can lead to drug-induced osteoporosis by suppressing intestinal calcium absorption and inhibiting bone formation. Other adverse side effects of chronic administration of corticosteroids include hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia (increased levels of triglycerides) and hypercholesterolemia (increased levels of cholesterol) because of the effects of these drugs on the body metabolic processes. It is also known that certain corticosteroids have a greater potential for elevating intraocular pressure (“IOP”) than other compounds in this class. For example, it is known that prednisolone, which is a very potent ocular anti-inflammatory agent, has a greater tendency to elevate IOP than fluorometholone, which has moderate ocular anti-inflammatory activity. It is also known that the risk of IOP elevations associated with the topical ophthalmic use of corticosteroids increases over time. In other words, the chronic (i.e., long-term) use of these agents increases the risk of significant IOP elevations. Therefore, corticosteroids may not be appropriate for the long-term treatment of ocular allergies. In addition, chronic use of corticosteroids is contraindicated due to an increased risk for the development of cataracts and glaucoma {Ono S J, and Abelson M B, 2005}. Allergy immunotherapy is useful in reducing the response to allergens, but its role in allergic conjunctivitis has not been proven. The main objective of this treatment is to induce clinical tolerance to the specific allergen. The therapy is administered subcutaneously in progressively increasing doses to remain below the threshold of a clinical reaction. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is considered an alternative to subcutaneous allergy immunotherapy and is administered orally under the tongue, but long-term results with SLIT are not yet available. Most of the trials with this form of therapy have been for allergic rhinitis. In general, immune responses to allergen administration are not predictive of the effectiveness of the therapy and the therapy itself can produce systemic reactions, the incidence and severity of which vary dependent of the type of allergen administered {La Rosa M. et al 2013}. In addition, the majority of newer ophthalmic anti-allergic agents have limited durations of action and twice daily dosing is required. A topical preparation with a longer duration of action would be advantageous because it may be instilled once daily. Thus, new therapies that can offer advantages in areas such as efficacy and duration of action, while offering similar safety profiles than traditional ophthalmic anti-allergic agents, are needed. RNA interference-based therapies have been pointed out as having the potential to satisfy unmet needs in allergy treatment {Popescu F D. 2005}. It has been demonstrated that systemic administration of CD40 siRNA in mice sensitized with an allergen is capable of attenuating nasal allergic symptoms through inhibition of dendritic cell and B cell functions and generation of regulatory T cells {Suzuki M. et al 2009}. In addition, siRNA-based allergen-specific therapy for allergic rhinitis has also been developed by using CD40-silenced and allergen-pulsed dendritic cells {Suzuki M et al 2010}. Initiation of the allergy reaction starts with the binding of the allergen to the IgE molecules in the FccRI receptors of mast cells. The activation of FccRI triggers a change in the mast cell allowing entrance of calcium form the extracellular compartment. Entrance of Ca2+ into mast cells activates phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K). Activation of the PI3K pathway includes activation of phosphoinositide-dependent kinase (PDK1) which in turn phosphorylates downstream targets of PI3K such as PKB/Akt, SGK and PKC. These kinases are responsible for the activation of calcium channels to mobilize intracellular calcium stores and activate mast cell degranulation {Shumilina E, et al 2010}. PDK1 is also known as PDPK1 or PDHK1. The structure of PDK1 can be divided into two domains; the kinase or catalytic domain and the Pleckstrin homology domain (PH domain). PH domain is a protein domain of approximately 120 amino acids that occurs in a wide range of proteins involved in intracellular signalling or as constituents of the cytoskeleton. The kinase domain has three ligand binding sites; the substrate binding site, the ATP binding site, and the docking site (also known as PIF pocket). PDK1 is constitutively active and it is found at the cytoplasm and the mitochondrial matrix. EP1513947 (MEDICAL RES COUNCIL) describes a method for selecting or designing a compound for modulating the activity of PDK1. US2009/0275570 (ASTRAZENECA AB) describes compounds possessing PDK1 inhibitory activity for the treatment of cancer.

Since the invention of integrated circuits, the semiconductor industry has experienced a continuous rapid growth due to constant improvements in the integration density of various electronic components (i.e., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.). For the most part, this improvement in integration density has come from repeated reductions in minimum feature size, which allows for more components to be integrated into a given chip area. These integration improvements are essentially two-dimensional (2D) in nature, in that the volume occupied by the integrated components is essentially on the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Although dramatic improvement in lithography has resulted in considerable improvements in 2D integrated circuit formation, there are physical limitations to the density that can be achieved in two dimensions. One of these limitations is the minimum size needed to make these components. Also, when more devices are put into one chip, more complex designs are required. Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D IC) are therefore created to resolve the above-discussed limitations. Higher device density has been achieved using 3D IC technology, and allowing the bonding of up to six layers of wafers. As a result, the total wire length is significantly reduced. The number of vias is also reduced. Accordingly, 3D IC technology has the potential of being the mainstream technology of the next-generation integrated circuit. Conventional methods for forming 3D IC also include die-to-wafer bonding, wherein a plurality of individual dies is bonded to a same wafer. An advantageous feature of the die-to-wafer bonding is that the size of the dies may be smaller than the size of the chips on the wafer. Through-silicon vias, also referred to as through-wafer vias, are used to connect the integrated circuits in the dies and the integrated circuits in the wafer. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional 3D IC including through-silicon vias. Dies 4 and 6 are stacked on bottom wafer 2, wherein each of the dies 4, 6 and bottom wafer 2 includes integrated circuits. Through-silicon vias 8 are formed in dies 4 to connect the underlying wafer 2 to the overlying dies 6. After dies 4 and 6 are bonded onto wafer 2, a wafer probing is performed to the stacked dies. Only those stacked dies that pass the probe tests are packaged. By identifying problematic stacked dies at an early stage, packaging costs are saved. Typically, the test programs for probing the stacked dies are generated by merging individual test programs for testing dies 4 and 6, and dies on wafer 2. However, since dies 4 and 6 and wafer 2 are separately manufactured, their test programs may be generated for different platforms. For example, some of the test programs are UNIX-based, and some are Window-based. Merging these test programs thus becomes a very challenging task. Accordingly, what is needed in the art are test methods and/or test structures for probing stacked dies without incurring difficulties in merging the test programs.

Various types of structures that are generally referred to as towers are in use on recreational and pleasure boats. The towers are typically fabricated from metal tubing or pipe. The towers form a structure over part of the deck surface of the boat. The tower is typically fastened to some part of the deck of the boat and extends upward from the deck surface. The towers are also known to those of ordinary skill in the art variously as arches, half towers, tuna towers, towers, hardtops, and hardtop support systems. The towers can be used to provide sunshade, shelter from the elements, mounting points for a variety of equipment for various purposes, and additional control stations. The present invention is directed to a device for permitting multi-directional movement of the tubing framework and for easily mounting, removing and replacing tubing on boats. In the prior methods and devices for attaching these structures to boat decks, the most common method is to utilize mating male and female fittings. Generally, in the prior methods, the female fitting is attached in some manner to the upper surface of the boat deck. The towers all have several legs that form the mounting points on the deck. In order to be able to place and withdraw the male component from the female component of the fitting, it is necessary for the female component of the fittings to all have the same directional orientation. One problem with creating the proper orientation is that the deck mounting surfaces on many boats is generally not flat but varies over its surface at some angle to the horizontal. Due to this variation in the deck surface, it is difficult to install the plurality of fittings with a uniform vertical orientation for the female fitting. Consequently, mounting and removing the towers can be difficult. The prior art presents a variety of approaches that have been engaged to mount, remove and replace tubing on boats. Notwithstanding these efforts to provide suitable mounts and fittings, the existing prior art devices are limited in numerous respects. Accordingly, what is lacking that the prior art has not provided is a simple fitting that provides for multi-directional movement of the tubing framework.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a tinted, green colored soda-lime-silica glass having a low luminous transmittance that makes it desirable for use as a privacy glazing in vehicles, such as the side and rear windows in vans. As used herein, the term "green colored" is meant to include glasses that have a dominant wavelength of about 480 to 510 nanometers (nm) and may also be characterized as green blue, green yellow, or green gray in color. In addition, the glass should exhibit lower infrared and ultraviolet radiation transmittance when compared to typical green glasses used in automotive applications and be compatible with float glass manufacturing methods. 2. Technical Considerations and Prior Art Various dark tinted, infrared and ultraviolet radiation absorbing glass compositions are known in the art. The primary colorant in typical dark tinted automotive privacy glasses is iron, which is usually present in both the Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 and FeO forms. Some glasses use cobalt, selenium and, optionally, nickel in combination with iron to further control infrared and ultraviolet radiation and color, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,206 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,108 to Cheng, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,805 to Baker, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,593 to Gulotta, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,596 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,455 to Casariego, et al.; and European Patent application no. 0 705 800. Others also include chromium with this combination of colorants as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,076 to Pons; U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,541 to Dela Ruye; U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,210 to Krumwiede, et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,640 to Combes, et al.; European Patent application no. 0 536 049; French Patent 2,331,527 and Canadian Patent 2,148,954. Still, other glasses may include additional materials, such as disclosed in WO 96/00194, which teaches the inclusion of fluorine, zirconium, zinc, cerium, titanium and copper in the glass composition and requires that the sum of the alkaline earth oxides be less than 10 wt. % of the glass. In producing infrared and ultraviolet radiation absorbing glasses, the relative amounts of iron and other additives must be closely monitored and controlled within an operating range to provide the desired color and spectral properties. It would be desirable to have a dark tinted green colored glass that may be used as a privacy glazing for vehicles to complement the green colored glasses typically used in automobiles and vans that exhibits superior solar performance properties and is compatible with commercial float glass manufacturing techniques.

Liquid-liquid extraction, also referred to as solvent extraction, processes are widely used to purify products in which the product contaminants are preferentially soluble in one of the liquid phases and the desired product is preferentially soluble in the other phase which is immiscible with the first liquid phase. The commercial extractors employing solvent extraction include both unagitated and agitated columns such as mixer-settlers all of which rely on the transfer of the component to be separated (the consolute component) from one liquid phase through the interface with the other (second) liquid phase and into the second phase. It is common for gelation and or emulsification between the first and second liquid phases to develop when so influenced by the consolute component. Illustrative of industrial applications of solvent extraction are separation of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, desulfurization of hydrocarbons, butadiene separation, caprolactam extraction, manufacture of acetic acid, pharmaceutical processes such as for antibiotics and vitamins, phenol production, manufacture of synthetic elastomers and inorganic metal extraction applications such as is used in conversion of ilmenite to titantium dioxide. Oftentimes these extraction processes utilized a hydrocarbon such as hexane as one liquid component and water as the other liquid component relying on the solubility of the consolute component in water for its removal from and resultant purification of the desired product which is soluble in the hexane. Such a liquid-liquid extraction procedure is commonly used in the production of saturated or unsaturated, amorphous, elastomeric olefin copolymers. These include copolymers of ethylene with propylene, and terpolymers of ethylene with propylene and with a cyclic or acyclic nonconjugated diolefin, such as 1,5-cyclooctadiene, 1,4-hexadiene, 6-methyltetrahydroindene, methylene-norbornene, ethylidene-norbornene, etc. These copolymers and terpolymers are usually produced by solution processes, in the presence of catalytic systems consisting of compounds of the transition metals of Group V of the Periodic Table of Elements, preferably vanadium compounds, such as vanadium triacetylacetonate, vanadium oxychloride, and of organometallic compounds of metals of Groups I to III of the Periodic Table of Elements, preferably aluminum compounds. When the process provides the polymers of appropriate molecular weight, it is useful to quench the polymerization by introducing a quenching agent such as water. In such processes, it is necessary to purify the polymeric compounds by removing the catalyst residues therefrom because, besides contributing to the formation of ash content in the polymeric product, the presence in the polymer of these residues promotes the occurrence of oxidative degradation processes with consequent loss of quality of the polymeric product. It is known from the prior art to purify elastomeric products in solution in suitable organic solvents, by a solvent extraction process involving washing the polymer solutions with aqueous solutions of suitable extracting agents which are capable of forming water soluble compounds with the catalyst residues and subsequently separating the aqueous phase from the organic phase. Unfortunately, quenching with water and/or washing with aqueous solutions of extracting agents, complexing agents, pH of the system, viscosity of one or both phases and the efficacy of mixing can result in emulsification and/or gelation of one or more of the components and/or poor contact between the extracting agent and the catalyst residues being extracted. Various specific approaches to removing catalyst residue from the polymers are hereafter set forth: U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,514, to Knabeachuh et al, requires contacting a solution of an alpha-olefin copolymer with steam, then with aqueous mineral acid, then with water under turbulent conditions, and separating the copolymer solution from the aqueous phases; U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,381 approaches purification by washing with an aqueous solution of extracting agent in the presence of a propylene monomer and a solvent for the polymer product; U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,815 treats the polymer product with aqueous caustic, followed by filtration and removal of the aqueous phase; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,349 utilizes polar liquid extractants (such as water) supported on a finely divided, solid material such as diatomaceous silica, silica gel, alumina or molecular sieves which material is then separated from the polymer solution. There is also a need to prevent gel/emulsion formation in liquid-liquid extraction processes, particularly those in which water is one of the immiscible phases, and a need for a simple and efficient process for removing metal catalyst residues from alpha-olefin hydrocarbon polymer solutions, and especially a process suitable for continuous catalyst residue removal.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains to an exhaust gas control system of internal combustion engine for purifying exhaust gas by adding urea water pumped out from a urea water tank to the exhaust gas. 2. Description of Related Art Urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) apparatus is known as an exhaust gas control system of internal combustion engine. Urea SCR apparatus is arranged to add urea water to exhaust gas. The urea water is thermally decomposed and hydrolyzed with exhaust gas heat, leading to generation of ammonia. With use of generated ammonia serving as a reduction agent, nitrogen oxide (NOx) in exhaust gas is subjected to reduction reaction on a selective reduction catalyst. This leads to a decomposition of NOx into water and nitrogen. Such a urea SCR apparatus is provided with a urea water tank for storing urea water, and a urea water addition valve for adding urea water pumped out from the urea water tank to the exhaust gas. Urea water gets freezing at −11° C. or lower. During cold period, urea water in the urea water tank is possibly frozen so as not to be allowed to be supplied to the urea water addition valve. In a urea water SCR apparatus in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-115784 (JP 2008-115784A), the urea water tank is provided with a heater for melting frozen urea water in the urea water tank by heating with the heater. When an internal combustion engine is left for a long time while stopping under cold circumstance, urea water in the urea water tank entirely freezes. In this circumstance, the internal combustion engine may start operating. In this instance, after the internal combustion engine starts operating, the heating is initiated with a heater. The urea water is gradually melted from a periphery of the heater, and the melted urea water is pumped out with a pump, and supplied to the urea water addition valve. However, when the urea water is consumed at a speed larger than a melting speed of the heater, the melting urea water is exhausted, not allowing to be added to the exhaust gas. Besides, the urea water is entirely pumped out at the periphery of the heater, leaving a void space between residual frozen urea water and the periphery of the heater within the urea water tank. In this condition, the heat of the heater is hardly transmitted to the frozen urea water, causing delay in restart of the melting of urea water and addition of urea water.

One of the many conveniences of electronic commerce, in particular on-line shopping, is immediate confirmation that a desired item is, or is not, immediately available from stock. To provide this information, an on-line merchant uses data processing equipment to keep inventory records. Each time a unit of a particular item is sold, the number of that item remaining in inventory is reduced in the inventory record. When an on-line shopper requests or orders an item from the on-line merchant, for example by including the item in an electronic shopping cart, the merchant's data processing system checks the inventory record concerning that item. If the inventory record shows that the item is not in stock, the on-line shopper is informed, and the order is rejected, or accepted with the stipulation that shipping of the item will be delayed; if the inventory record shows that the item is in stock, the order is accepted unconditionally. On occasion, an on-line merchant may accept an order that cannot be filled because the stock of the item is depleted, despite an incorrect inventory record showing otherwise. When this happens, the on-line shopper may be dissatisfied by the shopping experience. So, not only is the merchant unable to profit from selling the particular item ordered by the on-line shopper, the merchant also risks offending a customer. Consequently, it is important that an item in fact be in stock when the merchant accepts an on-line order. Tracking stock and providing accurate reports of item availability become significantly more difficult when a merchant provides both on-line and traditional in-person shopping. Enterprises of this kind have recently become known as “click and mortar,” where “click” suggests on-line shopping where a shopper uses a computer mouse to put an item into an electronic shopping cart, and “mortar” suggests traditional in-person shopping where a shopper puts an item into a physical shopping cart or otherwise takes physical charge of the item before checkout. A problem arises when an in-person shopper engages in a prolonged shopping session. The in-person shopper may remove an item from stock, put the item in his or her shopping cart, and then continue shopping for quite some time. When the in-person shopper finally checks out, the inventory record concerning the selected item is brought up to date. In the meantime, however, the inventory record is incorrect, and may sometimes show that an item is available when in fact the last unit of the item has been taken from stock and put into a physical shopping cart by an in-person shopper. For the duration of the in-person shopping session, which in practice may easily reach thirty minutes, an on-line shopper may place an order for the same item held by an in-person shopper, and be assured by the merchant that the item is available from stock. Only too late the merchant finds that the item ordered by the on-line shopper is in fact not available, and must inform the on-line shopper that the order cannot be filled after all. When this happens, the on-line shopper may become dissatisfied with the merchant and with on-line shopping in general. Consequently, there is a need for a way of determining whether an item offered for sale to both on-line and in-person shoppers is in stock, rather than in the physical shopping cart of an in-person shopper, when a merchant accepts an on-line order for that item, so that a merchant may correctly advise the on-line shopper regarding the availability of the item from stock.

This invention relates to a dental post, and more particularly to a helically fluted post which can be securely inserted within a tooth stub to extend upwardly therefrom for retention of a dental restoration placed on top of the tooth stub. One dental procedure for restoring broken teeth involves the utilization of a dental post to function as the retainer for a dental prosthetic structure which is built onto the broken tooth. The damaged or broken tooth is generally required to be cut down to provide a proper tooth stub. A bore is formed into the stub in which is inserted a holding device, such as a dental post. The dental post is retained in the bore by means of suitable dental cement well known in the dental art. A portion of the dental post extends upwardly above the surface of the tooth stub. The dental prosthetic structure, such as a false tooth, crown, or the like, is then formed or mounted onto the tooth stub, being retained thereon by means of the post. Numerous dental posts have been suggested in the prior art. On some posts, there is provided an external thread to provide additional surface area in which the cement is received so as to improve the retention of the post within the tooth stub. A vent is also provided on the post to permit escape of the air during insertion of the post into the cement prepared bore of the tooth stub. While prior art dental posts have generally been quite useful, they frequently are pushed out during the initial insertion into the bore as a result of the hydrostatic pressure caused by the cement. The posts, therefore may not be fully seated in the bore. Additionally, though the threads formed on the prior art posts aid in the retention, at the same, the threads reduce the diameter which increases the risk of fracture, both during insertion and actual utilization of the post.

Coated fabrics, which typically include polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or vinyl, on such fabrics as cotton, nylon, rayon, polyester and combinations thereof are found in a variety of finished products including automotive upholstery, furniture, wallpaper and luggage. In the bonding of the sheet vinyl to the fabric scrim, the fabricator trims the edges before the coated fabric is shipped to the end user. Today, it has been estimated that among the major manufacturers of vinyl coated fabrics, tens of millions of pounds of PVC are lost because there is no economical way to separate the vinyl from its fabric backing. Chemical methods for achieving this separation, i.e., processes described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,624,009; 3,836,486; and 3,873,411, have to date not been considered to be economical processes for the recovery of PVC. There have been an increasing number of prior art recovery processes employing cryogenic embrittlement; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,879,005; 3,614,001; 3,666,185; 3,718,284; 3,768,739; 3,885,744; 3,749,322; 4,020,992, 4,025,990 and 4,251,034 as well as the relevant references cited therein. The prior art cryogenic processes have been effective to embrittle the thermoplastic coating and to liberate the thermoplastic from the material on which the plastic is bonded. However, all of the prior art processes, whether taken alone or in combination, have neither disclosed nor suggested a viable means for separating thermoplastic from the fabric after such liberation. Specifically, it has been found that a very poor recovery of PVC is obtained by a combination of the cryogenic grinding, impacting and screening steps disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,005 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,992 with the air separating means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,744.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor integrated circuit devices and manufacturing architectures of the same. More particularly but not exclusively, the invention relates to those technologies adaptable for use with semiconductor integrated circuit devices having dynamic random access memory (xe2x80x9cDRAMxe2x80x9d) modules. Currently available DRAMs are typically designed to include an array of rows and columns of memory cells as disposed in a matrix form on a principal surface of a semiconductive substrate at those cross points or xe2x80x9cintersectionsxe2x80x9d between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines, wherein each of the memory cells consists essentially of a capacitive element for accumulation of information and a metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor (MISFET) for use in selecting a single memory cell, which is serially connected to the capacitive element. The memory cell selecting MISFET is formed in an active region of the semiconductor substrate which is surrounded at its periphery by an element separation or isolation region. The MISFET is generally designed to consist of a gate oxide film and a gate electrode integral with a corresponding one of the word lines plus a pair of semiconductor active regions for use as a source and drain of the transistor. A bit line is disposed to overlie the memory cell selecting MISFET in a manner such that it is electrically connected to one of the source and drain which is commonly shared by two memory cell selection MISFETs. The information accumulation capacitive element is laid out at a location overlying the memory cell select MISFET and is electrically coupled to the remaining one of the source and drain. A DRAM device with the memory cell structure of this type has been disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-291532 and other publications. The memory cells of the DRAM as disclosed therein are designed so that word lines are increased in width or made xe2x80x9cfatxe2x80x9d in active regions (the regions in each of which a word line serves as the gate electrode of a memory cell select MISFET) and reduced in width or xe2x80x9cthinnedxe2x80x9d in the remaining regions in order to retain the required gate length when miniaturizing or xe2x80x9cdownsizingxe2x80x9d the memory cell select MISFETs while at the same time minimizing the pitch of word lines. In addition, the DRAM memory cells as taught by the Japanese Application above is arranged so that the bit lines are partly fattened to extend up to those portions overlying the active regions and that a planar pattern of such active regions is designed into a gull-wing shape with part of it being bent toward the bit line side in order to achieve successful electrical conduction of more than one contact hole for use in connecting between one of the source and drain of a memory cell select MISFET and its corresponding bit line operatively associated therewith. Regrettably the DRAM memory cells taught by the above Japanese Application is faced with a problem as to an inability to provide any excellent size/dimension accuracy when partly increasing the widths of word lines and bit lines or when employing the gullwing-shaped planar pattern of the active regions due to the fact that present available photolithography techniques suffer from difficulties in accurately achieving ultra-fine resolution of curved-line patterns and/or folded-line patterns in cases where the minimal fabricatable size becomes at or near a limit of resolution in photolithography processes as a result of further progressing in microfabrication or miniaturization of such memory cells. Another problem faced with the prior art DRAM device is that as a through-going hole for use in connecting between the lower-side electrode of an information accumulation capacitive element and the remaining one of the source and drain of its associated memory cell select MISFET is inherently disposed between a bit line and a bit line, partly fattening the bit lines makes it difficult to attain the intended through-hole opening margin, which leads to incapability of assuring elimination of unwanted electrical short-circuiting between the lower-side electrode within a though-hole and its associative one of the bit lines. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a specific technique for enabling achievement of further miniaturized memory cells of a DRAM. The foregoing and other objects and inventive features of this invention will become more apparent in the following description and accompanying drawings. Some representative ones of the inventions as disclosed herein will be explained in brief below. (1) A semiconductor integrated circuit device incorporating the principles of the invention is arranged to a semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction on a principal surface of a semiconductive substrate, a plurality of bits lines extending in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and an array of memory cells of a DRAM as disposed at cross points of said word lines and said bit lines, each said memory cell including a serial combination of a memory cell selecting MISFET with a gate electrode as integrally formed with a corresponding one of said word lines and a capacitive element for information accumulation, wherein said plurality of word lines are arranged to linearly extend in the first direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate with an identical width, and wherein a distance between adjacent ones of said word lines is less than said width. (2) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that the distance between the adjacent ones of said gate electrodes is set at a minimal size as determinable by a resolution limit of photolithography. (3) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said word lines and the gate electrode of said memory cell selecting MISFET as integrally formed with a corresponding one of said word lines are comprised of a conductive film at least partially including a metallic film therein. (4) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said semiconductive substrate has an active region with said memory cell selecting MISFET formed therein and being arranged to have an island-like pattern extending in the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate while having its periphery as surrounded by an element isolation region. (5) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that the element isolation region surrounding said active region is formed of an element separation groove having a dielectric film embedded therein as defined in the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate. (6) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said bit lines are formed overlying said memory cell selecting MISFET with an insulative film laid there between, wherein a contact hole for electrical connection between one of a source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET and a corresponding one of said bit lines is formed in self-alignment with the gate electrode of said memory cell selecting MISFET. (7) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said information accumulation capacitive element is formed to overlie said memory cell selecting MISFET with an insulative film laid therebetween, wherein a contact hole for electrical connection between the other of the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET and one electrode of said information accumulation capacitive element is formed in self-alignment with the gate electrode of said memory cell selecting MISFET. (8) The present invention also provides a semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction on a principal surface of a semiconductive substrate, a plurality of bit lines extending in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and an array of DRAM memory cells as disposed at intersections of said word lines and said bit lines, each said memory cell including a serial combination of a memory cell selecting MISFET with a gate electrode as integrally formed with a corresponding one of said word lines and a capacitive element for information accumulation, wherein said bit lines straightly extend in the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate with an identical width and wherein a distance between adjacent ones of said bit lines is greater than said width. (9) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that the width of each said bit lines is equal to or less than a minimal size determinable by a resolution limit of photolithography. (10) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said bit lines are comprised of a conductive film at least partially containing a metallic film. (11) The invention further provides a semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction on a principal surface of a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of bit lines extending in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and an array of DRAM memory cells as disposed at intersections of said word lines and said bit lines, each said memory cell including a serial combination of a memory cell selecting MISFET with a gate electrode as integrally formed with a corresponding one of said word lines and a capacitive element for information accumulation, wherein an active region with said memory cell selecting MISFET formed therein is arranged to have an island-like pattern extending in the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate while having its periphery as surrounded by an element isolation region, wherein said plurality of word lines extend along the first direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate with an identical width at a distance between adjacent ones thereof, wherein certain one of said bit lines as formed overlying said element isolation region with a first insulative film laid therebetween extends in the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate with an identical width at a regular distance, and wherein a first contact hole for electrical connection between one of a source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET as formed in said active region and its associative one of said bit lines as formed overlying said element isolation region has a diameter in the first direction greater than in the second direction with part thereof arranged to extend to overlie said element isolation region. (12) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said first contact hole includes a polycrystalline silicon film as formed therein, wherein said polycrystalline silicon film is doped with a chosen impurity equal in conductivity type to the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET. (13) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that the corresponding one of said bit lines and said one of the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET are electrically connected together via a first through-hole as formed in a second insulative film sandwiched between said bit lines and said first insulative film. (14) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that the width of said bit lines is less than a diameter of said first through-hole. (15) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said first contact hole has a diameter in the first direction greater than in the second direction, where a portion of the contact hole consists essentially of a first region extending to overlie said element isolation region and a second region as formed beneath said first region to have a diameter in the first direction and diameter in the second direction being substantially equal thereto, wherein said first region is formed overlying said memory cell selecting MISFET. (16) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said information accumulation capacitive element is formed over said bit lines with a third insulative film laid therebetween and is electrically connected to a remaining one of the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET via a second through-hole formed in said third insulative film and a second contact hole as formed in said first insulative film at a location underlying said second through-hole. (17) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said second contact hole includes a polycrystalline silicon film being embedded therein and doped with an impurity equal in conductivity type to the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET. (18) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention is such that said second through-hole is disposed between neighboring ones of said bit lines and is formed in self-alignment therewith. (19) A semiconductor integrated circuit device of the present invention comprises: an array of memory cells each including a serial combination of a MISFET for memory cell selection having a source and drain plus insulated gate electrode and a capacitive element for data storage having first and second electrodes with a dielectric film laid therebetween; word lines including first, second and third ones extending in a first direction on a principal surface of a semiconductive substrate and each having part used as the gate electrode of its associated memory cell selecting MISFET; and, bit lines including first and second ones as disposed adjacent to each other to extend in a second direction at right angles to the first direction on the principal surface of the semiconductive substrate, wherein the first to third word lines are substantially identical in width to one another, a distance between the first word line and the second word line neighboring thereto is substantially equal to a distance between the second word line and the third word line next thereto, the distance is less than the width, the first and second bit lines are substantially the same as each other in width, which is greater than the width of these bit lines. (20) The semiconductor integrated circuit device of this invention further comprises a first conductive layer provided between the first and second word lines for connecting the first bit line to either one of the source and drain of the memory-cell selecting MISFET and a second conductive layer laid between the second and third word lines for connecting the remaining one of the source and drain of the memory-cell selecting MISFET to the first electrode of the data storage capacitive element, wherein the aforesaid one of the source and drain of the memory-cell selecting MISFET and the first conductive layer are in self-alignment with the first word line and the second word line whereas the remaining one of the source and drain of the memory-cell selecting MISFET and the second conductive layer are self-aligned with the second word line and the third word line. (2) The invention further provides a method for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction on a principal surface of a semiconductive substrate, a plurality of bit lines extending in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and an array of DRAM memory cells as disposed at intersections of said word lines and said bit lines, each said memory cell including a serial combination of a memory cell selecting MISFET with a gate electrode as integrally formed with a corresponding one of said word lines and a capacitive element for information accumulation, said method comprising the steps of: (a) forming on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate of a first conductivity type an element isolation region and an active region of island-like pattern having its periphery surrounded by said element isolation region and extending along the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate; (b) patterning a first conductive film formed over the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate to form word lines extending in the first direction the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate to have a distance between adjacent ones thereof being less than a width of each said word line; and (c) forming a source and a drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET by introducing an impurity of a second conductivity type into the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate. (22) In the semiconductor integrated circuit device manufacturing method of the present invention, the gate electrodes are fabricated so that the distance of adjacent ones thereof is set at a minimal size determinable by a resolution limit in photolithography. (23) The semiconductor integrated circuit device manufacturing method is arranged to include, after said step (c), further process steps of: (d) forming a first insulative film overlying said memory cell selecting MISFET and then forming a second insulative film overlying said first insulative film and being different in etching rate from said first insulative film; (e) etching those portions of said second insulative film overlying the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET under a condition that the etching rate of said second insulative film with respect to said first insulative film becomes greater and then etching said first insulative film overlying the source and drain of said memory cell selecting MISFET to thereby form a first contact hole overlying one of said source and drain in self-alignment with said gate electrode to have a diameter in the first direction greater than a diameter in the second direction with part of said first contact hole extending toward said element isolation region while forming a second contact hole overlying a remaining one of the source and drain in self-alignment with said gate electrode and having a diameter in the first direction substantially the same as its diameter in the second direction; (f) after having embedded a conductive film in said first contact hole and said second contact hole, forming a third insulative film overlying said second insulative film and then forming a first through-hole in said third insulative film at a portion overlying a specified region extending to said element isolation region of said first contact hole; and (g) patterning a second conductive film as formed overlying said third insulative film to thereby form bit lines extending along the second direction on the principal surface of said semiconductive substrate with an identical width at a distance between adjacent ones of said bit lines being greater than said width, and then electrically connecting together said first contact hole and a corresponding one of said bit lines via said first through-hole as formed in said third insulative film. (24) The semiconductor integrated circuit device manufacturing method is such that the width of said bit lines is formed to be equal in dimension to or less than a minimal size determinable by a photolithography resolution limit. (25) The semiconductor integrated circuit device manufacturing method is arranged to include, after said step (g), further steps of: (h) forming a fourth insulative film overlying said bit lines and then forming a fifth insulative film overlying said fourth insulative film at an etching rate different from that of said fourth insulative film; (i) after having etch said fifth insulative film at a portion overlying said second contact hole under a condition that the etching rate of said fifth insulative film relative to said fourth insulative film is greater, etching said fourth insulative film at a portion overlying said second contact hole to thereby form a second through-hole overlying said second contact hole in self-alignment with a corresponding one of said bit lines; and (j) patterning a third conductive film as formed overlying said fifth insulative film to form a lower-side electrode of an information accumulation capacitive element as electrically connected to said second contact hole via said second through-hole.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to image processing devices, image processing methods and image processing programs. More particularly, the present invention relates to image processing devices, image processing methods and image processing programs capable of detecting and correcting the inclinations of images. 2. Description of the Related Art In the field of image creating devices as typified by MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) and laser beam printers, there have been developed “document electronic watermarking” techniques for embedding data as tint-block patterns on the backgrounds of document images. In order to scan a printed-out object having data embedded therein as tint-block patterns and detect the data, there has been a need for addressing the inclination of the document during the scanning. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-128845 discloses a method of detecting the inclinations of documents on the basis of the relationship among three types of dots embedded therein as electronic watermarks, as a technique relating to countermeasure to the inclinations of documents. Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 03-144863 discloses a document-image inclination detecting and correcting method which calculates integral values of a document image in a plurality of directions and detects a peak value of the integral values as the direction of inclination, wherein during the detection the testing angle is changed in two steps (the testing angle is smaller at first and then widened) to enable rapid detection of the inclination.

Dracaena Vand. Ex. L. fragrans (group Compacta) xe2x80x980101WSxe2x80x99 The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Dracaena plant botanically known as Dracaena Vand. Ex. L. fragrans (group Compacta) and hereinafter referred to the cultivar name xe2x80x980101WS xe2x80x99. The new cultivar was selected by the inventor, Ruud A. M. Scheffers, in Honselersdijk, in 1998. The new cultivar was obtained as a natural mutation of Dracaena Vand. Ex. L. fragrans (group Compacta) named xe2x80x98Surprisexe2x80x99 (unpatented). The new cultivar was first asexually propagated by the inventor in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands, in 1998. Subsequent asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by division has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true to type. The following traits have been repeatedly observed and in combination distinguish xe2x80x980101WSxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar: 1. three main colors in the length of the leaves: dark green (RHS 139 A), and grayish green center colors (RHS 188A and RHS 189D), secondary colors include: small green center stripes (RHS 144 A), and green varieties (between 139A and 188A), followed by a first rim of white (RHS 155B) and an outer rim of lemon color (RHS 144A); 2. strong, leathery, lightly ribbed leaves; and 3. leaf length 25 cm, leaf width 5-5.5 cm. xe2x80x980101WSxe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype on the new cultivar may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and day length without any change in genotype. The following observations, measurements and values describe plants grown in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands under greenhouse conditions which closely approximate those generally used in horticultural practice. In comparison with the well-known Dracaena Vand. Ex. L. fragrans (group Compacta) named xe2x80x98Surprisexe2x80x99, xe2x80x980101WSxe2x80x99 has three main colors in the length of the leaves: dark green center color, followed by a first, broad rim of white and an outer rim of lemon color. xe2x80x98Surprisexe2x80x99 does not have the broad white rim.

A particular challenge presented in surgical instrumentation relates to the delivery of non-viscous or viscous solutions such as pharmaceutical agents, hemostatic solutions, anti-adhesives, wound-healing agents, analgesics, and the like. Non-viscous solutions can be sprayed into a surgery site using various instruments, but the solutions often drip off desired target site and pool in the body cavity before the active component can provide its intended benefit. For example, when bleeding occurs during surgery, it may obstruct the surgeon's vision, and increase patient risks from loss of blood. Thus, the surgeon may deliver an active hemostat component, such as thrombin compositions reconstituted in saline, or other tissue sealant to a bleeding target site. For example, a thrombin solution can be sprayed into an insufflated lumen using a laparoscopic tool, but the solution typically does not adhere to the bleeding target site and instead pools to the floor of the cavity. In contrast, a more viscous, tacky thrombin solution may adhere better to a bleeding target site, but such viscous solutions are often opaque and obstruct the surgeon's view. Hence, there remains a need for a fluid-delivery apparatus for use in surgery for administering a continuous infusion of beneficial fluids, such as thrombin solutions, optionally with the application of pressure, at the site in need. Tissue sealants (or tissue adhesives) are used for providing hemostasis and closing incisions during many surgical procedures. Tissue sealants may include fibrin, comprised of thrombin and a fibrinogen material, although other multiple component materials are available. Tissue adhesives for making fibrin clots use different concentrations of fibrinogen solution in conjunction with a thrombin solution. Depending upon the percentages of fibrin and thrombin in each respective tissue adhesive solution, as well as the other components found in each solution, various factors impact the mixing and application of the components. These factors include viscosity of the initial fibrinogen and thrombin solutions and of the final mixed solution. When mixed together, thrombin and fibrinogen components usually coagulate very quickly, often yielding an adhesive gel within 10 or 20 seconds. When applied to a body's exterior, or when considerable access to the application site is possible, the tissue sealant's rapid coagulative properties are welcomed. Conversely, when a fibrin sealant is used during internal surgical procedures, such fast-acting properties may cause problems such as fouling or clogging of the applicator device during application. Additionally, other considerations for laparoscopic instrument-based delivery of fibrin sealants include diameters or sizes of the fluid passages and the mixing compartment of the laparoscopic instrument, and mixing rate of the fibrinogen and thrombin solutions particularly in comparison to ejection rate if mixing occurs within the system. Typically, the individual components of the adhesive material are stored in isolated reservoirs. There remains a need, however, for a fluid applictor system that is useful in surgery for delivering viscous fluids, or fluids that should be well-mixed for maximal activity. There is also a need for an applicator tip useful for both applying the fluid and holding it against the target site with a desired amount of pressure. Additionally, in particular cases, it may be beneficial to leave a biodegradable, bioadsorbable, fluid-laden applicator tip or pledget at a desired surgical site as a sustained release implant.

During the drilling, completion, and production phases of wells for petroleum extraction, the downhole use of compositions having high viscosities, including gels, is important for a wide variety of purposes. Higher viscosity fluids can more effectively carry materials (e.g., proppants) to a desired location downhole. Similarly, higher viscosity fluids can more effectively carry materials away from a drilling location downhole. Further, the use of higher viscosity fluids during hydraulic fracturing generally results in larger, more dominant fractures. Higher viscosity fluids are often prepared using fresh water, brine or sea water as base component. Fresh water, however, can be a scarce and costly resource, depending on where the fluid is being prepared or used. Further, brine, sea water or fluids (e.g., water) generally containing high total dissolved solids (TDS), including seawater, flowback water, produced water, formation water, salt-fortified fresh water, salt-fortified sea water, and heavy brine solutions, can adversely affect the viscosity of the fluids.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the field of soybean breeding. In particular, the invention relates to the novel soybean variety 4782157. 2. Description of Related Art There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirable plant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definition of problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishment of program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives. The next step is selection of germplasm that possess the traits to meet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety an improved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm. These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought and heat, better agronomic quality, resistance to herbicides, and improvements in compositional traits. Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plant reproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and the type of variety used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid variety, pureline variety, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superior individual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective, whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based on mean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of related plants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, mass selection, recurrent selection and backcrossing. The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method. Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes for a highly heritable trait into a desirable variety. This approach has been used extensively for breeding disease-resistant varieties (Bowers et al., 1992; Nickell and Bernard, 1992). Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improve quantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use of recurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease of pollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination, and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross. Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation of the efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria vary depending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain from selection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard, overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successful varieties produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollar expended, etc.). Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared to appropriate standards in environments representative of the commercial target area(s) for generally three or more years. The best lines are candidates for new commercial varieties. Those still deficient in a few traits may be used as parents to produce new populations for further selection. These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing and distribution, may take as much as eight to 12 years from the time the first cross is made. Therefore, development of new varieties is a time-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficient use of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction. A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that are genetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic value is masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors. One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performance relative to other experimental plants and to one or more widely grown standard varieties. Single observations are generally inconclusive, while replicated observations provide a better estimate of genetic worth. The goal of plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior soybean varieties and hybrids. The breeder initially selects and crosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing and selection, producing many new genetic combinations. Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to the next generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and different geographical, climatic and soil conditions, and further selections are then made, during and at the end of the growing season. The varieties which are developed are unpredictable. This unpredictability is because the breeder's selection occurs in unique environments, with no control at the DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures), and with millions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. A breeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resulting lines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion. The same breeder cannot produce the same variety twice by using the exact same original parents and the same selection techniques. This unpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts of research monies to develop superior new soybean varieties. The development of new soybean varieties requires the development and selection of soybean varieties, the crossing of these varieties and selection of progeny from the superior hybrid crosses. The hybrid seed is produced by manual crosses between selected male-fertile parents or by using male sterility systems. Hybrids may be identified by using certain single locus traits such as pod color, flower color, pubescence color or herbicide resistance which indicate that the seed is truly a hybrid. Additional data on parental lines as well as the phenotype of the hybrid influence the breeder's decision whether to continue with the specific hybrid cross. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used to develop varieties from breeding populations. Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or more varieties or various broad-based sources into breeding pools from which varieties are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new varieties are evaluated to determine which have commercial potential. Pedigree breeding is commonly used for the improvement of self-pollinating crops. Two parents which possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed to produce an F1. An F2 population is produced by selfing one or several F1's. Selection of the best individuals may begin in the F2 population (or later depending upon the breeders objectives); then, beginning in the F3, the best individuals in the best families can be selected. Replicated testing of families can begin in the F3 or F4 generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F6 and F7), the best lines or mixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potential release as new varieties. Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations of either self-or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variable population of heterozygous individuals is either identified or created by intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selected based on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellent combining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles of selection are continued. Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genetic loci for simply inherited, highly heritable traits into a desirable homozygous variety which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to be transferred is called the donor or nonrecurent parent. The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., variety) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent are selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., variety) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to planting a segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number of plants in a population declines each generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the population will be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed. In a multiple-seed procedure, soybean breeders commonly harvest one or more pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together to form a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation and part is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modified single-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique. The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. It is considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove one seed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seed procedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of a population each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested to make up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed. Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used for different traits and crops can be found in one of several reference books (e.g., Allard, 1960; Simmonds, 1979; Sneep et al., 1979; Fehr, 1987a,b). Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level of superiority or improvement over current varieties. In addition to showing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new variety that is compatible with industry standards or which creates a new market. The introduction of a new variety will incur additional costs to the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer; for special advertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial production practices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release of a new variety should take into consideration research and development costs as well as technical superiority of the final variety. For seed-propagated varieties, it must be feasible to produce seed easily and economically. Soybean, Glycine max (L), is an important and valuable field crop. Thus, a continuing goal of plant breeders is to develop stable, high yielding soybean varieties that are agronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are to maximize the amount of grain produced on the land used and to supply food for both animals and humans. To accomplish this goal, the soybean breeder must select and develop soybean plants that have the traits that result in superior varieties.

Production management platforms for the development, debugging and deployment of software packages are known. For instance, software developers can utilize package management platforms which permit a developer to code, test, debug, iterate and deploy a software application or an undated version of a software application, operating system, or other software types. In general, at different stages of development the developer can complete and store various versions of the software in different repositories, such as network-accessible databases. The set of repositories can be named or labeled according to the various stages of development stored in that storage location, such as “Beta,” “Test”, “Stable,” “Quality Assurance (QA),” or “Production.” Existing package management platforms and related development tools suffer from a number of operational or technical drawbacks, however. For one, in existing package management platforms the developer or other user may be required to reinstall a given set of resources to a virtual machine when a new stage is entered, for instance to ensure compatibility with a new application or operating system. For another, the developer or other user may be required to manually store different versions of the software as is progresses through various stages of the development life cycle, which can among other things create a risk of inconsistent versions. For still another drawback, existing platforms are configured to manage the development of individual packages, but not the overall configuration management of the virtual machine, itself. Thus, to configure or update the processor, storage, or other resources assigned to a virtual machine functioning as a test bed for the software package under development, the developer or other user may need to invoke a separate configuration management tool to track the resource settings of and updates to the underlying virtual machine. It may be desirable to provide systems and methods for integrated package development and machine configuration management, in which both software packages and machine configurations can be generated, tracked, and moved through all phases of the development cycle using an integrated development tool.

Implantable stimulation devices are devices that generate and deliver electrical stimuli to body nerves and tissues for the therapy of various biological disorders, such as pacemakers to treat cardiac arrhythmia, defibrillators to treat cardiac fibrillation, cochlear stimulators to treat deafness, retinal stimulators to treat blindness, muscle stimulators to produce coordinated limb movement, spinal cord stimulators to treat chronic pain, cortical and deep brain stimulators to treat motor and psychological disorders, and other neural stimulators to treat urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, shoulder sublaxation, etc. The present invention may find applicability in all such applications, although the description that follows will generally focus on the use of the invention within a Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) system, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,227. Spinal cord stimulation is a well-accepted clinical method for reducing pain in certain populations of patients. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a SCS system typically includes an Implantable Pulse Generator (IPG) 100, which includes a biocompatible case 30 formed of titanium for example. The case 30 typically holds the circuitry and power source or battery necessary for the IPG to function, although IPGs can also be powered via external RF energy and without a battery. The IPG 100 is coupled to electrodes 106 via one or more electrode leads (two such leads 102 and 104 are shown), such that the electrodes 106 form an electrode array 110. The electrodes 106 are carried on a flexible body 108, which also houses the individual signal wires 112 and 114 coupled to each electrode. In the illustrated embodiment, there are eight electrodes on lead 102, labeled E1-E8, and eight electrodes on lead 104, labeled E9-E16, although the number of leads and electrodes is application specific and therefore can vary. As shown in FIG. 2, the IPG 100 typically includes an electronic substrate assembly 14 including a printed circuit board (PCB) 16, along with various electronic components 20, such as microprocessors, integrated circuits, and capacitors mounted to the PCB 16. Two coils are generally present in the IPG 100: a data telemetry coil 13 used to transmit/receive data to/from an external controller 12; and a charging coil 18 for receiving power to charge the IPG's battery 26 using an external charger 50. As just noted, an external controller 12, such as a hand-held programmer or a clinician's programmer, is used to wirelessly send data to and receive data from the IPG 100. For example, the external controller 12 can send programming data to the IPG 100 to dictate the therapy the IPG 100 will provide to the patient. Also, the external controller 12 can act as a receiver of data from the IPG 100, such as various data reporting on the IPG's status. The external controller 12, like the IPG 100, also contains a PCB 70 on which electronic components 72 are placed to control operation of the external controller 12. A user interface 74 similar to that used for a computer, cell phone, or other hand held electronic device, and including touchable buttons and a display for example, allows a patient or clinician to operate the external controller 12. The communication of data to and from the external controller 12 is enabled by a coil 17, which is discussed further below. The external charger 50, also typically a hand-held device, is used to wirelessly convey power to the IPG 100, which power can be used to recharge the IPG's battery 26. The transfer of power from the external charger 50 is enabled by a coil 17′, which is discussed further below. For the purpose of the basic explanation here, the external charger 50 is depicted as having a similar construction to the external controller 12, but in reality they will differ in accordance with their functionalities as one skilled in the art will appreciate. Wireless data telemetry and power transfer between the external devices 12 and 50 and the IPG 100 takes place via magnetic inductive coupling. To implement such functionality, coils in the IPG 100 and the external devices 12 and 50 act together as a pair. In case of the external controller 12, the relevant pair of coils comprises coil 17 from the controller and coil 13 from the IPG. While in case of the external charger 50, the relevant pair of coils comprises coil 17′ from the external charger and coil 18 from the IPG. When data is to be sent from the external controller 12 to the IPG 100 for example, coil 17 is energized with an alternating current (AC). Such energizing of the coil 17 to transfer data can include modulation using a Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) protocol for example, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0024179. For example, FSK communication can be centered around 125 KHz for example, with 121 kHz representing a logic ‘0’ and 129 kHz representing a logic ‘1’. Energizing the coil 17 produces a magnetic field, which in turn induces a current in the IPG's coil 13, which current can then be demodulated to recover the original data. Data telemetry in the opposite direction—from the IPG 100 to the external controller 12—occurs in essentially the same manner. When power is to be transmitted from the external charger 50 to the IPG 100, coil 17′ is again energized with an alternating current to produce a non-modulated magnetic charging field. Such energizing is generally of a constant frequency (e.g., 80 kHz), and may be of a larger magnitude than that used during the transfer of data, but otherwise the physics involved are similar. During charging, i.e., when the external charger 50 is producing the magnetic charging field, the IPG 100 can communicate data back to the external controller using Load Shift Keying (LSK). LSK is well explained in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0179618, and involves modulating the load at the IPG 100 to produce data-containing reflections detectable at the external charger 50. This means of transmitting data is useful to communicate data relevant during charging of the battery 26, such as whether charging is complete and the external charger 50 can cease production of the magnetic charging field. As one skilled in the art will understand, LSK data can only be communicated when the magnetic charging field is present, and can only be transmitted from the IPG 100 to the external controller 12. Moreover, LSK provides very low bit rates (e.g., 10 bits/second) and therefore the amount of data that can be sent by this means is limited. Energy to energize coils 17 and 17′ can come from batteries in the external controller 12 and the external charger 50, respectively, which like the IPG's battery 26 are preferably rechargeable. However, power may also come from plugging the external controller 12 or external charger 50 into a wall outlet plug (not shown), etc. As is well known, inductive transmission of data or power can occur transcutaneously, i.e., through the patient's tissue 25, making it particularly useful in a medical implantable device system. During the transmission of data or power, the coils 17 and 13, or 17′ and 18, preferably lie in planes that are parallel, along collinear axes, and with the coils as close as possible to each other. Such an orientation between the coils 17 and 13 will generally improve the coupling between them, but deviation from ideal orientations can still result in suitably reliable data or power transfer. Although the external controller 12 and external charger 50 can be completely separate devices as shown in FIG. 2, other solutions have been proposed that integrate these two devices together to varying degrees. For example, in U.S. Patent Publication 2009/0118796, the circuitry for the external controller and the external charger are enclosed in a single housing. The coil for transferring data is enclosed within the housing, while the coil for transferring power to the IPG lies external to the housing, but is connected to the charging circuitry in the housing by a wire. In another solution disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,335,569, the circuitry for the external controller and the external charger, and their associated coils, are enclosed within a single housing, which coils can be shared between the data telemetry and charging functions. Even in these integrated controller/charger solutions, data transfer and power transfer do not take place at the same time. Therefore, if the patient needs to adjust the therapy program while the IPG is being charged for example, the patient is required to manually interrupt charging, manually activate the data telemetry circuitry, and then manually return to charging. The need to interrupt charging can occur in even simpler contexts such as if the patient merely wants to know the capacity of the battery while charging. Reporting of battery capacity in a manner reviewable by the patient is typically a data telemetry function under the control of external controller circuitry, and thus charging would need to cease to receive such data. Having to manually switch between charging and data telemetry functions is inconvenient for the patient. Not only may the patient need to manipulate a separate external controller and an external charger, the patient may also need to physically align those devices with the IPG to ensure good coupling between the coils in each of the devices. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,473,066, discussing the importance of good coil alignment in this context. Such frustrations for the patient are especially needling when it is recognized that data telemetry may only take a short period of time (on the order of seconds or tenths of seconds) compared to the time needed the charge the IPG's battery (on the order of minutes or hours). This disclosure provides embodiments of solutions to mitigate this problem.

The invention relates to textile conditioning compositions comprising especially textile softening and antistatic agents characterised by an unusually low content of cationic textile conditioning agent. Textile conditioning, especially softening compositions in the form of aqueous dispersions are well known, and are primarily intended to be added to the last rinse liquor in a conventional clothes-washing process. Most of such compositions currently on the market comprise a fairly low concentration, for instance about 3-10%, of a cationic textile softener or of a mixture of more than one, together with relatively minor amounts of emulsifiers, and with aesthetic additives such as colour and perfume. These compositions are used at quite low concentrations in the treatment bath, for instance about 0.25% by weight. It is also known that certain nonionic, poorly water soluble or insoluble, compounds such as sorbitan and glycerol esters are effective softeners, but they are not substantive and are not effectively applied to the fabrics in a rinse or like bath. It is known yet again that combinations of these nonionic components with a cationic surfactant can cause them to be deposited upon fabrics in a rinse or like bath. Now at present nonionic softeners are considerably cheaper than cationic and they seem likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. Therefore use of nonionic-cationic mixtures of relatively low cationic content is highly desirable since they can permit improved products to be made for the same cost. However, such mixtures, though effective in pure water, are generally not very effective in practical rinse liquors. The reason appears to be the presence in the rinse liquors of traces of anionic detergent carried through from the wash, typically 10-20 parts per million in a final rinse, and these combine with cationic conditioning agent to form complex molecules thereby reducing the performance. In wholly cationic-based softeners this loss of effective cationic active component is undesirable, but may be tolerable. In mixtures of nonionic and low levels of cationic conditioner, the loss becomes greater in proportion to the total cationic conditioner present and is serious. The use of relatively water soluble cationic surfactants has been suggested to act as scavengers for anionic detergent (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,076) but these need to be used at considerable levels. It has now been found that this scavenging function can be performed by very low levels of polymeric cationic salts. This has made it possible to provide effective textile conditioning, especially textile softening and antistatic, compositions based on nonionic textile softeners with a low level of cationic surfactant to render them substantive to the fabrics. Furthermore, quite low levels of some of these polymeric cationic salts have been found unexpectedly to provide softening performance themselves in the presence of cationic surfactants thereby permitting a further reduction in the other softener components of textile softening compositions. Textile softening and ironing assistants containing combinations of nonionic and cationic softeners containing relatively high levels of cationic dextrin are disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,724,816. Furthermore, Belgian Pat. No. 844,122 describes textile conditioning compositions containing nonionic softener and low levels of cationic surfactant and suggests the use of certain oligomeric polyamine salts as cationic carrier materials for the nonionic softener.

The end uses of vinyl alcohol polymers have been limited despite excellent strength, adhesive and barrier properties. This limitation is partly due to the fact that unplasticized vinyl alcohol polymers show little or no thermoplasticity before the occurrence of decomposition. Resolution of this problem has been sought through the use of external plasticizers such as ethylene glycol, trimethylene glycol, propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, neopentyl glycol and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentane diol. However, the use of external plasticizers presents several disadvantages including increased moisture sensitivity, decreased tensile strength, leaching of the plasticizer and decreased gas barrier properties. The internal plasticization of polyvinyl alcohol through the use of comonomers, grafting or post reactions is known in the art. For example, the ethyleneoxylation (hydroxyethylation) of polyvinyl alcohol produces a permanently flexible, internally plasticized type of polyvinyl alcohol (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,990,398; 1,971,662 and 2,844,570). The ethyleneoxy groups, which are introduced by reaction of ethylene oxide with the polyvinyl alcohol, are chemically bound to the product and therefore are not removable by physical methods such as evaporation, migration or extraction. In addition, the modified polyvinyl alcohol retains its water solubility, strength and flexibility. The preparation of modified polyvinyl alcohols through the solvolysis of a graft copolymer of vinyl acetate onto polyalkylene glycols is known. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,033,841 and 4,369,281). These products are water soluble and thermoplastically workable. The internal plasticization of polyvinyl alcohol through the use of ethylene as a comonomer produces a thermoplastic but water insoluble resin. U.S. Pat. No. 2,290,600 discloses vinyl alcohol copolymers prepared from copolymers of vinyl esters with acrylic or methacrylic esters by converting the vinyl ester part of the copolymer into vinyl alcohol units under conditions whereby the acrylic methacrylic part is not converted into acrylic or methacrylic acid units, respectively. Among the numerous acrylic and methacrylic esters suggested for use in the invention is beta-ethoxyethyl ester. U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,717 discloses the polymerization of mono-unsaturated vinylic monomers containing at least one oxygen atom linked to carbon atoms (an ether linkage) including, for example, monomeric compounds corresponding to the general formula. EQU CH.sub.2 .dbd.C(R)CO.sub.2 (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n R.sup.1 where R is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.1 aryl, aralkyl or alkyl group and n is one or two. U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,918 discloses copolymers of vinyl alcohol and the beta-hydroxyalkyl acrylate esters wherein the alkyl group of the beta-hydroxyalkyl acrylate esters may contain from two to four carbon atoms. The copolymers are prepared by the polymerization and subsequent alcoholysis of copolymers of vinyl acetate and the beta-hydroxyalkyl acrylate esters. Films and coatings of such copolymers are characterized by their ability to remain soft and flexible in the absence of plasticizers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,411 discloses vinyl-polymerizable monomers having surfactant properties comprising the esters of acrylic, methacrylic and crotonic acids with C.sub.8 -C.sub.20 alkyl phenoxy(ethyleneoxy).sub.10-60 ethyl alcohols. There is disclosed a method of making emulsion copolymers which comprises reacting one or more main vinyl-polymerizable monomers with from about 1-10 wt% of at least one of the surfactant esters. For example, an emulsion copolymer comprised polyvinyl acetate having copolymerized herein about 4% by weight of the acrylate ester of a nonylphenoxy poly(ethyleneoxy)ethyl alcohol. U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,151 discloses water soluble copolymers of acrylamide and alkyl or alkylaryl poly(ethyleneoxy) acrylate.

The use of touch-sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers and other electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recent years. Exemplary touch-sensitive surfaces include touch pads and touch screen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate user interface objects on a display. Exemplary manipulations include adjusting the position and/or size of one or more user interface objects, as well as associating metadata with one or more user interface objects. Exemplary user interface objects include digital images, video, text, icons, and other graphics. A user may need to perform such manipulations on user interface objects in a file management program (e.g., Finder from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), an image management application (e.g., Aperture or iPhoto from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a digital content (e.g., videos and music) management application (e.g., iTunes from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a drawing application, a presentation application (e.g., Keynote from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a word processing application (e.g., Pages from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a website creation application (e.g., iWeb from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a disk authoring application (e.g., iDVD from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), or a spreadsheet application (e.g., Numbers from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). But existing methods for performing these manipulations are cumbersome and inefficient. For example, using a sequence of mouse-based inputs to select one or more user interface objects and perform one or more actions on the selected user interface objects is tedious and creates a significant cognitive burden on a user. Existing methods that use simultaneous inputs to perform these manipulations are also cumbersome and inefficient. In addition, existing methods take longer than necessary, thereby wasting energy. This latter consideration is particularly important in battery-operated devices. Accordingly, there is a need for computing devices with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for manipulating user interface objects using two or more simultaneous user inputs, such as two simultaneous inputs on a track pad or touch screen, or simultaneous inputs from a touch-sensitive surface and a mouse. Such methods and interfaces may complement or replace conventional methods for manipulating user interface objects. Such methods and interfaces reduce the cognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated computing devices, such methods and interfaces conserve power and increase the time between battery charges.

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of provisional application Ser. No. 60/758,509, filed Jan. 11, 2006, which application is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. 1. Field of the Invention The present inventions relate generally to the field of regulated pay computer-controlled games, either games of skills or games of chance. 2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information Existing models for betting within electronic games of chance such as video poker or multi-line slot machines are limited, as players are conventionally only offered high-level bets that apply across a number of potential onscreen events in each game. This betting model applies to multi-line slot machines, in that players are conventionally able to manipulate their bet sizes globally, across a number of pay lines, but are unable to assign specific bet sizes to each payline or to selected individual pay lines. This conventional betting model also applies to most video poker machines, in that players are able to manipulate their bet sizes across a number of potential reward-generating hands, but are not able to assign specific bets to specific hands.

The present invention relates to a power supply connector particularly suitable for electric motors. As is known, in order to supply power to electric motors, and particularly to submersed motors, hermetic connectors are commonly used which are composed of two portions that can be mated mechanically, one shaped like a plug and the other one shaped like a socket, which connect in a protected manner the electrical contacts of the motor to the power supply line derived from the mains. Generally, this type of connector offers only an electrical insulation between the outside environment and the conductors that are live, without applying any action to the power supply line. However, in order to avoid radio interference and overvoltages, filters constituted by simple electronic circuits arranged at the windings and provided in practice by means of varistors, gas-filled diodes or other electronic components, are usually inserted in the power supply circuit of electric motors. The fitting and wiring of these filters is generally performed by specialized personnel, which must install them by repeating a series of operations which, in addition to considerably affecting production times, may lead to errors in the connections, with consequent malfunction of the motors.

Pattern matching in event processing generally refers to detecting a presence of predetermined patterns within a stream of arriving events. Such event streams may exist within a wide variety of settings, and may contain desired or otherwise-unknown information, which may be difficult to detect without the aid of suitable event stream processing techniques. Examples of such event streams exist, for example, in the realms of business, industry, healthcare, government, and the military, as well as many other fields of endeavor in which sources generate events. As a specific example from the financial realm, the stock market continually generates current stock prices and other information about individual stocks throughout a trading day. In the airline industry, reservation systems and flight tracking systems generate events about ticket purchases and flight schedules. In the e-commerce realm, online stores are associated with events related to the viewing of store websites, and purchasing activities that may be associated therewith. Many other examples of such event streams are known to exist, some of which are referenced in more detail below. One way to utilize such event streams is to extract information therefrom by detecting the presence of a pattern of events within the event stream. For example, using the examples just given, a first pattern may be used to detect certain price movements or other relevant information about a desired stock or group of stocks within the stock market. A second pattern may be applied to the airline setting, in order to determine, for example, particular increases or declines in airline reservations. In a third example, a pattern of returned items or customer complaints may be detected within an event stream of an online store. In practice, then, query patterns may be defined which express a desired pattern to be detected within a specified event stream. Then, the defined query pattern and specified event stream may be compared to one another, in order to output detection of the query pattern when found within the event stream. In many settings, it may occur that a large number of events may be contained with an event stream, and may be arriving relatively quickly. Meanwhile, there may be a relatively large number of query patterns specified for comparison against the event stream in question. For example, a stream of events reflecting price updates and other information about the stock market may be arriving at a rapid pace, perhaps with respect to a large number of individual stocks. Meanwhile, the query pattern specifying a particular pattern of stock price movement or other stock activity may be specified for one or all of the relevant stocks. Consequently, a large number of events and a large number of query patterns may need to be evaluated, so that, as a result, there may be a delay in determining a corresponding evaluation for a particular stock. In this regard, in many settings, a speed with which a match occurs between an event stream and a particular query pattern may be an important or critical factor. For example, in the example of the stock market just given, a stock trader may wish to detect a certain price pattern, and may specify multiple such patterns with respect to multiple stocks. In this example, the stock trader may wish to base a stock purchase or sale based on recognition of one or more of the specified patterns. However, depending on a number and/or rate of arrival of the events of the event stream, and/or on a number, size, or complexity of query patterns to be matched against the event streams, non-trivial delays may be experienced in outputting a determination of a match between a particular event and a corresponding query pattern. For example, a stock may reach a price which completes a match of a predefined query pattern. However, if the event associated with the stock price movement is preceded in time by a large number of other, previous events, and/or if a large number of query patterns have yet to be compared with any such preceding events, then the match between the particular event and its associated query pattern may not be detected and reported until some amount of delay has occurred. In the meantime, the purchase or sale opportunity associated with the query pattern may be mitigated or lost. Similar examples exist within the other settings and examples referenced above, and in other known applications of complex event stream processing. Thus, as these and other examples illustrate, a response time associated with matching an event and a query pattern may be an important metric in characterizing a usefulness of the matching.

A positioning of a device is supported by various Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). These include for example the American Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the future European system Galileo, the Space Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), the Japanese GPS augmentation Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), the Locals Area Augmentation Systems (LAAS), and hybrid systems. A GNSS usually comprises a plurality of satellites that orbit the earth. The satellites are also referred to as space vehicles (SV). Each of the satellites transmits at least one carrier signal, which may be the same for all satellites. Each carrier signal may then be modulated by a different pseudo random noise (PRN) code, which spreads the signal in the spectrum. As a result, different channels are obtained for the transmission by different satellites. The code comprises a number of bits, which is repeated in cycles. The bits of the PRN code are referred to as chips and the time of a cycle is referred to as the epoch of the code. The carrier frequency of the signal is further modulated with navigation information at a bit rate that is significantly lower than the chip rate of the PRN code. The navigation information may comprise among other information a satellite identifier (SV ID), orbital parameters and time parameters. The satellite identifier indicates the satellite for which data in the navigation information can be applied. It may be for instance an ordinal number. The orbital parameters may include ephemeris parameters and almanac parameters. Ephemeris parameters describe short sections of the orbit of the respective satellite. They may comprise for example a parameter indicating the semi-major axis and the eccentricity of the ellipse along which the satellite currently travels. Based on the ephemeris parameters, an algorithm can estimate the position of the satellite for any time while the satellite is located in the described section of the orbit. The almanac parameters are similar, but coarser orbit parameters, which are valid for a longer time than the ephemeris parameters. It might be noted that in the case of almanac, all satellites send the almanac parameters for all satellites of the system, including an SV ID indicating to which the respective almanac parameters belong. The time parameters define clock models that relate the satellite time to the system time of the GNSS and the system time to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Further, they include a time-of-ephemeris (TOE) parameter indicating the reference time for ephemeris, and a time-of-clock-model (TOC) parameter indicating the reference time for the clock model. In the case of GLONASS, the terms “immediate information” and “non-immediate information” are used instead of the terms “ephemeris” and “almanac”. It is to be understood that any reference in this document to “ephemeris” and “almanac” is used to denote all possible terms that may be used for the same kind of information, including GLONASS “immediate information” and “non-immediate information”. A GNSS receiver, of which position is to be determined, receives the signals transmitted by the currently available satellites, and it acquires and tracks the channels used by different satellites based on the different comprised PRN codes. Then, the receiver determines the time of transmission of the code transmitted by each satellite, usually based on data in the decoded navigation messages and on counts of epochs and chips of the PRN codes. The time of transmission and the measured time of arrival of a signal at the receiver allow determining the pseudorange between the satellite and the receiver. The term pseudorange denotes the geometric distance between the satellite and the receiver, which distance is biased by unknown satellite and receiver offsets from the GNSS time. In one possible solution scheme, the offset between the satellite and system clocks is assumed to be known and the problem reduces to solving a non-linear set of equations of four unknowns, namely three receiver position coordinates and the offset between the receiver and GNSS system clocks. Therefore, at least four measurements are required in order to be able to solve the set of equations. The outcome of the process is the receiver position. In some environments, a GNSS receiver may be able to acquire and track sufficient satellite signals for a positioning based on the PRN codes, but the quality of the signals may not be sufficiently high for decoding the navigation messages. This may be the case, for instance, in indoor environments. Further, the decoding of navigation messages requires a significant amount of processing power, which may be limited in a mobile GNSS receiver. If the GNSS receiver is included in a cellular terminal or attached as an accessory device to a cellular terminal, a cellular network may therefore be able to provide the cellular terminal via a cellular link with assistance data including parameters extracted from decoded navigation messages. Such a supported GNSS based positioning is referred to as assisted GNSS (AGNSS). The received information enables the GNSS receiver or the associated cellular terminal to obtain a position fix in a shorter time and in more challenging signal conditions. Assistance data is typically provided for each satellite that is visible to the GNSS receiver associated to the cellular terminal. The assistance data may comprise navigation model parameters, which usually include orbit parameters, TOE and TOC parameters and SV ID parameters. Moreover, an external service may provide long-term orbits, which are accurate substantially longer than the orbit models (ephemeris/almanac) in the SV broadcasts.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cellular communication systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for the routing of auxiliary communication services, such as voice mail, within such a system. 2. History of the Prior Art Broadly speaking, the present invention involves an interrelationship between two telephone technologies, namely, cellular radio telephony and voice mail systems. The general state of the art of each of these technologies is discussed briefly below. Cellular radio communications is, perhaps, the fastest growing field in the world-wide telecommunications industry. Although cellular radio communication systems comprise only a small fraction of the telecommunications systems presently in operation, it is widely believed that this fraction will steadily increase and will represent a major portion of the entire telecommunications market in the not too distant future. This belief is grounded in the inherent limitations of conventional telephone communications networks which rely primarily on wire technology to connect subscribers within the network. A standard household or office telephone, for example, is connected to a wall outlet, or phone jack, by a telephone cord of a certain maximum length Similarly, wires connect the telephone outlet with a local switching office of the telephone company. A telephone user's movement is thus restricted not only by the length of the telephone cord, but also by the availability of an operative telephone outlet, i.e. an outlet which has been connected with the local switching office. Indeed, the genesis of cellular radio systems can be attributed, in large part, to the desire to overcome these restrictions and to afford the telephone user the freedom to move about or to travel away from his home or office without sacrificing his ability to communicate effectively with others. In a typical cellular radio system, the user, or the user s vehicle, carries a relatively small, wireless device which communicates with a base station and connects the user to a mobile switching center or exchange. The exchange facilitates communications between the user, other mobile stations in the system and landline parties in the public switched telephone network ("PSTN"). The interconnection of mobile telephone users ("mobile subscribers") with the PSTN requires that each mobile subscriber in the system be made available to anyone who has a telephone, whether fixed or mobile. Hence, the problem of locating a mobile subscriber moving from one area to another (a "roaming subscriber") within a wide geographic area has become of primary importance. A known solution to this problem is based on the concept of mobile registration. Mobile registration is the process by which a mobile telephone unit becomes listed as being present in the service area of one of the mobile exchanges in a mobile telephone service network. In accordance with one early solution to the problem of locating roaming mobiles, as each mobile telephone unit enters a new area within the network, it transmits a unique identity signal which is detected by the mobile exchange associated with that area. This exchange records an indication of the presence of the mobile subscriber in its memory and then informs all of the other exchanges of the presence of the mobile within its coverage area at that particular moment. When the mobile subscriber crosses over into another area, the exchange associated with that area, upon receiving an identity signal from the mobile telephone unit, will record an indication of the mobile subscriber's presence there and then transmit the identity to all of the other exchanges together with its own identity signal, for the purpose of updating the mobile subscriber's position. In other known solutions, a mobile subscriber s identity and position messages are sent by each exchange, whose respective areas are crossed by such mobile subscriber, to a specific center. Any exchange in the mobile network which contacts this center may receive all the information necessary for locating and making a connection to the mobile subscriber. This solution eliminates the need to advise one or more of the other mobile exchanges each time a mobile subscriber enters a new area without making or receiving a call there and thereby reduces the amount of mobile subscriber location data that must be processed by each of the mobile exchanges within the network. In some systems, the aforementioned center may be a common national center such as that used in the mobile telephone location system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,374 issued to Bini. In other systems, the center may be the exchange to which a mobile subscriber is assigned ("home exchange") or it may be a home location register ("HLR") which stores the location information of mobile subscribers. In such other systems, the mobile subscriber may preregister in an area other than the normal service and billing area ("home area") for service to be provided in the other area ("visited area") by the exchange associated with the visited area ("visited exchange"). When a roaming subscriber arrives in the visited area, the mobile subscriber is qualified to make telephone calls from there and calls which are received in the mobile subscriber's home area are forwarded to the visited area for transmission to the mobile subscriber. Qualification of a mobile subscriber in a visited area may be automatically performed when the roaming subscriber appears in the visited area and the mobile station is switched on, e.g. when the user initiates a first telephone call. The roaming mobile subscriber automatically transmits its identification number to the visited exchange and requests roamer service. If the roaming subscriber is a visitor from a cooperating exchange, the visited exchange provides service to the roaming subscriber by allocating a temporary roamer number to it. The visited exchange also notifies the roaming subscriber's home exchange of the roaming subscriber s location in the coverage area of the visited exchange. The roaming subscriber s identification number is then entered into a list of roamers so that incoming calls to the home exchange of the roaming subscriber are forwarded to the visited exchange where the roaming subscriber is then located. With this overview of cellular radio technology in mind, the other parent technology of the present invention, i.e., the rendition of auxiliary communication services such as voice mail, fax mail, video mail, teletex or other services will now be briefly discussed. While it should be understood that the invention contemplates the routing of various auxiliary communication services within a cellular network, the most presently common of such services, voice mail, will be used hereinafter as exemplary of the principles of the present invention. Voice mail, as is commonly understood in the art, refers to an automatic answering and message storing and forwarding system which allows a caller to leave a stored message for a specific telephone extension or to forward a message to an intended recipient. The voice mail system in essence, offers two distinct features: call answering and message forwarding. The call answering feature is typically invoked when a caller directly dials a telephone number or requests to be connected to a specific extension which is found to be busy, inoperative, nonanswering, etc. The unavailability of the called party results in the telephone call being redirected to the voice mail system call answering feature. At this juncture the call is routed to a voice mail receiving station and the caller is greeted by a prerecorded announcement message or a live telephone operator and prompted to leave a message which is stored in a "voice mailbox" assigned to the called party. While the call answering feature of a voice mail system is geared to the convenience of the message recipient, the message forwarding feature is geared towards aiding the message originator. The message forwarding feature may be involved, for example, when a message originator calls the voice mail system by dialing an access code using a telephone station set touch-tone pad. The message originator designates one or more message recipients, who are also served by the telephone switching system, by dialing their station or directory numbers, and then dictates a voice message for delivery by the voice mail system to the designated message recipients. The voice mail system records the dialed directory numbers and places the message in the voice mailbox assigned to each of the designated message recipients. Each of the message recipients may then access the voice mail system to listen to the message, save the message for subsequent action, delete it, append comments and route the message to other message recipients, or reply and return a message to the message originator. Several voice mail systems are commercially available. While such systems vary in features and capacity, all share, as a common core of functions, the ability to store messages for later retrieval by system users. Each user is assigned a voice mailbox and may retrieve his messages by accessing the system and then identifying his voice mailbox. In general, anyone having knowledge of the telephone numbers for the system, may leave messages, but only users having a voice mailbox may retrieve messages. To retrieve messages a user of a typical voice mail system accesses the system over the telephone lines and, after identifying himself by mailbox number, and possibly a password, hears a recorded message produced by the system advising him of the status of his mailbox, e.g., number of messages waiting, etc. The user may then listen to brief prerecorded portions of each message, commonly referred to as "headers" which further describe the message, for example, by identifying the originator. The user may then decide whether or not to listen to each message. The desirability of providing voice mail services to mobile radiotelephone system subscribers has not been lost on cellular system operators. The economic incentives for incorporating a voice mail system into a cellular radio network are, at least, twofold. First, the cellular operator can charge each participating mobile subscriber a monthly fee for voice mail services. Second, the ability of a mobile subscriber to retrieve messages left in his absence increases the likelihood that the mobile subscriber will, after listening to a particular message, call the message originator and thereby generate additional revenues for the cellular system operator. The use of voice mail systems in cellular radio networks has developed in line with the growth of cellular radio communications generally. Initially, a single mobile switching center in each of several large metropolitan cities provided communications services to mobile subscribers in the local area. The national cellular radio landscape, at this stage of development, consisted of dispersed pockets or islands of cellular radio networks with little or no roaming therebetween. Where desired, a voice mail system was connected to the mobile switching center which handled all the incoming and outgoing calls to and from the mobile subscribers in the local area. The voice mail equipment could be located in, or within a short distance from, the mobile switching center facilities. As each of the local cellular radio networks expanded, one or more mobile switching centers were, of necessity, added to the local area. Provision of voice mail services to all of the mobile subscribers in the local area required either the connection of a voice mail system to each of the mobile switching centers or, alternatively, the sharing of a common voice mail system among the mobile switching centers. In the former instance, voice mail equipment was located in, or within a short distance from, each of the mobile switching centers while, in the latter instance, the voice mail equipment was centralized and dedicated trunks were used to connect the voice mail system to each of the mobile switching centers. Since the network coverage area rarely extended beyond the limits of a metropolitan area, the use of dedicated trunks did not pose any special problems. However, with the advent of roaming service for mobile subscribers travelling between cities served by cooperating exchanges, the cost inefficiencies inherent in the traditional designs of cellular voice mail systems became pronounced. To illustrate, suppose that a mobile subscriber assigned to a mobile exchange (home exchange) in Los Angeles travels to San Francisco and is qualified to receive calls there, e.g., is registered in an exchange (visited exchange) in San Francisco. Suppose, further, that a call is placed to the mobile subscriber and received at the home exchange in Los Angeles. The home exchange determines from its data records, or from the data records of the HLR of the mobile, that the mobile subscriber has roamed and, therefore, routes the call to San Francisco. The visited exchange receives the call and pages the roaming subscriber who does not return a page response became, for example, he has turned off the mobile telephone. At this point, the call is either terminated or, if the roaming subscriber has voice mail service, the call is transferred back to the roaming subscriber's mailbox in Los Angeles. As may be seen from this illustration, two long distance links or the equivalent of two toll calls, e.g., Los Angeles to San Francisco and San Francisco to Los Angeles, were necessary in order to connect the caller with the voice mail box of the roaming subscriber. This result is known in the art as the "trombone effect." Mobile subscribers are loathe to pay for the double charges incurred because of the trombone effect only to hear a voice mail message, for example, that the caller will call back later. Hence, a mechanism for countering the trombone effect is needed and, as discussed more fully below, is provided by the present invention. One technique for avoiding these disadvantages is the use of roamer port access for a roaming cellular subscriber in which a local number in the visited city is dialed to gain access to the cellular network there and enable the dialing of the mobile subscriber directly. However, the disadvantage of this procedure is that it requires the calling party to know precisely in which city the roaming mobile subscriber is currently roaming. Another shortcoming of existing cellular voice mail systems relates to the interface between the mobile switching centers, on the one hand, and the voice mail equipment on the other. Typically, the voice mailboxes of mobile subscribers are connected to their home exchange, not via the PSTN, but through dedicated trunks, and are accessed by dedicated numbers rather than PSTN-recognized telephone numbers. This is primarily for reasons of economy, including the savings on the lease of telephone numbers from the local phone company. Specifically, instead of leasing two telephone numbers from the phone company, one for the mobile subscriber and another for his voice mailbox, only the mobile subscriber number is leased and a dedicated number is used for his voice mailbox. To illustrate the operation of the typical voice mail interface, assume that a call is placed to a mobile subscriber and received at his home exchange. Assume, further, that the mobile subscriber is unavailable and that the call is directly routed to his voice mailbox which is often in the same building as the home exchange. It is common practice to define a dedicated voice mail number which consists of the mobile subscriber number and a prefix such as "*99." Thus, if the dialed mobile subscriber number is 876-5432, for example, the dedicated voice mail number will be *99/876-5432. The voice mailbox of the mobile subscriber can then be accessed by the home exchange simply by using the designation *99/876-5432. Returning to the case of the mobile subscriber who roams from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and assuming that the mobile subscriber has voice mail service, the call will have to be routed from San Francisco back to Lee Angeles where the voice mailbox of the mobile subscriber is located. However, because, as discussed above, his voice mailbox number is a non-PSTN-recognized number, such as *99/876-5432, PSTN facilities cannot be used to transfer the call. It is possible, of course, to use dedicated trunks between Los Angeles and San Francisco and route the call therethrough, but the cost in this case would be prohibitive. Further, it may also be illegal for a cellular operator which is not duly licensed as a long distance carrier to transfer the call in this manner. Some systems have attempted to solve the problems highlighted in the above illustrative Los Angeles-San Francisco scenario by adopting a protocol whereby calls are always setup through the home exchange and, instead of assigning the task of detecting that the roaming subscriber has not answered to the visited exchange, a timer is activated in the home exchange upon call set up and, if the roaming subscriber does not answer within a predetermined length of time, the home exchange will route the call to the voice mailbox assigned to the roaming subscriber. As explained below, however, this solution may be implemented only in a mobile switching center ("MSC") environment, but not efficiently in a home location register ("HLR") environment. Most cellular radio networks today operate in an MSC environment wherein location and service profile data for each mobile subscriber are stored in his home exchange and updated from time to time as required. By contrast, in an HLR environment, location and service profile data are recorded and updated in the home HLR which is connected, and may serve the mobile subscribers assigned, to several exchanges. Unlike an exchange, however, an HLR has no voice transmission, reception or switching facilities, but is essentially a database from and to which information can be read and written. Possible reasons for a shift from an MSC environment to an HLR environment include limitations in the capacity of an exchange and optimization of administrative procedures for handling calls. For example, while only 64,000 mobile subscribers may be connected to a typical exchange at one time, an HLR may have the capacity to serve over 500,000 mobile subscribers. Implementation of an HLR environment in cellular radio networks, either exclusively or in conjunction with an MSC environment, is expected to become widespread in the future. However, integrating a voice mail system in an HLR environment poses certain difficulties which do not arise in an MSC environment. In particular, because the HLR has no voice facilities, the voice mail equipment cannot be directly connected to the HLR. One solution to these difficulties is to connect the voice mail equipment to one exchange in the cellular network dedicated as a "pseudo-home" exchange and route all calls through the pseudo-home exchange. However, as will be readily understood by person skilled in the art, this solution breeds an inefficient and inflexible network. As discussed more fully below, the present invention provides for efficient delivery of calls to the voice mailboxes of mobile subscribers operating in both an MSC and an HLR environment.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices and methods for monitoring and measuring tritium levels. More particularly, the present invention relates to monitoring the concentration of tritium in aqueous samples. 2. Discussion of Background Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is produced in nuclear reactors by bombarding lithium with neutrons. Tritium also occurs naturally in small concentrations, and may result from the bombardment of water molecules by a neutron flux or other high-energy radiation. Indiscriminate tritium release to the environment is forbidden by law. Therefore, the presence of tritium in nuclear power generating and production facilities dictates the need for effective tritium monitoring. Furthermore, the sensitivity (or detection limit) of tritium monitors must be appropriate for the particular monitoring application. Devices and methods for detecting the presence of tritium in liquids and gases are known. Hascal et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,774, disclose an instrument for measuring tritium and tritium oxide levels in air. The instrument uses a scintillation detector and a pair of scintillators, one serving as a reference. The device compares the measured counting rate of airborne tritium and tritium oxide passing over one scintillator with that of the reference scintillator. The air is condensed onto and evaporated from the surface of the non-reference scintillator. Osborne et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,066, disclose a system comprising a method and apparatus for continuously monitoring air for the presence of tritiated water vapor. Tritiated water vapor contained in the sample air is transferred to a liquid which is contacted with the air sample. Radioactive noble gases are stripped from the liquid using a gas stream, and the resulting liquid is analyzed for beta radiation of the energy level indicative of the presence of tritium using a detector such as a scintillation counter. Other methods are also known which monitor tritium levels in liquids and gases. For instance, Corbett et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,783, disclose a method for monitoring tritium levels in the coolant fluid and reactor cover gas of a sodium-cooled nuclear breeder reactor. The tritium is separated by a hydrogen-permeable tube and diffused into a gas discharge device that ionizes the gas. The tritium is monitored by measuring the ionization current produced. McManus et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,395, disclose a method and apparatus for continuously monitoring the tritium concentration in liquid aqueous solutions. A series of air streams direct water and tritiated water from the liquid sample to a flow-through ionization chamber. The ion chamber response, along with humidity and temperature measurements, are ultimately used to calculate the tritium content.