Datasets:

suolyer

/

pile_uspto

like 0

Silicon carbide (SiC), one of wide gap semiconductors, is drawing attention as a material for implementing high-frequency power devices, and heat-proof, radiation-proof devices. Researches on silicon carbide semiconductor devices such as MOSFETs have been actively conducted because an oxide film (SiO2) can be formed from silicon carbide using the same method as a method for forming an oxide film from silicon (Si). Further, SiC has a wider band gap and a larger dielectric breakdown electric field strength than those of Si. Thus, a semiconductor device employing SiC can achieve more excellent switching characteristics and a larger breakdown voltage than those of a semiconductor device employing Si, for example. Generally, in such a SiC semiconductor device, a wire (pad) is provided to facilitate extraction of an electric signal from an electrode formed on a substrate thereof. Such a wire is employed in not only the SiC semiconductor device but also a Si semiconductor device in order to smoothly exchange electric signals with an external component. FIG. 35 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a state between an electrode and a wire in a general SiC semiconductor device. As shown in FIG. 35, in a SiC semiconductor device 99A, a SiC semiconductor substrate 99 has one main surface having an electrode 98 provided thereon. In SiC semiconductor device 99A, carbon 97 may be deposited on an opposite main surface of electrode 98 to SiC semiconductor substrate 99. Here, electrode 98 is an ohmic electrode making ohmic contact with SiC semiconductor substrate 99. It should be noted that the term “main surface” refers to a surface having the largest area among flat surfaces constituting surfaces. Carbon 97 (C) thus deposited prevents a wire 96 from being directly in contact with electrode 98 in a region where carbon 97 exists, upon forming wire 96 on the opposite main surface of electrode 98 to SiC semiconductor substrate 99. Thus, carbon 97 deteriorates adhesion between electrode 98 and wire 96. This leads to a failure such as detachment of wire 96 from electrode 98, thereby affecting durability and electric characteristics of SiC semiconductor device 99A. In order to solve the above-described problem, it is considered to utilize a structure in which an alloy layer of Ni and Si is formed on SiC substrate 95 as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-99169 (hereinafter, referred to as “Patent Literature 1”), for example. FIG. 36 is a schematic cross sectional view showing the structure in which the alloy layer of Ni and Si is formed on a SiC semiconductor layer. Patent Literature 1 discloses that in an electronic device 95A shown in FIG. 36, Ni—Si alloy layer 94 is formed on SiC substrate 95 and is then subjected to thermal treatment to have a function as an ohmic electrode. Further, Patent Literature 1 discloses to form an ohmic electrode by providing thermal treatment to a stacked structure obtained by forming a Si layer on SiC substrate 95 and forming a Ni layer on the Si layer. It is known that carbon 97 shown in FIG. 35 is formed in the following manner. That is, the thermal treatment in forming electrode 98 causes reaction between a metal constituting electrode 98 and SiC of SiC semiconductor substrate 99, thereby generating C (carbon) from SiC as a residue, which is then deposited on the surface of electrode 98. In view of this, in order to attain the ohmic contact, Patent Literature 1 discloses to form Ni—Si alloy layer 94, the alloy of metal (Ni) and Si, on the main surface of SiC semiconductor substrate 99, thereby forming electronic device 95A shown in FIG. 36. Patent Literature 1 also discloses to form electronic device 95A shown in FIG. 36 in the following alternative manner: a Si layer is formed on the main surface of SiC semiconductor substrate 99, a Ni layer is provided on the Si layer, and then thermal treatment is provided thereto. Normally, reaction temperature for silicidation (alloying) of Si and a metal is lower than that of SiC and the metal. The reaction temperature of Si and the metal is considered to be lower due to the following reason. That is, for the silicidation reaction of SiC and the metal, bonds between Si and C in SiC need to be broken. On the other hand, for the silicidation reaction of Si and the metal, bonds do not need to be broken. Accordingly, energy required for the silicidation reaction between Si and the metal becomes smaller. Accordingly, the reaction of Si and Ni proceeds at the upper side (upper surface side of SiC substrate 95 in FIG. 36) in the structure while increasing temperature to provide the thermal treatment. When the reaction of Si and Ni proceeds to complete the silicidation, silicidation resulting from the reaction of Si of SiC with Ni is prevented, thereby preventing C from being generated due to the reaction between Si of SiC and Ni. Hence, C is most unlikely to reach the uppermost surface of the structure (the uppermost surface of the Ni—Si alloy layer in FIG. 36). Accordingly, it is considered that substantially no C is deposited on the surface of the ohmic electrode.

The present invention relates to a tool for grinding and polishing diamond and a method for polishing diamond and/or the materials containing diamond without causing cracks and fractures therein. The diamond can be a polycrystalline diamond, a single crystal diamond, a sintered diamond compact, or a diamond thin film including a diamond thin film formed on a substrate by a gas phase synthetic method or a diamond self-standing film, foil or plate. The present invention also relates to a polished diamond including a diamond thin film, a polycrystalline diamond, etc., a polished single crystal diamond, and a polished sintered diamond compact obtained by the grinder and polishing method. Diamond thin films which have recently attracted considerable attention are one of the materials which utilize diamond. Diamond thin films (ie. a diamond thin film formed on a substrate and a diamond thin-film coating member) and diamond self-standing films each consist of diamond polycrystalline grains that have been produced industrially (artificially) by a gas phase synthetic method (CVD method) or the like. However, diamond thin films obtained by the above synthetic method consist of a great number of crystal grains and have a rough surface. Thus, the rough surface of a diamond thin film formed by a gas phase synthetic method must be planarized before its use in, for example, electronic parts, optical parts, super precision parts, or machining tools. Further, although a natural single crystal diamond and an artificial single crystal diamond formed by, for example, a high pressure synthetic method or a gas phase synthetic method are currently being used as various kinds of industrial materials, such as a grinder dresser, cutting tool, die, heat sink, and x-ray window, or used as a jewel, the diamonds require finishing to an appropriate shape suitable for their respective applications. As for a sintered diamond compact utilizing diamond, its characteristics are being made full use of and are becoming widely used in tools for high-speed precision grinding or polishing of automobile engines, tools for precision grinding or polishing of cemented carbide, grinding or cutting tools, wear-resistant parts, heat sinks or packages for communication instruments, etc. The sintered diamond compacts usually contain Co, WC, TiC, etc. as a binder additive; however, some contain little or no binder additive. Unless otherwise specified, xe2x80x9cdiamond sintered compactsxe2x80x9d used herein include sintered compacts containing Co, WC, TiC, etc. as a binder additive or sintered compacts containing little or no binder additives. It is easily understood that polishing diamond is not easy since diamond is extremely hard. It is so hard that it is commonly used for polishing other hard materials such as metals and ceramics or for fine-polishing jewelry. As a method for planarizing a polycrystalline diamond thin film or a free-standing diamond film which each have a large amount of roughness on their surfaces, a Scaife method is utilized in which the diamond films are polished with diamond powders intervened between the diamond film and a hard cast iron plate rotating at a high speed (ie. grinding and polishing using a diamond). This method has been used for polishing diamond as a jewel; however, as a method for polishing the foregoing artificial diamonds, its processing efficiency is extremely low and it is therefore not used. In particular, for the foregoing diamond single crystal, its hardness varies dramatically from crystal plane to crystal plane or from orientation to orientation. The crystallographic planes which can be polished are limited to, for example, the (100) and (110) planes under present conditions, and it is extremely difficult to polish the (111) plane which is superior to any other planes in hardness and thermal conductivity. In actuality, it has been considered that it is substantially impossible to polish that crystal plane. Thus, polishing a diamond single crystal requires such great skill that polishing is carried out while examining the crystallographic planes and orientation to locate the plane to be possibly polished. This has led to making diamond polishing complicated and expensive. As for the sintered diamond compacts, when employing a polishing method using a diamond grinder (ie. grinding and polishing using a diamond) described above, an intense step (about several xcexcm) is likely to occur due to a difference in hardness at grain boundaries between diamond and binder or between neighboring diamond grains, or due to a falling of many diamond grains in the sintered compact. Thus, when using a sintered diamond compact as a machining tool as described above, grinding accuracy decreases. When using the same as a wear-resistant part, the problem of deterioration in fracture properties arises, and even the problems of damage to the sintered diamond compact and falling of diamond grains in the sintered diamond compact arise. As described above, a diamond is so hard a material that there is no substitute for it; therefore, it is only natural to consider that there is no abrasive for diamond except diamond itself (ie. grinding and polishing using diamond). Thus there have been devised grinders for polishing diamonds in which a diamond abrasive for grinding and polishing using a diamond are embedded in different kinds of binders. Examples of such grinders include a resin bonded diamond wheel utilizing phenol resin, a metal bonded diamond wheel, a vitrified bonded diamond wheel utilizing feldspar/quartz, and an electroplated diamond grinding wheel. The basic concept of the above methods is to scratch the surface of the diamond subject to polishing with diamond abrasive. Unless otherwise specified, xe2x80x9cdiamondxe2x80x9d used herein means diamond itself as well as materials containing diamond, such as, diamond thin films, free-standing diamond films, single crystal diamonds, sintered diamond compacts, and polycrystalline diamonds other than the above. Thus, the wear resistance of the diamond abrasives and the amount of diamond abrasives are the points determining the processing efficiency of the grinders. In addition, any type of binder used as the holder of diamond grains must not present an obstacle to the polishing, and a new cutting edge diamond abrasive grain must appear on the polishing surface every time an old one becomes worn. One example of the above methods is such that a new cutting edge of diamond abrasive appears automatically according to the amount of the diamond abrasive worn out in a grinder by anodic oxidation of the bond, the grinder binder such as cast iron, with the development of the wear of the diamond abrasive. In this case, as long as the diamond abrasive exists which can effectively polish the subject of polishing, iron oxide is formed on the surface of the binder so as to prevent it from being electrolyzed. This method is considered to be the most efficient among the foregoing. However, even this method still gives rise to problems, such as complicated operation, high cost and unstable polishing quality. For high-quality diamond powders to be suitable for use as an abrasive in the above method, a suitable binder must be selected. The selected binder must be embedded in the grinder and the quality of the same must be maintained; electrolysis equipment and setting of its conditions are required; and polishing operation and its control are also required. The quality of polishing is determined by all of the above. When the material being polished is a diamond thin film, the polishing rate and the polishing efficiency are limited due to the number of diamond grains in the material being polished being overwhelmingly large compared with the number of diamond grains of the abrasives applied during the polishing process. As described above with the method for polishing diamond utilizing a grinding and polishing tool for diamond, problems have still persisted involving the intensive wear of the grinder and the need of an expensive polishing apparatus which is extremely accurate and which can withstand elevated pressures. There is proposed a method, other than the foregoing, of polishing diamond by pressing iron or stainless steel against it. Although diamond is chemically stable at room temperature, it is graphitized and begins to bum when heated to 700xc2x0 C. in the air, and even in an evacuated atmosphere, it is graphitized when heated to 1400xc2x0 C. or higher. The above method for polishing diamond utilizes the reaction of diamond with iron at such high temperatures. It has been understood that the reaction of diamond with iron (carbon, which is the component of diamond, decompose into melts) begins to occur at about 800xc2x0 C. to form Fe3C (cementite) which is peeled off at a polished plane during the polishing process, and the peeling of Fe3C causes the development of the polishing. This reaction is further facilitated at elevated temperatures, at which the formation/decomposition of Fe3C occurs, diamond begins to take a form of carbon dioxide, and polishing is developed. Generally, the reaction temperature needs to be 900xc2x0 C. or higher taking into account the polishing efficiency. This method has been considered to be acceptable in that it can use iron or iron-based materials which provide an inexpensive abrasive. The most serious problem in this method, however, is that an efficient polishing can be achieved only by heating the polishing tool or material to be polishing to high temperatures. Stainless steel and iron-based materials are softened at high temperatures and their strength is markedly deceased, which makes stable polishing impossible. Polishing must be carried out in an evacuated atmosphere or in a reductive atmosphere so as to prevent the iron from being oxidized, especially when using iron at high temperatures. Thus, other problems arise relating to the facilities and to complicating the polishing process (ie. polishing cannot be carried out freely and easily). In addition, such high temperature heating as described above affects even the diamond which is the subject of polishing and causes cracks and fractures in the subject diamond due to the thermal stress caused by an abrupt temperature gradient during fracture and heating. An attempt has been made to replace iron with chromium and titanium, both of which have a strong affinity with carbon. However, chromium is too brittle to be subjected to polishing, and titanium is too soft and, like iron, easily oxidized to form titanium oxides. Thus, both cannot be used as an abrasive. Laser polishing has also been attempted as an alternative; however, its accuracy of dimension is poor and it is therefore not useable. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tool for grinding and polishing diamond and a method for polishing diamond which enables the polishing of diamond itself or the materials containing diamond, such as, single crystal diamond, diamond thin film including a diamond thin film formed on a substrate by a chemical-vapor deposition or a free-standing diamond film (foil or place), sintered diamond compact, and polycrystalline diamond other than the foregoing, at low temperatures (including room temperature) without causing cracks, fractures, or degradation in quality therein. The tool and method should enable the use of currently existing apparatus including surface grinding apparatus, lap grinding apparatus and other polishing apparatus while maintaining stable abrasive performance. The tool and method should further provide for ease of operation while providing a stable polishing quality at a low cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide a diamond, such as a single crystal diamond or a sintered diamond compact, having been subjected to the above stated grinder and method. Another object of the present invention is to provide efficient and inexpensive grinding and polishing processing of diamond thin film components of three-dimensional shape and diamond thin film coating components which are expected to rapidly increase in the near future with the development of diamond thin film applications. The present inventor found that special metal materials can react with diamond effectively, be polished at low temperatures or ordinary temperature or under heating, and control the wearing and deterioration of abrasives extremely even in the atmospheric air. Based on this finding, the present invention provides a tool (ie. grinder) for grinding and polishing diamond. The main component of the grinder is an intermetallic compound consisting of one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt and one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta and W. According to another aspect of the present invention, a tool for grinding and polishing diamond is provided according to the above description, and wherein the content of the intermetallic compound in the grinder is 90 percent by volume or greater. According to another aspect of the present invention, a tool for grinding and polishing diamond is provided according to either of the above descriptions, and wherein a part of the grinder or the whole grinder is made of the above stated intermetallic compound. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for polishing diamond is provided. The diamond is polished on a grinder whose main component is an intermetallic compound consisting of one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt and one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta and W, while heating the portion subjected to polishing to 100-800xc2x0 C., or more preferably, to between 300-500xc2x0 C. According to another aspect of the present invention, the content of the intermetallic compound in the grinder utilized in the above described method is 90 percent by volume or greater. The present invention further provides a polished diamond, single crystal diamond, and sintered diamond compact. The diamond, single crystal diamond, and sintered diamond compact have each been subjected to a polishing process on a grinder whose main component is an intermetallic compound consisting of one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt and one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta and W. According to another aspect of the present invention, a polished diamond is provided having a step at a grain boundary portion of 0.1 xcexcm or smaller when the thickness of the diamond thin film exceeds 300 xcexcm, and 0.02 xcexcm or smaller when the thickness of the same is 300 xcexcm or thinner. According to another aspect of the present invention, a single crystal diamond polished on the above stated grinder is provided wherein the polishing plane of the single crystal diamond is a (111) plane. According to another aspect of the present invention, a sintered diamond compact polished on the above stated grinder is provided wherein the surface roughness of the sintered diamond compact after polishing is 0.5 xcexcm or less. According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a composite grinding and polishing tool for grinding and polishing diamond and a segment of the same, wherein the composite grinding and polishing tool and the segment of the same is a composite of an intermetallic compound consisting of one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt and one kind or more of elements selected from the group of Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta and W, diamond abrasive, and a cemented carbide or ceramics. Unless otherwise specified, xe2x80x9cintermetallic compoundxe2x80x9d used herein includes a composite intermetallic compound.

1. Field of Invention This invention relates to multimedia communications. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and an apparatus for indexing multimedia communications. 2. Description of Related Art Multimedia communications used, for example, in a conference call, may be saved for future review by conference call participants or other interested parties. That is, the audio, video and data communications that comprise the conference call may be stored for future retrieval and review. An individual may desire to see the entire conference call replayed, or may want to review only selected portions of the conference call. The individual may want to have participants identified to determine what they said and when they said it or to determine who is saying what. For example, the individual may want to review only the audio from one particular conference call participant. However, some conference calls include more than one participant at a given location or end point. The audio, for example, for all the participants at a given location may be recorded and retained for future review. When a large number of participants are involved in the conference call, separating out individual audio tracks, for example, is difficult due to limitations of current systems to differentiate between the participants. This situation can arise when there are a large number of participants at all the locations or when there are a large number of participants at one particular location. Therefore, a more efficient and reliable method for indexing multimedia communications is needed. The invention provides a reliable and efficient method and apparatus for indexing multimedia communications so that selected portions of the multimedia communications can be efficiently retrieved and replayed. The invention uses distinctive features of the multimedia communications to achieve the indexing. For example, the invention provides a combination of face recognition and voice recognition features to identify particular participants to a multicast, multimedia conference call. Data related to the identities of the particular participants, or metadata, may be added, as part of a multimedia data packet extension header, to multimedia data packets containing the audio and video information corresponding to the particular participants, thus indexing the multimedia data packets. The multimedia data packets with the extension headers may then be stored in a database or retransmitted in near real-time (i.e., with some small delay). Then, multimedia data packets containing, for example, audio from a particular individual, can be readily and reliably retrieved from the database by specifying the particular individual. Other features, such as background detection and key scene changes can also be used to index the multimedia communications. Data related to these features is also added to multimedia data packet extension headers to allow reliable retrieval of data associated with these features. In a preferred embodiment, the participants to the multimedia communications are connected via a local area network (LAN) to a multicast network. An index server within the multicast network receives the multimedia communications from different locations, manipulates/alters the communication and simultaneously broadcasts, or multicasts, the altered multimedia communications to all other locations involved in the multimedia communications. Alternately, the locations can be connected to the multicast network using plain old telephone service (POTS) lines with modems at individual locations and at the multicast network or using ISDN, xDSL, Cable Modem, and Frame Relay, for example. These and other features and advantages of the invention are described in or are apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Development of drug suspension formulations designed for delivery from sustained delivery devices and osmotic delivery devices has resulted in a family of compositions utilizing polymer or surfactant solutions, non-aqueous liquid solvents or blends of solvents for polymer. The polymer acts as a viscosity modifier to provide acceptable stability of the suspension during self storage and performance intervals. These polymer solutions provide a stable environment for pharmaceutically active agents, e.g., small molecule drugs or therapeutic proteins or peptides. Drug delivery devices attempt to deliver low solubility drugs by incorporating liquid drug formulations that are released at a controlled rate over time. These osmotic delivery devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,201; 5,324,280; 5,413,672; and 6,174,547. However, such liquid osmotic delivery systems are limited in the concentration of drug in the liquid formulation and hence, the drug loading available, leading to delivery systems that can be of an unacceptably large size, volume, or number for therapeutic purposes. Polymers, such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), exhibit solubility in a wide range of non-aqueous liquid solvents, but PVP is also quite soluble in water. As a result, highly viscous PVP/water gels can be produced near the formulation/water interface. These viscous gels can occlude the delivery conduit of the drug delivery device, interfering with performance of the delivery device. A need exists in the art to develop a viscous liquid compositions with improved performance characteristics in drug delivery devices, for example, osmotic drug delivery devices. There also exists a need to eliminate pluggage of discharge ports of implantable devices. Additionally, there is a need for suspending vehicles that are substantially resistant to phase separation while at the same time are sufficiently viscous to suspend pharmaceutical agents for long periods of time. Further, it is desirable to formulate polymer-free dosage forms which remain substantially homogenous for a desired dosaging time.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an apparatus and method for testing both two and four wheel drive vehicles (2 WD and 4 WD, respectively) having a variety of drive train configurations under anticipated road conditions. 2. Description of the Prior Art Test apparatus in the form of dynamometers is widely used for testing motor vehicles in place. Since the test vehicles are not moving over a road bed, the dynamometer must simulate certain forces normally associated with actual vehicle operation. These parameters include forces associated with inertia (related to the mass or weight of the vehicle) and road load forces (related to the velocity of the vehicle). The vehicle engine (or its braking system) must overcome inertial forces in order to accelerate or decelerate the vehicle In addition, the engine must overcome breakaway frictional and rolling frictional forces (i.e., road/tire friction) as well as windage forces (i.e., drag forces caused by air passing over the vehicle). These latter forces are commonly referred to as road load (RL) forces and may be represented by the formula: EQU RL=A+BV+CV.sup.2 +DV.sup.3 +EW where A represents the effects of breakaway force, and, B, C and D represent the effects of rolling friction and windage, V represents the vehicle velocity, E represents the grade of the slope, and W represents the vehicle weight. The purpose of the dynamometer is to impose those forces on the vehicle which the vehicle would incur during actual operation on a road. Dynamometers for 2 WD vehicles (front or rear axle drive) include a roll (or a pair of rolls) for engaging the driven wheels of the vehicle being tested. Prior art dynamometers for 4 WD vehicles (front and rear axles coupled to the engine) generally include a roll or pair of rolls for supporting and engaging each pair of wheels (front and rear) with the rolls being mechanically connected so that all of the rolls rotate at the same speed. Typically a power supplying and absorbing unit such as an electric motor (a.c. or d.c.) or a power absorbing unit such as a friction brake, eddy current brake or hydrokinetic brake is coupled to the roll or rolls for supplying power to and/or absorbing power from the roll(s) which in turn applies a retarding force to the surface of the vehicle wheels (e.g., tires) to simulate the road load forces. Inertial forces can be simulated by power supplying and absorbing units during both acceleration and deceleration but can be simulated by power absorbing units only during acceleration. Mechanical flywheels are generally used in conjunction with power supplying and/or absorbing units to simulate a part (or in some instances all) of the vehicle inertia. Vehicle velocity may be determined from the formula: ##EQU2## where V.sub.1 =the computed velocity at time t.sub.1, V.sub.o =the velocity at time t.sub.o, F=the measured force at the roll interface, I=the desired vehicle inertia and RL=the road load force. The implementation of this basic equation to control the operation of a dynamometer is explained in some detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,116 assigned to the assignee of this application. The rotational velocity of the roll is representative of V and can be accurately measured by coupling a speed encoder of the optical or magnetic pulse type to the dynamometer roll. However, there is no force measuring device which as a practical matter, can be placed between the rotating vehicle wheel and the roll. As a compromise, a force measuring device or transducer is generally placed either at the output of the power supplying and/or absorbing unit or between the flywheel assembly and the shaft connecting the flywheels to the roll. In either case, there are bearing friction and windage losses generated by the roll and/or flywheels which are not measured by the transducer. Such losses are commonly referred to as parasitic losses and must be compensated for in order to provide an accurate control signal for the power supplying and/or absorbing unit in the dynamometer. A parasitic loss profile or curve of the lost force at the roll surface (due to parasitic losses) versus roll speed for the roll can be computed by measuring the force required to maintain the roll or rolls at several selected (e.g., three) speeds. Such a loss profile can also be calculated by using the actual inertia of the roll system and allowing the roll (or rolls) to coast down from a high speed while measuring the change of roll speed at selected points on the speed curve. A signal representative of the forces attributable to parasitic losses can then be added to the force signal measured by the transducer to provide a force signal representative of F. This arrangement is satisfactory for testing 2 WD or 4 WD vehicles where all of the wheels engaging the rolls are positively driven by the vehicle engine. However, dynamometers for 2 WD vehicles cannot be used to test 4 WD vehicles for obvious reasons and prior art dynamometers designed for 4 WD vehicles cannot readily be used to test 2 WD vehicles because the measured force will include a force required to turn the non-driven wheels. This force, required to push or pull the passive wheels, is already included in the road load force with the result that the use of the above equation for controlling the dynamometer is compromised. The same problem exists in testing some 4 WD vehicles even on the prior art dynamometers designed for 4 WD provide a viscous vehicles. Many modern 4 WD vehicles provide a viscous coupling arrangement between one of the axles and the engine whereby power is supplied to the viscous coupled axle only when the two axles (front and rear) are turning at different speeds. Where all four wheels are turning at the same velocity e.g., on a test dynamometer, the force required to rotate the wheels on the viscous coupled axle will be included twice i.e., in the measured force F and RL. There is a need for a versatile dynamometer apparatus and method for testing both 2 WD vehicles and 4 WD vehicles with various engine/axle coupling arrangements.

For example, an analog feedback amplifier disclosed in a Patent Document 1 comprises a variable phase shifter that adjusts the phase of a baseband input signal, a variable gain amplifier that amplifies the input signal, and power amplifier that amplifies the input signal, and further comprises a control system that controls the phase shift of the variable phase shifter and the gain of the variable gain amplifier. The control system comprises the following components. (1) An attenuator that attenuates the signal amplified by the power amplifier, and outputs the signal after the attenuation as a feedback signal. (2) A detector that detects the input signal. (3) An amplitude comparator that detects the difference between the amplitude of the input signal detected by the detector and the feedback signal output from the attenuator. (4) A phase comparator that detects the phase difference between the input signal and the feedback signal output from the attenuator. (5) Again controller that controls the gain of the variable gain amplifier in accordance with the difference detected by the amplitude comparator. (6) A loop filter that controls the phase shift of the variable phase shifter in accordance with the phase difference detected by the phase comparator.

Improvements to food products can include, for example, improving the mouthfeel, flavor, look, and/or shelf-life of a product, reducing calories, and keeping raw material production costs low. To achieve these improvements in food products, food manufacturers may seek to modify the method of manufacturing, which can impart improved qualities in an improved or more efficient manner. At the same time, however, the appetizing nature and overall appearance of the food product should be maintained or even enhanced. Additionally, food manufacturers may also seek ways to produce naturally-sourced and clean-label food products to satisfy increasing consumer demand for healthy and natural foods.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,662 discloses a lens assembly for directing a multitude of charged particle beamlets onto an image plane. The lens assembly comprises a plurality of electrodes having a beam passing region where a plurality of charged beam apertures are formed. The electrodes are stacked along an optical path with insulator members spacing the electrodes apart. At the edge of the electrodes, said electrodes are clamped together for forming a lens assembly. The image provided by the lens assembly is reduced and projected onto a wafer via a reduction electron optical system. The lens assembly is used to correct beam aberrations which occur later on in the path of projection when the beams are demagnified. A disadvantage of the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,662 is, that the lens assembly needs to be complex in order to provide for the required corrections. U.S. Pat. No. 7,091,504 to Applicant discloses an electron beam exposure apparatus comprising a focusing electron optical system comprising an array of electrostatic lenses, wherein each lens focuses a corresponding individual beamlet to a cross-section smaller than 300 nm, directly onto the wafer. Since this system does not need a reduction electron optical system, the effects of beam aberrations due to this reduction electron optical system can be circumvented. A disadvantage of the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,091,504 is that the electron optical system needs to be arranged much closer to the target. Furthermore, in order to provide a stable electrostatic field in the downstream direction, the electrode substrates of the prior art, as for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,662, are thin and arranged close to each other, i.e. spaced apart by small distances using insulator members at the sides of the electrodes. Such thin electrodes form the weakest part of a projection lens assembly; the electrodes may break or deform easily when handled, and when sparks occur between the electrodes as a result of the high potential difference there between, the electrodes are usually damaged too severely to be of further use. Replacement of the electrodes can result in significant downtime of a lithography apparatus in which they are used. It is a goal of the present invention to provide a structurally robust compact modular projection lens assembly for projecting a multitude of charged particle beamlets, e.g. tens of thousands of beamlets or more, directly onto a target. It is a further goal of the present invention to provide a modular projection lens assembly which can be easily handled and maintained and which may be placed as one unit. It is a further goal of the present invention to provide a compact modular projection lens assembly that is easily assembled to within precise specifications, and a method for assembling such a projection lens assembly.

Game outcomes on gaming devices are typically determined at random where winning outcomes award a player money, credits, promotions, prizes, or other incentives, and losing outcomes typically result only in a lost wager. Player excitement is typically generated by providing the possibility of winning large awards for a relatively meager wager. Business principles require that most outcomes not be large winning outcomes for the player. However, this often times must be balanced with giving the player some incentive to keep playing. Therefore smaller valued winning outcomes are typically included in the game to drive up the hit frequency of winning outcomes while not awarding extremely large prizes too often. Most multi-game jackpots utilize coin-in data to simultaneously drive up the amount of the jackpot award and to determine if the particular wager generating the coin-in data has met the triggering condition for the jackpot. That is, wagers made from gaming devices connected to the multi-game jackpot are typically used to fund the jackpot as well as determining if the jackpot is to be awarded to the wagering gaming device. A small percentage of the wager is generally added to the jackpot amount to continually drive up the jackpot amount. A multi-game jackpot may be connected to a bank or group of games, all games in a casino, or games in multiple casino properties. Naturally, the more games that are connected to the multi-game jackpot, the more quickly the jackpot amount will grow. Various methods may be used to determine when the jackpot is awarded. One common method is to randomly choose a triggering value from a large range of values and then determine when that value has been reached. For example, a coin-in value may be randomly selected as the triggering value in the range of 1 to 1 million. If the triggering value was randomly selected as 658,150, the 658,150th coin wagered on one of the connected gaming devices from the start of the bonus cycle would trigger the bonus to be awarded to the wagering game device. One issue with this award-selecting scheme, and other methods of determining when to award a multi-game jackpot, is that players often are not as willing to play the connected games when at the start of the bonus cycle. That is players know that the chance of winning the bonus again right after is has been awarded (i.e., at the start of new bonus cycle) is smaller than after the bonus has been built up for a while.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to reticle management and operation for advanced technology IC foundry It is more particularly to provide not only a hardware (3 in 1 N2 e-Cabinet), but also management systems and methods to preserve MASK at a specific environment (For example: N2 gas), and charge the gas into the carrier more conveniently and efficiently, and also equip with real time information for reticle dispatching. 2. Description of the Related Art Photolithography is an important technology in semiconductor manufacturing. The number of reticles (masks) used in photolithography corresponds to the complexity of a manufacturing process. Photolithography affects structures of semiconductor devices, such as patterns of layers and doped regions, and determines the functional effectiveness thereof. Since photolithography is complicated, photolithography apparatus, such as scanners, performing the photolithography can create a bottleneck in the manufacturing process. Each photolithography apparatus may have a rack for reticle storage. Due to quality concern, most of PSM reticles required storage in an inert gas such as nitrogen environment, to avoid precipitation thereon, which will impact wafer quality and increase reticle repairing opportunities that kill production cycle time and tool efficiency. FIG. 1 illustrates conventional reticle management. As shown in FIG. 1, scanners (102, 104, 106 and 108) generally use a reticle stocker 120. The reticle stocker 120 is required to store the MASK in wafer fabrication clean room for manufacturing. The reticle stocker 120 is a self-contained, clean environment electronic closet in which reticles can be stored and from which reticles can be retrieved. Additionally, the reticle stocker 120 provides an inert gas environment in which reticles of critical layers are prior to use for processing. Generally, the reticle stocker is at a specific location which operators must move to get reticles for operation, a time-consuming and inconvenient system. The cost for reticle stocker is expensive, making it impractical to provide multiple reticle stockers in a factory. Additionally, since the reticle stocker has limited space for racks charging inert gas simultaneously, most racks must wait, thereby increasing lost time of scanners, and decreasing equipment availability and throughput of the manufacturing processes.

This invention relates generally to power seat adjusters and more specifically to power seat adjusters with an integral horizontal interlock system. To maximize vehicle seat occupant comfort, it has been known in the art to provide power seat adjusters capable of adjustment in six directions. Typically the adjusters have a floor or lower channel fixably connected to the vehicle and an upper channel slideably mounted to the lower channel. An excellent example of a six way power seat adjuster can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,351 issued to Hans Borlinghaus and assigned to General Motors, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Usually, the channels of a power seat adjuster are fabricated from extruded aluminum in an interlocking design. The fore and aft horizontal actuator of the seat adjuster is designed to withstand the normal loading imposed upon the seat due to sudden decelerations of the vehicle. However, the seat adjuster normally is not designed to withstand the loading of an occupant restraint belt system which can commonly be in the range of 6000 pounds of force. Therefore, the occupant restraint belt system is usually anchored directly to the vehicle floor. When the vehicle seat belt is anchored directly to the vehicle floor, movement of the seat by the horizontal actuator can often require readjustment of the seat belt. It is desirable to provide a power seat adjuster and slide wherein the occupant seat restraint belt system may be anchored to the seat adjuster directly thereby deleting the requirement of the vehicle seat occupant having to adjust his vehicle seat restraint belt system every time he utilizes the seat adjuster. Examples of this can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,409 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,781 both issued to Hans Borlinghaus and commonly assigned to General Motors, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. These devices, though, have the difficulty of being complicated and expensive to manufacture. Another example of the above described type of system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,602 issued to Osamu Tokugawa. The Tokugawa device has the normal interlocking channels for normal fore and aft movement of the seat assembly. This device also has a occupant restraint belt system which is attached to a base plate. An anchor stay is fixedly attached to the body of the vehicle. A portion of the anchor stay contains a plurality of teeth, which in turn are covered by a resin cover. The base plate is positioned so that if a vertical force is applied to the occupant restraint belt system, the base plate will engage the teeth of the anchor stay. A pair of rivets hold the base plate in position so that the base plate does not engage the anchor stay prematurely. One problem with the Tokugawa device is that it needs a vertical force to make it work properly. If the force of the occupant restraint belt system has no vertical component, or if the vertical component of the force is too small, the base plate will not engage the teeth of the anchor stay. For most sudden deceleration situations this will not be a problem. But some sudden deceleration situations could involve most of the force being directed in a horizontal direction, and the occupant restraint belt system may not have the necessary vertical force. Also, this device does not lock up immediately, but the base plate must travel to the next gap in the teeth of the anchor stay, adding to the time before the interlocking occurs. This design also necessitates adding extra pieces to the seat assembly, which adds cost and manufacturing difficulty.

This invention pertains generally to energy storage devices, particularly high specific power and high energy density electrochemical capacitors known as supercapacitors, and specifically to a method of making active materials or electrodes for the same. There is a need for a rechargeable energy source that can provide high power, can be recharged quickly, has a high cycle life and is environmentally benign for a myriad of applications including defense, consumer goods, and electric vehicles. Double layer capacitors are rechargeable charge storage devices that fulfill this need. A single-cell double layer capacitor consists of two electrodes which store charge (these are called the xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d materials), separated by a permeable membrane which permits ionic but not electronic conductivity. Each electrode is also in contact with a current collector which provides an electrical path to the external environment. The electrodes and the membrane are infused with an electrolyte, and the entire assembly is contained in inert packaging. Multiple cells may be connected in series or in parallel in the final packaged unit. Applying an electric potential across the electrodes causes charge to build up in the double layer which exists at the electrode/electrolyte interface of each electrode. This process can continue until a condition of equilibrium has been reached, i.e., the current drops to zero. The capacitance, or amount of charge that a capacitor can store, is directly related to the surface area of the electrodes. Therefore, electrodes made from conductive materials that possess high surface area ( greater than 100 m2/g) are desirable. Devices incorporating such electrodes are often referred to as xe2x80x9cdouble-layer capacitorsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csupercapacitorsxe2x80x9d. By employing various materials and fabrication means, supercapacitors have been developed which are capable of delivering very high specific power and energy densities. Because carbon is chemically inert, has a high electronic conductivity, is environmentally benign and is relatively inexpensive, it is a desirable material for fabricating electrodes for supercapacitors. Supercapacitor electrode materials may store charge as a consequence of their high surface area. They may also store charge through a phenomenon known as pseudocapacitance, well-known to those skilled in the art. Pseudocapacitance is a reversible electrochemical reaction which often occurs at or near the surface of an electrode, and whose electrochemical charge/discharge properties exhibit capacitive features, distinguishing them from the processes of conventional batteries. As an example of this phenomenon, it is well known to those skilled in the art that quinone groups bonded to a supercapacitor carbon can electrochemically transform into alcohol groups in a reversible process in an acidic aqueous electrolyte, and it is known that this reaction (pseudocapacitance) provides charge storage. Quinone-containing carbon materials useful in supercapacitors thus simultaneously exhibit two types of charge storagexe2x80x94one associated with its surface area (double-layer charging), and another associated with the quinone electrochemistry (pseudocapacitance). It is an object of this invention to provide a method for improving the energy storage of carbon materials useful as electrodes in energy storage devices. This is accomplished through a unique and advantageous surface treatment for carbons to increase their charge storage through pseudocapacitance. It consists of sulfonation and preferably sulfonation preceded by hydrogenation. While not desiring to be bound, it is believed this treatment places sulfonic acid groups on the edges of graphite planes. This enhances the carbon""s charge storage through pseudocapacitance; the pseudocapacitive reaction is the reversible electrochemical conversion of a sulfonic acid group to a sulfinic acid group which occurs upon charge and discharge. This sulfonic/sulfinic charge storage mechanism has particular advantages in that a) it occurs at a voltage in the middle of the useful range for aqueous systems, so that sulfonated carbon anodes and cathodes charge to a roughly equal degree when they are worked against one another, and b) sulfonation of any carbon or any other organic material is known to enhance proton transport, facilitating fast electrochemical reactions (and thus fast discharge in a charge storage device). Sulfonation through direct reaction with concentrated sulfuric acid or fuming sulfuric acid produces desirable improvements in the performance of carbon supercapacitor materials; however, even greater improvements are observed if the carbon is first hydrogenated and then sulfonated. This two-step approach to sulfonation (hydrogenation followed by sulfonation) is an important part of the new art disclosed herein. Hydrogenation is believed to convert oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon edge-planes to hydrogens, facilitating the subsequent substitution of sulfonic acid groups at these atomic sites. In the broadest sense of the invention, the sulfonation procedure is applicable to any carbon material, regardless of whether the carbon exists as a porous monolith, powder, fiber, cloth, film, or in some other form. In the present invention, the sulfonation is particularly directed to a structural class of carbon known as fibrils. Carbon Fibrils There are many types of carbon structures that are observed on a microscopic scale, such as the crystalline platelets of graphite or the spherical shapes of fullerenes (xe2x80x9cbuckyballsxe2x80x9d). Another structural type is a carbon fibril, which is a thin vermicular (wormlike) carbon deposit having a diameter of about 500 nanometers or less. Carbon fibrils can exist as filaments (solid-core) or tubes (hollow core), and they are frequently referred to as xe2x80x9cnanotubesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cnanofibers.xe2x80x9d Their internal structures vary: some consist of single- or multiple-wall graphite tubes oriented roughly parallel to the fibril axis, others have a graphitic tube core surrounded by a layer of amorphous carbon, and still others are layered solid filaments with varying layer orientations. Typically, carbon fibrils are prepared through the catalytic decomposition of carbon-containing gases at heated metal surfaces. This is typically done in an inert atmosphere, using gases which only contain carbon and hydrogen (although some preparations introduce gases containing other elements). These preparations have been reported at a wide range of temperatures, from 400xc2x0 C. to 1500xc2x0 C. The preparation and properties of carbon fibrils are described in a number of patents. Tennet U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,230, issued May 5, 1987, describes carbon fibrils which are free of an amorphous carbon coating and consist of multiple graphitic outer layers substantially parallel to the fibril axis. Tubular fibrils with graphitic layers and diameters between 3.5 and 75 nanometers are described in Tennet et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,909, issued Nov. 24, 1992, Tennet et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,560, issued Dec. 15, 1992, and Mandeville et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,200, issued Mar. 19, 1996. For the purpose of this invention, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,663,230; 5,165,909; 5,171,560; and 5,500,200 are incorporated herein by reference. Fibrils having different macromorphologies, such as the so-called xe2x80x9cfishbonexe2x80x9d morphology are described in European Patent Application No. 198,558 to J. W. Geus (published Oct. 22, 1986). Fibrils with the fishbone morphology may be characterized as having their c-axes (the axes which are perpendicular to the tangents of the curved layers of graphite) at some angle less than perpendicular to the cylindrical axes of the fibrils. The surface chemistry of carbon fibrils will depend on their method of preparation. If the fibril is made from gases containing not only carbon, but also oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen, the latter three elements can be incorporated into surface groups (groups bonded to the edge planes of carbon). Another surface chemistry would result from the following procedure: An existing fibril might be subjected to a high temperature treatment in an inert atmosphere ( greater than 1000xc2x0 C.) to graphitize any amorphous carbon remaining in the fibril. The high graphitization temperature will cleave off surface groups and leave the carbon edge atoms (carbons at the edges of the graphene planes) with a vacant valence (i.e., without a terminating group). When the sample is cooled and removed from the graphitization furnace, these edge carbons will scavenge oxygen from the air to fill the missing valence, creating a carbon fibril with an oxygen-containing surface. Still another surface chemistry will result from the following preparation: If the carbon fibril is synthesized from a hydrocarbon feedstock containing only carbon and hydrogen using relatively low temperatures (below approx. 800xc2x0 C.), the resulting fibril is expected to contain surface hydrogen. In this case there are no elements except for hydrogen which are available to terminate the edge planes of the carbon fibrils. Furthermore, once the hydrogen becomes attached to these edge sites it should remain in place, because the temperature within the reactor is insufficient to homolytically cleave the carbon-hydrogen bond which has been formed. Carbon Fibrils as Electrode Materials Some carbon fibrils have proven to be useful as supercapacitor electrode materials. Some fibrils have large amounts of exposed and electrochemically active surface area, and this accessible, pore-free morphology gives them a desirable characteristic not observed in conventional supercapacitor carbons, namely significant amounts of double-layer capacitance (energy storage) at frequencies above 10 Hz. The frequency associated with a capacitance is a relative measure of the charge/discharge speed, so that higher frequency capacitance indicates higher power output for an energy storage material. The capacitance of carbon fibrils materials can be greatly enhanced by the sulfonation procedure disclosed herein. Capacitance enhancements of up to 330% (i.e., energy storage improvements of 330%) have been observed in our laboratory when fibrils have been treated with the procedures in this disclosure. Furthermore, capacitance improvements are observed even at very high frequencies (we have made measurements at up to 1000 Hz). It is thus clear that sulfonation not only improves the fibril""s energy storage properties, it also improves their power properties. The degree of improvement for any particular carbon sample will depend on its structure. The preferred sulfonation procedure for carbon fibrils consists of a hydrogenation followed by a sulfonation. As is the case with other carbons, the hydrogenation step converts oxygen-containing surface groups to hydrogen, creating a surface site which can be more easily sulfonated. However, in those cases where the carbon fibril surface is already hydrogenated as a consequence of its method of preparation, it may not be necessary to carry out the hydrogenation step. The objects of the present invention together with additional objects, novel features and advantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from detailed disclosure of the present invention as set forth herein below, are accomplished by the improvements herein described and claimed.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to systems for communicating address-specific, limited content data messages in one or two directions via a wireless, pager-based communications link. 2. Discussion of the Prior Art The need to communicate address-specific, limited content data messages over wide areas arises in a variety of applications and contexts. For example, as an increasing number of people move into and live in areas considered remote, rural or semi-rural, it becomes increasingly burdensome and costly for utilities, such as power companies, to send individual personnel into the field to read residential power consumption meters. The time and expense required for a person to physically visit a remote residence and read the meter is out of proportion to the relatively limited (but, nevertheless, important) data thus acquired. Similarly, when it is necessary for a utility to communicate with its customers (e.g. regarding rate changes and the like), this is typically done through the mailxe2x80x94another burdensome and costly process. In addition to the expense, mail communication suffers from considerable delay between when the need to communicate arises and when the communication is actually received. Similarly, mail communication is ineffective in dealing with short term, immediate crises, such as a need to reduce power consumption in times of unusually heavy demand brought about, for example, by an oppressive heat wave. In such circumstance, utilities have relied on local broadcast media to spread the message to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Such broadcasts, effective as they are in transmitting a message quickly over a wide area, are, by nature, not address specific. Accordingly, they are transmitted equally to those who are affected by the crises as well as to those who are not. Although address-specific, wire-based communications links, such as private telephone lines have existed for years, the cost of providing dedicated lines for relatively limited communications needs is prohibitive. One form of existing wireless, address-specific communications system is the xe2x80x9cpagingxe2x80x9d system of known configuration. Paging systems combine the speed and coverage of wireless xe2x80x9cbroadcastxe2x80x9d techniques with the address-specific capabilities of wire-based systems. Such paging systems are also configured for the address-specific transmission of limited data messages. Accordingly, wireless paging systems can be well suited for providing cost-effective, efficient and immediate, limited communications between, for example, utilities and police, fire and disaster control authorities on the one hand, and widely dispersed community residents on the other. A paging protocol sold under the trademark name of ReFLEX is used for reporting information from a remote device to a central monitoring location. A message send request is generated at a remote device, the ReFLEX protocol sends an xe2x80x9cAlohaxe2x80x9d message to the central monitoring location. The Aloha message is a short data packet containing a small number of data bits. The Aloha message is used to request a time reporting slot for a future message which the remote device will send through the ReFLEX protocol. The central monitoring location will send the remote device a particular time reporting slot and the remote device will send numerous data bits describing the message during the assigned time reporting slot. This technology can be utilized for alarm reporting, but the alarm notification will take one to two minutes to complete which is unacceptable for emergency situations such as fire or theft of valuable material. The invention provides a communications system including a plurality of potential message recipients categorized into one or more groups and assigned a specific address according to group. The system further includes a head end communication interface for generating a message to be received by one or more of the groups of potential message recipients and including in the message the specific address or addresses of the group or groups to receive the message. The system further includes a head end media interface including a wireless transmitter for broadcasting the message via a wireless signal over a geographic area including the potential message recipients, and a wireless receiver associated with each of the potential message recipients and responsive to the specific address of the group to which the associated message recipient belongs so that messages directed to members of the group are received by members of the group in response to receipt by the wireless receiver of the group specific address. In one embodiment, the wireless transmitter and the wireless receivers are part of a paging system. The invention also provides a wireless communications system for directing a message to a specific group within a plurality of potential message recipients. The system includes a transmitter operable to transmit a wireless signal over a geographic area containing the potential message recipients and a plurality of receivers each associate with a particular one of the potential message recipients. The receivers associated with members of the specific group are operable to respond to a specific address signifying the specific group. The system further includes a head end communication interface for incorporating into the message the specific address of the specific group intended to receive the message and for communicating to the transmitter the message containing the incorporated specific address so that, upon receiving the message and incorporated specific address, the receivers responsive to the specific address accept the message and communicate the message to the specific group. The invention also provides a method of operating a wireless paging system so as to communicate group specific messages to specific groups among a plurality of potential message recipients. The method includes the steps of identifying specific groups among the plurality of potential message recipients, assigning to each of the identified specific groups a group specific address, equipping each of the potential message recipients with a wireless receiver responsive to the group specific address of the specific group to which the potential message recipient belongs, generating a message containing an informational portion and an address portion, the address portion including the group specific address of the specific group intended to receive the message, and transmitting via a wireless signal the message over a geographic area containing the potential message recipients so that the receivers responsive to the group specific address will accept the message and communicate the informational portion of the message to the member of the specific group. In one embodiment, the method further includes the step of routing the message to an appropriate transport medium in accordance with a sub-address included in the address portion. In one embodiment, the sub-address indicates a particular device associated with one or more of the receivers. The invention also provides a method of communicating location specific messages from a plurality of remote locations to another location wherein the remote locations are interconnected by means of an existing transport medium. The method includes the steps of providing a remote media interface gateway having a wireless transmitter, coupling the remote media interface gateway to the transport medium, generating a location specific message at one of the remote locations, communicating the location specific message to a remote media interface gateway via the transport medium, transmitting the location specific message via the wireless transmitter to a wireless receiver, communicating the location specific message from the receiver to a head end communications interface, and decoding the location specific message to determine the location of its origin and the meaning of its content. It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved system for communicating with specific groups among a plurality of geographically dispersed potential recipients. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that permits communication with specific ones of several remote sites in a geographic area while utilizing existing, low-cost communications media. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that permits remote accessing of data generated at various specified ones of a plurality of remote sites dispersed over a geographic area. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that permits automatic communication of an alarm or other such non-scheduled message automatically from a remote site to a central location using existing, low-cost communications media. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that permits remote control of specific remotely located devices over a wide geographic area using existing, low-cost communications media. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that includes a media routing feature that provides for communications through various available media in accordance with the type, location and nature of communication needed. It is a further object of the invention to provide a communications system that incorporates a logic protocol feature for translating between the logic/application level protocols of different physical media.

The invention relates to a locking arrangement and to the associated key. A locking arrangement having a lock cylinder and an associated key, in particular flat turning key, is known in the prior art. In this case, the core of the lock cylinder has a keyway which is open in the direction of the end side of the cylinder and is provided with profile ribs/grooves. The vertex of a conical opening, which opens in the direction of the end side of the cylinder, is located in the centre of said keyway. At its insertion end, the key forms a tip with flanks in the form of arcuate lines. The combination of conical opening and tip with arcuate flanks is intended to facilitate the introduction of the key into the keyway. The introduction of the key is complicated, in particular, in the case of flat turning keys with narrow profile ribs/grooves. On account of the profilings located closely adjacent to one another, the key has to be inserted without deviating to any great extent from the precisely aligned position. Furthermore, locking systems profiled in this way barely allow any positions in which the key axis is inclined to any greater extent in relation to the keyway axis. The prior art also proposes a solution in which, rather than being rounded, the key has a tip formed by two rectilinear flanks. The object of the invention is to facilitate the introduction of a key into the keyway. According to the invention. The tip is formed by two arcuate lines, of which the point of intersection is located in the broad-side centre of the key, and the tangent angle at the point of intersection is greater than the vertex angle of the cone opening, it being the case that the arcuate lines have bevels, in the direction of the mutually opposite broad sides, having a bevel angle which is smaller than the vertex angle of the cone opening. The conical opening forms a type of funnel which opens out into the keyway. The key is inserted in said funnel. It is generally the case that the key axis is not in alignment with the keyway axis. Rather, the key axis is tilted by an angle of inclination in relation to the keyway axis. It is likewise the case that the key shank is rotated by an angle of rotation in relation to the orientation of the keyway. In the rotated position, the arcuate lines are in tangential contact with the cone wall within a broad-side pivoting region. This broad-side pivoting region is bounded by the pivot position in which the tip of the key shank, which is formed by the point of inter-section of the arcuate lines, comes into abutment against the cone wall. Within the broad-side pivoting region, the key tip is spaced apart from the vertex of the cone and projects therein in a contactless manner. The key may also be pivoted through a narrow-side pivoting region in relation to the keyway axis. The narrow-side pivoting region is bounded by the bevel angle. Within the narrow-side pivoting region, the key, with its tip located, in the cone, can be pivoted to the extent where the bevels come into abutment against the cone wall. If the key is inserted into the cone in a state in which it is rotated in relation to the orientation of the keyway, then the pivoting into the above-defined broad-side pivoting region is simplified by the geometry. The user feels the pivot angle at which the tip moves away from the abutment against the cone wall. If the user has the key in this broad-side pivoting region and rotates the key, then the key tip finds its correct, central position in relation to the keyway and with the correct rotary orientation, on account of the bevels, can be inserted into the keyway. The slopes of the bevel which then take effect cause the key to be righted into the aligned position. If the key is rotated out of a position in which the key axis is located in the broad-side pivoting region, until the correct rotary orientation has been reached, then the narrow side is also oriented in the narrow-side pivoting region. This means that, in this position, it is only the end edges of the flank which butt against the cone wall. In a preferred configuration, the bevel angle is greater approximately by 15 to 25xc2x0 than half the vertex angle of the cone. The thickness of the non-bevelled flank section is approximately half to a third of the narrow-side thickness. The result of this is that the key, located in the correctly oriented position, then, upon further pushing in the keyway, is pivoted virtually automatically out of the inclined position into the aligned position, if its inclined position is located within the narrow-side pivoting region. The arcuate lines are preferable circle arcs. The centres are located in the broad side of the key and are spaced apart from the broad-side centre line by a distance. This distance corresponds approximately to 30 to 35% of the broad-side thickness of the key. Furthermore, the radius of the arcuate side is preferably approximately 105 to 110% of the thickness of the broad side of the key. The diameter of the cone opening is preferably smaller than the broad-side thickness of the key. The cone angle, that is to say the vertex angle of the funnel-shaped opening, is preferably approximately 110xc2x0. A development of the invention relates to the cone opening of the cylinder core. The vertex angle of the conical opening is greater on the outside of the opening than in the centre of the opening. The opening preferably forms an inner cone with a smaller vertex angle than the outer cone. According to one development, the inner cone is in the form of an oval. The oval is directed longitudinally in relation to the keyway. This produces, in the region of the keyway, a step-shaped transition between the two cone walls. In the direction transverse to this, the transition is formed as an edge. The vertex angle of the more pointed, inner cone, is preferably 90xc2x0. The invention also relates, in particular, to a key for the locking arrangement described.

Work vehicles used in various industries, such as agriculture, construction and forestry, may have onboard hydraulic systems for powering various vehicle and implement systems and tools. The hydraulic systems are pressurized by one or more hydraulic pumps powered by the main engine or one or more variable drives (e.g., electric motors). Depending on the work vehicle, numerous hydraulic pumps may be needed to supply the pressure necessary for proper operation of the varied vehicle and implement systems, thus increasing the space envelope required for the hydraulics and the complexity of arranging the associated plumbing lines and input power sources.

The safe disposal of waste or contaminating materials has been recognized as a significant health and economic issue for many years. The ability to merely dump raw materials into the oceans or landfills is no longer an acceptable mechanism for disposal of the waste. Waste organic matter including that found in raw wastewater (i.e., sewage), sludge from sewage treatment facilities, farm waste, organic industrial waste, leachate, and so forth is a principle cause of water pollution. Therefore, waste organic matter from these and other sources ideally is treated before release into the environment in order to reduce or eliminate the presence of environmentally harmful organic compounds. One method of treating waste organic matter, especially in wastewater treatment plants and concentrated animal farms, is through anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is the biological degradation of organic material without oxygen present in which bacteria degrade or digest or decompose the organic matter fed into the system. The anaerobic digestion process has been utilized to treat and remove organic compounds from waste products such as sewage, sewage sludge, chemical wastes, food processing wastes, agricultural residues, animal wastes, including manure and other organic waste and material. As is well known, organic waste materials are fed into an anaerobic digestion reactor or tank which is sealed to prevent entrance of oxygen and in these airfree or “anoxic” conditions, anaerobic bacteria digests the waste. Anaerobic digestion may be carried out in a single reactor or in multiple reactors of the two-stage or two-phase configuration. Heat is normally added to the reactor or reactors to maintain adequate temperatures for thermophilic or mesophilic bacteria which accomplish the breakdown of the organic material. Mixing of the wastes by either mechanical or gas recirculation is can be provided to accelerate digestion. The products or effluent from anaerobic digestion consist of: (1) a gas phase containing methane, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, which in total comprise what is commonly called biogas; (2) a liquid phase containing water, dissolved ammonia nitrogen, nutrients, organic and inorganic chemicals; and (3) a colloidal or suspended solids phase containing undigested organic and inorganic compounds, and synthesized biomass or bacterial cells within the effluent liquid. The gas phase (biogas), if captured, can be utilized as a valuable clean fuel for heat and power generation or transportation. By capturing the biogas, the use of anaerobic digestion can produce valuable energy from waste streams of natural materials or to lower the pollution potential of a waste stream. The biogas generated from anaerobic digesters in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and concentrated animal farms usually comprises a mixture of several gases and vapors, mainly methane and carbon dioxide. This biogas is rich in methane, typically containing 50-70% methane with the balance being carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, water, and siloxanes. The methane in the biogas contains the bulk of the energy value of the biogas, and thus, this methane in the biogas allows the biogas to be burned for heat or used to fuel an electric generator among other uses. Most WWTPs and farms use a portion of this gas to provide fuel to their digester and process boiler. Unfortunately, using the biogas as a fuel for the digester and process boiler can consume over 50% of the total gas generated. In many cases, the portion of the biogas not used as fuel for the digester and/or process boiler is flared. Flaring the gas ejects millions of BTUs to the atmosphere that might otherwise be put to good use. In addition to wasting the BTUs that this portion of biogas could provide, flaring of the excess biogas also results in release of significant quantities of so-called “greenhouse gases” such as carbon dioxide. The atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide (CO2) are rising rapidly and are believed to be a significant factor in the rise in global warming and its potential impact on the earth's climate, ocean levels and human lifestyles. Carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere are at historic high levels. Although the greenhouse warming potential of carbon dioxide is small compared to some of the other greenhouse gases, due to the sheer mass of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide presently has a significant impact as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. It is estimated that globally, over 24 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted into the earth's atmosphere in 2001 as a result of burning fossil fuels. Some predict that by the year 2025, global emissions of carbon dioxide may reach 35 billion tons. If it is possible to capture and use a significant amount of the biogas that would otherwise be flared and released as greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the potential impact of carbon dioxide on global warming may be limited. Thus, in addition to the economic waste caused by flaring the excess biogas that could otherwise be used as fuel, flaring has become an unacceptable disposal method of the biogas because flaring the biogas wastes a diminishing hydrocarbon resource and is also a source of air pollution. In an attempt to be more energy efficient and utilize a portion of the biogas obtained from anaerobic digestion, many WWTPs have installed on-site electric generators to make use of the digester gas energy. If the gas composition of the biogas contains a minimum amount of methane required to provide adequate energy upon combustion, a fuel stream is fed from the biogas stream to an engine driving an electrical generator capable of being powered by the combustion of the methane. The electrical generator is provided to generate a minimum amount of electricity to provide power to the facility and any excess can be exported from the facility. Electrical generation, however, is costly and maintenance is intensive and, in most regions of the country, does not provide the WWTP facility with any savings over purchased electricity. In fact, the high maintenance and operating costs involved in using an electrical generator have compelled many wastewater treatment plants to abandon the use of electric generators, and return to flaring the gas. The recent focus on self-sustainability, energy conservation, and the need to reduce greenhouse gases has prompted these plants to seek new alternatives for utilizing the energy in the flared gas. One alternative to the use of electric generators for utilizing a portion of biogas not used as fuel is using a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system to upgrade the biogas to pipeline quality which would provide a clean gas for on-site use, for sales to the pipeline, or for compressed natural gas. Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology has recently found application for upgrading the biogas from anaerobic digesters to produce a valuable high-BTU fuel that can be sold directly to the pipeline or converted to compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquid natural gas (LNG). Pressure swing adsorption is a well-known method for the separation of bulk gas mixtures and for the purification of gas streams containing undesirable impurities. Gas separations by pressure swing adsorption (PSA) are achieved by coordinated pressure cycling of a bed of adsorbent material which preferentially adsorbs at least one or more readily adsorbable components present in a feed gas mixture relative to at least one less readily adsorbable component present in the feed gas mixture. That is, the bed of adsorbent material is contacted with a ready supply of a feed gas mixture. During intervals while the bed of adsorbent material is subjected to the ready supply of feed gas mixture and the bed is at or above a given feed pressure, a supply of gas depleted in the at least one more readily adsorbable component may be withdrawn from the bed. Eventually, the adsorbent material in the bed becomes saturated with the at least one more readily adsorbable component and must be regenerated. At which point, the bed is isolated from the ready supply of feed gas mixture and a gas enriched in the at least one more readily adsorbable component is withdrawn from the bed, regenerating the adsorbent material. In some instances, the bed may be subjected to a purge with depleted gas to facilitate the regeneration process. Once the adsorbent material is sufficiently regenerated, the bed is again subjected to the ready supply of feed gas mixture and depleted gas can once again be withdrawn from the bed once the pressure on the bed is at or above the given feed pressure. This cycle may be performed repeatedly as required. The adsorbent material selected for use in the pressure swing adsorption units depends on the component to be separated from the feed stream. Adsorbent materials suitable for use in the pressure swing adsorption apparatus include, but are by no means limited to, activated carbon; carbon molecular sieve (CMS) adsorbents; activated alumina; silica gels; zeolites; and the titanium silicates. One skilled in the art is able to select a given adsorbent material or mixtures thereof, for use with a given feed gas mixture and desired product materials. Numerous patents describe PSA processes for separating carbon dioxide from methane or other gases. One of the earlier patents in this area is U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,878, which describes a PSA system using a zeolite molecular sieve that selectively adsorbs CO2 from a low quality natural gas stream operating at a pressure of 1000 psia, and a temperature of 300° F. The system uses carbon dioxide as a purge to remove some adsorbed methane from the zeolite and to purge methane from the void space in the column. U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,779, describes the use of a carbon molecular sieve that adsorbs CO2 selectively over hydrogen or methane. After the adsorption step, a high pressure purge with CO2 is followed by pressure reduction and desorption of CO2 followed by a rinse at an intermediate pressure with an extraneous gas such as air. The column is then subjected to vacuum to remove the extraneous gas and any remaining CO2. The use of PSA technology for upgrading digester biogas is relatively new and only a few PSA systems have been installed on digesters. PSA, and other purification methods such as membranes, separate the compounds in the biogas into two streams, one rich in methane (referred to as the product) and the other rich in contaminants (referred to as the tail gas). Irrespective of how efficient the separation process is, the PSA tail gas still contains some methane, on the order of 11 to 20%. The low methane level of the tail gas and the presence of contaminants, such as siloxanes, render the tail gas unusable as an engine fuel to drive pumps, blowers, or generators. To date, the tail gas has been disposed in a thermal oxidizer or flare. These disposal systems for the tail gas can be expensive especially on gases below 200 BTU/cf and can require supplemental high-purity gas. This minimum requirement on the BTUs of the gases required by the disposal systems compromises the economic viability of a gas upgrade project. Most likely due to the recent emergence of gas separation systems for upgrading digester gas, to date, there is no evidence to indicate that any strategies have been advanced to address this problem. The low-BTU tail gas stream produced by the PSA system is too low in heating value to be directly useful as a fuel and requires disposal in a flare or thermal oxidizer. The low-BTU tail gas stream consists largely of carbon dioxide, moisture, hydrogen sulfide, other contaminants, and low levels of methane. The composition of the tail gas stream does not contain a sufficient methane concentration to provide adequate energy upon combustion. While this tail gas is too low in heating value to be useful as a fuel, the amount of tail gas is significantly large in volume and therefore represents a considerable loss of valuable methane. Moreover, flares are capital intensive and can be difficult to operate on very low quality fuels. Furthermore, using a PSA system still requires gas being flared, which means that PSA upgrading represents only a partial solution to the recovery of digester gas. What is needed is an environmentally and economically sound strategy for eliminating flaring and disposal of the tail gas produced by the biogas upgrading process.

It may be desirable for a vehicle to decelerate at a predetermined rate during select vehicle operating conditions. For example, if a driver fully releases an accelerator pedal, it may be desirable for the vehicle to decelerate at a predetermined rate until the vehicle reaches a creep speed. The vehicle braking may be provided via an engine providing a negative torque to the vehicle driveline. The negative driveline torque is applied to the vehicle's wheels to decelerate the vehicle. One way to apply a negative torque to the driveline via the engine is to enter a deceleration fuel shut off mode (DFSO) or deceleration fuel cut off mode. In DFSO mode, fuel supplied to one or more engine cylinders ceases or is shut off so that combustion ceases in cylinders with fuel shut off, thereby deactivating the cylinders. Deactivated cylinders may induct air from the engine's intake manifold and expel the air to the engine's exhaust system without the air participating in combustion. Pumping air through the engine provides a negative torque to the driveline via the engine and it converts the vehicle's kinetic energy into heat and torque to keep the engine spinning. However, the vehicle's kinetic energy is not recoverable or reusable when it is transformed into heat and torque to rotate the engine. The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned issues and have developed a powertrain operating method, comprising: providing a negative input torque to a transmission via a motor in response to the motor being available to supply the negative input torque and driver demand torque less than a threshold; and providing the negative input torque to the transmission via an engine operating in a deceleration fuel cut off mode in response to the motor being unavailable to supply the negative input torque and the driver demand torque less than the threshold. By providing negative driveline torque via a motor when the motor is available to provide the negative driveline torque, a vehicle's kinetic energy can be stored as electrical energy to conserve power. However, during conditions where the motor is not available to convert the vehicle's kinetic energy to electrical energy, the vehicle's engine may provide the requested driveline braking so that the vehicle may decelerate at a desired rate. Further, a torque converter clutch unlocking schedule based on whether or not the motor is available to provide a negative torque to the driveline schedules torque converter unlocking according to a first torque converter clutch unlocking schedule when the motor is available to provide a desired braking torque to the driveline. Torque converter unlocking is scheduled according to a second torque converter clutch unlocking schedule when the motor is not available to provide a desired braking torque to the driveline. The present description may provide several advantages. For example, the approach may improve utilization of a vehicle's kinetic energy. Further, the approach may reduce driveline torque disturbances. In addition, the approach may provide improved torque converter clutch control. The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to solid state lamps and bulbs and in particular to light emitting diode (LED) based lamps and bulbs capable of providing omnidirectional emission patterns similar to those of filament based light sources. 2. Description of the Related Art Light emitting diodes (LED or LEDs) are solid state devices that convert electric energy to light, and generally comprise one or more active layers of semiconductor material sandwiched between oppositely doped layers. When a bias is applied across the doped layers, holes and electrons are injected into the active layer where they recombine to generate light. Light is emitted from the active layer and from all surfaces of the LED. In order to use an LED chip in a circuit or other like arrangement, it is known to enclose an LED chip in a package to provide environmental and/or mechanical protection, color selection, light focusing and the like. An LED package may also include electrical leads, contacts or traces for electrically connecting the LED package to an external circuit. In one embodiment of an LED package, a single LED chip is mounted on a reflective cup by means of a solder bond or conductive epoxy. One or more wire bonds connect the ohmic contacts of the LED chip to leads, which may be attached to or integral with the reflective cup. The reflective cup may be filled with an encapsulant material which may contain a wavelength conversion material such as a phosphor. Light emitted by the LED at a first wavelength may be absorbed by the phosphor, which may responsively emit light at a second wavelength. The entire assembly may be encapsulated in a clear protective resin, which may be molded in the shape of a lens to collimate the light emitted from the LED chip. While the reflective cup may direct light in an upward direction, optical losses may occur when the light is reflected (i.e. some light may be absorbed by the reflector cup due to the less than 100% reflectivity of practical reflector surfaces). In addition, heat retention may be an issue for a package, since it may be difficult to extract heat through the leads. A conventional LED package may be more suited for high power operations which may generate more heat. In the LED package, one or more LED chips are mounted onto a carrier such as a printed circuit board (PCB) carrier, substrate or submount. A metal reflector may be mounted on the submount that surrounds the LED chip(s) and reflects light emitted by the LED chips away from the package. The reflector may also provide mechanical protection to the LED chips. One or more wirebond connections are made between ohmic contacts on the LED chips and electrical traces on the submount. The mounted LED chips are then covered with an encapsulant, which may provide environmental and mechanical protection to the chips while also acting as a lens. The metal reflector is typically attached to the carrier by means of a solder or epoxy bond. LED chips, such as those found in the LED package can be coated by conversion material comprising one or more phosphors, with the phosphors absorbing at least some of the LED light. The LED chip can emit a different wavelength of light such that it emits a combination of light from the LED and the phosphor. The LED chip(s) can be coated with a phosphor using many different methods, with one suitable method being described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/656,759 and 11/899,790, both to Chitnis et al. and both entitled “Wafer Level Phosphor Coating Method and Devices Fabricated Utilizing Method”. Alternatively, the LEDs can be coated using other methods such as electrophoretic deposition (EPD), with a suitable EPD method described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,563,339 issued Oct. 22, 2013 to Tarsa et al. entitled “Close Loop Electrophoretic Deposition of Semiconductor Devices”. In these embodiments the phosphor material is on or in close proximity to the LED epitaxial layers and in some instances comprises a conformal coat over the LED. In these arrangements, the phosphor material can be subjected to direct chip heating which can cause the phosphor material to heat. This elevated operating temperature can cause degradation of the phosphor material over time. It can also cause a reduction in phosphor conversion efficiency and a shift in conversion color. Lamps have been developed utilizing solid state light sources, such as LEDs, with a conversion material that is separated from or remote to the LEDs. Such arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,041 issued Feb. 26, 2002 to Tarsa et al., entitled “High Output Radial Dispersing Lamp Using a Solid State Light Source.” The lamps described in this patent can comprise a solid state light source that transmits light through a separator to a disperser having a phosphor. The disperser can disperse the light in a desired pattern and/or change its color by converting at least some of the light through a phosphor. In some embodiments, the separator spaces the light source a sufficient distance from the disperser such that heat from the light source will not transfer to the disperser when the light source is carrying elevated currents necessary for room illumination. LED based bulbs have been developed that utilize large numbers of low brightness LEDs (e.g. 5 mm LEDs) mounted to a three-dimensional surface to achieve wide-angle illumination. Some of these designs, however, do not provide optimized omnidirectional emission that fall within standard uniformity requirements. Some of these bulbs also contain a large number of interconnected LEDs making them prohibitively complex, expensive and unreliable. This makes these LED bulbs generally impractical for most illumination purposes. Other LED bulbs have also been developed that use a mesa-type design for the light source with one LED on the top surface and seven more on the sidewalls of the mesa (see GeoBulb®-II provided by C. Crane). This arrangement, however, does not provide omnidirectional emission patterns, but instead provides a pattern that is substantially forward biased. The mesa for this bulb also comprises a hollow shell, which can limit its ability to thermally dissipate heat from the emitters. This can limit the drive current that can be applied to the LEDs. This design is also relatively complex, using several LEDs, and is not compatible with large volume manufacturing of low-cost LED bulbs.

Work vehicles are often equipped with operator input devices, which are utilized to control various operational aspects of the work vehicle. For example, movement of a work vehicle implement may be controlled utilizing a joystick device located within the operator cabin of the work vehicle on which the implement is installed. In one common control architecture, rotation of the joystick may modulate one or more control valves. The control valves may, in turn, regulate the flow of pressurized hydraulic fluid to hydraulic cylinders, which then extend or retract to effectuate the desired implement movements. The operator input device (e.g., joystick device) may be included in a larger control system, which further includes one or more components (e.g., the control valves) actuated or modulated by movement of the operator input device. In certain instances, the operator input device may be mechanically linked to the actuated component or components by one or more linkages (e.g., push-pull cables) in a manner physically conveying movement of the input device to the actuated components. In such embodiments, the operator input device may be referred to as a “mechanical” input device, while the larger system containing the input device may be referred to as a “mechanical control system.”

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe for an electrooptic sampling oscilloscope that couples an electrical field generated by a measurement signal and an electrooptic crystal, inputs a beam into this electrooptic crystal, and measures the waveform of the measurement signal by the state of the polarization of the input light. This application is based on Japanese Patent Application, No. Hei 10-288547 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 2. Description of the Related Art It is possible to couple an electrical field generated by a measurement signal with an electrooptic crystal, input a laser beam into this electrooptic crystal, and observe the waveform of the measurement signal by the state of the polarization of the laser beam. It is possible to pulse the laser beam, and observe with an extremely high time resolution when sampling the measurement signal. The electrooptic sampling oscilloscope uses an electrooptic probe exploiting this phenomenon. When this electrooptic sampling oscilloscope (hereinbelow, referred to as an xe2x80x9cEOS oscilloscopexe2x80x9d) is compared to a conventional sampling oscilloscope using an electrical probe, the following characteristics have received much attention: 1. It is easy to observe the signal because a ground wire is unnecessary. 2. Because the metal pin at the end of the electrooptic probe is not connected to the circuit system, it is possible to realize high input impedance, and as a result of this, there is almost no degradation of the state of the measurement point. 3. By using an optical pulse, broadband measurement up to the GHz order is possible. The structure of a probe for an EOS oscilloscope in the conventional technology will be explained using FIG. 7. In the electrooptic probe 1 shown in FIG. 7, a probe head 3 comprising an insulator is mounted on a tip end of a metallic probe body 2, and a metallic pin 3a is fitted into the center. An electrooptic element 4 is secured to the probe head 3. A reflecting film 4a is provided on an end surface of the electrooptic element 4 on the metallic pin 3a side, and is in contact with the metallic pin 3a. Reference numeral 5 denotes a xc2xd wavelength plate, and reference numeral 6 denotes a xc2xc wavelength plate. Reference numeral 7 and 8 denote polarized beam splitters. Reference numeral 9 denotes a xc2xd wavelength plate, and reference numeral 10 denotes a Faraday element. Reference numeral 12 denotes a collimator lens, and reference numeral 13 denotes a laser diode. Reference numerals 14 and 15 denote condensing lenses, and reference numerals 16 and 17 denote photodiodes. In addition, the two polarized beam splitters 7 and 8, the xc2xd wavelength plate 9, and the Faraday element 10 constitute an isolator 19 that transmits the light emitted by the laser diode 13, in order to separate the light reflected by the reflecting film 4a. Next, referring to FIG. 7, the optical path of the laser beam emitted from the laser diode 13 is explained. In FIG. 7, reference letter xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 denotes the optical path of the laser beam. First, the laser beam emitted from the laser diode 13 is converted by the collimator lens 12 into a parallel beam that travels straight through the polarized beam splitter 8, the Faraday element 10, the xc2xd wavelength plate 9, and the polarized light beam splitter 7, and then transits the xc2xc wavelength plate 6 and the xc2xd wavelength plate 5, and is incident on the electrooptic element 4. The incident light is reflected by the reflecting film 4a formed on the end surface of the electrooptic element 4 on the side facing the metallic pin 3a. The reflected laser beam then transits the xc2xd wavelength plate 5 and the xc2xc wavelength plate 6, one part of the laser beam is reflected by the polarized light beam splitter 7, condensed by the condensing lens 14, and impinges on the photodiode 16. The laser beam that has transited the polarized light beam splitter 7 is reflected by the polarized beam splitter 8, condensed by the condensing lens 15, and impinges on the photodiode 17. Moreover, the angle of rotation of the xc2xd wavelength plate 5 and the xc2xc wavelength plate 6 is adjusted so that the strength of the laser beam incident on the photodiode 16 and the photodiode 17 is uniform. Next, using the electrooptic probe 1 shown in FIG. 7, the procedure for measuring the measurement signal is explained. When the metallic pin 3a is placed in contact with a measurement point, at the electrooptic element 4 the electrical field due to the voltage applied to the metallic pin 3a is propagated to the electrooptic element 4, and a phenomenon where the refractive index is altered due to the Pockels effect occurs. Due to this, the laser beam emitted from the laser diode 13 impinges on the electrooptic element 4, and when the laser beam is propagated along the electrooptic element 4, the polarization state of the beam changes. Then, the laser beam having this changed polarization state is reflected by the reflecting film 4a, condensed and impinged on the photodiode 16 and the photodiode 17, and converted into an electrical signal. Along with the change in the voltage at the measurement point, the change in the state of polarization by the electrooptic element 4 becomes the output difference between the photodiode 16 and the photodiode 17, and by detecting this output difference, it is possible to measure the electrical signal applied to the metallic pin 3a. Moreover, in the above-described electrooptic probe 1, the electrical signals obtained from the photodiodes 16 and 17 are input into an electrooptic sampling oscilloscope, and processed. However, instead, it is possible to measure the signals by connecting a conventional measuring device such as a real time oscilloscope to the photodiodes 16 and 17 via a dedicated controller. In this way, it is possible to carry out simply broadband measurement by using the electrooptic probe 1. In the manner described above, in the signal measurement using the electrooptic probe 1, because the metallic pin 3a must contact the measurement point, the metallic pin 3a is worn by repeated measurement so that it is necessary to replace the probe head 3. In this case, since the electrooptic element 4 which is fixed to the probe head 3 is expensive, cost is increased. Furthermore, considering the fact that in general the type of most suitable metallic pin changes depending on the characteristics of the signal of the measurement object, then since with the abovementioned electrooptic probe 1 the metallic pin 3a is secured to the probe head 3, in selecting the most suitable metallic pin 3a to match the characteristics of the signal to be measured, it is difficult to obtain a suitable match. In consideration of the above described situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrooptic probe which can facilitate replacement of the metallic pin. In order to address the above problems, the present invention adopts the following means. A first aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe wherein: an optical path is formed within a probe body between a base end portion and a tip end portion of the probe body; a laser diode is disposed at an end of the optical path on the base end portion side of the probe body; an electrooptic element is disposed at an other end of the optical path on the tip end portion side of the probe body and retained in a probe head constituting the tip end portion of the probe body; a metallic pin is provided in the probe head with a base end thereof connected to the electrooptic element, and a tip end thereof protruding from the probe head, a laser beam emitted from the laser diode is incident on the electrooptic element via the optical path, and this incident beam is reflected by a reflecting film provided on the electrooptic element, and the reflected beam thereof is separated and converted into an electrical signal by a photodiode; and wherein the probe head comprises a head body for retaining the electrooptic element, and a tip member detachably provided on the head body for retaining the metallic pin. Because of this kind of construction, with this electrooptic probe, replacement of the metallic pin can be easily performed by replacing the tip member. A second aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the first aspect, wherein the photodiode and the laser diode are connected to an electrooptic sampling oscilloscope, and the laser diode generates the laser beam as a pulsed beam based on a control signal from the electrooptic sampling oscilloscope. A third aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the second aspect, wherein a male threaded portion is provided in one of the head body and the tip member protruding towards the other of the two, while in the other of the two, a female threaded portion is formed for engaging with the male threaded portion, and the male threaded portion and the female threaded portion are able to be engaged and disengaged. A fourth aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the second aspect, wherein a threaded aperture is provided in the tip member, and the tip member is secured to the head body by means of a screw disposed in the threaded aperture. A fifth aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the second aspect, wherein the electrooptic element and the base end of the metallic pin are connected to each other through the medium of a buffer plate for absorbing shock due to contact between the electrooptic element and the metallic pin. Because of being structured in this manner, then with the electrooptic probe, when the tip member is attached to or detached from the probe body, damage to the electrooptic element due to contact with the metallic pin can be prevented. A sixth aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the first aspect, wherein the laser diode generates a continuous beam as the laser beam. In this manner, with the electrooptic probe according to the sixth aspect, a continuous beam is generated from the laser diode and thereby it is possible to obtain a continuous output from the photodiode. Consequently, it is also possible to make measurements by connecting the photodiode via a special purpose controller to a conventional general use measuring device such as a real time oscilloscope. A seventh aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the sixth aspect, wherein a male threaded portion is provided in one of the head body and the tip member protruding towards the other of the two, while in the other of the two, a female threaded portion is formed for engaging with the make threaded portion, and the male threaded portion and the female threaded portion are able to be engaged and disengaged. An eighth aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the sixth aspect, wherein a threaded aperture is provided in the tip member, and the tip member is secured to the head body by means of a screw disposed in the threaded aperture. A ninth aspect of the present invention is an electrooptic probe according to the sixth aspect, wherein the electrooptic element and the base end of the metallic pin are connected to each other through the medium of a buffer plate for absorbing shock due to contact between the electrooptic element and the metallic pin. Because of being structured in this manner, then with the electrooptic probe, when the tip member is attached to or detached from the probe body, damage to the electrooptic element due to contact with the metallic pin can be prevented.

Many medical procedures are undertaken through small tracts formed within a patient's tissue. Such procedures generally are referred to as “minimally invasive.” In order to form the tract running from outside of the patient to a target within the patient, a probe typically is inserted in the initial stages of a procedure. This probe extends from the surface of the patient's skin to the target inside the patient's body. Later in the procedure, the passageway formed by the probe can be widened to accommodate other and larger diameter medical devices necessary for the procedure. Typically, inserting the probe is a time-consuming procedure. The probe must be positioned properly, typically under the guidance of an energy emitting medical device, such as an x-ray emitting device, and a fluoroscope. X-ray energy passes through the patient's body and differentially impinges on a fluoroscope receiver. In response, the fluoroscope receiver generates electronic signals that are transmitted to a fluoroscope display screen. Signals received by the fluoroscope display screen excite fluorescent material, such as calcium tungstate, to create a screen display of the body and probe. The probe is visualized on the fluoroscope screen as it enters the patient. The probe appears on the screen because it does not allow the energy to pass through it (i.e., it is opaque to the X-ray energy).

The present invention relates to a welding robot control apparatus, or more in particular to a control apparatus suitable for a welding robot of such a type as to perform the welding work by moving both a welding torch and a workpiece. In arc welding, a welding bead is formed while moving a welding torch in relative fashion along a welding line on a workpiece. In stopping the robot instantaneously, therefore, the welding operation is required to be halted from the standpoint of maintaining the welding quality. Such a stoppage of the welding operation will hereinafter be referred to as a provisional stoppage. In the case where welding is stopped in the middle of a welding operation, however, a dent is likely to occur in the bead and the workpiece, and due to a cutting off of the supply of a shield gas, an oxide layer (solidified slug) of a high electrical resistance is deposited on the dent. If the welding operation is restarted under this condition, arc vanishing is likely to occur, and even if the arc is generated, a problem of reduced welding strength results due to the remnant of the dent. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining this problem. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a workpiece, and numeral 2 a torch. The hatched part represents a bead (soldified weld metal) formed as a result of the welding. If an arc is turned on at point A to proceed with the welding operation to a point C, provisional stoppage of welding at a mid-point B would cause a dent in the bead and the workpiece as shown. Upon the arc being turned off, a shield gas which has been supplied so far is also cut off, which causes an oxide layer (solidified slug) of a high electrical resistance to be deposited on the surface of the molten weld metal which is deposited on the dent. As a result, in restarting the welding operation from point B by turning on the arc, there is a case where the arc would not be generated. Even if the arc is generated, sufficient welding strength may not be obtained since the dent cannot be completely removed. A conventional technique for resolving the problem described above is disclosed in JP-A-63-278675.

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, chemical toxicity and oxidative stress are threats to agriculture and it is the primary cause of crop loss worldwide (Wang et al. (2003) Planta 218(1) 1-14). In the art, several reports are available dealing with the biochemical, molecular and genetic background of abiotic stress (Wang et al. (2003) Planta 218(1) 1-14 or Kilian et al (2007) Plant J 50(2) 347-363). Plant modification to deal with abiotic stress is often based on manipulation of genes that protect and maintain the function and structure of cellular components. However, due to the genetically complex responses to abiotic stress conditions, such plants appear to be more difficult to control and engineer. Wang (Wang et al. (2003) Planta 218(1) 1-14), inter alia, mentions that one of the strategies of engineering relies on the use of one or several genes that are either involved in signalling and regulatory pathways, or that encode enzymes present in pathways leading to the synthesis of functional and structural protectants, such as osmolytes and antioxidants, or that encode stress-tolerance-conferring proteins. Although improvements in providing abiotic stress tolerant plants have been reported, the nature of the genetically complex mechanisms underlying it provides a constant need for further improvement in this field. For example, it has been reported that genetically transformed drought tolerant plants generally may exhibit slower growth and reduced biomass (Serrano et al (1999) J Exp Bot 50:1023-1036) due to an imbalance in development and physiology, thus having significant fitness cost in comparison with plants that are not transformed (Kasuga et al. (1999) Nature Biot. Vol. 17; Danby and Gehring (2005) Trends in Biot. Vol. 23 No. 11). Several biotechnological approaches are proposed in order to obtain plants growing under stress conditions. Plants with increased resistance to salt stress are for example disclosed in WO03/020015. This document discloses transgenic plants that are resistant to salt stress by utilizing 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase nucleic acids and polypeptides. Plants with increased drought tolerance are disclosed in, for example, US 2009/0144850, US 2007/0266453, and WO 2002/083911. US2009/0144850 describes a plant displaying a drought tolerance phenotype due to altered expression of a DR02 nucleic acid. US 2007/0266453 describes a plant displaying a drought tolerance phenotype due to altered expression of a DR03 nucleic acid and WO 2002/083911 describes a plant having an increased tolerance to drought stress due to a reduced activity of an ABC transporter which is expressed in guard cells. Another example is the work by Kasuga and co-authors (1999), who describe that overexpression of cDNA encoding DREB1A in transgenic plants activated the expression of many stress tolerance genes under normal growing conditions and resulted in improved tolerance to drought, salt loading, and freezing. However, the expression of DREB1A also resulted in severe growth retardation under normal growing conditions (Kasuga (1999) Nat Biotechnol 17(3) 287-291). There remains a need for new, alternative and/or additional methodology for increasing resistance to abiotic stress, in particular abiotic stress like drought. It is an object of the current invention to provide for new methods to increase drought resistance in a plant. With such plant it is, for example, possible to produce more biomass and/or more crop and plant product derived thereof if grown under conditions of low water availability/drought in comparison with plants not subjected to the method according to the invention.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a constant velocity joint, particularly to a constant velocity joint disposed on the outboard side of a drive axle for transmitting drive power to a wheel. 2. Description of the Prior Art As is known in the art, in automobiles and other various vehicles similar thereto, constant velocity joints capable of transmitting rotational power at constant velocity even when there is an angular or axial displacement between two shafts have been installed in a power transmission path for transmission of drive power from the engine to a wheel. As an example of a vehicle having such power transmission path, a so-called ATV (All Terrain Vehicle, also called a four-wheeled buggy car) which is an uneven terrain traversing, four-wheeled or three-wheeled mounted type vehicle, equipped with balloon tires and designed to freely traverse wastelands, sandy beaches and the like has come to be widely known. The power transmission device for these various vehicles will be explained with said ATV used as a representative example. As conceptually shown in FIG. 6, the power from an engine 21 is outputted from the output shafts on the front and rear sides via a speed change mechanism in the interior and is inputted to differential gears 24 and 25 on the front and rear sides via power transmission means 22 and 23, such as chains or propeller shafts. And, the engine power inputted to the differential gears 24 and 25 is reduced in speed by the mechanism of the differential gears 24 and 25 and is converted to a rotational power orthogonal thereto, whereupon it is transmitted to the wheels 28 and 29 through left and right drive axles 26 and 27. In the example shown in the same figure, constant velocity joints are used for joints A between the drive shaft 26 on the front side and the differential gear 24 and for joints B in the wheels 28. In addition, there are cases where constant velocity joints are used for joints C between the drive axle 27 on the rear side and the differential gear 25 and for joints D in the wheels 29. FIG. 7 shows the drive axle 26 on the front side. In order to allow the drive axle 26 to make angular displacement and axial displacement following the movement of the wheel 28 during cornering, traversing uneven terrains or the like movement, a slide type constant velocity joint (a constant velocity joint allowing angular displacement and axial displacement between two shafts) 30 and a fixed type constant velocity joint (a constant velocity joint allowing angular displacement between two shafts) 31 are used in pair for joining the drive axle 26. In the example shown in the same figure, one end (on the inboard side) of the drive axle 26 is joined to the differential gear 24 (at the joint A) through the slide type constant velocity joint (a double offset type constant velocity joint, hereinafter referred to as “DOJ”) 30, while the other end (the outboard side) of the drive axle 26 is joined to the wheel 28 (at the joint B) through a fixed type constant velocity joint (Rzeppa type constant velocity joint: ball fixed joint, hereinafter referred to as “BJ”) 31. Heretofore, as said DOJ and BJ for vehicles such as ATVs, those for passenger cars have been frequently converted to be used as such. In vehicles small in size and narrow in width, such as ATVs, however, it is suitable to use a drive axle which is light-weight and compact and which has satisfactory operability. To meet such demand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2001-97063, for example, discloses the use of a double offset type constant velocity joint (DOJ) on the inboard side and an undercut free type constant velocity joint (hereinafter referred to as “UJ”) on the outboard side, in a drive axle for transmitting drive power to wheel through constant velocity joints on the inboard and outboard sides. The UJ disposed on the outboard side of this drive axle, basically, as shown in FIG. 8, comprises an outer joint member 12 with a spherical inner peripheral surface 12a formed with a plurality of track grooves 13, an inner joint member 14 with a spherical outer peripheral surface 14a formed with a plurality of track grooves 15, a plurality of torque transmitting balls 16 disposed in ball tracks formed by the opposed track grooves 13 and 15 of both joint members 12 and 14, and a cage 18 interposed between both joint members 12 and 14 and formed with pockets 17 holding the plurality of torque transmitting balls 16. In consideration of the inner joint member 14 being incorporated in the cage 18, the cage 18 is internally formed at one end thereof with an opening 8x having a relatively large diameter for removably inserting the inner joint member 14 and at the other end thereof with an opening 18y having a relatively small diameter with such a value that the inner joint member 4 cannot be removably inserted in the cage 18. In this case, the directivity of incorporation of the cage 18 is such that because of the demand for suppressing wear on and damage to the contact surfaces and for suppressing generation of heat and the like by increasing the area of contact between the inner joint member 14 on the outboard side (left side in the same figure) and the cage 18, which contact occurs during torque loading, so as to reduce the contact surface pressure, as shown in the same figure, it has been set that the opening 18x having a large diameter is disposed at the end of the inboard side (right side in the same figure). Specifically, with consideration given to the incorporatability of the outer joint member 12, cage 18 and inner joint member 14, and to decreases in durability and the like due to generation of heat, it is advantageous to position the large diameter opening 18x at the end of the cage 18 on the inboard side. Therefore, it has been common practice that the area of contact of the cage 18 with the inner and outer joint members 14 and 12 (particularly the area of contact of the cage 18 with the inner joint member 14) is large on the outboard side. With such matter taken into consideration, the direction of incorporation of the cage 18 has been set as described above. On the other hand, the inner periphery of said inner joint member 14 is formed with serrations 14c (or splines) used for joining to an intermediate shaft 9 serving as the shaft member (see FIG. 7). Therefore, in this type of constant velocity joint (UJ), the dimensions or dimensional ratios of various constituent elements from the outer peripheral surface of the outer joint member 12 to the intermediate shaft 9 (serrations 14c) are very important, and these design values determine whether the strength and performance of the UJ are good or bad. However, such vehicle as an ATV does not make a long-distance travel as in the case of passenger cars, and about half of the durability (life) of constant velocity joints for passenger cars is sufficient for constant velocity joints (UJs) as considered from balance between market performance and the term of guarantee. Despite this, considered on the basis of passenger car specifications as they are, there is a feeling of excessive quality. Further, as to the frequency of use, about half for passenger car specifications is sufficient as considered from balance with vehicle speed, and the same may be said. Therefore, even if the area of contact of the cage 18 particularly with the inner joint member 14 is not made as large as that for passenger cars, on the outboard side, sufficient durability is obtained. Therefore, there is also a feeling of excessive quality in establishing said state of contact of the cage 18. In contrast therewith, the inboard side of the cage 18 is constantly subjected to a force from the torque transmitting balls 16. In other words, the force with which the torque transmitting balls 16 tend to jump out to the inboard side is supported by the inboard-side end periphery of the cage 18; therefore, it follows that a large pressing force from the torque transmitting balls 16 acts on the inboard-side end periphery of the cage 18. Despite this, if the large diameter opening 18x in the cage 18 is positioned at the inboard-side end as described above, this will lead to a shortage of strength due to less material in the inboard-side end periphery of the cage 18, forming a cause of damage or breakage to the cage 18. Furthermore, of the constituent elements of UJ, that which influences most strongly is the cage 18. That is, despite the fact that the cage 18 cannot secure a larger (excessive) axial width, it is necessary to form six or eight pockets 17 for receiving and holding torque transmitting balls 16 having a sufficient diameter. Furthermore, during torque loading, a large pressing force from the torque transmitting balls 16 acts on the material in the periphery of each of the pockets 17 of the cage 18. Therefore, even in the case of short-term use of the UJ, cracks or damage occurs in the material between the pockets 17 of the cage 18 and on the material on axial opposite sides of each pocket 17, resulting in a decrease in the strength of the UJ. It is only natural that increasing the material thickness of the cage 18 is effective in avoiding breakage to such cage 18. However, simply increasing the material thickness of the cage 18 makes it inevitable, for example, to shallow the track grooves 13 of the outer joint member 12 or the track grooves 15 of the inner joint member 14, thus increasing the percentage of risk of the torque transmitting balls 16 running up onto the shoulder. Specifically, in the conventional UJ shown in FIG. 9, the material thickness T1a of the cage 18 is thin, so that the track groove 13 of the outer joint member 12 and the track groove 15 of the inner joint member 14 are made sufficiently deep to make it possible to increase the contact angles αa and βa of the torque transmitting balls 16 with respect to these track grooves 13 and 15. However, in the case where the material thickness of the cage 18 is increased from such state, if the contact angles αa and βa are the same, the percentage of risk of the torque transmitting balls 16 running up onto the shoulder increases by the amount by which the track grooves 13 and 15 are shallowed. And, since the outer and inner joint members 12 and 14 and the torque transmitting balls 16 have a very low probability of being damaged or broken, as compared with the cage 18, there is a feeling of excessive quality concerning the ratio of dimensions of their material thickness, diameter, etc. For this reason, it can hardly be said that the size and weight reductions of the UJ have been fully attained in relation to the intermediate shaft 9 serving as the shaft member. With the above taken into consideration, the strength of the cage 18 is improved and then excessive quality of the outer and inner joint members 12 and 14 and torque transmitting balls 16 is avoided to attain relative size and weight reductions of the UJ in connection with the shaft member. To attain this, the problem is to how to set the ratio of the dimensions of constituent elements so as to obtain the best result.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a structure of a contact point of a terminal piece which is used principally for a switch, such as an ignition switch for a vehicle, and to a production method for the structure thereof. 2. Description of the Prior Art There has been known a structure of a contact point of a terminal piece and a production method for the terminal piece, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 (see Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. Sho 62-98125). In FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the terminal pieces 1 has a platelike leg portion 4 which is inserted into and connected to each of connector slits 3 of a corresponding connector 2. The terminal piece 1 further has a base plate portion 5 extending from the leg portion 4. The base plate portion 5 has substantially the same thickness as that of the leg portion 4 and is formed integrally with the leg portion 4 by bending a single copper plate substantially perpendicularly. The base plate portion 5 is brought into contact with or separated from a contact point plate 10 on a movable side which functions as another terminal contact point, so that an electric signal is passed or shut off electrically. By pressing, the base plate portion 5 is provided with a contact point 6 shaped substantially into a hat in section which expands in a direction in which the leg portion 4 extends, in other words, expands toward the movable-side contact point plate 10. The contact point 6 has a top portion 7, which can come into contact with the movable-side contact point plate 10, and a circumferential wall portion 8 formed around the top portion 7. The thus formed terminal pieces 1 are buried and fixed in an insulating bass 9 by, for example, insert forming. The movable-side contact point plate 10 is attached to a rotor 12 disposed rotatably in a cylindrical case 11. The rotor 12 is rotated along with an ignition key (not shown), and thereby movable contact points 13, 13 attached to the movable-side contact point plate 10 are brought into contact with or separated from the top portions 7, 7 of the contact points 6, 6, respectively. Accordingly, various modes of positionings, such as turn-on, turn-off, starting, or electrical continuity in accessories, are performed. However, in this conventional structure of the contact point of the terminal piece and the production method for it, the top portion 7 of the contact point 6 is spread out when being formed by pressing. Therefore, there is a fear that the top portion 7 will be formed thinner than the base plate portion 5 therearound and accordingly abrasion caused by a repetition of the contact and separation of the top portion 7 with and from the movable contact point 13 will lower the durability of the top portion 7. In order to solve this problem, it might be a possible solution to heighten the durability of the top portion 7 by increasing the thickness of the base plate 5 and the leg portion 4 approximately 2 to 2.5 times. However, this method brings about a rise in material cost for increasing the thickness of a copper plate used as metallic materials and a rise in processing costs for bending the leg portion 4 and the base plate 5 or forming the leg portion 4 so as to be inserted into the connector slit 3 of the connector 2.

The present invention concerns an apparatus and equipment for grinding of paper; cardboard or similar continuous webs made of fibrous raw material. The invention also concerns a grinding method. The present invention relates to treatment of paper and cardboard and similar fibre-based webs, in particular by grinding one or both sides thereof. In our earlier patent applications, PCT/FI98/00341 and FI 980044 we have dealt with the advantages obtainable by grinding of paper surfaces and by means of which it is possible partially or totally to substitute the calendering used for smoothening of the surface without impairing the strength properties of paper and cardboard and without deteriorating opacity. We have also shown that it is easier to attach various coating layers to a ground surface and that similarly a coating polymer film is more easily attached to a ground surface than to a conventional surface. This is, e.g., because fibrils are released from the surface fibres of the web, whereby there is formed a very fine fluff on the surface which increases the surface available for attachment of the coating pigments. Typically, the surface coarseness of paper and cardboard is about 6 microns and by grinding it can be reduced to even one micron. Since the internal structure of the paper is not compressed, the stiffness and strength properties are preserved and, in some cases, even improved by 10%. Coarsed or risen fibres are nearly completely removed. This is important for the manufacture of, e.g. liquid container cardboard and corresponding coated packaging material. In principle, grinding can be carried out in many different ways. Thus, it is possible to use a grinding belt or a grinding roll, which is coated with an abrasive or grinding agent, or a grinding stone. These solutions represent purely mechanical grinding processes. It is also possible to grind by using different pigments which simultaneously or later on are used for coating for example by wedging pigments at great speed against the paper web. If, however, the aim is to achieve grinding by simultaneously subjecting the paper surface to calibration, a belt or roller grinder or a grinding stone are the only alternatives worth considering. The essentially most advantageous of these are the grinding rolls or sets of grinding rolls. A problem associated with the known wood grinders is that they become clogged or blocked by the wood resins together with hemicelluloses and possibly lignin and in combination with the fine dust formed during grinding. If grinding is too effective, the surface temperature of the web becomes too high which gives rise to the above mentioned clogging. It is important to regulate the grinding pressure also so that it becomes possible to remove only a part of the surface layer of the web without otherwise damaging the web. The present invention aims at eliminating the problems of the prior art and to provide a completely novel kind of technical solution for grinding of paper and cardboard webs and similar continuous, fibrous webs. The present invention is based on the idea that the grinding material is selected in such a way that the grinding particles, i.e. the particles on the surface of the grinding roll or belt, become charged and they provide triboelectrically the removed paper dust or fibres with a charge that is the same or which is close to the charge adopted by the fibres. Paper is always slightly negatively charged during brusing, rubbing and grinding. By contrast, it may be mentioned as an example that asbestos fibres always become strongly positively charged. A second and very important finding of the invention is that the grinding pressure can be more easily arranged by subjecting the web to tension by using stretch rolls or by arranging a different stretching angle between each grinding roll and the paper and by further regulating the inherent tension in the paper. A cascade of rolls or a belt grinder are more advantageous, because it is rather difficult exactly to calibrate the dimension and shape of one grinding means, and the errors of the preceding grinding means can be levelled by the following grinding means. Aluminium oxide, beryl and many other aluminium oxide compounds also become negatively charged. In connection with our tests we have surprisingly found that, when this is the situation, grinding dust and fibres and fibrils released from the surface fly away from the ground surface and the ground surface does not become clogged when wood-free webs are being treated. This is also true for surface sized papers when the surface size used comprises known alkyl ketene-dimers, anhydrides of alkyl succinic acid and/or starch or cationized starch and combinations thereof. All of these will become electrically charge and fly away from the surface, whereby it is simple to remove them by suction produced by, a vacuum extractor close to the grinding roll. Due to electrical charging, the dust is so strongly released and removed that there are no dustings problems in the environment. For wood-free papers complete triboelectric cleaning can be obtained with aluminium oxide (Al2O3) or a corresponding grinding surface. Identical results have also been reached with papers made partially from wood-containing fibres or from chemical pulp which still contained residual lignin. The grinding rolls were not contaminated and the interstices between the grinding particles were not blocked during testing which involved running over 40 km of different papers through a grinder. It should, however, be emphasised that for wood-containing papers or for papers containing resins and polymers the other methods described in the present invention may become necessary. The matter was studied also by using coloured papers, whereby it was found that the papers having coloured fibres did not at all change the colours of the grinding rolls. Since the hardness of alumina on the Mohs scale is 9 and, e.g. that of beryl (Al2Be3SiO18) is 8, beryl powder is a very suitable additive for alumina because then the wear of the grinding pigments becomes uneven and the grinding surface becomes self-sharpening when the wear of the grinding surface progresses. Any additive or binding agent softer than alumina is suitable provided that it does not make the grinding layer electrically conducting. The following examples of additives of said kind can be mentioned: titanium dioxide and iron oxide. It is also possible to use mixtures of said compounds but only to the extent that the electrical resistivity of the grinding layer is not essentially lowered. The grinding surface of all grinders is continuously slightly worn, and consequently the worn surface takes up less and less material from the material which is subjected to grinding. This makes it possible, and this is also an essential feature of the present invention, to make each worn grinding roll the last roll of the grinding roller cascade when there are 2 to 8 successive rolls in use. The first two rolls will do most of the grinding of, e.g., the paper surface and the next ones will grind less and less. The rollers following the two first rollers will subject the paper surface to removal of fibres and fibrils, and after said rollers the surface of the ground paper contains less released fibres than a completely untreated raw paper. A paper surface ground with a number of rolls exceeding two is free from risen fibres and fibrils to a larger extent than even a conventional sized surface. This feature is readily comprehended by the paper makers. According to the present invention an apparatus is therefore used which comprises a plurality for grinding means which are in a deviated position from the straight direction of motion of the web and which can be contacted with the web. The grinding means are fitted in such a way that they can be moved transversally towards the web and away from the web in order to regulate the web tension and, thus, the effectiveness of the grinding. Alternatively, the grinding means can be in fixed position, and the web tension is adjusted by mobile rolls or other support means, such as press rolls. Advantageously, there is on an average a maximum of 1.5 microns of material removed with each grinding means. The surface which has been subjected to grinding can be polished and easily provided with desired patterns, such as micropatterns which can be provided with an identification medium, such as a fluorescent powder. The apparatus according to the present invention also incorporates, in addition to the above-described grinding unit, a post-treatment unit for modification of the surface of the ground surface. The invention will provide considerable advantages. By means of the invention it becomes possible exactly to separate the desired amount of substance from the surface of a paper or cardboard web. By regulating the grinding pressure the temperature increase and the clogging of the grinding means can be reduced. By controlling the temperature increase it becomes possible to avoid clogging of the grinding surface. In connection with the present invention there are also provided solutions for cleaning of the grinding means, which will provide for rapid and efficientxe2x80x94and even continuousxe2x80x94removal of substance which has been adhered to the grinding surface. The surface of the web becomes extremely even, because the grinding means will remove material from the highest (thickest) portions of the web. The levelling effect is of a different kind than in calendering in which the thickest parts of the web are compressed together and the density of the web increases more at these portions than at the thinner portions. The microcoarseness of the surface fibres of the web improves the result of coating carried out subsequent to grinding and bonds the coating particles to the web by forming a larger bonding surface while still removing the loose fibres from the surface. By combining a post-treatment with the grinding it is also possible to achieve considerable advantages. Thus, the post-treatment of a ground surface is much more easily effected than the post-treatment of the surface which has not been subjected to grinding. The post-treatment can be carried out by methods known per se, such as soft calendering and belt calendering. The post-treatment of the surface can also be effected by other means, such as by pressing into the surface 2 to 10 micron notches or imprints, which can later on be filled with a coating or with another indicator chemical or identification colour. Thus, a pattern is formed on the surface which cannot be seen with the bare eye but which can be identified with fluorescence or another analysis. A normal calendered, smooth surface cannot be subjected to a surface forming method of this kind because the surface will swell when it takes up water and then the even embossing pattern will disappear. Further processing of the surface can be performed by grinding in such a way that a shaping roll rotates with exactly the same speed as the web and grinds the surface by vibrating in the directions of the x, y or z axes. Next the invention will be more closely studied with the aid of a detailed description and with reference to the attached drawings.

Present memory systems often include static random-access memory (SRAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and non-volatile storage, such as a hard disk or solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory). Typically SRAM is a memory that is at a lower level in the memory hierarchy and receives memory access requests from the processing element(s). If the requested data is not present in SRAM, the DRAM memory is queried for presence of the requested data. If the data is not present in DRAM, the data is retrieved from non-volatile storage, which contains all of the program instructions and data required for the execution of the program. Since SRAM is fast relative to DRAM, SRAM is often used to implement caches. Since DRAM is less expensive than SRAM and requires fewer transistors, DRAM is often used to implement the main memory in a memory system hierarchy.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,602, the present inventors disclosed a process for producing glass-ceramic articles having highly-durable integral surfaces exhibiting distinctly metallic lusters. When developed upon previouslypolished surfaces, mirror-like finishes with good color and spatial reproduction of reflected images can be produced. Such articles were made by melting batches for glasses consisting essentially, by weight on the oxide basis, of about 0.5-3.5% FeO, 3-6% Li.sub.2 O, 16-21% Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 65-75% SiO.sub.2, and 1.5-7% RO.sub.2, wherein RO.sub.2 consisted of 1.5-6% TiO.sub.2 and 0-3% ZrO.sub.2. The molten batches were cooled to at least within the transformation range (optionally to room temperature) and glass articles shaped therefrom. The glass articles were then exposed to temperatures between about 850.degree.-1025.degree. C. to cause the growth of beta-quartz solid solution crystals in the body interior and an integral surface layer of hematite (alpha-Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3). This surface film was extremely thin, i.e., less than several thousand angstroms thick. The body portion of the article was highly crystalline and contained beta-quartz solid solution as the sole or predominant crystal phase. This body portion displayed a degree of transparency depending upon the amount of iron in the base composition. The crystals of beta-quartz solid solution were very fine-grained, viz., less than about five microns in diameter. Where desired, the glass ceramic article could be heated to about 1050.degree. C. and higher, at which temperatures the article became opaque as a result of the conversion of the beta-quartz solid solution crystals to beta-spodumene solid solution crystals. And, where the heat treatment at 1050.degree. C. and higher was not extended for too long a period, the reflective surface remained intact. U.S. application Ser. No. 757,585, filed concurrently herewith by the present applicants, discloses the production of highly crystalline glass-ceramic articles having an integral surface layer containing metallic iron crystals, and wherein either beta-spodumene solid solution or nepheline constitutes the predominant crystal phase in the interior of the articles. The method of the invention comprehends four general steps: First, a batch of the proper composition is melted; Second, the melt is simultaneously cooled and a glass article of a desired configuration shaped therefrom; Third, the glass article is heated treated in an oxidizing atmosphere at about 1000.degree.-1300.degree. C. to cause the crystallization in situ of beta-spodumene solid solution or nepheline in the interior portion of the article while, at the same time, effecting crystallization in situ of alpha-hematite (Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3) crystals in an integral thin surface layer; and Fourth, the crystallized article is exposed to an essentially dry reducing atmosphere at a temperature about 500.degree.-800.degree. C. to reduce the hematite in the surface layer to metallic iron. U.S. application Ser. No. 757,584, filed concurrently herewith by the present applicants, discloses the manufacture of glass articles having very thin, integral surface layers containing hematite crystals (alpha-Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3) or magnetite crystals (Fe.sub.3 O.sub.4) or metallic iron crystals dispersed within a glassy matrix. The crystal content of the surface layer is very high, i.e., greater than about 50% by volume, such that the crystals provide an essentially continuous film. The method of that invention for producing a glass having an integral surface layer containing hematite crystals involves two general steps: First, a batch of the proper composition is melted and formed into a glass article of a desired configuration; and Second, the glass article is subjected in an oxidizing atmosphere to a temperature of at least 675.degree. C., but less than 975.degree. C., to cause the crystallization in situ of hematite crystals in the surface of the glass. When the glass article having the integral surface layer containing hematite crystals is exposed to a H.sub.2 O-containing reducing environment at a temperature between about 450.degree.-650.degree. C., the hematite crystals are reduced to magnetite. In contrast, when the glass article having the integral surface layer containing hematite crystals (or magnetite crystals) is exposed to an essentially dry reducing atmosphere at a temperature between about 450.degree.-650.degree. C., the hematite crystals (or the magnetic crystals) are reduced to metallic iron. The instant invention is founded in, and is an improvement upon, the invention set forth by the present applicants in U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,602. In essence, the glass-ceramic articles of that patent, having a metallic luster due to an integral thin surface film of hematite, provide the starting point of the present invention. Therefore, reference is specifically made to that patent for further details regarding the composition and process parameters of that invention.

The present invention relates to a container end which provides venting during emptying of contents and, in particular, a container with an end having a score defining a vent area providing good pouring characteristics without undue increase in the opening""s size. A number of containers are configured to achieve easy opening, such as without the need for a can opener or other tool and preferably which does not involve separation of any parts (so that there is no separate tab or cover piece to dispose of). A number of features of such containers and container ends affect the level to which end users, as well as bottlers, manufacturers, distributors, shippers and retailers, are satisfied with the container. One factor believed to be of some importance to consumers is the pour characteristics of the container. In general, it is believed that consumers prefer to use containers capable of providing a relatively high pour rate, such as pouring about 350 ml in less than about 10 seconds, preferably less than about 8 seconds, and more preferably less than about 7 seconds (e.g., measured using pour rate testing as described below). Additionally, it is believed consumers prefer containers that provide a smooth or substantially laminar pour, i.e. a pour which is not characterized by a series of surges (which can cause splashing and/or can affect a beverage head, fizz or other carbonation or pressurization-related characteristics of the contents, after pouring). Certain previous containers have been configured in an attempt to address these concerns by providing relatively large openings, e.g. openings covering greater than about 0.5 square inches (about 3.2 cm2). Unfortunately, such larger openings tend to be associated with a higher rate of problems such as bursting, buckling, leakage, opening failures and the like, particularly when the contents are pressurized, such as being provided with an over-pressure of about 35 psi (about 250 kPa) or more. In some cases, large opening panels are provided in designs having relatively smaller hinge or xe2x80x9cgatexe2x80x9d regions, which can, in some instances, be associated with container leakage and/or separation of the panel, or other components, upon opening, sometimes causing parts to be expelled (xe2x80x9cmissileingxe2x80x9d). Furthermore, such larger openings are difficult or infeasible to provide in container ends which are relatively small, such as round container ends having a diameter of than about 2 inches (about 5 cm). Furthermore, certain previous approaches to improving pouring characteristics have involved major changes to the design of the container end, thus involving relatively high tooling or other equipment costs, design costs, testing costs and the like. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a container or container end with improved pouring characteristics while retaining a relatively small opening area, which is preferably compatible with relatively small-sized container ends, and which can be achieved with only modest changes in tooling, procedures and/or testing. The present invention relates to a container and container end of a type where an opening area is at least partially defined by a score line. First and second endpoints of the score line are spaced apart along the score line, and the opening area is bent inward, following rupture (e.g. via a tab pivoted about a rivet, along an opening axis). The pivot point defined by the rivet is generally at about the center or centroid of the container end. The spaced-apart ends of the rupture define an opening or xe2x80x9cgatexe2x80x9d axis about which the bent-in region bends or pivots. The present invention involves configuring the score line so that the area which is bent-in provides an opening which defines not only a pouring region but also a vent region. In one embodiment the vent region is shaped (substantially triangular) with an edge of the vent region defined by the gate region. The vent region has an apex pointing generally away from the pour area. In one embodiment, both termination points at the rupture line are located on the same side of the opening axis but on opposite sides of a pivot axis (which is perpendicular to the opening axis and substantially passes through the pivot point of the tab). Preferably a first end of the rupture line extends substantially from a region adjacent a pivot point to the apex of the triangular vent region, forming one side of the triangular vent region. The gate axis, forming a second side of the triangular vent region, extends from this rupture line termination point to the other rupture line termination point. Preferably at least a portion of the end initially covering the vent region is reinforced with a stiffening shape, preferably triangular in shape, and preferably having an edge of the stiffening shape generally adjacent or colinear with the gate defined between the two rupture line end points. The present invention provides a desirably fast, smooth pour while maintaining a relatively small total opening area (pour opening plus vent opening) and otherwise avoiding undesirable bursting, buckling and opening failures.

Packaging the 3 billion nucleotides of the human genome into the nucleus of a cell requires tremendous compaction. To accomplish this feat, DNA in our chromosomes is wrapped around spools of proteins called histones to form dense repeating protein/DNA polymers known as chromatin: the defining template for gene regulation. Far from serving as mere packaging modules, chromatin templates form the basis of a newly appreciated and fundamentally important set of gene control mechanisms termed epigenetic regulation. By conferring a wide range of specific chemical modifications to histones and DNA, epigenetic regulators modulate the structure, function, and accessibility of our genome, thereby exerting a tremendous impact on gene expression. Hundreds of epigenetic effectors have recently been identified, many of which are chromatin-binding proteins or chromatin-modifying enzymes. Significantly, an increasing number of these proteins have been associated with a variety of disorders such as neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic diseases, inflammation, and cancer. Thus, highly selective therapeutic agents directed against this emerging class of gene regulatory proteins promise new approaches to the treatment of human diseases.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a switch for mounting on a portion of a vehicle as part of a vehicle safety apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a horn switch that is part of an air bag module mounted on a vehicle steering wheel. 2. Description of the Prior Art It is known to mount an air bag module on a steering wheel of a vehicle to help protect the driver of the vehicle. The air bag module includes an air bag and an inflator. In the event of sudden vehicle deceleration of a magnitude which requires protection of the driver, the inflator is actuated to inflate the air bag into a position to help protect the driver of the vehicle. It is known to provide a horn switch that is operable by pressing on a cover of an air bag module mounted on a vehicle steering wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,606 discloses a membrane type horn switch which is connected with an air bag module cover. The horn switch includes two active parts, each secured for movement with a respective movable part of the cover. The cover has a tear seam which releasably joins the movable parts of the cover. When the air bag inflates, a rupturable portion of the switch tears to enable the movable cover parts to open so that the air bag can inflate out of the cover. The rupturable portion of the switch underlies the tear seam in the module cover.

The increased availability and identification of genes from human and other genomes has led to an increased need for efficient expression and purification of recombinant proteins. The expression of proteins in bacteria is by far the most widely used approach for the production of cloned genes. For many reasons, expression in bacteria is preferred to expression in eukaryotic cells. For example, bacteria are much easier to grow than eukaryotic cells. More specifically, the availability of a wealth of sophisticated molecular genetic tools and thousands of mutants make E. coli, as an expression host, extremely useful for protein production. However, the high-level production of functional proteins in E. coli., especially those from eukaryotic sources has often been difficult. IL-28A, IL-28B, and IL-29 comprise a recently discovered new family of proteins that have sequence homology to type I interferons and genomic homology to IL-10. This new family is fully described in co-owned PCT application WO 02/086087 and Sheppard et al., Nature Immunol. 4:63-68, 2003. Functionally, IL-28A, IL-28B and IL-29 resemble type I INFs in their ability to induce an antiviral state in cells but, unlike type I IFNs, they do not display antiproliferative activity against certain B cell lines. Recombinant IL-29 has been produced in prokaryotic cells, in particular E. coli. The resulting bacterial produced protein is not glycosylated, and is produced in an aggregated state. Production of IL-29 from E. coli requires that the aggregated proteins be solubilized from the insoluble inclusion bodies and renatured or refolded. Without renaturation, the specific activity of the recombinant protein will be significantly reduced. Despite advances in the expression of recombinant proteins in bacterial hosts, there exists a need for improved methods for producing biologically active and purified recombinant IL-29 proteins in prokaryotic systems which result in higher yields for protein production. These and other aspects of the invention will become evident upon reference to the following detailed description.

1. Field of the Invention Embodiments described herein relate generally to optical subassemblies. More particularly, example embodiments relate to chip on flex optical subassemblies. 2. Related Technology Communication modules, such as electronic or optoelectronic transceivers or transponder modules, are increasingly used in electronic and optoelectronic communication. Communication modules communicate with a host device printed circuit board (PCB) by transmitting and/or receiving electrical data signals to and/or from the host device PCB. The electrical data signals can also be transmitted by the communication module outside a host device as optical and/or electrical data signals. Many communication modules include optical subassemblies (OSAs) such as transmitter optical subassemblies (TOSAs) and/or receiver optical subassemblies (ROSAs) to convert between the electrical and optical domains. Generally, a ROSA transforms an optical signal received from an optical fiber or another source to an electrical signal that is provided to the host device. A photodiode or similar optical receiver included in the ROSA transforms the optical signal to the electrical signal. A TOSA transforms an electrical signal received from the host device to an optical signal that is transmitted onto an optical fiber or other transmission medium. A laser diode or similar optical transmitter included in the TOSA is driven to emit the optical signal representing the electrical signal received from the host device. A common configuration for OSAs includes a transistor outline (“TO”) package such as a TO can. An example TO can is generally a self-contained and often hermetically sealed canister with one or more optical components disposed within the canister. Specifically, TO cans may incorporate one or more optical components such as an optical transmitter or an optical receiver. The TO can may be configured to fit within a cavity defined in an optical port opposite a second cavity configured to receive an optical fiber. The optical port enables the optical component(s) disposed within the TO can to communicate via the optical fiber. The TO can may further include electrical contacts that allow the optical component(s) to communicate with a host device electrically coupled to the OSA. However, the TO can increases the number of components required to produce an OSA, which increases manufacturing costs and may create electrical discontinuities. The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

The present invention relates to x-ray detectors and more particularly to methods for monitoring changes in the detective quantum efficiency of x-ray detectors. X-ray systems have been used for some time for imaging and measuring objects, such as medical patients. X-ray beams projected from a source pass through the object or patient and are detected by an x-ray detector and then converted into a visible light image. High resolution solid state x-ray detectors are currently in use and are beneficial to the analysis of the patient. The digital x-ray detectors typically utilize two-dimensional arrays of photodiode detector elements which produce electrical signals corresponding to the brightness of a picture element in the x-ray image projected onto it. The signals from the detector elements are read out individually and digitized for further imaging processing, storage and display. In order to insure consistent and accurate measurements from the x-ray detectors, it is necessary to periodically monitor the detectors in order to evaluate potential detector degradations. X-ray imaging detectors may change over time and it is necessary to measure and track changes in the detectors for maintenance and/or replacement when necessary. The detective quantum efficiency (DQE) is recognized as one of the important objective measures of the performance of an x-ray imaging detector. DQE is the measure of the ability of the detector to transfer signal-to-noise ratio from its input to its output. Currently, the ability to measure or calculate the quantities and factors necessary for a determination of DQE is complicated and time-consuming. Typically, measurements of DQE can only be satisfactorily performed by trained and skilled physicists. There thus is a need for an easier and less complicated methodology or system for measuring or tracking changes in the detective quantum efficiency of an x-ray imaging detector. The present invention provides an improved methodology for determining changes in the detective quantum efficiency of an x-ray imaging detector. The present invention also automatically measure changes in detective quantum efficiency within an x-ray detector without relying upon complicated sets of measurements. With the present invention, a mathematical equation and relationship has been developed which meets the above-stated objectives and overcomes the problems currently existing with present DQE measurements. With the invention, the calculation of relative DQE changes is limited to the calculation and measurement of only two quantities, both of which can be achieved in an automatic fashion on a digital x-ray system. One of the quantities, namely the modulation transfer function (MTF), is obtained using an edge phantom made from a piece of x-ray absorbing material, or a linepair bar pattern that is positioned in front of the image detector. The measurement of the second quantity, namely the noise power spectrum (NPS), is secured from the use of flat field images and may be calculated from data obtained during system calibration. The possible degradation of the detector and the potential need for field replacement can be determined by monitoring a DQE ratio as a function of time. This DQE ratio is obtained from ratios of MTF and normalized NPS. A computer stores the MTF and NPS quantities when they are measured at system calibration and over time. When the MTF and NPS data are acquired, the computer then directly calculates the DQE change at certain frequencies. If the DQE falls below a specification limit, a warning is displayed to the operator or field engineer. Other objects, benefits, and features of the present invention will become apparent after review and analysis of the following description of the invention, when taken in accordance with the attached drawings and appended claims.

Electronic systems and circuits are often utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous electronic technologies such as computers, video equipment, and communication systems facilitate increased productivity and cost reduction in analyzing and communicating information in most areas of business, science, education and entertainment. Frequently, these activities involve storage of vast amounts of important and confidential information and significant resources are expended storing and processing the information. Maintaining and tracking the information is often very important for a variety or reasons (e.g., recovery, corruption correction, etc.). Traditionally, many applications store data in a registry file. For example, traditional application configuration information can be stored in a registry file. Changes that are done are typically local to the system registry. In the event of an application failover, if this data is not available on the failover node the application may not start or may start with an old configuration. Moreover the registry configuration is usually binary data that is replicated and not highly available in a transaction consistent format. Traditional attempts using Registry backup and restore APIs (e.g., RegSaveKey/RegRestoreKey, etc.) are usually not transaction consistent and do not usually scale in terms of performance (CPU/Memory/TO) when the configuration data is large.

In a traditional cellular telecommunications system, the coverage of a cell is defined by the geographical area where Radio Frequency (RF) signals transmitted from a base station to a mobile wireless device, and vice versa, can be successfully received and decoded. For ease of discussion, a mobile wireless device may be interchangeably referred to as a User Equipment (UE). Also, the “RF signals” may be more simply referred to herein as “radio signals.” The base station may be equipped with an antenna or a two-dimensional (2D) antenna array that transmits and receives radio signals according to an antenna beam pattern that typically spans a quite large angle in azimuth and/or elevation. The wider the angle is, the lower the antenna gain becomes. Hence, there is a tradeoff between angular coverage and coverage range for a given antenna pattern. In order to have a large angular coverage in combination with high antenna gain, a steerable antenna array can be used to form and steer beams in desirable directions. In the coverage-related discussion herein, a “cell” and its associated base station such as, for example, an eNodeB, or a base station and its antenna array, may be referred to in an interchangeable manner and identified using the same reference numeral for ease of discussion. For example, a UE may be interchangeably referred to as receiving radio signals from a cell or an eNB, or the UE may be interchangeably referred to as receiving signals from a base station or the base station's antenna/antenna array. Beamforming The base stations in modern cellular systems may also employ beamforming (or beam steering). Beamforming or spatial filtering is a signal-processing technique used in antenna arrays for directional signal transmission and/or reception. It is understood that digital content may be transmitted using analog radio signals. In beamforming, the analog radio signals may be processed/shaped such that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference, while others experience destructive interference. Such analog beamforming can be used at both the transmitting and receiving ends to achieve spatial selectivity, such as, for example, rejection of unwanted signals from specific directions. The spatial selectivity may provide improved reception/transmission of signals in the system. Thus, beamforming can help improve wireless bandwidth utilization, and it can also increase a wireless network's range. This, in turn, can improve video streaming, voice quality, and other bandwidth- and latency-sensitive transmissions. Beamforming can be achieved by controlling the phase and amplitude of different signals transmitted from and/or received from spatially separated antenna elements. This can be done, for example, using an antenna array with multiple ports or an active antenna with multiple sub-elements. Each sub-element may have a polarization direction, which potentially can be orthogonal to another sub-element's polarization. For a beamforming system that only supports a set of fixed beams, all signals may be beamformed, although the desired direction of transmission may be unknown or only known to some extent. Furthermore, some beamforming systems, such as, for example, analog beamforming systems, can only transmit in one or a few beams simultaneously. In such systems, multiple beams may have to be scanned through in time domain to provide coverage to all the UEs attached to the base station. Some form of information related to the radio channel between a transmitter, such as an eNB, and a receiver, such as a UE, is typically needed in order to perform efficient beamforming. Channel State Information (CSI) is given either in explicit or implicit form. Explicit CSI contains gain and phase difference between all pairs of transmit and receive antennas. On the other hand, implicit CSI is typically given by spatial precoder selections from the UE. Beamforming is commonly performed so as to maximize the received power at a UE. Certain beamforming techniques have other objectives in addition to boosting the received signal power, for example, to remove or reduce the interference. Two examples of such objectives are the zero-forcing criterion, and the signal-to-leakage-plus-noise objective function. Beamforming using implicit CSI is often more limiting in interference suppression capabilities since the complete channel is not known at the eNodeB. In this case, the straightforward beamformer (precoder) would be to use the one recommended by the UE, although eNB-based adjustments of the beamformer to reduce the interference is conceivable. A special type of implicit CSI is beam selection feedback. In this case, the eNodeB transmits a plethora of spatially-distinct probing signals that are beamformed in specific directions. A UE is then instructed to select the most preferred beam, for example, in terms of received signal power, and report this to the eNodeB. An advantage of this type of feedback is that the number of antenna elements can be de-coupled from the CSI feedback; the UE need not estimate the full channel matrix. It is noted here that even if beam selection feedback may be appropriate for a dynamic beam selection system, other kinds of implicit or explicit CSI also can be used in a dynamic beam selection system. For example, a dynamic beamforming system may very well be based on implicit CSI reports, where, instead of the eNodeB transmitting a distinct set of beamformed reference signals, it transmits non-precoded reference signals from each antenna element. Beamforming systems may have a calibration mismatch between the transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) sides of an antenna array. On the other hand, some beamforming systems may even have separate 2D antenna arrays for transmission and reception, such that beamforming-related directional information regarding a beam received in the Uplink (UL) may not be applied to a beam transmitting in the Downlink (DL). These antenna arrays, however, may form part of a base station's antenna system. It is noted here that the terms “uplink” and “downlink” are used in their conventional sense: a transmission in the UL refers to a UE's transmission to a base station, whereas a transmission in the DL refers to a base station's transmission to a UE. Elevation Beamforming As previously stated, one way to perform beamforming is to use active antennas. An active antenna consists of a number of sub-elements that jointly form the antenna. The sub-elements can be virtualized. For example, pairs of physical sub-elements could be fed the same signal and, hence, share the same virtualized sub-element antenna port. Furthermore, in the case where an active antenna is mounted in such a way that the sub-elements are spread out on a vertical axis, a beamforming technique known as “elevation beamforming” may be possible. In the elevation beamforming, the transmitted and/or received signal may be directed in the elevation domain. This may be done by using different phases and amplitudes for the different sub-elements of the active antenna such that at certain angles—relative to the active antenna's vertical axis—the different signals experience constructive interference, whereas at other angles they experience destructive interference. In the discussion herein, the term “elevation beamforming” may be exclusively used as a dynamic beam-selection technique in the sense that an eNodeB using elevation beamforming may use different elevation beams to serve different UEs. Elevation beamforming may be a component of the more general case of joint elevation-azimuth beamforming from a two-dimensional antenna array. It is noted here that the discussion herein primarily focuses on elevation beamforming as an example only. For the sake of brevity, all different types of beamforming techniques—such as, for example, azimuth beamforming, or joint azimuth and elevation beamforming using a 2D antenna array—are not discussed in appreciable detail. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a dynamic elevation beam selection. A base station or eNodeB 10 is shown to dynamically perform beam selection among three different elevation beams 12-14 (also identified as beams A-C, respectively). One UE 16 is shown—by way of an example—as being physically present and operating (or registered) within the cell (not shown) associated with the base station 10. For the sake of discussion herein, a UE, such as the UE 16, may be considered “attached to” or under the operative control of a base station or eNB, such as the base station 10. When a UE is attached to an eNB, a bi-directional communication session is established between the UE and the eNB for data transfer to/from the UE, thereby enabling the UE's user to carry out voice calls, data sessions, web browsing, and the like, using the cellular network of the eNB. In the case of a static beamformer, the eNodeB 10 would need to use one beam for all transmissions and, hence, would not be able to focus the transmitted power in the direction towards its UE of interest—here, the UE 16. On the other hand, in the directional transmissions using dynamic elevation beamforming, the eNB 10 can dynamically select the most appropriate elevation beam for the UE 16. For example, in the context of FIG. 1, the eNB 10 may select the elevation beam 13 (beam B) to transmit to the UE 16. The choice of beam B has the advantage that the transmitted energy will be directed in the same direction as the propagation path 18 between the eNodeB 10 and the UE 16. This leads to the UE 16 receiving a stronger signal from the eNB 10. It is noted here that three selection beams 12-14 are shown in FIG. 1 just as an example. In a more general setting, there can be any number of selection beams. Furthermore, the used transmission beams can even be created dynamically, pointing in an arbitrary elevation direction and with an arbitrary shape (for example, beam width). Hence, an infinite number of elevation beams may be possible. Cell Selection for an Elevation Beamforming System In order for a UE to be served by an eNB, the UE first needs to connect (or attach) to the eNB in some way. This is typically done using some kind of control signaling such that a UE can compare different control signals, transmitted from different eNodeBs, and then attach to the eNodeB that corresponds to the strongest signal. The control signal may be typically beamformed and such a beamformed control signal may be referred to as a “cell selection beam” in the discussion herein. FIG. 2 depicts cell selection beams 20-21 along with data transmission beams 23-26 and 28-31 in an elevation beamforming system. In FIG. 2, by way of an example, two eNodeBs 33-34 in the system are shown as performing elevation beamforming—using four elevation beams each 23-26 and 28-31, which are shown by dotted lines—when transmitting data. On the other hand, each eNB 33-34 provides one cell selection beam 20-21 (shown using solid lines), respectively. The different UEs in the system may then attach to the eNodeB that corresponds to the strongest cell selection beam. Thus, for example, the UEs 36-38 may attach to the eNB 33, whereas the UEs 40-42 may attach to the eNB 34. As before, the number of UEs, the number of eNBs, and the number of elevation beams in FIG. 2 are exemplary only. Once a UE has attached to a certain eNodeB, it can have its data transmitted with one of the data transmission beams (or elevation beams) from the eNodeB. Three exemplary data transmission beams per eNB in FIG. 2 are shown by dotted lines. It is pointed out here that there may be many other signals also transmitted by an eNodeB. One such example is a cell selection beam—like the beam 20 or 21—that may also serve legacy UEs which are not able to utilize UE-specific elevation beamforming. In the same manner, there also may exist other data channels. It is noted here that the term “cell” is used quite generally. In addition to referring to a typical cell in a cellular telecommunication network, it may also refer to a node, a point, a transmission point, a group of transmission points, and the like, in a wireless communication network. Importance of Interference Avoidance The above-described dynamic elevation beam selection is a powerful tool for directing the transmitted energy towards the UE of interest, thereby increasing the received signal level at the UE. However, interference is another aspect of this approach that needs to be taken into consideration to maximize the system performance. FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of how dynamic elevation beamforming may cause interference. In FIG. 3, two base stations (eNBs) 45-46 are shown to provide three elevation beams each 48-50 and 52-54. Each elevation beam in the configuration of FIG. 3 serves one of the three respective mobile wireless devices (or UEs) 56-58 and 60-62, as shown. It is observed here that when an eNB directs its transmitted power towards a specific UE, it may at the same time also direct the transmitted energy towards another UE that may be currently receiving its serving signal from another eNB. This situation is illustrated in FIG. 3 by the arrow 64, which shows that the directional signal transmission to the UE 57 served by the eNB 45 may also reach the UE 61 served by the other eNodeB 46. Thus, eNodeBs may cause interference to their neighboring cells when performing dynamic elevation beamforming, and this interference may be very harmful for the overall performance of the system or cellular network. In fact, it is possible that employing dynamic elevation beamforming in a communication system may not lead to a system-level gain such as, for example, when the increase in the received signal level by dynamic beam selection may be less than the simultaneous increase in the interference level. As before, it is emphasized that elevation beamforming is used as an example only to illustrate how interference may arise in beamformed systems—whether utilizing elevation beamforming, azimuth beamforming, or joint azimuth and elevation beamforming. Furthermore, various elevation beam patterns shown in FIGS. 1-3 (and later in FIGS. 5-6) are also by way of examples only. In practice, a single base station may not provide all of such beam patterns, and different base stations may provide different types of elevation beam patterns having different angular power profile.

This invention is directed toward an actuating device and more particularly an actuating device for a drive arrangement of an implement. Equipment for planting crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, peanuts, wheat and the like is well known in the art. Typically, a planter will consist of a central beam known as a toolbar. Attached to the tool bar are individual planting units commonly referred to as row units. Each row unit will plant one row and planters come in different sizes having any number of rows. The toolbar will have a row unit for each row that is planted. For example, a twelve row planter will have one toolbar with 12 individual row units attached thereto. To deposit seed on the ground a row unit requires rotational force. The rotational force typically is provided by a central drive shaft that is approximately the same length as the toolbar. The central drive shaft is attached to a drive mechanism that rotates the central drive shaft. There are several different drive arrangements known in the art for rotating the row unit including a chain drive comprising of roller chain sprockets on both the row unit and the central drive shaft and a roller chain connecting the two. Another way includes a flexible drive shaft connected to a drive gear and a drive transmission that rotates a metering structure. An example of the second drive arrangement is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,471 by Rettig incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. While these known arrangements provide rotational force to the row unit, they do not permit a farmer to plant some rows and not others as selected. Because all row units are driven by a central drive shaft as mentioned above, it is not possible to selectively deactivate some rows while allowing others to operate. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an actuating device that addresses these deficiencies. An object of the present invention is to provide an actuating device that selectively deactivates a row unit. Another object of the present invention is to provide an actuating device that selectively deactivates a row unit based upon the geographic location of a planter as determined by a GPS system. A still further object of the present invention is to provide an actuating device that requires a small amount of current. These and other objectives, features and advantages will be apparent to one skilled in the art based upon the following disclosure.

The present invention relates to a new and distinctive soybean cultivar, designated S080099. All publications cited in this application are herein incorporated by reference. There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirable plant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definition of problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishment of program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives. The next step is selection of germplasm that possesses the traits to meet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety an improved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm. These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought and heat, and better agronomic quality. Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plant reproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and the type of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, pureline cultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superior individual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective, whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based on mean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of related plants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, mass selection, and recurrent selection. The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method. Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes for a highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. This approach has been used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars. Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improve quantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use of recurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease of pollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross. Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation of the efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria vary depending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain from selection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard, overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successful cultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollar expended, etc.). Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared to appropriate standards in environments representative of the commercial target area(s) for three or more years. The best lines are candidates for new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a few traits may be used as parents to produce new populations for further selection. These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing and distribution, usually take from eight to twelve years from the time the first cross is made. Therefore, development of new cultivars is a time-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficient use of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction. A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that are genetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic value is masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors. One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performance relative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standard cultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicated observations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth. The goal of soybean plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior soybean cultivars and hybrids. The breeder initially selects and crosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing and selection, producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder can theoretically generate billions of different genetic combinations via crossing, selection, selfing and mutations. Therefore, a breeder will never develop the same line, or even very similar lines, having the same soybean traits from the exact same parents. Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to the next generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and different geographical, climatic and soil conditions and further selections are then made during and at the end of the growing season. The cultivars that are developed are unpredictable because the breeder's selection occurs in unique environments with no control at the DNA level, and with millions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. A breeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resulting lines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion. The same breeder cannot produce the same cultivar twice by using the same original parents and the same selection techniques. This unpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts of research monies to develop superior new soybean cultivars. The development of new soybean cultivars requires the development and selection of soybean varieties, the crossing of these varieties and selection of superior hybrid crosses. The hybrid seed is produced by manual crosses between selected male-fertile parents or by using male sterility systems. These hybrids are selected for certain single gene traits such as pod color, flower color, pubescence color or herbicide resistance which indicate that the seed is truly a hybrid. Additional data on parental lines, as well as the phenotype of the hybrid, influence the breeder's decision whether to continue with the specific hybrid cross. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used to develop cultivars from breeding populations. Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or more cultivars or various broad-based sources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new cultivars are evaluated to determine which have commercial potential. Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement of self-pollinating crops. Two parents that possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed to produce an F1. An F2 population is produced by selfing one or several F1s. Selection of the best individuals may begin in the F2 population; then, beginning in the F3, the best individuals in the best families are selected. Replicated testing of families can begin in the F4 generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F6 and F7), the best lines or mixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potential release as new cultivars. Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations of either self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variable population of heterozygous individuals is either identified, or created, by intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selected based on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellent combining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles of selection are continued. Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simply inherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivar or inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to be transferred is called the donor parent. After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent are selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to planting a segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number of plants in a population declines each generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the population will be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed. In a multiple-seed procedure, soybean breeders commonly harvest one or more pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together to form a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation and part is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modified single-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique. The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. It is considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove one seed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seed procedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of a population each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested to make up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed. In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant can also be examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available for the analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; among these are Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs—which are also referred to as Microsatellites), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level of superiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition to showing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivar that is compatible with industry standards or which creates a new market. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional costs to the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer for special advertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial production practices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release of a new cultivar should take into consideration research and development costs as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. For seed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easily and economically. Soybean, Glycine max (L), is an important and valuable field crop. Thus, a continuing goal of soybean plant breeders is to develop stable, high yielding soybean cultivars that are agronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are obviously to maximize the amount of grain produced on the land used and to supply food for both animals and humans. To accomplish this goal, the soybean breeder must select and develop soybean plants that have traits that result in superior cultivars. The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification.

In a typical electrophotographic printing process, a photoconductive member is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the photoconductive member is exposed to a light image of an original document being reproduced. Exposure of the charged photoconductive member selectively dissipates the charge thereon in the irradiated areas. This records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive member corresponding to the informational areas contained within the original document. After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the photoconductive member, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material including toner into contact therewith. Generally, the developer material is made from toner particles adhering triboelectrically to carrier granules. The toner particles are attracted from the carrier granules to the latent image forming a toner powder image on the photoconductive member. The toner powder image is then transferred from the photoconductive member to a copy sheet. Heat via the fuser roller(s) is applied to the toner particles to permanently affix the powder image to the copy sheet. Some problems may occur when the recording sheet with toner passes through the fuser rollers. One such problem occurs when the toner on the recording sheet adheres to one of the fuser rollers resulting in image contamination as the toner does not adhere to the correct location on the recording sheet or remains on the roller and is not transferred to the recording sheet. An additional problem occurs when the recording sheet is inadvertently wound around one of the fuser rollers causing a paper jam. Oil is applied to one or both of the fuser rollers to overcome these problems. The oil reduces the amount of toner that adheres to the rollers and also lessens the likelihood of the recording sheet becoming entangled. An oil applicator is positioned adjacent to the rollers for distributing the oil. The application of oil to the fuser rollers may result in additional problems if the correct amount is not applied. Any suitable oil can be used in the present invention such as the oils disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,462; the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,462 is incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. Inconsistent oil transfer to the rollers during the life of the oil applicator could cause other problems. Many designs result in an over-abundance of oil being transferred to the fuser roller early in the life of the applicator. Too much oil distributed onto the rollers may be transferred to the recording sheet resulting in oil spots that are visible to the user thereby ruining the sheet. The same applicators often do not apply an adequate amount of oil during the end of their life. When applying inadequate oil, results in toner adhering to the fuser rollers and/or the recording sheet sticking to the fuser rollers, both of which are unacceptable results. Inconsistent oil application also makes it difficult to predict the expected life of the oil applicator. In prior art systems, variations in the oil surface thickness, oil temperature or oil viscosity generally requires a total redesign of the oil application structure. Each system has a fixed oil application operating temperature, oil viscosity, and an applied film thickness. This is a serious disadvantage that is overcome by the present invention. There was little, if any, variation control of variable oil rate application.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the field of computer networks and, more particularly, to efficient transfer of encrypted data over a low-bandwidth network. 2. Description of the Related Art As computer memory storage and data bandwidth increase, so does the amount and complexity of data that businesses daily manage. A large portion of the data may include electronic documents, announcements, tasks, discussion topics, and so forth. Depending on the business value of this information, access to certain information may be secure and private. The contents of information servers and end-user systems may be backed up to a backup storage to prevent loss of data, especially for data identified as crucial data. In such a case, the dedicated server and storage subsystem may include a backup system. A backup system attempts to reduce the amount of data and time to backup data to protect a machine. For an information technology (IT) administrator to centralize management of the corporate information and the computing support for employees and customers, an IT administrator may utilize a datacenter. A datacenter is a centralized repository, either physical or virtual, for the storage, management, protection and dissemination of this corporate information. A datacenter may also be referred to as a server room or a server farm. However, there may be times when an IT administrator chooses to avoid capital expenditure and leases one or more server computer systems on a short-term or long-term basis. The business may consume resources at a third-party remote location as a service and pay only for resources actually consumed. Examples include educational classroom services, demonstration of software to potential users or buyers, website server applications, data protection, and so forth. The type of computing described above may be referred to as cloud computing, wherein dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources at a third-party remote location is provisioned for use over a network, such as the Internet. Cloud computing provides on-demand procurement, lowered financial cost and application mobility. For example, application software and corresponding data may be stored at the remote location, but the application may be accessible from a web browser. A cloud computing implementation of a software application allows a business to access the application through the Internet without knowledge of or control over the infrastructure supporting the application. The primary considerations for remote access include the remote access software and the network interface. An IT administrator may develop a management system for data backup and data protection; data recovery, restore, and restart; archiving and long-term retention; and day-to-day processes and procedures necessary to manage a storage architecture. This management system may apply certain policies to the effective management of information. The management system may support a cloud plug-in to enable writing backup data streams to the remote data storage location within the cloud computing system. These data streams are generally very large in order to minimize the catalog and tracking burden. In addition, these data streams are typically encrypted for protection. High latency and low bandwidth properties are typical characteristics of a cloud computing system, which includes a wide area network (WAN). In such an environment, data transfers for both backup and recovery operations may be slow and reduce the benefits of utilizing a cloud computing solution. In view of the above, improved systems and methods for efficient transfer of encrypted data over a low-bandwidth network are desired.

The registry is a system-defined database, which is included as a part of Microsoft Windows 3.1 and later Windows operating systems. It is used by applications and other system components to store and retrieve consistent configuration data. Information regarding the registry and its use is provided in publications available from the Microsoft Developers' Network (MSDN) of Microsoft corporation, Redmond, Wash., including “Platform SDK: Performance Monitoring/Registry,” and Chapter 23 (Registry) of the “Driver Development Kit.” These publications are incorporated herein by reference. Data in the registry can be manipulated using application program interface (API) functions and services described in the above-mentioned publication, as well as with a Windows utility called the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Registry-related services are normally carried out by the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) component of the Windows operating system kernel. The registry stores data in a hierarchically-structured tree. Each node in the tree is called a key. Each key can contain both subkeys (which are themselves keys) and data entries called values. When an application is installed on a computer running Windows, it typically stores its own registry data in a branch under a key that is created for the particular application. In addition, the application may also use subkeys and values that are stored under other keys, which are shared with the operating system and/or with other applications. While the application is running, it uses the names of the appropriate keys to navigate in the registry for the purpose of reading and writing configuration data. Without the configuration data, the application is unable to run. For this reason, installation is an indispensable preparatory step to running most Windows applications that are known in the art. During the installation procedure, the application creates any necessary new keys and writes the values that it will require in the registry. To add a new key or value to the registry, the application must first open an existing key, typically using the RegOpenKeyEx function (or a corresponding service _RegOpenKey), as described in the above-mentioned documentation. After creating a new subkey or setting a new value, the key is closed, and the new data are written to the registry. A group of keys, subkeys and values belonging to a specified branch of the registry may be saved to a backup file, known as a hive file, using the RegSaveKey function, as described in the above-mentioned MSDN documentation. Subsequently, the RegLoadKey function can be used to recall the information from the hive file and to restore it to the registry in a specified location. When the hive file contains data used by an application, it must be loaded back into the registry before the application can run.

This invention relates to compositions for topical application to animals (this term as used herein includes both humans and lower animals) tissue, said compositions providing enhanced penetration of various pharmacologically active substances into or through such tissue. The epidermal barrier to percutaneous absorption, i.e., the stratum corneum, is a nearly impermeable heterogeneous animal tissue of which keratin is a major component. This tissue is found in animal skin and mucosal tissue such as tongue, gingiva, esophagus, and vagina. A wide variety of pharmacologically active substances are desirably applied topically to this epithelial tissue for an essentially local effect achieved upon penetration into or through the stratum corneum. For example, compositions used in the treatment of a variety of dermatoses, including acne vulgaris, tinea versicolor, acne rosacea and other skin maladies associated with hyperplasia of the infected sebaceous gland, are desirably treated by topical medications. Likewise, eczema and eczema-like skin disorders caused by excessive cell proliferation are treated by topical application of ointments and salves. Localized inflammation which often accompanies arthritis and bursitis is treated by topical medications, as is common muscular "strain" caused by overexertion. Topical anesthetics are widely used in medicine and dentistry. The cosmetic efficacy of a variety of agents such as antiperspirants, rubifacients and emollients depends on the ability of the cosmetic agents to penetrate the epidermal barrier. Accordingly, it is seen that any means whereby the penetration of pharmacologically active agents through skin can be enhanced is of substantial interest. It is known that various surface-active compounds improve the activity of pharmacologically active substances, apparently by enhancing the penetration of same through skin. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,768 discloses that the presence of a phosphine oxide surfactant in antiperspirant compositions containing anticholinergic compounds appears to increase activity by providing more efficient absorption of the active agents at the site of application. U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,864 discloses the use of alkyl sulfoxides to enhance the penetration of a variety of pharmacologically active agents through skin. The co-pending application of Warren I. Lyness and James Scala entitled "Compositions for Topical Application to Animal Tissue and Method of Enhancing Penetration Thereby", Ser. No. 230,040, filed Feb. 28, 1972, relates to the use of phosphine oxides to enhance the penetration of a variety of agents through skin. Many surface-active compounds enhance the permeability of skin by actually damaging the barrier tissue. Indeed, the degree of penetration enhancement appears in some cases to be proportional to the extent of tissue damage. Certain organic solvents serve to enhance penetration of substances through the epidermal barrier. For example, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and homologous low molecular weight sulfoxides, when used in solvent concentrations, e.g., 50% or more, will enhance penetration of various substances; see U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,554. However, such compounds are systemically distributed in a very short time and can cause undesirable symptoms at these higher concentrations. While the foregoing higher sulfoxides and phosphine oxides are suitable for enhancing skin penetration, improved compositions providing a greater degree of penetration and improved clinical efficacy are desirable. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide improved compositions for topical application to animal tissue and an improved method for enhancing the penetration of pharmacologically active substances through such tissue. It is a further object to provide a method of enhancing the penetration of pharmacologically active substances into or through animal tissue, especially skin, without damaging said tissue or causing adverse systemic effects. These and other objects are obtained herein as will be seen from the following disclosure.

Reduced-size vehicles such as ATVs and UVs are becoming increasingly popular in North America and the world. Historically, ATVs can trace their origins to motorcycles. The ATV began as a motorcycle with two rear wheels, called an All-Terrain Cycle (ATC) and then, due to safety considerations, evolved to include a second front wheel so as to become the conventional four-wheeled ATV. As ATVs have further evolved over the past twenty years, many other aspects of the vehicles have also been improved. Many of the improvements have concerned the driving performance of the ATVs (both in terms of operation of the vehicles in a straight line and over rough terrain). For example, ATVs have become equipped with larger and more powerful engines, sophisticated automatic transmissions, and advanced differential technology. The suspension systems, likewise, have matured from rigid mounted wheels and tires to long-travel, fully independent suspension systems. Conventional reduced-size vehicles offered by a variety of manufacturers share a number of features in common with one another. Because reduced-size vehicles (and particularly ATVs) originated as offshoots of motorcycle technology, such vehicles in particular share certain features that are similar to those of motorcycles. In particular, a conventional ATV typically employs an internal structural frame formed by a group of struts, tubes, castings, and/or stampings (and/or other elements) that extend substantially parallel to one another from near the front of the vehicle to near the rear of the vehicle, generally in close proximity to a central longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The arrangement of struts is such that the overall frame would conform to (e.g., would fit within) the physical confines of motorcycles having long, narrow bodies, even though reduced-size vehicles such as ATVs and UVs typically have bodies that are substantially wider than those of motorcycles. Although through the years there has been a focus on reducing the cost of the frame, there have been few major innovations in frame design beyond the standard motorcycle design. The frame is seen as the structure that carries the critical vehicle systems but delivers little if any additional value to the end user. In addition to having motorcycle-type frames, conventional reduced-size vehicles also have other features that reflect their evolution from motorcycles, for example, in terms of their cooling systems and exhaust systems. With respect to their cooling systems, conventional reduced-size vehicles typically employ engine cooling systems in which air flow moves horizontally along the vehicles as the vehicles move forward. More specifically, such engine cooling systems (which can include, for example, radiators or heat exchangers), are typically positioned within front or rear sections of the vehicles relative to the mid-sections of the vehicles in which operators are seated during operation. When placed in the front section of a vehicle, as is more commonly the case, cooling air enters at the very front end of the vehicle and typically is then exhausted into the mid-section/operator space. When placed generally in the rear section behind the mid-section, as is less commonly the case, cooling air enters from the mid-section/operator space and then passes out the vehicle's rear end. As for the exhaust systems of reduced-size vehicles, the traditional motorcycle-based design and packaging of an ATV exhaust system places the muffler (which is generally round and cylindrical) at the rear of the vehicle, typically in a generally horizontal manner, with the outlet near or at the rear of the vehicle, facing aft or downward. Certain factors influence the exact positioning of the exhaust system configuration and muffler. First, the exhaust system should be configured to function within the confined area that an ATV allows after placement of the engine, cooling system, transmission, drivetrain, intake system, and other critical systems. Second, because ATVs are often operated in water, it is desirable to locate the outlet of the muffler as high as possible so as to minimize water intrusion. Third, the muffler should have sufficient volume to allow for adequate performance while maintaining satisfactory sound dampening qualities. Fourth, the exhaust outlet should be positioned so that the exhaust air is not discharged directly onto a person who is working in close proximity to the vehicle. Lastly, the exhaust system should be as small as possible, so as to minimize radiated heat, and should be heat-shielded and placed sufficiently far away from any operator (e.g., laced under a rear fender). As reduced-size vehicles have grown in their size, power and capabilities, it has been recognized that the vehicles are suitable for performing a variety of chores and tasks for which ordinary cars, trucks, and tractors are not well suited. To facilitate the performing of these functions by reduced-size vehicles, it has further become desirable to create dedicated carrying/storage features on the reduced-size vehicles. Yet, because the primary consideration in designing reduced-size vehicles traditionally has been to enhance the vehicles' driving performance, the interiors of reduced-size vehicles (e.g., the volumes defined by the outer perimeters of the vehicles) have been completely or nearly completely filled with the various engine, powertrain, suspension, cooling and other system components allowing for optimal performance of the vehicles. To the extent that certain spaces within the vehicle interiors have been reserved for storage purposes, such spaces have typically been very small, e.g., with a volume of only about 3 gallons or less. As a result, such spaces typically are sufficient only for transporting small items such as a pair of gloves, a tow strap, or an emergency tool kit. Further, these spaces often are inconvenient to use, for example, because the ports/doors are located at low or otherwise difficult-to-access locations (e.g., under the seat), or because the doors are at low levels and lack seals to prevent the entry of water into the spaces. Although at least one manufacturer, Bombardier, has integrated a somewhat larger, 8 gallon storage compartment into the front end of at least one of its ATV models (e.g., the 1999 Traxter ATV), this storage compartment is still limited in size due to the frame of the ATV and due to the positioning of the front shock absorbers of the vehicle, and there is no comparable storage compartment in the rear of the ATV due to the movement of certain components from the front end of the vehicle to the rear end of the vehicle to provide sufficient space for the front storage compartment. Also, although at least one other manufacturer, Arctic Cat, has integrated a somewhat larger, 8-10 gallon storage compartment into the rear end of at least one of its ATV models, this storage compartment is still limited in size due to the configuration of the vehicle frame and the positioning of the rear shock absorbers, as well as difficult to access insofar as it only occupies a region that is below the cargo rack accessible from behind the vehicle. Further, the storage compartment is located substantially above the locations at which the shock absorbers are coupled to the frame of the vehicle, and loading of that compartment with items/materials can raise the vehicle's center of gravity. Given the lack of large internal carrying/storage spaces within conventional ATVs, ATV manufacturers have developed alternative features to enhance the ability of ATVs to carry and move items and material. In particular, ATV manufacturers have added cargo racks to the tops of the fenders, first at the rear sections of the vehicles and subsequently at the front sections of the vehicles. Depending upon the embodiment, a rack can be located on top of the bodywork of a vehicle, or in the case of a carrying bed, on top of the rear tires of a vehicle. The inclusion of such cargo racks on ATVs is now the industry standard. Additionally, although items can be strapped/tied directly to such cargo racks, to further enhance the cargo capacity of ATVs, it also has become common to purchase aftermarket storage containers that fasten to the tops of the cargo racks. Also, various enhancements have been developed for facilitating the coupling of items to cargo racks, for example, Arctic Cat's “Speed Rack” and Polaris' “Speed Lock.” The use of such containers in combination with the cargo racks makes it possible to carry items/materials within enclosed compartments such that those items/materials are not exposed directly to the outside environment. Although reduced-size vehicles with the above-described cargo rack and supplemental container features continue to increase in popularity, such conventional vehicles nevertheless have several limitations. First, the attachment of items/materials to the cargo racks is often challenging due to the need for additional ropes or cords or special clips to fasten the items. Second, in circumstances where containers are used, or otherwise large items are attached to the cargo racks, visibility can be reduced for the operators of the vehicles. Third, cargo carried on top of the racks can overload the vehicles and/or negatively impact the vehicles' centers of gravity, which in turn can impact the performance and safety of the vehicles. Indeed, this aspect is of particular significance to reduced-size vehicles in comparison with many other larger vehicles, both because reduced-size vehicles tend to be relatively light in terms of their weight, and also because reduced-size vehicles naturally tend to have a high center of gravity for other reasons—for example, because the vehicles typically are designed to have large amounts of ground clearance to clear obstacles while operating off-road, and because in such vehicles (particularly ATVs) the operator is seated upon the vehicle rather than within the vehicle. Consequently, the cargo racks/containers on reduced-size vehicles should be carefully loaded so as not to exceed the weight ratings of the vehicles. Another limitation of conventional reduced-size vehicles is that the vehicles have little or no provision for floatation. ATVs in particular are frequently operated under conditions in which the vehicles need to ford bodies of water. During fording maneuvers, the depth of the water is not always known (e.g., if operating in an unfamiliar area). Consequently, it is not uncommon for an ATV to become submersed completely and ingest water into its engine and cease running, which is a significant inconvenience for the operator and can cause extensive damage to the engine. To prevent the above-described scenario, an ATV desirably would include sufficient displacement integrated into the vehicle to allow for vehicle floatation. Yet integrating sufficient displacement into an ATV for this purpose is difficult given the significant amount of displacement that is required. For example, typical ATVs weigh approximately 600 to 750 lbs without a rider, unladen. When a rider is positioned onto such an ATV, the ATV can approach as much as 950 lbs (e.g., supposing a 200 lb operator). Noting that the density of water is 8.34 lb/gal, an ATV needs to displace at least about 72 to 90 gallons of water to achieve buoyancy for the vehicle alone and potentially as much as about 114 gallons to obtain neutral buoyancy when laden with an operator (again supposing a 200 lb operator). Conventional ATVs do include certain components that provide some buoyancy for the vehicles. Not only does the fuel tank in an ATV provide some buoyancy, but also virtually all ATVs employ the use of “high floatation oversize balloon tires” to provide buoyancy and, in some cases, pontoons or inflatable inner tubes can also be attached to the vehicles to provide additional buoyancy. None of these satisfactorily solves the buoyancy problem, however. The fuel tank only provides a limited amount of buoyancy, and the buoyancy that it provides varies depending upon how much it is filled with fuel. With respect to attaching pontoons/inner tubes to the ATVs, the use of such devices is undesirable for a variety of reasons including complications arising from the mounting/installation of those devices, negative effects on vehicle maneuverability when such devices are installed, and storage of the devices when not being used. As for the use of balloon tires, such tires on average only displace about 12 gallons of water each. Further, as the performance of ATVs is improved, there will continue to be an increased need for braking area, which will tend to drive up wheel size and reduce the available volume for the tires, which in turn will decrease the tires' overall contribution to buoyancy. Even if one assumes that a typical ATV has four balloon tires, each displacing 12 gallons, and a typical fuel tank of 4 gallons (and no pontoons/inner tubes), and additionally that the remaining componentry/structure of a conventional ATV displaces an additional 20 gallons, such ATV will displace by way of these components only about 72 gallons of water or 600 pounds. Thus, noting the difference between the displaced weight of water and the typical weight of a conventional ATV, and given the density of water, a conventional ATV unladen (e.g., without any operator/passenger or additional carried weight) at best is barely buoyant and potentially falls short of neutral buoyancy by nearly 20 gallons. Further, with an operator on board, much less any additional weight, conventional ATVs will sink. In addition to the aforementioned limitations relating to storage capacity and buoyancy, conventional reduced-size vehicles also are inadequate in terms of the manner in which the vehicles respond to accidents/impacts. More particularly, while the frames of conventional reduced-size vehicles are satisfactorily designed for the purpose of carrying the operator and the various internal vehicle systems, such conventional frames have not been designed with the aim of effectively dissipating energy if the vehicles hit immovable objects such as trees, or with the aim of reducing the effects of side impacts upon the vehicles. Further, because the struts/tubes, castings and stampings forming the frames of conventional reduced-size vehicles extend from the front ends to the rear ends of the vehicles in proximity to the central longitudinal axes of the vehicles, the frames are exposed to, and not particularly well-suited to resisting, extreme forces and torques that can be applied to the vehicles in certain accidents where the front ends of the vehicles tend to be twisted in directions contrary to those of the rear ends of the vehicles. In general, conventional frames have not been designed in a manner intended to enhance the crashworthiness of the reduced-size vehicles. Further, the cooling systems of conventional reduced-size vehicles also have a number of drawbacks. With respect to conventional front-mounted cooling systems, for example, such systems are typically vulnerable to clogging in the off-road environment due to contact with mud, leaves, grass, snow, seeds, etc., and to the possibility of puncture from rocks & sticks. To the extent that extra guards are utilized to prevent puncture, these can exacerbate clogging events. Further, in such systems, the radiators exhaust heat into the mid-sections of the vehicles, which can undesirably heat up the seats and the surrounding bodywork and in some circumstances expose the vehicle operators (particularly the operators' legs) to undesirable heat. Additionally, when one such vehicle closely follows behind another such vehicle, the following vehicle can undesirably ingest dirty air expelled by the leading vehicle. As for conventional rear-mounted cooling systems, such systems are typically vulnerable to puncture and physical harm when the vehicles are driven in reverse. Such systems also can constrain suspension design and decrease vehicle system flexibility. To guarantee sufficient air flow, such systems often require large amounts of space within the vehicles to be dedicated to the communication of air for cooling and long coolant lines from the engine to the heat exchanger. Further, in contrast to the conventional front-mounted cooling systems, the rear-mounted cooling systems require fans to force air into the radiator, and hot air can “chimney” back to the operator if the cooling fan is not running. The exhaust systems of conventional reduced-size vehicles also have several drawbacks. First, the horizontal placement of a muffler in such a vehicle, in conjunction with the positioning of the muffler above the power cylinder(s) of the engine of the vehicle, allows water that has entered the muffler to drain directly into the engine (a condition that can regularly occur when operating the ATV in deep water and mud). Second, the horizontal placement of the muffler maximizes the surface area by which heat is convectively transferred away from the muffler and onto the plastic fender that is commonly located above it, which can result in significant and possibly undesirable heating of the fender. Although some reduced-size vehicles include heat shields above their mufflers and/or highly reflective foil insulators on the bottom sides of the plastic fenders, the fenders and surrounding body work of such vehicles often still can become undesirably hot. Further, even to the extent that the heating of the fenders and bodywork of such vehicles is reduced, the header pipes connecting the engines of the vehicles to their mufflers typically are run high in the vehicles, just below the edges of the operator seats and horizontally along the vehicles, e.g., proximate where operators' legs are situated during vehicle operation. In view of the above discussion, it therefore would be advantageous if new reduced-size vehicles could be designed that overcame one or more of the aforementioned limitations. In particular, it would be advantageous if a new reduced-size vehicle was developed that could have one or more large interior storage compartment(s) for carrying items/material, where those interior storage compartment(s) were easy to use and/or were positioned substantially below the top of the vehicle such that items/material contained within those compartments did not overly raise the center of gravity of the vehicle or reduce operator visibility. Further, it would be advantageous if such a new reduced-size vehicle included features that improved the buoyancy of the vehicle. Additionally, it would be advantageous if such a new reduced size vehicle included an improved frame design to improve the vehicle's behavior under at least some accident conditions. Further, it would be advantageous if such a new reduced-size vehicle included an improved cooling system arrangement and/or improved exhaust system arrangement to alleviate one or more of the above-discussed problems associated with conventional reduced-size vehicles.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a series of substituted N-phenyl-bipyrrolidine carboxamides. The compounds of this invention are modulators of H3 receptors and are, therefore, useful as pharmaceutical agents, especially in the treatment and/or prevention of a variety of diseases modulated by H3 receptors including diseases associated with the central nervous system. Additionally, this invention also relates to methods of preparation of substituted N-phenyl-bipyrrolidine carboxamides and intermediates therefor. 2. Description of the Art Histamine is a ubiquitous messenger molecule released from mast cells, enterochromaffin-like cells, and neurons. The physiological actions of histamine are mediated by four pharmacologically defined receptors (H1, H2, H3 and H4). All histamine receptors exhibit seven transmembrane domains and are members of the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily (GPCRs). The H1 receptor was the first member of the histamine receptor family to be pharmacologically defined, with the development of classical antihistamines (antagonists), such as diphenhydramine and fexofenadine. While antagonism of the H1 receptor of the immune system is commonly used for the treatment of allergic reactions, the H1 receptor is also expressed in various peripheral tissues and the central nervous system (CNS). In the brain, H1 is involved in the control of wakefulness, mood, appetite and hormone secretion. The H2 receptor is also expressed in the CNS, where it may modulate several processes, including cognition. However, H2 receptor antagonists have primarily been developed to ameliorate gastric ulcers by inhibiting histamine-mediated gastric acid secretion by parietal cells. Classic H2 antagonists include cimetidine, ranitidine, and famotidine. It should further be noted that H4 receptor function remains poorly defined, but may involve immune regulation and inflammatory processes. H3 receptors have also been pharmacologically identified in the CNS, heart, lung, and stomach. The H3 receptor differs significantly from other histamine receptors, exhibiting low sequence homology (H1: 22%, H2: 21%, H4: 35%). H3 is a presynaptic autoreceptor on histamine neurons in the brain and a presynaptic heteroreceptor in nonhistamine-containing neurons in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. In addition to histamine, H3 also modulates the release and/or synthesis of other neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinepherin and serotonin. Of particular note, presynaptic modulation of histamine release by H3 allows significant regulation of H1 and H2 receptors in the brain. Modulating multiple neurotransmitter signaling pathways, H3 may contribute to varied physiological processes. Indeed, extensive preclinical evidence indicates that H3 plays a role in cognition, sleep-wake cycle and energy homeostasis. Modulators of H3 function may be useful in the treatment of obesity and central nervous system disorders (Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's disease, depression, and epilepsy), sleep disorders (narcolepsy and insomnia), cardiovascular disorders (acute myocardial infarction), respiratory disorders (asthma), and gastrointestinal disorders. See generally, Hancock. Biochem. Pharmacol. 2006 Apr. 14; 71(8):1103-13 and Esbenshade et al. Mol Interv. 2006 April; 6(2):77-88, 59. Recently, compounds that are somewhat structurally related to the compounds of the present invention have been disclosed to be melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor antagonists, see specifically U.S. Pat. No. 7,223,788. It should however be pointed out that there is no disclosure as to the activity of the compounds disclosed therein at the H3 receptor site. All of the references described herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a series of substituted N-phenyl-bipyrrolidine carboxamides as selective H3 receptor ligands for treatment of H3 receptor regulated CNS disorders. It is also an object of this invention to provide processes for the preparation of the substituted N-phenyl-bipyrrolidine carboxamides as disclosed herein. Other objects and further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows.

In general, there is known a NOx catalyst for purifying NOx (nitrogen oxide) contained in an exhaust gas as an exhaust purifying apparatus arranged in an exhaust system for an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a lean burn gasoline engine. Various types of NOx catalysts are known as this type of NOx catalysts, and among them, there is well known a NOx storage reduction (NSR) catalyst for absorbing and removing NOx contained in the exhaust gas. The NOx storage reduction catalyst has an absorption/desorption function of absorbing NOx in the exhaust gas when an air-fuel ratio of an exhaust gas to be supplied is leaner (that is, oxygen excessive atmosphere) than a predetermined value (typically, theoretical air-fuel ratio) and desorbing the absorbed NOx when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to be supplied is richer (that is, oxygen-lacking atmosphere) than the predetermined value to reduce the NOx to N2. On the other hand, for example, in a case of an engine boarded on an automobile, on-board diagnosis (OBD) on degradation of a catalyst is required by regulations of various countries for preventing the automobile from running in a state where the exhaust gas is deteriorated. Therefore, there are provided various conventional technologies for diagnosing the degradation in regard to the NOx storage reduction catalyst. Degradation of the NOx storage reduction catalyst causes reduction in capabilities of absorbing NOx, that is, a NOx amount which the catalyst can absorb. Therefore, as a representative method of detecting degradation of a NOx catalyst, there is provided a method of detecting a NOx absorption capability of the NOx catalyst, which is compared with a predetermined degradation determination value. In regard to the related technology, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3316066 discloses the technology in which a NOx concentration sensor is arranged downstream of a NOx catalyst and NOx emission amounts based upon an actual NOx concentration of the NOx concentration sensor are integrated for a predetermined time to diagnose presence/absence of a failure of the NOx catalyst with this integral value. In addition, Japanese Patent No. 3589179 discloses the technology in which when reducers are supplied for desorbing NOx from a NOx catalyst (NOx absorber), the extra reducers which are not used for desorbing the NOx are discharged downstream of the NOx catalyst in the form of ammonium, thereby detecting a degradation degree of the NOx catalyst. In this case, an ammonium concentration downstream of the NOx catalyst is detected and also a representative value of an amount of the extra reducers is found from a change of the ammonium concentration, detecting the degradation degree of the NOx catalyst based upon this representative value. The ammonium concentration downstream of the NOx catalyst is detected by a sensor which can detect both of a NOx concentration and an ammonium concentration in the exhaust gas. Incidentally, under the present circumstance where exhaust gas regulations for automobiles have become tightened, the NOx emission regulation value is made very small and on the other hand, a value of the NOx emission by which the NOx catalyst should be determined to be degraded, that is, an OBD regulation value is also made very small. Particularly, according to U.S. SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle), not only the emission regulation value is tight, but also the OBD regulation value is 1.75 times as tight as the emission regulation value, as compared to Europe STEP IV or the like. That is, a difference in emission level and in catalyst degradation degree from the emission regulation value to the OBD regulation value is small and the small difference is required to be distinguished. Therefore, higher diagnosis precision is required also in regard to degradation diagnosis of the NOx catalyst. For example, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent No. 3316066, the NOx emission amount is integrated based upon an output value of the NOx concentration sensor downstream of the NOx catalyst to diagnose presence/absence of a failure of the NOx catalyst based upon this integral value. However, the NOx emission amount herein means an emission amount of NOx which is not processed by the NOx catalyst and simply passes through the NOx catalyst (called “passing NOx”) as it is and the output value itself of the NOx concentration sensor is minutely small. In general, as an output value of the sensor is smaller, an error rate of the sensor is larger. Therefore, in consideration of the error of the sensor, there is the possibility that a value containing many error amounts is integrated, which is used for failure diagnosis. This technology is not necessarily sufficient in terms of securing high diagnosis precision In addition, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent No. 3589179, the extra amount of the reducers among the reducers supplied to the NOx catalyst is decreased to calculate an amount of the reducers which is necessary and just enough for NOx desorption from the NOx catalyst. When this appropriate amount of the reducers is below a predetermined value, it is determined that the NOx catalyst is degraded by assuming that the NOx absorption capability of the NOx catalyst is sufficiently lowered (refer to paragraphs 0065 to 0068, P9) That is, the technology described in Japanese Patent No. 3589179 is adapted to measure the NOx absorption capability of the NOx catalyst and compare this value with a predetermined degradation determination value. In this technology, the extra amount of the reducers is used for calculating an appropriate amount of the reducers and the amount of reducers to be supplied is feedback-controlled to be always appropriate regardless of whether the appropriate amount of the reducers are large or small (that is, even if the NOx absorption capability is high or low). In consequence, the extra amount of the reducers is generated relatively frequently without a failure, and an excessive amount of the reducers leads to deterioration of fuel consumption.

Conventional patient bedside monitors are connected to various vital statistics measuring/monitoring devices and display the real time patient vital statistics, such as pulse rate and blood pressure, among other variables, continuously. Usually, the displayed vital statistics are not recorded in the monitor, and hence, once they disappear from a display, the information is not further cached, buffered, or otherwise stored, and therefore lost. In cases where the monitor records displayed information and presents it in the form of patient health trends, the display of real time vital statistics is obscured. In a hospital environment, patient specific information such as blood test reports and X-ray reports, among other data, are generated at sites remote to the patient bedside. Such information is usually stored in the hospital information system and may be accessed by caregivers as and when required from a central server. The caregivers may be required to carry the information in paper form in order to study/compare it in context with the real time patient vital statistics. As the volume of paper being carried by the caregiver increases, the chances of delay in diagnosis/treatment due to delay in finding a relevant piece of information, increase as well. Also, some piece of patient information may not be available with the caregiver at any given time and may cause a delay or an error in diagnosis and treatment. Hence, there is need for a patient bedside monitor which is capable of connecting with the hospital information system and displaying all the information related to a specific patient. There is need for a bedside monitor which can display all the patient related information available with the hospital at the same time and without obscuring the real time display of the patient's vital statistics. There is need for a smart bedside monitor that can provide analyses of the patient's health information over a specified period of time corresponding to any pre-defined criteria set by a caregiver. Furthermore, there is a need for a multi-purpose display that can be partially under a user's control but not supersede or compromise critical functions, such as the display of key monitored physiological parameters or issuance of alarms in relation to monitored events. The multi-purpose display enables a single physical display unit to perform multiple functions, thereby avoiding taking up excessive hospital room space by additional display units, while not undermining, sacrificing, or compromising the core function of a physiological display.

The use of tobacco products and the harmful side effects of smoking tobacco continue to gain increasing attention worldwide. As more regulations come into effect regarding smoking in the work place or in public, interest in developing alternative products is growing significantly. One method of reducing the harmful side effects of smoking is to not burn the tobacco products. This is because many of the harmful analytes, such as Hoffman analytes, obtained from smoking are received due to the burning of the material. A difficulty of developing and marketing a device that can deliver an aerosolized tobacco product is catering to the user in terms of visual and physical appeal of use. A device that can be used multiple times to aerosolize a variety of different substances while providing similar sensations to the user as those from smoking, such as visual vapor, are desirable. A device and product that can aerosolize a tobacco product and reduce Hoffman analytes and mutagenic compounds delivered to a user as compared to smoking are also desirable.

This invention relates to a technique of accounting for the presence of a urinary catheter or other indwelling catheter in a hospital patient, and is more specifically concerned with a technique that permits scanning of the patient with a scanning device for that purpose. The invention is more specifically concerned with a technique for indicating the presence or absence of a catheter in a hospital patient, and maintaining a log of patients with catheters and of the time and date when the catheter is to be removed. The invention is more particularly concerned with a technique that employs uniquely coded radio frequency identity (RFID) chips or tags and one or more RFID scanners adapted to track the use of the catheters. Hospital-acquired infections of patients are, at the current time, a major problem in medicine, both as a significant drawback to patient care, and also as a significant cost to hospitals, one which is not reimbursable. Urinary tract infections, or UTI, are the most common hospital-acquired infection, and UTIs have been linked to the use of urinary catheters. At present, one in four hospitalized patients is fitted with a urinary catheter. Each year, urinary catheters trigger a half million or more cases of urinary tract infection. However, many patients do not require catheters, and many others do not need them beyond a day or two of their hospitalization. Urinary catheters are often ordered only as a precaution after some types of surgeries. Hospitals do not have any reliable system to keep track catheter use, and many hospitals do not keep track of which patients have catheters. It is estimated that only about one in ten hospitals conducts a daily check of the patient to see if catheter use is still needed. As a result a large share of hospital patients have catheters for several days longer than is necessary, and this extended use of urinary catheters leads to UTIs. About one percent of the patients administered a urinary catheter will get a urinary tract infection. All of those patients will require antibiotics, and some of them at least will suffer life-threatening complications. The added cost of treating a patient for a hospital-acquired urinary tract infection is significant. Each episode of symptomatic nosocomial UTI costs at least $600, and each episode of UTI-related bloodstream infection results in even higher costs, conservatively at least $2,800. The problem is compounded in that many infections are asymptomatic, and patients can be administered an antibiotic simply for the reason that they have an indwelling catheter. The administration of an antibiotic can be inappropriate, as it can enable the infectious organisms to become multi-drug resistant, and very difficult to treat later on. Moreover, many third-party payors, e.g., health insurance plans, do not or will no longer reimburse hospitals for hospital-acquired preventable complications. Medicare will no longer pay for various preventable hospital errors, including not only surgical errors and injuries from falls, but also catheter-related urinary tract infections. The hospital cannot bill the injured patients for the added costs of treatment. The only recourse is for the medical practitioners to ensure the catheter is not left in when it is not needed. Catheters are widely used even though need for urinary catheters is often unjustified and is unnecessary for most patients for about one-third of the days that the patients are catheterized. Moreover, the treating physician can often be completely unaware that a catheter is in place. A majority of hospitals do not monitor for catheter duration. As a result, the physicians are not writing orders to have the catheters removed, even when they are unnecessary or no longer necessary. It has thus become incumbent on the patient, or the patient's family, to ask the doctor or nurse, every day, whether the catheter is still really necessary or if it can be removed, but the patient or his or her family does not know they should do this, and it should not be the patient's burden to have to remind the doctor or nurse about the catheter. In the past, some steps have been taken to reduce the incidence of catheter-related UTI. These include the use of catheters that are coated with an anti-bacterial agent to inhibit bacterial growth, or the use of an anti-microbial agent in the urine collection bag. However, these have not proven to be effective in reducing UTI. Other techniques involve using condom-style catheters, which at least reduce the risk of bacteria entering the urethra, or supra-pubic catheters, but the latter involves actually having to penetrate the abdomen and bladder of the patient, and can result in complications. Portable ultrasound bladder scanners can be used to see if the patient's bladder is being emptied without a catheter, but most hospitals do not use that system on any regular basis. Accordingly, some simple technique is needed to identify those patients that have a urinary catheter, to track the time of use of the catheter, and to ensure that the catheter is not left in place any longer than necessary. By removing the catheter as soon as it is no longer needed, the major cause of hospital-caused UTI will be avoided, and the cost and medical risk involved in hospitalization will be reduced significantly. This technique can also be used for any other indwelling catheter.

The present invention relates to a high density, two-dimensional bar code symbol, comprising a substrate on which is printed (or otherwise inscribed) a complex symbol or "label" with a high density two-dimensional symbology, a variable number of component symbols or "codewords" per line, and a variable number of lines.

Asphalt pavements, roads, sidewalks and the like are subject to deterioration such as cracks, cave-ins, and potholes. Such deterioration may occur in the original asphalt surface but is more likely in areas of refilled or repaired asphalt cuts or excavations which often times are repeatedly dug to repair and/or replace the underlying utility network, such as telephone wires, electrical systems or aqueducts. Past practices have attempted to improve the structural integrity of asphalt pavement by inserting within the pavement a planar construct structure or flat wire mesh of various geometric design. One such construct is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 181,392. This patent discloses a substantially planar structure of single iron rings provided with exterior wedge-shaped projections which are rigidly united or assembled by a connecting strip. U.S. Pat. No. 1,707,939 discloses a reinforced pavement structure which comprises a flat planar mesh structure of expanded metal. U.S. Pat. No. 1,809,870 is of a substantially similar construction in that a flat planar open reinforcement structure comprising a number of bars each bent to include a plurality of substantially V-shaped formations along its length. The bars are arranged with the apex portions of the V-shaped formations in abutting relation with clips bent around the abutting apex portions of said bars to hold the bars in place. The resulting construct is then inserted within concrete as reinforcement for cement. Other structures to reinforce pavement and the like are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,179,019, 2,184,146, and 4,309,124. The disclosures of these patents neither disclose nor suggest the subject invention. It is an object of this invention to provide a reinforcing structure for asphalt pavements and the like which may be utilized in the new construction or repair or for rehabilitation/resurfacing of existing asphalt pavements. It also may be utilized in the resurfacing asphalt layer. It is another object of this invention to provide material and techniques for repairing asphalt roads. It is a further object of this invention to lessen or eliminate dependence on optimum compaction of backfill material in asphalt pavement repair.

Suspension systems have been in existence since the automobile was invented. These systems enable automobiles to absorb shock stay in line when driving and essentially hold vehicle to the road. There are many different types of suspension systems one is a Macphereson strut suspension which is the standard in most passenger vehicles currently due to the cost effectiveness and ease of assembly while on the production line for the vehicle manufacturer. The are many other types of suspensions systems include but are not limited to, traditional double wish bone, multi link, trailing arm, linked and dependent systems. While versatile, these systems are not of modular design and generally do not have much adjustability limiting the range for basic alignment specifications especially for performance or racing applications. In most cases they are a compromise for the given application in an effort to keep production cost down for the vehicle manufacturer. None are of a modular design that would allow a wider range of application, reduction in costs and more adjustability. There is, thus, a need for a suspension system which is modular, has geometry optimized for unsurpassed handling and performance, which has zero bump steer and has a wide range of adjustability and applications and can be manufactured either with an upright traditional shock design or rocker set-up (cantilever pushrod design).

Contemporary radio frequency (RF) communication systems and instruments require precise alignment and phase-stability to operate as designed. For example, monopulse antenna tracking systems use the RF phase of a mono pulse signal to correct the pointing of an RF antenna. As another example, systems used for ocean surface vector wind measurements rely on RF data from both horizontal and vertical polarizations in order to derive Stokes parameters. The sensitivity of such systems to changes in phase is particularly evident at high frequencies. For example, for a system operating in the Ka-band (30 GHz), a 1.1 mil (0.028 mm) change in the length of the signal path results in a 1° shift in phase. However, flex waveguides used in practical antenna systems to decouple structural loads and to absorb the mechanical tolerance buildup routinely experience mobility resulting in variations in electrical length of greater than acceptable amounts (e.g. greater than 2.4 mil (0.06 mm)). Contemporary methods for pointing monopulse antenna tracking systems include receiving a signal at two antennas of an antenna system and measuring differences between the signal as received at the two antennas. The differences that are measured can include a difference in signal strength and/or phase. Such techniques require well characterized signal paths for received signals. However, a problem often encountered in a frontend RF system is a high phase error due to unpredictable RF phase changes or a high amplitude error due to path loss changes. Such changes can be caused by various environmental and operating conditions, which cannot be easily mitigated by design or simulated in a mathematical model. These conditions can include changes due to temperature shifts, vibrations, or mechanical displacement. The resulting errors can degrade the coherency of the signals. This degradation can in turn lead to the measured signal becoming unreliable and difficult to interpret. Degradation in coherency can also lead to an issue where control systems cannot function properly due to erroneous inputted data. These problems can be at least partially addressed by engineering systems with high mechanical and thermal stability; however, such systems often result in structures that are relatively heavy, making them impractical for use in space or other applications in which relatively low weight is a requirement. In addition, even the most carefully engineered and produced system may not be capable of maintaining path length differences within the tightest tolerances over long periods of time or in the presence of environmental extremes. Alternatively, or additionally, the performance of a system over a wide range of operating conditions can be characterized, and adjustment factors can be applied to tune the system based on information regarding the environmental conditions while the antenna is in operation. This correction method involves only compensating for the phase error in data analysis instead of physically or electrically changing the phase of the RF pathway. However, such systems are limited in that they are incapable of sensing changes in signal path length due to unanticipated or unmeasured environmental or mechanical conditions.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head comprising a substrate made of an electrically insulating and non-magnetic material, and an inductive magnetic converting element including first and second magnetic films each having pole portions provided in the vicinity of an air bearing surface and being magnetically coupled at portions remote from the air bearing surface, a gap film arranged between the first and second magnetic films at least at the pole portions, and a thin film coil having a portion provided between said first and second magnetic films. The present invention also relates to an inverted hybrid or composed type thin film magnetic head, in which an inductive magnetic recording element is provided on a substrate and a magnetoresistive reading element is arranged on the inductive recording element. 2. Related Art Statement A hybrid type thin film magnetic head including a inductive recording element and a magnetoresistive reading element has been known from, for instance Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 59-35088 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,194. In this known thin film magnetic head, the magnetoresistive reading element is provided on a substrate and the inductive recording element is provided on the magnetoresistive reading element. However, this structure has various problems particularly in a view point of the mass production. Hereinafter, the inductive recording element is sometimes called the inductive element and the magnetoresistive reading element is often called the MR element for the sake of simplicity. In the known structure in which the inductive element is provided on the MR element, the previously manufactured MR element is subjected to all process steps for manufacturing the inductive element. This causes a serious decrease in characteristics, reliability and manufacturing yield of the magnetic head. In order to realize a hybrid type thin film magnetic head which can offer a high surface recording density, it is desirable to form the MR element by a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) film such as spin bulb film, super lattice film and granular film, instead of a normal anisotropic magnetoresistive film. Such a GMR film is liable to be damaged by a thermal treatment during the formation of the inductive element and an output of the MR element is reduced to a large extent. For instance, in a spin bulb film including an alternate stack of magnetic layers of Nixe2x80x94Fe and non-magnetic layers of Cu, at a temperature of about 200-250xc2x0 C. which is usually employed for manufacturing the inductive element, Ni and Cu atoms are mutually diffused and the stacking structure of the spin bulb film is destroyed. An over-write property of the inductive element is largely dependent upon an apex angle of an coil supporting and isolating insulating film for supporting the thin film coil such that conductive turns thereof are isolated from each other, and upon a throat height of the pole portion. Therefore, in order to improve the stability, reliability and yield, it is very important to control precisely said apex angle and throat height. Particularly, in order to improve the manufacturing yield of the thin film magnetic head, not only the above mentioned throat height of the inductive element, but also an MR height of the MR element have to be formed precisely. As is well known in the art, the throat height and MR height are determined by a position of the lowermost insulating layer of the coil supporting and isolating insulating film and a working precision of an air bearing surface which is opposed to a magnetic recording medium with a very small space during the recording and reading. For the sake of simplicity, hereinafter the air bearing surface is called ABS. In the known hybrid type thin film magnetic head having the inductive element formed on the MR element, in order to obtain desired throat height MR height precisely corresponding to designed values, it is necessary to perform a mask alignment for the formation of the lowermost insulating layer with a minimum alignment error with respect to the already formed MR film. However, the MR film has very small thickness such as several hundreds xc3x85 and a pole portion of a relatively thick first magnetic film of the inductive element is formed on the MR film, a contour of the MR film could not be seen clearly during the mask alignment. Therefore, the precise mask alignment for the lowermost insulating layer could be carried out only with difficulty. It should be noted that the mask alignment for the lowermost insulating layer is also important for obtaining a desired throat height. In order to mitigate the above problem of the mask alignment, an alignment pattern may be formed and the mask alignment may be performed with respect to this pattern. However, in this case, an alignment error of the alignment pattern is introduced, and thus the mask alignment for the lowermost insulating layer could not be carried out precisely. Furthermore, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and cost is increased. Usually the thin film coil has a plurality of desired properties are wasted after a polishing process for forming the ABS. The known hybrid type thin film magnetic head has encountered another problem. Since after the MR film has been formed, a shield gap film is formed and then a first magnetic film of the inductive element is formed on the shield gap film, a pole portion of the first magnetic film could not have a flat surface due to the MR film and shield gap film. When a second magnetic film is formed on the first magnetic film via the writing gap film, the pole portion of the second magnetic film also could not have a flat surface. Such non-flat pole portions results in a degradation in a high frequency property of the inductive recording element. In order to avoid such a degradation, in the known manufacturing method, after forming the first magnetic film, a planarizing process is performed by a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) which has been known in the semiconductor device manufacturing technique. This planarizing process apparently increases the manufacturing cost and time. In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Kokai Hei 3-263603, there is proposed a inverted or reversed type thin film magnetic head, in which a magnetoresistive reading element is formed on an inductive recording element. However, this prior art publication does not teach a structure suitable for alignment between the MR element and the photoresist coil layers, and after a coil layer is formed, its insulating layer, e.g. photoresist is subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of about 250xc2x0 C. for forming a flat surface. This flat surface of the insulating layer is required for forming a next coil layer. During this heating process, the photoresist is softened or melt and its pattern size is varied largely. Moreover, when a patterning for forming a coil layer is conducted by milling, a pattern of the coil supporting and isolating insulating film constituting a positional reference for the MR element is etched again, and the retardation of pattern occurs. When such a variation of the pattern in the insulating layer occurs, even if the photomask for the photoresist is aligned precisely, a positional relationship of the photoresist with respect to the MR element might be changed. The variation of the photoresist pattern might amount to 0.5-0.6 xcexcm when a thickness of the photoresist is large. Particularly, a hybrid type thin film magnetic head for high frequency has been required to have the throat height not longer than 1.00 xcexcm. Therefore, it is necessary to control precisely the variation of the photoresist pattern in the order to sub-microns. The known technique including a large variation in the photoresist pattern could not meet such a requirement, and many thin film magnetic heads whose inductive and/or magnetoresistive element have not supporting the thin film coil, and does not disclose a useful technique for suppressing the variation of the photoresist pattern. Moreover, in the thin film magnetic head including the inductive recording element, in order to attain a high surface record density as well as an excellent high frequency property, it is necessary to minimize a width of the pole portions of first and second magnetic films. For instance, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication, Kokai Hei 3-263603, there is described a method of minimizing a width of the pole portions of the first and second magnetic films. In this known method, after the ABS has been obtained by polishing, tips of the pole portions of the first and second magnetic films exposing to the ABS are etched to reduce a width of the pole portions. However, such a known method could not be practically used. In order to manufacture thin film magnetic heads on a mass scale in an efficient manner, a width of the pole portions of first and second magnetic films has to be minimized during the manufacture of the inductive element. In the thin film magnetic film of the type mentioned above, in order to attain a stability of floating posture, to increase the number of thin film magnetic heads which can be manufactured from a single wafer, and to minimize a size of the thin film magnetic head, it is advantageous to reduce a size of a slider as is taught in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication Kokai-Sho 64-21713 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,195. However, even if a size of the slider is reduced, each of bonding pads provided on the slider for connecting the magnetic head to an external circuit must have a sufficient surface area for firmly connecting a lead wire thereto. In the hybrid type thin film magnetic head comprising a stack of the inductive recording element and magnetoresistive reading element, it is necessary to provide two bonding pads connected to both ends of a thin film coil and two bonding pads connected to both ends of the MR film. These bonding pads prevent the miniaturization of the slider. In Japanese Utility Model Application Publication 7-31362, there is described an inductive type thin film magnetic head, in which lead conductors are extended up to a side wall of a slider and bonding pads are formed on the lead conductors. However, this structure is not suitable for the miniaturization of the slider, because the lead conductors require a relatively large surface area. In this publication, there is further disclosed that a part of a plurality of bonding pads are position above the magnetic converting element. However, the prior art publication does not teach anything about the hybrid type thin film magnetic head having a stack structure of the inductive recording element and magnetoresistive reading element. The present invention has for its object to provide a novel and useful hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which a magnetoresistive reading element is not affected by processes for manufacturing an inductive recording element. It is another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head having a high surface record density, in which a magnetoresistive element is formed by a giant magnetoresistive film such as spin bulb film, super lattice film and granular film, said giant magnetoresistive film is not subjected to a thermal damage. It is another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which apex angle and throat height of a pole portion can be controlled precisely. It is another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which a throat height of an inductive recording element and an MR height of an MR element can be set to desired values. It is another object to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which undesired variation of a photoresist for insulating a thin film coil due to a heating treatment can be avoided, a throat height can be minimized and various dimensions can be precisely controlled to have an excellent high frequency property. It is another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which undesired variation of a photoresist pattern due to a milling process for forming a thin film coil can be avoided and a throat height can be minimized to obtain an excellent high frequency property. It is another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, in which a flat first magnetic film of an inductive recording element can be formed without using the chemical-mechanical polishing, and the deterioration of the high frequency property due to the non-flat first magnetic film can be avoided. It is still another object of the invention to provide a thin film magnetic head including at least an inductive recording element, in which a width of a pole portion can be minimized to improve the surface recording density and high frequency property. It is another object of the invention is to provide a thin film magnetic head including at least an inductive recording element, in which a width of a pole portion can be minimized without making a manufacturing process complex, cumbersome and expensive. It is another object of the invention to provide a thin film magnetic head including at least an inductive recording element, in which a width of a pole portion of a minimized size can be formed uniformly. It is another object of the invention to provide a thin film magnetic head including at least an inductive recording element, in which a magnetic field is confined in a pole portion to improve the high frequency property and surface recording density. It is still another object of the invention to provide a hybrid type thin film magnetic head, which can be easily miniaturized so that the number of magnetic heads which can be formed from a single wafer can be increased and a magnetic disc device using the magnetic head can be also miniaturized, and the magnetic head can float above a magnetic disc in a stable manner. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head and has an object to provide a novel and useful method by means of which the above mentioned thin film magnetic head according to the invention can be manufactured in a precise, efficient and less expensive manner. According to a first aspect of the invention, a hybrid type thin film magnetic head comprises: a substrate made of a non-magnetic insulating material and having a surface in which a recessed portion is formed; an inductive recording element formed to be supported by said substrate; and a magnetoresistive reading element formed to be supported by said inductive recording element; wherein said inductive recording element includes: a first magnetic film having a portion formed on an inner surface of said recessed portion and a pole portion formed on said surface of the substrate to extend from said portion formed on the inner surface of the recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; a thin film coil formed within said recessed portion and having a plurality of conductive coil turns; a coil supporting and isolating insulatin formed within said recessed portion such that conductive turns of the thin film coil are su and isolated by said insulating film; a gap film made of a non-magnetic material formed at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film; a second magnetic film formed on said gap film and having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion; and said magnetoresistive reading element includes: a first shield gap film made of a non-magnetic insulating material and formed on said second magnetic film; a magnetoresistive film formed on said first shield gap film such that a side edge of the magnetoresistive film is exposed on said air bearing surface; a second shield gap film made of a non-magnetic insulating material and formed on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; and a third magnetic film formed on said second shield gap film. According to the first aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing an inverted hybrid type thin film magnetic head including an inductive recording element, a magnetoresistive reading element, and a substrate supporting said inductive recording element and magnetoresistive reading element, comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion in a surface of a substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on a portion of said surface of the substrate such that said first magnetic film includes a pole portion extending from the recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are supported and isolated from each other by means of a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed within said recessed portion; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that the second magnetic film includes a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion; forming a first shield gap film on said second magnetic film; forming a magnetoresistive film on said first shield gap film; forming a second shield gap film on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; and forming a third magnetic film on said second shield gap film. According to the first aspect of the invention, since the magnetoresistive reading element is formed on the inductive recording element, it is possible to manufacture the magnetoresistive reading element after the inductive recording element has been formed. Therefore, the magnetoresistive reading element can be effectively prevented from being affected by a process for manufacturing the inductive recording element. As stated above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the magnetoresistive reading element is not affected by a heating treatment for forming the thin film coil isolated by the coil supporting and isolating insulating film. Therefore, the magnetoresistive film may be advantageously formed by a GMR film such as spin bulb film, super lattice film and granular film which is liable to be damaged by a high temperature annealing process during the formation of the inductive recording element. In this manner, it is possible to obtain the magnetoresistive reading element having a very high sensitivity. According to the first aspect of the invention, the thin film coil and coil supporting and isolating insulating film are formed within the recessed portion formed in the surface of the substrate, and thus the apex angle and throat height can be precisely controlled by adjusting an angle and a configuration of a side wall of the recessed portion and a depth of the recessed portion. The first magnetic film has the pole portion which extends from a portion of the first magnetic film formed on the surface of the recessed portion, and thus there is formed a corner between the pole portion and the portion formed on the recessed portion. The throat height is determined with reference to said corner whose position is not changed during the formation of the magnetic head. Therefore, the throat height can be precisely set to a desired value. The thin film coil is usually formed by a stack of a plurality of coil turn layers which are isolated by a plurality of insulating layers of the coil supporting and isolating insulating film, and the insulating layers are usually made of a photoresist. In order to form successive coil turn layers precisely, an insulating layer is subjected to a heating treatment at a temperature of about 250xc2x0 C. at which the photoresist of the insulating layer is softened or melt. However, according to the invention, the thin film coil and coil supporting and isolating insulating film are formed within the recessed portion, even if the photoresist is softened or melt, the configuration of the thin film coil and coil supporting and isolating insulating film is not changed, but is fixed in accordance with a configuration of the recessed portion. Therefore, the photoresist pattern is not changed under the heating treatment. Moreover, the coil supporting and isolating insulating film pattern is not changed even by a process for milling the coil supporting and isolating insulating film during the formation of the coil turns of the thin film coil. Therefore, according to the invention, the apex angle can be precisely determined by the inclination angle and configuration of the side wall of the recessed portion and the throat height can be also precisely determined with reference to the corner of the first magnetic head. According to a second aspect of the invention, a thin film magnetic head comprises: a substrate having a surface; and an inductive recording element formed on said surface of the substrate; wherein said inductive recording element includes: a first magnetic film formed on said substrate and having a pole portion extending from an air bearing surface; a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns each of which includes a portion formed on said first magnetic film; a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed to isolate said conductive coil turns of the thin film coil are isolated from each other; a gap film made of a non-magnetic material and having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film; and a second magnetic film having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion, said pole portion of the second magnetic film being constituted by a protrusion which is formed in a surface of the second magnetic film contacted with said gap film and protrudes toward said pole portion of the first magnetic film. According to the second aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including a substrate having and an inductive recording element formed on said substrate, comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion and a groove in a surface of the substrate such that said groove extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and within said groove of the substrate; etching a part of said first magnetic film formed within said groove to form a pole portion within the groove such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film within the groove is lower than a surface level of the substrate in which said groove is formed such that said groove has a space therein; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are isolated from each other by means of a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed within said recessed portion; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed in said recessed portion and on said pole portion of the first magnetic film within said groove, said gap film having a thickness which is smaller than a depth of said space within the groove such that the groove still has a space; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which projects into said space of the groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film, and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion. According to the second aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including a substrate having and an inductive recording element formed on said substrate, comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion in a surface of the substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on said surface of the substrate such that the first magnetic film has a pole portion which extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are supported and isolated by a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed within said recessed portion, a surface level of said coil supporting and isolating insulating film being not higher than a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film; forming an inorganic insulating film on said substrate, said pole portion of the first magnetic film and said coil supporting and isolating insulating film; etching said inorganic insulating film such that a surface of said pole portion of the first magnetic film is exposed; etching said exposed surface of the pole portion of the first magnetic film such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film is lower than a surface level of the inorganic film so as to form a groove; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said inorganic insulating film and on said pole portion of the first magnetic film within said groove; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which projects into said groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film, and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion. According to the second aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including a substrate having and an inductive recording element formed on said substrate, comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion in a surface of the substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on said surface of the substrate such that the first magnetic film has a pole portion which extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a metal film at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film, said metal film being made of a metal which has an etching property different from that of the first magnetic film; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are supported and isolated by a coil supporting and insulating film formed within said recessed portion, a surface level of said coil supporting and isolating insulating film being lower than a surface level of the metal film; forming an inorganic insulating film on said substrate, said metal film on the pole portion of the first magnetic film and said coil supporting and isolating insulating film; etching said inorganic insulating film such that a surface of said metal film is exposed; selectively etching said metal film to expose the surface of the pole portion of the first magnetic film such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film is lower than a surface level of the inorganic insulating film so as to form a groove; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said inorganic insulating film and on said pole portion of the first magnetic film within said groove; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which projects into said groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film, and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion. According to the above mentioned second aspect of the invention, a width of a writing pole can be minimized to a width of said protrusion of the second magnetic film, and thus a high surface recording density can be attained and a high frequency property can be improved. Moreover, said protrusion is formed by a part of a whole thickness of the second magnetic film, a magnetic flux is effectively confined at the writing pole, which can improve the surface recording density and high frequency property. Furthermore, a width of said protrusion can be formed precisely and finely by using a high precision patterning technique mainly a photolithography during the manufacturing process of the second magnetic film. It should be noted that although it is not necessary to constitute the thin film magnetic head according to the second aspect of the invention as the hybrid type thin film magnetic head, it is advantageous to constitute the thin film magnetic head according to the second aspect of the invention as the hybrid type one including a magnetoresistive reading element in addition to the inductive recording element. In such a case, it is particularly advantageous to construct the hybrid type thin film magnetic head as the inverted structure like as the first aspect of the invention. In this case, since the second magnetic film can be formed on a planar surface of the gap film, said protrusion constituting the writing pole can be also formed precisely. According to a third aspect of the invention, an inverted hybrid type thin film magnetic head comprises: a substrate having a surface in which a recessed portion is formed; an inductive recording element formed to be opposed to said surface of the substrate in which said recessed portion is formed; and a magnetoresistive reading element formed on a side of said inductive recording element which is opposite to said substrate; wherein said inductive recording element includes: a first magnetic film formed on said recessed portion of the substrate and having a pole portion which is formed on the substrate and extends from the recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; a thin film coil formed within said recessed portion and having a plurality of conductive turns; a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed within said recessed portion such that said conductive turns of the thin film coil are supported and isolated by said coil supporting and isolating insulating film; a gap film made of a non-magnetic material formed at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film; a second magnetic film formed on said gap film and having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion; and two conductors each having one ends connected to respective ends of said thin film coil; said magnetoresistive reading element includes: a first shield gap film formed on said second magnetic film; a magnetoresistive film formed on said first shield gap film such that a side edge of the magnetoresistive film is exposed on said air bearing surface; a second shield gap film formed on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; and a third magnetic film formed on said second shield gap film and having a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; and at least two bonding pads formed on a side wall of said substrate on a side from which a bearing air flow exits, one of said bonding pads being connected to one of said two conductors which is connected to one end of the thin film coil and being provided above the thin film coil such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a pattern of the thin film coil. According to the third aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a hybrid type thin film magnetic head including an inductive recording element, a magnetoresistive reading element, and a substrate supporting said inductive recording element and magnetoresistive reading element, comprising the steps of: forming a depressed portion in a surface of a substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion of the substrate and on a portion of said surface of the substrate such that said first magnetic film includes a pole portion extending from the recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are isolated from each other by means of a first insulating film formed within said recessed portion; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film and said second insulating film; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that the second magnetic film includes a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion; forming a first shield gap film on said second magnetic film at least at a portion near the air bearing surface; forming a magnetoresistive film on said first shield gap film; forming a second shield gap film on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; forming a third magnetic film on said second shield gap film at least at a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; forming a second insulating film on said third magnetic film and second shield gap film; forming first and second pairs of conductors, said first pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said thin film coil through via holes formed in said second insulating film and said second pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said magnetoresistive film by means of via holes formed in said second insulating film; and forming first and second pairs of bonding pads on said second insulating film, said first pair of bonding pads being connected to said first pair of conductors, said second pair of bonding pads being connected to said second pair of conductors, and one of said first pair of bonding pads being formed such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a plane of a pattern defined by said thin film coil. In the thin film magnetic head according to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to all the above mentioned merits of the thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the invention, the following merits can be obtained. Since one of the bonding pads connected to the one end of the thin film coil is provided on the side wall of the substrate at such a position that its center situates within the pattern defined by the thin film coil, a surface area of the side wall of the substrate can be utilized efficiently. Therefore, a surface area of the substrate can be reduced, and thus the thin film magnetic head can be minimized. This results in that a floating posture of the magnetic head above a magnetic record medium can be stabilized, a magnetic disc device using the thin film magnetic head can be also minimized, and a larger number of magnetic heads can be manufactured from a single wafer. In a preferable embodiment of the thin film magnetic head according to the third aspect of the invention, two further bonding pads each connected to respective ends of the magnetoresistive film are also provided on the side wall of the substrate such that all four bonding pads are aligned in a direction which is perpendicular to a direction of the bearing air flow. According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a hybrid type thin film magnetic head comprises: a substrate having a surface in which a recessed portion is formed; an inductive recording element formed to be opposed to said surface of the substrate in which said recessed portion is formed; and a magnetoresistive reading element formed on a side of said inductive recording element which is opposite to said substrate; wherein said inductive recording element includes: a first magnetic film formed on said recessed portion of the substrate and having a pole portion extending from the recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; a thin film coil formed within said recessed portion and having a plurality of conductive turns; an insulating film formed within said recessed portion such that said conductive turns of the thin film coil are isolated by said insulating film; a gap film made of a non-magnetic material formed at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film and said insulating film; a second magnetic film having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion, said pole portion of the second magnetic film being constituted by a protrusion which is formed in a surface of the second magnetic film contacted with said gap film and protrudes toward said pole portion of the first magnetic film; and two conductors each having one ends connected to respective ends of said thin film coil; said magnetoresistive reading element includes: a first shield gap film formed on said second magnetic film; a magnetoresistive film formed on said first shield gap film such that a side edge of the magnetoresistive film is exposed on said air bearing surface; a second shield gap film formed on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; and a third magnetic film formed on said second shield gap film and having a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; and at least two bonding pads formed on a side wall of said substrate on a side from which a bearing air flow exits, one of said bonding pads being connected to one of said two conductors which is connected to one end of the thin film coil and being provided above the thin film coil such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a plane of a pattern defined by the thin film coil. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a hybrid type thin film magnetic head including a substrate having, an inductive recording element formed on said substrate and a magnetoresistive reading element formed on the inductive recording element, comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion and a groove in a surface of the substrate such that said groove extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on an inner surface of said groove of the substrate; etching a part of said first magnetic film formed on the inner surface of said groove to form a pole portion within the groove such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film within the groove is lower than a surface level of the substrate in which said groove is formed so that a step is formed between these surfaces; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are isolated from each other by means of a first insulating film formed within said recessed portion; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said insulating film formed in said recessed portion and said pole portion of the first magnetic film such that the gap film includes a step corresponding to said step of the first magnetic film; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which is formed within said groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at position remote from said pole portion; forming a first shield gap film on said second magnetic film at least at a portion near the air bearing surface; forming a magnetoresistive film on said first shield gap film; forming a second shield gap film on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; forming a third magnetic film on said second shield gap film at least at a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; forming a second insulating film on said third magnetic film and second shield gap film; forming first and second pairs of conductors, said first pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said thin film coil through via holes formed in said second insulating film and said second pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said magnetoresistive film by means of via holes formed in said second insulating film; and forming first and second pairs of bonding pads on said second insulating film, said first pair of bonding pads being connected to said first pair of conductors, said second pair of bonding pads being connected to said second pair of conductors, and one of said first pair of bonding pads being formed such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a plane of a pattern defined by said thin film coil. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a hybrid type thin film magnetic head including a substrate having, an inductive recording element formed on said substrate, and a magnetoresistive reading element formed on the inductive recording element comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion in a surface of the substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on said surface of the substrate such that the first magnetic film has a pole portion which extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are supported and isolated by a coil supporting and isolating insulating film formed within said recessed portion, a surface level of said coil supporting and isolating insulating film being not higher than a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film; forming an inorganic insulating film on said substrate, said pole portion of the first magnetic film and said coil supporting and isolating insulating film; etching said inorganic insulating film such that a surface of said pole portion of the first magnetic film is exposed; etching said exposed surface of the pole portion of the first magnetic film such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film is lower than a surface level of the inorganic film so as to form a groove; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said inorganic insulating film and on said pole portion of the first magnetic film within said groove; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which projects into said groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film, and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion; forming a first shield gap film on said second magnetic film at least at a portion near the air bearing surface; forming a magnetoresistive film on said first shield gap film; forming a second shield gap film on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; forming a third magnetic film on said second shield gap film at least at a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; forming a second insulating film on said third magnetic film and second shield gap film; forming first and second pairs of conductors, said first pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said thin film coil through via holes formed in said second insulating film and said second pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said magnetoresistive film by means of via holes formed in said second insulating film; and forming first and second pairs of bonding pads on said second insulating film, said first pair of bonding pads being connected to said first pair of conductors, said second pair of bonding pads being connected to said second pair of conductors, and one of said first pair of bonding pads being formed such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a plane of a pattern defined by said thin film coil. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a hybrid type thin film magnetic head including a substrate having, an inductive recording element formed on said substrate, and a magnetoresistive reading element formed on the inductive recording element comprises the steps of: forming a recessed portion in a surface of the substrate; forming a first magnetic film on an inner surface of said recessed portion and on said surface of the substrate such that the first magnetic film has a pole portion which extends from said recessed portion up to an air bearing surface; forming a metal film at least on said pole portion of the first magnetic film, said metal film being made of a metal which has an etching property different from that of the first magnetic film; forming a thin film coil having a plurality of conductive coil turns within said recessed portion such that said conductive coil turns are supported and isolated by a coil supporting and insulating film formed within said recessed portion, a surface level of said coil supporting and isolating insulating film being lower than a surface level of the metal film; forming an inorganic insulating film on said substrate, said metal film on the pole portion of the first magnetic film and said coil supporting and isolating insulating film; etching said inorganic insulating film such that a surface of said metal film is exposed; selectively etching said metal film to expose the surface of the pole portion of the first magnetic film such that a surface level of the pole portion of the first magnetic film is lower than a surface level of the inorganic insulating film so as to form a groove; forming a gap film made of a non-magnetic material on said inorganic insulating film and on said pole portion of the first magnetic film within said groove; forming a second magnetic film on said gap film such that said second magnetic film includes a pole portion constituted by a protrusion which projects into said groove and is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic film via said gap film, and a portion which is magnetically coupled with said first magnetic film at a position remote from said pole portion. forming a first shield gap film on said second magnetic film at least at a portion near the air bearing surface; forming a magnetoresistive film on said first shield gap film; forming a second shield gap film on the magnetoresistive film and first shield gap film; forming a third magnetic film on said second shield gap film at least at a portion which is opposed to said magnetoresistive film via said second shield gap film; forming a second insulating film on said third magnetic film and second shield gap film; forming first and second pairs of conductors, said first pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said thin film coil through via holes formed in said second insulating film and said second pair of conductors being connected to respective ends of said magnetoresistive film by means of via holes formed in said second insulating film; and forming first and second pairs of bonding pads on said second insulating film, said first pair of bonding pads being connected to said first pair of conductors, said second pair of bonding pads being connected to said second pair of conductors, and one of said first pair of bonding pads being formed such that a center of the relevant bonding pad situates within a plane of a pattern defined by said thin film coil. In the thin film magnetic head according to the fourth aspect of the invention, all the above mentioned merits of the thin film magnetic heads according to the above mentioned first, second and third aspects of the invention can be attained.

1. Technical Field This invention relates to processing of audio source content, and more specifically to processing audio source content to modify acoustic characteristics of an acoustic space in which the audio source content drives loudspeakers. 2. Related Art Audio source content can be any form of sound, such as a voice or music. Audio source content can be received and converted to electrical signals with any device sensitive to sound waves, such as a microphone. Audio systems can be used to amplify, adjust and transport electrical signals representative of received audio source content. Audio source content can be reproduced with a transducer, such as a loudspeaker, that converts the electrical signals to sound waves. In general, audio source content is available in the form of either a live performance or a pre-recorded performance. With either recorded performances or live performances, the audio source content inherently includes acoustic characteristics related to the conditions and environment in which the sound was produced during the performance. Such acoustic characteristics include a level of reverberation caused by the acoustic space in which the sound was originally produced. The audio source content may also include a level of reverberation produced by electronic means. When such performances are re-produced in another acoustic space, the acoustic characteristics may be significantly altered by the conditions and environment in which the sound is being reproduced. In addition, when sound is created in an acoustic space or reproduced in an acoustic space, the acoustical characteristics of the acoustic space may have an undesirable effect on the sound. It is often not convenient or impossible to measure the acoustic characteristics of an acoustic space in order to replicate sound previously generated in the acoustic space. For example, an audio recording of a singer in a concert hall includes acoustic characteristics of that particular concert hall however; access to the concert hall to measure the acoustic characteristics may be difficult. In addition, even with access to the concert hall, replication of the acoustic conditions at the time of the recording (e.g. location of the singer and the microphone, presence of an audience, ambient conditions, etc.) could be quite difficult. Therefore, a need exists to be able to modify an acoustic space with an audio signal so that production or reproduction of the audio signal in the acoustic space imparts desirable acoustic characteristics to the acoustic space or replicates sound production in another acoustic space.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures. An important process in the manufacturing of semiconductor product is operations testing. Through the performance of operations testing, the semiconductor manufacturer ensures that quality integrated circuit (IC) packages are being sold to their customers. Generally, the process is highly automated and requires sophisticated electronic-mechanical system typically referred to as test handlers. Test handlers may include robotic electromechanical machinery used for transporting an IC package to a test site. Once at the test site, the IC packages are inserted into a test socket on a printed testing board. There, the printed testing board performs an operations test and subsequently a pick and place handling device takes the tested IC packages to a location in a binning area. Unfortunately, this creates a bottleneck in the throughput of the typical test hander. In essence, the bottleneck is created during the organization of the IC packages because each of the IC packages must be handled by the test handler in order to place the IC packages in the appropriate binning area. What is needed then are methods and systems that reduce the handling of the IC packages in order to increase the throughput of the test handler.

The drug discovery process is currently undergoing a fundamental revolution as it embraces `functional genomics`, that is, high throughput genome- or gene-based biology. This approachas a means to identify genes and gene products as therapeutic targets is rapidly superseding earlier approaches based on `positional cloning`. A phenotype, that is a biological function or genetic disease, would be identified and this would then be tracked back to the responsible gene, based on its genetic map position. Functional genomics relies heavily on high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies and the various tools of bioinformatics to identify gene sequences of potential interest from the many molecular biology databases now available. There is a continuing need to identify and characterise further genes and their related polypeptides/proteins, as targets for drug discovery.

1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains generally to online transactions. More particularly, the invention is an enhanced system and method for carrying out online transactions using a xe2x80x9cshopping gamesxe2x80x9d mechanism module. 2. The Prior Art The use of the global information network known as the Internet as medium for carrying out sales transactions (i.e., online transactions) is known. The popularity of the Internet with home and business computer users has provided a market opportunity to provide transaction mechanisms for such Internet users. Retailers, for example, have launched xe2x80x9conline catalogsxe2x80x9d via Web pages as an alternative (or additional) means for selling their products or services to their customers. Recently, online auctions have also gained popularity with Internet users. For example, web sites such as Ebay(copyright) and Ubid(copyright) provide conventional auction mechanisms, which allow sellers and buyers to engage in auction transactions. Current auctions are defined by a set of participants (sellers and buyers), a set of legal moves (namely, bidding moves and message exchanging moves) for the participants, one or more rounds of moves, each round followed by revelation of information (e.g., current highest bid, current bidders, highest bidder), and a stopping rule, which terminates any further bidding moves and clears the auction. As noted above, the only legal moves provided by current auction schemes to participants include bidding moves (bids) and message exchanging moves. A bid submitted by a bidder for an item commits the bidder to pay some monetary amount if a given outcome occurs, the outcome resulting when the bidder is the highest bidder with a bid amount satisfying the seller""s reserve (minimum) bid amount. Other than bids, the only other legal move provided to participants in current auction schemes are message exchanging moves (i.e., xe2x80x9ccheap talkxe2x80x9d), which are payoff-irrelevant exchanges of messages among participants. For example, a bidder may send an email to the seller inquiring into the description (requesting a picture, for example) of the item for sale by the seller. In general, bids affect the information revelation and the relevant outcome. On the other hand, message exchanges only affect information revelation. Limiting the auction scheme to such legal moves, however, provides the participants with relatively few options and provides an uninteresting transaction scheme. Conventional games on the Internet comprise many diverse types, including non-competitive, competitive and cooperative games, among others. Such games include various legal moves related to game play, but since online games are not associated with online auctions, xe2x80x9cbidsxe2x80x9d are not within the scope of legal moves for games. Accordingly, there is a need for an enhanced system and method for carrying out online transactions and auctions using a xe2x80x9cshopping gamesxe2x80x9d mechanism module which provides for a mechanism scheme allowing xe2x80x9cgame movesxe2x80x9d as well as bidding and message exchanging moves. The present invention satisfies these needs, as well as others, and generally overcomes the deficiencies found in the background art. The present invention is a system and method for carrying out enhanced online transactions using shopping games. The online transaction system comprises an interface module operatively coupled for communication with a mechanism module. In general, the operations of the interface module together with the mechanism module provide an online xe2x80x9cshopping gamexe2x80x9d transaction system wherein participants of the system may engage in game play in conjunction with an auction process to provide an entertaining and amusing environment for participants to carry out online transactions without limiting the participants to traditional auction xe2x80x9cmoves.xe2x80x9d The xe2x80x9cshopping gamexe2x80x9d of the present invention may further be carried out with other online transactions including, for example, fixed-price sales as well as barter transactions. The interface module provides an interface between participants of the online transaction systems. In particular, the interface module manages communication requests from the participants (sellers and bidders) of the system as described more fully below. The interface module further manages transactions associated with moves made by the participants of the system, such as when a seller lists an item for sale, or when a bidder places a bid on an item or plays a game relevant to an item for auction. The mechanism module defines a set of xe2x80x9cmovesxe2x80x9d which may be carried out by the participants of the system. In particular, the mechanism module allows bidders to issue bid moves, messaging moves and game moves relevant to an item for auction. As described more fully below, game moves or game outcomes may affect one or more relevant auction elements or events including, for example, the sale of the item, the selection of the participants, the bidding process, the information revelation, and the auction clearing process. Likewise, auction events may affect other auction or game elements including, for example, the pool of game participants, the set of possible game moves, the structure of information revelation, and the game outcome. The invention further relates to machine readable media on which are stored embodiments of the present invention. It is contemplated that any media suitable for retrieving instructions is within the scope of the present invention. By way of example, such media may take the form of magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. The invention also relates to data structures that contain embodiments of the present invention, and to the transmission of data structures containing embodiments of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector in which a slider, mounted on at least one of a pair of connectors to be fittingly connected together, positively prevents a half-fitted condition of the two connectors by a resilient force of an urging member, and also the slider can positively lock the connector to the mating connector in a fitted condition. The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-165538, which is incorporated herein by reference. 2. Description of the Related Art Usually, various electronic equipments are mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and therefore, naturally, various types of female and male connectors are provided at connection ends of various kinds of wires forming wire harnesses or the like. Various half-fitting prevention connectors, capable of detecting a half-fitted condition of the female and male connectors, have been used, and one such half-fitting prevention connector is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 5-81967. This half-fitting prevention connector comprises a pin-type connector, having a plurality of juxtaposed pin contacts mounted therein, and a socket-type connector having a plurality of juxtaposed socket contacts mounted therein. A movable cover is mounted on the outer periphery of the female connector for movement back and forth. Spring receiving portions are provided at opposite side portions of this movable cover, respectively, and spring members are received respectively in these spring receiving portions, and extend in a forward-rearward direction. In this half-fitting prevention connector, however, although a half-fitted condition can be prevented by the resilient force of the spring members, there is encountered a problem that when trying to fit the two connectors together while holding the opposite side surfaces of the movable cover with the hand, the movable cover can not be moved, and therefore the efficiency of the fitting operation is low. Therefore, various half-fitting prevention connectors for solving the above problem have been proposed. FIGS. 6 to 9 show a half-fitting prevention connector 100 disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-289756. As shown in FIG. 6, this half-fitting prevention connector 100 comprises a pair of male and female connectors 1A and 2 to be fittingly connected together. The male connector 1A comprises a housing 3A which includes an inner housing 3a having terminal receiving chambers 17 for respectively receiving a predetermined number of (two in the illustrated example) socket contacts 31. A slider receiving portion 4 for slidably receiving a slider 10A (described later) is formed above the inner housing 3a, and an outer housing, serving as a hood portion 19, covers the outer periphery of the inner housing 3a, with a suitable space formed therebetween, the outer housing forming the slider receiving portion 4. Side rib-receiving portions 19a for respectively receiving side ribs 27 (described later) of the female connector 2 are formed in an inner surface of the hood portion 19, and extend in a fitting direction. Guide grooves 5 for respectively guiding opposite side portions of a slider body 11 are formed respectively at opposite side portions of the slider receiving portion 4, and tubular spring receiving portions 3c are formed respectively at rear ends of the guide grooves 5. A lock arm 6 of the cantilever type is formed integrally at a central portion of the slider receiving portion 4, and extends in the fitting direction, and a free end (distal end) portion of this lock arm 6 can be elastically displaced in an upward-downward direction. A lock projection 7, having a slanting surface 7b, is formed on an upper surface of the lock arm 6, and a housing lock 8 for retaining engagement with a female housing 21 (described later) is formed on a lower surface of the lock arm 6 at the distal end thereof. Displacement prevention projections 8a for preventing the displacement of the lock arm 6 are formed integrally on the upper surface of the lock arm 6, and face away from the housing lock 8. Side spaces 4a for respectively receiving abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A (described later) are provided at opposite sides of the lock arm 6, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, the slider 10A has an elastic slider arm 12 of the cantilever type provided at a generally central portion of the slider body 11, and the pair of abutment projections 14 are formed respectively on opposite side portions of a lower surface of the slider arm 12 at a front end thereof. The slider 10A includes a pressing portion 15, which is operated when canceling the fitting connection, a slide groove 13 formed in the slider arm 12 and the pressing portion 15, and a pair of spring retaining portions 16 which are formed respectively at opposite side portions of a lower rear portion of the slider, and retain a pair of compression springs (spring members) 9 and 9, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, the female connector 2 includes terminal receiving chambers 29 (each in the form of a through hole) for respectively receiving a predetermined number of (two in the illustrated example) pin contacts 32, and this female connector has a housing insertion port 26 open to the front end thereof. A pair of stopper projections 22 are formed on the upper surface of the housing 21, and these projections 22 abut respectively against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A when the connectors are fitted together. An engagement projection 23 for retaining the housing lock 8 is formed between the stopper projections 22 and 22, and this engagement projection 23 has a slanting surface for flexing (elastically deforming) the lock arm 6 of the male connector 1A when the lock arm 6 is brought into engagement with the engagement projection 23. A bracket 28 for mounting on an associated member is formed on the housing 21, and is disposed at the lower side of the housing insertion port 26. First, as shown in FIG. 7, when the slider 10A, having the compression springs 9 retained respectively by the spring retaining portions 16, is inserted into the slider receiving portion 4 from the front side of the male connector 1A, the slider body 11 is moved rearward along the guide grooves 5. At this time, the abutment projections 14, formed on the lower surface of the slider arm 12, are received respectively in the side spaces 4a provided respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6. Then, the compression springs 9 are received in the spring receiving portions 3c, respectively, and also the lock projection 7 is fitted in the slide groove 13, so that the slider 10A is supported on the housing 3A so as to move between a lock position and a non-lock position. In the non-lock position of the slider 10A, the slider 10A is disposed at a proximal end-side of the lock arm 6 to allow the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6 when the lock arm 6 is brought into and out of engagement with the mating housing. In the lock position, the slider 10A is disposed at a distal end-side of the lock arm 6 to prevent the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6. In the slider-mounted condition, the slider 10A is urged forward (that is, to the lock position) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9 as shown in FIG. 7, and a rear end 13a of the slide groove 13 is engaged with the lock projection 7 in the slide groove 13, and also the displacement prevention projections 8a at the distal end of the lock arm 6 are abutted against a displacement prevention portion 11a of the slider 10A, thereby preventing upward elastic displacement of the lock arm 6. Then, the socket contacts 31 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 17 open to the rear end of the housing 3A of the male connector 1A, and these contacts 31 are retained respectively by housing lances formed respectively within the terminal receiving chambers 17. The pin contacts 32 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 29 open to the rear end of the housing 21 of the female connector 2, and these contacts 32 are retained respectively by housing lances formed respectively within the terminal receiving chambers 29. Then, when the male and female connectors 1A and 2 begin to be fitted together as shown in FIG. 8, the stopper projections 22 of the female connector 2 are inserted respectively into the side spaces 4a (see FIG. 6) provided respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6 of the male connector 1A, and these stopper projections 22 abut respectively against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A, and when the female connector 2 is pushed, the compression springs 9 are compressed to produce a resilient force. Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds, the slider 10A is pushed rearward (right in FIG. 8) against the bias of the compression springs 9, and the housing lock 8 at the distal end of the lock arm 6 engages the engagement projection 23 of the female connector 2. If the pushing operation is stopped in this half-fitted condition, the male and female connectors 1A and 2 are pushed back away from each other in their respective disengaging directions (opposite to their respective fitting directions) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9, so that this half-fitted condition can be easily detected. Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds as shown in FIG. 9, the slider arm 12 of the slider 10A is elastically deformed upwardly by the slanting surface 7b of the lock projection 7, so that the abutting engagement of each stopper projection 22 with the associated abutment projection 14 of the slider 10A is canceled. Then, the housing lock 8 at the distal end of the lock arm 6 slides over the engagement projection 23, and is retained by this projection 23 while the slider arm 12, disengaged from the stopper projections 22, is returned to the lock position by the resilient force of the compression springs 9. When the slider 10A is returned to the lock position by the resilient force of the compression springs 9, the displacement prevention portion 11a of the slider 10 abuts against the displacement prevention projections 8a of the lock arm 6, as shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6 is prevented, thus achieving a double-locked condition in which the cancellation of the engagement between the lock arm 6 and the engagement projection 23 is prevented by the slider 10A. In this condition in which the cancellation of the engagement of the lock arm 6 is prevented by the slider 10A, the male and female connectors are in a completely-fitted condition, and the contacts 31 are completely connected to the contacts 32, respectively. This completely-fitted condition can be detected through the sense of touch obtained when the housing lock 8 slides over the engagement projection 23, and also this completely-fitted condition can be easily confirmed by viewing the position of the returned slider 10A. In the above conventional half-fitting prevention connector 100, when the slider 10 is returned to the lock position, an abutment surface 7a of the lock projection 7, formed on the lock arm 6, abuts against the rear end 13a of the slide groove 13 in the slider 10A, thereby limiting the forward displacement of the slider 10A, as shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, all of the resilient forces of the compression springs 9 serve as a force F of impingement of the slider 10A on the lock projection 7 on the housing 3A. Therefore, there have been encountered problems that the excessive force acts on the lock projection 7, and that a large impingement sound and impact vibration due to the impingement of the slider 10A on the lock projection 7 are produced when the slider 10A is returned, which is unpleasant. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved half-fitting prevention connector in which undue impingement of a slider on a housing is prevented at the time of returning movement of the slider, thereby reducing unpleasant impingement sound and impact vibration due to the impingement. To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-fitting prevention connector which comprises a first connector housing having a lock arm formed therein, the lock arm including a lock projection, a second connector housing fittable to the first connector housing, an urging member attachable into the first connector housing, the urging member producing an urging force in a fitting-canceling direction between the first and second connector housings, a slider insertable into the first connector housing, the slider preventing a half-fitted condition of the first and second connector housings by the urging force of the urging member, wherein when the first and second connector housings are fitted to each other, the slider cooperates with the urging member to move between a lock position where the slider holds the lock arm in retained relation to the second connector housing and a non-lock position, and the lock projection of the lock arm retains the slider in the lock position against the urging force of the urging member, and a slanting surface formed on at least one of an engagement portion of the slider and the lock projection which can abut against each other, in order to dissipate an impinging force of the slider with the lock projection. In the above construction, when the slider is returned from the non-lock position to the lock position by the urging force of the urging member in the connector-fitting operation, the engagement portion of the slider impinges on the lock projection on the lock arm, and an impinging force, developing at this time in the direction of movement of the slider, is dissipated by the slanting surface into a perpendicular drag and a frictional force. Therefore, the impinging force, produced upon impingement of the engagement portion of the slider on the lock projection, is weakened by the slanting surface, and an excessive force is prevented from acting on the lock projection, and also impingement sound and impact vibration due to the impingement are reduced. Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the slanting surface may be formed on the lock projection of the lock arm. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, an overhang portion may be formed on an upper end of the slanting surface. The overhang portion serves to prevent the engagement portion of the slider from sliding over the slanting surface out of engagement with the lock projection.

The invention relates to a method for maintaining a constant potential ratio in the exposure of electrostatically charged light-sensitive layers on carriers, on which an electrostatically latent image of an original is formed during the exposure. Long-term uniform quality of printing plates, on the charged light-sensitive layers of which electrostatically latent images are obtained by exposure and are developed with a toner, requires that the mutual potential ratios of charge, residual charge, and counter-voltage are precisely maintained. In order to achieve this, the electro-photographic layer must be produced within narrow tolerances and an exposure device, for example a camera, must be adapted to working conditions which may differ from one printing plate to another. The exposure control of conventional cameras consists in general of a timer which switches off the shutter and the light source after a preselected time. An improved control is possible with so-called light dosimeters which measure the light arriving in the zone of the original and correct the exposure time accordingly. In this way, different lamp outputs, caused by light source agin, by fluctuations in the supply voltage, or by dirt on the reflectors, are partially compensated for. The setting required for a desired residual voltage of the exposed printing plate can only be found with the aid of trial plates which are exposed for different periods, so that the exposure step is terminated at different residual voltages of these trial plates. That trial plate which allows satisfactory printing also gives the requisite setting for the desirable residual voltage at the end of exposure. The setting thus obtained cannot be retained, however, since the residual voltage resulting at an unchanged setting varies with the charging and the sensitivity of the light-sensitive layer of the printing plate. These parameters depend on manufacturing tolerances, type of plate, atmospheric humidity, temperature, pre-exposure, dirt on the corona, and the like. German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3,049,339 has disclosed an electrostatic recording device with a measuring device in the form of an electrometer for measuring the surface potential of a light-sensitive layer. The surface potential of a latent image on the light-sensitive layer is measured, the surface potential being registered as an a.c. voltage signal, and various conditions for producing the image, such as, for example, the charging voltage and the developing bias, are controlled from the measured surface potential. For this purpose, a first control device contains a stored program for a sequence control of the device generating the latent image, and a second control contains a stored program for controlling the conditions for the formation of the latent image by means of the device generating the latent image or for controlling the conditions for development by the developing device by means of output signals from the surface potential-measuring device. German Patent No. 2,857,218 has disclosed a method for keeping the optimum conditions constant in electrophotographic duplicating, wherein, for the formation of an electrostatic latent image on a light-sensitive carrier, the carrier is charged electrostatically and exposed and, next to the electrostatic image of the original on the carrier, an electrostatic latent reference image is formed, the potential of which is measured and an adjustable parameter for the duplication is adjusted in accordance with the measured potential reference image. The reference image is generated by forming light and dark areas on the light-sensitive carrier and accordingly has areas of low potential and high potential. The potentials of both areas are measured and, in the event of a deviation of the potentials of the reference image from given set values, the adjustable parameter, allocated to the particular area, is changed until the potentials of the electrostatic latent reference image have been brought to the given set values. If the exposure of the light-sensitive carrier is insufficient (in which case the potential is in general too high), signals are generated for automatically correcting the voltage of the illumination device, the width of the slit opening, or the like, or to provide a corresponding correction figure for the potential. If the charge of the light-sensitive carrier is insufficient, that is to say the potential is too low altogether, signals are provided for automatically increasing the voltage of the charging device or for carrying out a corresponding correction of the potential. If both the exposure and the charge are not at desired levels, signals are provided for correcting both parameters in such a way that, after the passage of a few copies, the given set values can be reached. This means that follow-up control of the voltage of the charging device and/or an increase in the exposure intensity takes place, the starting point for these corrections being the measurement of the surface potential of an electrostatic latent reference image on the light-sensitive carrier. European Patent Application No. 0,098,509 describes a method for controlling the electrostatic charging of a photoconductor surface by means of a corona-charging device. In this case, the charged photoconductor surface is partially discharged by exposure, and signals are measured which allow a comparison of the exposed and unexposed areas of the photoconductor surface. The charging device is controlled according to these comparison signals. The comparison signals are also used for regulating the light intensity of an exposure lamp and the duration of exposure. For this purpose, when the measured signal agrees with a stored set value of the unexposed area of the photoconductor, the corona-charging voltage is regulated to a value corresponding to the matched levels of measured signal and set value. The measured signal belonging to this corona-charging voltage in the exposed area of the photoconductor regulates the exposure lamp in agreement with stored data of the lamp characteristics, which data take into account the aging of the lamp, non-linear influences due to voltage fluctuations, a shift in the color temperature of the exposure lamp relative to the photoconductor sensitivity, and the like, in order to charge the exposed area sections of the photoconductor to the desired surface voltage. In this method, the corona-charging voltage, the exposure intensity and the duration of exposure are regulated in such a way that, at the start of toner application to the photoconductor, a given voltage exists in the exposed areas. A continuous measurement of the decreasing photoconductor voltage and of the exposure process in the exposed area sections does not take place. U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,705 describes an exposure and developing device, in which the background density of a copy is automatically controlled by means of a photosensitive device which scans the material to be copied. The potential obtained on scanning the background is applied during the exposure to the development plate, in order to prevent overcharging of the plate. In this device, the exposure which the plate to be developed receives in a background area is measured. From this measured exposure value and the initial potential of the plate to be developed, a new potential is obtained which is equal to the potential resulting from the exposure of the plate, and this potential is applied to the development electrode and to the plate during the development. Control of the duration of exposure, based on the voltage contrast between the exposed and unexposed areas of the plate to be developed is not envisaged. Rather, the potential of the latent image on the printing plate is registered and, by means of the signal corresponding to this potential, the conditions which are necessary for generation of the image are controlled. Thus, there is follow-up control after the measurement until the desired set values have been reached. The known methods and devices share the common feature that the predetermined duration of exposure does not adequately take into account any possible changes in the light-sensitive layers from one carrier to another and there is no control executed via the residual charge of the exposed layer of the carrier or of the exposed plate.

A known hydraulic pressure value controller for an automatic transmission directly controls a hydraulic pressure value from a hydraulic pressure source by an electromagnetic valve and the hydraulic pressure value provided to friction engaging elements (friction clutch and friction brake), then each friction engaging element becomes engaged or disengaged. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-295529, a clutch torque point leaning method for preferably controlling the electromagnetic valve to be opened and closed has been disclosed. Specifically, according to such clutch torque point learning method, a duty ratio of a duty pulse is learned by a electronic control unit (hereinbelow referred to as ECU) as a torque transmitting start point (torque point) for controlling the clutch to be moved rapidly within an allowance range from the point where the clutch starts to be moved to the point where the clutch becomes in engaging condition, and for further controlling the clutch to be moved slowly by shifting the connection speed once the clutch becomes in engaging condition. As shown in FIG. 8, in the allowance range of a first half of a piston stroke of a clutch piston (hereinbelow referred to as a piston), the friction engaging element is quickly filled with fluid (pre-charge) for increasing a piston speed. After a predetermined time of the pre-charge, the piston speed is decelerated to almost “zero” on the verge of that the friction engaging element becomes in engaging condition. Then, the piston speed needs to be maintained at a low speed corresponding to the low hydraulic pressure value (stand-by hydraulic pressure value) being equivalent to a force of a return spring as a reaction force element of the friction engaging element for keeping the piston at stand-by position. In this way, the automatic transmission needs to be more improved in terms of responsiveness and followability. Thus, the operation speed of transmission may be improved, at the same time, a shift shock may be prevented. Although, an actual pressure may differ from an instruction pressure due to a difference of the reaction force between each return spring on each product. In addition, such phenomena result from an influence from each element excepting a control valve's performance, for example, an influence of the output flow amount from an oil pump when a stroke of the piston is controlled by the hydraulic amount control, not by the hydraulic pressure control. Thus, a means for precisely detecting and setting the return spring equivalent pressure (stand-by hydraulic pressure value) needs to be presented. Specifically, if the return spring equivalent pressure can be set to a proper value, especially at a factory initial setup, for preferably maintaining the piston at the stand-by position thereof, manufacturing variations of the automatic transmission, an engine and the electromagnetic valve on each product which may cause an individual difference between each product can be absorbed. Thus, the quality of the automatic transmission will be secured. A known means for setting the return spring equivalent pressure (stand-by hydraulic pressure) in consideration of absorbing the individual difference between each product is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-338519. In this reference, an engagement controlling device of the friction element is disclosed, which is actuated by hydraulic pressure for monitoring an input shaft, detecting a rotating number change, and adjusting the pressure at critical value before engaging force is generated. In addition, a known controlling device of the automatic transmission is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-303568, which can adjust an initial engaging pressure (stand-by hydraulic pressure) at a preferable value based on an engagement starting pressure being required when the clutch starts engaging movement corresponding to a preferable neutral control. The controlling device in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-338519, however, may misjudge the rotation number difference of the input shaft due to fluctuation on engine rotating number or noise, in addition, a problem may be occurred that the rotating number of the input shaft may not be changed if an inappropriate pre-charge control has been done. Thus, the known means for setting the return spring equivalent pressure (stand-by hydraulic pressure) in consideration of absorbing the individual difference between each product as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-338519 is not applicable for initial setting even if it is applicable for a long-term learning. In such controlling device of the automatic transmission being adjustable for the initial engaging pressure (stand-by hydraulic pressure) at the preferable value as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-303568, a threshold for detecting the engaging starting pressure on each automatic transmission needs to be changed in consideration of the manufacturing variation on each automatic transmission, in addition, an influence from temperature change (oil temperature change) needs to be considered. In addition, such controlling device is based on the preferable neutral control, so that such controlling device is applicable for detecting the stand-by hydraulic pressure of the friction engaging element requiring a small input torque such as a C1 clutch for changing from N to D and having the rotation change equal to or less than the rotation change of the input shaft, however, such controlling device is not applicable for detecting the stand-by hydraulic pressure of another friction engaging element because the detecting accuracy may be decreased due to significant rotation change. In consideration of aforementioned problems, the present invention seeks to provide a stand-by hydraulic pressure value setting means being high accuracy and applicable regardless of various conditions, such as individual difference between each product or temperature change, and a automatic transmission including such stand-by hydraulic pressure value setting means.

This invention relates to apparatus for forming a portion of a sand core, and more particularly to such an apparatus which utilizes an inflatable and expandable bladder in association with a mold body to form and press sand into the desired shape. U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,921 to Grawey discloses the use of a sand core on which the invention of that patent, i.e., a tube-tire, is formed. In that patent, the sand core, after the formation of such tube-tire, is disintegrated and removed from within the tube-tire. The problem of the formation of the sand core itself is a serious one, since, because of the extremely great size of such tube-tire to be formed, the core, by necessity, must be extremely large in overall dimension. Such a large core will, of course, be relatively heavy and unwieldy, so that any saving in weight thereof will aid in the ability to handle such core conveniently. Naturally, even though the weight may be reduced, there can be no sacrifice in overall strength in the core for the purpose for which it is designed. For these reasons, a hollow core would be quite advantageous in this use, and the apparatus should be designed to so form such a core. Furthermore, the apparatus itself should be relatively simple and convenient for such use. In addition, in the production of the type of tube-tire disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, the formation of the outer core surface is quite critical, since it is on this outer surface the tube-tire will be formed. Meanwhile, the formation of the inner surface of the hollow core, and the shaping thereof, is not critical. Furthermore, as the core material cross-section is reduced in producing a hollow core it becomes increasingly important that the core be of uniform overall strength. Therefore, the apparatus should be capable of exerting uniform compressive force upon the total surface area of the core material regardless of whether such material is evenly distributed within the mold.

Electronics packaging and mounting reliability issues are almost always associated with thermal-mechanical stresses. These issues are compounded by the industry's ongoing revolution in which the market demands smaller packages and higher density devices delivering more power and greater functionality. One of the weakest links in the hostile environment of a sensor package, for example, is the soldered joint utilized to attach the sensor components to a printed circuit board (PCB). Several types of solder-based techniques have been used for attaching integrated circuit modules and/or discrete components to a suitable interconnecting forum, typically a PCB. One such traditional mounting technique involves positioning a component encased in a plastic material and having metal leads extending therefrom onto a PCB such that the leads extend into holes in the PCB. A solder joint is utilized to rigidly couple the leads to the PCB holes. Another solder-based mounting method, commonly known as surface mount technology (SMT), involves mounting the electronic components such that the leads are soldered onto the surface of a PCB rather than inserted into holes in the board. Solder molding compounds have several significant performance characteristics that must be considered by a manufacturer for a given application. These items include temperature of glass transition, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), moisture absorption characteristics, flexural modulus and strength, and thermal conductivity. These and other characteristics may contribute to problems associated with soldered mounting of electronic components including moisture sensitivity, cracked packages, open bond wires, intermittent electrical continuity failures, etc. Particularly when deployed in high-temperature environments, such as many automotive sensor applications, CTE mismatch strains can significantly compromise the strength and reliability of the solder joints in an electronics package. Most of these problems are not present in the devices prior to assembly onto PCBs but are the result of thermally induced stressing during assembly soldering or rework de-soldering. An alternative approach to soldering PCB components on a common circuit substrate to form a functional unit such as an electronic sensor package is generally known as press-fit technology. A press-fit connection is made, as the name implies, through the pressing in of a contact pin into a PCB through hole. The important consideration here is that the cross-section diameter of the pin is greater that the diameter of the PCB hole. This difference in pin cross section and hole diameter results in deformation of either the PCB hole or the cross section of the pin during the insertion process of pin into a PCB through hole. The two major press-fit techniques include a solid pin that does not deform in the insertion process and a compliant pin that compresses as a result of insertion into the PCB through hole. The compliant pin approach has proven more popular for achieving a reliable press fit contact for several reasons. First, the reduction in the size of press-fit section exerts less potentially damaging forces on the PCB through hole and greater tolerances can be accepted for the plated through hole. Furthermore, compliant pins result in lower required insertion forces, resulting in fewer logistical complications. Finally, compliant pins enable multiple press cycles into the same through holes. In addition to being used for connecting components to a PCB, press fit technology is also commonly utilized in multilayer PCB applications in which press fit connector adapters are installed as effective plug-in adapters onto a PCB. In view of the aforementioned problems with soldered PCB connection techniques, such press-fit technologies are rapidly emerging as a more attractive alternative for connecting multiple components to a common platform. Press-fit compliant solutions offer several advantages over soldering including providing simple, clean, robust and highly reliable interconnections, even in high-vibration and thermal cycling environments. Press-fit connectivity further eliminates the need for special features for PCB ground plane layers to minimize their heat sink effects when soldering. Use of press fit PCB connectivity eliminates the need to solder and consequently eliminates package exposure to the high temperatures associated with conventional soldering and wave soldering applications. The elimination of solder joints enhances long-term reliability by providing a more shock resistant connection. Furthermore, the use of press fit connections eliminates the need to wash the PCB as is required for removing flux and other soldering board residue. While alleviating problems associated with soldering connectivity, conventional press-fit technologies pose several significant problems. Many of the drawbacks to conventional press-fit relate to the fine tolerances involved in positioning and pressing multiple pins into the very small press-fit holes. For example, the connector pins often protrude through the PCB when pressed thereon, requiring clearance holes or slots be provided at all connector sites. Furthermore, high precision press positioning equipment including tooling pins is required to pre-align the PCB holes with the fixture. Furthermore, the aforementioned compliant pin approach results reduced component re-usability due to the deformation of component leads. It can therefore be appreciated that a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for packaging and mounting electronic components to a substrate forum that alleviates some or all of the foregoing problems with soldering and conventional press-fit technologies. The present invention addresses such a need.

It has heretofore been proposed to employ so-called time domain reflectometry techniques to detect level of material in a storage vessel. In general, this technique involves placement of a conductive transmission line or probe in the vessel at an orientation to be contacted by material in the vessel. A microwave pulse of short duration is launched onto the transmission line probe, typically in a downward direction through air toward the material surface. When this pulse encounters an electrical impedance discontinuity, such as the change in dielectric constant at the interface between the air and material, a portion of the pulse energy is reflected back along the transmission line probe to detection electronics. Time-delayed gating techniques are employed in a process referred to as equivalent time sampling to locate the position of the reflecting discontinuity along the transmission line probe, and thereby to determine level of the material surface with respect to the probe. Although the material level sensing technique so described has overcome problems and difficulties theretofore extant in the art, further improvements remain desirable. For example, although this conventional level detection technique is well suited for determining level of gasoline in a below-ground storage vessel at a service station or the like, a problem remains in association with detecting level of water accumulated at the bottom of the storage vessel. Conventional time delay reflectometry techniques will detect the interface between the gasoline and the water. However, because the dielectric constant of the gasoline is different from that of air, and the speed of pulse travel through the gasoline is thus slower than that in air, level of the gasoline/water interface will not be reliably measured unless compensation is made for these differences in dielectric constant and velocity. Furthermore, different grades of gasoline have different dielectric constants, and therefore different velocities of pulse travel through the gasoline layer to the gasoline/water interface. It is a general object of the present invention to provide a system and method for measuring the position or level of the interface between immiscible materials, such as the gasoline/water interface in a below-ground gasoline storage vessel, which do not require input of gasoline dielectric constant. A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a system and method of the described character for automatically compensating the fluid interface measurement for fluid dielectric constant. A further object of the present invention is to provide a system and method of the described character that are economical to implement, and provide reliable operation over an extended operating lifetime.

The present invention relates to a belt conveyor of the type in which a continuous belt runs along a support duct where the support duct is carried on an undercarriage for raising and lowering movements of a discharge end of the duct and where an input drive member for driving the belt is mounted at or on the undercarriage. Belt conveyors are well known in which the belt passes through a duct which is usually a cylindrical tube so that the belt is curved as it sits against the lower part of the tube while sliding along the tube. The return run of the belt passes on the outside of the tube and is sometimes, but not always, contained in a housing attached to the lower part of the tube and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom. At a top end, the belt passes around an idler roller so as to discharge material at the roller where the belt turns to move along the return run. At the lower end there is provided a hopper into which material is fed so as to fall onto the belt in the hopper with the belt being guided around a lower idler roller. Generally the belt is driven by a drive roller located at a point along its length at the return run so that the belt wraps around the drive roller as well as around one or more idler rollers to guide the belt in its movement around the drive roller. The drive roller is located on the underside of the tube at the optional cover. The drive roller is driven generally by a belt which runs from a drive system to the drive roller. The tube carrying the belt is supported on an undercarriage which includes a transverse axle by which the conveyor can be rolled from place to place. A first leg assembly extends from the axle upwardly and this is extendable or moveable so as to raise and lower the upper end of the tube to change the height of the discharge onto the belt. A second leg assembly extends from the axle to the tube at a position adjacent the lower end and the second leg assembly can pivot relative to the tube as the first leg assembly is operated to effect the raising and lowering movement. The simplest undercarriage includes simply two such legs together with a single axle. However more complex undercarriages can be provided. Generally the belt driving the drive roller passes from an input drive system on the undercarriage generally adjacent the axle. The input drive member can comprise simply a PTO input coupling for receiving drive from a tractor. However the system can include a motor so as to avoid the necessity for connection to a drive output of a tractor. The motor can be electric or an internal combustion engine or can be any other suitable source of power. This arrangement has been utilised for many years but the drive belt to the drive roller from the power input is a source of problem in that it requires adjustment and replacement when worn. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved belt conveyor and particularly in which the drive system to connect an input drive to the belt is improved. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a belt conveyor comprising: a continuous belt having a material transportation run and a return run such that movement of the belt along its length causes the belt to move continuously through the transportation run and the return run; a duct for supporting the transportation run of the belt, the duct having a feed end at which material to be transported is deposited onto the transportation run of the belt for movement along the belt and a discharge end at which the material transported by the belt is discharged from the belt; the return run of the belt being guided along an underside of the duct; an undercarriage for supporting the duct and arranged to cause raising and lowering movement of at least the discharge end of the duct; a drive roller in contact with the belt for driving the belt along its length; an input drive member for supplying a drive force for drivingly rotating the drive roller; the input drive member and the drive roller being mounted on the undercarriage at respective positions thereon which remain substantially stationary as the duct is moved in said raising and lowering movement so that the input drive member remains in a fixed position as the duct is moved in said movement and so that the drive roller is fixed relative to the input drive member to receive drive therefrom without necessity for adjustment as the duct is moved; the drive roller being spaced from the return run of the belt on the underside of the duct and the belt including a divergent portion having two runs extending from the return run to and from the drive roller to receive drive therefrom; the undercarriage and the position of the drive roller thereon being arranged such that the length of the divergent portion remains constant as the duct is moved in said movement. Preferably the undercarriage includes a first leg assembly which is of constant length and at a fixed position on the duct and a second leg assembly which is adjustable to cause said movement of the duct, the divergent portion of the belt extending along the first leg assembly from a guide system at an end thereof adjacent the duct to the drive roller adjacent an opposed end of the first leg assembly. Preferably the drive roller is carried on a mounting assembly at the opposed end of the first leg assembly. Preferably undercarriage includes an axle having ground wheels thereon the first and second leg assemblies converge to said axle. Preferably there is provided at least one idler roller at the drive roller around which the belt passes so as to wrap the belt around the drive roller, the idler roller being adjustable in position relative to the drive roller to effect tensioning of the belt. Preferably there are at least three idler rollers arranged to guide the belt from a first contact point on the drive roller partly around the drive roller and back to the same side of the drive roller as the first contact point. Preferably the divergent portion is arranged on the return run at a position spaced from one end so as to define a first portion of the return run and a second portion of the return run, wherein the first leg assembly is pivotal relative to the duct about a horizontal axis at the duct transverse to the duct and wherein the divergent portion is guided at the duct by a first idler roller around which the first portion of the return run is wrapped and two second rollers which guide opposite sides of the second portion to maintain the two runs of the divergent portion spaced and substantially parallel. Preferably the two runs of the divergent portion are contained within a cover assembly along the first leg assembly. Preferably the input drive member comprises a PTO coupling for attachment to a PTO shaft of a drive tractor and wherein the PTO coupling is directly attached to the drive roller such that the PTO coupling is maintained at a fixed position relative to the ground as the duct is moved in said movement. Preferably the input drive member a drive motor which has an output shaft directly connected to the drive roller without intervening drive belts. Preferably the duct comprises a tube. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a belt conveyor comprising: a continuous belt having a material transportation run and a return run such that movement of the belt along its length causes the belt to move continuously through the transportation run and the return run; a duct for supporting the transportation run of the belt, the duct having a feed end at which material to be transported is deposited onto the transportation run of the belt for movement along the belt and a discharge end at which the material transported by the belt is discharged from the belt; the return run of the belt being guided along an underside of the duct; an undercarriage for supporting the duct including: a base assembly with ground wheels for movement of the undercarriage across the ground, a first leg assembly having one end pivotally connected to the base assembly and extending therefrom to the duct at a position adjacent to the feed end, the first leg assembly being of constant length, arranged at a fixed position on the duct and pivotally connected to the duct for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis transverse to the duct, and a second leg assembly extending from the base assembly to the duct adjacent to the discharge end and to arranged to cause raising and lowering movement of the discharge end of the duct; a drive roller in contact with the belt for driving the belt along its length; an input drive member for supplying a drive force for drivingly rotating the drive roller, the input drive member and the drive roller being mounted on the undercarriage at said one end of the first leg assembly; the belt including a divergent portion having two runs extending from the return run to and from the drive roller to receive drive therefrom, the divergent portion being guided to run along the first leg assembly from the end thereof at the duct to the drive roller at said one end thereof. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a belt conveyor comprising: a continuous belt having a material transportation run and a return run such that movement of the belt along its length causes the belt to move continuously through the transportation run and the return run; a duct for supporting the transportation run of the belt, the duct having a feed end at which material to be transported is deposited onto the transportation run of the belt for movement along the belt and a discharge end at which the material transported by the belt is discharged from the belt; the return run of the belt being guided along an underside of the duct; an undercarriage for supporting the duct and arranged to cause raising and lowering movement of at least the discharge end of the duct; a drive roller in contact with the belt for driving the belt along its length; an input drive member for supplying a drive force for drivingly rotating the drive roller; at least one idler roller at the drive roller around which the belt passes so as to wrap the belt around the drive roller, the idler roller being adjustable in position relative to the drive roller to effect tensioning of the belt; wherein the position of the idler roller is adjusted by a hydraulic cylinder and wherein the hydraulic cylinder is attached to an accumulator of hydraulic fluid arranged to receive a fluid at a predetermined pressure such that the idler roller is pulled in a direction to apply tension to the belt at a predetermined force thus maintaining a predetermined tension in the belt while accommodating changes in belt length. Preferably there are at least three idler rollers arranged to guide the belt from a first contact point on the drive roller partly around the drive roller and back to the same side of the drive roller as the first contact point.

In order to laser-scribe a brittle substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and break it, a glass substrate or a ceramic substrate, a method for forming a median crack (or vertical crack) is used where a laser beam and a brittle substrate are relatively moved along a laser-scribe line to be formed with median cracks on the substrate so that the substrate is heated while a refrigerant is supplied to the heated portion on the substrate. In accordance with such a method for forming a median crack by means of a laser beam, a median crack (blind crack) is formed due to a difference between the compressive stress that is created around the heated portion and the tensile stress that is created around the cooled portion. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for laser-scribing a substrate having predetermined properties and for breaking it, where cooling conditions and laser beam parameters which relate to the rate of laser-scribing and breaking of the substrate are appropriately selected when a median crack is formed by irradiating the substrate with the beam, and thereby, a blind crack having a required depth is formed in the substrate. Patent Document 1:Japanese Patent No. 3027768 Patent Document 2 discloses a cutting apparatus and a cutting method for cutting a brittle material where a laser beam is partially blocked within a region irradiated with the laser beam that is formed on the surface of the brittle material, that is to say within a beam spot, using a light blocking plate, and thereby, a region where the laser beam is blocked is formed in such a manner that thermal stress is caused by a temperature gradient in the vicinity of the border between the region irradiated by the laser beam and the above described region where the laser beam is blocked, and thus, the brittle material is cut. This document discloses that a brittle material is irradiated with a laser beam of which the energy intensity is discontinuous so as to be cut. Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2001-212683 It is preferable for a crack to be formed as deep as possible in the perpendicular direction in order for the division of a brittle material to be carried out easily, and in order for the quality of the brittle material on the broken surfaces to be excellent after the division in a breaking process, where the brittle material is divided by applying force to the left and right of the formed crack after the surface of the brittle material is inscribed by radiation from a laser. Thermal strain within a substrate that may hinder the formation of such an excellent median crack is described in the following. FIGS. 21 to 23 are cross sectional diagrams of a brittle substrate for illustrating thermal strain that is created within the brittle substrate when the brittle surface of the brittle substrate is scanned and irradiated with a laser beam so that a median crack is formed in the brittle substrate. In the figures, the laser beam continuously moves outward from the paper. As shown in FIG. 21, the compressive stress as shown by broken line arrows in the figure is created in a portion 100 that is heated by radiation from a laser beam. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 22, when a coolant is supplied to the vicinity of portion 100 that has been heated by radiation from the laser beam so as to form a cooled spot 120, the tensile stress is created as shown by solid arrows in the figure. As a result of this, as shown in FIG. 23, median cracks 130 extending to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate is formed in the direction perpendicular to the tensile stress in accordance with the difference between the compressive stress and the tensile stress. However, even when cooled spot 120 is formed, a sufficient difference in stress for forming a crack is limited in a surface portion of the brittle substrate. When the sufficient difference in stress for forming a crack, that is to say a difference in temperature, disappears between the heat that spreads to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from cooled spot 120 and the heat that spreads to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from heated portion 100, excessive heat that has spread to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate from heated portion 100 is considered to remain in compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature. Compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature is defined as relative thermal strain within the brittle substrate. As shown in FIG. 23, compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature prevents median crack 130 from extending straight to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate, and therefore, the depth of the crack to the thickness-wise direction of the brittle substrate is limited to approximately 20% to 40% of the thickness of the brittle substrate, in the case where the surface of a brittle substrate is scanned with a laser beam at a practical rate at a mass production site. FIG. 24 is a photograph taken in the direction along one of the broken surfaces of a brittle substrate showing the broken surface that was exposed as a result of breaking after the brittle substrate was broken along the formed median crack. FIG. 24 shows the state where the formed median crack has been bent in the middle. This is caused by the above described compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature (compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature is added and indicated by a broken line in the photograph for the purpose of illustration). As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, compress-stressed region 150 of a high temperature that remains prevents the formation of a deep, straight median crack, and as a result, the quality of the broken surfaces of the brittle substrate which are formed as a result of breaking is lowered. Concretely speaking, a phenomenon where the broken surfaces, including the locally broken surfaces, are formed diagonally instead of perpendicular to the surface of the brittle substrate occurs and this is referred to as “chipping.” In the above described Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the vicinity of a prearranged broken line (prearranged line where a median crack is formed) is continuously irradiated with a beam spot which is not interrupted in the direction of its progress, and therefore, compress-stressed region of a high temperature remains inside a glass plate. The present invention is provided in view of the described problem, and an object of the invention is to provide a method for forming a median crack and an apparatus for forming a median crack where the formation of a deep, straight median crack is possible, and an excellently broken surface of a brittle substrate can be gained as a result of breaking. Here, the term “substrate” in this invention means a substrate (brittle substrate) formed of a single or a number of substrates made of a brittle material.

In the oil and gas industry a rotating control device (RCD) or rotating control head (also referred to as a rotating drilling device, rotating drilling head, rotating flow diverter, pressure control device and rotating annular) is used to form a seal against drill pipe and isolate the region of well bore below the RCD from whatever is above the RCD. On an offshore drilling rig the RCD may be located just below the rig floor, just above the subsea Blow Out Preventer stack (BOP), or anywhere in the riser. Typically, the RCD uses a passive or active sealing element which is mounted to a bearing assembly to form a seal on the drill pipe. The purpose of the bearing assembly is to allow the sealing element to rotate with the drill pipe as the drill pipe is rotated by the rig. Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

1. Technical Field This application generally relates to a data storage system, and more particularly to techniques using consistency points and associated consistent copies of data in a data storage system. 2. Description of Related Art Computer systems may include different resources used by one or more host processors. Resources and host processors in a computer system may be interconnected by one or more communication connections. These resources may include, for example, data storage devices such as those included in the data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corporation. These data storage systems may be coupled to one or more host processors and provide storage services to each host processor. Multiple data storage systems from one or more different vendors may be connected and may provide common data storage for one or more host processors in a computer system. Different tasks may be performed in connection with a data storage system. For example, processing may be performed in a data storage system for creating and maintaining a mirror copy of data from a source system at a target system. As file operations are performed which cause a data modification to the source system, the modifications may be recorded and then applied to the target system's copy of the data. In connection with performing data operations, it may be desirable to utilize a copy of the data on the target system when the data is in a consistent state. The source or target system may be characterized as being in a consistent state at a point in time, for example, when all outstanding database transactions are committed, any new incoming transactions are placed on hold or “queued”, and any database buffers are flushed with respect to the selected point in time. However, it may be difficult to establish and determine when the copy of the data on the target system is in such a consistent state. Thus, it may be desirable to have an efficient technique for providing a consistent copy of data on the target system and for determining when the copy of the data on the target system is in a consistent state while minimizing any negative impact on the data of the source system and applications accessing the data on the source system.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving device and, more particularly, to light emitting diode (LED) driving device. 2. Description of Related Art Alternating current LED (AC-LED) module can be directly driven by utility power for thus providing the advantage of simple architecture, as shown in FIG. 1. However, it suffers a disadvantage in that, when the received AC voltage vac is being increased, the current iac flowing through AC-LED module is getting large, resulting in a droop effect that may lower the luminous efficiency. Furthermore, because the AC-LED module is sensitive to the variation of voltage, a slight change of AC voltage vac will cause a large variation in the light output. Thus, when the AC voltage is unstable, it is likely to have a flicking effect. In addition, in order to bear the peak value of the AC voltage, the AC-LED is typically made to have a high turn-on voltage by, for example, connecting several LEDs in series, which results in a low power factor and low LED efficiency. In the known patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,989,807 granted to Chiang discloses an “LED driving device” that receives utility power and has high power factor and high LED efficiency. As shown in FIG. 2, this LED driving device includes a bridge rectifier circuit 30, a current switching circuit 10, a plurality of LEDs and a voltage detecting circuit 20. The bridge rectifier circuit 30 receives the AC voltage of an external power supply and converts the same into a rectified voltage. The voltage detecting circuit 20 controls the current switching circuit 10 to change the number of LEDs that are turned on according to the variation of the rectified voltage, so as to improved the power factor and the LED efficiency. However, such a constant current control architecture is complicated and the control there of is difficult, resulting in that the number of devices used in the overall circuit is excessive and thus the volume becomes large and the manufacturing cost is increased. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved LED driving device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

(1) Field of Invention The present invention relates to health care equipment and more specifically to a sphygmomanometer and method for controlling optimum pressurization and minute exhaustion of air while measuring blood pressure. (2) Description of the Prior Art A sphygmomanometer is an apparatus for measuring the blood pressure of a subject. The sphygmomanometer comprises a cuff which is wrapped around the upper arm. The cuff is inflated by a pump which provides sufficient pressure to compress the brachial artery in the upper arm. A pulsation transmitted from the artery to the cuff is processed by an electrical circuit to determine the blood pressure of a patient. A portable sphygmomanometer is described in Korean Pat. No. 93-24242 filed on Nov. 15, 1993, entitled "A portable sphygmomanometer worked by hand". A conventional sphygmomanometer is shown in FIG. 1 which includes a key inputting means 11 connected to a microcontroller 13, an air pumping means 15 connected to the output of a the microcontroller 13, a display 14 connected to second output of the microcontroller 13, and a sensor 12, a solenoid valve 16, a cuff 18, and a minute exhaustion valve 17 which are coupled to the air pumping means 15 output through an air duct. The output of the sensor 12 is fed back to the input of the microcontroller 13. The solenoid valve 16 is controlled by a third output of the microcontroller 13. In operation, a user inputs an operating command with the key inputting means 11 causing the microcontroller 13 to activate the air pumping means 15 to pressurize the air duct. The air pressure is transmitted to the sensor 12, the solenoid valve 16, the cuff 18, and the minute exhaustion valve 17 through the air duct. During the pressurization process, the microcontroller 13 causes the solenoid valve 16 to remain closed so that the majority of air flow is directed to the cuff 18 wrapped around the upper arm of the subject. During the pressurization process, the sensor 12 begins detecting pressure waves transmitted from the brachial artery and converts them into electrical signals for processing by the microcontroller 13. The pressurization process continues until the processor detects no further pressure waves from the sensor at which point the pressure in the cuff indicated by the sensor is read into memory of the microcontroller 13. This pressure represents the systolic pressure of the subject. Once the pressurization process is terminated, the depressurization of the air duct occurs by exhausting the air through the minute exhaustion valve 17. Similarly to the pressurization process, the sensor 12 converts the pressure waves from the brachial artery to an electrical signal for processing by the microcontroller 13 until no further pressure waves are detected at which time the pressure in the cuff is read in the memory. This pressure represents the diastolic pressure. The microcontroller 13 outputs data to a display for a visual readout of the systolic and diastolic pressure. Upon displaying the results, the microcontroller causes the air duct to completely depressurized by opening the solenoid valve 16. A graphical representation of the pressure waves during the depressurization process is shown in FIG. 2. With the recent trend toward improved health care, a demand has arisen for portable sphygmomanometers which can be operated by an individual. A portable sphygmomanometer is described in Korean Pat. No. 93-24242 filed on Nov. 15, 1993, entitled "A portable sphygmomanometer worked by hand." However, to accommodate the commercialization of portable sphygmomanometers, the size and cost of these devices must be reduced. One obstacle to meeting these commercial objectives is that a conventional sphygmomanometer uses an expensive rolling pump with a large air tank to attenuate pressure fluctuations that would otherwise result in inaccurate blood pressure readings. Moreover, the pump typically generates excessive pressure than that required and therefore results in unnecessary power consumption. Another obstacle to commercialization of the portable sphygmomanometer is that the minute exhaustion valve is a precision part requiring a complicated manufacturing process to satisfy the standardized exhaustion deviation and thereby contributes to the production costs of the sphygmomanometer. If the exhaustion rate is not within the standardized deviation, according to an arm thickness of the object, the quality and size of the cuff, the pressure fluctuations of the device, the pressurization of the cuff, and heart rate of the patient, the accuracy of the blood pressure measurement will be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chord presenting apparatus and a chord presenting computer program for reading out plural pieces of chord information which are stored in a chord information storage device and represent a series of chords, and for presenting to a user the chords represented by the chord information. 2. Description of the Background Art Hitherto, it is known in the art to display chord names along with a lyric in accordance with the progression of music in a karaoke apparatus so that the user can add accompaniment play tones using a musical instrument such as a guitar to the song sung by the user, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 06-308991/1994. However, in the aforesaid conventional apparatus, it often happens that the displayed chord names are chords that are difficult for a beginner to play. In these cases, the user may not be able to perform chord playing smoothly, thus failing to provide good accompaniment tones.

A traditional storage array (herein also referred to as a “disk storage array,” “disk array,” “data array,” or simply “array”) is a collection of hard disk drives operating together logically as a unified storage device. Storage arrays are designed to store large quantities of data. Storage arrays typically include one or more storage array processors (SPs), for handling both requests for allocation and input/output (I/O) requests. An SP is the controller for and primary interface to the storage array. Performance of a storage array may be characterized by the array's total capacity, response time, and throughput. The capacity of a storage array is the maximum total amount of data that can be stored on the array. The response time of an array is the amount of time that it takes to read data from or write data to the array. The throughput of an array is a measure of the amount of data that can be transferred into or out of (i.e., written to or read from) the array over a given period of time. The administrator of a storage array may desire to operate the array in a manner that maximizes throughput and minimizes response time. In general, performance of a storage array may be constrained by both physical and temporal constraints. Examples of physical constraints include bus occupancy and availability, excessive disk arm movement, and uneven distribution of load across disks. Examples of temporal constraints include bus bandwidth, bus speed, spindle rotational speed (in case of spinning media), serial versus parallel access to multiple read/write heads, and the size of data transfer buffers. One factor that may limit the performance of a storage array is the performance of each individual storage component. For example, the read access time of a disk storage array is constrained by the access time of the disk drive from which the data is being read. Read access time may be affected by physical characteristics of the disk drive, such as the number of revolutions per minute of the spindle: the faster the spin, the less time it takes for the sector being read to come around to the read/write head. The placement of the data on the platter also affects access time, because it takes time for the arm to move to, detect, and properly orient itself over the proper track (or cylinder, for multihead/multiplatter drives). Reducing the read/write arm swing reduces the access time. Finally, the type of drive interface may have a significant impact on overall disk array storage. For example, a multihead drive that supports reads or writes on all heads in parallel will have a much greater throughput than a multihead drive that allows only one head at a time to read or write data. Furthermore, even if a disk storage array uses the fastest disks available, the performance of the array may be unnecessarily limited if only one of those disks may be accessed at a time. In other words, performance of a storage array, whether it is an array of disks, tapes, flash drives, or other storage entities, may also be limited by system constraints, such the number of data transfer buses available in the system and the density of traffic on each bus. The use of solid-state storage devices is increasing in popularity as solid-state memory has advanced to the point where cost and density of memory is such that organizations can afford to operate with systems that store and process terabytes of data. A solid state storage device is a content storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent content. A solid-state storage device may emulate (and therefore replace) a conventional hard disk drive. Additionally/alternatively, a solid state storage device may be used within a cache memory system. With no moving parts, a solid-state storage device largely eliminates (or greatly reduces) seek time, latency and other electromechanical delays and failures associated with a conventional hard disk drive.

Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is an isothermal process for generating multiple copies of a sequence. In rolling circle DNA replication in vivo, a DNA polymerase extends a primer on a circular template (Kornberg, A. and Baker, T. A. DNA Replication, W. H. Freeman, New York, 1991). The product consists of tandemly linked copies of the complementary sequence of the template. RCA is a method that has been adapted for use in vitro for DNA amplification (Fire, A. and Si-Qun Xu, Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA, 1995, 92:4641-4645; Lui, D., etal., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1996, 118:1587-1594; Lizardi, P. M., et al., Nature Genetics, 1998, 19:225-232; U.S. Pat. No.5,714,320 to Kool). RCA can also be used in a detection method using a probe called a "padlock probe" (WO Pat. Ap. Pub. 95/22623 to Landegren; Nilsson, M., et al. Nature Genetics, 1997, 16:252-255, and Nilsson, M., and Landegren, U., in Landegren, U., ed., Laboratory Protocols for Mutation Detection, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996, pp. 135-138). DNA synthesis has been limited to rates ranging between 50 and 300 nucleotides per second (Lizardi, cited above and Lee, J., et al., Molecular Cell, 1998, 1:1001-1010). In some embodiments of this invention, increased rates of DNA synthesis in RCA are achieved by the use of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (also referred to herein as pol III) which has an intrinsic catalytic rate of about 700-800 nucleotides per second (Kornberg and Baker, cited above). The invention also applies to subassemblies of the pol III holoenzyme which lack one or more of the subunits found in the complete, native enzyme complex (Kornberg and Baker, cited above). The invention applies to DNA polymerase III holoenzyme derived from E. coli and also other bacteria, including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, or related DNA polymerases from eukaryotes that have clamp (PCNA) and clamp loader (RFC) components (Kornberg and Baker, cited above). These pol III-like DNA polymerases are evolutionarily distinguished from pol I-type enzymes (Braithwaite, D. K., and Ito, J., Nuc. Acids Res., 1993, 21:787-802.) that have previously been employed in RCA (Fire and Xu, Lui, D. et al., Lizardi et al., and Lee et al., all cited above). Therefore, this invention introduces the novel use of a distinct class of DNA polymerases that have not previously been used in RCA. The methods are appicable to polymorphism detection, diagnostics, phase determination, genotyping, genomic mapping, DNA sequencing, synthesis of DNA probes, or cloning. The high rate of synthesis, great processivity, and ability to replicate through sequence obstructions give pol III an advantage over other DNA polymerases in RCA. The E. coli dnaB, dnaG, and dnaC proteins or other helicases and the single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) can also be used to facilitate the reaction (Kornberg and Baker, cited above). This invention applies to the use of pol III with any accessory proteins including helicases, primases, and DNA binding proteins that facilitate the pol III reaction. In another embodiment of the invention two or more DNA polymerases are combined in one RCA reaction. One of the polymerases may have a 3'.fwdarw.5' exonuclease activity capable of removing mismatched nucleotides. Such combinations of DNA polymerases are known to increase primer extension. (Cheng, S. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1994, 91:5695-5699.) This invention further provides for a method to produce approximately equimolar rolling circle amplification of DNA fragment mixtures. The method is applicable to RCA of any DNA including for purposes of detection, cloning, generation of probes, genetic mismatch scanning (GMS) procedures, DNA mapping, sequencing, and genotyping. In an RCA using mixed circular DNA templates of different length, a greater number of copies of shorter circles will be generated relative to longer circles. This effect is reduced by creating a "slow step" or "pause site" that occurs once each time the DNA polymerase copies around the circle. Therefore, the DNA polymerase rapidly copies around the circles and then it pauses for the slow step before copying around the circle again. The number of copies made of each circle will tend to be the same, independent of the length of the circle. In one procedure, the pause site is created by the introduction of one or more abasic sites in the template. DNA polymerases are slowed but not completely blocked by such a site. They will tend to insert a nucleotide opposite the abasic site (Randell, S. K., et al., J Biol. Chem., 1987, 262:6864-6870). In one embodiment of this invention, DNA fragments selected with genomic mismatch scanning are amplified by RCA. In 1993 Nelson and associates described and employed GMS to directly identify identical-by-descent (IBD) sequences in yeast (Nelson, S. F., et al., Nature Genetics, 1993, 4:11-18). The method allows DNA fragments from IBD regions between two relatives to be isolated based on their ability to form mismatch-free hybrid molecules. The method consists of digesting DNA fragments from two sources with a restriction endonuclease that produces protruding 3'-ends. The protruding 3'-ends provide some protection from exonuclease III (Exo III), which is used in later steps. The two sources are distinguished by methylating the DNA from only one source. Molecules from both sources are denatured and reannealed, resulting in the formation of four types of duplex molecules: homohybrids formed from strands derived from the same source and heterohybrids consisting of DNA strands from different sources. Heterohybrids can either be mismatch-free or contain base-pair mismatches, depending on the extent of identity of homologous regions. Homohybrids are distinguished from heterohybrids by use of restriction endonucleases that cleave fully methylated or unmethylated GATC sites. Homohybrids are cleaved into smaller duplex molecules. Heterohybrids containing a mismatch are distinguished from mismatch-free molecules by use of the E. coli methyl-directed mismatch repair system. The combination of three proteins of the system MutS, MutL, and MutH (herein collectively called MutSLH) along with ATP introduce a single-strand nick on the unmethylated strand at GATC sites in duplexes that contain a mismatch (Welsh, et al, J. Biol. Chem., 1987, 262:15624). Heterohybrids that do not contain a mismatch are not nicked. All molecules are then subjected to digestion by Exo III, which can initiate digestion at a nick, a blunt end, or a recessed 3'-end, to produce single-stranded gaps. Only mismatch-free heterohybrids are not subject to attack by Exo III; all other molecules have single-stranded gaps introduced by the enzyme. Molecules with single-stranded regions are removed by absorption to benzoylated napthoylated DEAE cellulose. The remaining molecules consist of mismatch-free heterohybrids which may represent regions of IBD.

An enterprise network may provide access to sensitive proprietary data and critical resources. Authentication is used to prevent unauthorized users from accessing enterprise resources. Examples of such enterprise resources include access to the intranet, access to the Internet, and access to a data center. Web-based user authentication uses a combination of existing technologies, including Web browsers, Web content servers and secure and non-secure Internet communications protocols. Typically, a user attempting to access network resources for the first time is challenged for a user login name and password. A secure communication transport protocol, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), is first established to transmit user credentials. An Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) protocol such as Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is typically used to authenticate the credentials. Web-based user authentication solutions are typically single-processor-based. As such, both plaintext and encrypted traffic are handled by the same processor, which can lead to both inefficient CPU usage and compromised handling of other critical network traffic. In addition, such solutions are typically ill-equipped to handle processor failures and cannot scale easily to handle additional users, particularly in multi-VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) enterprise network environments. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an improved solution for Web-based user authentication.

Technical Field The present invention relates to a printer that improves security. Background Arts Now, with respect to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier and an all-in one machine, an apparatus provided with multiple functions in order to enhance its additional values becomes highly-popularized. In addition, a printer provided with a function that enables of transferring various data with a removal storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and a SD (Secure Digital) card is developed recently. In such a printer, it is possible to print out electric files (such as image files or document files stored in a storage medium), and to store image files (such as original images scanned by a scanner of the printer) in a storage medium. In such a printer, there may be a case where a user forgets to remove a storage medium that was installed in the printer by the user after his/her operation is completed. Especially in a case where a long-time operation is done from the installation of the storage medium, the user becomes increasingly likely to forget to remove the storage medium. In such a case, the storage medium still installed in the printer may be obtained by a third person other than the user, so that various print data stored in the storage medium may leak. A Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-77942) discloses one of solutions to the above problem. In the disclosure, when a preset time has elapsed from a login time, print data stored in a storage medium installed in an installation port of a printer are moved to a storage memory of the printer and then the print data are deleted from the storage medium. Therefore, leakage of the print data stored in the storage medium, which is caused by failing to remove the storage medium, can be prevented.

In a network such as a General Packet Radio Service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS) network, an Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) network or an Evolved Packet Core (Evolved Packet Core, EPC) network, in the case that a first node and a second node are neighboring nodes, if the second node detects that the first node occurs a failure, the second node needs to process context information associated with the first node, for example, the second node deletes the context information associated with the first node or sets the context information associated with the first node be invalid. The case that the second node detects that the first node occurs a failure may be that the second node detects that the first node is reset, or the second node detects the path to the first node is faulty, or the second node detects that the first node is unreachable. During the implementation of the present invention, the inventors find that, in the case that the first node and the second node are not neighboring nodes, if the first node occurs a failure, the second node cannot perceive the failure of the first node, so that the second node does not process the context information associated with the first node. The context information in the second node wastes network resources, and also may cause a potential risk of exception to the network.

The goal of plant breeding is to combine, in a single variety or hybrid, various desirable traits. For field crops, these traits may include resistance to diseases and insects, resistance to heat and drought, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield, and better agronomic quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination, stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, plant height and ear height, is important. Traditional plant breeding is an important tool in developing new and improved commercial crops.

Electrosurgical forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and electrical energy to effect hemostasis by heating the tissue and blood vessels to coagulate, cauterize and/or seal tissue. As an alternative to open forceps for use with open surgical procedures, many modern surgeons use endoscopes, laparoscopes, and endoscopic/laparoscopic instruments for remotely accessing organs through body orifices or smaller, puncture-like incisions. As a direct result thereof, patients tend to benefit from less scarring and reduced healing time. Laparoscopic instruments are inserted into the patient through a cannula, or port, which has been made with a trocar. Typical sizes for cannulas range from three millimeters to twelve millimeters. Smaller cannulas are usually preferred, which, as can be appreciated, ultimately presents a design challenge to instrument manufacturers who must find ways to make laparoscopic instruments that fit through the smaller cannulas. Many surgical procedures require cutting or ligating blood vessels or vascular tissue. Due to the inherent spatial considerations of the surgical cavity, surgeons often have difficulty suturing vessels or performing other traditional methods of controlling bleeding, e.g., clamping and/or tying-off transected blood vessels. By utilizing an electrosurgical forceps, a surgeon can cauterize, coagulate/desiccate, and/or simply reduce or slow bleeding simply by controlling the intensity, frequency, and duration of the electrosurgical energy applied through the jaw members to the tissue. Most small blood vessels, i.e., in the range below two millimeters in diameter, can often be closed using standard electrosurgical instruments and techniques. However, if a larger vessel is ligated, it may be necessary for the surgeon to convert the endoscopic procedure into an open-surgical procedure and thereby abandon the benefits of endoscopic surgery. Alternatively, the surgeon can seal the larger vessel or tissue. It is thought that the process of coagulating vessels is fundamentally different from electrosurgical vessel sealing. For the purposes herein, “coagulation” is defined as a process of desiccating tissue wherein the tissue cells are ruptured and dried. “Vessel sealing” or “tissue sealing” is defined as the process of liquefying the collagen in the tissue so that it reforms into a fused mass. Coagulation of small vessels is sufficient to close them permanently, while larger vessels need to be sealed to assure permanent closure. To seal larger vessels (or tissue) effectively two predominant mechanical parameters must be accurately controlled—the pressure applied to the vessel (tissue) and the gap distance between the electrodes—both of which are affected by the thickness of the sealed vessel (which term also refers to tissue when used hereinafter and vice versa). More particularly, accurate application of pressure is important to oppose the walls of the vessel, to reduce the tissue impedance to a low enough value that allows enough electrosurgical energy through the tissue, to overcome the forces of expansion during tissue heating, and to contribute to the end tissue thickness, which is an indication of a good seal. It has been determined that a typical fused vessel wall is optimum between 0.001 and 0.006 inches. Below this range, the seal may shred or tear and, above this range, the lumens may not be sealed properly or effectively. With respect to effective sealing of smaller vessels, the pressure applied to the tissue tends to become less relevant, whereas the gap distance between the electrically conductive surfaces becomes more significant. In other words, the chances of the two electrically conductive surfaces touching during activation increases as vessels become smaller. Many known instruments include blade members or shearing members that simply cut tissue in a mechanical and/or electromechanical manner and are relatively ineffective for vessel sealing purposes. Other instruments rely on clamping pressure alone to procure proper sealing thickness and are not designed to take into account gap tolerances and/or parallelism and flatness requirements, which are parameters that, if properly controlled, can assure a consistent and effective tissue seal. For example, it is known that it is difficult to adequately control thickness of the resulting sealed tissue by controlling clamping pressure alone for either of two reasons: 1) if too much force is applied, there is a possibility that the two poles will touch and energy will not be transferred through the tissue resulting in an ineffective seal; or 2) if too low a force is applied, the tissue may prematurely move prior to activation and sealing and/or a thicker, less reliable seal may be created. As mentioned above, to seal larger vessels or tissue properly and effectively, a greater closure force between opposing jaw members is required. It is known that a large closure force between the jaws typically requires a large moment about the pivot for each jaw. This presents a design challenge because the jaw members are typically affixed with pins that are positioned to have small moment arms with respect to the pivot of each jaw member. A large force, coupled with a small moment arm, is undesirable because the large forces may shear the pins. As a result, designers must compensate for these large closure forces by either designing instruments with metal pins and/or by designing instruments that at least partially offload these closure forces to reduce the chances of mechanical failure. As can be appreciated, if metal pivot pins are employed, the metal pins must be insulated to avoid the pin acting as an alternate current path between the jaw members, which may prove detrimental to effective sealing. Increasing the closure forces between electrodes may have other undesirable effects, e.g., it may cause the opposing electrodes to come into close contact with one another, which may result in a short circuit, and a small closure force may cause premature movement of the tissue during compression and prior to activation. As a result thereof, providing an instrument that consistently provides the appropriate closure force between opposing electrode within a preferred pressure range will enhance the chances of a successful seal. As can be appreciated, relying on a surgeon to manually provide the appropriate closure force within the appropriate range on a consistent basis would be difficult and the resultant effectiveness and quality of the seal may vary. Moreover, the overall success of creating an effective tissue seal is greatly reliant upon the user's expertise, vision, dexterity, and experience in judging the appropriate closure force to seal the vessel uniformly, consistently, and effectively. In other words, the success of the seal would greatly depend upon the ultimate skill of the surgeon rather than the efficiency of the instrument. The number of operations needed to uniformly, consistently, and effectively seal the vessel or tissue with such a device influences the procedure, for example, by increasingly relying on the skill of the surgeon. Typical actuation assemblies require the surgeon to perform at least four steps. With the device jaws in the normally open position, the surgeon closes the jaws by actuating a main lever. This lever can have a “ball-point pen” actuation, in that it is a push-to-lock and push-again-to-unlock (or pull-to-lock and pull-again-to-unlock) or it can just be a pull and release lever. With the main lever motion, the jaws close and impart the sealing force to the tissue or vessel. The surgeon, in a second step, presses a button to actuate the electrocautery (signal) and seal the tissue. With appropriate electronic measurements or indicators, the device informs the surgeon when sealing is complete. In a third step, the surgeon pulls a cutting trigger, which physically moves a blade distally to cut the sealed tissue. If the trigger is open-biased (for example, with a spring), it can retract the blade automatically from the tissue when released. If the blade does not stick in the tissue and does retract, the surgeon is required, in a fourth step, to unlock the main lever by pulling it, again, and letting it spring back to its original, open position through the force of a larger bias, such as an another spring, or merely lets it return to the original un-actuated position. If the blade sticks in the extended position, which would prevent the jaws from opening thereafter, a safety device can exist to retract the blade and insure that the jaws can be opened after the surgical procedure is carried out. It has been found that the pressure range for assuring a consistent and effective seal is between about 3 kg/cm2 to about 16 kg/cm2 and, preferably, within a working range of 7 kg/cm2 to 13 kg/cm2. Manufacturing an instrument that is capable of providing a closure pressure within this working range has been shown to be effective for sealing arteries, tissues, and other vascular bundles. Various force-actuating assemblies have been developed in the past for providing the appropriate closure forces to effect vessel sealing. For example, one such actuating assembly has been developed by Valleylab Inc., a division of Tyco Healthcare LP, for use with Valleylab's vessel sealing and dividing instrument commonly sold under the registered trademark LIGASURE ATLAS®. This assembly includes a four-bar mechanical linkage, a spring, and a drive assembly that cooperate to consistently provide and maintain tissue pressures within the above working ranges. The LIGASURE ATLAS® is designed to fit through a 10 mm cannula and includes a bi-lateral jaw closure mechanism that is activated by a foot switch. A trigger assembly extends a knife distally to separate the tissue along the tissue seal. A rotating mechanism is associated with distal end of the handle to allow a surgeon to rotate the jaw members selectively to facilitate grasping tissue. Descriptions of such systems and various methods relating thereto can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,083,618, 7,101,371, and 7,150,749. The contents of all of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein. All of the prior art RF vessel sealing devices require a table-top power-and-signal supply box connected to the electrodes of the jaws through a cumbersome power-and-signal supply line. The supply box takes up precious room within an operating suite. In addition, the supply box is expensive to produce, requiring the surgeon/hospital to expend significant amounts of capital to keep the unit on hand. Additionally, the supply line adds cost to produce and maintain. Importantly, the supply line commonly interferes with the surgeon's full freedom of movement during use. It would be desirable to eliminate the need for large tabletop power supplies and controllers. In particular, it would be desirable to develop a vessel-sealing instrument that is entirely independent of the tabletop power-and-signal supply box and the supply line. It would be also desirable to miniaturize the power supply and controllers for the sealing instrument.

A various of steering wheel locks are seen in the market for protection of automobiles, one of which is a lock utilizing two bars 4 and 6, as shown in FIG. 4, to extend beyond the steering wheel so as to prevent steering the wheel illegally. This lock utilizes grooves 41 on one bar for locking purpose. Whereas when the grooves 41 are inserted into a lock mechanism 5 on one end of the other bar 6, the grooves 41 will mesh with the lock thus confining contraction of the lock bar. This improves the autotheft, however, it can not protect an air bag stored in the steering wheel from being stolen. Another lock, as shown in FIG. 5, was therefore invented which includes a semi-circular cover 7 having a pair of holes 71 for a pair of hooks extending from a solid bar 91 and a telescope bar 92 to extend therefrom, however, the conventional art still possesses shortcomings, first of all, the edge of the cover 7 did not cover any portion of the steering wheel 8, since different vehicle model has different size of steering wheel, a gap exists between the cover 7 and the steering wheel 8, the conventional art is more complicated and requires more parts to assemble.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. Motor vehicles are generally tuned or otherwise configured to operate according to received control inputs. A driver/operator provides the control inputs using interface devices, such as a steering wheel, pedals, etc. Accordingly, the vehicle receives the control inputs as the driver reacts to changing conditions while driving the vehicle. However, because the driver generally operates the vehicle reactively according to changing conditions along a route, the provided inputs are also reactive. Thus, the vehicle brakes, accelerates, steers, shifts, and so on as the inputs are received in a reactive manner that may not be an optimal mode of operation. In other words, because the vehicle controls various systems in response to the driver inputs, the systems are not primed or otherwise optimized to perform a particular task. Instead, the vehicle systems are tuned to operate in a generalized manner so as to provide an acceptable, but not optimized response according to a wide array of possible inputs. As a result, the vehicle may suffer from difficulties such as reduced fuel economy, reduced performance, and so on.

The present invention relates to a system for recording into a recording medium or reproducing thereoutof a digital signal produced by modulating original digitized data, which is prepared by the pulse code modulation (PCM) of an analog signal, such that the digital signal has a maximum reversal interval equal to the bit period of the digital data and a minimum reversal interval that is one half the bit period. In a magnetic data recording and playback system, an analog signal may be digitized by the PCM system and the resulting signal may be further modulated by a certain system to prepare a digital signal, which is capable of self-clocking. As generally accepted in the art, recording and reproducing such a digital signal into and out of a magnetic medium is far more desirable in reducing the influence of distortion of the magnetic medium or that of irregular operation of a drive line on the reproduced signal and thereby promoting high quality signal recording and playback, than simply recording and reproducing an analog signal directly into a magnetic medium. Typical of such digital signals is one which is provided by the frequency modulation (FM) system to reverse itself at a minimum reversal interval, which is one half the bit period of original data prepared by the PCM system, when the original data is (logical) "1" and at a maximum reversal interval equal to the bit period when the original data is "0". This type of digital signal will hereinafter be referred to as "digital FM signal" for convenience. In the prior art digital signal recording and playback system discussed above, demodulation is effected by determining whether a pulse duration of the reproduced digital signal is the maximum reversal interval or the minimum reversal interval, that is, whether it is a repetitive frequency component of the maximum reversal interval (called frequency component "F" hereinafter) or a repetitive frequency component of the minimum reversal interval (called frequency component "2F" hereinafter). The result is the need for a recording and playback signal transmission system for the magnetic medium which has a band wide enough to transmit even the higher frequency component 2F without substantial attenuation, e.g. FM demodulator circuit. This sets limits to an increase in recording desity available for a magnetic recording and playback device for public use, the signal band of which is designed relatively narrow from the economic standpoint.

The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for synchronizing device information, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for synchronizing device information between two or more electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, such as laptops, palm pads, consumer electronic devices, etc. Synchronizing information between electronic devices is generally known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,329 discloses a system for automatic synchronization of common files between a portable computer and a host computer. This system enables information synchronization between a portable computer and a desktop computer, in which the synchronization occurs either based on a time schedule or during a boot-up sequence or when the portable computer is physically connected to the cradle, which in turn is directly connected to the host computer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,390 discloses another method for reconciling data between two computers. There are many applications for such information synchronization. For example, certain PALM PILOT based contacts information can be synchronized with personal computer-based OUTLOOK contacts information. However, there are some problems with this process. One problem is that the synchronization process is user initiated, so the process does not always get completed in a timely fashion. Another is that the interfacing elements, such as cables and connectors, may be required—a disincentive to synchronization. Yet another problem is that common data fields can be updated in both environments prior to synchronization, which may facilitate the destruction of some data. The present invention is therefore directed to the problem of simplifying information synchronization between multiple electronic devices.

Blood coagulation is the key process involved in both haemostasis (i.e. prevention of blood loss from a damaged vessel) and thrombosis (i.e. the pathological occlusion of a blood vessel by a blood clot). Coagulation is the result of a complex series of enzymatic reactions, where one of the final steps is conversion of the proenzyme prothrombin to the active enzyme thrombin. Thrombin plays a central role in coagulation. It activates platelets, it converts fibrinogen into fibrin monomers, which polymerise spontaneously into filaments, and it activates factor XIII, which in turn crosslinks the polymer to insoluble fibrin. Thrombin further activates factor V and factor VIII in a positive feedback reaction. Inhibitors of thrombin are therefore expected to be effective anticoagulants by inhibition of platelets, fibrin formation and fibrin stabilization. By inhibiting the positive feedback mechanism they are expected to excert inhibition early in the chain of events leading to coagulation and thrombosis. Kininogenases are serine proteases that act on kininogens to produce kinins (bradykinin, kallidin, and Met-Lys-bradykinin). Plasma kallikrein, tissue kallikrein, and mast cell tryptase represent important kininogenases. Kinins (bradykinin, kallidin) are generally involved in inflammation. For example, the active inflammation process is associated with increased permeability of the blood vessels resulting in extravasation of plasma into the tissue. The ensuing plasma exudate contains all the protein systems of circulating blood. The plasma-derived kininogens inevitably will be interacting with different kallikreins, forming kinins continually as long as the active plasma exudation process is ongoing. Plasma exudation occurs independent of the mechanisms that are involved in the inflammation, whether it is allergy, infection or other factors (Persson et al., Editorial, Thorax, 1992, 47:993-1000). Plasma exudation is thus a feature of many diseases including asthma, rhinitis, common cold, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Particulary in allergy mast cell tryptase will be released (Salomonsson et al., Am. Rev. Respir. Dis., 1992, 146:1535-1542) to contribute to kinin formation and other pathogenic events in asthma, rhinitis, and intestinal diseases. The kinins are biologically highly active substances with smooth muscle effects, sectretory effects, neurogenic effects, and actions that may perpetuate inflammatory processes including activation of phospholipase A.sub.2 and increasing vascular permeability. The latter action potentially induces a vicious circle with kinins providing for the generation of more kinins etc. Tissue kallikrein cleaves primarily low molecular weight kininogen to produce kallidin and plasma kallikrein preferably releases bradykinin from high molecular weight kininogen.

Typically, perfluoropolyether lubricants are chemically inert, thermally stable, moisture repellant compositions that possess relatively low surface tension, good lubricity and low volatility. As a result, they are effective and long-lasting lubricants for a variety of substrates such as magnetic media, precision mechanical instruments, and electrical contacts. Because thick coatings on a recording or reading surface of a data hard disk may lead to output losses, lubricant coatings on such substrates are generally applied to the substrate in the form of a dilute solution. After application, the coating is dried to yield a thin, uniform lubricant coating. Various perfluoropolyether lubricants have been described (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,795 (Caporiccio et at.)) and many are commercially available (e.g., from Montedison S.p.A of Milan, Italy under the "FOMBLIN" tradename and from E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company under the "KRYTOX" tradename). Many perfluoropolyether lubricants are a mixture of perfluoropolyether molecules of various molecular weights and structures. Some perfluoropolyether lubricants contain perfluoropolyether molecules having end groups that are thought to become fixed to, or immobilized on, the substrate during deposition and use. One particularly preferred solvent commonly used with perfluoropolyether lubricants is 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane. It is a good perfluoropolyether solvent and relatively volatile, so it can be readily removed from the coating by drying the coating. However, chlorofluorocarbon liquids are no longer favored solvents for such uses because such compounds are believed to deplete ozone in the earth's atmosphere. See, for example, Chem. & Eng. News, Nov. 15, 1993, pages 12-18. Certain perfluorinated alkane liquids have been used instead of chlorofluorocarbon liquids as perfluoropolyether solvents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,410 (Johary et al.) states that "FG-72" from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (St. Paul, Minn.) is a suitable liquid carrier for perfluorinated lubricants. This FLUORINERT.TM. perfluorinated fluid (more appropriately referred to as "FC-72") and Performance Fluid PF-5060 are acylic perfluorinated alkanes available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. They are good solvents for many perfluoropolyether lubricants; however, it has been determined that they will not dissolve all components of some perfluoropolyether lubricants, particularly lubricants containing perfluoropolyether molecules having hydrogen-containing end groups, e.g., terminal neutral planar groups such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,795 (Caporiccio et al. ). The limited solubility of such perfluoropolyether lubricants in acylic, perfluorinated alkanes results in hazy lubricant coating compositions and nonuniform coatings upon application to a substrate. Thus, what is needed are solvents that are useful for a wide variety of perfluoropolyether lubricants, particularly those containing perfluoropolyether molecules having hydrogen-containing end groups, and are more environmentally acceptable.

The present invention relates to processes for synthesis of polymer compositions with reduced catalyst content, wherein ethylenically unsaturated monomers containing less than 0.5 wt % of ethylenically unsaturated monomers with at least one carboxylic group, sulfonic acid group and/or at least one phosphonic acid group relative to the total weight of the ethylenically unsaturated monomers are polymerized by means of initiators containing a transferable group of atoms and of one or more catalysts comprising at least one transition metal in the presence of ligands which can form a coordination compound with the metal catalyst or catalysts and, after the polymerization, the catalyst present in the polymer is at least partly separated. The present invention also relates to polymer compositions obtainable by the inventive method as well as to the use of same. Radical polymerization is an important commercial process for synthesis of diverse polymers, such as PMMA and polystyrene. It suffers from the disadvantage that it is relatively difficult to control the composition of the polymers, the molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution. One solution to this problem is offered by the so-called ATRP process (=Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization). It is assumed that this process comprises xe2x80x9clivingxe2x80x9d radical polymerization, although the description of the mechanism is not to be construed as limitative. In this process a transition metal compound is reacted with a compound containing a transferable group of atoms. Under these conditions the transferable group of atoms is transferred to the transition metal compound, whereby the metal is oxidized. A radical that adds onto ethylenic groups is formed in this reaction. The transfer of the group of atoms to the transition metal compound is reversible, however, and so the group of atoms is transferred back to the growing polymer chain, whereby a controlled polymerization system is formed. Accordingly it is possible to control the composition of the polymer, the molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution. This reaction procedure is described, for example, by J -S. Wang et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 117, pp. 5614-5615 (1995), and by Matyjaszewski, Macromolecules, Vol. 28, pp. 7901-7910 (1995). Furthermore, International Patent Applications WO 96/30421, WO 97/47661, WO 97/18247, WO 98/20050, WO 98/40415 and WO 99/10387 disclose modifications of the aforesaid ATRP. The mechanism described hereinabove is not undisputed. WO 97/47661, for example, states that polymerization takes place by insertion, and not by a radical mechanism. Such a differentiation is not pertinent to the present invention, however, since in the reaction procedure disclosed in WO 97/47661 there are used compounds which are also employed for ATRP. The monomers, transition metal catalysts, ligands and initiators are chosen on the basis of the polymer solution desired. It is assumed that a high rate constant of the reaction between the transition metal/ligand complex and the transferable group of atoms, plus a low equilibrium concentration of free radicals, is essential for a narrow molecular weight distribution. If the free radical concentration is too high, typical termination reactions, which are responsible for a broad molecular weight distribution, will occur. The exchange rate depends, for example, on the transferable group of atoms, on the transition metal, on the ligands and on the anion of the transition metal compound. The person skilled in the art will find valuable advice on selection of these compounds in, for example, International Patent WO 98/40415. The advantages of known ATRP processes, however, are largely limited to monomers which are themselves polar or which are readily soluble in polar media. Certainly the occasional use of nonpolar aprotic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene, cyclohexane and hexane is also known from the literature, but the polymers synthesized with these solvents exhibit much greater polydispersity. This effect is described in, for example, WO 98/40415. The same document also discloses the possibility of polymerizing polar monomers such as methyl methacrylate or styrene by means of metallic copper, but the molecular weight distribution is much more unfavorable than in the use of a mixture of Cu0/CuBr or Cu0/CuBr2. In Pol. Preprint (ACS, Div. Pol. Chem)., 1999, 40(2), 432, M. J. Ziegler et al. state among other facts that the polymerization of t-butyl methacrylate is difficult to control if the said process takes place in bulk. Both the molecular weight and the polydispersity can be improved by using approximately 20 to 25 wt % of polar solvents. Of course, because of the limited solubility in polar solvents of ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds containing alkyl or heteroalkyl groups with at least 8 carbon atoms, it is difficult by means of the known ATRP processes to polymerize ethylenically unsaturated monomer mixtures that contain at least 50 wt % of ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds containing alkyl or heteroalkyl chains with at least 8 carbon atoms. Furthermore, depending on use, these large volumes of polar solvents must be separated from the composition after synthesis of the polymers. A further disadvantage of the known ATRP processes can be seen in the fact that the resulting polymers and polymer solutions contain residues of the metal catalysts used. These catalyst residues can be detrimental for many applications, since they adversely influence the product properties of the polymer and also can lower its environmental compatibility. Because of the high viscosity of the polymer solution and the small particle size of the catalyst, separation of the catalyst residues by means of filtration is possiblexe2x80x94if at allxe2x80x94only with difficulty and by means of time-consuming and costly procedures. It requires the use of relatively large quantities of filter aids, which are known in themselves, such as cellulose, silica gel, Kieselgur (such as Celite(copyright)), perlite, wood charcoal and sawdust, whereby the filtration rate is reduced so severely that practical application of such processes for separation of catalyst residues is not possible on the large industrial scale.

For service providers the provisioning of services, such as IT services, to their clients can be a particularly complex and time-consuming task, especially where a client organization has multiple users that are to be given access to the services. To provision a service to users of a client organization, a service provider has to identify which client organization users (hereinafter referred to generally as users) are to be given access to the service. In many cases the service provider also has to identify each user's role or required level of access (such as ‘unprivileged user’, ‘supervisor’, ‘application administrator’, ‘database administrator’, etc.) for the service. The service provider then has to configure the service to give each user the appropriate level of access. Configuring may typically include, for example, assigning to each user a username, generating a password, and communicating the assigned username and generated password to each user. Typically the client organization provides lists identifying which users are to be given access to the service and, where appropriate, the corresponding level of access required. The service provider uses the provided lists and, in a largely manual operation, configures the service for each user. In large client organizations, where many hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of users are to be given access to a service the provisioning, or ‘on-boarding’, process is typically a complex, time-consuming, and largely manual process. Furthermore, as users leave or join a client organization the list of users provided by the client organization to the service provider may quickly become out-of-date, creating further difficulties.

The present invention is directed to eyeglasses, particularly eyeglasses having light sources, screwdrivers, and writing instruments associated therewith. Conventional eyeglasses are provided with arms that extend from a front frame portion where the lenses are located. The arms extend over the ears of the wearer, while the front frame portion rests on the bridge of the user""s nose. Light sources, such as those operated by a portable light source such as a battery, come in varying sizes and shapes. Writing instruments such as pens, pencils, highlighters, magic markers, to list but a few on a non-exhaustive list, come in varying shapes and sizes. The present invention, in one embodiment to eyeglasses coupled with a light source, screwdriver, or a writing instrument. The eyeglasses have a front frame portion and arms extending therefrom and a light source screwdriver, or writing instrument positioned on the arms, such as at an end of the arm. In a further embodiment, the light source, screwdrivers or writing instrument is positioned within the arm. For instance, the light source or screwdriver may be positioned in a compartment located on the arm. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention in an unassembled state. FIG. 1A is an alternative embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a top plan view of the arm shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A-5C, are, respectively, perspective, end plan, and perspective views of the FIG. 5 embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 10 and 11 show a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to systems and methods for obtaining information regarding consumer experiences, and more specifically, to methods and systems for obtaining consumer reviews of products or services. 2. Description of the Related Art The Internet allows consumers to access a wealth of information concerning products or services they are considering purchasing. However, obtaining information from one of the most useful sources of information, that is, other consumers, has proven very difficult. For example, while many Internet commerce sites allow consumers to provide their reviews of a given product or service, few consumers actually do so. Consumers may intend to provide a review once they have used the product or service, but then forget to do so. Similarly, merchants and manufacturers typically lack sufficient information about consumer experiences with items correspondingly sold by the merchants or made by the manufacturers. Thus, merchants and manufacturers are deprived of information that would allow them to provide better service and/or products. Furthermore, because merchants are deprived of sufficient consumer opinions about previously purchased items, they are inhibited in their ability to generate an accurate consumer profile that would allow the merchants to recommend future items for purchase by the consumer. Thus, consumers, merchants, and manufacturers are currently deprived from adequately benefiting from the experiences of large numbers of prior consumers. The present invention seeks to encourage consumers to provide reviews and/or ratings, so that other consumers may take these experiences into account when deciding what goods or services to purchase and so that merchants and manufactures can provide consumers with better service and products.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for measuring the turbidity of a liquid media. More particularly, it relates to a turbidimetric method and apparatus which are suitable for determining the concentration of a suspended substance in activated sludge or pulp waste, or the concentration of microorganisms in a fermented solution or waste of fermentation. 2. Discussion of the Background Various methods exist for measuring the turbidity (concentration) of a liquid media. These methods are based on ultrasounds, radioactive materials, or light. Methods based on light are classified into (1) methods which use transmitted light or (2) methods which use scattered light. With either of the light-based methods, the presence of bubbles in the liquid media greatly limits measurement accuracy. As a matter of fact, no method currently exists for the on-line determination of the concentration of microorganisms in a fermentation process. A variety of methods have been proposed for removing bubbles. Some of these are: (1) Adding an antifoaming agent to the liquid to be analyzed; (2) Applying pressure to the liquid in a sampler; (3) Using a bubble removal net; (4) Using a sampler having an inner tube and an outer tube and causing a liquid to flow up the inner tube and down the outer tube so that bubbles rising in the outer tube may be separated from the liquid; or (5) Drawing a liquid into a sampler by a piston and leaving the liquid at rest so that bubbles rising in the sampler may be discharged through its liquid inlet. The conventional methods as hereinabove described, however, suffer from the following problems. (a) All of these methods suffer from measurement inaccuracy due to the presence of bubbles; (b) The optical systems used are easily contaminated, resulting in measurement inaccuracy; and (c) Turbidimeters are complicated in construction and easily stained, resulting in contamination by varied germs, especially in fermentations and other cultivations media. Thus, there is a strongly felt need for a method for accurately measuring the turbidity of liquid media and/or fermentation media, wherein the method does not suffer from the drawbacks outlined above: measurement inaccuracy due to the presence of bubbles in the media or optical system contamination; or media contamination due to turbidimeter design. Likewise, there is a strong need for a method and apparatus for efficiently, quickly and accurately measuring liquid media.

Conventional disk drives can use a rotary voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for positioning the read/write heads. A servo control system receives servo positioning information read by the read/write heads from the data tracks, typically from equally-angularly-spaced servo sectors that extend generally radially across the tracks. The servo control system generates control signals to the VCM to maintain the read/write heads on track and move them to the desired tracks for reading and writing of data. The servo sectors also contain servo timing marks (STMs) that indicate the start of the servo sectors. In some implementations, a set of spirals can be written on a blank disk. Timing and positioning information can be derived from the spirals for use in controlling the read/write heads to write servo sectors. The servo sectors can form a band of servo tracks. The servo tracks can be used to accelerate the read/write heads to a target velocity to write another set of spirals. The process of alternating between writing servo tracks and writing spirals can be repeated to write additional servo tracks on the blank disk. Additional details of this self-servo write (SSW) process can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,312, entitled “Self-servo-write Using Ramp-tracks”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. When the read/write heads are positioned above a blank portion of a disk, servo sector timing marks are not available as a feedback source, for example, for regulating variations in target velocities of the VCM actuator. A back-electromotive-force (BEMF), from voice coils of a VCM, for example, may serve as a feedback source. However, the BEMF may include noise and be at a low resolution, so the BEMF may not be an ideal feedback source. Accordingly, while the servo tracks are being used to accelerate the VCM to the target velocity, an open loop control system may be used. For example, moving the read/write heads at a constant velocity and moving the read/write heads back to a starting track can be performed using the open loop control system. As a VCM moves, torques on the VCM structure (e.g., cable bias, windage, head friction) may affect the momentum of the VCM, thereby creating variability in the velocity of the VCM.

Infant's sleepers which are in a sense convertible are known in the art. The garment includes sleeves on the outer surface of which at the distal end thereof is provided a pouch. The pouch is formed by a layer of material overlaying the front or the back of the sleeve, which layer is stitched into the side seams and bottom hem of the sleeve, and accordingly, the pouch has a blind-bottom. The pouch is invertible over the end of the sleeve so as to close the sleeve end and thereby prevent the hand of an infant from projecting beyond the sleeve end. When the pouch is inverted in this manner, it tends to reduce the length of the sleeve, and to bunch up several thicknesses of material into the sleeve end. Since the sleeves of the garment must be made sufficiently long to accommodate the hands of the infant within the sleeves when these are closed by the pouches, it follows that the hands will not tend to project beyond the sleeve ends when these are uncovered, and the garment as a whole tends to be oversized and not to conduce to the comfort of the infant. While the sleeves could conceivably be rolled back on the garment so as to expose the infant's hands, this would also expose the hems and seams, and would present an unattractive appearance. It is an object of this invention to provide improved wearing apparel which is of use for more controllably and more attractively converting between one mode in which a limb appendage is covered and another mode in which the limb appendage is uncovered.

1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to a table; and more particularly to a foldable table which is equipped with a reinforcing frame for substantially strengthening a structural integrity of the foldable table, and a hinge arrangement for selectively and conveniently folding and unfolding a tabletop of the foldable table. 2. Description of Related Arts A conventional foldable table usually comprises a tabletop and a supporting frame which comprises a tabletop reinforcing frame and a foldable leg frame connected thereunder in a pivotally foldable manner. When the foldable table is in use, the leg frame is pivotally unfolded and extended to support the tabletop at an elevated height, and when the foldable table is not in use, the leg frame is capable of being folded towards the tabletop for reduction in its overall size so as to facilitate easy storage and transportation. Conventionally, most of the improvements for conventional foldable tables have been overwhelmingly concentrated on the leg frame. Persons skill in the art have devoted themselves in developing new kinds of leg frames and the foldable mechanism in order to make the foldable table easier to fold, more compact in size and more secure in structure. On the other hand, however, it has been recognized that the tabletop may also be designed to reduce an overall size of the foldable table (e.g. by making the tabletop foldable). Although it is conceived that by altering the structure of the tabletop, the overall stability and security of the foldable table may be substantially deteriorated, this disadvantage should be carefully tackled so as to develop an optimal foldable table which is both compact in size and secure in structure.

From the point of view of achieving weight reduction of automobile for the purpose of reduction in fuel consumption and ensuring safety for occupants of automobile, application of an ultra high strength cold-rolled steel sheet having a tensile strength of 980 MPa or more to a structural member of automobile has been studied. However, since such an ultra high strength cold-rolled steel sheet as described above is remarkably inferior to a mild cold-rolled steel sheet in stretch-flangeability and ductility, it is difficult to subject the ultra high strength cold-rolled steel sheet to press-forming. In regard to formability of a high strength cold-rolled steel sheet, a number of prior arts have so far been disclosed, for example, in JP-B Nos. 7-59726, 55-22532, 55-51410, 1-35051, and 1-35052, Japanese Patent No. 2766693, and JP-B No. 8-30212. However, except for a case in which C content is high, among these prior arts, there is no prior art which simultaneously achieves a tensile strength of 980 MPa or more and either excellent stretch-flangeability or ductility. In a case in which C content is high, there is a problem in that, since a spot-welded portion is liable to be fractured, sufficient joint strength can not be obtained.

Network switches/switching units are at the core of any communication network. A network switch typically has one or more input ports and one or more output ports, wherein data/communication packets are received at the input ports, processed by the network switch through multiple packet processing components and stages in the network switch, and routed by the network switch to other network devices from the output ports according to control logic of the network switch. When a data packet is routed through the network switch, a copy of the data encapsulated in the packet (packet data) can be temporarily maintained in a memory/buffer of the network switch. Various components of the network switch can access and process the copy of the packet data in the buffer via a buffer manager without having to maintain multiple identical copies of the data by themselves. During their operations, the various components of the network switch may each perform a plurality of operations on the data of the packet, and may each generate one or more pieces of metadata associated with the packet data. Here, the metadata of the packet is information that is of interest to the network switch and can be utilized by the components of the network switch to process the data of the packet. For non-limiting examples, various pieces of metadata of a packet may include length and/or buffering location(s) of the packet, timing constraints on the packet, destination of the packet, reference count to the copy of the data of the packet in the buffer, number of copies of the packet that need to be created or deleted, etc. During operation of the network switch, various pieces of metadata of the packet are routed along different (metadata) paths among the various components of the network switch, wherein each path includes one or more cells/components and a plurality of segments of interconnect wires/bus connecting these cells/components. Transmitting the pieces of metadata over the metadata path will encounter timing delay, which includes the internal delay of the cells/components on the metadata path and the interconnect delay over the interconnect wires of the segments of the path. For proper operation of the network switch, the various pieces of metadata may be timing correlated or timing dependent on each other. For a non-limiting example, a first piece of metadata of a packet that includes instructions to increase the reference count to the data of the packet must arrive at a component (e.g., buffer manager) before a second piece of metadata that includes instructions to decrease the reference count to the data of the same packet in order to avoid the so called race condition/problem, where copy of the packet data is deleted from the buffer prematurely because reference count is reduced to zero. It is thus desirable to be able to automatically determine the timing constraints imposed by the metadata of a packet on the network switch and to adjust the metadata paths of a network switch to meet such timing constraints. The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

The present application relates to an optical element module using a polymer actuator element, and an image pickup device that makes hand movement correction or focus and zoom adjustment using the optical element module. A hand movement correcting function has recently been becoming a standard in a digital camera with increase in the number of pixels and improvement in functionality. An optical hand movement correction, in particular, has recently been incorporated in addition to a digital hand movement correction (for example, see Japanese Application No. 09-243320, hereinafter “Patent Document 1”). In the case of optical hand movement correction, however, an actuator mechanism using magnetism such as a linear motor as in the example of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 or the like is mainly employed. Therefore, the size of a module as a whole is increased, and it is difficult to make the size of a camera smaller. In addition, a camera included in a portable telephone has been increased in the number of pixels, and is thus likely to need a hand movement correction in the future. However, it is very difficult for an actuator mechanism now in use to be of such a size as to be included in a portable telephone and be provided with an optical hand movement correcting function. To address these problems, image pickup devices provided with a hand movement correcting function using a polymer actuator have recently been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. 2007-129295 and 2007-147843, hereinafter “Patent Documents 2 and 3,” respectively). However, the image pickup devices in Patent Documents 2 and 3 tilt the whole of a casing to which an image pickup optical system and an image pickup element are attached using a displacement of a polymer actuator. Thus, a space for tilting the whole of the casing is required, and the devices as a whole are not sufficiently miniaturized.

The present invention relates to a multi-purpose device which provides various functions to travelers. Specifically, a device for use with twelve volt power systems of automobiles which provides lighting, power outlets, and more is disclosed. Due to the dynamic nature of an automotive traveler's needs, and because of the restricted physical space generally available in automotive conveyance, it is desirable to combine the functions of several devices into a unitary design. This advantage, coupled with an offering of well-thought out additions, makes the present invention a novel and useful product offering. Various types of automotive devices have been introduced to the market, however, no device introduced previously nor now available combines the functions present in the current invention, nor do they offer the innovative features contained therein. The present invention alleviates this lack of product offering by supplying a device which combines several handy, or in some cases, essential articles into one, and further, incorporates new features not ordinarily seen in such an application, such as voltage converters. These aspects are then packaged into a product having a small footprint and one which is easily portable.

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolic by-products of fungi which can dangerously contaminate a wide variety of human foods and animal feeds, including edible nuts, oilseeds, cereal grains, and forages and products derived from them. Among the most significant are aflatoxins, a group of closely-related mycotoxins produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Not all isolates of the fungus produce aflatoxins; thus, the mere presence of A. flavus or A. parasiticus does not mean that aflatoxins will be present in the substrate. Accordingly direct determination of mycotoxin level is an important aspect of quality control in foods and feeds. Such measurements have conventionally been carried out by the use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However in those cases where HPLC equipment is not available or appropriate, determination by thin layer chromatography (TLC) is also possible. Commercial scanners are available for mycotoxin determination after TLC separation, using mercury lamps with an emission wavelength of 366 nm as a light source to stimulate fluorescence, which is detected and quantified by photo-multipliers. For quantitative testing there are also radioimmunoassay techniques and immunochemically-based techniques such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Qualitative detection of mycotoxins can be carried out using small chromatographic columns (traditionally called ‘minicolumns’). Various minicolumn methods have been adopted as official tests of the AOAC International (Association of Official Analytical Communities). The major uses of minicolumn tests for aflatoxin are as “go” or “no go” field tests to accept or reject for example a truckload of peanuts or corn, and as central laboratory screening tests to avoid the need to quantitatively test samples that do not contain a detectable amount of aflatoxin. In our copending patent application PCT/GB2006/050115 we describe apparatus for the detection or determination of a target comprising a target compound, a derivatised target compound or target compound-stimulated moiety, said apparatus comprising: means for mounting a sample cartridge, which sample cartridge comprises a packing or coating capable of immobilising or isolating the target in a layer or band, an excitation unit for emitting radiation that excites fluorescent radiation, a detection unit that is sensitive to said fluorescent radiation, and means for relatively moving the mounting means and the detection unit whereby the fluorescent radiation from the target may be sensed. Whilst the apparatus described in patent application PCT/GB2006/050115 is extremely useful, it only detects a single target compound or target compound-stimulated moiety at a time. Whist one tries to have only a single target compound, in practice there are often more than one target compounds present and it would be useful to be able to identify and quantify the plurality of target compounds. It would be even more useful to be able to be able to detect one or more than one target compound or derivatised target compound at a time and one or more than one target compound at a time which does not produce fluorescent radiation. Not all target compounds of interest fluoresce and it would be useful to identify such target compounds.

The present invention relates generally to the field of personal health care, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved douche arrangement which serves as a bidet alternative apparatus. Social mores and customs have long influenced the design of equipment used by women to cleanse their genitals. In some European countries bidets, which by dictionary definition are stool like fixtures with running water that are straddled for washing the genitals, are prominently and permanently installed in bathrooms. In such areas bidets are considered no more offensive to the sight than toilets or urinals. In many areas of the United States, however, bidets have been considered as very offensive to the sight. Thus there are few homes in the United States having bathrooms with either plumbing or floor space provisions adequate for the installation of bidets. In such homes non-plumbed douche equipment is normally used as a bidet substitute. Non-plumbed douche equipment, operated by trained professionals, can be readily used to deliver medicinal fluids to the internal body cavities of patients with the proper amount of pressure at a controlled rate of flow. Self-administered douching is more erratic and unpredictable. Conventional bidet fixtures perform the cleansing operation more effectively and more safely than douche equipment designed for self administrations because of the positive control for rate of flow and pressure of the cleansing fluid.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium, reproducing method thereof and reproducing apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a method of recording auxiliary data such as a text subtitle stream and reproduction management information for reproducing the auxiliary data efficiently in a recording medium, a recording medium reproducing method using the same and a reproducing apparatus using the same. 2. Discussion of the Related Art Generally, an optical disc on which a large volume of data is recordable is widely used as an optical record medium. Recently, many efforts are made to develop a new high density optical record medium (HD-DVD), on which video data of high definition and audio data of high quality can be recorded and stored, such as a Blu-ray disc (hereinafter abbreviated BD) and the like. The Blu-ray disc (BD) that is a sort of a next generation HD-DVD technology is the next generation optical record solution enabling to be fully equipped with data to remarkably surpass the previous DVD, and the technology specifications of global standardizations for the BD are being established together with other digital equipments. Moreover, although many efforts are made to develop optical record players adopting the BD specifications, there are many difficulties in developing a complete optical record player since the BD specifications fail in being fully established yet. Specifically, in order to efficiently reproduce the data recorded in the BD, main AV data and various kinds of data such as text subtitle information as auxiliary data associated with the main AV data for user's convenience should be provided. Moreover, management information for reproducing the main and auxiliary data recorded in the optical disc should be systematized to provide. However, the current BD specifications fail to be equipped with the unified specifications for the text subtitle stream file, whereby a great deal of limitation is put on full-scale development of the BD-based optical record players. Specifically, such limitation causes difficulty to recording and reproducing the text subtitle in the optical disc.

The present invention is generally directed to ink compositions and imaging processes thereof, and more specifically, the present invention is directed to ink compositions containing highly stabilized pigment particles and dispersions thereof and improved ink jetting and printing properties arising therefrom. Even more specifically, the present invention is directed to substantially stable carbon black ink dispersions and wherein the resulting inks possess a number of advantages such as excellent jetting characteristics and superior developed images with excellent resolution.

Driving safety is significantly dependent on road conditions or road events, such as lighting conditions (e.g., street lighting, daylight, etc.), road surface conditions (e.g., potholes, speed bumps, road maintenance work, etc.), weather conditions (e.g., rainfall, snowfall, etc.), natural phenomena (e.g., floods, landslides, fallen trees, etc.), human activities (e.g., crowd protests, traffic jams, road accidents, etc.), and so on. For example, suddenly encountering a pothole or a speed bump while driving may lead to vehicle damage or even a fatal accident. The seriousness of this issue is exacerbated by poor lighting conditions (e.g., at night, during foggy conditions, etc.), and by difficult weather conditions (e.g., tropical rain storms, snow storms, snow accumulation, etc.). These types of conditions may make it more difficult for drivers to detect potholes, speed bumps, road maintenance work, or similar road events while driving.