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The present invention relates to a road manhole of the type defining a centre axis and comprising: a frame which delimits an opening and which is provided with an internal collar which extends radially inwards, a cover which comprises a blocking web which is intended to block the opening and a cylindrical skirt which is centred on the centre axis and which substantially complements the internal collar, the blocking web and the skirt defining a concave corner which is directed radially outwards relative to the centre axis, and a main gasket which is arranged on the internal collar and which is interposed between the cover and the frame when the cover is in a closed position, the road manhole comprising an auxiliary gasket which is, at least in the closed state of the manhole, arranged on the skirt and which is in contact with the concave corner. Road manholes of this type are known from the prior art. The main gasket is used in order to acoustically insulate the manhole in the closed state and to reduce the quantity of water which can enter the gap between the frame and the cover, but without ensuring complete fluid-tightness. The object of the invention is to improve the fluid-tightness of this road manhole, using simple and economic means.

As is known in the art, there is an increasing trend to include radar systems in commercially available products. For example, it is desirable to include radar systems in automobiles, trucks boats, airplanes and other vehicle. Such radar systems must be compact and relatively low cost. Furthermore, some applications have relatively difficult design parameters including restrictions on the physical size of the structure, as well as minimum operational performance requirements. Such competing design requirements make the design of such radar systems relatively challenging. Among the design challenges is the challenge to provide an antenna system which meets the design goals of being low cost, compact and have relatively high performance. In automotive radar systems, for example, cost and size considerations are of considerable importance. Furthermore, in order to meet the performance requirements of automotive radar applications, (e.g. coverage area) an array antenna is required. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide an antenna array that is compact which can operate in a high density circuit environment, and is relatively low cost to manufacture and yet provides an antenna array having relatively high performance characteristics.

The present invention relates to electrically conductive, hermetic vias and the formation of such vias in hermetically sealed IC chip packages and the like. There are a wide array of high temperature applications for electronic components. Such applications include deep well drilling sensors and engine control units. The latter category of applications is one of the fastest growing areas of high temperature electronics. Electronic engine controllers are often mounted very close to or directly upon the engine itself in order to minimize the number of leads, plugs, connectors and pins between engine and controller, thus subjecting the electronics to the high temperature of the engine. Chip packages are commonly utilized to enclose the fragile electronic component or IC chip, and so must be able to withstand the often harsh environments in which they are placed. Chip packages typically utilize ceramic substrate bases. The ceramic substrates contain circuit traces printed on one or more of their surfaces for providing electrical connection between the chip within the package and the package exterior. Electrically conductive pathways or vias are provided which extend through the thickness of one or more of the ceramic bases. Vias may be formed in a ceramic substrate by providing a passage or opening extending through the thickness of the substrate and filling with an electrically conductive filler material. Vias may provide an electrical pathway between different levels of circuit traces disposed on ceramic substrates in the package or provide electrical connection through a substrate to the package interior. It is desirable that the chip package be completely and reliably hermetically sealed so that all foreign materials, such as dust particles, gases and liquids, are prevented from contacting the chip contained within the package. To achieve such hermeticity, it is necessary to provide a sealed enclosure around the chip to prevent leakage between the interior and exterior of the package. One possible path of leakage is through the vias since such vias often extend along the entire thickness of the base of the chip package. Exposure to temperatures as high as 500.degree. C. and the temperature cycling incident to reaching such high temperatures presents a major threat to the hermeticity of a chip package especially at vias. In addition large temperature deviations, even at relatively low temperatures such as a temperature fluctuation from -65.degree. C. to 300.degree. C., induce extreme thermal expansion or contraction of the ceramic substrate and via fill material and may cause degradation or complete seal failure of the package at the vias. Expansion effects from temperature changes often cause stress induced fracture at or near the via, loss of seal integrity at the via and bond failure between the via fill material and substrate material. Prior artisans have attempted to form hermetic vias. One such approach, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,249 to Dolhert el al., attempts to match the thermal expansion properties of the via fill material to those of the chip substrate. That approach relies on incorporating particles of the substrate material in the via fill material to approximate the thermal expansion properties of the substrate That approach is undesirable in view of the additional processing steps and related costs in forming the via fill material. Moreover, the addition of particles of substrate material, which is often a dielectric, adversely affects the electrical characteristics of the fill material for chip package vias. Thus, there is a need for an electrically conductive, hermetic via which is capable of withstanding relatively high temperatures and accompanying large temperature fluctuations without loss of hermeticity.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a circuit constituted by thin-film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFTs) and a method of producing the same. More specifically, the invention relates to an electro-optical device as represented by an active matrix-type liquid crystal display device having, for example, a pixel portion and a driver circuit formed on the same substrate, and to an electronic device mounting the above electro-optical device as a part. In this specification, the semiconductor device stands for devices that work utilizing the semiconductor characteristics, in general. Electro-optical devices as represented by the active matrix-type liquid crystal display devices formed by using thin-film transistors, electronic devices mounting such electro-optical device as a part, and semiconductor circuits, are all semiconductor devices. 2. Prior Arts There has been developed a thin-film transistor (TFT) by using a semiconductor thin film formed on an insulating substrate such as a glass. As a material of the semiconductor thin film, there can be used an amorphous silicon film or a crystalline silicon film formed by crystallizing the amorphous silicon film by a laser annealing method or a heat annealing method. Among them, the TFT using the polycrystalline silicon film as an active layer features a high current drivability owing to its high degree of electric field mobility, can be finely machined, and makes it possible to increase the numerical aperture in the pixel portion. Such a TFT has been widely applied to electronic devices such as ICs and electro-optical devices, and is used, for example, as a pixel switching element or driver circuit in the active matrix-type display device. As the TFT substrate, there is typically used a glass substrate such as of barium borosilicate glass or alumino-borosilicate glass. The glass substrate has a heat resistance inferior to that of a quartz substrate, but offers such an advantage that the substrate of a large area can be easily and cheaply produced to cheaply realize a display device of a large screen. The glass substrate such as barium borosilicate glass or alumino-borosilicate glass contains trace amounts of impurities such as alkali metal elements like sodium (Na), and the electric characteristics of the TFT vary as the impurity ions infiltrate into the active layer from the glass substrate. To prevent this variation in the electric characteristics, a base film (blocking layer) comprising a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film or a silicon oxynitride film has been formed on the surface of the glass substrate on where TFTs are formed. It has been known that the TFT characteristics can be effectively stabilized if there is used, as a base film, a laminated film comprising a silicon nitride film on the side of the substrate and a silicon oxide film on the side of the active layer. In the case of a top-gate TFT, the TFT characteristics are greatly affected by the quality of the base film since the channel-forming region is in contact with the base film. When a voltage is applied to the gate electrode of TFT, an electric field is formed in the active layer and impurity ions in the glass substrate are pulled toward the side of the active layer. Depending upon the quality of the base film, therefore, the impurity ions infiltrate into the active layer or into the gate-insulating layer through the base film, and the electric characteristics of the TFTs undergo a change accompanying thereto to deteriorate the reliability. A silicon nitride film as the base film exhibits a merit in that it exhibits a large effect for blocking impurity ions but has a defect in that it exhibits many large trap levels to affect the TFT characteristics. Besides, the silicon nitride film produces a large internal stress and causes a distortion on the interface relative to the active layer, resulting in the deterioration in the TFT characteristics such as negative shift of Vth (threshold voltage) and an increase in the S-value (subthreshold constant). Further, the silicon oxide film as the base film exhibits merits such as a wider band gap than that of the silicon nitride film, a high insulating property and a low trap level accompanied, however, by such defects as easy absorption of water and small effect for blocking impurity ions. The silicon oxynitride film exhibits properties that differ depending upon the nitrogen concentration and the oxygen concentration in the film. To enhance the effect for blocking impurity ions, therefore, the film must be formed dense by increasing the nitrogen concentration in the film. However, an increase in the nitrogen concentration in the silicon oxynitride film develops the same defect as that of the silicon nitride film. Further, when a film containing large amounts of fixed electric charge is brought, as a base film, into contact with the active layer, a trap level is formed on the interface between the base film and the active layer causing the TFT characteristics to be deteriorated. In general, the fixed electric charge increases with an increase in the nitrogen concentration in the film. When the silicon nitride film and the silicon oxide film are laminated one upon the other, special film-forming chambers are required since they are constituted by different elements. In this case, the temperature of the film-forming chambers drops since the substrate is cooled as it is being conveyed. Accordingly, preheating is required so as not to drop the temperature of the substrate. The preheating time accounts for an increase in the treating time. The present invention is concerned with a technique for solving the above-mentioned problems, and provides a base film which helps stabilize TFT characteristics, improves reliability, and can be excellently produced, and a method of forming the same. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems according to the present invention, a silicon oxynitride film is formed by a plasma CVD method by using SiH4, N2O and H2, and this film is used as a base film for a TFT. The properties of the silicon oxynitride film that is formed is controlled by, chiefly, varying the flow rates of N2O and H2. The hydrogen concentration and the nitrogen concentration are increased in the film upon increasing the flow rate of H2. Upon increasing the flow rate of N2O, further, the hydrogen concentration and the nitrogen concentration decrease in the film, and the oxygen concentration increases. On the other hand, the silicon concentration does not almost change even if only a ratio of N2 and N2O gas flows is changed. This makes it possible to form a silicon oxynitride film on the side of the substrate, the silicon oxynitride film having a composition exhibiting properties which are merits of the silicon nitride film, and to form a silicon oxynitride film on the side of the active layer, the silicon oxynitride film having a composition exhibiting properties which are merits of the silicon oxide film, while continuously changing the compositions thereof, thereby to form a base film of good quality picking up merits of both the silicon nitride film and the silicon oxide film. The silicon oxynitride films exhibiting the above-mentioned properties are formed by the same film-forming method by simply changing the gas flow rate ratios, and can be formed in the same film-forming chamber contributing to enhancing the productivity. Concretely speaking, there are formed a silicon oxynitride film formed over SiH4, N2O and H2 flow rate ratios of Xh=0.5 to 5 (Xh=H2/(SiH4+N2O)), Xg=0.94 to 0.97 (Xg=N2O/(SiH4+N2O)), and a silicon oxynitride film formed over flow rate ratios of Xh=0 (Xh=H2/(SiH4+N2O)), Xg=0.97 to 0.99 (Xg=N2O/(SiH4+N2O)). these silicon oxynitride films being separately used. In forming the silicon oxynitride film by the plasma CVD method, H2 is added to a mixture gas of SiH4 and N2O to prevent radicals formed by the decomposition of SiH4 from being polymerized in the gaseous phase (in the reaction space) and to eliminate the formation of particles. On the surface on where the film grows, further, an excess of hydrogen is not taken in by the film, that is caused by the reaction of pulling hydrogen adsorbed on the surfaces by hydrogen radicals. This action is intimately related to the substrate temperature at the time when the film is deposited; i.e., the action is obtained by setting the substrate temperature to be from 300xc2x0 C. to 400xc2x0 C. and, preferably, 400xc2x0 C. As a result, it is allowed to form a dense film having less defect density, and trace amounts of hydrogen in the film effectively works to relax the lattice strain. To highly densely generate hydrogen radicals by decomposing hydrogen, a glow discharge is generated at a high power-source frequency of 13.56 MHz to 120 MHz and, preferably, 27 MHz to 60 MHz, with a discharge power density of 0.1 W/cm2 to 1 W/cm2. Upon employing the above preparation conditions, the silicon oxynitride film to which the invention is applied possesses a nitrogen concentration of from 0.5 atomic % to 10 atomic %, a hydrogen concentration of from 0.5 atomic % to 5 atomic % and an oxygen concentration of from 50 atomic % to 70 atomic %. The feature of the invention resides in that in forming a base film of TFT by the silicon oxynitride films, the composition is differed in the base film depending on the side of the substrate and on the side of the active layer, and the nitrogen concentration and the hydrogen concentration in the film are set to be relatively higher and the oxygen concentration is set to be relatively lower for the former side. For example, the first layer of the base film in contact with the substrate is formed of the silicon oxynitride film having a nitrogen concentration of 7 to 10 atomic %, a hydrogen concentration of 2 to 3 atomic % and an oxygen concentration of 52 to 55 atomic %, and the second layer in contact with the active layer is formed of the silicon oxynitride film having a nitrogen concentration of 1 to 2 atomic %, a hydrogen concentration of 0.5 to 2 atomic % and an oxygen concentration of 62 to 65 atomic % to form a step-like gradient of concentration. Or, there may not exist a clear distinction between the first layer and the second layer like the one described above but, instead, the composition may be continuously changed. The silicon oxynitride film is formed by using a plasma device which is constituted by parallel flat plates of the capacitor-coupled type. It is also allowable to use the one of the induction coupled type or a plasma CVD device utilizing the energy of magnetic field such as of electron cyclotron resonance. The composition of the silicon oxynitride film is varied by using SiH4 and N2O gases and by adding H2 thereto. The plasma is formed under a pressure of 10 Pa to 133 Pa (desirably, 20 Pa to 40 Pa), with a high-frequency power density of 0.2 W/cm2 to 1 W/cm2 (preferably, 0.3 W/cm2 to 0.5 W/cm2), at a substrate temperature of 200xc2x0 C. to 450xc2x0 C. (preferably, 300xc2x0 C. to 400xc2x0 C.), and an oscillation frequency of high-frequency power source of 10 MHz to 120 MHz (preferably, 27 MHz to 60 MHz). Table 1 shows three kinds of preparation conditions. The condition #210 is for forming the silicon oxynitride film from SiH4 and N2O. The conditions #211 and #212 are when H2 is added to SiH4 and N2O, and in which the flow rate of H2 being added is varied. In this specification, the silicon oxynitride film formed from SiH4 and N2O is expressed as silicon oxynitride film (A), and the silicon oxynitride film formed from SiH4, N2O and H2 is expressed as silicon oxynitride film (B). The silicon oxynitride film (A) is formed with SiH4, N2O and H2 flow rate ratios of Xh=0 (Xh=H2/(SiH4+N2O)) and Xg=0.97 to 0.99 (Xg=N2O/(SiH4+N2O)), and the silicon oxynitride film (B) is formed with SiH4, N2O and H2 flow rate ratios of Xh=0.5 to 5 (Xh=H2/(SiH4+N2O)) and Xg=0.94 to 0.97 (Xg=N2O/(SiH4+N2O)). Table 1 further shows pretreatment conditions executed prior to forming the silicon oxynitride film. The pretreatment is not absolutely necessary but is effective in enhancing the reproducibility of silicon oxynitride film properties or in enhancing the reproducibility of properties when the invention is applied to the TFTs. Referring to Table 1, the pretreatment conditions are such that the treatment is effected for 2 minutes by producing a plasma while introducing 200 SCCM of hydrogen, under a pressure of 20 Pa and with a high-frequency electric power of 0.2 W/cm2. The pretreatment may further be conducted by producing a plasma in the same manner as above but introducing 100 SCCM of hydrogen and 100 SCCM of oxygen. Though not shown in Table, the pretreatment may be conducted for several minutes by introducing N2O and hydrogen under a pressure of 10 Pa to 70 Pa and with a high-frequency power density of 0.1 W/cm2 to 0.5 W/cm2. In the pretreatment, it is desired that the substrate is maintained at a temperature of 300xc2x0 C. to 450xc2x0 C. and, preferably, at 400xc2x0 C. The pretreatment works to clean the to-be-deposited surface of the substrate and to stabilize the interfacial properties of the silicon oxynitride film that is deposited later by temporarily inactivating the to-be-deposited surface by the adsorption of hydrogen. The pretreatment further favorably works to lower the interfacial level density by oxidizing the to-be-deposited surface and the vicinities thereof by simultaneously introducing oxygen and N2O. Concretely speaking, the silicon oxynitride film (B) is formed under the condition #211 by introducing 5 SCCM of SiH4, 120 SCCM of N2O and 500 SCCM of hydrogen with a high-frequency power density of 0.4 W/cm2 at a substrate temperature of 400xc2x0 C. The high frequency of electric power source is 10 MHz to 120 MHz and, preferably, 27 MHz to 60 MHz, but is here set to be 60 MHz. Under the condition #212, the film is formed by introducing hydrogen at a flow rate of 125 SCCM in contrast with the condition #211. The flow rates of the gases are not to specify their absolute values, but a meaning resides in the flow rate ratios. When Xh=[H2]/([SiH4]+[N2O]), then, Xh may be from 0.1 to 7. When Xg=[N2O]/([SiH4]+[N2O]), then, Xg may be from 0.90 to 0.99. The silicon oxynitride (A) is formed under the condition #210. Table 2 shows representative properties of the silicon oxynitride films obtained under the above conditions, as well as compositions and densities of hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and silicon (Si) found from Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (hereinafter abbreviated as RBS, systems used: 3S-R10 accelerator, NEC 3SDH pelletron end station; CE and ARBS-400). From the results of Table 2, the concentration of hydrogen in the film increases as H2 is added during the formation of film. This also causes a change in the contents of oxygen and nitrogen. In the silicon oxynitride film (A), the ratio of O to Si is 1.9 (allowable range is 1.7 to 2), and the ratio of N to Si is 0.04 (allowable range is 0.02 to 0.06). On the other hand, the composition of the silicon oxynitride film (B) varies depending upon the flow rate of H2 added during the formation of film, and in which the ratio of O to Si is 1.6 (allowable range is 1.4 to 1.8) and the ratio of N to Si is 0.14 to 0.18 (allowable range is 0.05 to 0.5), the ratio of O to Si being decreased and the ratio of N to Si being increased. The density of the film increases with an increase in the content of nitrogen, i.e., increases from 6.5 atoms/cm3 of the silicon oxynitride film (A) to 7.1 atoms/cm3 of the silicon oxynitride film (B). It is considered that the film becomes dense with an increase in the content of nitrogen since the etching rate is 120 nm/min for the silicon oxynitride film (A) and 63 to 105 nm/min for the silicon oxynitride film (B) with a mixture solution (trade name: LAL500, manufactured by Sterachemifa Co.) containing 7.13% of ammonium hydrogenfluoride (NH4HF2) and 15.4% of ammonium fluoride (NH4F) at 20xc2x0 C. It can therefore be said that the film is becoming dense with an increase in the nitrogen content. This fact indicates that a dense and hard film efficiently blocks impurities from the substrate, and it is meaningful to provide the silicon oxynitride film (B) on the side of the substrate. When compared in terms of the internal stress, the compressive stress of xe2x88x924.26xc3x97108 Pa of the silicon oxynitride film (A) greatly changes to xe2x88x927.29xc3x97106 Pa through the heat treatment (500xc2x0 C. for one hour+550xc2x0 C. for 4 hours, equivalent to the treating conditions in the step of crystallization). The silicon oxynitride film (B), on the other hand, has a tensile stress of 2.31xc3x97108 Pa, which does not almost change even through the heat treatment. The phenomenon of change in the internal stress due to the heat treatment can be considered to be related to a change in the structure or a change in the composition of the film, and it can be said that the silicon oxynitride film (B) has a better thermal stability. In the foregoing were described typical properties of the silicon oxynitride film. The silicon oxynitride film which is an insulating film used in the present invention is in no way limited to those shown in Tables 1 and 2. The silicon oxynitride film (A) has a composition, i.e., the insulating film suited as a base film of the semiconductor device as represented by TFT, has a composition that contains 1 to 2 atomic % of nitrogen, 0.5 to 2 atomic % of hydrogen and 62 to 65 atomic % of oxygen. The silicon oxynitride film (B) has a composition that contains 7 to 10 atomic % of nitrogen, 2 to 3 atomic % of hydrogen and 52 to 55 atomic % of oxygen. Further, the silicon oxynitride film (A) has a density of not smaller than 6xc3x971022 but smaller than 7xc3x971022 atoms/cm3 and the silicon oxynitride film (B) has a density of not smaller than 7xc3x971022 but smaller than 8xc3x971022 atoms/cm3. The etching rate with a mixture solution containing the above ammonium hydrogenfluoride (NH4HF2) and ammonium fluoride (NH4F) is 110 to 130 nm/min for the silicon oxynitride film (A) and 60 to 110 nm/min for the silicon oxynitride film (B).

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device which has a bipolar transistor and a MISFET (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor). More particularly, it relates to techniques which are effective when applied to a memory device, such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) device or a SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) device having bipolar transistors, particularly both bipolar transistors and MISFETs. Even more particularly, it relates to a random access memory with high speed and low consumption of power, where a switching circuit as a complex circuit of a bipolar transistor and metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (hereinafter referred to as "MOSFET") is adopted as a peripheral circuit (address circuit, timing circuit or the like) of the memory. Moreover, this invention relates to techniques for isolation between elements of the device. Generally, the present invention is directed to techniques in semiconductor memories, such as Bi-CMOS (bipolar transistor-complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor structure) memories, to avoid destruction of information due to minority carriers. Semiconductor memories are manufactured as products of large capacity, such as 64K bits, 256K bits, in recent years. Much developmental work has been done on various semiconductor memories, such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) and static random access memories (SRAMs). The so-called one-MOSFET type memory cell, which is composed of one capacitor for storing information charges and one MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) FET for switching, has a small occupation area and is suited to raise the density of integration. Therefore, it is extensively adopted as the memory cell of a DRAM. In the DRAM, circuits other than a memory cell array, namely, peripheral circuits such as various timing generators, an address buffer circuit, an address decoder circuit, data input/output circuits, a sense amplifier and a main amplifier are constructed of CMOS (Complementary MOS) circuits in each of which an N-channel MOSFET and a P-channel MOSFET are combined. Thus, the DRAM is permitted to exhibit a lower power consumption as well as a higher operating speed and to have a higher density of integration. The DRAM which employs the CMOS circuits for the peripheral circuits is described in, for example, "Nikkei Electronics," Jul. 18, 1983, pp. 188-190. In order to meet the needs of the age for memories of large capacity, investigations have been made from a viewpoint of manufacturing memories with large capacity, high speed and low consumption of power. Illustratively, in order to attain a still higher operating speed and higher integration density, devices constituting a DRAM need to be made smaller, but the magnitudes of signals to be treated decrease with the smaller devices. In order to treat the small signal magnitude at high speed, a high drivability is required of the constituent device of the circuitry. However, insofar as a CMOS circuit is used as the device, the sizes of MOSFETs cannot be made very large from the viewpoint of the density of integration, and the drivability (conductance g.sub.m) of each MOSFET is low, so that the operating speed of the memory lowers along with the density of integration. As a result, development of a memory in a mixed state of bipolar transistor and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (CMOSFET) (the memory being hereinafter referred to as "Bi-CMOS memory"), as shown in Japanese patent application No. 22811/1984 (corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 701,226), has been considered. Specifically, in order to simultaneously achieve the higher density of integration and the higher operating speed, we have made studies of using a bipolar transistor in the peripheral circuit of the DRAM. FIG. 29 illustrates a fundamental sectional structure of a Bi-CMOS system. Of course, the system shown is merely exemplary. Such Bi-CMOS system is stated in detail in "Nikkei Electronics", Aug. 12, 1985, pp. 187-208. Shown in the figure are one n-channel MOS (nMOS) transistor, as well as one p-channel MOS (pMOS) transistor, and an n-p-n bipolar (npnBIP) transistor. Here, letters S, G and D affixed to the nMOS or pMOS indicate the nodes of the source, gate and drain thereof, respectively, while letters C, E and B affixed to the npnBIP transistor, indicate the nodes of the collector, emitter and base thereof, respectively. Besides, in the figure, diffusion layers have only the impurity types thereof written down for the sake of brevity. Accordingly, as regards portions to which the same symbols are assigned, it is merely indicated that the conductivity types are the same, and the impurity materials and impurity concentrations are selected at will properly according to the purposes of the portions. The Bi-CMOS memory will now be described briefly. In an address circuit, a timing circuit or the like as a peripheral circuit within a semiconductor memory, an output transistor for charging and discharging parasitic capacitance in signal lines of long distance, and an output transistor with large fan-out are constituted by bipolar transistors, and a logical circuit for performing logical processing such as inversion, non-inversion, NAND, NOR is constituted by a CMOS circuit. The logical circuit constituted by the CMOS circuit is of low power consumption, and an output signal of the logical circuit is transmitted through the bipolar output transistor with low output impedance to the signal lines of long distance. Since the output signal is transmitted to the signal lines using the bipolar output transistor with low output impedance, dependence of the signal propagation delay time on the parasitic capacitance of the signal lines can be reduced, whereby a semiconductor memory with low consumption power and high speed is obtained. However, as discussed further below, problems arise in using bipolar transistors in the peripheral circuits of, for example, the DRAM. Heretofore, in an integrated circuit employing insulated-gate field effect transistors (hereinafter, abbreviated to "MOS transistors") or bipolar transistors (hereinafter, abbreviated to "BIP transistors"), isolation among the elements of the integrated circuit has been performed by applying reverse bias voltages to p-n junctions. The details are stated in, for example, "Integrated Circuit Technology (1)" (Corona Publishing Co., Ltd.) by Yanai and Nagata, pp. 21-31. In a Bi-CMOS system, a similar device isolation method similar to the above is adopted. In such a Bi-CMOS system, in the prior art, the isolation among a large number of devices within a chip is executed by applying the lowest potential in the circuitry to a p-type substrate (p-Sub) and the highest potential in the circuity to the n-type isolation layer (nWELL) for forming the pMOS transistor, whereby the junctions of various parts are prevented from falling into the condition of forward bias. That is, with the prior art, in a case where the circuitry operates between a supply voltage (for example, 5 V) and the earth (0 V), the devices are isolated by applying 0 V to the substrate p-Sub and 5 V to the n-type isolation layer. Since, in such a system, the applied voltage to the substrate p-Sub or to the n-type isolation layer is selected at the lowest voltage required for the device isolation, reverse bias voltages to be applied to the p-n junctions can be rendered small, and therefore it is possible to cope with the problems of lowering in the breakdown voltages of devices, etc. attendant upon the future microminiaturization of the devices.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a wiper unit which wipes a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus which includes the wiper unit. 2. Related Art In the related art, an ink jet printer which forms an image by ejecting liquid from a liquid ejecting head onto a recording medium such as a sheet of paper has been known as a type of liquid ejecting apparatus. In such a printer, usually, a head maintenance unit for maintaining an ejecting property of liquid from the liquid ejecting head is provided. For example, in a printer which is disclosed in JP-A-2011-126129, as such a head maintenance unit, cleaning means which wipes liquid attached to a liquid ejecting head is provided. The cleaning means includes a carriage which moves according to a driving force which is transmitted from a first motor, a first reel which is rotatably provided on the side surface of the carriage, and a second reel which is provided on the surface on which the first reel is provided, and is rotatably driven according to a driving force which is transmitted from a second motor. In addition, a long cleaning tape (wiping member) is stretched between the first reel and the second reel. Specifically, an unused portion of the cleaning tape is wound around the first reel, and a used portion of the cleaning tape is wound around the second reel. In addition, liquid is wiped from the liquid ejecting head by moving the carriage according to the driving force which is transmitted from the first motor to the feed direction while feeding the cleaning tape from the first reel to the second reel by rotatably driving the second reel according to the driving force which is transmitted from the second motor in a state in which the cleaning tape is in contact with the liquid ejecting head. Meanwhile, in the above described printer, the cleaning tape is prevented from sagging due to sliding contact with the liquid ejecting head by moving the carriage in the sending direction while sending the cleaning tape which is caused to come into contact with the liquid ejecting head from the first reel to the second reel. For this reason, when sagging of the cleaning tape is suppressed, it is essential to provide a second motor for winding the cleaning tape around the second reel, accordingly, there have been problems in that the weight of the carriage is increased by the weight of the second motor, and the driving load of the first motor when moving the carriage is increased.

The present invention relates generally to chemical compositions, and more particularly, to specialty cleaning compositions which are useful in difficult applications, particularly those of cleaning cooking pots, pans and food service utensils. It is well known that cooking utensils, such as pots, pans and flatware are soiled in use by a great variety of naturally occurring products which are difficult to remove. For example, during the time when a pot or kettle is used in kitchen service, it may, through ordinary use, oversight or neglect, accumulate numerous layers of baked-on, carbonized grease, protein material, and other decomposition products of food. In restaurant use, cooking pots and pans as are exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time, and are used to cook a large variety of products. These include meats, fats of various kinds, and fruits and vegetables. Such products, in turn contain not only proteinaceous material, but certain enzymes as well. Common foods also includes sugars, starches, and salts of various kinds. When used continually, utensils are also exposed to spices and seasonings, various salts, and acids and bases. These include, for example, citric and other acids from fruits, various esters and alcohols, and certain relatively complex materials including dyes or dyelike compounds. Over a period of time, the residues of these compositions become hardened and baked on to the pans. The removal of such residues is very difficult because the compositions are no longer simply oils and greases which can be removed by conventional soaps. In commercial food service, such as restaurant hotel, and catering operations, it is simply not practical to analyze the nature of each separate utensil stain or other residue, and consider the underlying substrate before attempting to clean it. Thus, various individual stains can be removed from most known kinds of cooking utensils by simple abrasive scrubbing, certain other materials may be removed by relatively long soaking, and still others may be treated by stronger, relatively rapidly acting chemicals. However, many compositions which are very effective against some stains are not considered safe for use with aluminum, a common constituent of food service utensils. Other compositions are not desired for use with resin (commonly polymeric tetrafluoroethylene "TFE") coated products, while still others are considered damaging to stainless steel or copper. With the limited training facilities available for kitchen help, and with the need for speed and efficiency of cleaning, it is not uncommon for kitchen help not to differentiate among the materials from which various cooking utensils are made, and consequently either to fail to clean them effectively, or use cleaners which are adapted to clean one type of substrate but which are ineffective, or sometimes actually dangerous to others. In particular, while there has always been and continues to be a strong need and demand for effective restaurant or other commercial cookware cleaners, there has heretofore been a lack of a suitable cleaning composition which is highly effective with both steel and aluminum, without being damaging to either. Extended soaking is a very effective way of softening most cooking residues and dissolving them away, is not labor-intensive, and is simple. However, until the present, cleaners which are simple and safe for cooking residue have not been suitable for long term soaking of both aluminum and steel. Many of those cleaners which were strong enough to soften deposits on steel actually attacked aluminum and dissolved it to the point where such cleaners could not be used. Other aluminum cleaners were generally not satisfactory for safe long-term soaking of aluminum, and were required to be watched and timed carefully to avoid damage. Alkali cleaners, because of their ability to saponify greases and oils, are highly desirable, but ordinarily attack aluminum in the absence of effective inhibitors. Inhibitors such as phenols, potassium salts of permanganates and chromates, are effective chemically but create problems of toxicity and color residue. Other compositions have further drawbacks, such as generating foam, or allowing redeposition of cleaned materials. Some inhibitors have been successful, such as those identified in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,449, but these inhibitors sometimes tend to form a gel or become unduly thick when not continually agitated. Moreover, there is still room for improvement generally in these compositions. Consequently, there is and has been a demand for corrosion inhibitor systems which are non-toxic, which are safe in an environment surrounding food preparation and serving, and which will clean steel and/or iron, but yet not damage aluminum utensils, even after considerable time, and which possess improved corrosion inhibitors and displays desirable non-gelling characteristics. According to the present invention, a cleaning system is provided which uses a relatively strong alkali, and a broad-spectrum inhibitor system comprised of a simple sugar, a calcium donor, sodium citrate, and an organic, nonionic antifoaming agent. The prior art having failed to provide an effective, strong cleaner which will remove cooking residues and yet not affect aluminum adversely, even upon relatively long soaking, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cleaner which is safe in food service environments and which include strong, long-term corrosion inhibitors to provide safety in use with aluminum. Another object of the invention is to provide an aluminum cleaner and improved corrosion inhibitor system which is adapted for use in a commercial kitchen environment. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a commercial cleaning system for food service articles which is economical to produce, and easy and long-lasting in use. A further object of the invention is to provide a composition for cleaning cooking utensils which includes water, a strong base, together with an inhibiting system consisting of a simple sugar, sodium citrate, a calcium salt, and an anti-foaming additive. A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of cleaning pots, pans and the like by immersing them totally over a long period in a solution containing materials adapted to attack stains and cooking residues on cookware without adversely affecting the aluminum from which the cookware is made. Another object of the invention is to provide a highly effective aluminum cleaner and brightener which includes an inhibitor system which provides improved performance in respect to prior art calcium-sucrose inhibitors but which requires the use of far less sucrose to obtain equal or better results in use. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the inventions are achieved and practiced by providing a cleaner which includes, by weight, about forty to one hundred parts of water, 1 to 5 parts by weight of a strong caustic, 0.1 to 0.3 parts of calcium salt, 0.1 to 0.3 parts sucrose or like sugar, and 1.0% to 2.0% sodium citrate and up to 5.0 parts of a nonionic antifoaming additive. A nonionic or other surfactant, such as, an alkylphenyl polyethyleneglycol ether may be added, if desired.

Seals have been used to isolate fluids at various pressures and temperatures. Such seals have existed for use in packing rings, seal rings, piston rings, and gland structures in industrial equipment such as cylinders, pumps and valves and in oil-field equipment such as downhole tools and surface equipment, requiring seals, for example, against high pressure and low pressure liquids and gases, for reciprocating rods, for pistons, for valves and for other applications. However, such seals may be eroded and/or extruded or destroyed for machinery equipment wherein sealing needs to be established at the most severe sealing environments, which include seal gland design, pressures, fluid medias and temperatures. Such seals, whether of the dynamic or static type, are usually made, or have portions made, of materials which, to some extent, are resilient or at least deformable. In order to seal effectively, it is not necessary, but could be possible, that the sealing device be placed under some compressive loading between the components of the assembly to be sealed. Because of the compressing load, there is a tendency for portions of deformable seals to be subjected to extrusion forces which will either distort the seal and impair its effectiveness as a seal or, in more severe cases, force portions of the seal into clearances between the components to be sealed. In an attempt to overcome this extrusion problem, workers in the field have resorted to various techniques. One common practice employed to prevent such extrusion is the use of a back-up ring of knitted mesh as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,204. Additionally, seals having the seal lip configuration with an insert discussed below are also known in the art and are manufactured by Parker Seal Company, polypac seal.

Optical microscopy has been a commonly used method of investigation in medicine and biology. Numerous biological samples, including live cells, are quite transparent under visible light illumination and behave essentially as phase objects. Techniques such as phase contrast and Nomarski microscopy provide contrast of nearly invisible samples by transforming the phase information into intensity distribution and thus reveal structural details of biological systems. However, the information obtained with these techniques about the phase shift associated with the illuminating field is only qualitative. Retrieving quantitative phase information from transparent objects with high accuracy and low noise allows for measurements in the biological investigation of structure and dynamics. Both interferometric and non-interferometric techniques have been proposed for quantitative phase imaging of biological samples. Also Fourier phase microscopy (FPM) has been developed as an extremely low-noise phase imaging method. Due to the sub-nanometer phase stability over extended periods of time, FPM is suitable for investigating dynamics in biological systems on time scales from seconds to a cell lifetime.

The recovery of hydrocarbons from subterranean zones relies on the process of drilling wellbores. The process includes drilling equipment situated at surface, and a drill string extending from the surface equipment to a below-surface formation or subterranean zone of interest. The terminal end of the drill string includes a drill bit for drilling (or extending) the wellbore. The process also involves a drilling fluid system, which in most cases uses a drilling fluid (“mud”) that is pumped through the inside of piping of the drill string to cool and lubricate the drill bit. The mud exits the drill string via the drill bit and returns to surface carrying rock cuttings produced by the drilling operation. The mud also helps control bottom hole pressure and prevent hydrocarbon influx from the formation into the wellbore, which can potentially cause a blow out at surface. Directional drilling is the process of steering the drilling of a well from vertical to intersect a target endpoint or follow a prescribed path. At the terminal end of the drill string is a bottom-hole-assembly (“BHA”) which comprises 1) the drill bit; 2) a steerable downhole mud motor of a rotary steerable system; 3) sensors of survey equipment used in logging-while-drilling (“LWD”) and/or measurement-while-drilling (“MWD”) to evaluate downhole conditions as drilling progresses; 4) means for telemetering data to surface; and 5) other control equipment such as stabilizers or heavy weight drill collars. The BHA is conveyed into the wellbore by a string of metallic tubulars (i.e. drill pipe). MWD equipment is used to provide downhole sensor and status information to surface while drilling in a near real-time mode. This information is used by a rig crew to make decisions about controlling and steering the well to optimize the drilling speed and trajectory based on numerous factors, including lease boundaries, existing wells, formation properties, and hydrocarbon size and location. The rig crew can make intentional deviations from the planned wellbore path as necessary based on the information gathered from the downhole sensors during the drilling process. The ability to obtain real-time MWD data allows for a relatively more economical and more efficient drilling operation. One type of downhole telemetry known as mud pulse telemetry involves creating pressure waves (“pulses”) in the mud circulating through the drill string. Mud is circulated from surface to downhole using positive displacement pumps. The pressure pulses are created by a fluid pressure pulse generator in a downhole telemetry tool, which controllably changes the flow area and/or path of the mud as it passes through the pulse generator in a timed, coded sequence, thereby creating pressure differentials in the mud. The changes in flow area can be effected by a valve mechanism in the pulse generator. One such valve mechanism is a rotor and stator combination, wherein the rotor is coupled to a motor which is controlled to rotate the rotor relative to the stator between an opened position where there is no restriction of mud flowing through the valve and no pulse is generated, and a restricted flow position where there is restriction of mud flowing through the valve and a pressure pulse is generated. The position of the rotor at any given time is conventionally determined by position sensors typically located on an output side of the motor. Such sensors can be prone to failure, and impose an expense and complexity to the downhole tool. However, determining the rotor position is important in order to ensure that the telemetry signal is corrected encoded; a misaligned rotor can cause errors in the encoded telemetry signal, or make it difficult or impossible to decode the telemetry signal at surface. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a new and useful method or apparatus for determining the rotor position in a fluid pressure pulse generator.

1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to the field of apparel and, more particularly, to cold-weather hand coverings like a glove having a selectively shaped insulating barrier that is removably placed into the hand coverings to selectively control heat conduction from the hand coverings. 2. Description of the Prior Art It is known in the prior art to provide pouch-like pockets on the surface of gloves or mittens to provide an external source of heat for warming the hand in cold weather environments. Such prior art devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,970,081 (Eisendrath), in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,671 (Monk) and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,579 (Dunford). Such devices, however, require periodic replenishment of the fuel or power for the external source of heat. The glove disclosed herein obviates the need for replenishment of the fuel or power for the external heat source by employing a heat-insulating barrier—instead of a heat source—having thermal characteristics that are tailored to substantially reduce the conduction of heat away from the back side of the hand.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to skin care compositions which exhibit a therapeutic effect in the treatment of skin disorders such as itching, irritation and skin dryness. 2. Description of Related Art There are a number of shampoo products on the market today which are specifically formulated as anti-dandruff shampoos. These products generally contain one or a mixture of surfactants, with the primary surfactant being an anionic surfactant such as an alkyl or aryl sulfate or sulfonate. One hypothesis is that dandruff problems are believed to be linked to the presence of a yeast-like fungus on the skin and an acceleration of the normal process of skin production. Conventional anti-dandruff shampoos generally contain effective amounts of an active agent which inhibits fungal growth and/or slows cell growth on the scalp. Examples of these agents include zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, salicylic acid, coal tar, sulfur, ketoconozole and climbazole. Examples of typical anti-dandruff shampoo formulations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,089,945; 4,329,334; 4,329,335; 4,329,336 and 4,835,148. However, experience has shown that excessive dandruff is largely a problem associated with cold, dry climates and it generally does not occur until after puberty. In more humid, tropical regions dandruff is a much less common disorder. However, inhabitants of these regions are generally more susceptible to mild forms of scalp dermatitis with such symptoms as excessive scalp itching, scalp irritation, inflammation, scalp dryness and scalp redness. These symptoms can also occur during the warm summer months in non-tropical regions. Although many of these symptoms ought to be relieved by the use of the anti-fungal agents present in some anti-dandruff shampoos, e.g., climbazole, zinc pyrithione or selenium sulfide, experience has demonstrated that these symptoms are not relieved and, in fact, are even worsened by regular use of many commercial anti-dandruff hair shampoos. Accordingly it is a primary object of this invention to provide a mild, aqueous, skin care detergent composition, e.g., a scalp care shampoo or a shower cleansing composition, which exhibits a therapeutic effect on skin disorders, particularly, scalp disorders, particularly as encountered in warm weather and in tropical regions.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flash memory storage system, and more particularly, to a flash memory storage system capable of facilitating access efficiency. 2. Description of the Related Art Flash Memory, a non-volatile memory, keeps the previously stored written data upon shutdown. In contrast to other storage media, e.g. hard disk, soft disk, magnetic tape and so on, the flash memory has advantages of small volume, light weight, vibration-proof, low power consumption, and no mechanical movement delay in data access, therefore, the flash memory are for wide use as storage media in consumer electronic devices, embedded systems, or portable computers. There are two kinds of flash memory: one is an NOR flash memory and the other is an NAND flash memory. An NOR flash memory is characteristically of low driving voltage, fast access speed, high stability, and are widely applied in portable electrical devices and communication devices, such as Personal Computers (PC), mobile phones, personal digital assistances (PDA), and set-top boxes (STB). An NAND flash memory is specifically designed as data storage media, for example, a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, a Compact Flash (CF) card, a memory Stick (MS) card. Upon writing, erasing and reading, charges move across a floating gate relying on charge coupling which determines a threshold voltage of a transistor under the floating gate. In other words, in response to an injection of electrons into the floating gate, the logical status of the floating gate turns from 1 to 0; on the contrary, in response to move electrons away from the floating gate, the logical status of the floating gate turns from 0 to 1. The NAND flash memory contains a plurality of blocks, each block having a plurality of pages and each page dividing into a data area and a spare area. The data area which may have 512 bytes is used for storing data. The spare area is used for storing error correction code (ECC). However, the flash memory fails to change data update-in-place, that is, prior to writing data into a non-blank page, erasing a block including the non-blank page is required. In general, erasing a block take as much time as 10-20 times greater as writing into a page. If a size of written data is over an assigned block, the filled pages in the assigned block have to be removed to other blocks, and then erasing the assigned block is performed. Furthermore, flash memory block may fail to access when in excess of one million times of erasures before the block is considered to be worn out. This is because the number of erasure times for a block is close to one million, charge within the floating gate may be insufficient due to current leakage of realized capacitor, thereby resulting in data loss of the flash memory cell, and even failure to access the flash memory. In other words, if erased over a limited times, a block may be unable to be accessed. There are two kinds of NAND flash memory: one is a multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory and the other is a single-level cell (SLC) flash memory. A cell of the MLC NAND flash memory includes a floating gate for storing various charge levels indicative of binary value 00, 01, 10, and 11. Therefore, each MLC NAND flash memory cell can store four values one time. Conversely, the SLC NAND flash memory cell has thinner oxide film between the floating gate and the source. During writing process, voltage is applied onto the floating gate, thereby the stored charge being driven to flow out through the source. Each SLC NAND flash memory cell may store only one-bit data, as is less than MLC NAND flash memory cell. In addition, a speed of an access to the MLC NAND flash memory is faster than that to the SLC NAND flash memory cell. Nevertheless, a number of access to the SLC NAND flash memory may be one hundred thousand times, while the MLC NAND flash memory can be accessed by ten thousand times. That is, a life of the MLC NAND flash memory is shorter than that of SLC NAND flash memory. Moreover, the MLC NAND flash memory consumes more power than the SLC NAND flash memory by about 15%. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a storage memory device using SLC NAND flash memory, and FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a storage memory device using MLC NAND flash memory. At present, the storage devices 70 using the MLC NAND flash memory are almost low access speed. The storage device 70 accesses multiple MLC NAND flash memory areas 74 by means of the controller 72. Conversely, the storage devices 80 using the SLC NAND flash memory are almost used in high performance memory card. The storage device 80 accesses multiple SLC NAND flash memory areas 84 by means of the controller 82. Because the demands for the flash memory storage device are different, it is necessary to develop a flash memory device capable of determining to store a file into the MLC NAND flash memory or a SLC NAND flash memory to meet the user desires.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to integrated circuit structures. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for treating dielectric films to prevent cracking after deposition on a semiconductor wafer. 2. Description of the Related Art The steps of manufacturing an integrated circuit structure include the deposition of a plurality of layers onto the surface of a silicon wafer. Typically, these layers comprise either a conductive metallic material, such as tungsten or aluminum metals, or an insulating dielectric material, such as silicon oxide. The physical properties of these films play an important role in determining the quality of the film layers, and the interaction of the film layers with the silicon substrate. One important physical property which greatly effects the quality of a film layer and the interactions between the silicon substrate and the deposited film is residual stress, which can be either tensile or compressive with respect to the silicon wafer. When a film exhibits tensile stress with respect to the silicon wafer, it tends toward forming a concave upper surface, which is caused by the film exerting a force directed away from the surface of the wafer. If the magnitude of the tensile stress is sufficient, the film may (1) crack and/or (2) pull away from the surface of the silicon wafer. These damaging effects may occur during the course of the integrated circuit manufacturing process, or at any time throughout the useful lifetime of the integrated circuit device. In contrast, films exhibiting compressive stress, exert a force directed toward the surface of the wafer (and tend toward having a convex upper surface). Although compressive stress may not cause as much damage as tensile stress, if the compressive stress is of a great enough magnitude in a given film layer, the highly stressed film layer may exert damaging stress on an adjacent film layer. Therefore, ideally, a film layer which does not exhibit any residual stress is optimal for forming a high quality, stable film layer. In practice, every film layer deposited on a silicon wafer exhibits some degree of residual stress. In an integrated circuit device having, for example, tungsten conductive metal layers and silicon oxide insulating dielectric layers, the metal layers exhibit tensile stress, while the silicon oxide layers exhibit compressive stress. The forces exerted in tensile stress and compressive stress are opposite in directionality. Therefore, the tensile and compressive stresses respectively exhibited by the tungsten metal and silicon oxide dielectric layers combine in such a way that the overall stress of the composite of metal and dielectric film layers is reduced. The lowering of accumulated stress by placement of layers with opposing stresses is effective when the magnitudes of the stresses are small, i.e., less than 10.sup.10 dynes/centimeter.sup.2 (dynes/cm.sup.2) in magnitude. However, use of a large amount of compressive stress to compensate for a large amount of tensile stress may also lead to a cracking of the films making up the various metal and dielectric layers. Therefore, an effective construction of an integrated circuit device comprises metal layers having low magnitudes of tensile stress, and dielectric layers having low magnitudes of compressive stress. Although it may be preferable to have neither tensile nor compressive stress exerted by the various metal and dielectric layers on the silicon wafer, in practice, the quality of the integrated circuit devices may be more effectively maintained by having a small amount of compressive stress exerted by the composite of metal and dielectric layers rather than having a small amount of tensile stress exerted by the layers. The conventional method of depositing a dielectric layer includes a continuous deposition of dielectric material onto an integrated circuit structure until the desired thickness has been attained. For the purposes of this invention, an integrated circuit structure may comprise a silicon wafer, with various components formed therein, including active devices, dielectric layers, underlying metal lines, oxide-filled dielectric trenches, etc. The prior art continuous deposition of a dielectric layer results in a structure as seen in prior art FIG. 1: a thick, single layer of a dielectric film 10, deposited onto an integrated circuit structure 2. When the dielectric layer made using the prior art process consists of silicon oxide, the layer, after heat treatment, exerts a compressive stress on the underlying integrated circuit structure. While dielectric materials such as silicon oxide have been conventionally used in the construction of integrated circuit structures to electrically separate and isolate or insulate conductive elements of the integrated circuit structure from one another, as the spacing between such conductive elements in the integrated circuit structure have become smaller and smaller, the capacitance between such conductive elements through the silicon oxide dielectric material has become of increasing concern. Such capacitance has a negative influence on the overall performance of the integrated circuit structure in a number of ways, including its effect on speed of the circuitry and cross-coupling (crosstalk) between adjacent conductive elements. Because of this ever increasing problem of capacitance between adjacent conductive elements separated by silicon oxide insulation, as the scale of integrated circuit structures continues to reduce, the use of other insulation materials having dielectric constants (k values) lower than conventional silicon oxide (which has a k value of about 4) has been proposed. One such class of material is a carbon doped silicon oxide material wherein at least a portion of the oxygen atoms, bonded to the silicon atoms in a traditional silicon oxide material, are replaced by one or more organic groups such as, for example, an alkyl group such as a methyl (CH.sub.3 --) group. These low k carbon doped silicon oxide dielectric materials have dielectric constants varying from about 2.5 to about 3.5 and are, therefore, of great interest as low dielectric constant substitutes for the conventional silicon oxide insulation material. Certain low k dielectric layers, however, exhibit tensile stress when deposited as a thick single layer of dielectric film. In some low k films, such as porous ozone deposited films, a conventional post annealing step is sufficient to convert the residual stress of the film from tensile to compressive. However, other low k dielectric layers (such as, for example, low k carbon doped silicon oxide dielectric materials) exhibit tensile stress when deposited as a thick, single layer of dielectric film, and continue to exhibit tensile stress even after annealing. The presence of a dielectric layer with tensile stress, deposited as a thick, single layer of dielectric film onto one or more metal layers which also exhibit tensile stress, results in an integrated circuit device in which the deposited layers tend to crack and detach from the surface of the silicon wafer, resulting in damage to and even failure of the integrated circuit device. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a method for treating a film layer of a dielectric material located on an integrated circuit structure in such a manner that the film exhibits compressive stress following the post anneal step.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a test apparatus and an electronic device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a test apparatus and an electronic device enabling low-speed and high-speed devices or a device having both low-speed and high-speed sections to be tested with a single test apparatus. 2. Related Art A test apparatuses for testing a device under test (DUT) receive output signals from the output terminals of the DUT in response to test signals inputted to the input terminals. Then, the test apparatus compares the output signals with an expected value that is expected when the test signals are inputted to the DUT, so that the functions of DUT are tested. Here, the timings for inputting the test signals to each terminal of the DUT are designated by timing signals generated by a timing generator. Also, the timings for acquiring the output signals from the DUT are designated by strobe signals generated by the timing generator. The timing and strobe signals are generated by a variable delay circuit based on timing data recorded in a timing memory of the timing generator. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-47573, for example, discloses that upper data of the delay data set by a delay setting device are inputted to a coarse delay device so as to delay pulses from a period generator. Then, the pulses delayed by the coarse delay device along with lower data of the delay data are inputted to a fine delay circuit so as to output pulses delayed based on the delay data.

The present disclosure relates to a toner case and an image forming apparatus including the toner case. An image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copying machine and a multifunctional peripheral, forms a toner image by supplying a toner (a developer) from a developing device to an image carrier, such as a photosensitive drum. The toner supplied to form such a toner image is replenished from a toner case to the developing device. The toner case includes a case main body storing the toner and an agitator rotating around a rotation axis and agitating the toner stored in the case main body, for example.

Szmuszkovicz U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,881 discloses some allylic amines, having anti-depressive action of the formula ##STR2## wherein the group ##STR3## is selected from the group consisting of pyrrolidino, piperidino, morpholino, 4-methylpiperazino and hexahydro-1H-azepin-1-yl(hexamethyleneimino), and wherein R', R" and R"' are hydrogen or C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 --alkyloxy. However, such compounds are less potent as analgesic and antidepressant compounds. Szmuszkovicz U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,670 discloses some 1,3-amino-alcohols of the formula ##STR4## wherein --N Z is a heterocyclic amino radical containing from five to ten nuclear atoms, inclusive, e.g., pyrrolidino, 2-methylpyrrolidino, 2-ethylpyrrolidino, 2,2-dimethylpyrrolidino, 3,4-dimethylpyrrolidino, 2-isopropylpyrrolidino, 2-sec.-butylpyrrolidino, and like alkylpyrrolidino groups, morpholino, 2-ethylmorpholino, 2-ethyl-5-methylmorpholino, 3,3-dimethylmorpholino, thiamorpholino, 3-methylthiamorpholino, 2,3,6-trimethylthiamorpholino, 4-methylpiperazino, 4-butylpiperazino, piperidino, 2-methylpiperadino, 3-methylpiperidino, 4-methylpiperidino, 4-propylpiperidino, 2-propylpiperidino, 4-isopropylpiperidino, and like alkylpiperidino groups, hexamethyleneimino, 2-methylhexamethyleneimino, 3,6-dimethylhexamethyleneimino, homomorpholino, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolyl, heptamethyleneimino, octamethyleneimino, 3-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonan-3-yl, 2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-2-yl, and the like, and R', R", R"', R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are defined variously as hydrogen, halogen, lower alkyl, lower alkoxy or trifluoromethyl, which are disclosed as being useful as oral and parenteral diuretics in mammals. But such patent does not teach the compounds claimed herein or the use as analgesics, claimed herein. Szmuskovicz U.S. Pat. No. 3,705,176 discloses some 1,3-amino-alcohol compounds of the formula ##STR5## as oral antidiabetic agents. This patent defines ##STR6## as a heterocyclic amino radical similar to the definitions above for defining the ##STR7## in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,670, but does not include any azetidine compounds therein. Pain is a major health problem since it is a concomitant of myriads of illnesses. It is especially troublesome in chronic illness because : (1) many strong analgesics lose their effectiveness when given for long periods of time, and (2) continued suffering plus the resultant restrictions on activity often lead to a state of depression, which further inhibits activity and the enjoyment of life. There is a need for a good analgesic which does not cause tolerance during chronic use. Associated antidepressant activity might also prevent or alleviate the depressive element in chronic illness. The available strong analgesics, narcotics, are also limited by government restrictions, because of the potential for abuse, and by their side effects, which can range from nuisance to life-threatening. Among these are respiratory depression, physical dependence, hallucinations, constipation, urinary retention and precipitation of opiate withdrawal. These qualities, taken with the decreasing effectiveness of chronically administered opiates, mean that there is inadequate treatment for patients with substantial chronic pain. A number of patents have issued recently describing various N-(2-aminocycloaliphatic)benzeneacetamide derivative compounds (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,435) and N-(2-aminocycloaliphatic)benzamide derivative compounds (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,904) as analgesic compounds. These above patents have included within their description definitions of the 2-amino groups thereof as including azetidinyl rings as the amino group. However, those compounds are 2-amino-cycloaliphaticamide compounds (bearing 2 nitrogens on positions 1 and 2 of the cycloaliphatic ring) and function somewhat differently than the new compounds described and claimed herein.

2. The Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to methods employing etchants for etching oxides of silicon during the manufacture of a semiconductor device such that the selectivity of the etchant is low. The methods of the present invention are also useful in removing contamination other than silicon oxides typically encountered in semiconductor manufacturing process flows, such as polymer residues, while providing low selectivity. 3. The Relevant Technology In the continuing quest for ever denser DRAM devices, the problem of forming for each memory cell capacitors having both sufficiently large capacitance to preserve a charge between refresh cycles and sufficiently small size to allow further reductions in circuit dimensions has become increasingly acute. Dimensional tolerances in capacitor formation have thus tended to become a yield-limiting and density-limiting factor in DRAM devices. Clean processes are a significant source of decreased dimensional control in the formation of capacitor structures. Removal of native oxides and other types of oxide contamination is required at various steps during capacitor formation. A short dip in a dilute solution of hydrofluoric acid (HF), such as a 100:1 volumetric ratio of water to 49% HF solution, is typically employed for this purpose. Problems arise because the dilute HF solution also significantly and even preferentially attacks doped silicon dioxide such as BPSG in which the capacitor structures are formed and defined, resulting in decreased control of critical dimensions associated with the capacitor. A less selective process is thus needed to remove native oxides and other types of oxide contamination during capacitor formation without excessively attacking doped silicon dioxide such as BPSG. A dilute HF solution is also typically employed to remove native oxide or other oxide contamination at process steps during which a refractory metal silicide such as titanium silicide is exposed to the solution. This may occur, for example, in a clean step prior to the formation of spacers around a gate stack that includes a refractory metal silicide layer, or during a clean step prior to filling a contact to a gate stack that includes a refractory metal silicide. As dimensions of gate stacks decrease, this use of dilute HF solution creates problems because the refractory metal silicide layer is preferentially etched by the dilute HF solution, such that where dimensional tolerances are small, the refractory metal silicide layer may be seriously damaged or even completely destroyed. A less selective process is thus needed to remove native oxide and other types of oxide contamination during gate formation and contact formation without excessively attacking refractory metal silicides.

Succinic anhydrides are valuable reactive intermediates that find use in an array of applications. For example, their copolymerization with epoxides or diols yields biodegradable polyesters. Anhydrides are also useful intermediates in organic synthesis, since they can be readily ring opened to diacids or other succinate derivatives; some examples of which include biologically active natural products, pharmaceuticals, and metalloprotease inhibitors. Substituted succinic anhydrides have previously been synthesized by a number of methods, most often by the dehydration of the corresponding diacid or from maleic anhydride via Diels-Alder or Ene reactions. They have also been made by metal catalyzed carbonylation of alkynes, alkenoic acids, and lactones; however, most of these catalytic reactions proceeded either in low yield, with significant side products, or without demonstrating substrate generality or product stereochemical purity. Thus, the development of more efficient and stereoselective syntheses remains an important goal. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,865 our group has developed a class of well-defined bimetallic catalysts of the general type [Lewis acid]+[M(CO)x]− for the ring-expanding carbonylation of strained heterocycles. We have found that related catalysts can carbonylate β-lactones to succinic anhydrides in high yields while preserving stereochemical purity. Given the many syntheses of enantiomerically pure epoxides and the recent advances in epoxide carbonylation to β-lactones, subsequent carbonylation of these lactones constitutes a versatile two-step method for the stereoselective synthesis of succinic anhydrides (Scheme 1). This method would be far more synthetically useful if the two steps could be consolidated, eliminating the requirement for isolation and purification of potentially toxic lactone intermediates, saving time and catalyst, and increasing overall yield. The present invention provides such a methodology.

In vehicles, and especially automobiles, it is known to provide door handles that are moveable between a first, stowed condition in which the handle is essentially flush with the exterior surface of the door and generally inaccessible to a user, and a second, deployed condition in which the handle is pivoted so that a portion thereof extends away from the door so as to be accessible to, and actuatable by, a user to open the vehicle door. Presently, such “flush-mount” handles are manually pivotable, requiring the user to physically depress one area of the handle in order to pivot the handle from the stowed to the deployed positions thereof.

It has recently been found, as disclosed in pending U.S. patent application No. 855,517, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,590 that singular molecular layers of layer-type transition metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS.sub.2, TaS.sub.2 and WS.sub.2, can be prepared by intercalating such compounds with lithium and then reacting the intercalated compound with water. This gives rise to a suspension of single molecular layers of the transition metal dichalcogenides in water. Attempts have been made in the past to produce sheet-like forms of metal dichalcogenides as revealed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,892 to Dines and Chianelli. Here, an amorphous transition metal dichalcogenide product is prepared by low temperature non-aqueous precipitation of the compound from mixtures of the metal salts. The amorphous products are converted into sheets of metal dichalcogenides referred to in the patent as having a "rag-like" structure by controlled heating at temperatures between 250.degree. and 400.degree. C. However, neither the end product, nor the intermediate product, are oriented films or sheets, that is films or sheets wherein the crystalline c-axes of single layers of the metal dichalcogenide are aligned. U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,386 to Jamieson discloses an intercalated transition metal based solid lubricating composition. A transition metal dichalcogenide is intercalated with a metal, preferably a coinage metal.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processor for reproducing a still image, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium, and particularly to an image processor that performs correction of defective pixels when synthesizing a plurality of still images, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, an image pickup apparatus for shooting, recording and reproducing a still image is equipped with an image processor, by which the synthesizing of a plurality of still images is sometimes performed. When a plurality of still images are synthesized, it is necessary to perform so-called defective pixel correction on defective pixels. For example, in one exposure operation, an operation for reading out a video signal (image signal) from an image pickup device is performed a plurality of times to thereby record a plurality of video signals obtained by the reading operation. Further, when the plurality of video signals are subjected to synthesizing processing (e.g. addition processing) to thereby generate one video signal, the defective pixel correction is performed on each of the plurality of video signals (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-326850). However, in the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-326850, although the defective pixel correction is performed on an individual video signal, a level is not indicated with reference to which some of image data items forming the video signal are determined as defective pixels. Therefore, for example, assuming that a minor defective pixel below the level exists in each image data item, when the plurality of image data items are accumulated by the addition processing, this causes accumulation of the defective pixel data items. As a result, this brings about a problem that even when the defective pixel correction is performed on each individual video signal, it is sometimes impossible to prevent degradation of image quality. Further, it is known that along with an increase in the number of pixels and an increase in the sensitivity of an image pickup apparatus, such as a digital camera, an image pickup device, particularly a CMOS image sensor suffers from RTS (random telegraph signal) noise generated from transistors that read out pixels, which results in generation of white spot noise in an image. This causes a problem that if a plurality of still images are synthesized in an image area in which such RST noise is generated, a large amount of white spot noise is generated within a screen, which degrades image quality.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to massagers, more particularly to power-operated massagers. 2. Background Art Power-operated massagers are often used to treat muscle tension and fatigue. Power-operated massagers may provide a vibrating massage effect, a percussive massage effect, a kneading massage effect, a rubbing massage effect, a rolling massage effect, a Shiatsu massage effect, or the like. Often, these massage effects are provided in power operated massagers that are adapted for handheld operation. Thus, many of these massagers are embodied in an apparatus having a handle to be grasped and manipulated by the user. Due to the massage effect of a particular massager, resultant vibrations from the massage effect are often imparted to the massager, which are translated through the handle portion to the hand and wrist of the user. Oftentimes, the massage feature of a massager is provided spaced away from the handle portion so that the user may apply the massage to a body part. The length of the handle portion may magnify the resultant moment or torque experienced by the user. Handheld massagers are often limited in visual therapeutic effects. Handheld vibratory massagers are often limited in features of versatility. A goal of the present invention is to reduce shock and vibrations imparted to the hand of the user when operating a handheld massager. Another goal of the present invention is to improve visual therapeutic effects of a handheld massager. A further goal of the present invention is to improve the effectiveness and versatility of handheld vibratory massagers.

As the dimensions of MOSFET devices have been pushed deeper and deeper into the sub-micron regime, increasing demands have been placed on controlling and characterizing the fabrication methods that are used to electrically isolate those devices from one another. The more common methods used for isolating MOSFET devices usually employ narrow strips of oxide layers and underlying doped silicon layers, that are placed in between the closely spaced devices. The purpose of the oxide is to provide electrical isolation while also providing lower lateral device to substrate capacitance, relative to older junction isolation methods. The purpose of the underlying doping layers is to avoid the formation of conducting channels that could, otherwise, result in unwanted buried current paths between adjacent devices. As device dimensions have continued to shrink, the associated isolation structures between the devices have continually been improved, in order to conserve space while also allowing for improved speed performance (lower capacitance). FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate cross-sectional and top views, respectively, of an early popular isolation method, based on the Local Oxidation of Silicon, LOCOS, which was first invented in 1970. Referring more particularly to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1a, there is shown a P type semiconductor substrate 2, an overlying relatively thin gate oxide region 4 and a further overlying polysilicon gate region 6, representing one of a plurality of isolated N channel MOSFET devices. FIGS. 1a and 1b also show the surrounding LOCOS isolation structure, for the MOSFET device, which is comprised of a P doped channel stop region 8 and an overlying relatively thick LOCOS oxide region 10. It is noted that the LOCOS oxide region 10 is usually thermally grown in the presence of a silicon nitride feature (previously removed and not shown), which is used to prevent a thick oxide layer from also being simultaneously grown in gate oxide region 4. As a result, evidence can still be seen of the partial extension of the thick oxide growth, under the previously removed nitride feature, in the form of a .vertline.Bird's Beak.vertline. 12. It is also noted that the same thermal processing for thick oxide region 10 tends to undesirably make the P type channel stop region 8 encroach into gate region 4. It is further noted that the highly graded Bird's Beak shape 12, along with the encroachment of the channel stop region 8 has historically posed a number of problems for the LOCOS based fabrication of sub-micron devices. Consequently, subsequent improvements in isolation technology have led to more recent advances such as Shallow Trench Isolation, STI, methods. FIGS. 2a and 2b illustrate cross-sectional and top views, respectively, of a more recent STI method for isolating sub-micron devices. Referring now more particularly to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2a. there is shown a P type semiconductor substrate 20, an overlying relatively thin gate oxide region 22 and a further overlying polysilicon gate region 24, representing one of a plurality of isolated N channel MOSFET devices. FIGS. 2a and 2b also show the surrounding STI isolation structure, for the MOSFET device, which is comprised of a P doped channel stop region 26 and an overlying relatively thick STI oxide region 28. It is noted that STI oxide region 28 is usually fabricated by first etching a shallow trench into the silicon substrate and then filling the trench with a CVD oxide layer which is subsequently planarized. From an examination of FIG. 2a, the aforementioned .vertline.Bird's Beak.vertline. problem of FIG. 1a, has been avoided. Also, the relatively lower thermal cycle needed for the CVD STI oxide tends to, beneficially, reduce the aforementioned channel stop encroachment problem of FIG. 1a. These are some of the reasons why the STI method of FIGS. 2a and 2b has increasingly become a desirable replacement for the LOCOS method of FIGS. 1a and 1b. Although STI is now widely used in deep sub-micron process technologies, as a LOCOS replacement, it does have its own problems. For example, along the edge of the device channel (part A, illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b), there is a tendency for the gate oxide to be thinner at the boundary between the gate oxide and the STI oxide. This .vertline.thinning effect.vertline. is caused by larger stresses in the corner regions as well as by orientation dependence. Furthermore, along the same edge of the device channel (part A, illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b), there is also a tendency for the doping concentration of the substrate to be lower. This is due to the .vertline.segregation effect.vertline., where boron tends to thermally segregate from silicon to oxide regions. Continuing to refer to FIG. 2a and 2b, the above STI problems, associated with the .vertline.thinning effect.vertline. and doping .vertline.segregation effect.vertline. will tend to cause the device threshold voltage to be lower in Part A of the device channel, relative to Part B of the device channel. Consequently, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the device will tend to behave as two devices in parallel, where the effective device along the edge of the channel region (part A) has a very different threshold voltage characteristic (defined as a drain current versus gate voltage characteristic) than the more centrally located region of the channel (part B). As shown in FIG. 3, the overall threshold voltage characteristic for the device is a superposition of the threshold voltage characteristics for parts A and B, whereby the resultant overall characteristic exhibits a characteristic hump or .vertline.kink.vertline. as a indicator of the above problems. This .vertline.Kink Effect.vertline. can, in turn, lead to very undesirable sub-threshold current problems that can usually be controlled by proper considerations in device design and in process design. However, there can be situations where a relevant process, in this regard, has gone out of control and needs to be corrected as soon as possible. For detecting such process control problems, one might consider monitoring for an unacceptable kink in a threshold voltage characteristic. However, that, in turn, poses the problem of how to detect an unacceptable kink by some means that is less subjective than merely observing a device threshold characteristic, similar to that of FIG. 3. As will now be described, the present invention solves this subjectivity problem by providing an innovative quantitative electrical characterization method that is inherently sensitive to any oxide thickness or doping differences between parts A and B of FIGS. 2a and 2b.

In recent years, along with diversification of services, there is a known technique used by a relay apparatus such as a mobile router for relaying communication between a terminal apparatus and a destination site by switching between a private network and a public network. The relay apparatus relays communication between the terminal apparatus and the destination site using a private network in view of security. This might increase communication load in the private network as a result. Patent Literature 1: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2008-504792 Patent Literature 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-20031 To cope with this, the relay apparatus reduces processing load on a server on a private network side, by switching, for example, to the public network when the destination site has high reliability and to the private network when the destination site has low reliability. At this time, the relay apparatus has a list, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of a highly reliable destination site. In a case where an FQDN of the destination site included in a communication request from a terminal apparatus exists on the list, the relay apparatus relays communication between the terminal apparatus and the destination site using the public network instead of the private network. On the relay apparatus, however, along with the increased number of sites to be used, the number of entries on the list also increases. This would increase processing load needed for list. As a result, control of processing might become difficult with a low-capability relay apparatus. In a case where determination of reliability of the destination site is executed on the management server side, increased number of terminals would cause high load, leading to an increase in cost to reduce the load on the server in the private network.

It is known to provide such belt with a marker element that travels along with the belt and to arrange a sensor in a fixed position next to the belt for sensing the marker and to produce a control signal from the sensed marker. For producing a proper control signal, the run of the belt must be monitored with regard to any lateral excursions and also with regard to any slippage between the belt and its driving drum. The slippage is easily determined when a marker on the belt is sensed by a sensor and if the rated belt speed is known. Sensors for this purpose may be, for example, of the inductive pick-up type. Such sensors provide an impulse when the marking element passes the sensor. It is also known to ascertain lateral belt excursions away from a centered position, by means of end switches which have sensor elements that are contacted by a belt that moves away from its central position. These switches with their sensors are arranged alongside the belt edges in stationary positions. However, the use of these end switches with their sensors requires a substantial structural investment and expense. Further end switches have the disadvantage that they make the monitoring system more troubleprone. Thus, end switches require frequent maintenance work. German Patent Publication (DE-OS) 2,936,344 discloses a method and apparatus for controlling the linearity of the movement of a conveyor belt relative to a centered position. In this known system the effective drum radius or diameter of a guide drum or of a driving drum is increased so as to urge the belt back to its centered position. In other words, the diameter increase is made on that side toward which the belt is deviating from its centered course. Such a system has its merits. However, it is not readily adaptable for use in connection, for example, with belts in weighing scales also referred to as belt weighers.

When operating a wind turbine it is sometimes desirable to be able to estimate the wind speed prevailing at the wind turbine, more particularly the wind speed experienced by the wind turbine blades of the wind turbine. When the wind speed is measured, this is often done at a point behind the rotor of the wind turbine. Thereby the measured wind speed is affected by the impact on the wind by the rotor, and therefore it does not reflect the wind speed at a position in front of the rotor. Furthermore, since the wind speed is typically measured in a single point, it will not reflect variations in the wind speed across an area defined by the rotor. Accordingly, controlling the wind turbine on the basis of such a measured wind speed may lead to inaccurate control of the wind turbine. Therefore, various attempts have previously been made in order to provide an estimate for the wind speed at a wind turbine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,375 discloses a controller and a method for operating a variable speed wind turbine to better track wind speed fluctuations for greater efficiency in conversion of wind energy to electrical energy. The rotor speed is controlled with a wind speed supplied by a wind observer which predicts the average wind speed at a subsequent point in time over the cross section presented to the wind by the wind turbine. The wind speed is predicted as a function of the present (previously predicted) wind speed and correction terms including net torque and the difference between the predicted and actual rotor speed.

The present invention relates to the removal of carbon monoxide and hydrogen as well as carbon dioxide and water from air for the production of high purity nitrogen gas. In many chemical processes, CO and H.sub.2 are undesired species because of their chemical reactivity. For example, the electronics industry requires high purity N.sub.2 (less than 5 ppb.sub.v CO and H.sub.2) for the production of semiconductor materials. Impurities present in the N.sub.2 during formation of the silicon wafers greatly increase chip failure rates. When air is subjected to cryogenic separation to produce N.sub.2, since N.sub.2 and CO have similar boiling points, CO present in the feed air to the cryogenic column will essentially end up in the product nitrogen. If no special provisions are taken to the distillation process, hydrogen enriches in the product N.sub.2 to approximately two and a half times its concentration in the feed air. Therefore, the production of high purity N.sub.2, i.e. CO and H.sub.2 -free N.sub.2 for the electronics industry requires either 1) removal of CO and H.sub.2 from ambient air prior to the distillation column or 2) post-treatment of the product N.sub.2. Often times, electronics customers require both pre- and post-treatment for added system reliability. The current techniques for trace CO and H.sub.2 removal involve catalytic conversion of CO to CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to water with subsequent removal of CO.sub.2 and water impurities (or mere hydrogen adsorption). In the conventional process for cryogenic separation of air to recover N.sub.2 and O.sub.2, feed air is compressed, then cooled to low temperature before introduction to a two stage distillation column. Unless water and CO.sub.2 are removed from the air before compression, these components will block heat exchangers employed for cooling the gas prior to distillation. The principal method for such removal is thermal swing adsorption (TSA) on molecular sieve. In the TSA system for CO.sub.2 and water removal, atmospheric air is compressed to about 100 psig followed by water cooling and removal of the thus condensed water. Then the air, which is then about 100.degree. F. (38.degree. C.), can be further cooled to 40.degree. F. (4.5.degree. C.) using refrigerated ethylene glycol. The bulk of the water is removed in this step by condensation and separation of the condensate. The gas is then passed to a molecular sieve bed or mixed alumina/molecular sieve bed system where the remaining water and CO.sub.2 are removed by adsorption. The sorbent beds are operated in a thermal swing mode with equal periods, such as four hours (maybe as long as 24 hours), being devoted to adsorption and to regeneration. By using two beds, one is operated for adsorption while the other is being regenerated and their roles are periodically reversed in the operating cycle. During the regeneration, part of the product gas (N.sub.2) or waste stream from the cold box is slightly compressed with a blower and heated to about 260.degree. C. The hot gas is passed through the bed being regenerated, perhaps for two hours, following which the regeneration gas is cooled to typically 4.5.degree. C. for the final two hours, so cooling the bed to that temperature. Regeneration is carried out in a direction counter to that of the adsorption step. Alternatively, a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system may be used. In this case, cycle times are shorter (feed steps are 5-30 minutes), but feed temperature, pressure and regeneration gas remains the same. In the case of PSA, the regeneration gas is not heated. Such a system is effective for the removal of CO.sub.2, water and C.sub.3+ hydrocarbons from atmospheric air. However, conventional molecular sieve beds are not effective for the removal of CO or H.sub.2 The main conventional technique currently used to produce CO-free N.sub.2 includes oxidation of CO present in the ambient air to CO.sub.2 prior to feeding to the molecular sieve system. This additional catalytic conversion system adds to capital and operating costs of a standard N.sub.2 plant. Alternatively, such CO removal steps may be applied to the nitrogen obtained after the air separation process. In one known method CO is removed from nitrogen using a Ni on alumina catalyst. The principle disadvantages with this material are high cost, the need for activation in reducing gas and the pyrophoric nature of the activated material. Good adsorbents for trace CO removal should preferably be less expensive, easily regenerable and not pyrophoric. The oxidation of CO to CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to H.sub.2 O in the presence of O.sub.2 occurs readily at high temperatures (above 500.degree. C.). These reactions can be carried out at lower temperature, about 150.degree. C., in the presence of noble metal catalysts based on palladium or platinum (Anderson, H. C. and Green, W. J., Ind. Eng. Chem., 53, 645, 1961). This technique is currently used as a pre-treatment step for ambient air prior to the front-end adsorption system for CO.sub.2 and water removal on a cryogenic air plant. The main disadvantages of this removal technique include 1) the need to heat the air prior introduction to the catalyst bed, 2) an extra heat exchanger and an extra booster heater are required that result in increased plot space, and 3) the added system pressure drop and heat duty increase the power requirements of the system. Ambient temperature processes for the removal of trace impurities from inert gases are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,723 discloses passing an inert gas stream through a catalyst bed containing a mixture of chromium and platinum on gamma alumina followed by a second bed composed of gamma alumina coated with a mixture of several metals. These beds both convert CO to CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to water and adsorb the resulting impurities to form a high purity product (less than 1 ppm). U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,224 teaches a one step process for the purifying gases containing trace quantities of CO, CO.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2 and H.sub.2 O in which the gas stream is passed over a material comprising elemental nickel and having a large surface area. If there is oxygen present, CO is oxidised to CO.sub.2, otherwise it is adsorbed. The specification is rather vague as regards the nature of the substrate on which the nickel is supported, referring to it merely as a `silica-based substrate`. Processes for the ambient temperature oxidation of CO to CO.sub.2 are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,672,824 and 3,758,666. U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,569 teaches a process for removing CO, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O and optionally H.sub.2 from a feed stream (particularly air) comprising 1) initially removing water and carbon dioxide, 2) catalytic oxidation of CO to CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to H.sub.2 O and 3) removing the oxidation products. The resulting gas stream may then be purified by cryogenic distillation. It is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,273 that CO can be selectively adsorbed by zeolites doped with metals such as Ca, Co, Ni, Fe, Cu, Ag, Pt, or Ru. Based on this property, it is proposed there to use such doped zeolites in CO sensors, e.g. for use in sensors monitoring automobile exhaust gas systems. However, no demonstration of selectivity is shown in that specification. Also, the highest capacity for adsorbing CO demonstrated is in connection with the Na form of zeolite ZSM 8 and no CO adsorption is shown when the Co form of ZSM 5 or the Ru form of ZSM 8 are tested. Since the units in which adsorption was measured appear to be mis-stated, it is impossible to tell what adsorption capacity in absolute terms these adsorbents were found to have. However, for the purposes of U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,273 it would appear to be the change in electrical properties on exposure to CO that the zeolite exhibits that is important rather than adsorption capacity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,879 discloses the use of a zeolite containing Cu.sup.+ ions for adsorbing CO selectively. However, the CO is recovered for use as a reagent from gas streams containing large concentrations of it and there is no indication that such an adsorbent would be effective to remove ppm levels of CO from a gas stream. U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,880 describes the adsorption of CO on zeolites containing silver cations. The CO concentration can be reduced below as little as 10 ppm CO. Forster et al, `Spectroscopic investigations on sorption and oxidation of carbon monoxide in transition metal ion-exchanged zeolites A: Studies on cobalt, nickel and copper forms` Zeolites, 1987, Vol. 7, Nov 517-521, discusses the adsorption of CO on the zeolites referred to in its title. Capacity for adsorption at low ppm levels is not discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,569 teaches a process for removing trace quantities of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from an air stream along with larger quantities of carbon dioxide and water as a prelude to cryogenic distillation. The process is conducted by TSA or PSA using a three layer adsorption bed having a first layer for adsorbing water (suitably alumina, silica gel, zeolite or combinations thereof), a second layer of catalyst for converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide (suitably nickel oxide or a mixture of manganese and copper oxides) and a third layer for adsorbing carbon dioxide and water (suitably zeolite, activated alumina or silica gel). The second layer may include a catalyst for converting hydrogen to water and this may be supported palladium. It is not disclosed that any catalyst is capable of both oxidising carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and adsorbing the carbon dioxide produced. Nor is it disclosed that supported palladium can be used to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Equally, it is not disclosed that the supported palladium used for oxidising hydrogen is capable of adsorbing the water produced. It is also not apparently the intention that the carbon dioxide present initially should be adsorbed prior to the oxidation of the carbon monoxide. In FR 2739304, carbon monoxide is first oxidised to carbon dioxide and the carbon dioxide produced together with carbon dioxide and water present initially are then adsorbed using conventional adsorbents. Thereafter, hydrogen is adsorbed on palladium supported on alumina. Metals that can be used in place of palladium are Os, Ir, Rh, Ru, and Pt. It is stated that hydrogen is not oxidised under these conditions. This casts doubt on whether U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,569 is correct in stating that hydrogen can be oxidised on supported palladium or other precious metals.

High bandwidth, high resolution nanoscale sensing is a key enabling technology for nanoscale science and engineering. Application areas include life sciences, scanning probe microscopy, semiconductor fabrication and material science. Currently available position sensors based on optics, capacitors or inductive coils, although accurate and fast, do not scale down to micro-scales for use in micro-structures or in large-scale point-wise position sensing of macro-structures. Thermo-electric position sensors, on the other hand, scale down to micro-scale, but suffer from low resolution and bandwidth. A known position sensing concept is based on the property of magnetoresistance (MR). Magnetoresistance is the property an electrical resistance of a conductive layer sandwiched between ferromagnetic layers changes as a function of a magnetic field applied to the layers. A magnetoresistive sensor typically uses this property to sense the magnetic field.

There are many medical circumstances in which an increase in the supply of blood to living tissue is indicated. These include: burns and wound healing, in which the incorporation of angiogenic factors into artificial skin may facilitate the formation of blood vessels in the healing wound and reduce the risk of infection; cardiovascular disease, in which repair of anginal or ischemic cardiac tissue can be effected by causing the ingrowth of new blood vessels; stroke, where increased blood supply to the brain can reduce the risk of transient ischemic attack and/or cerebral arterial deficiency; and peripheral vascular disease, in which blood flow in the extremities is diminished. In each case, it is believed that the growth of new blood vessels will increase the volume of blood circulating through the tissue in question, and correspondingly increase the amount of oxygen and nutrients available to that tissue. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Atherosclerosis affects the blood vessels, including those of the heart. This disease may have its beginnings early in life and is first noted as a thickening of the arterial walls. This thickening is an accumulation of fat, fibrin, cellular debris and calcium. The resultant narrowing of the lumen of the vessel is called stenosis. Vessel stenosis impedes and reduces blood flow. Hypertension and dysfunction of the organ or area of the body that suffers the impaired blood flow can result. As the buildup on the inner wall of a vessel thickens, the vessel wall loses the ability to expand and contract. Also, the vessel loses its viability and becomes weakened and susceptible to bulging, also known as aneurysm. In the presence of hypertension or elevated blood pressure, aneurysms will frequently dissect and ultimately rupture. Small vessels, such as the arteries that supply blood to the heart, legs, intestines and other areas of the body, are particularly susceptible to atherosclerotic narrowing. When an artery in the leg or intestine is affected, the resultant loss of blood supply to the leg or segment of the intestine may result in gangrene. Atherosclerotic narrowing of one or more of the coronary arteries limits and in some instances prevents blood flow to portions of the heart muscle. Depending upon the severity of the occlusion and its location within the coronary circulation system, pain, cardiac dysfunction or death may result. In many instances, it is possible to correct aneurysms and stenosis of major arteries using plastic reconstruction that does not require any synthetic graft or patch materials. In other instances, such as where the disease is extensive and the vessel is no longer reliable, the blocked or weakened portion of the vessel is usually replaced with a graft. In such case, the involved vessel section is transected and removed and a synthetic patch, conduit or graft is sewn into place. These types of procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), are routinely performed for the purpose of alleviating ischemia. Nevertheless, coronary artery disease alone is responsible for approximately 550,000 deaths each year in the United States. Peripheral vascular disease results in lower limb amputation in about 150,000 patients each year, with a subsequent mortality rate of 40% within two years of amputation. Some of the difficulty in treating arterial occlusion may lie in the fact that each of these surgical procedures is associated with a certain incidence of restenosis and may not be appropriate in certain instances. This is particularly true when the patient is elderly or has undergone a previous CABG or PTCA procedure. Furthermore, in such cases, a less invasive technique is preferred. It is believed, therefore, that stimulation of blood vessel growth into the affected region will provide the desired effect and will avoid many of the disadvantages associated with bypass surgery. While angiogenic factors in general have been the subject of much research, no angiogenic factor has yet been found to produce results that are entirely satisfactory. Examples of such growth factors are transforming growth factor beta (TGF-.beta.), osteonectin or SPARC, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). All of these growth factors are either synthetic, meaning they are manufactured chemically from non-living sources, or are produced by recombinant manufacturing processes. Each of these angiogenic factors comprises only a single protein and are possesses only a single functionality. In addition, many of the known angiogenic compounds are exceedingly difficult and/or expensive to manufacture. Hence, it is desired to provide an effective angiogenic factor that is easy to manufacture from readily available materials, easily administered by the surgeon and effective at stimulating the growth of new blood vessels into the treated tissue.

The present invention relates generally to a machine for automatic vending of merchandise to a patron and, more particularly, to a machine for vending, for example, video cassette tapes, photographic film or any other type of merchandise which requires vending. A number of systems for vending merchandise are commercially available, however, these systems are extremely complicated and extremely costly. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,810, a vending unit is proposed which includes a plurality of cubicles therein. Upon interaction through an input device with a patron, the system controller causes a motor and gear configuration to position an ejecting unit at the proper dispensing location. A disadvantage of this system resides in the fact that the ejecting unit requires a complicated control function to release the merchandise from a release-spring within each cubical, therefore, the system is mechanically and electronically complicated, hence, quite costly and subject to mechanical breakdown. In, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,802 another example of an automatic vending machine is proposed wherein a motor driven carousel rotates corresponding to an input code to locate the proper merchandise at a dispense position. A disadvantage of this proposed system recites in the fact that due to the use of the carousel, the system is physically bulky and cannot store a large number of items to be dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,467 also proposes an automatic vending machine, however, a disadvantage of this system resides in the fact that this system is extremely costly and complicated because it requires a motor for accessing every column of merchandise in order to vend the merchandise to the patron. The aim underlying the present invention resides in avoiding the above-noted disadvantages of the prior art by providing a vending apparatus which is electronically and mechanically simplified so as to provide a low cost, efficient, low maintenance vending device. For this purpose, according to the present invention, the machine is proposed having the ability to access a large quantity of merchandise stored in a relatively small area, with the accessing device being required to move in only two directions in the same plane thereby enabling the control of the accessing device to be considerably less complicated than that in the prior art. In accordance with the advantageous features of the present invention, a vending machine is provided which includes a simple mechanical elevator comprising a transferring fork and service platforms attached thereto for accessing the storage columns. The elevator moves vertically along the stored merchandise which is stored on shelves in a plurality of columns with the service platform traveling between respective ones of the columns. The merchandise is transferred between the storage shelves and the service platforms by the transferring fork which moves horizontally along the elevator. The merchandise is always brought to the same NEUTRAL position before it is dispensed by tilting the elevator to the patron.

With the increased popularity of the Internet, Internet-based customer services have become increasingly accepted and popular. Network purchase services that enable users to purchase items or services may be one of the most used and favored Internet-based customer services. Network purchase services also provide numerous other services to customers, such as account service, advertisement campaign service, shipping service, customer care service, information search service, and more. Thus, typical network purchasing services tend to maintain information for each customer or each provided service, which results in explosive growth of customer information maintained in the network purchase services databases. In a typical embodiment, the underlying customer database of such network purchasing services may be a single database where managing data is rather simple and straightforward. However, this type of database can be the single biggest point of failure with respect to data “availability” in the network purchasing services. Generally, there are two primary risks in such database systems: a hard failure in which the database goes down completely (blackout), and a heavy CPU load due to volume that causes the database to be unresponsive or timeout (brownout). One approach to solve the blackout or brownout problems is to maintain a secondary database (backup database), which is a mirror of a primary database, and if there is a problem in the primary database, the system fails over to the secondary database. However, utilizing a backup database may cause its own problem because if the heavy CPU load that took down the primary database is transferred to the secondary database, the secondary database will likely be taken down as well. Further, such database systems lack database scalability when demand for additional database capacity arises. As the Internet expands, its reach becomes more pervasive as more and more users are using network purchase services. Thus, the volume of the customer information maintained by the network purchase services outgrows the existing database hardware. However, adding new database hardware is an expensive and difficult task that generally requires redistribution or migration of data from existing database hardware to new database hardware and oftentimes deployment of a new software system. Moreover, adding new database hardware may disturb various customer services that require immediate access to the customer information stored in the existing database hardware.

1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a field-effect transistor. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a field-effect transistor including an organic thin film. 2. Background Art Organic devices have been studied actively because the organic devices feature light weight and flexibility and, in addition, there is a possibility that they can be produced inexpensively as compared with silicon semiconductor devices. For example, practical use of the field-effect transistor (FET) including an organic thin film and taking advantage of these features for display devices, e.g., liquid crystal or organic electroluminescence displays, and other electronic apparatuses is expected. However, many problems to be solved remain in that, for example, the carrier mobility is low, the threshold voltage is high so as to increase the drive voltage, and characteristics deteriorate in the air. It is known that the threshold voltage of a transistor can be lowered by using a high dielectric constant material for a gate insulating film in an organic thin film field-effect transistor and, thereby, a drive voltage of a device including this can be lowered. On the other hand, there are problems, in that an energetic disorder can occur at an interface, and an on-off ratio of a device can decrease because of an increase in leakage current. In order to solve these problems, a structure has been proposed in which a gate insulating film is allowed to have a multilayer structure; and an upside insulating layer having a high insulating property and high affinity with a semiconductor film is laminated on a downside insulating layer formed from a high dielectric constant material (refer to Patent Document 1, for example). Patent Document 1 describes that an organic thin film field-effect transistor having a high charge mobility and a low threshold voltage can be obtained on the basis of the above-described structure. However, regarding the transistor described in Patent Document 1, the upside insulating layer is formed by applying a polymer solution, in which polyvinyl phenol, polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl methacrylate, or the like is dissolved, on the downside insulating layer. Consequently, the downside insulating layer is limited to a material which is not dissolved by a solvent contained in the polymer solution, and, for example, there is a problem in that cyanoethylpullulan known as a high dielectric constant material cannot be used as the material for the downside insulating layer. Furthermore, since a solvent is used for film formation of the upside insulating layer, there is a high possibility that impurities are mixed into this upside insulating layer, and this may cause deterioration of the characteristics of the resulting device. On the other hand, it is known that a film having a low content of impurity can be obtained by using poly-p-xylylene formed into a film by a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD method) as a gate insulating film and, therefore, a high field-effect mobility can be obtained (refer to Non-Patent Document 1, for example). However, since poly-p-xylylene has a low relative dielectric constant (the relative dielectric constant at 1 kHz is about 3.2), there is a problem in that the threshold voltage increases. Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-26698 Non-Patent Document 1: Takeshi Yasuda, three other members, “Organic Field-Effect Transistors with Gate Dielectric Films of Poly-p-Xylylene Derivatives Prepared by Chemical Vapor deposition”, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., The Japan Society of Applied Physics, October 2003, Vol. 42 (2003), Part 1, No. 10, pp. 6614-6618 Accordingly, it is desired to provide a field-effect transistor which includes an organic thin film and which can realize a low threshold voltage while a high field-effect mobility is ensured at the same time.

In 1981, Shen (Shen T. Y., in: Wolff, M. F. (ed) Burger's Medicinal Chemistry, 4th edition, part III, Wiley, Interscience, New York, pp. 1205-1271) reviewed the medicinal aspects of the aryl-acetic acids and their 2-methyl analogues, especially the 2-aryl-propionic acids. In particular, it has been reported that the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity resides in the S-enantiomer which is an optically active enantiomer of the racemate (R,S)-2-aryl-propionic acid which is up to 150 times as active as its P-enantiomer as described by Adams et al. (S. Adams et al., J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 28, 1976, 256; A. J. Hutt and J. Caldwell, Chemical Pharmacokinetics 9, 1984, 371). Moreover, the chiral inversion by the metabolism in man of 2-aryl-propionic acids of the R-(-) enantiomer to the biologically active (S-(+) enantiomer, especially in case of ibuprofen (R,S)-2-(4-isobutylphenyl)-propionic acid), supports the pharmacologically active principle of the S-(+)-enantiomer which is also supported by the studies of the S-enantiomer of Naproxen (A. J. Hutt and J. Caldwell, J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 35, 1983, 693-694). In addition, there is no metabolic chiral inversion to the corresponding R-(-)-enantiomer of the S-(+) form in man, although some stereochemical inversion has been observed in rats occasionally, possibly due to unknown stereochemical interactions of the (S)-(+) and R-(-) enantiomers at the site of action. Since the conversion of the R-(-)-2-aryl-propionic acids to the pharmacologically active S-(+)-enantiomer is a reaction of great medicinal impact, it is likely that certain benefits will be obtained by the use of the S-(+)-enantiomers of 2-aryl-alkanoic acids as compounds as opposed to the racemates. The use of the S-(+) enantiomers would permit reduction of the dose given, reduce the gastro-intestinal side effects, reduce the acute toxicity, remove variability in the rate and extent of inversion, and in addition will reduce any toxicity arising from non-specific reactions. Therefore, there is need of a process capable of operating on an industrial scale in order to produce economically attractive yields of these S-(+) enantiomers of high optical purity >98%, by applying a stereospecific chemical method. Optically pure enantiomers of 2-aryl-alkanoic acids, especially 2-aryl-propionic-acids which are approved for pharmaceutical use as a pure, optically active stereoisomer, e.g. S-(+)-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)-propionic acid (Naproxen) or S-(+) ibuprofen, can be obtained by using conventional ways of racemic separation by applying optically active bases, e.g. 2-phenyl-ethyl-amine, N-methyl-glucamine, cinchonidine, brucine or D-(-)-threo-1-p-nitrophenyl-2-amino-propane-1,3-diol or through biochemical racemate separation (P. Cesti and P. Piccardi, Eur. Pat. Appl. EP 195,717; 1986, J. S. Nicholson, and J. G. Tantum, U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,638, 1980), or by high performance liquid chromatographic techniques (see G. Blaschke, Angew. Chem. 92, 14-25, 1980). However, these methods of applying optically active bases or enzymes (pig liver esterase) have the drawback common to all these processes of high material costs, manufacturing labor and equipment for the recovery and racemization of the undesired optical stereoisomer not counting the energy necessary for redistillation of the solvents, low yields of crystalline compounds of high optical purity from the mother liquors. Thus the elimination of these resolution steps can result in substantial savings in material costs, manufacturing, labor and equipment. Methods for synthesizing racemic 2-aryl-alkanoic acids, especially 2-aryl-propionic acids and in particular to R, S-ibuprofen are well known, see, for example, Tanonaka, T., et al., DE 3523082 A1, (1986), who uses microorganisms; JP-PSEN 40-7491 (1965); 47-18105, (1972); JP-OS 50-4040, (1975); DE 2404159 (1974); DE 1443429 (1968) by J. S. Nicholson and S. S. Adams; DE 2614306 by Bruzzese, T., et al., (1976); DE 2605650 by Gay, A., (1976): DE 2545154 by Heusser, J., (1976); and DE 2404160 by Kogure, E., et al., (1974). Surprisingly, only & few methods for a stereospecific chemical synthesis for 2-aryl-alkanoic acids, especially 2-aryl-propionic acids are known. Piccolo et al. (J. Org. Chem. 50, 3945-3946, 1985) describe a stereospecific synthesis by the alkylation of benzene or isobutylbenzene with (S)-methyl-2-[(chlorosulfonyl)-oxy] or 2-(mesyloxy) propionate in the presence of aluminium chloride yielding (S)-methyl-2-phenyl-propionate in good chemical yield (50-80%) and excellent optical yield of >97% as determined by rotation through inversion of configuration at the attacking carbon atoms. The reaction conditions are very similar as described in some patents (Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 5808045; Chem. Abstracts, 1983, 98; 143138 k; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 7979246; Chem. Abstracts, 1980, 92, 6253 f) where racemic reagents have been used. Extensions of this type of reactions to other aromatic substrates, e.g. toluene, isobutylbenzene, tetraline, anisole, naphthalene, 2-methoxy-naphthalene are described in Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 7971932; Chem. Abstracts 1979, 91, 20125 b; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 78128327; Chem. Abstracts 1978, 89, 23975 y; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 81145241; Chem. Abstracts 1982, 96, 68650 z; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 78149945; Chem. Abstracts 1979, 90, 168303 h; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 7844537; Chem. Abstracts 1978, 89, 108693 h; Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo 77131551; Chem. Abstracts 1978, 88, 104920 h. In a recent paper Piccolo et al. (J. Org. Chem. 51, 10, 1987) describe a synthesis leading to R-(-) ibuprofen, whereas Tsuchihashi et al. (Eur. Pat. Appl. EP 67,698, (1982); Chem. Abstracts 98, 178945 y, (1983) report a stereospecific synthesis of the R-(-) ibuprofen- methylester with excellent yields of about 75.0% and high optical purity (>95%) in contrast to Piccolo et al. (J. Org. Chem. 32, 10, 1987) having an optical purity of 15% only for the R-(-) ibuprofen. However, the same authors have reported chemical yields of 68% of S-(+) ibuprofen having an optical purity of 75-78%, only. Hayashi, et al. (J. Org. Chem. 48, 2195, 1983; in: Asymmetric Reactions and Processes In Chemistry; eds E. L. Eliel and S. Otsuka, ACS-Symposium Ser. 1985, 1982, 177) describe a stereospecific synthesis of S-(+) ibuprofen through asymmetric Grignard cross-coupling which are catalyzed by chiral phosphine-nickel and phosphine- palladium complexes. The enantiomeric excess of the coupling products with various alkenyl halides under the influence of the above-mentioned metal phosphine complexes, including amino acids, depends strongly on the ligand and ranges up to 94% with enantiomeric excesses in the 60-70% range. A very useful ligand has been found in chiral 2-aminoalkyl phosphines achieving reasonable chemical yields and high optical purity. Furthermore, optically active 2-aryl-alkonates have been synthesized via a Friedel-Crafts synthesis by Sato and Murai (Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho JP 61,210,049 t 86,210,049, 1986) yield 46% S-(+) ibuprofen. Giordano et al. (EP application 0 158 913, 1985) has reported a process for the preparation of optically active 2-aryl-alkanoic acids and intermediates thereof by halogenation on the aliphatic carbon atom to the ketal group and rearrangements of the haloketals yielding pharmacologically active 2-aryl-alkanoic acids. A stereochemical synthesis of 2-aryl-propionic acids is described by Robertson et al. (EP application 0 205 215 A2, 1986) using 2)R.sub.1)-alkane as the carbon source for the fungi Cordyceps in particular for Cordiceps militaris, yield enantiomeric S-(+) products of high optical purity. Methods for the synthesis of anti-inflammatory 2-aryl-propionic acids are listed in the review by Rieu et al. (J. P. Rieu, A. Boucherle, H. Coussee and G. Mouzin, Tetrahedron Report No. 205, 4095-4131, 1986), also. However, this report is mostly concerned with the racemates rather than an evaluation of stereospecific chemical synthesis of 2-aryl-propionic acids.

The Papanicolaou test (“Pap test” or Pap smear) has proven to be highly valuable in the early detection of cervical pre-cancerous and cancerous growths. The Pap test refers to the collection of cells from the cervical face, the endocervical canal, and occasionally from the vaginal wall. The collected cells are subsequently “smeared” onto a microscope plate or deposited and mixed into a broth and analyzed for evidence of pre-cancerous or cancerous growth. A periodic Pap test permits the early detection of malignant cells, which enables early palliative care in treating cervical pre-cancerous and cancerous growths. One device that has been useful in collecting cells during a Pap test includes a wooden or plastic spatula. Such spatulas are inexpensive and can be effective at collecting cells from the cervical face. However, spatulas have proven to be less than effective in collecting adequate cell samples from the endocervical canal. This is a potentially serious short-coming, because any sample that does not include endocervical cells is deemed to be an inadequate Pap smear sample. That is to say, the proper interpretation and diagnosis of the state of the cells is inconclusive unless a sufficient number of cells are collected from the endocervical canal. Other devices that are useful in collecting cells during Pap tests include cotton swabs and the like. In general, cell samples are collected by swabbing the exocervical wall and the endocervical canal with the swab. Although cotton swabs are associated with a somewhat improved collection/yield of cells, cotton swabs are not abrasive enough to scrap the endocervical canal and consistently retrieve an adequate, representative sample. Certain bristle brushes have also proven useful in collecting cells during a Pap test. In this regard, the bristle brushes are capable of obtaining endocervical cells during sampling, however bristle brushes are abrasive, and their use can be uncomfortable and increase the incidence of patient bleeding. Pap tests have proven to be useful in the early detection of malignant cells and are related to a reduction in the incidence and death rate due to cervical cancers. Improvements to sampling devices useful in collecting cells during Pap tests will be welcomed by the medical community and patients alike.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice dispenser for a refrigerator. 2. Description of the Prior Art Refrigerators are known which have an integrated ice dispenser for dispensing ice cubes and/or crushed ice and often optionally also drinking water. The ice dispenser is generally located at the front of the refrigerator and is integrated in a door. It provides a slide-in compartment in which a glass can be placed which is intended to be filled with the ice or water. Above the glass, a dispensing shaft or channel terminates in which the ice is provided and which can be opened and closed by means of a flap. US 2006/0144075 A1 discloses an ice dispenser whose flap is opened and closed in an electromotive manner. Alternatively, it is also possible to envisage, for actuating the flap, an electromagnetic solution, wherein the flap is moved by means of an electromagnet from the closed or locked position into the open or release position thereof and is retained at that location, with the electromagnet continuously being supplied with electrical power. Only when the user removes his glass is the power supply to the electromagnet switched off, whereupon the flap returns to the locked position thereof, for example, under the action of a bias spring. It has been found that this solution may involve a humming noise which is perceived to be unpleasant.

Automotive design often is the end result of the balancing of a vast array of countervailing factors. Components must be practical but appealing, robust but light weight, and inexpensive to produce but complex in performance. Often consumers perceive a design that fails to fulfill both sides of the coin as deficient. This in turn may result in a costly impact on the designers and manufacturers when such perceptions are translated into lagging sales or damaged reputation. This scenario is played out time and time again in the field of noise and vibration control. The automotive environment is filled with a vast plurality of components to which motion in the hands of the operator is one of their primary functions. Unfortunately, the automotive environment additionally imparts a wide variety of impact and momentum related forces on these same components during routine operation. The vibrations for the vehicle engine and drivetrain in combination with forces transferred from the road upward through the suspension are all eventually imparted to such movable components. Undue vibrations transferred to these components may lead to premature fatigue and may contribute to noise within the automobile interior. This noise, in turn, can have a significant and lasting impression on the vehicle occupants regarding the perceived quality of the automobile as a whole. Such is the case with automotive head restraints/headrests. These head restraints are commonly mounted to the automotive seatbacks and are provided a range of vertical adjustment so as to be operator adjustable to both comfort and personal configuration. The head restraint posts, however, when subjected to the vibrations and stresses the automotive environment may tend to produce a rattle or other noise within the seatback. The design approach to date has been to counter such noise generation by increasing the stiffness of the head restraint. This increase in restraint, however, in present designs results in an increase in operation and effort. Thus present designs trade one consumer inconvenience for another. This is unsatisfactory. It would be highly desirable to have a design for an automotive seatback and head restraint assembly that minimize the looseness of the head restraint posts without adversely affecting operational efforts.

1. Field The present disclosure relates to a method of continuously producing 5-aminolevulinic acid by using a photosynthetic membrane vesicle separated from photosynthetic bacteria. 2. Description of the Related Art Depletion of modern fossil fuel has led to a necessity for development of advanced technology to use light energy as one of alternatives to fossil fuel. A source for light energy is the sun, which will not be depleted for the next few billions of years. Also, the manufacturing process for light energy does not cause pollutions, which is why light energy receives much attention as clean energy. Photovoltaic cell apparatuses are widely used to convert light energy into electric energy. Similarly, photosynthetic bacteria have been used as devices also to convert light energy into chemical energy, which is further used for the biosynthesis of organic materials to support cell growth, and various biomaterials of high value. Once biomaterials are produced, they are either accumulated inside of photosynthetic bacteria or secreted therefrom. Studies to genetically modify the bacteria to improve the production of biomaterials are actively under way (Wang et al. 2012. Frontiers in Microbiology 3: 344). Such biomaterials include biofuel, such as fatty acid, alcohol, or hydrogen, and industrially useful compounds, such as isoprene or poly-β-hydroxybutyrate. Photosynthesis can be classified into oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis; oxygenic one is found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, whereas anoxygenic one is observed in purple nonsulfur bacteria, purple sulfur bacteria, green nonsulfur bacteria, green sulfur bacteria, and Heliobacteria. Bacterial photosynthetic machineries are localized to photosynthetic membranes, and examples are thylakoid membrane (TM) and intracytoplasmic membrane/invaginated chromatophore membrane (ICM). Oxygenic photosynthesis occurs in a thylakoid membrane (TM) in bacteria. During photosynthesis, water is used as an electron donor to split into oxygen and electrons, which is mediated by light energy. Electrons are subject to flow down through a series of electron carriers, ultimately reducing the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) to the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). During the electron flow, a proton motive force is generated and used for synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate by ATP synthase. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) may be converted into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase. Purple nonsulfur bacteria performing anoxygenic photosynthesis have chromatophore membrane (ICM) in addition to plasma membrane, and the chromatophore membrane (ICM) is known as a place where photosynthesis apparatuses are exclusively localized. Photosynthesis of purple nonsulfur bacteria is performed by cyclic electron flow. When bacteriochlorophyll a in reaction center complex receives light energy, charge separation takes place to emit electron. The electron passes through a series of electron carriers and returns to bacteriochlorophyll a in reaction center. Through this process, a proton motive force is formed, and used for the synthesis of ATP from ADP and inorganic phosphate. In addition, a reverse electron flow takes place, in which oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is reduced to the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) through respiratory complex I and complex II of the chromatophore membrane. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) may be converted into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) by pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase. Mature chromatophore membrane is present as an open vesicle in cell. The closed vesicle form is easily generated by cell disruption and easily purified by centrifugation (Tucker et al. 2010. Mol. Microbiol. 76: 833-847). The expressions of genes for the formation of chromatophore membrane and the biochemical process for the differentiation of cell membrane to form chromatophore membrane have been extensively studied. However, there have been no attempts to use the chromatophore membrane itself for industrial purpose. Accordingly, a practical use of the chromatophore membrane presented herein may provide a possibility for the novel use of the chromatophore membrane. 5-Aminolevulinic acid is a precursor that is first generated in the synthetic pathway of the tetrapyrroles such as heme or bacteriochlophyll. Administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid at high dose in cell leads to the formation of porphyrin-based materials at high level, which generally exhibit photosensitivity. Especially, oxidative stress (also called phototoxicity) is generated in light to show lethal effect on cell. Accordingly, 5-aminolevulinic acid is often used as herbicide and pesticide (Rebeiz et al. 1984. Enzyme Microbiol Technol. 6: 390). In particular, 5-aminolevulinic acid is also known as an environmentally-friendly herbicide due to its excellent biodegradability. In Pharmaceutical industry, 5-aminolevulinic acid is used for the treatment of skin-related disease and also used as an additive in cosmetics. In addition, 5-aminolevulinic acid may be used for photodynamic therapy; cancerous cells can be killed by the exogenous addition of 5-aminolevulinic acid, followed by the light irradiation (Wachowska et al. 2011. Molecules 16: 4140-4164). Furthermore, 5-aminolevulinic acid can be used for bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects. For example, 5-aminolevulinic acid can be used to keep fish from viral or bacterial infection in the aquaculture industry (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2000-0024382). Metabolic controls to produce more 5-aminolevulinic acid in Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Escherichia coli have been extensively studied (Kang et al. 2011. Bioengineered bugs 2: 6). Zymomonas mobilis was improved and used to synthesize the 5-aminolevulinic acid at higher level (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0143640). However, 5-aminolevulinic acid in fact is produced by expensive organic synthetic methods, which are complicated and cost ineffective (Beale et al. 1979. Phytochemistry 18: 441). The descriptions presented above as the background are used only for better understanding of the inventive concept, and shall not be regarded by one of ordinary skill in the art as admitting that they correspond to the known prior art.

Hearing assistance devices are used to assist patient's suffering hearing loss by transmitting amplified sounds to ear canals. In one example, a hearing aid is worn in and/or around a patient's ear. Patients prefer that their hearing aids are minimally visible or invisible, do not interfere with their daily activities, and are easy for them to control during use, such as pairing the device with an external programmer, turning the device on/off and adjusting sound volume. One area of particular concern is how to operate hearing aid devices in view of shrinking package sizes, limited power, and an increasingly more adult population with limited or diminishing manual dexterity. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved switching and sensing for hearing assistance devices.

There are about 500,000 fractures of the tibia and fibula, 200,000 metacarpal fractures and over 400,000 distal radial fractures in the United States each year. In many cases the bones are immobilized by placing a cast on the fractured limb. However, casts often must immobilize a substantial length of the limb, can be heavy, inconvenient and limit the use of the limb, including significantly limiting the mobility of the subject. Additionally, there is a risk of non-union of the fractured ends, resulting in a failure of the fractured ends to unite. Non-unions may require additional operations to promote fracture healing. In addition to the risk of general anesthesia and early post-operative venous thromboembolism complications in patients who require re-operation face additional rehabilitation and time off from work. Another means for fixation of long bone fragments includes the use of Kirschner wires (K-wires) drilled into the bone fragments and held in place by an external fixation device. However, external fixation devices may not be practical in all situations, as they may interfere with some functions. Additionally, because K-Wires pass through the skin, extended presence of conventional K-Wires may form a potential passage for bacteria and cause infection. Additionally, conventional K-Wires can migrate, causing a loss of fixation of the bone fragments. Still another means for fixation of long bone fragments includes the insertion of an intramedullary (IM) nail into the lumen, or medullary cavity, of the long bone. The IM nail spans the fracture and is secured to the bone on either side by screws through the bone. IM nails are typically manufactured from a durable metal material and may be left in the bone after healing. In some instances, however, surgical removal of a durable IM nail is required, again exposing a subject to the risks of general anesthesia, venous thromboembolism, rehabilitation and time off from work. Additionally, present IM nails do not fill up the entire width of the lumen in the bone, potentially allowing the fracture to unite in a displaced, off-set or crooked manner, resulting in improper healing of the fracture. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved IM nail in the form of an orthopedic fastener that is biodegradable and fills the lumen to prevent off-set healing of the fracture.

Delay-locked loops (DLLs) are often employed in integrated circuit devices to change the phase of a reference clock signal. In operation, a delay-locked loop generates an output clock signal based on an input clock signal to the delay-locked loop. The delay-locked loop generates an error signal by comparing the phase of the input clock signal to the phase of an output clock signal. Additionally, the delay-locked loop integrates the error signal and controls the delay of the input clock signal through a chain of delay elements based on the integrated error signal. Phase-locked loops (PLLs) are also employed in integrated circuit devices to change the phase of a reference clock signal. Unlike a delay-locked loop, a phase-locked loop includes a voltage-controller oscillator. In operation, the phase-locked loop generates an error signal by comparing the phase of an oscillating clock signal generated by the voltage controlled oscillator with the phase of an input clock signal to the phase-locked loop. Additionally, the phase-lock loop generates a control signal for the voltage controlled oscillator by integrating the error signal. Because the control signal controls the frequency of the oscillating signal generated by the voltage controlled oscillator, the voltage controlled oscillator performs an integration in the phase-locked loop. Generally, a phase-locked loop performs two integrations but a delay-locked loop performs only a single integration. Thus the phase-locked loop is a second order feedback system while the delay locked loop is a first order feedback system. In integrated circuit implementations, a delay-locked loop adjusts the error signal generated in a feedback loop of the delay-locked loop to compensate for voltage, temperature, and process variations across the integrated circuit. Because voltage, temperature, and process variations are generally independent of each other in an integrated circuit, the error signal generated by the delay-locked loop may not adjust to all these variations quickly enough to achieve phase-lock of the output clock signal to the input clock signal or have enough range to cover the variation.

The polyphenylene ethers and processes for their preparation are known in the art and described in numerous publications including Hay, U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,874 and 3,306,875, both of which are incorporated by reference. Other patents which show the preparation of polyphenylene ethers include Bennett and Cooper, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,639,656, and 3,838,102, as well as Cooper and Bennett, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,642,699, 3,661,848 and 3,733,299, which are also incorporated by reference. The processes most generally used to produce the polyphenylene ethers involve the self-condensation of a monovalent phenol in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas and a catalyst comprising a metal-amine complex. These processes are run in the presence of an organic solvent and the reaction is usually terminated by removal of the catalyst from the reaction mixture. The product is usually recovered by adding an antisolvent to the reaction solution in an amount sufficient to precipitate the polymer. The antisolvent is soluble in the polymerization solvent, but does not dissolve the polymer. It is known, for example, from A. Factor, Jr. Polymer Sci. B, 7, 205 (1969), that polyphenylene ethers dissolve readily in methylene chloride, but precipitate on standing in the form of a crystalline polyphenylene ether-CH.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 complex. The complex loses methylene chloride on heating or simply on air drying to yield amorphous polyphenylene ethers. Attempts have been made to make use of the unusual solubility behavior of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)ether in methylene chloride to isolate the resins from reaction mixtures without the use of an antisolvent, but polymers suitable for molding applications have not been obtained. For example, when the polymerization is carried out in methylene chloride solvent, the polymer precipitates before it reaches high molecular weight; furthermore, the precipitate carries with it a large portion of the copper component of the polymerization catalyst; and the copper cannot easily be removed from the polymer by washing with water, methanol, acetic acid, etc. It has now been discovered that high molecular weight polyphenylene ether (I.V. as high as 0.70 dl./g.) can be produced in methylene chloride solution without precipitation of the complex by carrying out the polymerization at a temperature greater than 40.degree. C. Since this is above the atmospheric boiling point of the solvent, it is necessary to carry out the reaction in a closed system under oxygen pressure, to prevent loss of the solvent and to provide sufficiently high oxygen concentration in solution for the polymerization reaction. A pressure of 25 and, preferably, 30 psig is sufficient to produce high I.V. polymer is less than two hours at a xylenol: CuBr.sub.2 : DBA ratio of 300 : 1 : 45, if poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)ether is the desired product. Because the polymer does not precipitate from solution during the polymerization, and remains dissolved for at least a short time after the reaction mixture is removed from the reactor, the catalyst can be extracted from the hot solution (either with aqueous acid, which removes both the amine and metal ion catalyst components, or with a chelating agent such as salts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) or the like, to remove only the metal ion). The solution can then be cooled, causing the polymer complex to precipitate out, and the polymer complex then can be isolated by filtration or centrifuging. Essential features of the discovery are: i. Polymerization in methylene chloride solution at a temperature of 40.degree. C. or above, under oxygen pressure; and PA1 ii. Cooling the polymer solution to room temperature or below to precipitate the polymer-methylene chloride complex. PA1 iii. Extraction of catalyst from hot solution; and PA1 iv. Separation of the complex by filtration or centrifuging and removal of the methylene chloride from the complex by heating. Preferred features comprise: The major advantage of the procedure is that no antisolvent is required for precipitation of the polymer, so that the substantial cost involved in separation of the solvent and antisolvent and recovery of the antisolvent by distillation is eliminated. A second advantage is that the polymer is amorphous, whereby polyphenylene ethers are more easily blended by coextrusion with other resins, such as polystyrene, than the partially crystalline polymers obtained by the usual commercial processes, in which an antisolvent such as methanol is added to the polymer solution to precipitate the polymer. The amorphous polyphenylene ether may be coextruded at lower temperatures and at higher rates than partially crystalline polyphenylene ethers, and the resulting blends, especially those containing relatively small proportion of the polyphenylene ether, have improved physical properties. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,811, incorporated herein by reference. The polymers obtained by the process have a yellow color, but blends with polystyrene have physical properties equal to those of blends made with polyphenylene ethers isolated by conventional antisolvent precipitation techniques, so that they are suitable for applications where color is not important. The color can be reduced to a level approximating that obtained by methanol precipitation by redissolving the powder in hot methylene chloride, then cooling and separating the polymer-methylene chloride complex. As has been mentioned, the crude polymer obtained by the new process is highly colored by diphenoquinone and other colored byproducts of the reaction. The color can be reduced to an acceptable level by repeated washing of the precipitated complex with methylene chloride, but this results in a significant reduction in yield, as well as more than doubling the total amount of solvent which must be recovered by distillation. It is a further discovery that both of these disadvantages can be partially overcome by a two-cycle solvent system, and this also forms part of the present invention. In this two-cycle solvent system, the polymer is filtered from the reaction mixture and washed with a small amount of methylene chloride, and methylene chloride filtrate and wash combined. The polymer is then washed with methylene chloride in an amount equal to the original solvent volume. The first methylene chloride fraction is then distilled to recover pure solvent for subsequent washing operations, while the "wash" methylene chloride is decanted to remove any aqueous phase and used without purification, as the solvent for the next polymerization. The polymer present in the wash liquid is thus recovered at the end of the polymerization; the small amount of quinones and other low molecular weight products have no apparent effect on the quality of the polymer produced. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved process for the preparation of a polyphenylene ether resin with the aim of obtaining a polyphenylene ether resin with a reduced number of process steps and without the need to use an antisolvent. It is also an object of this invention to provide a process which permits the removal of color producing compounds from polyphenylene ether and reducing the amount of solvent required.

Fog computing is a distributed approach of cloud implementation that acts as an intermediate layer from local networks (e.g., Internet of Things or “IoT” networks) to the cloud (e.g., centralized and/or shared resources). Current proposals and implementations are generally static in nature, where the fog network is designed and implemented prior to providing a set of pre-defined services (e.g., connectivity to cloud, data analytics, etc.). Additionally, many of fog's IoT (or Internet of Everything or “IoE”) applications require high availability and/or nonstop operation. Even the few minutes of downtime needed to upgrade or replace hardware modules can cause unacceptable service outages. Some IoE use situations create short-term spikes in the load on specific fog nodes. For example, during a special event, big game, festival, or network maintenance activities, a city's or building's infrastructure nodes near the event may be taxed well beyond their design capacity. Many fog applications can't afford the expense, physical volume, or power dissipation increases that accompany fully duplicated system hardware, or providing capacity in excess of some nominal load.

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for detecting and/or transmitting images. More particularly, the present invention relates to detecting and transmitting images in relation to a cellular telephone. Image processors typically detect light reflected off of a subject, and convert the detected light to an electrical image. The electrical image is then sampled at a frequency that is the reciprocal of the integration time. In many cases, such a frequency is different from the frequency of light reflected off the subject. In such cases, a modulation of the displayed image can result. Such modulation appears as a flicker and can be very distracting. To overcome this problem, some image processors allow for manual selection between different integration times that allow a user to reduce the flicker. For example, where an image processor will be used in a 60 Hz and a 50 Hz lighting environment, a manual selection between an integration time associated with either 60 Hz or 50 Hz can be provided. This alleviates some flicker, but requires adjustment from a user. Furthermore, such an approach is limited to reducing flicker in a limited number of pre-determined environments, and thus may not be able to address various flicker situations. This is particularly problematic for mobile devices that are used in ever changing environments. Further, a limited reservoir of power typically exists for mobile devices. As such, power consuming imaging applications are often incompatible with mobile devices. Various approaches exist to increase the amount of power available to mobile devices, such that the power requirements of an imaging application are not prohibitive. However, such approaches often are both expensive and can result in increased dimensions of a mobile device. In some cases, light detected by an image processor is detected by a pixel array and a variety of analog processing circuitry. Output from the pixel array representing the amount of detected light is processed by analog circuitry to produce an image which is subsequently converted from the analog domain to the digital domain. The digital image is subsequently provided to a monitor of some sort for viewing. Testing such an imaging device can include reflecting light off a known image, and determining if the image was properly acquired and/or processed by the imaging device. This method provides an effective approach for testing such devices, however, the method is subject to a number of variables including lighting and image stability which can effect testing of the imaging device. Providing such a test, and controlling for such variables can be costly and time consuming. Further, such an approach tests the imaging device holistically, and is limited in its ability to identify sub-components of the imaging device which may have failed. Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art to provide advanced systems, methods and devices for detecting and/or transmitting images.

Microprocessors and other integrated circuits include clock distribution networks for routing a clock signal to the circuitry of the microprocessor or other integrated circuits. These clock network are typically formed in a two-dimensional layout and have stringent timing and power requirements. Skew and jitter of the clock network cause clock uncertainty and decrease the timing margins.

This invention relates to a process for the separation of a gas containing hydrocarbons. The applicants claim the benefits under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119(e) of prior U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/045,874 which was filed on May 7, 1997. Ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane and/or heavier hydrocarbons can be recovered from a variety of gases, such as natural gas, refinery gas, and synthetic gas streams obtained from other hydrocarbon materials such as coal, crude oil, naphtha, oil shale, tar sands, and lignite. Natural gas usually has a major proportion of methane and ethane, i.e., methane and ethane together comprise at least 50 mole percent of the gas. The gas also contains relatively lesser amounts of heavier hydrocarbons such as propane, butanes, pentanes and the like, as well as hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and other gases. The present invention is generally concerned with the recovery of ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane and heavier hydrocarbons from such gas streams. A typical analysis of a gas stream to be processed in accordance with this invention would be, in approximate mole percent, 67.0% methane, 15.6% ethane and other C.sub.2 components, 7.7% propane and other C.sub.3 components, 1.8% iso-butane, 1.7% normal butane, 1.0% pentanes plus, 2.2% carbon dioxide, with the balance made up of nitrogen. Sulfur containing gases are also sometimes present. The historically cyclic fluctuations in the prices of both natural gas and its natural gas liquid (NGL) constituents have at times reduced the incremental value of ethane, ethylene, and heavier components as liquid products. This has resulted in a demand for processes that can provide more efficient recoveries of these products, and for processes that can provide efficient recoveries with lower capital investment. Available processes for separating these materials include those based upon cooling and refrigeration of gas, oil absorption, and refrigerated oil absorption. Additionally, cryogenic processes have become popular because of the availability of economical equipment that produces power while simultaneously expanding and extracting heat from the gas being processed. Depending upon the pressure of the gas source, the richness (ethane, ethylene, and heavier hydrocarbons content) of the gas, and the desired end products, each of these processes or a combination thereof may be employed. The cryogenic expansion process is now generally preferred for natural gas liquids recovery because it provides maximum simplicity with ease of start up, operating flexibility, good efficiency, safety, and good reliability. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,157,904, 4,171,964, 4,278,457, 4,519,824, 4,687,499, 4,854,955, 4,869,740, 4,889,545, 5,275,005, 5,555,748, and 5,568,737 describe relevant processes (although the description of the present invention in some cases is based on different processing conditions than those described in the cited U.S. patents). In a typical cryogenic expansion recovery process, a feed gas stream under pressure is cooled by heat exchange with other streams of the process and/or external sources of refrigeration such as a propane compression-refrigeration system. As the gas is cooled, liquids may be condensed and collected in one or more separators as high-pressure liquids containing some of the desired C.sub.2 + components. Depending on the richness of the gas and the amount of liquids formed, the high-pressure liquids may be expanded to a lower pressure and fractionated. The vaporization occurring during expansion of the liquids results in further cooling of the stream. Under some conditions, pre-cooling the high pressure liquids prior to the expansion may be desirable in order to further lower the temperature resulting from the expansion. The expanded stream, comprising a mixture of liquid and vapor, is fractionated in a distillation (demethanizer) column. In the column, the expansion cooled stream(s) is (are) distilled to separate residual methane, nitrogen, and other volatile gases as overhead vapor from the desired C.sub.2 components, C.sub.3 components, and heavier hydrocarbon components as bottom liquid product. If the feed gas is not totally condensed (typically it is not), the vapor remaining from the partial condensation can be split into two or more streams. One portion of the vapor is passed through a work expansion machine or engine, or an expansion valve, to a lower pressure at which additional liquids are condensed as a result of further cooling of the stream. The pressure after expansion is essentially the same as the pressure at which the distillation column is operated. The combined vapor-liquid phases resulting from the expansion are supplied as feed to the column. The remaining portion of the vapor is cooled to substantial condensation by heat exchange with other process streams, e.g., the cold fractionation tower overhead. Some or all of the high-pressure liquid may be combined with this vapor portion prior to cooling. The resulting cooled stream is then expanded through an appropriate expansion device, such as an expansion valve, to the pressure at which the demethanizer is operated. During expansion, a portion of the liquid will vaporize, resulting in cooling of the total stream. The flash expanded stream is then supplied as top feed to the demethanizer. Typically, the vapor portion of the expanded stream and the demethanizer overhead vapor combine in an upper separator section in the fractionation tower as residual methane product gas. Alternatively, the cooled and expanded stream may be supplied to a separator to provide vapor and liquid streams. The vapor is combined with the tower overhead and the liquid is supplied to the column as a top column feed. In the ideal operation of such a separation process, the residue gas leaving the process will contain substantially all of the methane in the feed gas with essentially none of the heavier hydrocarbon components and the bottoms fraction leaving the demethanizer will contain substantially all of the heavier hydrocarbon components with essentially no methane or more volatile components. In practice, however, this ideal situation is not obtained for two main reasons. The first reason is that the conventional demethanizer is operated largely as a stripping column. The methane product of the process, therefore, typically comprises vapors leaving the top fractionation stage of the column, together with vapors not subjected to any rectification step. Considerable losses of C.sub.2 components occur because the top liquid feed contains substantial quantities of C.sub.2 components and heavier hydrocarbon components, resulting in corresponding equilibrium quantities of C.sub.2 components and heavier hydrocarbon components in the vapors leaving the top fractionation stage of the demethanizer. The loss of these desirable components could be significantly reduced if the rising vapors could be brought into contact with a significant quantity of liquid (reflux) capable of absorbing the C.sub.2 components and heavier hydrocarbon components from the vapors. The second reason that this ideal situation cannot be obtained is that carbon dioxide contained in the feed gas fractionates in the demethanizer and can build up to concentrations of as much as 5% to 10% or more in the tower even when the feed gas contains less than 1% carbon dioxide. At such high concentrations, formation of solid carbon dioxide can occur depending on temperatures, pressures, and the liquid solubility. It is well known that natural gas streams usually contain carbon dioxide, sometimes in substantial amounts. If the carbon dioxide concentration in the feed gas is high enough, it becomes impossible to process the feed gas as desired due to blockage of the process equipment with solid carbon dioxide (unless carbon dioxide removal equipment is added, which would increase capital cost substantially) The present invention provides a means for generating a liquid reflux stream that will improve the recovery efficiency for the desired products while simultaneously substantially mitigating the problem of carbon dioxide icing. In accordance with the present invention, it has been found that C.sub.2 recoveries in excess of 95 percent can be obtained. Similarly, in those instances where recovery of C.sub.2 components is not desired, C.sub.3 recoveries in excess of 95% can be maintained. In addition, the present invention makes possible essentially 100 percent separation of methane (or C.sub.2 components) and lighter components from the C.sub.2 components (or C.sub.3 components) and heavier components at reduced energy requirements compared to the prior art while maintaining the same recovery levels and improving the safety factor with respect to the danger of carbon dioxide icing. The present invention, although applicable for leaner gas streams at lower pressures and warmer temperatures, is particularly advantageous when processing richer feed gases at pressures in the range of 600 to 1000 psia or higher under conditions requiring column overhead temperatures of -110.degree. F. or colder.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for dealing with computer resources, and more particularly to a system and method for resolving conflicts of re-locking resources. 2. General Background Distributed computer environments, such as computer networks, provide significant advantages to multiple computer clients or users. In particular, distributed environments allow multiple clients to actually share many different computer resources including both hardware and software resources. Sharing software-related resources provides many known benefits, such as the fact that only one such resource needs to be created, updated and maintained, and provides many known disadvantages, such as the fact that if one or more such resources are being used and locked by someone, the resources can not be used while others try to use and re-lock the resources. Presently, the disadvantage of re-locking software-related resources becomes more and more prominent, and there is still no effective method to resolve the problem. If two or more separate client processes attempt to use the same resources, a potential re-locking situation may occur, where each locks one of the resources but prevents the other(s) from using all the resources. A re-locking situation precludes using success for each of the processes. One solution to this problem involves a server-side utility that monitors using requests and attempts to “remember” whether a using request has been granted to a client process that is now requesting a subsequent resource. Recognizing that a client process is requesting a subsequent resource provides the server the ability to anticipate potential re-locking situations before they occur. Unfortunately, a significant amount of overhead is required to store information related to all previously granted requests for using, and the client that requested the using. What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for resolving conflicts of re-locking resources, which can anticipate re-locking situations before the re-locking situations occur in a computer, so as to resolve conflicts of re-locking resources of the computer.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to articles of luggage and more particularly to a garment bag that includes a detachable valet case and is mounted on wheels so that the entire article can be easily rolled across a supporting surface. 2. Description of the Prior Art Garment bags have met with significant acceptance by travelers for many reasons, including their relatively light weight which makes carrying them easier, the ease of which they can be packed with clothes and other items, their flexibility to fit within certain otherwise confining spaces, an ability to carry them into the passenger compartment of commercial passenger aircraft, and others. One of the common disadvantages of garment bags is that it is difficult to confine small items such as shoes and cases for personal toiletry items within the garment bag. Many travelers, as a consequence, leave such smaller items loose in the garment bag or pack them in separate smaller suitcases. However, the necessity to use a separate smaller suitcase makes travelling more difficult because the smaller suitcase must also be carried and accounted for in addition to the garment bag. Attempts have been made to make garment bags more useful as a single article of luggage. An invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,513 entitled "Garment Bag With Improved Packing Capability" which is of common ownership with the present application, describes an improved garment bag in which pocket-like enclosures are provided within the bag in which to pack a small number of relatively small items, such as shoes. Wardrobe luggage cases, which were commonly used many years ago, employed internal compartments in which certain small items could be packed and some of these internal compartments were even removeable after the wardrobe was opened. Wardrobes, however, fell into disfavor and remain in disfavor because they are basically very large, heavy, hard to handle and they have substantially rigid outer shells or walls. Wardrobes are usually more inconvenient for use than the present day large sized hard shelled suitcases. Modern attempts have been made to attach garment bags and garment bag-like enclosures to small cases, such as small suitcases or attache cases. Usually these attempts involve wrapping the garment bag around the sides and bottom of the small case and attaching the ends of the garment bag at the handle of the small case. Other attempts include folding the garment bag-like enclosure in an accordion-like manner and connecting the garment bag enclosure to one side of the small case. Until recently, the prior attempts at combining garment bags in small cases have all centered primarily around attempts to make the transportation of the two separate luggage articles more convenient. If any actual improvement in convenience has been obtained by such prior arrangements, the improvements in convenience seem somewhat insignificant since such arrangements do not seem to enjoy significant popularity among travelers. It would not appear that such prior attempts at combining garment bags and small cases have resulted in any significant improvements or advancements in making the luggage article more readily useable in a personal toiletry and clothing housing sense, as compared to that level of convenience which two separate luggage articles would themselves achieve. Recently, however, significant improvements have been made in integrating the convenience in transportation features and the convenience of use features of a combination garment bag and packing case. U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,368 entitled "Combination Garment Bag and Packing Case Luggage Article", which is also of common ownership with the subject application, describes a garment bag including a conveniently deployable packing case which solves many of the previous shortcomings, but even this combination luggage lacks some desirable features available in other types of luggage such as the ability to roll the article of luggage across a supporting surface. As a means of transportation, the incorporation of wheels into articles of luggage have met with much success and acceptance by the consuming public but it is difficult to incorporate wheels into garment bags due to the fact that the garment bags are made of flexible material which will not readily retain a consistent somewhat vertical orientation over supporting wheels. An attempt at incorporating wheels into a flexible walled piece of luggage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,780 entitled "Fixture for Converting Luggage for Articulated Movement". As will be appreciated in that disclosure, the wheels are incorporated into end walls of the luggage but the luggage is permitted to articulate relative thereto so that the luggage can actually lean to one side or the other of the walls in which the wheels are mounted. This is felt to be an undesirable arrangement in that the article of luggage would appear to be unstable and easily tipped over which is inconveniencing at the least to the user of the luggage. It is against this general background that the present invention has evolved.

The present invention relates to means for the measurement of torsional or rotational acceleration of a rotating body such as a shaft, and more particularly to the measurement of oscillatory starting and accelerating torques in rotating machines such as synchronous motors. Synchronous motors are widely used for many types of drives because of their good efficiency and constant speed as well as the ability to provide power factor correction. The use of a synchronous motor, however, presents certain problems in the design of the driven system because of the nature of the starting torque of such motors. A synchronous motor, as such, has no starting torque and these motors are normally started as induction motors. The direct current field excitation is then applied when the speed approaches synchronism so that the motor pulls into step and runs at synchronous speed. Such motors are almost always of salient pole construction and the airgap torque during initial operation as an induction motor is, therefore, pulsating or oscillatory. When starting from standstill, the frequency of oscillation is initially twice the line frequency, and decreses to zero as the motor accelerates and finally pulls into synchronism, when the torque reaches a steady-state value. Thus, during the starting period, a range of frequencies extending from zero to twice the line frequency occurs and any natural resonant frequencies of the load or driven system in this range may be excited during this start-up period leading to undesirable and excessive vibration. The motor starting torque characteristics and the torsional response of the driven system can be analytically determined in many cases, but it is often desirable to make actual measurements of the magnitude and frequency of oscillation of the motor torque during the starting period, so that the design of the driven system can be properly coordinated with the motor characteristics and undesirable resonance and vibration problems avoided.

The invention relates to a device for preheating dry materials according to the preamble of claim 1. Masses for manufacture of electrodes (anodes, cathodes) for aluminium production by molten electrolyte electrolysis are composed of dry materials--dry materials are mixtures of petrol coke and granulated electrode scrap -, to which pitch is added as a binder directly before shaping. Masses with this composition are also called green masses, the electrodes are formed from them and subsequently baked. In order to admix the binder, the dry material has to be heated, in relation to which the term preheating is used, which takes place in so-called preheaters, into one end of which dry material is conveyed by means of weigh-feeders, the conveyed material is heated in the preheater and from the other end of which the heated dry material is removed in the direction of mixers. As preheaters, heating screws, heating silos and heating drums are known. The invention has a heating silo as subject-matter. A heating silo--they are termed batch preheaters in the technical terminology--is known, in which the dry material is preheated by electrical resistance heating. In the interior of the preheater several electrodes are provided, arranged one below the other--penetrating the walls of the preheater in an insulated manner--for the initiation and discharge of the current (direct or alternating current) flowing through the dry material and thereby heating it. The known device is polygonal in plan view and is characterised by an inhomogeneous mass flow and irregular heating, which leads to graphitisation of the unremoved mass on the electrodes and burning through of the insulation. These disadvantages are increased by the arrangement of preheaters in installations for manufacturing green masses, so that the arrangements are affected to the extent that the repair of a preheater brings entire manufacturing installations to a standstill.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention is generally concerned with fitting ophthalmic lenses into the rings or surrounds that an eyeglass frame comprises for this purpose and it is more particularly but not exclusively directed to the case of corrective ophthalmic lenses. 2. Description of the Prior Art As is known, unprocessed ophthalmic lenses as supplied to optometrists by the manufacturers have a circular contour at the periphery and, for obvious economic reasons, for a given type of ophthalmic lens optometrists are offered a plurality of unprocessed ophthalmic lenses of different peripheral diameters, the cost of unprocessed ophthalmic lenses being proportional to the diameter. Thus for each eyeglass frame to be fitted with lenses the optometrist has to determine which of the available unprocessed ophthalmic lenses is the most economical to use, given the particular shape of the rings or surrounds of the eyeglass frame; in other words, he has to determine the lens within the contour of which the contour of the ring or surround will fit most closely. As it happens, the problem is that more often than not the optometrist does not actually have the corresponding unprocessed ophthalmic lenses available to him, but only cards carrying diagrams of the ophthalmic lenses, and that in the case of corrective ophthalmic lenses he must take into account, conjointly, the physiological characteristics of the patient concerned and the optical characteristics of the corrective ophthalmic lenses. In practice, the principal factor that the optometrist has to take into account is the horizontal distance between the pupils of the patient concerned, more precisely half the patient's interpupillary distance, for proper alignment of the optical center of the corresponding ophthalmic lens relative to the normal axis of vision of each eye of the patient. In the case of progressive ophthalmic lenses, that is to say ophthalmic lenses of which the lower part, used for close vision, features progressively varying optical power along one meridian at least, unlike the upper part which is reserved for far vision and is usually of constant refractive power, the optometrist also has to take into account the vertical distance between the horizontal line passing through the pupil of the patient concerned for far vision and the bottom of the ring or surround of the eyeglass frame to be fitted with lenses. Various instruments and apparatus have already been proposed to facilitate the task of the optometrist in determining the diameter of the unprocessed ophthalmic lenses to fit a particular eyeglass frame. In one relatively simple formula, as described in the French patent filed Feb. 2, 1970 under application No. 70 03453 and published under number 2.307.340, this is a simple rule which, carrying diagrams of the available unprocessed ophthalmic lenses, may be equipped with a cursor movable along its length on which the eyeglass frame to be fitted with lenses may be placed. As no support specifically for holding the eyeglass frame is provided, the operation to be undertaken is relatively clumsy and imprecise, and there may result some uncertainty as to the determined diameter. Also, it is not possible with an instrument like this to take into account the aforementioned vertical distance. In a more sophisticated formula, as described for example in the European patent application filed June 19, 1980 under the number 80400903.3 and published under the number 0 021 998, the apparatus proposed for determining the diameter of an unprocessed ophthalmic lens to fit a particular eyeglass frame comprises, on a base, a guide on said base adapted to receive a card carrying diagrams of available unprocessed ophthalmic lenses and a support on said base adapted to receive the eyeglass frame to be fitted with lenses. In this way, and advantageously, the frame may be more firmly held. In practice, however, this apparatus is relatively complex, expensive and bulky, in particular because the guide adapted to receive a card is mobile relative to the base whereas the support adapted to receive the eyeglass frame to be fitted with lenses is fixed relative to the base and, as these components are spaced from each other, to achieve virtual superposition of the corresponding images it is necessary to employ an optical system with light source and mirror. Furthermore, using an apparatus like this is also relatively complicated; for example, two separate operations are necessary just to allow for the interpupillary distance, or rather half the interpupillary distance, of the patient concerned. An object of the present invention is an apparatus for determining the diameter of an unprocessed ophthalmic lens to fit a particular eyeglass frame advantageously free of these disadvantages.

There are, of course, many reasons why the physical characteristics of a particular volume of air might be of interest. For instance, knowing the temperature, humidity and air flow parameters of a volume of air can be very helpful in determining the effect the air may have on a specific environment. Aside from weather observations, where massive volumes of air must be considered important, there are also many instances when rather small volumes of air need to be analyzed. Specifically, consider air conditioning systems. Most air conditioning systems rely on the circulation of air through a cycle wherein air from the particular environment to be controlled is passed through equipment that cools the air and returns it to the environment. Whether the particular air conditioning equipment is efficient for accomplishing this task is a matter of some concern. For instance, power efficiency is of interest, as well as is the ability of the equipment to comply with its control inputs. In the past, in order to determine whether air conditioning equipment was efficient for its intended purposes it was typically necessary to compare the equipment's actual operating characteristics with the operational specifications that are established for the equipment by the manufacturer. Often times, this required invasive measurements of the system coolant. More recently, it has been recognized that the efficiency of an air conditioning system can be noninvasively determined by merely analyzing characteristics of the air that passes through the equipment. For example in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/914,475 which was filed on Aug. 19, 1997 for an invention entitled "DIAGNOSTIC UNIT FOR AN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM", and which is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, noninvasive equipment for diagnosing the efficiency of an air conditioning system has been disclosed. All systems for diagnosing air conditioning equipment must rely on either measurements of the equipment's operating parameters, measurements of the air that is being conditioned by the equipment, or a combination of the two. When direct measurements of the air are taken, it is necessary to obtain such measurements from a good representative sample of the air. Otherwise, the measurements will be essentially meaningless. For very small volumes of air, this may be a relatively easy matter. Indeed, for very small volumes of air one sensor unit will normally suffice for taking measurements of temperature, humidity and fluid volumetric flow velocities. When larger volumes of air are involved, however, the situation becomes somewhat more complicated. In order to measure characteristics in the flow of a volume of air through rather large ducts, such as are common for both commercial and residential air conditioning systems, it may be necessary to take several measurements of the air volume. Typically, this is done at several different locations in the fluid air flow. For example, in order to accurately measure the characteristics of air flowing through a five or six square foot orifice of an air duct, ten or twelve samples of the air may need to be taken at as many different locations in the orifice. Otherwise, meaningful and reliable readings for the total flow of air through the orifice may not be obtainable. Not surprisingly, this can be time consuming and tedious. In light of the above it is an object of the present invention to provide an air sampling system which is able to simultaneously collect diverse samples from a volume of air and combine them into a single sample that is representative of the entire volume of air as it flows through an orifice. Another object of the present invention is to provide an air sampling system which is able to direct a representative sample of air toward a single sensor for an analysis which determines the average characteristics of the entire volume of air from which the sample is taken. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for measuring selected characteristics of a volumetric air flow which are useful for diagnosing air conditioning equipment. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system for sampling volumetric air flow, together with its concomitant method of operation, which is relatively easy to manufacture, simple to use, and comparatively cost effective.

Blue laser light has very widespread applications. For example, the blue laser light may be applicable to high-density optical storage or even medical science. Conventionally, the high-density optical data stores are operated with red diodes at the wavelength of about 650 nm. Through the use of shorter-wavelength blue laser radiation (about 405 nm), the next generation of optical data stores, e.g. DVDs, are currently introduced onto the market to be written or read by means of a blue laser light in a high-density manner. Generally, the DVDs applied in the blue laser technology are classified into two types, for example blu-ray discs and advanced optical discs (AODs). According to the blue laser technology, the light-absorbent substances used in the optical discs are very important for adsorbing blue laser light. Generally, the light-absorbent substances include organic dyes and inorganic phase-changeable materials. The organic dyes displaying an intense absorption in the wavelength range of 390 to 490 nm (e.g. 405 nm) can be used for adsorbing the blue laser light. Examples of the organic dyes include cyanines, porphyrins, polyenes, azo compounds, dicyanovinylphenyl compounds, etc. To achieve excellent optical properties, the dyes should have a high molar extinction coefficient at the blue light absorption wavelength. Moreover, photosensitivity, solubility, light fastness and writing power are also important for selecting suitable dyes. Therefore, there is a continuous need of providing better blue laser light-absorbent substances, which can satisfy the abovementioned requirement profile particularly well.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an electro-optical device, an electronic apparatus having the same, and a mounting structure in which a member is mounted on a mounting substrate, and more particularly, to a technique of performing diagnosis of an electro-optical device and a mounting structure. 2. Related Art In general, in electro-optical devices, such as active matrix liquid crystal devices, a driving IC and a flexible substrate are mounted on an electro-optical device substrate holding an electro-optical material, and each pixel is driven by signals output from the driving IC or signals generated based on the signals output from the driving IC (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-57677) Further, an electro-optical device substrate or a flexible substrate also has a power supply IC, an EPROM, an IC for driving an LED for a backlight, etc., mounted thereon, in addition to the driving IC. However, when a defect occurs in any one of these ICs, a great deal of labor is required to pinpoint the cause of the defect. Therefore, there has been proposed a technique of providing an IC with a self-diagnostic function (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-315418). In an electro-optical device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-57677, an electro-optical device substrate is composed of a rigid substrate, such as a glass substrate. When a crack occurs in this substrate, various wiring lines are broken, which results in defects in display. However, it is difficult to find such a connection defect even if an IC having the self-diagnostic function is provided, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-315418. Further, in a case in which a plurality of ICs is mounted on an electro-optical device substrate or a flexible substrate, when each of the plurality of ICs has a self-diagnostic function, it is necessary for each of the plurality of ICs to output self-diagnosis results, which causes a circuit structure to become complicated.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a circuit for detecting the movement of a solenoid armature associated, for example, with a solenoid valve, whereby correct or incorrect operation of the armature, and therefore of the valve, may be monitored, especially from a remote location. 2. Description of the Related Art Pneumatically operated systems, for example, typically comprise a large number of solenoid valves which function in a predetermined, desired sequence and control the operation of pneumatic devices such as cylinders. Usually, operation of the system is monitored from a remote, central console and it would be desirable to provide, as part of the console, means to indicate that each solenoid armature is operating correctly, or not, as the case may be. It is an object of the present invention to provide such means, and this object is achieved by relying on the observation that, when a solenoid armature moves in response to energisation of the solenoid coil, the inductance of the coil changes which causes the current flowing through the coil to drop momentarily.

Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) is essential for facilitating DNA repair, controlling RNA transcription, mediating cell death and regulating immune response. This activity makes PARP inhibitors targets for a number of disorders. PARP inhibitors have shown utility for treating diseases such as ischemia reperfusion injury, inflammatory disease, retroviral infections, ischemia reperfusion injury, myocardial infarction, stroke and other neural trauma, organ transplantation, reperfusion of the eye, kidney, gut and skeletal muscle, arthritis, gout, inflammatory bowel disease, CNS inflammation such as MS and allergic encephalitis, sepsis, septic shock, hemmorhagic shock, pulmonary fibrosis, and uveitis, diabetes and Parkinsons disease, liver toxicity following acetominophen overdose, cardiac and kidney toxicities from doxorubicin and platinum-based antineoplastic agents and skin damage secondary to sulfur mustards. PARP inhibitors have also been shown to potentiate radiation and chemotherapy by increasing cell death of cancer cells, limiting tumor growth, decreasing metastasis, and prolonging the survival of tumor-bearing animals. US 2002/0183325 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2004/0023968 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2005/0085476 A1 describes fused pyridazine derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2005/0059663 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2006/0063767 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2006/0142293 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2006/0149059 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. US 2007/0093489 A1 describes phthalazinone derivatives as PARP inhibitors. There is therefore a need in the therapeutic arts for PARP inhibitors. Such compounds can be used to treat subjects suffering from cancer, and can further expand the range of treatment options available for such subjects.

A) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and its manufacture method, and more particularly to a semiconductor device having shallow trench isolation (STI) and its manufacture method. B) Description of the Related Art Local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) has been used as isolation of a semiconductor device. According to LOCOS techniques, after a silicon oxide film is formed on a silicon substrate as a buffer layer, a silicon nitride film is formed as a mask layer for preventing oxidization. After the silicon nitride film is patterned, the surface of the silicon substrate is selectively and thermally oxidized via the silicon oxide film. Oxidizing species such as oxygen and moisture enter not only a silicon region under an opening of the silicon nitride film (isolation region) but also a silicon region under the buffer silicon oxide layer under the nitride layer (active region) adjacent to the opening, when the silicon substrate is thermally oxidized. These oxidizing species oxidize the silicon substrate surface even under the silicon nitride film and a silicon oxide region called birds' beak is formed. This bird's beak region cannot be substantially used as an active region for forming electronic elements so that the area of the active region is reduced. A silicon nitride film having apertures of various sizes is formed on a silicon substrate and the substrate surface is thermally oxidized. In this case, a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon substrate surface and in the small size aperture is thinner than a silicon oxide film formed on the silicon substrate surface and in the large size aperture. This phenomenon is called thinning. As a semiconductor device becomes miniaturized, a ratio of an area not used as the electronic element forming region to a total area of a semiconductor substrate increases. Namely, a ratio of the area unable to be used for the electronic element forming region, due to bird's beak or thinning, increases, hindering high integration of a semiconductor device. Trench isolation (TI) techniques are known as isolation region forming techniques. According to TI techniques, a trench is formed in the surface layer of a semiconductor substrate and insulator or polysilicon is buried or embedded in the trench. This method has been used for forming a bipolar transistor LSI which requires deep isolation regions. Trench isolation is being applied to a MOS transistor LSI because both bird's beak and thinning do not occur. MOS transistor LSI's do not require deep isolation regions like bipolar transistor LSI's and can use relatively shallow isolation regions having a depth of about 0.1 to 1.0 μm. This structure is called shallow trench isolation (STI). STI forming processes will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11G. As shown in FIG. 11A, on the surface of a silicon substrate 1, a silicon oxide film 2 is formed having a thickness of, for example, 10 nm by thermal oxidation. On this silicon oxide film 2, a silicon nitride film 3 is formed having a thickness of, for example, 100 to 150 nm by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The silicon oxide film 2 functions as a buffer layer for relaxing stress between the silicon substrate 1 and silicon nitride film 3. The silicon nitride film 3 functions as a stopper layer during a later polishing process. On the silicon nitride film 3, a resist pattern 4 is formed. An opening defined by the resist pattern 4 defines an isolation region. The silicon substrate region under the resist pattern 4 defines the active region where electronic elements are to be formed. By using the resist pattern 4 as an etching mask, the silicon nitride film 3, underlying silicon oxide film 2 and underlying silicon substrate 1 respectively exposed in the opening are etched by reactive etching (RIE) to a depth of, for example, about 0.5 μm to form a trench 6. As shown in FIG. 11B, the silicon substrate surface exposed in the trench 6 is thermally oxidized to form a thermally oxidized silicon film 7 having a thickness of 10 nm for example. As shown in FIG. 11C, a silicon oxide film 9 is deposited on the silicon substrate, for example, by high density plasma (HDP) CVD, the silicon oxide film 9 being buried or embedded in the trench. In order to make dense the silicon oxide film 9 which is used as the isolation region, the silicon substrate is annealed, for example, at 900 to 1100° C. in a nitrogen atmosphere. As shown in FIG. 11D, the silicon oxide film 9 is polished downward by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or reactive ion etching (RIE) by using the silicon nitride film 3 as a stopper. The silicon oxide film 9 is therefore left only in the trench defined by the silicon nitride film 3. At this stage, annealing may be performed to make dense the silicon oxide film. As shown in FIG. 11E, the silicon nitride film 3 is removed by using hot phosphoric acid. Next, the buffer silicon oxide film 2 on the surface of the silicon substrate 1 is removed by using dilute hydrofluoric acid. At this time, the silicon oxide film 9 buried in the trench is also etched to some degree. As shown in FIG. 11F, the surface of the silicon substrate 1 is thermally oxidized to form a sacrificial silicon oxide film 22. Impurity ions of a desired conductivity type are implanted into the surface layer of the silicon substrate 1 via the sacrificial silicon oxide film, and activated to form a well 10 of the desired conductivity type in the surface layer of the silicon substrate 1. Thereafter, the sacrificial silicon oxide film 22 is removed by using dilute hydrofluoric acid. When the sacrificial silicon oxide film is removed, the silicon oxide film 9 is also etched to some degree by dilute hydrofluoric acid. As shown in FIG. 11G, the exposed surface of the silicon substrate is thermally oxidized to form a silicon oxide film 11 having a desired thickness which is used as a gate insulating film. A polysilicon film 12 is deposited on the silicon substrate 1, and patterned to form a gate electrode. Impurity ions having an opposite conductivity type relative to that of the well 10 are implanted and activated to form source/drain regions. If necessary, side wall spacers are formed on the side walls of the gate electrode, and impurity ions of the opposite conductivity type are again implanted and activated to form high impurity concentration source/drain regions. As the silicon oxide film 9 is buried in the trench and a heat treatment is performed for making it dense, the silicon oxide film 9 contracts as it becomes dense. The active region surrounded by the silicon oxide film 9 receives a compressive stress. As the compressive stress is applied, the electron mobility in the active region of the silicon substrate may lower considerably. If the carrier mobility lowers, a saturated drain current reduces. As the active region becomes small as the semiconductor device is made miniaturized, the influence of compressive stress becomes large. As the shoulder of the isolation region 9 is etched and a divot is formed as shown in FIG. 11G, not only the upper surface but also the side wall of the shoulder of the active region of the silicon substrate is surrounded by the gate electrode. As a voltage is applied to the gate electrode of such a shape, an electric field is concentrated upon the shoulder of the active region so that the shoulder forms a transistor having a lower threshold voltage. This parasitic transistor generates a hump on the IV characteristic curve. A method of suppressing the formation of a divot and preventing the hump characteristics has been proposed (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-11-297812). According to this method, a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film are formed in this order on the inner surface of a trench, mask material is once filled in the trench, the mask material is then etched to such an extent that the surface level of the mask material in the trench becomes lower than the surface level of the semiconductor substrate, and the silicon nitride film exposed in the upper part of the trench above the mask material is removed. A problem specific to STI may occur although STI is suitable for miniaturized fabrication. New techniques capable of overcoming the problem specific to STI has been desired.

For centuries advertisers and traditional media companies have been using tools, systems, and methods to try and reach and connect with the proper demographics that will purchase the goods and services being advertised. For example, many advertisers on television elect to advertise their products when a program is shown that will be viewed by the viewer segment, group, or demographic that is likely to purchase the advertised products. Recently, the long standing tools, systems, and methods of advertisers in print media, radio, and television have been altered by the shift of people getting their content from the Internet, rather than print media, radio, and television. Advertisers and media companies have struggled to adapt and many online advertisements are not reaching the desired viewer demographic, as mass content being created by traditional media companies is no longer connecting well with the interests of viewers seeking to consume more personalized and relevant content in a wide variety of online forms including but not limited to search results (e.g. Google.com®, news stories (e.g. CNN.com®, videos (e.g. YouTube.com®, photos (e.g. Flickr.com®), friend-generated postings (e.g. Facebook.com®), and blogs (e.g. perezhilton.com). Online advertising and content generally has several parties involved in the process of displaying advertisements and content to viewers, with the three primary parties being the content publisher, the advertiser, and the advertising network. The content publisher is the owner of one or more websites which have some volume of visitors consuming content to whom the advertisements may be shown alongside (e.g. Facebook®, CNN®, AOL® and blogs) and who receives payment from the advertiser. The advertiser is the party who desires to create and display advertisements to viewers consuming the publisher's content (e.g. Toyota®, University of Phoenix®, and U.S. Army) and who provides payment to the content publisher. The advertising network or vendor serves to connect a multitude of content publishers with a multitude of advertisers (e.g. DoubleClick® and Advertising.com®) and is typically paid a portion of the monetary transaction between advertisers and publishers. Some very large content publishers, which may have millions or hundreds of millions of viewers, will often form their own advertising network to sell directly to the advertisers (e.g. Google® Advertising Programs, Yahoo!® Advertising Solutions, Microsoft® Advertising adCenter). It is the advertising networks and the very large content publishers which use many of the varied methods, systems, and tools for determining which specific advertisement or content to display from the multitude of available advertisements and content libraries. The current methods for determining which specific advertisement or content to display from the multitude of available advertisements and content include using a simple analysis and segmentation of the viewer (e.g. the viewers' demographic or basic behavioral data on the potential viewers), analysis of the context (e.g. placing advertisements in locations with content related to the advertisement's content, as demonstrated by Google's® AdSense®), and/or cost optimization (e.g. observing which advertisements are the most cost effective or the most profitable to display, and then electing to display those advertisements at a disproportionally high frequency). The first two above listed analysis methods are commonly referred to as “targeting.” These methods are well known in the art and have been shown to improve the performance or effectiveness of advertisements and content. For example, an advertisement which aims to sell a subscription to a sports related magazine should, and frequently does, perform better when shown to viewers who frequent sports-related websites, who have in the past paid for premium sports television channels, or who currently have a subscription to a different sports related magazine. Additionally, content about the latest technologies being used effectively in high school education should, and frequently does, connect better when displayed to parents who have children near or within high school age, people with degrees in the field of education or executives of companies that develop technology applications. Advertisers generally pay for online advertising in one of two ways. The first and longest-standing method is called Cost Per Impression (“CPM”). In the CPM method, the advertiser simply pays a set amount each time the advertisement is displayed to a viewer. Typically, a CPM is priced per thousand impressions, so a ‘$0.50 CPM” advertising campaign would cost the advertiser 50 cents for every 1000 displays of the advertisement. This method is analogous to offline advertising such as television, print media, and billboards where the price paid by the advertiser is related to the number of “eyeballs” that see the advertisement or view the content. For example, a thirty (30) second Super Bowl ad will cost an advertiser millions of dollars because that thirty (30) second advertisement will be seen by tens of millions of people. A second method for pricing online advertisements is called Cost Per Click (“CPC”). In the CPC method, the advertiser only pays when and if the viewer engages with the advertisement by clicking on the advertisement and linking to the advertisers' desired redirected location. The CPC method is usually priced per individual click. As such, “$0.50 CPC” advertising campaign or agreement would cost the advertiser 50 cents for each and every click that the advertisement receives. With the CPC method, no payment is made for mere passive viewing of the advertisement. In recent years, improving the targeting methods and specificity has been a matter of significant research and development. Because an enormous amount money is spent in the advertising and content creation and distribution space, small optimizations have the power of scale to generate and/or conserve large sums of money. For instance in a CPC campaign, if an advertising network can increase the number of clicks or views which result from impressions, which is called the clickthrough rate, the advertising network can earn more money in the same period of time compared to if they had not improved the click-through rate. Despite the significant resources spent on improving the targeting methods, significant improvement has not been achieved. Moreover, none of these improved targeting methods has utilized a scientific approach, a scientific analysis of the viewers, or a scientific analysis of the advertisements or content, to optimize advertising or content creation and delivery. Simply put, before the present invention, comparing advertisement or content performance across scientifically created segments of viewers to determine the best-performing segments for a particular advertisement or piece of content had never been done. Finally, the concept and method of building a multitude of specifically scientifically targeted advertisements or pieces of content, using a knowledge base of scientific information, to optimally target each segment of viewers has also never been done. Thus, there is a need for a computer-aided method that utilizes scientific analysis to identify what motivates and drives a viewer at their core to consume a particular piece of content and to pay attention, respond, and take action on a viewed advertisement. What is needed is a computer-aided method that segments the viewers, optimizes the advertisement or content creation, scientifically selects the advertisement or content to display, and creates a targeted advertisement or piece of content.

The present invention relates to the three-dimensional imaging arts. It particularly relates to the imaging, tracking, and displaying of neural fibers and fiber bundles by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI), and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, the invention will also find application in conjunction with the tracking and graphical rendering of other types of fibrous structures as well as with other imaging modalities such as single photon emission computed tomography imaging (SPECT), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and the like. Nerve tissue in human beings and other mammals includes neurons with elongated axonal portions arranged to form neural fibers or fiber bundles along which electrochemical signals are transmitted. In the brain, for example, functional areas defined by very high neural densities are typically linked by structurally complex neural networks of axonal fiber bundles. The axonal fiber bundles and other fibrous material are substantially surrounded by other tissue. Diagnosis of neural diseases, planning for brain surgery, and other neurologically related clinical activities as well as research studies on brain functioning can benefit from non-invasive imaging and tracking of the axonal fibers and fiber bundles. In particular, diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) has been shown to provide image contrast that correlates with axonal fiber bundles. In the DT-MRI technique, diffusion-sensitizing magnetic field gradients are applied in the excitation/imaging sequence so that the magnetic resonance images include contrast related to the diffusion of water or other fluid molecules. By applying the diffusion gradients in selected directions during the excitation/imaging sequence, diffusion weighted images are acquired from which apparent diffusion tensor coefficients are obtained for each voxel location in image space. Fluid molecules diffuse more readily along the direction of the axonal fiber bundle as compared with directions partially or totally orthogonal to the fibers. Hence, the directionality and anisotropy of the apparent diffusion coefficients tend to correlate with the direction of the axonal fibers and fiber bundles. Extraction of fibrous structure information from DT-MRI images is computationally intensive, with processing times typically extending from several tens of minutes to an hour for clinically valuable images, volumes, models or parameters. To keep the processing time within reasonable limits and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, relatively low resolution images are usually acquired for fibrous structure tracking. For example, volumes of 30-40 slices, each of 128xc3x97128 voxels with a linear reconstructed voxel dimension of about 2 mm, and a 2 mm slice resolution, is typical. This relatively coarse resolution affects the appearance of the tracked fiber representation in displayed renderings. Since the fibrous structure tracking is generally performed three-dimensionally, each factor of two increase in acquired image resolution corresponds to about a factor of eight increase in computing time and memory usage. The present invention contemplates an improved apparatus and method which overcomes the aforementioned limitations and others. According to one aspect of the invention, an imaging method is provided for imaging a subject including anisotropic structures. A three-dimensional apparent diffusion tensor map of at least a portion of the subject including at least some anisotropic structures is acquired. The apparent diffusion tensor is processed at a voxel to obtain eigenvectors and eigenvalues. A three-dimensional fiber representation is extracted using the eigenvectors and eigenvalues. During the extracting, voxels are locally interpolated in at least a selected dimension in a vicinity of the fiber representation. The interpolating includes weighting the interpolated voxels by a parameter indicative of a local anisotropy. The interpolating resulting in a three-dimensional fiber representation that has a higher resolution than the acquired tensor map. A human-viewable display of the three-dimensional fiber representation is produced. According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is disclosed for tracking fibrous structures in a subject. A magnetic resonance imaging scanner is configured to acquire diffusion-weighted imaging data. A reconstruction processor reconstructs the acquired diffusion-weighted imaging data into diffusion-weighted image representations. A diffusion tensor mapping processor constructs a diffusion tensor map by selectively combining selected diffusion-weighted image representations. An eigenvalues/eigenvectors processor determines ordered eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the diffusion tensor corresponding to voxels. A fibrous structure tracking processor computes a fibrous structure representation based on the eigenvalues and eigenvectors and at least one starting voxel selection. An interpolation processor cooperating with the fibrous structure tracking processor increases a resolution of the fibrous structure representation by locally interpolating voxels in a neighborhood of the fibrous structure during computation of the fibrous structure representation. A display device displays at least a portion of the fibrous structure representation in a human-viewable medium. According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for tracking fibrous structures in an apparent diffusion tensor map including a three-dimensional arrangement of diffusion tensor voxels. A starting voxel is selected. Beginning at the starting voxel, an eigenvector corresponding to a largest eigenvalue is iteratively followed from voxel to voxel to construct a three-dimensional fiber representation. During the iterative following, voxels are locally interpolated. The locally interpolated voxels are weighted combinations of nearby diffusion tensors. One advantage of the present invention resides in an improved smoothness of the tracked fiber representation. Another advantage of the present invention resides in improved computational speed and reduced memory usage. Yet another advantage of the present invention resides in improved tracking accuracy with higher resolution. Numerous additional advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.

1. Field of the Invention The instant invention relates generally to floral retainers and more specifically it relates to a multiple flower stem holder. 2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous floral retainers have been provided in prior art that are adapted to prolong the life of cut flowers and display the same. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

The present invention relates to a packaging apparatus for feeding and loading individual bags formed in a continuous strip in which successive bags are connected end-to-end. More specifically, the present invention relates to a fully electric packaging apparatus that includes an integrated printer assembly that is pivotable away from the drive rollers used to feed the continuous strip of bags, wherein the integrated printer assembly prints a label or product marking on each of the bags in the continuous strip immediately prior to the printed bag being loaded with the product being packaged. Currently, many manufacturers utilize automated loading machines to load products to be packaged into individual plastic bags. The plastic bags are typically contained in a xe2x80x9cwicketxe2x80x9d in which successive bags are stacked on top of each other and held in alignment by a header having a series of wicket rods. Once each bag is filled with the product to be packaged, the bag is torn along a line of perforation and separated from the header that aligns the stack of bags. After the bag has been filled with the product, the bag is transferred to a drop sealer in which the two layers of plastic forming the bag are heat sealed in a conventional manner. Although the combination of a wicketed bag loading machine and a drop sealer is in wide use and has proven to be effective, drawbacks exist in the use of plastic bags stacked in the wicket package. One such drawback is the limitation in the type of printing that can be applied to the individual bags in the wicket. Since the bags in the wicket are stacked on top of each other and are loaded with a product while still attached to the wicket header, there is no possibility of printing a design on the plastic bag prior to the insertion of the product. Although the wicketed bags could be printed prior to assembly into the wicketed packet, the manufacturer of the wicketed bags typically mass produces the bags without customizing the bags for the individual customer. Thus, if the customer wishes to imprint information on the bags after purchase from the manufacturer, the wicketed bags must be imprinted after the product has been loaded and the wicketed bag sealed by the drop sealer. If the product being sold in the sealed plastic bags includes an irregular surface, printing after the bag has been filled can prove to be a difficult and imprecise proposition. Recently, continuous strips of bags that are end connected have become available for use in packaging products. Each of the bags in the continuous strip includes an open end that is connected to the closed end of the next bag in the continuous strip. Rolls of continuous strip bags can include at least 1000 bags. However, the automated feeding and loading of the continuous strip of bags has also presented problems in the feeding of the bags from the supply source and the opening of the bags in the continuous strip prior to loading of the products to be packaged. In currently available packaging apparatus that open and load continuous strips of bags that are end connected, the printing on each bag is done by a printer that is typically located upstream from the location at which the printed bag is loaded with the product being packaged. Although an upstream printer is adequate when loading identical products into bags such that the printing on each individual bag does not have to correspond to the particular product being packaged, drawbacks exist if the bag feeding and loading apparatus is used to package products that are specialized and require specific labeling for the product being packaged. For example, if the bag feeding and loading apparatus is used to package medical prescriptions for individual patients, it is critical that the information printed upon each individual bag matches the product being placed within the bag. In a feeding and loading apparatus in which several cycles of the apparatus take place between the printing of an individual bag and the loading of the same bag, an opportunity exists for misalignment between the printed product packaging and the actual product being inserted therein. In addition to the possible misidentification that can occur due to the number of bags positioned between the bag being loaded and the bag being printed, the printed bags extending between the loading area and the printing area result in wasted product during changeovers from bag types or the type of printing being placed upon the bag. In many cases, as many as four to six bags can be wasted during each changeover. Another drawback that exists in currently available packaging apparatus is the number of rollers and drive assemblies required to operate both the printer and the bag drive assembly. In addition to the increase in number of parts and cost, the complex path through which the continuous strip of bags travels increases the amount of time required to load a new strip of bags into the packaging apparatus. Further, the multiple drives require complicated timing arrangements to insure that the bag feeding and printer assembly operate at the same speed in order to position the printed material on the bag in the correct location. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can be used to print, feed and seal individual bags with increased accuracy. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus that allows an article to be positioned into the bag immediately following the printing of the bag by the integrated printing assembly. Further, it is an object of the present invention to position the printing assembly directly above the bag feeding assembly. It is an additional object of the invention to provide a printer assembly that can be rotated away from the bag drive assembly to increase the ease of loading of the continuous strip of bags. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fully electronic apparatus that requires no compressed air to operate. The present invention is a packaging apparatus for feeding, printing and sealing a bag from a continuous strip of bags. The packaging apparatus of the present invention is particularly desirable in presenting individual bags for loading individualized products into successive bags where each of the bags must be individually printed with information specifically related to the product being placed within the bag. The packaging apparatus of the present invention includes a bag feeding assembly mounted to a stationary support frame. The bag feeding assembly receives the continuous strip of bags from a supply roll that is mounted to a bag tensioning assembly. The continuous strip of bags passes over a drive roller that is operable to pull the continuous strip of bags from the supply roll. The bag feeding assembly further includes a platen roller positioned adjacent to the drive roller. Both the drive roller and the platen roller are commonly driven by an electric drive motor. The electric drive motor is coupled to the drive roller and the platen roller through a belt assembly such that both the drive roller and the platen roller are rotated at a common speed. After the continuous strip of bags passes over the bag feeding assembly, the continuous strip of bags is received by a bag sealing assembly. The bag sealing assembly is operable to seal the open mouth of each bag after the bag has been loaded with a product. The bag sealing assembly includes a pressure bar mounted between a pair of spaced side arms. The pressure bar includes a anvil plate that presses the open end of the bag into a heated wire to seal the open mouth of each bag after the bag has been loaded. Each of the side arms of the bag sealing assembly is movable toward and away from the stationary support frame of the packaging apparatus. Specifically, each of the side arms includes a rack member that receives a rotatable drive gear. The pair of spaced drive gears are connected by a shaft that is rotatably driven by an electric drive motor. As the electric drive motor rotates, the teeth of the drive gears engage the spaced rack members to move the side arms of the bag sealing assembly into and out of the support frame. In this manner, the entire bag sealing assembly is fully electric. The bag tensioning assembly of the packaging apparatus includes a support shaft that extends through the hollow core of the supply roll. The rotatable support shaft includes a bias member positioned to exert a rotational bias force on the support shaft. Specifically, as bags are unwound from the supply roll, the rotating shaft loads the bias member. When tension created by the feeding assembly is removed from the continuous strip of bags, the bias member exerts a rotational bias force on the supply roll to rewind the continuous strip of bags and maintain the proper tension on the continuous strip of bags. In a first embodiment of the invention, the bias member of the bag tensioning assembly is a torsion spring having a first end coupled to the support shaft and a second end coupled to a slip clutch. As the support shaft rotates when the continuous strip of bags are withdrawn from the supply roll, the slip clutch operates to maintain the desired load on the torsion spring. Specifically, the inner race of the slip clutch is coupled to an adjustment spring that sets the amount of tension required on the torsion spring before the slip clutch will release. By adjusting the strength of the adjustment spring, the slip clutch can properly load the torsion spring. In a second embodiment of the bag tensioning assembly, the torsion spring bias member has a first end coupled to the support shaft and a second end coupled to the fixed support stand. The support shaft includes a friction block that contacts the core of the supply roll. A friction collar is installed on the opposite, outer end of the support shaft and includes a tension spring positioned between the collar and the core of the supply roll. The tension spring exerts a bias force to press the core against the friction block. As the support shaft rotates when the continuous strip of bags are withdrawn from the supply roll, the friction block slips relative to the core when the tension force of the torsion spring exceeds the friction force between the friction block and the core of the supply roll to maintain the desired load on the torsion spring. By adjusting the compression of the tension spring, the amount of tension force stored by the tension spring before slippage between the friction block and the core occurs can be adjusted. The packaging apparatus further includes a printer assembly that is pivotable between a loading position and a printing position. In the printing position, the print head of the printer assembly is positioned adjacent to the platen roller of the bag feeding assembly. When a bag is to be printed by the printer assembly, a printer drive motor causes the print head to move downward into contact with the platen roller. The platen roller is driven to advance the printer ribbon through the printer assembly at the same speed as the speed of movement of the continuous strip of bags. Thus, the bag feeding assembly insures that the printer ribbon is advanced at the same speed as the continuous strip of bags. The printer assembly can be released and pivoted away from the bag feeding assembly to the loading position. In the loading position, the continuous strip of bags from the supply roll can be quickly and easily fed through the packaging apparatus of the invention. Further, the positioning of both the drive roller and the platen roller of the bag tensioning assembly on the stationary support frame allows for quick, easy loading without threading the continuous strip of bags through multiple rollers. As discussed above, the packaging apparatus of the present invention is capable of printing and loading each pre-opened bag during the operation of the packaging apparatus. The packaging apparatus positions the driven platen roller on the stationary support frame while allowing the printer assembly to move out of contact with the bag feeding assembly. Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.

A compound semiconductor is not a single element such as silicon and germanium but a compound having two or more kinds of combined elements serving as a semiconductor. Various kinds of compound semiconductors have been developed and used in many fields. For example, a compound semiconductor may be used for thermoelectric conversion devices using a Peltier effect, light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes and laser diodes using a photoelectric conversion effect, solar cells, or the like. Among these, the thermoelectric conversion device may be applied to thermoelectric conversion generation, thermoelectric conversion cooling or the like. Here, in the thermoelectric conversion generation, a thermal electromotive force generated by applying a temperature difference to the thermoelectric conversion device is used for converting thermal energy to electric energy. The energy conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion device depends on ZT which is a performance index of the thermoelectric conversion material. Here, ZT is determined according to a Seebeck coefficient, electric conductivity, thermal conductivity, or the like. In more detail, ZT is proportional to the square of the Seebeck coefficient and the electric conductivity and is inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity. Therefore, in order to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion device, development of a thermoelectric conversion material with a high Seebeck coefficient, a high electric conductivity, or a low thermal conductivity is desired. Meanwhile, a solar cell is environment-friendly since it does not need an energy source other than solar rays, and therefore are actively studied as an alternative future energy source. A solar cell may be generally classified as a silicon solar cell using a single element of silicon, a compound semiconductor solar cell using a compound semiconductor, and a tandem solar cell where at least two solar cells having different band gap energies are stacked. Among these, a compound semiconductor solar cell uses a compound semiconductor in a light absorption layer which absorbs solar rays and generates an electron-hole pair, and may particularly use compound semiconductors in the III-V group such as GaAs, InP, GaAlAs and GaInAs, compound semiconductors in the II-VI group such as CdS, CdTe and ZnS, and compound semiconductors in the I-III-VI group represented by CuInSe2. The light absorption layer of the solar cell demands excellent long-term electric and optical stability, high photoelectric conversion efficiency, and easy control of the band gap energy or conductivity by composition change or doping. In addition, conditions such as production cost and yield should also be met for practical use. However, many conventional compound semiconductors fail to meet all of these conditions at once.

1. Statement of the Technical Field The invention concerns antennas and more particularly aperture coupled antennas that can be dynamically modified to operate over a relatively large bandwidth by controlling a shape of a ground plane. 2. Description of the Related Art Patch antennas are well known in the art and are used in a wide variety of applications. They can be manufactured in a nearly unlimited number of shapes and sizes, and can be made to conform to most surface profiles. Patch antennas also possess an omni-directional radiation pattern that is desirable for many uses. One negative aspect of patch antennas is that they usually have a relatively narrow impedance bandwidth. For a typical classically fed patch antenna, bandwidth is usually about 2% to 3%. Patch antennas that are fed with an aperture or slot can have slightly higher bandwidths, in the range from about 4% to 6%, but this is still too narrow for many applications. The impedance of a patch antenna is also noteworthy as it can depart significantly from 50 ohms. Consequently, most patch antennas need proper matching in order to ensure efficient power transfer, particularly when fed with coaxial cables that can be lossy at high levels of VSWR. Impedance matching for a patch antenna can be accomplished using several different approaches. For example, a quarter wave high impedance transmission line transformer can be used for this purpose. Alternatively since the impedance is at a minimum at the center of the patch and increases along the axis, a 50 ohm microstrip line can be extended into the interior of the patch to achieve a suitable match. In yet another alternative, a center conductor of a coaxial line can be routed through a dielectric substrate on which the conductive patch is disposed to contact the underside of the patch at a selected impedance point. Still, the operation of most conventional matching circuitry will be frequency dependent. Accordingly, the input impedance of the antenna system will tend to vary considerably over a relatively large bandwidth. Consequently, the usable bandwidth of the conventional patch antenna will remain relatively limited.

As is generally known, food and beverages are offered and served to air passengers during flights. The food service items are generally cold-stored in catering transport containers, i.e. so-called trolleys, from which the food items are usually also served. Except during the actual service periods, the food service trolleys are stowed in a galley, and are further cooled by corresponding cooling arrangements. The total number of galley areas or stowage areas for food service trolleys provided in an aircraft is essentially dependent upon the number of passengers and the particular intended utilization of the aircraft, for example, for long intercontinental flights or alternatively for short haul flights. The galleys are typically arranged at various locations within the aircraft cabin in such a manner that the distribution of meals and beverages to passengers can be achieved in the shortest amount of time and with the shortest involved transport distance. A known arrangement for cooling each individual food service trolley is to have cooling air inlets and outlets on each trolley, which are supplied with cold air produced by a compression air chiller plant, for example. Typically in the known art, an autonomous cooling plant using cold air as a cooling medium and having its own compression cooling machine, such as an air chiller plant, is provided for each individual galley on the aircraft. It is also known to provide the cool air by using heat exchangers in direct thermal communication with the outer skin of the aircraft fuselage to take advantage of the cold temperatures of the environment at cruising altitudes of the aircraft. Thus, in the known arrangements, the food service trolleys that are to be cooled are stowed in galley areas directly proximate to the cooling plants. Each respective cooling plant and the associated cooling medium conduits for each galley are rigidly and permanently installed in proximity to the respective galley. Such an arrangement entails a great redundant weight and a large space requirement, and produces additional undesirable heat and noise in the aircraft cabin. The prior art does not allow a flexible rearrangement of the galleys within the aircraft cabin and therewith a rapid reconfiguring of the cabin space for various applications of the aircraft due to the fixed and permanent arrangement and high space requirement of the multiple cooling plants.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in sealing rings and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved self-sealing ring adapted for utilization with the closure members of valves. 2. Description of the Prior Art O-rings are in widespread use today for sealing between the closure member of a valve and the valve seat. These sealing members are efficient in that the generally circular cross sectional configuration of the O-rings lend themselves readily for distortion to fill the seal ring groove to provide a sealing for the valve in the closed position thereof. In actual usage, however, it has been found that these O-ring seals are frequently dislodged from the annular recess or groove, particularly in the event that the closure member is a rotatable gate member. When a rotatable gate member is utilized within a valve body, the sealing member is exposed to the full pressure existing within the valve, and during rotation of the gate member an O-ring may be swept from the groove, and any loss of the sealing ring results in a leakage of fluid around the gate member, causing an inefficient valve. In order to overcome this disadvantage, a flanged sealing was developed as shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,284, issued May 12, 1959, and entitled "Flanged Sealing Ring". Whereas this sealing ring greatly improved the efficiency of the O-ring type sealing in combination with a rotatable gate member in a valve, it has been found that the flexibility of the sealing ring during compression may not be sufficiently great as to afford the maximum sealing efficiency. In addition, it has been found that the outwardly extending flange may require additional reinforcement in some installations.

The present invention relates to a video signal processing apparatus which converts an analog video signal to a digital signal. Recently, a liquid crystal display device is mainly developed as a video apparatus to replace a cathode ray tube (CRT) display therewith. Video signals received from a personal computer by a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device are analog signals, and the signal level thereof changes in the unit of dot period. Therefore, a sampling clock signal matching to the dot period is needed for signal processing when the signal is written to a memory, when the signal is displayed on a matrix display device, and the like. However, most personal computers do not have an output terminal of such a sampling clock signal. Therefore, it is necessary to reproduce the sampling clock signal based on horizontal synchronization signal or the like received from a computer or the like. Further, the analog video signal cannot be obtained correctly if it is not sampled at a timing in a dot period when a stable signal is outputted. Therefore, the sampling timing has to be appropriate. Then, an appropriate timing of the sampling clock signal is set manually. In a video apparatus, the sampling clock signal can be reproduced with a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit by multiplying the input horizontal synchronization signal and by making both frequency and phase match to those of the input signal. However, the output signal of the PLL circuit has a phase delay because the timing signal required for display control is generated in a logic circuit at a later stage. Because this phase delay depends on the frequency of the input signal, it can not determined uniquely in a video apparatus which can receive various input signals. Therefore, scattering of the timing signal due to phase delay is a problem, especially on sampling. In order to optimize the sampling point, a video information apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent laid open Publication 9-149291 (1997) uses auto-correlation of video signals between frames. That is, a delay time of sampling clock signal is changed successively, and the auto-correlation between frames of video signals after analog-to-digital conversion is determined for each delay time. Then, a point having low correlation is adopted as a point at which the signal is changed. Then, by changing the sampling clock delay, an optimum sampling point is determined at a midpoint or thereabout of the signal-changing point. However, this conventional optimizing circuit needs a frame memory in order to determine the correlation value. Therefore, a complicated memory control circuit and high-speed clock signal are needed. A method using multiple A/D converter circuits is known as a method not using a memory. However, this method has a problem that a plurality of delay circuits for sampling clock are necessary. An object of the invention is to provide a video signal processing apparatus which optimizes the sampling point when an analog video signal is converted to a digital signal. A first video signal processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a clock generator which generates a sampling clock signal for digitizing a video signal based on an input synchronization signal; a phase controller which controls phase of the sampling clock signal at one of a plurality of phases in one period of the sampling clock signal; a first signal generator which generates a first signal when the input video signal is larger than a threshold level; a first counter which counts the first signal received from the first signal generator in a predetermined time; a second signal generator which generates a second signal when the input video signal is larger than another threshold level, at a timing according to the sampling clock signal controlled by the phase controller; a second counter which counts the second signal received from the second signal generator in the predetermined time; and a controller which makes the phase controller sequentially change the phase of the sampling clock signal in a period of the sampling clock signal, repeats the phase change over one or more periods of the sampling clock signal and sets the phase of the optimum sampling clock signal based on a difference between the output signals of the first and second counters obtained for each of the changed phases. For example, the controller set the optimum phase of the sampling clock signal according to a plurality of the subtraction results obtained by the subtractor which performs subtraction between the output signals of the first and second counters. Thus, the phase of the sampling clock signal can be controlled by using a simple structure that the times of the cases when the video signal exceeds the threshold level is counted by the two counters. Further, timing control of the output signal of the binarizer circuit and that of an analog-to-digital converter are not needed. Further, high speed sampling clock signal is not needed to control the phase of the sampling clock signal, so that consumption power can be decreased. Further, because the sampling clock signal is not needed after the output of the binarizer circuit and the analog-to-digital converter, the counters can process a high speed signal. Therefore, this decreases consumption power and is advantageous for fabricating a large scale integrated circuit thereof. In the video signal processing circuit, the optimum sampling clock timing can be set in various ways. For example, the controller sets a phase of the sampling clock signal, at which an absolute value of the count values of the first and second signals is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, to the phase of optimum sampling clock signal. Alternatively, the controller sets a phase of the sampling clock signal, at which an absolute value of the count values of the first and second signals is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value and the absolute value is smallest, to phase of optimum sampling clock signal. Alternatively, the controller makes the phase controller change sequentially the phase of sampling clock signal in a period of the sampling clock signal, and when the controller continuously detects a phase of the sampling clock signal, at which an absolute value of count values of the first and second signals is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, the controller sets a center value of the continuously detected phases of the sampling clock signal to the phase of optimum sampling clock signal. Alternatively, the controller makes the phase controller change sequentially the phase of sampling clock signal in a period of the sampling clock signal, and when the controller detects two or more phases of the sampling clock signal, at which an absolute value of count values of the first and second signals becomes maximum, the controller sets a center value of the two or more phases of the sampling clock signal to the phase of optimum sampling clock signal. Further, in the video signal processing circuit, the controller preferably stops to control the phase controller when the output value of the first counter is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value. Thus, the phase control is stopped for video signal which does not change much, so that malfunction is prevented when the optimum sampling point is detected. Further, in the video signal processing circuit, the controller preferably further comprises a threshold level controller which controls the threshold level of the first signal generator, and a comparator which compares the output signal of the second signal generator with a different threshold level. The controller decides whether the output value of the first counter is equal to or smaller than the predetermined level. Then, it decreases the threshold levels of the first signal generator and of the comparator when the output value of the first counter is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value. The output of the first counter is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value when the video signal has low level. Then, in such a case, the level for signal detection is decreased, so that the optimum sampling point can be detected even when the video signal has low level. In a first video signal processing method according to the invention, a sampling clock signal is generated for digitizing a video signal based on an input synchronization signal, and phase of the sampling clock signal at one of a plurality of phases is changed sequentially in one period of the sampling clock signal. The phase setting is repeated over one or more periods of the sampling clock signal, and for each of the phase setting, a first signal is generated when the input video signal is larger than a threshold level and the first signal is counted in a predetermined time. Further, a second signal is generated when the input video signal is larger than another threshold level at a timing according to the sampling clock signal, and the second signal is counted in a predetermined time. Then, a phase of optimum sampling clock signal is set based on differences between the count values obtained by repeating the phase change. In the video signal processing method, preferably, the phase control is stopped when the count value of the first signal is decided to be equal to or smaller than a predetermined value. In the video signal processing method, preferably, when the count value of the first signal is decided to be equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, threshold levels for the first and second signals are decreased. A second video signal processing apparatus according to the invention comprises: a signal generator which binarizes an input video signal; a clock generator which generates a sampling clock signal based on an input synchronization signal; a phase controller which controls phase of the sampling clock signal at one of a plurality of phases in one period of the sampling clock signal; a delay circuit which delays an output signal of the signal generator by one sampling period; a maximum detector which receives the output signal of the signal generator and that of the delay circuit and performs subtraction of the two output signals to provide a maximum value of the absolute value of the subtraction; and a controller which makes the phase controller sequentially change the phase of sampling clock signal by the phase controller in a period of the sampling clock signal, repeats the phase setting over one or more periods of the sampling clock signal to decide the largest value in distribution of maximum values detected by the maximum detector and sets the phase of the largest value to an optimum sampling point. According to this invention, the sampling timing can be controlled by using a simple structure where subtraction results are obtained on video signal around one sampling, and distribution of absolute value of maximum value is detected. Further, by detecting the distribution of absolute value of maximum value, change in signal level can be detected, and correct sampling phase can be set. In a second video signal processing method according to the invention, a sampling clock signal which digitizes a video signal is generated based on input synchronization signal, and phase of the sampling clock is changed sequentially at one of a plurality of phases in one period of the sampling clock signal. For each of the phase change, the input video signal is binarized, and the binarized signal is delayed by one sampling period, and the binarized signal. The delayed signal are received in a predetermined time and subtraction of the two output signals is performed to detect a maximum value of the absolute value of subtraction. Then, the largest value is decided in distribution of the detected maximum values, and the phase of the largest value is set to an optimum sampling point. A third video signal processing apparatus according to the invention comprises: a clock generator which generates a sampling clock signal based on an input synchronization signal; a phase controller which controls phase of the sampling clock signal generated by the clock generator; a signal generator which receives a video signal which changes alternately at a frequency of the sampling clock signal and binarizes the video signal at a timing of the sampling clock signal; a two-phase processor which subjects an output signal of the signal generator to two-phase processing; a plurality of level change detectors which detect the existence of level change for a plurality of output signals of the two-phase processor; and a controller which makes the phase controller change phase of the sampling clock sequentially and sets a phase, at which any of the level change detectors does not detect level change, to an optimum sampling point. Therefore, the sampling clock can be optimized at low speed processing. In a third video signal processing method according to the invention, a sampling clock signal for digitizing a video signal is generated based on an input synchronization signal, and phase of the sampling clock signal is changed sequentially in a period of the sampling clock signal. The phase change is repeated over one or more periods of the sampling clock signal, wherein for each of phase change, a video signal which changes alternately at a frequency of the sampling clock signal is received, the video signal is binarized at a sampling timing of the sampling clock signal, the binarized signal is subjected to two-phase processing, and the level change is detected for a plurality of the output signals obtained in the two-phase processing. Then, a phase, at which the level change is not detected for any of the output signals, is set to an optimum sampling point. This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all necessary features so that the invention may also be a sub-combination of these described features.

The present invention relates to the field of magnetic recording, particularly to the measuring of an error rate for disk drives, based on the detection of data by means of a digital data processing method.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to production of bottles by extrusion blow molding and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for forming a neck finish in a wide range of plastic water dispenser bottles that has a smooth, straight inner diameter and is fully calibrated, not requiring any post trimming. 2. Description of the Related Art Containers and other hollow articles are frequently formed by blow molding. The blow molding process involves providing a tube of heated and softened plastics material (parison) about which a two-piece mold is closed. Air or another gas is introduced under pressure into the parison to expand it against the walls of the mold, forming the desired hollow article. Such blow molding machines can be of various types, the most common of which are extrusion-blow molding machines and injection-blow molding machines. A requirement for the large bottles produced for the water bottle industry is a design that allows effective cleaning so that the bottles can be refilled and reused in a drinking water dispenser. An important feature with respect to the cleaning is a smooth, straight inner diameter for the neck of the bottle, so that there are no irregular surfaces that could retain bacteria or foreign matter. To ensure the desired surface for the inner diameter of the neck, the preferred method of the prior art has been to injection mold the desired neck geometry into a bottle preform that is subsequently reheated and blown to the final shape; i.e., form the bottles by the injection-blow molding process. While this process is very effective in producing bottles having the desired features, it tends to be relatively expensive due to the additional equipment and time associated with injection molding step. Since extrusion-blow molding machines generally produce a less expensive container, they have also been used to some extent to form water bottles. However, they have not been well accepted because the inner diameter of the bottle neck lacks the desired smooth, straight geometry due primarily to variations in the geometry of the outer diameter. In extrusion-blow molding machines, plastics material is heated and softened in an extruder and is conveyed into a die head from which a tubular parison is extruded. The parison can either be continuous, whereby a plurality of molds are sequentially enclosed about successive, axially spaced portions of the parison, or individual parisons can be intermittently extruded into the mold area using an accumulator. In either case, the material is then ejected through an annular die to form a parison having the desired length, diameter, and wall thickness distribution. More specifically, in the extrusion-blow molding process, the mold is closed over the parison pinching off (closing) the ends of the tubular parison. Air or another gas is injected inside the parison through a blow pin, expanding the parison to match the mold cavity. Obviously, the mold in this process controls only the shape of the outer surface of the bottle, including the neck. Since the outer surface of the neck has an irregular contour to facilitate use in dispensers or water coolers, the corresponding inner surface is also irregular since the material forming the inside wall is not constrained, resulting in varying wall thickness that further distorts as the bottle cools to ambient temperature.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cyclohexanol derivatives and fragrance compositions containing the same. 2. Description of the Prior Art It is known that hydrogenated catecholcamphene adducts obtained by the hydrogenation of an adduct of camphene with catechol have a sandal odor. (Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. 106,853/1977 and No. 118,507/1982). It is also known that condensation of 2-ethylidene-5-norbornene ("EBH") with phenol in the presence of a cation exchange resin gives a 1:1 condensation product. (Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 84, 30579x (1974); Neft. Gaz, page 128 (1974)). While fragrant substances are known which have a green-floral type odor, many of the fragrance materials belonging to the green-floral odor type have an aldehyde group as a functional group. (Perfumer and Florist, 5 (6), 1 (1980) and ibid., 6 (1), 1 (1981)). Unfortunately, the aldehyde group is known to be easily oxidizable and notoriously susceptible to attack by acids and alkalis. Hence, fragrant substances bearing an aldehyde group tend to be chemically labile or unstable. Additionally, many of the fragrant substances having a green-floral type odor have a relatively simple chemical structure and, hence, a low molecular weight, which results in the non-persistence of the odor. Hence, a need continues to exist for a fragrant substance or fragrance composition which has a green-floral type odor and which is chemically stable. Moreover, a need also continues to exist for such compositions or substances whose green-floral type odor is persistent.

The present invention relates to closed-loop amusement ride systems, such as roller coasters, installed in amusement parks and the like. Conventional ride systems of this type comprise a pair of rails, extending parallelly at a fixed distance from each other, and a passenger car traveling on the rails. The rails are curved into various shapes, so that the car can, for example, ascend, descend, or roll, tracing the curved configuration of the rails. Amusement ride systems have recently been developed, which are provided with a loop portion extending vertically, in the middle of the amusement ride. In these systems, the car makes a somersault while it runs past the loop portion. Thus, passengers in the car can experience the same thrill as may be obtained during an airplane's looping the loop, among other aerial acrobatics. In the prior art ride systems, however, the car travels on the rails with the aid of a plurality of wheels, on its bottom surface. Therefore, the car cannot run like a spinning airplane. Thus, it would be extremely thrilling for passengers to experience a simulated spin in the car, without having an actual ride in an airplane.

Today life standards cannot be imagined without communication systems for individuals and groups, e.g., Internet, TV. Those communication systems have been evolving from old standards and currently, there is a full array of interactive tools allowing people to communicate in different ways. With current standards, one person can broadcast a message to a practically unlimited number of persons. However, there is no way such unlimited number of persons can send a message to the person who has broadcasted the message to them. Such techniques for communication do not exist using a back channel. Social networks, email, sms, video, and any other current communication tools, are powerful tools for communications one to one and one to many but, when a big group of people looks for a way to express its will, there is no tool that can help this group. FIG. 31 shows a picture of a large group of people. This large group is expressing something as a group. A need exists to determine what the group is expressing. A need exists for a Global Social Communication System. A further need exists for a turning point in the development of social communication media.

The invention set forth in this specification pertains to new and improved disposable, electrochemical sensing devices. More specifically it pertains to sensing devices or sensors which are used in conjunction with appropriate electronic apparatus in order to determine the content of certain specific ions or gases in various different fluids. In many different medical, ecological and industrial circumstances it is necessary or desirable to determine whether or not a specific ion, ions of a group of closely related ions, a gas or gases of a group of gases of a closely related character are or are not present within a fluid and, if such an ion, gas or group of either is present, the amount of the latter which is present in the fluid. Thus, for example, in the medical field it is often necessary to determine the potassium, oxygen or other content of blood. Similarly, in monitoring various industrial processes it is frequently necessary to determine if a specific ion or gas is present in a solution or in a specific atmosphere such as ambient air, and, if it is, the quantity of the same which is present. Such determinations are needed and used in so many different areas of technology that it would be extremely time consuming to attempt to even suggest them all in this document. Although determinations as are indicated in the preceding paragraph can be made in different manners in many cases whenever it is reasonably possible it is highly preferable to make such determinations electrochemicaly using ion or gas selective electrodes. The reasons for this are considered to be primarily related to the ease with which electrochemical measurements can be made, the comparatively low costs involved in making such measurements, the relative reliability of electrochemical analysis, and the fact that normally only comparatively limited equipment is required in order to make measurements to determine if an ion, a gas or a group of related ions or gases is present in a fluid, and, if so, the quantity of the latter present in the fluid. Such equipment is closely related to that used in electrochemically making common pH measurements. It normally consists of a device having two separate electrochemical half cells, means for connecting the half cells by a sample of the fluid which is to be analyzed with the device and of an item of electronic equipment for making measurements in connection with the half cells and for indicating the results of such measurements. Although the physical structures of the cells used in a specific apparatus usually vary normally both cells used include a housing having an internal cavity, an electrode extending into the cavity and an electrolyte in the cavity in communication with the electrode. A half cell as described normally includes a flow control means such as a barrier, membrane or other structure for restricting flow between the electrolyte in the half cell and the means connecting it with the other half cell with which it is used. The flow control means in one of the half cells is always of such a character as to permit essentially only movement of the ion or ions to be measured in or through such means or to permit a specific reaction or reactions with or absorption of the gas or gases to be measured in or at the surface of such means. Such a half cell is commonly referred to as a "sensing" cell or half cell. In a device employing two half cells as described the other or non-sensing half cell used normally employs a different flow control means than the sensing half cell. This latter half cell is utilized to provide a reference measurement for use in analyzing a corresponding measurement obtained using the sensing cell. Because of this the second cell in a device as described may be referred to as a "reference" cell or half cell. As a result of its function the flow control means used as a part of the sensing half cell is quite critical to electrochemical sensing devices of the type to which this invention pertains. Ion or gas determinations using an electrochemical sensing device as indicated in the preceding discussion can be made only when an appropriate flow control device having a character as indicated in the preceding paragraph is available. As a consequence of this the flow control structure in a sensing half cell is restricted to an available membrane or barrier which is desirable in making a desired analysis. Fortunately advances in technology have resulted in and are resulting in membranes and barriers which are useful for an apparently ever increasing series of electrochemical determinations or measurements. For some measurements it is considered necessary or preferable to use solid state membranes or barriers. The latter have been bodies of single crystals; they have also been bodies formed of particles such as small crystalline or other particles by such techniques as pressing such particles into a single, unitary mass. In some cases such particles have been physically held together with and/or within an inert or essentially inert binder. These membranes or barriers have also been prepared by forming polymer gels including one or more polymers and a fluid having desired ion selective or gas reactive or absorptive properties. It is common for the electrolyte in such half cell to contain the same ion or ions which are present in the membrane or barrier. Fortunately an understanding of the invention does not require a detailed consideration of all of the different membranes or barriers capable of being used in devices in accordance with the invention. Neither does it require a detailed consideration of all of the diverse constructional details of known sensing and reference half cells of cells and of the various electrolytes employed in such cells in making determinations such as can be made using the devices of the present invention. However, an understanding of the reasons as to why the present invention is needed does require a brief, further discussion of prior devices which are related to the devices of the present invention. Such prior devices are not considered to be completely satisfactory in meeting present and contemplated future needs for electrochemical sensing devices or sensors for one or more of a series of different reasons. Because of the diversity of such prior devices it is impractical to attempt to indicate all of the limitations and disadvantages of them in this document. Frequently such prior devices or sensors have been relatively complex and as a result of this undesirably expensive. Often such prior devices are comparatively difficult to use.

The present invention relates generally to washers used in the assembly of mechanical structures, and particularly to two-piece washers that can be inserted in a mechanical structure after assembly. During and after the process of putting together a mechanical structure it is often discovered that a washer has either been inadvertently left out of the assembly or that a washer should be assembled in order to more precisely adjust the final assembly. This need may arise because of excess play along the shaft or to improve relative rotational movement between component parts. Usually, and under the best of circumstances, the only solution is to disassemble at least part of the structure to allow the washer to be slipped onto the shaft in the proper order of assembly, and then reassemble the remainder of the component parts. Under other circumstances, perhaps where the structure has been welded together, the only solution is to destroy some parts and start the assembly process from the beginning. These are time-consuming processes that cost money and efficiency in a commercial setting, and frustration for the mechanic in all situations. Solutions to this problem have been proposed, but none have met reasonable commercial acceptance. For instance, U-shaped spacers have been utilized in this application, but these must have some means of being securely locked into place or they can work themselves free of, or out of, the area in which they are meant to remain. Such hardware is relatively expensive to manufacture and less reliable in use than is required in a commercial assembly operation. Another solution is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,777,614. Generally, the washers described are designed to eliminate axial shifting relative to the shaft while, as will be discussed further below, the washer of the instant invention requires such shifting to move into and out of the interlocking position. In FIG. 5 a two-piece washer, including male and female parts is depicted. The male member has outer ends formed into ratchet teeth and the female member has ends terminating in spring jaws and ratchet teeth that engage with those on the male member. The two pieces are not identical and must be flexed or sprung apart in order to engage each other. Non-identical parts result in a more costly manufacturing requirement, call for greater logistics and packaging, and more difficulty in assembly because of the need to handle two parts. Additionally, the need to flex one or both pieces in order to interlock them is not always possible because of other close-fitting parts or components. Yet another proposed solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,558,364. There is shown a two-piece structure using identical parts, each with a male end and a female end. However, the female end is bent open for assembly and must be physically bent into a locking position around the male end. The need to bend components makes this possible solution more impractical because, as pointed out above, often there is inadequate space available to insert pliers or other tools to accomplish this end. It would be desirable and beneficial to provide a washer that would overcome the above-noted disadvantages of known washers. It is an object of the instant invention to provide an improved washer that can be easily inserted onto an assembled shaft without the need to disassemble other component parts already fitted to the shaft. It is another object of the instant invention to provide an improved washer that is more cost-effective, durable, cheap to produce, easier to use, and reliable than those known in the prior art. It is yet another object of the instant invention to provide an improved washer that can be inserted at substantially any location along the length of a shaft with other component parts thereon without the need to disassemble the structure. It is a still further object of the instant invention to provide an improved two-piece washer that includes a tab, or tabs, extending outwardly there from adjacent the interlocking elements to aide in the placement or removal of the washer, thus eliminating the need for special tools and the likelihood that parts will be dropped or mishandled during use. These and other objects are obtained by providing a two-piece washer that can be inserted in a fully or partially assembled shaft structure without the necessity of removing component parts. The two identical substantially inflexible pieces each have, on the circumferential ends thereof, a tab and recess that interlock with the corresponding tab and recess on the respective ends of the mating piece. To insert the washer, the mating surfaces of the component parts at the insertion location on the shaft must be separated a distance at least twice the thickness of the washer so that the two pieces of the washer can be placed around the shaft and moved axially along the shaft and relative to each other into the interlocking position. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the detailed description which follows, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein one primary embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as defining the limits of the invention.

The present invention relates to improvements of a workpiece feeding device in a sewing machine, which, in particular, is installed with an endless feeding member such as a feed wheel, a feed belt or a feed chain steadily contacting a workpiece. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,776 there is disclosed a sewing machine having a feeding device with such an endless feeding member intermittently driven by employing a one-way coupling in combination with a reversing gear device. As the one-way coupling is applied for converting an oscillating movement into an intermittent rotating movement of one direction, the reversing gear device serves for reversing the intermittent movement to make possible reversal of the feed movement for the workpiece to be sewn. The reversing gear device of this known feeding device incorporates a clutch and gears for reversing the movement at which both elements are exposed to wear. Furthermore, the known feeding device is composed of an extensive number of elements of high quality so that this feeding device cannot be produced at low cost. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,428 there are employed one-way couplings in a plurality of arrangements in which the individual couplings are separately and in different phases driven so as to generate a quasi rotating movement. To achieve such a movement a uni-directional arrangement of the couplings is necessary, i.e. the one-way couplings are arranged so as to transmit a torque in a common direction. By arranging one-way couplings in this manner, the reversing of the output movement may be achieved only with the application of a reversing gear device, as disclosed in the first-mentioned U.S. patent.

In general, a flat panel display device such as a PDP or a LCD is equipped with an antireflection film for minimizing the reflection of light incident from the outside. As a method for minimizing the reflection of light, there exist a method (anti-glare: AG coating) in which a filler such as an inorganic fine particle is dispersed in a resin and coated on a substrate film to impart irregularities; a method (anti-reflection: AR coating) of using the interference of light by forming a plurality of layers having different refractive indexes on a substrate film; or a method for mixing them, etc. Among them, in the case of the AG coating, the absolute amount of the reflected light is equivalent to that of a general hard coating, but a low reflection effect can be obtained by reducing the amount of light entering the eye using light scattering through irregularities. However, since the AG coating has poor surface sharpness due to the surface irregularities, many studies on AR coating have been conducted recently. As for a film using the AR coating, a multi-layer structure in which a hard coating layer (high refractive index layer), a low reflective coating layer, and the like are laminated on a substrate film has been commercialized. However, in the case of a clear coating having no irregularities on the surface, there are disadvantages in that the anti-glare effect is not sufficient and a defect inside the display is easily visible. Accordingly, many studies have been actively conducted to minimize the reflection of light incident from the outside while maintaining the sharpness of the image. However, as the resolution of the display increases, the degree of improvement of the physical properties is insufficient. Recently, there are cases in which a COT (color filter on TFT) structure is used as a liquid crystal panel of a liquid crystal display device. When a liquid crystal panel having such a COT structure is used, the reflectivity of the inside of the panel is increased due to the metals included in the electrodes and the like, and thus the optical characteristics of the display such as external black visibility and contrast ratio are reduced. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a surface coating film having an excellent antireflection function while increasing the yield of the display panel.

(a) Technical Field Embodiments relate to a switch control circuit for zero voltage switching and a buck converter including the same. (b) Description of the Related Art A buck converter includes a power switch that receives an input voltage and performs switching and an inductor and a capacitor that are connected to the power switch. A diode may be connected between the inductor and the ground to decrease a flowing inductor current while the power switch is turned off. The buck converter may include a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) instead of a diode. The switching of MOSFET may be controlled in synchronization with the switching of the power switch. The buck converter may operate according to a threshold operation mode in which an inductor current reaches zero. In this case, in order to perform zero voltage switching (ZVS), the buck converter further includes a separate ZVS circuit.

This invention relates to an essentially hydroxyl-free fused silica glass which is resistant to laser damage and a method of making such glass using molecular hydrogen. Specifically, the invention relates to the use of molecular hydrogen to prevent the 190-300 nm optical absorption of fused silica associated with prolonged exposure to radiation within that wavelength. Although the exact origin, nature and mechanism of formation of the centers that give rise to absorptions in fused silica are not completely understood, these defects can be identified and tracked by optical absorption and/or electron spin resonance techniques. Two categories of defects can be described: the E' center, centered at about 210 nm and an oxygen related defect, having an absorption at about 260 nm with a corresponding fluorescence at 650 nm. The E' defect structure consists of a paramagnetic electron trapped in a dangling silicon orbital projecting into interstitial space. As the E' center has an unpaired electron it is detectable by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The induced E' center has a 5.8 eV (210 nm) absorption band and a 2.7 eV (458 nm) fluorescence band. The absorption at 210 nm is particularly deleterious in ArF (193 nm) laser applications as it tails into the irradiating wavelength region of the laser. For applications such as lenses for 193 nm microlithography it is important to minimize or eliminate any optical absorption in this region of the UV spectrum. The second observed absorption at 260 nm is a consequence of irradiating silica that contains dissolved molecular oxygen. It has been found that the more oxidizing the flame used to make the glasses the more 260 nm absorption is produced with laser irradiation. Along with the 260 nm absorption is formed 1.9 eV (650 nm) red fluorescence. The 260 absorption is undesirable for KrF (248 nm) laser applications as it is very close to the lasing wavelength; its minimization or elimination is important for the successful use of silica in KrF applications. One model for the formation of the 260 absorption involves the reaction of dissolved molecular oxygen with fight to give oxygen atoms. The reactive oxygen atoms further react with molecular oxygen to give ozone (260 nm absorption). The ozone has a radiative transition with a red (650 nm) emission. Alternatively, it should be noted that molecular oxygen has also been theorized to react photolytically with silica. Regardless of the mechanism of formation, it is important to note that the 260 nm absorption is related to the molecular oxygen content of the glass. In the past, many methods have been suggested for improving the optical damage resistance of fused silica glass. It has been generally known that high purity fused silica prepared by such methods as CVD- soot remelting process, plasma CVD process, electrical fusing of quartz crystal powder, and other similar methods, are susceptible to laser damage to various degrees. This variable propensity to laser damage has been attributed to low OH content, sometimes measuring as low as 10 ppm or less as measured from the value of the beta-OH. Therefore, most commonly, it has been suggested to increase the OH content of such glass to a high level. For example, Escher, G. C., KrF Laser Induced Color Centers In Commercial Fused Silicas, SPIE Vol. 998, Excimer Beam Applications, pp. 30-37 (1988), confirms that defect generation rate is dependent upon the fused silica OH content, and that "wet" silicas are the material of choice for KrF applications. Specifically, they note that high OH content silicas are more damage resistant than low OH silicas, due to their room temperature hydrogen annealing properties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,352 and its related U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,230 also claim that the ability to resist optical deterioration from exposure to a short wavelength ultraviolet laser beam depends on the OH group content in the presence of hydrogen gas. Specifically, these references show that for high purity silica glass having low OH content, KrF excimer laser durability is poor. Thus, they suggest to have an OH content of at least 50 ppm. Similarly, Yamagata, S., Improvement of Excimer Laser Durability of Silica Glass, Transactions of the Materials Research Society of Japan, Vol. 8, pp. 82-96, 1992, discloses the effect of dissolved hydrogen on fluorescence emission behavior and the degradation of transmission under irradiation of KrF excimer laser ray for high purity silica glass containing OH groups to 750 ppm by weight such as those synthesized from high purity silicon tetrachloride by the oxygen flame hydrolysis method. Others have also suggested methods of increasing the optical durability of fused silica. For example, Faile, S. P., and Roy, D. M., Mechanism of Color Center Destruction in Hydrogen Impregnated Radiation Resistant Glasses, Materials Research Bull., Vol. 5, pp. 385-390, 1970, have disclosed that hydrogen-impregnated glasses tend to resist gamma ray-induced radiation. Japanese Patent Abstract 40-10228 discloses a process by which quartz glass article made by melting is heated at about 400.degree. to 1000.degree. C. in an atmosphere containing hydrogen to prevent colorization due to the influence of ionizing radiation (solarization). Similarly, Japanese Patent Abstract 39-23850 discloses that the transmittance of UV light by silica glass can be improved by heat treating the glass in a hydrogen atmosphere at 950.degree. to 1400.degree. C. followed by heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere at the same temperature range. Shelby, J. E., Radiation Effects in Hydrogen-impregnated Vitreous Silica, J. Applied Physics, Vol. 50, No. 5, pp. 3702-06 (1979), suggests that irradiation of hydrogen-impregnated vitreous silica suppresses the formation of optical defects, but that hydrogen impregnation also results in the formation of large quantities of bound hydroxyl and hydride, and also results in the expansion or decrease in density of the glass. There has been no suggestion in the past for a practical method of increasing the optical damage resistance of fused silica glass having low to no OH content, in particular, resistance to optical damage associated with prolonged exposure to UV radiation e.g., 193 or 248 nm excimer laser. Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to disclose a method of increasing the resistance of high purity fused silica glass to optical damage.

The present invention relates to detection of subsoil contaminants including chlorinated hydrocarbons. More specifically, but without limitation thereto, the present invention relates to a fiber optic probe for detecting Raman emissions that may be used with a cone penetrometer. Raman spectroscopy is an emission technique that uses scattering of incident optical energy to produce spectral peaks that are frequency shifted from the incident optical energy. These so-called Raman emissions are believed to arise from changes in molecule polarization. Virtually all organic molecules display a characteristic Raman emission. The inherently high resolution of Raman spectra often permits the analysis of several chemicals present together in a mixture. This technique is particularly applicable to detecting chlorinated hydrocarbons that frequently contaminate subsoil around aquafers. Cone penetrometers have been used with a variety of probe designs to detect these contaminants. The advent of inexpensive, portable Raman spectrometers has gained renewed interest in the area of Raman spectrometry. These spectrometers offer a minimum of components compared to conventional instrumentation and provide high light throughputs. Despite the advantages of Raman spectroscopy and the technological advances, there are additional issues that must be resolved to realize a practical fiber optic Raman sensor (FORS), such as low sensitivity and interference from Raman emissions in the optical fibers. A need therefore exists for a fiber optic Raman sensor that suppresses interference from the optical fibers, is operable with optical fiber lengths in excess of 30 meters, has high sensitivity, and is rugged enough to be deployed in a cone penetrometer.

Books and magazines often contain pages containing audacious mixtures of color images and text. The present invention relates to a fast and efficient method of coding partially-masked image information of such documents by wavelet coding without wasting bits on the image data that is masked by foreground text. A simplified block diagram of a wavelet coding system is shown in FIG. 1. The system includes an encoder 100 and a decoder 200. The encoder 100 codes input image information according to wavelet compression techniques and outputs coded image data to a channel 300. The coded image data includes wavelet coefficients representing the image data. The decoder 200 retrieves the coded image data from the channel 300 and decodes it according to wavelet decompression techniques. Multi-resolution wavelet decomposition is one of the most efficient schemes for coding color images. These schemes involve several operations: color space transform, image decomposition, coefficient quantization and coefficient coding. Image information to be coded is represented as a linear combination of locally supported wavelets. An example of wavelet support is shown in FIG. 2(a). Wavelets extend over a predetermined area of image display. For the length of every wavelet such as W0, two other wavelets W1a and W1b extend half of its length. The length of each underlying wavelet W1a, W1b is itself supported by two other wavelets W2a, W2b, W2c and W2d. This support structure may continue until a wavelet represents only a single pixel. Image data may be coded as a linear combination of the wavelets. Consider the image data of FIG. 2(b). As shown in FIG. 2(c), the image data may be considered as a linear combination of the wavelets of FIG. 2(a). To represent the image data, only the coefficients of the wavelets that represent the image data need by coded. The image data of FIG. 2(b) may be coded as: Because most of the wavelet coefficients are zero, the coefficients themselves may be coded using highly efficient coding methods. The linear combination of coefficients can be expressed in matrix notation as: Aw=xxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1) where w is a vector of wavelet coefficients, x is a vector of pixel values, and A is a square matrix whose columns represent the wavelet basis. Matrix A usually describes an orthogonal or nearly orthogonal transformation. When a decoder 200 is given the wavelet coefficient, then it may generate the image data x using the process of Equation. 1. Efficient multi-scale algorithms perform image decomposition (i.e. computing Axe2x88x921x) and image reconstruction (i.e. computing Aw) in time proportional to the number of pixels in the image. In practice, most image data is smooth. It differs from the exemplary image data of FIG. 2(b) in that the image data generally does not possess abrupt variations in image value. Whereas the image data used in the example of FIG. 2(b) possesses significant energy in the coefficients of shorter wavelets, natural image data does not often possess energy in these coefficients. The image local smoothness ensures that the distribution of the wavelet coefficients is sharply concentrated around zero. High compression efficiency is achieved using quantization and coding schemes that take advantage of this peaked distribution. When a unitary source of information, such as a page of a book or magazine, contains both text and image data, the text may be considered as a xe2x80x9cmaskxe2x80x9d that overlays image data beneath the text. Coding of any part of the image data beneath the masking text becomes unnecessary because the text will mask it from being observed. In the case of wavelet encoding. Masked wavelets need not be coded. When image data is masked, the mask blocks image data thereunder from being observed. Coding errors that are applied to masked image data are unimportant because the masked image data will be replaced with data from the mask. Also, the mask disrupts the smoothness of the image data. It introduces sharp differences in the value of the image data at the boundaries between the image and the foreground text. Coding of the sharp differences would cause significant energy to be placed in the short wavelet coefficients, which would cause coding inefficiencies to arise in coding the image data. Such coding inefficiencies are particularly undesirable because coding errors that occur below the mask will be unnoticed at the decoder where the mask will overlay the erroneous image data. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a image coder that codes masked image data efficiently. The disadvantage of the prior art are alleviated to a great extent by a successive projections algorithm that codes partially-masked image data with a minimum number of wavelet coefficients. According to the successive projections algorithm unmasked image information is coded by wavelet decomposition. For those wavelets whose energy lies substantially below the mask, the wavelet coefficients are canceled. Image reconstruction is performed based on the remaining coefficients. For the image information that lies outside of the mask, the reconstructed image information is replaced with the original image information. The wavelet coding, coefficient cancellation, and image reconstruction repeats until convergence is reached. The present invention also provides a simple and direct numerical method for coding the image information in a manner that obtains quick convergence. In a first embodiment, quick convergence is obtained by performing masked wavelet encoding in stages, each stage associated with a predetermined wavelet scale. By advancing the stages from finest scale to coarsest scale, coefficients of masked wavelets are identifies early in the coding process. In a second embodiment, quick convergence is obtained by introducing overshoot techniques to the projections of images.

A large number of investors are now trading in the securities markets. According to Business Week™, there are currently about 100 million individual investors in the United States alone. These individuals invest in the securities markets either on their own as individual traders or through a variety of brokers. According to The Tower Group™, there are currently about 675,000 registered brokers in the United States alone. These brokers work at about 5,500 different firms which staff almost 90,000 branch offices throughout the United States. An enormous amount of financial information is now available to professional and individual investors, and the volume and availability of this information is growing at an explosive rate. By way of example, note the recent explosion of online financial information. Price quotes for almost any financial instrument (e.g., stocks, bonds, etc.) are now readily available from a wide variety of online sites. Furthermore, Morningstar™ now offers its mutual fund ratings online, and Yahoo™ allows an investor to review SEC filings, look at analysts' stock recommendations, and learn how other markets around the world are performing. At the same time, traditional print publications such as The Wall Street Journal™ and The Financial Times™ are making more and more financial information available to the reader, and traditional broadcast media such as television and cable television are now providing 24-hour business programming. The widespread availability of this enormous volume of often conflicting and confusing information often inhibits the ability of investors to comprehend and utilize the information efficiently. As a result, their confidence in what that information means frequently decreases almost in proportion to the rate at which the quantity of information grows. The sheer quantity of data obscures the correlation and interdependencies inherent in that data. For individual investors, the volume of data can be daunting. Even experienced traders, looking at dynamically changing assortments of numbers, tables, charts and graphs, are sometimes overwhelmed. This often leads to increased stress, eye fatigue and frustration. Under these conditions, even seasoned professionals sometimes fail to make critical decisions well and frequently resort to the oldest—and possibly the most unreliable—criteria of all, the “gut instinct”. Thus there is a significant need for a more effective tool for mining the wealth of financial data currently available, extracting significant information therefrom, and presenting the same to the investor in a visually compelling manner.

The present invention relates to a surgical instrument such as a dental scalpel and more specifically to an improved blade and chuck assembly for scalpels and similar knife-like instruments. In my U.S. Patent Application No. 07/062113, filed June 13, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,976, there is disclosed a dental scalpel having a universally adjustable blade in which the blade itself is removably connected and disconnected in a chuck. The necessity of providing a quick and easily detachable chuck and blade connection will be quite evident. On the other hand, the provision of a connection which secures against the introduction and accumulation of blood, virus and bacteria in through the instrument itself (i.e. chuck, handle or the like), while also evident, has only recently become essential due to the discovery of bacteria and viruses which resist normal sterilization procedures. Various patents have been published relating to chuck and blade assemblies. For example, Ward U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,041 provides a blade interacting with a chuck assembly. Gleason U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,591 discloses a surgical knife interacting with a chuck assembly. Weinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,376 discloses a surgical blade having a rectangular mount removably engaging a correspondingly square-shaped opening member secured to a handle. Various dental accessory and blade attachments and/or assemblies are also disclosed in the following U.S. Pats. Nos: 4,525,144; 907,003; 1,316,685; 2,465,433; and 3,430,345. Notwithstanding the variety of the known devices, none provides for quick and easy connection and disconnection while at the same time insuring against the egregious introduction of harmful bacteria and virus through the instrument itself. A further disadvantage found in the prior art devices is that each lacks full and complete structural support for the blade during its use and manipulation by the surgeon. It is, therefore, a broad object of the present invention to provide a chuck and blade assembly for scalpels and the like which overcome the disadvantages of the prior art devices. It is another object of the present invention to provide a secure fit for the blade which prevents lateral movement and/or spinning of the blade in the chuck. A further object of the present invention is to provide barrier means which prevent the intrusion and/or accumulation of bacteria, virus and body fluids within the chuck or handle itself. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for maximum rigidity of the blade during use and to provide the shortest extending longitudinal distance of the blade from the chuck itself. The foregoing objects as well as advantages, together with numerous other objects and advantages, are set forth in the following disclosure.

1. The Field of the Invention This invention relates to containment systems and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for containing underwater gas and oil leaks. 2. The Background Art As evidenced recently in the Gulf of Mexico, it is difficult to contain a gas and oil leak located deep underwater. It is particularly difficult when uncontrolled adiabatic expansion makes the gas very cold. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that addresses the unique challenges of containing a gas and oil leak located deep underwater.

Programmable integrated circuits are a type of integrated circuit that can be configured by a user to implement custom logic functions. In a typical scenario, a logic designer uses computer-aided design (CAD) tools to design a custom logic circuit. When the design process is complete, the CAD tools generate configuration data. The configuration data is loaded into a programmable integrated circuit to configure the device to perform desired logic functions. In a typical system, a programmable integrated circuit, memory devices, and other electronic components are mounted on a printed circuit board. The programmable integrated circuit includes memory interface circuitry that is used to relay data back and forth between the programmable integrated circuit and the memory devices (i.e., the memory interface circuitry is used to read data from and write data into the memory devices). When performing such memory read and write operations, the timing of control and data signals is critical. Because programmable integrated circuits can be configured in many different ways and are installed on many different types of boards, the lengths of circuit board traces coupling the programmable integrated circuit to the memory devices can vary from one system to another. As a result, it is generally not possible to know in advance exactly how data, control, and clock paths between a programmable integrated circuit and a given memory device will perform. In some systems, the data and clock paths may have one set of timing characteristics, whereas in other systems the data and clock paths may have a different set of timing characteristics. Mismatch (or skew) between the data and clock paths may result in degraded setup and hold times. In modern high speed memory interface circuitry that use double data rate (DDR) transfers (i.e., a data transmission scheme in which data toggles on both rising and falling edges of the clock), a small amount of skew will result in faulty data transfer during read/write operations. Moreover, variations in operating conditions (i.e., voltage and temperature variations) can further degrade setup and hold times.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display having data electrodes and scanning electrodes arranged in a matrix and provided with a self-light emitting display unit performing lighting-up and displaying on each scanning line as a unit. 2. Prior Art In a self-light emitting display unit having data electrodes and scanning electrodes arranged in a matrix and performing lighting-up and displaying on each scanning line as a unit, the scanning electrodes on one line in which lighting-up is performed are applied with a voltage at the same time that a signal on the one line is supplied to the data electrodes thereof. Such a display unit generally lights up all the lines the same number of lighting-up times as one another and while with a more number of lighting-up times in one field period, a display luminance are enhanced, there has been difficulty in sufficiently increasing a peak luminance because the number of line lighting-up times is restricted by performances such as that of a scanning driver.

Due to advances in internet technology, it is now possible for a user of an internet-connected device to obtain great amounts of information. The fact that the amount of information is so great, however, makes it difficult to notify the user of desired information at a desired time. Patent Literature 1 discloses an information notification device which stores a viewing history associating (i) a user's location and elapsed time since arrive at the location with (ii) whether or not the user has viewed information. The information notification device refers to the viewing history and notifies the user of information at a point in time at which the user is highly likely to view the information. Patent Literatures 2 through 4 each disclose techniques relating to the timing with which a user is notified of information.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotation angle detection device and, in particular, to a rotation angle detection device consisting of a stator, which is provided with an excitation winding of one phase and excitation windings of two phases, and a rotor having salient poles. 2. Description of the Related Art An optical encoder has been conventionally used as a rotation angle detection device. However, the optical encoder has a disadvantage that its operating temperature environment is limited and, at the same time, it is complicated in its structure and is expensive. On the other hand, a rotation angle detection device utilizing a change in permeance of a gap between a rotor and a stator is devised as a rotation angle detection device that is simple in its structure and inexpensive and, at the same time, can stand even a high temperature environment. For example, an example of a rotation angle detection device having excitation windings of two phases and a one-phase output winding is described in JP 62-58445 B. In addition, an example of a rotation angle detection device having an excitation winding of one phase and two-phase output windings is described in JP 49-124508 A. In both of the conventional examples, since a rotor is formed to have salient poles, a phase or an amplitude of a voltage induced in an output winding changes depending on an angle of the rotor, and a position of the rotor can be found by reading the change. In addition, these conventional examples have a structure in which the number of turns of the output winding is the same in each tooth. In these conventional examples, a rotation angle detection device having a small detecting position error and high accuracy is realized in an ideal case without a machining error. However, since a machining error actually occurs, a detecting position error may increase and desired accuracy may not be realized. For example, a detecting position error increases if roundness of an internal diameter of a rotor is deteriorated due to, for example, an error in arrangement of a winding or low accuracy of a mold used in punching out a core of the stator. A rotation angle detection device with a shaft multiple angle of 2 is shown in FIG. 24 as a conventional example. More specifically, the conventional example of FIG. 24 corresponds to a rotation angle detection device in which the rotor described in JP 49-124508 A is formed to have two salient poles. In FIG. 24, reference numerals 100-1 and 100-2 denote two-phase output windings (hereinafter referred to as output winding (1) and output winding (2)). In addition, reference numeral 101 denotes teeth and 102 denotes a stator having eight teeth 101. Numerals 1 to 8 in the figure indicate teeth numbers. Reference numeral 103 denotes a rotor; 104, output windings with the number of turns N wound around the teeth 101; and 105, a rotation shaft of the rotor 103. As shown in FIG. 24, the rotation angle detection device in this conventional example consists of the stator 102 having the eight teeth 101 and the rotor 103 having two salient poles and formed in a structure in which variation of permeance between the rotor and a gap surface pulsates and there is a double-crest pulsation component with a machine angle of 360 degrees. Although not shown in the figure, an excitation winding is concentrically wound around each tooth 101 on the stator 102 to have opposite polarities in the adjacent teeth 101. In addition, the two-phase output windings 100 is wound around the four teeth 101 (more specifically, the output winding (1) is wound around the teeth with the teeth numbers 1, 3, 5, and 7 and the output winding (2) are wound around the teeth with the teeth numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8) by the same number of turns N, respectively. However, polarities of the teeth are set to alternate. As shown in FIG. 24, the output winding (1) is wound around the teeth with the teeth numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 such that polarities of the teeth alternate, that is, so as to have the same polarity in the teeth with the teeth numbers 1 and 5 and in the teeth with the teeth numbers 3 and 7 and have opposite polarities in the teeth with the teeth numbers 1 and 3. In addition, as shown in FIG. 24, the output winding (2) is wound around the teeth with the teeth numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8 such that polarities of the teeth alternate, that is, so as to have the same polarity in the teeth with the teeth numbers 2 and 6 and in the teeth with the teeth numbers 4 and 8 and have opposite polarities in the teeth with the teeth numbers 2 and 4. Further, these four windings 104 are connected in series. FIG. 25 shows the number of turns of the output winding in each tooth. In this way, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 24, the number of turns of the output winding is the same N in each tooth around which the output windings are wound. Then, a detecting position error is small and the rotation angle detection device operates as one with high accuracy in an ideal case without a machining error. However, as already described, a detecting position error may increase and desired accuracy may not be realized because a machining error actually occurs. For example, a detecting position error may increase if roundness of an internal diameter of a stator deteriorates due to low accuracy of a mold used in punching out a core of the stator. Increase in a detecting position error due to a machining error will be described citing a specific example. As an example, a case will be described in which a rotation angle detection device with an internal diameter of a stator of 20 mm and a shaft multiple angle of 2 is designed. Further, a winding specification is set to be the same as the aforementioned conventional example. A case in which roundness of an internal diameter of a stator deteriorates and the internal diameter deforms into an elliptic shape will be considered. FIG. 31 shows detecting position errors in a case in which the internal diameter deforms deviating by 50 μm from a complete round shape and in an ideal state without a machining error and the shape of the internal diameter is a complete round. The horizontal axis indicates a position of a rotor in terms of a machine angle and the vertical axis indicates a detecting position error in terms of a machine angle. It is seen from this figure that a detecting position error increases as the internal diameter of the stator slightly deforms from a complete round shape. Moreover, it is also seen that a period of a detecting position error is a machine angle of 180 degrees, which is 360 degrees in terms of an electrical angle. However, an electrical angle is set to take a value obtained by multiplying a machine angle by a shaft multiple angle. In addition, a phase of this error with the period of the electrical angle of 360 degrees changes into various values depending on a machining error that has occurred. Next, a case in which roundness of an internal diameter of a stator deteriorates and the internal diameter deforms into a square shape will be considered. FIG. 26 shows detecting position errors in a case in which the internal diameter deforms deviating by 20 μm from a complete round shape and in an ideal state without a machining error and the shape of the internal diameter is a complete round. The horizontal axis indicates a position of a rotor in terms of a machine angle and the vertical axis indicates a detecting position error in terms of a machine angle. It is seen from this figure that a detecting position error increases as the internal diameter of the stator slightly deforms from a complete round shape. Moreover, it is also seen that a period of a detecting position error is a machine angle of 90 degrees, which is 180 degrees in terms of an electrical angle. However, an electrical angle is set to take a value obtained by multiplying a machine angle by a shaft multiple angle. In addition, a phase of this error with the period of the electrical angle of 180 degrees changes into various values depending on a machining error that has occurred. As described above, the conventional rotation angle detection device is designed to operate as a rotation angle detection device having a small detecting position error and high accuracy in an ideal case without a machining error. However, in reality, since a machining error inevitably occurs due to an error in arrangement of a winding, low accuracy of a mold used in punching out a core of the stator, or the like, a detecting position error may increase and desired accuracy may not be realized.

Bat colonization in buildings is often undesired in America because (1) one bat among hundreds or thousands may develop paralytic rabies, fall down, and bite people who handle it, (2) in the Southeastern United States and in tropical areas of the world, bat guano may contain infective spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which if inhaled in sufficient quantity can produce histoplasmosis in man and animals, or (3) the bats are considered a nuisance. The fear of rabies is the greatest problem. An estimated 75% of the rabies-infected bats found in California live in trees or other natural harborages. However, a significant quantity find shelter as colonies in buildings. Pest control operators and public health and animal control agencies used to destroy bat colonies in buildings using pesticides or other toxicants, an approach now known to be counterproductive. Killing the bats or repelling them chemically is a waste of time and other resources, because other bats soon colonize the open roost. Moreover, toxicants (and chemical repellents, often misapplied on the bats instead of the roost) scatter sick bats that bite inquisitive persons and pets, increasing manifoldly the numbers of antirabies treatments given people and the numbers of pets that must be destroyed or quarantined and a "treated" roost can produce downed bats for four years or longer. It has long been known that the only permanent way to rid buildings of bat colonies is to stop up their exit holes after the bats leave to migrate elsewhere for the winter or after they fly out at night to feed on flying insects or in select situations by installing physical repellents such as lights or other disturbing factors. Exterminators claim the displaced bats which then move to a new or alternate roost take with them an impending rabies outbreak, despite abundant evidence that rabies outbreaks do not occur in insectivorous bats. It can be suspected that batproofing eliminates a renewable source of income for exterminators, who would be called to destroy successive groups of bats that move into unsealed roosts. It is frequently difficult to find someone to do the batproofing work for many reasons including the necessity to work at night, frequently requiring ladder work at night, the mistaken fear of retaliatory attacks by either rabid or nonrabid bats, the fear of acquiring rabies infection through inhalation, and the fear of taking antirabies inoculations either after exposure or the abbreviated preexposure series.

The invention is concerned with a hybrid-line circuit for connecting a two-wire line to a four-wire switching system. In telephone networks a hybrid-line circuit is required for connecting each two-wire line to the four wires of a switching center, that circuit providing transfer of voice signals in both directions, providing line termination impedance, providing high voltage separation from the switching center, and fulfilling a number of other functions. The main component of the hybrid line circuit in use today is a transformer which provides many of the necessary functions (signal transfer, electrical separation, symmetric feeding). Because of its simplicity and flexibility the transformer is particularly useful for this application and it has proven to be a reliable component. But the use of transformers also has disadvantages. These include particularly its space requirements which prevent the high packing density of circuit cards now usual in modern equipment, as well as its cost. It is, therefore, desirable to eliminate the use of transformers in hybrid line circuits. It has previously been suggested that high-voltage capacitors be used for signal transfer. However, rather large capacitors were required, and, furthermore, these solutions did not provide for a very good rejection of common-mode signals. It has heretofore been proposed that isolation between the lines and the central equipment can be provided at a substantial reduction in both size and cost through the use of optical couplers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,257, issued Oct. 19, 1976, utilizes a light-emitting diode and a phototransistor connected in series in each wire of a two-wire line, a pair of photo-transistors connected in series in one wire of the four-wire line, and a pair of light-emitting diodes connected in series in another wire of the four-wire line. Optical coupling between the two-wire and four-wire lines is provided by light generated within the light-emitting diodes and received by the photo-transistors of the respective two-wire and four-wire lines. One of the difficulties believed to reside in such an arrangement is matching the transfer characteristics of the optical couplers used so that signals to or from the two-wire line are symmetrical. The transfer characteristics of such opto-couplers also may vary with temperature and age, causing further non-symmetry. It is an object of the present invention to provide a circuit arrangement using opto-couplers which has the advantages of high voltage protection of the switching system (up to .+-. 1500V) and medium voltage protection of the hybrid-line circuit itelf (up to 300V), stable insertion loss in both transfer directions, high return loss (20 dB at 600.OMEGA. source impedance, high earth symmetry independent of frequency, high longitudinal balance of outgoing signals, and low idling noise. Furthermore, cross-talk over the battery is prevented because almost no voice signal current flows through the battery. The disclosed hybrid circuit further provides line termination at 600.OMEGA. and the necessary 2-to-4 wire conversion. In addition, selection of the opto-couplers in the incoming and outgoing paths is less critical in the present invention compared to the above identified patented circuit. Also, the arrangement is less sensitive to temperature and aging effects with influence gain and linearity.

Product dispensers that receive and dispense products from a removable and replaceable cartridge or reservoir are known. For example, many hand cleaning liquid dispensers have a housing that is configured to receive a replaceable cartridge containing the liquid to be dispensed. Once all of the liquid contained in the cartridge has been dispensed, the cartridge is removed from the housing and replaced with a new cartridge. Often, the housing portion of these dispensers is provided to customers at a low cost, and the supplier is compensated through sales of the replaceable cartridges. This source of revenue may be lost, however, if customers begin using replacement cartridges purchased from a competitor. To avoid this loss of revenue, dispensers are often provided with manufacturer-specific lockout systems that are designed to prevent the use of third-party refill products. These lockout systems may be expensive to design and implement, may increase the complexity of the replacement operation, and may not always offer complete protection against the use of third-party products.

The present invention relates to color data conversion and more particularly to devices and methods for converting color data from a color space to a print space. Certain image processing devices, such as printers, displays, image rendering systems and output files may use a different color space than other image processing devices such as a color driver for a computer system, camera, display or input graphics file. For example, a cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) color space is used for a color printer. However, a red, green and blue (RGB) color space may be used for certain graphics files. Accordingly, a color transformation is needed for converting the RGB color space into the CMYK color space. One method of color transformation uses a look-up table to store a plurality of color values associated with the CMYK color space. A conversion between the RGB color space and the CMYK color space is performed by indexing the CMYK values in the look-up tables using addresses corresponding with RGB color values, one look-up table per output color. A large amount of memory is required for the look-up table. For example, a 24-bit RGB color system may use 8 bits for red color values, 8 bits for green color values and 8 bits for blue color values. This 24-bit RGB color system can require a table size of 16 MegaBytes (MBs) or larger per output color. To reduce memory requirements, some color transformation devices combine interpolation with the color mapping process. The hybrid transformation process first identifies a set of vertices that surround or neighbor an input color point in the color space. A value for the second color space is then derived by interpolating the identified vertices to the relative position of the input color point. However, this interpolation process is computationally intensive. A color data converter includes a plurality of memories configured to store lattice points for a color space. The lattice points of the first axis are assigned to memories in a sequential manner. The lattice points along the other two axes are assigned to memories in an alternating manner.

This invention relates to perforated return mailers that incorporate machine readable data. Perforated information mailers are known. Computer forms that might enclose additional forms and carbons, or forms adapted to act like carbons, are sealed about their periphery to define a mailing envelope. Perforations are provided to facilitate the opening and subsequent removal of only the form of interest from the envelope. The envelope itself is of no interest and is discarded. Return mailers are also known, for example in the form of parking tickets. In the past, an errant motorist receiving a parking ticket was required to mail a payment using his own envelope. Compliance improved when the parking ticket was actually printed on one panel of a weather-resistant return envelope or mailer. The recipient of the ticket inserted a check and placed the envelope in the mail. Upon receiving the mailer, the processor removed the enclosed payment and separated the two panels of the mailer, retaining the panel with the ticket printed on it. If the panel included machine readable information such as the ticket number, it would then be scanned by an optical reader, and the motorist's debt would be cleared. One difficulty with this system arises when the two panels are separated, and the panels rip or gnarl, causing the reader to jam or read only a portion of the panel.

Ultrathin materials made up of only a single layer of atoms are sometimes referred to as two-dimensional (2D) or single layer materials. Applications for 2D materials and their heterostructures in fields such as communications, high speed computing, sensing, and energy harvesting are currently limited by the absence of direct and repeatable synthesis methods for cost effective device fabrication. While conducting (e.g., graphene, TaS2), and semiconducting (e.g., MoS2, WS2) 2D materials are being rapidly advanced for next-generation 2D devices, ultrathin and high strength dielectric materials for transistor gates, capacitors, memory devices, and barrier layers for electrical and ambient environment isolation are far less developed. This circumstance is primarily a result of the fundamental challenge in synthesis of ultrathin insulating materials at moderate temperatures (generally less than 900° C.) needed for direct growth over large lateral dimensions. In silicon-based electronics, silicon dioxide (SiO2), prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), has proven to be a suitable dielectric material due to the large band gap (9 eV), well-matched interfacial properties with silicon, and simple, repeatable processing. However, there is a continuing desire to develop additional ultrathin dielectric materials which unique 2D benefits such as optical transparency and mechanical flexibility, for use in flexible electronic devices and other premium areas of nanotechnology innovation. Attempts to provide suitable ultrathin dielectric alternatives have included Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of HfO2 and Al2O3 and thermal activated growth of crystalline hexagonal form boron nitride (h-BN) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). To date, however, such ultrathin dielectrics have been found to suffer from significant scaling, process tuning, and pinhole-free uniformity challenges. Thus, there is a continuing need to further develop ultrathin, 2D dielectric materials which do not suffer from the aforementioned difficulties.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a railway car underframe having a fishbelly type center sill and in particular to a reinforcing structure for the transition sections of the center sill. 2. Description of the Prior Art A fishbelly type center sill for a railway car underframe typically includes a pair of longitudinally extending transversely spaced parallel webs and a top plate and a bottom cover plate secured thereto and conforming to the shape of the webs. The center sill includes a center section, end sections, and transition sections connecting the end sections to the center section. Since the center section is of a considerably deeper and wider design than the end sections, each transition section includes a downward and outward taper which facilitates connecting the sections together as substantially a unitary construction; however, this results in the development of deleteriously high stress concentrations in the bottom coverplate and the vertical webs where it is bent or formed to conform to the cross-section of the center and end sections. The prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,145,666 and 3,577,934 assigned to Pullman Incorporated and incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,666 discloses a structure providing for reduced stress concentrations in the transition section by incorporating a plurality of smaller bends in the bottom cover plate of the center sill instead of a single larger bend; and, U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,934 shows a transition section structure having local stiffeners or reinforcing plates which reduce the stresses in the bottom cover plate by locally increasing the cross-sectional area of the load carrying member. Attention is also directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 998,697 and 1,097,800 which show related fishbelly center sill constructions.

In Classification and Determination of Constitution in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the China Association of Chinese Medicine classifies constitutions of the human body into nine types, including yin-yang harmony constitution, yang deficiency constitution, yin deficiency constitution, qi deficiency constitution, phlegm-dampness constitution, damp-heat constitution, qi depression constitution, blood stasis constitution, and allergic constitution, most of which belong to sub-healthy states. The yin deficiency constitution means that, when internal organs are dysfunctional, the syndromes of yin-fluid deficiency in the body and production of endogenous heat due to yin deficiency will easily occur, which are usually represented by emaciation of the body, tidal reddening of two cheeks, feverishness in palms and soles, tidal fever and night sweating, upset irritability, xerostomia, hair and skin dryness, and dry and red tongue with little or even no coating, which are mainly caused by invasion of pathogenic dryness-heat, overeating of febrile and dry food, excessive grief and sorrow, intemperance in sexual life and long illness. The tendency of morbidity is: being susceptible to consumptive disease, seminal emission, insomnia, etc., being resistant to winter but nonresistant to summer, and being nonresistant to summer, heat, and pathogenic dryness. Such sub-healthy constitution as yin deficiency constitution belongs to chronic diseases and has a relatively long disease course, and requires a long-term medication and gradual conditioning, in order to achieve the effects of tonifying qi (vital energy) and nourishing qi. The drug forms commonly used in the traditional Chinese medicine are decoctions and Chinese patent medicine such as pills and the like. Decoctions usually have relatively good efficacy, but the administration thereof is complicated, and the taste thereof is poor. If the decoctions need to be prepared for a long time, it is difficult for a patient to keep taking the decoctions. Moreover, the efficacy of the pills is relatively poor. It is mentioned in the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor that “the superior physician prevents illness, the mediocre physician attends to impending illness, and the inferior physician treats actual illness”, wherein the phrase “prevent illness” means taking corresponding measures to prevent the occurrence and development of diseases. The body constitution determines the health of people and susceptibility to diseases. It is believed in the traditional Chinese medicine that since the human beings live in the natural world, physiological functions of the human body usually change with seasons, that is, “correspondence between man and nature”. Winter is the season when the human body “stores energies”, thus appropriate nourishment can enhance the constitution, ward off diseases and strengthen the body, and prolong life, that is, conditioning in winter or nourishing in winter commonly mentioned in the traditional Chinese medicine. For the sub-healthy population with yin deficiency constitution, a solid oral paste with a higher drug concentration and good taste, and being convenient to carry more meets requirements of modern people.

The world of polymers has progressed rapidly to transform material science from wood and metals of the 19th Century to the use of thermoset polymers of the mid-20th Century to the use of thermoplastic polymers of later 20th Century. An example of a popular rubber is butyl rubber which has excellent gas barrier properties. But butyl rubber is not capable of being injection molded. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) combine the benefits of elastomeric properties of thermoset polymers, such as vulcanized rubber, with the processing properties of thermoplastic polymers. Therefore, TPEs are preferred because they can be made into articles using injection molding equipment. But often, TPEs lack gas barrier properties comparable to butyl rubber. U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,294 (Katayama et al.) discloses a two layer hose with an outer layer of a blend of styrene-isobutylene block copolymer and polyamide, and preferably also including a compatibilizer.

In recent years, endoscopic surgery has become the accepted standard for conducting many types of surgical procedures, both in the medical and dental arenas. The availability of imaging devices enabling a surgeon or dentist to view a particular surgical area through a small diameter endoscope which is introduced into small cavities or openings in the body results in much less patient trauma as well as many other advantages. In many hospitals, the rod lens endoscope is still used in endoscopic surgery. The rod lens endoscope includes a very precise group of lenses in an elongate and rigid tube which are able to accurately transmit an image to a remote camera in line with the lens group. The rod lens endoscope, because of its cost of manufacture, failure rate, and requirement to be housed within a rigid and straight housing, is being increasingly replaced by solid state imaging technology which enables the image sensor to be placed at the distal tip of the investigating device. The three most common solid state image sensors include charged coupled devices (CCD), charge injection devices (CID) and photo diode arrays (PDA). In the mid-1980s, complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) were developed for industrial use. CMOS imaging devices offer improved functionality and simplified system interfacing. Furthermore, many CMOS imagers can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of other solid state imaging technologies. One particular advance in CMOS technology has been in the active pixel-type CMOS imagers which consist of randomly accessible pixels with an amplifier at each pixel site. One advantage of active pixel-type imagers is that the amplifier placement results in lower noise levels than CCDs or other solid state imagers. Another major advantage is that these CMOS imagers can be mass produced on standard semiconductor production lines. One particularly notable advance in the area of CMOS imagers including active pixel-type arrays is the CMOS imager described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,515 to Fossum, et al. This CMOS imager can incorporate a number of other different electronic controls that are usually found on multiple circuit boards of much larger size. For example, timing circuits, and special functions such as zoom and anti jitter controls can be placed on the same circuit board containing the CMOS pixel array without significantly increasing the overall size of the host circuit board. Furthermore, this particular CMOS imager requires 100 times less power than a CCD-type imager. In short, the CMOS imager disclosed in Fossum, et al. has enabled the development of a “camera on a chip.” Passive pixel-type CMOS imagers have also been improved so that they too can be used in an imaging device which qualifies as a “camera on a chip.” In short, the major difference between passive and active CMOS pixel arrays is that a passive pixel-type imager does not perform signal amplification at each pixel site. One example of a manufacturer which has developed a passive pixel array with performance nearly equal to known active pixel devices and being compatible with the read out circuitry disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,515 is VLSI Vision, Ltd., 1190 Saratoga Avenue, Suite 180, San Jose, Calif. 95129. A further description of this passive pixel device may be found in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,693 entitled “Reduced Area Imaging Devices Incorporated Within Surgical Instruments,” which is hereby incorporated by reference. In addition to the active pixel-type CMOS imager which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,515, there have been developments in the industry for other solid state imagers which have resulted in the ability to have a “camera on a chip.” For example, Suni Microsystems, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., has developed a CCD/CMOS hybrid which combines the high quality image processing of CCDs with standard CMOS circuitry construction. In short, Suni Microsystems, Inc. has modified the standard CMOS and CCD manufacturing processes to create a hybrid process providing CCD components with their own substrate which is separate from the P well and N well substrates used by the CMOS components. Accordingly, the CCD and CMOS components of the hybrid may reside on different regions of the same chip or wafer. Additionally, this hybrid is able to run on a low power source (5 volts) which is normally not possible on standard CCD imagers which require 10 to 30 volt power supplies. A brief explanation of this CCD/CMOS hybrid can be found in the article entitled “Startup Suni Bets on Integrated Process” found in Electronic News, Jan. 20, 1997 issue. This reference is hereby incorporated by reference for purposes of explaining this particular type of imaging processor. Another example of a recent development in solid state imaging is the development of a CMOS imaging sensor which is able to achieve analog to digital conversion on each of the pixels within the pixel array. This type of improved CMOS imager includes transistors at every pixel to provide digital instead of analog output that enable the delivery of decoders and sense amplifiers much like standard memory chips. With this new technology, it may, therefore, be possible to manufacture a true digital “camera on a chip.” This CMOS imager has been developed by a Stanford University joint project and is headed by Professor Abbas el-Gamal. A second approach to creating a CMOS-based digital imaging device includes the use of an over-sample converter at each pixel with a one bit comparator placed at the edge of the pixel array instead of performing all of the analog to digital functions on the pixel. This new design technology has been called MOSAD (multiplexed over sample analog to digital) conversion. The result of this new process is low power usage, along with the capability to achieve enhanced dynamic range, possibly up to 20 bits. This process has been developed by Amain Electronics of Simi Valley, Calif. A brief description of both of the processes developed by Stanford University and Amain Electronics can be found in an article entitled “A/D Conversion Revolution for CMOS Sensor?,” September 1998 issue of Advanced Imaging. This reference is also hereby incorporated by reference for purposes of explaining these particular types of imaging processors. The above-mentioned developments in solid state imaging technology have shown that “camera on a chip” devices will continue to be enhanced not only in terms of the quality of imaging which may be achieved, but also in the specific construction of the devices which may be manufactured by new breakthrough processes. Although the “camera on a chip” concept is one which has great merit for application in many industrial areas, a need still exists for a reduced area imaging device which can be used in even the smallest type of endoscopic instruments in order to view areas in the body that are particularly difficult to access, and to further minimize patient trauma by an even smaller diameter invasive instrument. It is one general object of this invention to provide a wireless endoscope incorporating reduced area imaging devices which take advantage of “camera on a chip” technology, but rearrange the circuitry in a stacked relationship so that there is a minimum profile presented when used within a surgical instrument or other investigative device. It is another object of this invention to provide a wireless endoscope utilizing low cost imaging devices which may be “disposable.” It is yet another object of this invention to provide reduced area imaging devices capable of wireless communications which may be used in conjunction with standard endoscopes by placing the imaging device through channels which normally receive other surgical devices, or receive liquids or gases for flushing a surgical area. It is yet another object of this invention to provide a surgical device with imaging capability which may be battery powered and may wirelessly communicate for viewing video images. In addition to the intended use of the wireless endoscope with respect to surgical procedures conducted by medical doctors, it is also contemplated that the invention described herein has great utility with respect to oral surgery and general dental procedures wherein a very small imaging device can be used to provide an image of particularly difficult to access locations. Additionally, while the foregoing invention has application with respect to the medical and dental fields, it will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the small size of the imaging device set forth herein coupled with the wireless communication feature can be applied to other functional disciplines wherein the imaging device can be used to view difficult to access locations for industrial equipment and the like. Therefore, the imaging device of this invention could be used to replace many industrial boroscopes. The “camera on a chip” technology can be furthered improved with respect to reducing its profile area and incorporating such a reduced area imaging device into very small investigative instruments which can be used in the medical, dental, or other industrial fields.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to field effect transistors (FET's) and more particularly to FET's which are capable of operating properly at nanoscale dimensions. 2. Description of the Related Art The metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is the universal switching device in current computer logic and memory technology. The on-chip density and speed of MOSFETs has doubled every few years, resulting in the high performance of present day logic and, following Moore's Law, in memory. However, recent predictions show that, in its present form with Si as the semiconductor and SiO.sub.2 as the gate insulator, the MOSFET cannot be reduced in scale below a channel length of approximately 55 nm. This will result in less rapid performance improvement in logic chips, and eventually in performance saturation within a few years, unless significant design or material changes can be implemented within the relevant time frame. The invention described below is a high performance nanoscale field effect transistor (nanoscale FET) designed to be fabricated at scales corresponding to a channel length on the order of 1 nm. The FET according to the invention, termed the "nanoscale FET", is also an extremely fast switch. In terms of on-chip device density and device speed, the nanoscale FET offers an improvement of about 100 over current in-process technology, amounting to a factor of 10,000 improvement in speed-density. The invention achieves these improvements over current technology by material and design changes relative to existing MOSFET design practice, as described below. One application for the nanoscale FET is in future hybrid logic and memory technology "computer on a chip" high performance systems.

1. Field of the Invention This field of the present invention is the manufacture of imitation cheese-like food products. 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art The manufacture of natural dairy cheese conventionally involves the treatment of milk products, including inoculation with particular and specific strains of microorganisms, treatment with enzymes (especially coagulating enzymes of which rennin is the preferred enzyme) allowing a cheese curd to form, separating the cheese whey, collecting the cheese curd, and pressing of this curd into molds, followed by ripening and aging for various periods of time, depending upon the established standard of identity for the particular cheese product. These processes are described in detail in standard reference books such as "Cheese and Fermented Milk Foods", by F. V. Kosikowski published in 1966 by F. V. Kosikowski (printed and distributed by Edwards Bros., Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.). In view of the costs, both in respect to raw material and holding time involved in traditional procedures for natural cheese manufacture, the food industry has attempted to produce processed cheese or cheese-like food material which have a relatively high food value, similar in many cases to naturally produced cheese, at least with respect to the protein content thereof, and which, furthermore have the general taste and texture of natural cheese. The products are made from other edible foodgrade starting materials, preferably lower in cost than the milk products used for cheese manufacture. There has long been a need in the industry for such imitation cheeses which would be acceptable to the public from the point of view of taste, texture and nutritional value, especially when the cheese materials are used as a component or ingredient in traditional recipes which employ natural cheese such as, for example, salad dressings, pizzas, lasagna, omelets, cheese-flavored pastries and the like. Some approaches producing such processed imitation or synthetic cheeses are as follows: A synthetic cheese is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,606, patented Apr. 23, 1974, which is prepared by homogenizing a composition containing 10 to 40% of a narrow melting range fat having a solid content index of less than 3 at 92.degree. F. and from 15 to 25 at 70.degree. F.; from 10 to 25% of wheat gluten; from 3 to 6% of egg white, from 3 to 6% gelatin, flavor and water followed by heat treatment to set the composition. The product is said to have the eating qualities of natural cheese to a great extent and is a successful synthetic imitation of a natural dairy cheese product. U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,219, patented Sept. 26, 1972, describes a spreadable food material from heat-treated soybean flour, water and a cheese processing salt. This product is sometimes mixed with additional cheese material and is described as having a taste or flavor similar to cheese. An edible pasteurized process cheese composition is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,535, which includes a homogeneous reaction mixture of cheese and an emulsifying proportion of sodium aluminum phosphate. This process, however, uses a natural cheese starting material to produce a processed cheese food which has good storage stability. A similar process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,586. One of the difficulties with the prior art processes has been a cost problem since many of the techniques for making process cheese or imitation cheese involve the use of natural cheese materials which constitute a substantial portion of the imitation of synthetic cheese product. Obviously, the elimination of the natural dairy cheese or milk components would represent a cost savings over these processes. Likewise, many of the processes of the prior art rely on natural cheese products for a flavor or taste of the material and, therefore, present a problem from the point of view of uniformity of flavor and control over the composition of the final product. Finally, one of the difficulties of the prior art methods has been the obtaining of a synthetic or imitation cheese product which has uniformity of taste and texture normally associated with natural cheese products. Obviously, it is necessary to achieve these desiderata in order for the imitation cheese product to be acceptable to the consuming public.

This invention relates to a shifting apparatus especially suited for use on motor vehicles having an automatic transmission. Since their inception, motor vehicles have required a power train to transmit the force of the vehicle's engine to its wheels. The power train's main component is typically referred to as the "transmission". Engine speed and torque are converted in the transmission through the changing of gears to satisfy the requirements encountered during the typical duty cycle of a motor vehicle. Transmissions are generally referred to as manually actuated or automatic transmissions. Manual transmissions generally include mechanical mechanisms for coupling rotating gears to produce different ratio outputs to drive the wheels. Manual transmissions require an operator input from a shift lever or the like to effect each desired gear change ratio. More recently, automatic transmissions have become popular in which much of the shifting is done without operator input in response to a sensed speed and throttle opening parameters. Automatic transmissions typically include a shift position select lever on the transmission housing moveable between a plurality of selected positions corresponding to a respective plurality of shift positions within the transmission. The shift position select lever is moveable between its several shift positions by a cable or linkage mechanism extending from the shift position select lever to a suitable gear selector lever located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Typically, the gear selector is located adjacent the driver seat or, alternatively, on the steering column. Various proposals have been made in the past to eliminate the mechanical linkage between the driver operated gear select lever and the shift position select member and provide instead a shifting mechanism that responds to a driver actuated by sending an electrical signal to a power means arranged to move the shift position select member. While these proposals may overcome many of the disadvantages of the prior art, they nevertheless leave something to be desired from one or several standpoints. For example, under one of the proposals, U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,471, an electrical control system for control of an automatic transmission apparatus is set forth. The control system includes, among other things, a means for determining the present transmission shift position. The means includes an encoder wheel and a pick-up device. The encoder wheel is provided with a plurality of arcuate tracks and the pick-up device is provided with several flexible resilient contact fingers arranged for coaction with the arcuate tracks. Determination of the present transmission shift position is made through movement of the contact fingers and their rather complicated interaction with the arcuate tracks. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a shifting apparatus that includes an improved means for determining the present transmission shift position. Additionally, the shifting apparatus of the present invention may be operated in security mode. More particularly, under security mode, a user code must be provided that matches one or more previously stored identification codes to start and operate the motor vehicle. The security mode is provided with a feature wherein once a matching user code has been inputted, a security override key may depressed to eliminate entry of a matching user code each subsequent time the vehicle is started for operation.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to an LCD device with reduced thickness and bezel width. 2. Discussion of the Related Art LCD devices display an image by using thin film transistors (TFTs) as switching elements. The LCD devices are widely used as display devices for notebook computers, tablet computers, smartphones, portable display devices, and various portable information devices, in addition to televisions or monitors. Since the LCD devices cannot self-emit light, the LCD devices display an image by using light emitted from a backlight unit which is disposed under a liquid crystal display panel. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a portion of a general LCD device. Referring to FIG. 1, the general LCD device includes a liquid crystal display panel 10, a backlight unit 20, a lower case 30, a guide panel 40, and an upper case 50. The liquid crystal display panel 10 includes a lower substrate 12 and an upper substrate 14 which are coupled to each other with a liquid crystal layer therebetween, and displays an image by using light emitted from the backlight unit 20. Polarizing films 16 and 18 are adhered to a bottom and top of the liquid crystal display panel 10, respectively. The backlight unit 20 is disposed under the liquid crystal display panel 10, and irradiates light on the bottom of the liquid crystal display panel 10. The backlight unit 20 includes: a reflective sheet 21 that is disposed at the lower caser 30; a light source module 23 that is disposed at one side of the lower case 30, and emits light; a light guide plate 25 that is disposed on the reflective sheet 21, and guides light, which is incident from the light source module 23 onto a light input part, toward the liquid crystal display panel 10; a plurality of optical sheets 27 that are disposed on the light guide panel 25, and enhance a luminance characteristic of light traveling from the light guide plate 25 to the liquid crystal display panel 10; and a light source housing 29 that supports the light source module 23. The light source module 23 includes a light emitting diode (LED) array board 23a and a plurality of LED packages 23b. The LED array board 23a is disposed at a side wall of the light source housing 29 to face the light input part of the light guide plate 25. A plurality of driving power lines, which respectively supply driving power to the plurality of LED packages 23b, are formed at the LED array board 23a. The plurality of LED packages 23b are mounted at certain intervals on the LED array board 23a, and emit light with the driving power supplied from the respective driving power lines to irradiate the light having certain luminance on the light input part of the light guide plate 25. The light emitted from the plurality of LED packages 23b is incident on the light input part of the light guide plate 25, is reflected from and refracted inside the light guide plate 25, and is irradiated on the liquid crystal display panel 10 through the plurality of optical sheets 27 along with light reflected by the reflective sheet 21. The lower case 30 is provided to have an accommodating space. The lower case 30 accommodates the backlight unit 20, and supports the guide panel 40. The guide panel 40 is provided in a tetragonal band shape to the support a bottom edge portion of the liquid crystal display panel 10. The guide panel 40 includes a panel supporting part, which supports the bottom edge portion of the liquid crystal display panel 10, and a guide side wall that is formed vertically to the panel supporting part and surrounds all side walls of the backlight unit 20. The upper case 50 is provided in a tetragonal band shape in order for one side of the upper case 50 to have a ┌-shape, and surrounds a top edge portion of the liquid crystal display panel 10 and all side surfaces of the guide panel 40. As described above, the general LCD device includes a certain gap G that is provided between the bottom of the liquid crystal display panel 10 and a top of the optical sheet 27. This, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, is for preventing mura from occurring due to interference between elements caused by a bending or twist of the liquid crystal display panel 10, the light guide plate 25, and the optical sheet 27. In particular, the mura mainly occurs due to a contact between the optical sheets 27 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 when moisture penetrates into the gap G at an environment of high temperature and humidity. In order to prevent the mura, the optical sheet 27 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 should be separated from each other by an interval of 1.5 mm to 2 mm, in which case a thickness T of the LCD device increases due to the gap G between the optical sheet 27 and the liquid crystal display panel 10. Moreover, in the general LCD device, the guide panel 40 maintains a constant interval between the optical sheet 27 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 and supports the liquid crystal display panel 10, and the upper case 50 covers the top edge portion of the liquid crystal display panel 10. Therefore, a bezel width W increases due to the guide panel 40 and the upper case 50. For this reason, the general LCD device has a limitation in reducing the thickness T and bezel width W thereof.