A coating apparatus for use in a sheet-fed or web-fed, offset rotary or flexographic printing press to apply a protective and/or decorative coating to the surface or freshly printed sheets includes a doctor blade coating unit coupled to a pickup roller for supplying liquid material from a reservoir to the surface of a pickup roller mounted on a press delivery drive shaft. Liquid material is circulated through the reservoir of the doctor blade unit by suction flow produced by a return pump. This prevents the buildup of a positive pressure differential within the doctor blade reservoir. The doctor blade reservoir is maintained at below ambient pressure level, thereby preventing leakage through the end seals. A vacuum sensor circuit provides a visual indication of air vacuum pressure in the doctor blade reservoir chamber, and a vacuum sensor switch applies electrical power to an audio transducer. The audio transducer produces an audible alarm in response to an increase in doctor blade chamber pressure, thereby providing advance warning of an impending end seal failure or a worn doctor blade condition.

Conventional sheet-fed, offset rotary printing presses typically include one or more printing stations through which individual sheets are fed and printed with wet ink. After final printing, the sheets are fed by a delivery conveyor system to the delivery end of the press where the freshly printed sheets are collected and stacked. In a typical sheet-fed, offset rotary printing press such as the Heidelberg Speedmaster line of presses, the delivery conveyor system includes a pair of endless gripper chains carrying spaced laterally disposed gripper bars and grippers which are used to grip and pull freshly printed sheets from the impression cylinder and convey the sheets toward the sheet delivery stacker. The gripper chains are driven in precisely timed relation to the impression cylinder by gripper chain sprocket wheels which are laterally spaced between a delivery drive shaft mounted on opposite sides of the press frame. The delivery drive shaft is mechanically coupled by gears for synchronous rotation with the impression cylinder.
Since the inks used with offset type printing presses typically remain wet and tacky for some time after printing, special precautions must be taken to insure that the wet inked surface of the freshly printed sheets is not marked or smeared as the sheets are transferred from one printing station to another, and through the delivery system to the sheet delivery stacker. The printed surface of the paper dries relatively slowly and can be smeared during subsequent processing, particularly when the printed sheets are stacked. In order to minimize smearing, a dryer may be mounted along the delivery path of the printed sheets, or an anti-offset spray powder may be sprayed on the printed surface.
In some printing applications, it is desirable that the press be capable of applying a protective and/or decorative coating over all or a portion of the surface of the printed sheets. Typical coating solutions include varnish, lacquer, dye, moisturizers and ink. Such coatings typically are formed of a UV-curable or water-soluble resin applied as a liquid solution or emulsion by an applicator roller over the freshly printed sheets to protect the ink and improve the appearance of the sheets. Use of such coatings is particularly desirable when decorative or protective finishes are required such as in the production of posters, record jackets, brochures, magazines, folding cartons and the like. In cases where a liquid coating is to be applied, the coating operation is carried out after the final ink printing has been performed, most desirably by an in-line coating application.

Coating apparatus for sheet-fed, offset rotary printing presses


A wire-winding device comprising: an upper cover; a spiral spring; a rotary base having a groove to accommodate the spiral spring on the bottom surface thereof; a transmission line winding around the rotary base; a lower cover assembled with the upper cover; and a pillar, an outlet, and a wire casing formed on one side of the groove, and two spacers surrounding the peripheral edge of the groove, the pillar having a first end portion which shifts outward to the edge of rotary base, the wire casing having a smooth curved surface formed on the bottom surface thereof near the outlet to enlarge the accommodating space near the outlet and reduce the friction between the transmission line and the spacers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved wire-winding device, and more particularly to improve the reliability of stretching out and drawing back for a wire-winding device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional wire-winding device having a rotary base with spacers, when a transmission line or cable is bent from a wire casing of the rotary base, the cable is easy to rub the spacer. And when the cable is wound around the rotary base, part of the cable will protrude outward.


A change speed apparatus for a fishing reel comprises a plurality of sun gears having different numbers of teeth, an input shaft carrying one of the sun gears and rotatable by a handle, an output shaft connected to a spool and carrying the other sun gear, a differential gear including toothed portions having different numbers of teeth for meshing with the plurality of sun gears, a gear holder for supporting the differential gear, a first transmission line for restricting rotation of the gear holder to transmit drive from the input shaft to the output shaft through the differential gear, a second transmission line for rendering the gear holder rotatable to directly couple the input shaft and the output shaft, and a transmission switching mechanism for selecting between the first transmission line and the second transmission line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a change speed apparatus for a fishing reel, and more particularly to a fishing reel in which a fishing line takeup member such as a spool is driven in varied speeds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known fishing reel of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Kokai No. 1989-277441, for example. The construction proposed in this publication comprises a handle-rotatable sleeve rotatable by a handle, and an output shaft rotatably supported in the sleeve and having a main gear. A planetary gear mechanism is provided which includes a sun gear mounted on the output shaft, planet gears supported on the handle-rotatable sleeve and meshed with the sun gear, and a ring gear rotatably supported on a reel body and having internal teeth meshed with the planet gears. The reel body has a stopper pawl engageable with engaging teeth defined peripherally of the ring gear. When the handle is turned in a direction to wind up a fishing line with the stopper pawl engaging one of the engaging teeth to lock the ring gear against rotation, the handle-rotatable sleeve is rotated, and the output shaft having the sun gear is rotated in acceleration with the planet gears rotating, whereby the spool is driven at high speed through the main gear. On the other hand, when the handle is turned in the direction to wind up the fishing line with the stopper pawl disengaged from the engaging teeth to render the ring gear rotatable, the handle-rotatable sleeve is directly connected, for unitary rotation, to the output shaft through a one-way rotation drive mechanism. At this time, the ring gear meshed with the planet gears follows rotation of the sun gear, to be free from the accelerating action of the planetary gear mechanism, whereby the spool is driven at low speed through the main gear.
Where the speed is changed by using a planetary gear mechanism as above, the speed ratio between high speed and low speed may be reduced by reducing the pitch diameter of the planet gears. However, there is a limitation to reduction of the pitch diameter of the planet gears by reason of the strength of the planet gears. Consequently, only a limited freedom is allowed for selecting a gear ratio, and the speed ratio cannot be reduced below a certain value. The above construction has a further disadvantage of being costly since it is very difficult to shape the internal teeth of the ring gear with high precision.

Change speed apparatus for a fishing reel


A retractor for periodontal surgery includes an elongated handle from which extends a first connection portion and a second connection portion, with a blade extending from the second connection portion. The handle and the first connection portion are positioned at a first angle, the first connection portion and the second connection portion are positioned at a second angle. The first and second connection portions are generally co-planar. The blade is obliquely positioned at a third angle relative to the central axis of the second connection portion. The blade may be easily inserted into an incision in a patient's gum so as to retract the incision.

Retractors for periodontal surgery are instruments used for periodontal surgery by being inserted into an opening in the gums to lift up or retract the opening. A retractor for periodontal surgery, which is a cylindrical member extending linearly long, generally includes a handle held by a user and a blade connected to at least one of opposite end portions of the handle and inserted into the opening.
In a retractor for periodontal surgery according to a related art, a connection structure between the blade and the handle generally has a linear shape or a simple hook shape. Accordingly, it is difficult to secure a work space in a mouth during surgery according to the position of an opening in the gums. Furthermore, individual characteristics of patients having diverse oral cavity shapes or teeth alignments may not be sufficiently reflected.


An anti-skiving device used for beveling an edge of photographic film so that when the film is processed the emulsion or anti-halation backing on the base of the photographic film will not flake or skive. The device eliminates flaked or skived material from the edge of the film from being processed on the film itself, which heretofore caused an unsightly appearance on the processed film.

This invention relates to an anti-skiving device and more particularly but not by way of limitation to a device for beveling the edge of photographic film to prevent an emulsion layer or anti-halation backing on the base of the film from flaking or skiving.
Heretofore there have been a number of patented inventions for beveling cardboard and other paper materials. These card beveling machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 362,179 to Remus, U.S. Pat. No. 323,483 to Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 887,350 to Slick, U.S. Pat. No. 765,391 to Long and U.S. Pat. No. 1,736,267 to Williams.
Also, there are various types of sharpeners for sharpening knives, cutting tools or the like. These sharpeners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,335,603 to Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,194 to Chester, U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,679 to Sheridan.
None of the above mentioned patents disclose or discuss the problem of skiving photographic film when it is processed and the problems caused by the skived material having an unsightly appearance when the film has been processed. Photographic film has a base with an emulsion layer thereon. Also the base may include an anti-halation backing on the back side of the base. When photographic film is cut to size the film is often cut with an unsharpened instrument, thereby causing the emulsion layer and anti-halation backing to peel at the cut edge. When the film is processed the portion of the peeled back emulsion layer or anti-halation backing skives or flakes. This material attaches itself to the surface of the film, causing small hairlike spots on the processed film, thereby causing an unsightly appearance.

Anti-skiving device for photographic film


Methods and apparatus for performing a concurrent garbage collection process are disclosed. Preferably, upon detecting that less than a predetermined amount of memory is available, a garbage collector instructs each operating thread to self-enumerate to identify its associated live object reference root set, to report the live object reference root set, and to subsequently suspend operation. Based on the reported live object reference root sets, stale memory is identified and released for future use by operating threads. The threads are then instructed to resume operation.

Microprocessors are required to perform memory management to optimize finite, available memory resources. Memory management includes implementing specialized memory management tasks designed to identify and release memory associated with stale or dead objects. The memory associated with a dead object may have been previously allocated to the object for the purpose of executing a task whose execution has been completed or is no longer required. Memory associated with dead objects is referred to herein as "garbage or stale memory," and a process of identifying and releasing the garbage memory back into a main memory, or memory heap, may be referred to herein as a "garbage collection process."
When releasing the garbage memory back into the memory heap during a prior art garbage collection process, all task execution other than the garbage collection process must be suspended. Suspension of all task execution is required to prevent the occurrence of a race condition (i.e., a condition that may occur when both an executing task and the garbage collection process attempt to access the same piece of memory, thereby causing the executing task to crash). Of course, when task execution is suspended, the processor(s) executing the suspended tasks are idle and, therefore, not operating at their optimum level, thereby resulting in wasted computer resources and overall inefficiency of computer resources.

Methods and apparatus for concurrent enumeration of an object reference root set


Mutant ribozymes are screened by culturing cells whose survival is dependant upon cleavage of RNA by a ribozyme, which cleavage causes the cells to survive in the presence of an agent which otherwise would kill the cells, and selecting cells which survive.

Certain naturally occurring RNA molecules undergo self-catalyzed cleavage (Kruger et al., 1982). The best studied examples occur in plants that are infected with viroids (Hutchins et al., 1986), virusoids (Forster & Symons, 1987a), or satellite viruses (Prody et al., 1986). The genomic RNAs of these infectious agents are reproduced by a rolling circle mechanism that yields multimeric replication intermediates that undergo self-cleavage to produce monomeric genomes. The ability to self-cleave is imparted by distal consensus sequences that interact to form a highly structured RNA configuration (in the form of a "hammerhead") prior to cleavage (Forster & Symons, 1987a, Forster & Symons, 1987b). Although self-cleavage is entirely intramolecular, a careful analysis of the sequences and structures involved led Uhlenbeck to the realization that a synthetic RNA could be constructed that would interact with a second RNA (the "substrate" strand) to form the hammerhead configuration, resulting in the cleavage of the substrate at a specific site (Uhlenbeck, 1987). He demonstrated that these synthetic RNAs act enzymatically.
Uhlenbeck's experiments raised the prospect that RNA enzymes ("ribozymes") could be constructed that would cleave a preselected sequence in any RNA. However, in his scheme some of the consensus sequences which were required to form the active hammerhead configuration were supplied by the substrate strand, severely limiting the number of natural RNAs that could serve as substrates. Haseloff and Gerlach markedly improved Uhlenbeck's design by including all the required consensus sequences in the ribozyme (Haseloff & Gerlach, 1988). Their ribozyme works by first hybridizing to a particular site in the substrate RNA and then catalyzing the cleavage of the substrate at that site. They disclose that sites containing the trinucleotide GUC, and perhaps GUU or GUA, are cleaved, provided that the structures present in the substrate RNA do not prevent the binding of the ribozyme to the site. FIG. 1A shows a typical Haseloff-Gerlach ribozyme hybridized to a substrate strand. The arrow indicates the site in the substrate where cleavage will occur. This site is immediately adjacent to the GUC sequence.
Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes possess two different functional regions. The first functional region is a "catalytic domain" in the middle of the ribozyme (FIG. 1B), which contains the consensus sequences that confer the ability to cleave the substrate. The catalytic domain is example shown is 22 nucleotides-long. This region is common to Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes. The second functional region consists of sequences on both sides of the catalytic domain. These sequences are chosen to be complementary to the sequences surrounding the cleavage site in the substrate (FIG. 1C). They confer upon the ribozyme the ability to interact specifically with a preselected cleavage site. Because the combined length of these complementary sequences is typically between 12 and 16 nucleotides, the Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes are highly specific.
Experiments that tested the activity of Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes in vivo have been disappointing. The expression of targeted gene products was not eliminated, but only reduced (Cameron & Jennings, 1989), and extremely high levels of ribozyme were required to destroy the intended substrate RNA (Cotten et al., 1989). Furthermore, our own in vitro studies showed that the optimal conditions for ribozyme activity (60 degrees Celsius in the presence of 40 mM magnesium chloride) are quite different from the conditions present in most eukaryotic cells. Naturally occuring hammerhead configurations are optimal only for cleavage within the same RNA (cleavage in cis). Moreover, in plant cells (where hammerheads normally function), cleavage might be aided by accessory proteins. The Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes, on the other hand, are designed to cleave another RNA (cleavage in trans), without the benefit of cellular proteins. Furthermore, the Haseloff-Gerlach ribozymes might be particularly sensitive to cellular nucleases. It is thus not surprising that artificial ribozymes function less than optimally in vivo. The utility of therapeutic ribozymes will depend on their ability to function efficiently in a complex cellular milieu (Sarver et al., 1990). Thus, it is clear from our own work and from the work of other laboratories that the efficiency of ribozymes as currently designed, either Haseloff-Gerlach or other, is too low for them to serve as commercially effective therapeutic agents. A purpose of the invention described herein is to design and screen ribozymes that will efficiently cleave target RNA.

Selection of ribozymes that efficiently cleave target RNA

The Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York, Inc.


A virtual reality device is configured to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that replicate a real or imagined environment for a user. As a first user interacts with the device, first user interaction data representing interactions between the first user and the device during a first user visit are recorded. A first unique visitor fingerprint is generated based on the first user interaction data. As a second user interacts with the device, second user interaction data representing interactions between the second user and the device during a second user visit that is different from the first user visit are recorded. A second unique visitor fingerprint is generated based on the second user interaction data. The first and second unique visitor fingerprints are compared to determine whether the second user is the same as the first user. Based on the determination, one or more functions can be performed.

Virtual reality (VR) devices are machines that use hardware and software to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that replicate a real or imagined environment. Virtual reality devices provide an immersive experience that allows users to, for example, look around the environment, manipulate objects in the environment, and hear sounds in the environment. With a system incorporating one or more VR devices, VR applications and other components, a user can virtually interact with the environment via one or more user interfaces of the system. User interfaces that are commonly found in VR systems may include, for example, a computer display, a projection screen, a VR headset, a VR hand glove, a treadmill, or any combination of these or other components. Additionally, sensors and cameras can be integrated into the system to detect user inputs, such as head and hand gestures, for allowing the user to virtually interact with the environment. At least some of these interfaces are specific to VR devices and are not typically available with other types of electronic devices, such as personal computers, smartphones, or tablets. Therefore, new techniques are needed for processing information received through interfaces that are specific to systems incorporating VR devices.

User identification and identification-based processing for a virtual reality device


Methods and data structures are provided for allowing data mining with improved efficiency. During processing of a usage log (or multiple logs) for an activity, such as a usage logfile of network search activity, a common fact table is generated. The common fact table allows a plurality of auxiliary data structures to be formed from the common fact table. These auxiliary data structures are designed to allow users to submit queries against the contents of the data structure in order to investigate the data. The efficiency of access of the common fact table is improved by allowing users to access auxiliary data structures other than the auxiliary data structures that are associated with a user. Optionally, the common fact table and/or the auxiliary data structures can include dimension values that correspond to both pre-identified dimension values as well as dimension values that are identified during processing of the activity logfiles.

The continued increase in the numbers and types of computing platforms has contributed to a corresponding gain in the amount of data available for analysis. The change in the amount of available data is driven by both an increase in the number of events that can be effectively captured as well as increases in the types of data that can be easily stored for a given event. Keyword searching for information on a wide area network provides one example of how the amount of available data for analysis has changed. In recent years, the number of people performing searches has increased, the types of information being searched for has increased, and providers of search engines have become increasingly sophisticated in identifying information that is valuable for data mining. Many other types of on-line and/or business activities have seen similar growth in available information.


Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a distributed memory agent within a first node intercepting an operating system request to open a file from an application running on the first node. The request includes a file identifier, which the distributed memory agent transmits to a remote memory manager. The distributed memory agent receives, from the remote memory manager, a memory location within a second node for the file identifier and information to establish a remote direct memory access channel between the first node and the second node. In response to the request to open the file, the distributed memory agent establishes the remote direct memory access channel between the first node and the second node. The remote direct memory access channel allows the first node to read directly from or write directly to the memory location within the second node while bypassing an operating system of the second node.

Sharing temporary information across computers in a data center introduces a bottleneck in distributed workflows. For example, an application on one computer may produce temporary data consumed by an application on another computer within, e.g., a cluster of computers in a data center. The computer producing the temporary data waits until all the temporary data is transferred to the consumer computer, or at least in a buffer which will be transferred to the consumer computer, before continuing. The consumer computer waits for the data to be in a state which it can consume. This type of sharing of temporary information can be achieved using shared file systems or specialized protocols. Shared file systems, however, introduce undesirable overhead and specialized protocols are complex to program and often preclude the use of applications developed prior to or without implementation of the protocols. For example, Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) is a common mechanism used to transfer temporary state in a distributed system. HDFS, however, suffers from significant overhead to ensure fault-tolerance and high-availability. Other systems may provide a memory interface over remote direct memory access (RDMA). That, however, requires rewriting the software that expects to export data to temporary files to be compliant with an RDMA protocol.

File system interface for remote direct memory access


A communication node is connected to a transmission line which transmits a differential signal changeable between a high level and a low level and has a high potential signal line and a low potential signal line as a pair of signal lines. The communication node includes: an inter-line potential detector that detects an intermediate potential between the pair of signal lines; a node potential detector that detects an intermediate potential of an operation power source voltage which is supplied to the communication node; and a voltage adjuster that detects a difference between the intermediate potential detected by the inter-line potential detector and the intermediate potential detected by the node potential detector, and adjusts the operation power source voltage in accordance with the difference.

When transmitting a digital signal via a transmission line, ringing, i.e., a distortion of a waveform of a signal such as overshoot or undershoot may arise on a reception side since a part of signal energy reflects when a signal level is changed. Various techniques for restricting the distortion of the waveform are conventionally proposed. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for restricting the ringing by adjusting an impedance only in a predetermined period which does not affect communication while a voltage level in the transmission line is switched between a low level and a high level (See FIGS. 8 to 11).
In fifth embodiment of the Patent Literature 1, an element for restricting the ringing is prepared by a structure such that a N channel MOSFET and a P channel MOSFET are connected in parallel to each other between a high potential signal line and a low potential signal line. The N channel MOSFET is operated by a voltage between a power source having a voltage Vcc and the low potential signal line. The P channel MOSFET is operated by a voltage between the high potential signal line and a ground. Thus, even if an offset is generated in a ground potential at a communication node, at least one of the N channel MOSFET and the P channel MOSFET restricts the ringing.


In a method and apparatus for operating an implantable cardiac pacemaker, the stimulation rate is modulated, while a patient in whom the pacemaker is implanted is experiencing a number of different levels of physical stress, and a number of signal sequences corresponding to a non-mechanical physiological characteristic are obtained, one sequence being obtained for each physical stress level. These signal sequences form a reference field, which is stored in the pacemaker. A current signal sequence of the non-mechanical physiological characteristic is subsequently obtained, and this signal sequence is compared to all of the signal sequences in the stored reference field, and one of the reference field signal sequences having the highest correlation with the current signal sequence is selected. The stimulation rate is then set at a rate equal to the basic stimulation rate for the modulation which produced the highest correlating sequence in the reference field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a pacemaker having the capability of detecting physical stress in a patient in whom the pacemaker is implanted in order to adjust the stimulation rate, as necessary dependent on the detected physical stress, as well as to a method for operating a pacemaker for achieving such adjustment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of methods are known for adapting the stimulation rate of a heart pacemaker to the stress situation of the patient. A broad differentiation can be made between systems which use non-physiological parameters such as, for example, the movement (activity) of the body, and systems which use physiological parameters of the body such as, for example, blood pressure or blood temperature, for stimulation rate. Non-physiological rate-adaptive systems have the disadvantage that they can lead to stimulation rates which are not accurately matched to actual cardiac demand (upstairs-downstairs-paradox). Physiologically regulating sensors have the disadvantage that they require special sensors to measure suitable regulating parameters of the cardiac circulatory system, and these sensors do not have long-term stability. For this reason a number of processing augmentations, as well as non-specific measurement procedures, have to be carried out with standard catheters having long-term stability, such as intracardial impedance measurement for the heart pacemaker and defibrillator control. A significant feature of these known processing augmentations is the use of special methods in order to filter the signal content out of the polymorphic signal, this signal content in turn being clearly assigned to physiologically definable occurrences. A differentiation is made between two concepts:
1. Passive measurement of intracardial and intrathoracic measurement values without intentional influence of the measurement path by the stimulator, PA0 2. Active measurement of intracardial measurement parameters with defined influence of cardiovascular functions by the stimulator.
Active measuring systems, such as those operating through modulation of the stimulation rate of the heart muscle, have the advantage of suppressing non-cardiac disturbance by phase-synchronous analysis, and are preferred for the use of physiological function parameters for frequency regulation.
In the case of active measuring systems, it is known to use signal evaluation, related to frequency change, of action parameters of the heart to analyze intracardial impedance signals for rate regulation in heart pacemakers as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,436. In this context, efforts have been made to evaluate the signal configuration of an intracardial measurement parameter during a heart pulse (n+1) dependent on frequency changes .DELTA.HR of a single preceding pulse (n). It has also been proposed to use the difference in the signal alterations of two successive pulses (n+1) and (n+2) dependent on the frequency of the first pulse (n). In order to standardize the individual or difference values, a quotient is calculated from the respective measurement value and a maximum change value determined at a higher frequency change. A substantial disadvantage of this arrangement is that this method is only successful with measurement signals at which an exact separation is possible between volume-caused and pressure-caused changes. This is, however, difficult in the case of conventional impedance measurement using a single-pole catheter because, in addition to the shape and volume of the ventricle, pressure changes at the electrodes significantly influence the signal configuration. In order to compensate for these influences it is necessary in setting up the system to carry out a separation of the pressure- and volume-dependent signal components. The disclosure of the aforementioned patent, however, gives no indication of how this separation is to be accomplished.
It is further known to optimize the rate regulation by means of periodic alteration of the stimulation rate, causing alterations in the cardiac volume or per given time unit to occur synchronously with the frequency alterations, with measurements thereof then being evaluated. This known procedure has the disadvantage that the time-constant of measurement of the cardiac volume with the required precision increases in such a way that optimization is only possible in long phases of uniform stress, i.e. no short-term adaptations to stress can be carried out (German OS 38 03 473).

Cardiac pacemaker and pacing method using detection of physical stress for adjusting stimulation rate


A field emission device capable of permitting a focusing electrode to be arranged around a gate electrode without any restriction. A gate electrode is arranged on an upper surface of an insulating layer of a cathode substrate-side structure and holes are formed through the insulating layer and gate electrode. A conical emitter is arranged in each of the holes. The insulating layer is formed on the upper surface thereof with a focusing electrode so as to surround the gate electrode. The insulating layer is formed on a lower surface thereof with a connection line, a resistive layer and a cathode electrode line. The gate electrode is electrically connected to the connection line through a contact hole and a gate electrode line is electrically connected to the connection line through another contact hole.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a field emission device, and more particularly to a field emission device suitable for use for a field emission display (FED) or the like.
2. Discussion of the Background
An FED generally includes an envelope which is formed by sealedly joining a cathode substrate-side structure and an anode substrate-side structure to each other while being spaced from each other at a predetermined interval and is then evacuated to a high vacuum. The FED includes a field emission cathode (FEC), which may be constructed into a Spindt-type cold cathode structure. In the FEC of this type, application of a draw-out voltage to a gate electrode permits a conical emitter arranged in each of holes formed through the gate electrode to field-emit electrons, resulting in a phosphor of an anode electrode which has a positive voltage applied thereto emitting light, leading to display operation.
An FED of the high-voltage type exhibits increased luminance as compared with that of the low-voltage type, because in the former, a phosphor for a high voltage is increased in luminance. The FED of the high-voltage type is adapted to apply a voltage of several kV between an anode and a gate, so that it is needed to increase a gap between the anode and the gate. Thus, in the FED of the high-voltage type, it is required to focus electron beams emitted. In general, the FED has an FEC of the two-stage gate type incorporated therein. The FEC of the two-stage gate type is constructed so that a layer of a focusing electrode is provided separately from that of a gate electrode to provide a two-stage layer structure. This increases the number of layers, to thereby render manufacturing of the FEC costly and troublesome. In view of the problem, an FEC of the plane focusing type wherein a focusing electrode and a gate electrode are arranged in the same plane is proposed to simplify a process of manufacturing.
Such a plane focusing type FEC is generally constructed in such a manner as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, wherein reference numeral 31 designates a focusing electrode, 32 is a gate electrode, 32a is holes, 11 is a conical emitter arranged in each of the holes 32a, 12 is an insulating layer, 13 is a cathode substrate, 33 is a resistive layer, and 34 is a cathode electrode line.
The plane focusing type FEC fails to fully surround the gate electrode 32 with the focusing electrode 31. Thus, the focusing electrode 31 and gate electrode 32, as shown in FIG. 5, each are formed into a pectinate configuration and arranged on the same plane on the insulating layer 12 while alternating with each other. The gate electrode 32 is formed at each of projections thereof with a plurality of holes 32a in a row in a longitudinal direction of the projection.
The cathode substrate 13, as shown in FIG. 6, is formed thereon with the cathode electrode line 34, on which the resistive layer 33 is arranged. Then, the insulating layer 12 is arranged on the resistive layer 33, followed by arrangement of the above-described focusing electrode 31 and gate electrode 32 on the insulating layer 12. The holes 32a are formed through the gate electrode 32 and insulating layer in a manner to commonly extend therethrough and the conical emitter 11 is arranged in each of the holes 32a while being placed on the resistive layer 33. The gate electrode 32 and focusing electrode 31 have a gate electrode voltage and a focusing electrode voltage applied thereto, respectively.
As described above, the plane focusing type FEC essentially fails to fully surround the gate electrode 32 with the focusing electrode 31. This causes electron beams emitted from the conical emitters 11 to leak through an opening of the focusing electrode 31 as indicated at an arrow in FIG. 5, resulting in failing to provide a desired spot diameter of electron beams.
Such a problem is due to the fact that the conventional plane focusing type FEC fails to arrange any electrode or structure between the gate electrode and a line for feeding a voltage to the gate electrode in a manner to surround the gate electrode. Thus, the problem is not restricted to only the focusing electrode. Also, the conventional plane focusing type FEC, even when the focusing electrode or structure is arranged so as not to fully surround the gate electrode, causes relationship in arrangement between the line for feeding a voltage to the gate electrode and the focusing electrode or structure to be subject to restriction.

Field emission device having interlayer connections


The present invention discloses an encapsulation cap which not only seals simultaneously structural elements formed on two substrates but also has sufficient moisture-absorbing function by using only one getter (moisture absorbent) attached thereto, and a display device using the same. For separating structural elements formed on the glass substrate from the exterior, an encapsulation cap according to the present invention comprises a first surface on which a first recess is formed; and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface and has a second recess formed thereon, wherein the first surface is attached to a first substrate on which structural elements are formed, the second surface is attached to a second substrate on which structural elements are formed, and the structural elements formed on the first and second substrates are received in the first and second recess, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encapsulation cap, particularly substrates capable of being attached to its two surfaces and absorbing moisture for structural elements formed on the substrates, and a display device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic electroluminescence is the phenomenon that excitons are formed in an (low molecular or high molecular) organic material thin film by re-combining holes injected through an anode with electrons injected through a cathode, and light of specific wavelength is generated by energy from thus formed excitons.
Organic electroluminescent device using the above phenomenon has a basic structure as shown in FIG. 1. Basically, the structure of organic electroluminescent device includes a glass substrate 1, indium-tin-oxide layers 2 (hereinafter, referred as "ITO layer") formed on the glass substrate 1 and acting as anode electrode, insulating layer, organic electroluminescence layer 3 formed with organic material, and metal layer 4 acting as cathode electrode. Reference mark "W" which is not mentioned above indicates a wall formed to divide the organic electroluminescence layer 3 and the metal layer 4 into a number of sections.
On the other hand, structural elements constituting the organic electroluminescence are well known in the organic electroluminescent device field. Therefore, a detailed description thereon is omitted.
The organic electroluminescence layer 3 which is one of the elements constituting the organic electroluminescent device having the above structure is characterized to be vulnerable to moisture and heat. Accordingly, in order to separate the organic electroluminescence layer 3 from the exterior (atmosphere), a metal cap 10 is fixed to the outer portion of the substrate 1, and so the inner space, that is, each structural element of the device, is sealed. The structure of the metal cap 10 having the above function and bonding process is briefly described below.
In general, the metal cap 10 is divided into a bonding section 11 to be bonded on the outer portion of the substrate 1, a first space section 12 formed at the inner side of the bonding section 11 for receiving the metal layers 4, the organic electroluminescence layer 3 and the walls, and a second space section 13 formed at the inner side of the first space section 12. A getter 6 absorbing moisture is attached to the bottom surface of the second space section 13 by tape 5.
After the above structural elements are formed on the glass substrate 1, a sealant is dispensed on the bottom surface of the bonding section 11 of the metal cap, and the metal cap 10 is then pressurized to the substrate 1 to bond the metal cap 10 on the substrate 1. Accordingly, the structural elements formed on the substrate 1 are completely separated from the exterior by the metal cap 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, on the other hand, in the cellular phone H which has been widely used as communication device, a sub window SW formed on the front surface of the display section D and a main window MW formed on the rear surface of the display section are provided separately. In the current cellular phone, the liquid crystal display (LCD) device is used as the main window MW, and the organic electroluminescence device (OLED) is used as the sub window SW. The main window MW and the sub window SW are designed to be operated and controlled independently by its own electric circuit (memory chip).
Now, the cellular phone has become smaller, and the definition of displayed image has been greatly improved. Thus, technical development has aimed to operate and control the sub window and the main window by constituting them with the organic electroluminescence devices and using one electric circuit (chip).
When the sub window and the main window are constituted with the organic electroluminescence device, special attention should be paid to the structure of the cap, which is one of the elements constituting the organic electroluminescence device as described above, and is used for separating the organic electroluminescence layer from the exterior (atmosphere).
In the case that the sub window and the main window are constituted with the organic electroluminescence device, each organic electroluminescence device used as the sub window and the main window should comprises the cap for protecting the structural elements including the organic electroluminescence layer. However, the cap (shown in FIG. 1) bonded to the substrate increases the size (thickness) of the organic electroluminescence device. In particular, since each organic electroluminescence device includes two caps, the size (thickness) of the finished product, i.e. the cellular phone, cannot but be increased.

Encapsulation cap having a getter and display device using the same


N-substituted-3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimides in which the N-substituted group is a phenyl group having a substituted-oxy group at 3-position and a chlorine or bromine atom at 4-position and chlorine or hydrogen atom at 2-position have excellent herbicidal effect and are used as selective herbicides in a plant culturing.

The present invention relates to novel N-substituted tetrahydrophthalimides and herbicidal compositions thereof.
N-substituted aryl-.DELTA.'-tetrahydrophthalimide derivatives having herbicidal activity have been reported.
For example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 11940/1973 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,224 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,435 and West German Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2,165,651) discloses N-substituted-.DELTA.'-tetrahydrophthalimide which is represented by the general formula ##STR1## wherein R may be an aryl, aralkyl or benzyl optionally substituted with 1 to 5 halogen atoms; hydroxy, alkoxy, nitro, cyano, thiocyano, carboxy, halogenated alkyl, alkyl, phenyl and OCH.sub.2 A (where A is phenyl or naphthyl) group and the like may also be substituted therein. N-(4-chloro-3-methoxyphenyl)-.DELTA.'-tetrahydrophthalimide and N-(4-bromo-3-methoxyphenyl)-.DELTA.'-tetrahydrophthalimide are described as the exemplified compounds having the formula wherein R is a halogen- and alkoxy-substituted phenyl group.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,272 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,326 disclose herbicidal 2-substituted aryl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2H-isoindole-1,3-diones of the following formula ##STR2## wherein X is Cl, Br or F and Y is H or F.
The inventors have studied novel tetrahydrophthalimides as an active ingredient of a herbicidal composition and have found that the specific novel N-aryl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimides have excellent herbicidal effect.

N-Substituted tetrahydrophthalimide and herbicidal composition


A system for self-aligning a headlamp of a vehicle, the system comprises at least one actuator which modifies an alignment of the headlamp in response to a control signal. An infrared light source is mounted to the headlamp to emit an infrared light beam toward a ground surface. An optical sensor system is oriented to sense a reflection of the infrared light beam from the ground surface. The optical sensor system has a plurality of optical sensors to sense a plurality of infrared light intensities from the reflection. A control circuit is operatively responsive to the optical sensor system to form the control signal for the at least one actuator. The control signal acts to modify the alignment of the headlamp so that the infrared light intensities satisfy at least one predetermined condition consistent with a desired alignment of the headlamp to thereby automatically align the headlamp to the desired alignment.

During normal road operation of a vehicle, several factors combine to cause errors in the aiming of its headlamps. If the vehicle is not equipped with an automatic self-leveling suspension, uneven loading of the vehicle causes a change of the vehicle's attitude with respect to the road, which causes a permanent error in the aim of the headlamps. The change of the road slope in front of the vehicle, which occurs when the vehicle is at the bottom or the top of a hill, for example, causes a momentary aim error of the vehicle's headlamps. Here, the aim of the headlamps is too short at the bottom of the hill, and is too far at the top of the hill. When the vehicle is driving on a bumpy road, momentary errors in the aim of the headlamps occur.
Various known approaches for automatically aligning a vehicle's headlamps are based upon a sensed attitude or loading of the vehicle at its position on a road surface. A shortcoming of these approaches is that changes in the road slope are not sensed until the vehicle is positioned on the changed-slope portion of the road. Consequently, the vehicle's headlamps are not adjusted to correct for changes in the slope of the road in front of the vehicle.

System for self-aligning vehicle headlamps


A hose clamp includes a clamp body having an annular ring part for fastening a hose and a pair of grip parts for filling the role of radially expanding the ring part, and a separately formed holder. The holder is inserted around the pair of grip parts and is capable of retaining the pair of grip parts in a closely adjacent state. The holder is provided integrally with means for removal of the holder from the pair of grip parts retained in the closely adjacent state.

This invention relates to a hose clamp used for binding in place a rubber hose, for example.
The hose clamps of this type which have come into use to date will be explained. First, the hose clamp disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,206 is cited. In this hose clamp, a clamp body comprising an annular clamping ring part and a pair of grip parts is formed of a resilient wire of a circular cross section. This is the most primitive of all of the hose clamps. It has a problem in that when it binds a given rubber hose, it exerts a concentrated stress upon the bound portion of the rubber hose and accelerates the aging or deterioration of the rubber hose.
As a solution for the problem, the hose clamp disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,230 has been proposed. This hose clamp comprises a clamp body formed of a resilient flat sheet material and screw members adapted to link the opposite terminal parts of the clamp body, so that the binding force of the clamp body may be adjusted by adjusting the amount of helical engagement of the screw members. It is, therefore, capable of repressing or curbing otherwise possible concentration of stress upon the bound portion of a rubber hose. Conversely, however, it entails a disadvantage in that the opposite terminal parts of the clamp body are required to allow for extra spaces for accommodation of the screw members and that assembly of the hose clamp requires an unduly large number of steps.
Thus, the hose clamps disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,498, No. 3,106,757 and No. 3,295,176 have been proposed. These hose clamps invariably comprise an annular clamp body formed of a resilient flat sheet material and adapted to have part of the circular wall thereof projected outwardly in such a manner that when the opposite sides of the projected wall are squeezed toward each other with a jig, the clamp body is contracted radially and allowed to exert a binding force upon the rubber hose. Therefore, they entail a disadvantage in that since the amount of this radial contraction of the clamp body has its limit, the rubber hoses capable of being bound by these hose clamps automatically have their dimensional limits.
In recent years, therefore, the hose clamp disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,179 has come to find increasing utility. In this hose clamp, a clamp body formed of a resilient flat sheet material cut in a prescribed shape comprises an annular clamping ring part and a pair of grip parts raised from the opposite terminal parts of the ring part and extended in mutually opposite directions. Owing to this construction, this hose clamp is capable of repressing or curbing the otherwise possible concentration of stress during the course of clamping to the fullest possible extent and allowing for appreciable freedom in the variation of the diameter of the clamping ring part.
In this hose clamp, however, during the course of the work of inserting a rubber hose inside the clamping ring part, the clamping ring part must be expanded radially by squeezing the pair of grip parts toward each other with a tool. The field workers have expressed a desire for this hose clamp to be improved so as to eliminate the inconvenience encountered in this inevitable work of imparting a radial expansion to the ring part.
As an answer to this demand, the hose clamp disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Pulication No. SHO 52-14511 has been proposed and is shown in FIG. 1.
In this hose clamp, a clamp body 1 formed of a resilient flat sheet material cut in a prescribed shape comprises an annular clamping ring part 2 for clamping a rubber hose and a pair of grip parts 3a and 3b raised from the opposite terminal parts of the ring part 2 and extended in mutually opposite directions. The hose clamp is separately provided with a holder 4 formed in a U-shaped cross section and adapted to retain the pair of grip parts 3a and 3b in a mutually closely adjacent relationship in spite of their resilient force.
When this hose clamp is put to actual use, the clamping ring part 2 is radially expanded in advance by inserting the holder 4 around the pair of grip parts 3a and 3b in a state urged toward each other, thereby temporarily retaining the grip parts 3a and 3b in the closely adjacent state. Then, the rubber hose is inserted into the radially expanded clamping ring part 2 and fitted on the terminal part of a connection pipe. Now, the holder 4 is removed from the pair of grip parts 3a and 3b to relieve the pair of grip parts 3a and 3b of their mutual approximation and allow the clamping ring part 2 to be radially contracted automatically by the resilient force of its own, with the result that the rubber hose is bound fast on the connection pipe infallibly.
With this hose clamp, however, in removing the holder 4 from the pair of grip parts 3a and 3b to radially contract the clamping ring part 2 automatically, it is absolutely necessary for the field worker to rely on a tool such as pliers. With such a tool the U-shaped holder 4 is nipped strongly at its opposite lateral walls and in this state is forcibly pulled upwardly out of place. This operation requires the field worker to exert both a nipping force and a pulling force on the holder 4. Undeniably, therefore, the operation actually calls for much time and labor and naturally proves quite irksome. Particularly at a work site of narrow space, the problem of inferior workability described above becomes amplified when the field worker is assigned to manipulate a number of such holders 4.


In an electrical storage battery composed of a plurality of electrochemical cells, a keyed linkage system provides for the series connection of the cells in a prescribed order. The system includes the cell terminals, which may be in a stud or tab form, a tooth projecting outwardly in each cell between the terminals, and connecting links which are secured to the terminals of adjacent cells. The size, shape, and location of the tooth permits only a given end of the connecting link to be coupled to one of the terminals, for example, the positive terminal, to accomplish the keying function.

This invention relates to electrochemical cells or batteries and more particularly, to a keying system to insure proper interconnection of battery cells.
Electrochemical cells and batteries are utilized in numberous applications for the storage of electrical energy, the term battery herein referring to a series of cells which are electrically coupled. In one form of battery, electrical connection is made by terminals in the form of a pair of studs protruding from one end of side of the cell. By way of example, these studs may be threaded to permit the securing of a connecting link to the stud by threaded nuts. In an alternative cell, the terminals may take the form of tabs which may be bent to permit a spot welding of a connecting link thereto.
A problem arises in the interconnection of the foregoing cells, particularly in the manufacture of electronic systems requiring the interconnection of a series of the cells to form a battery of increased voltage required to operate the electronic system. Metallic links usually are employed to join the individual cells into a battery by connecting the positive terminal of one cell to the negative terminal of the next cell. In the manipulation of the coupling link by a person assembling the battery, it is not uncommon for a link to inadvertently contact two studs of a single cell with a resulting shorting or possible damage to the cell. Nor is it uncommon for a connection of the link to be made between two positive terminals, or two negative terminals, rendering the battery inoperative. Such misconnections occur because it is all too easy for a worker on a busy production line to make a mistake by erroneously interconnecting two terminals which have identical or similar appearance. Also, it should be appreciated that since interconnecting links are sometimes quite small and thin, they may be difficult to handle. A dropped or misplaced connection can readily contact terminals of the battery and short it out.


A method for speaker adaptation includes receiving a plurality of media files, each associated with a call center agent of a plurality of call center agents and receiving a plurality of terms. Speech processing is performed on at least some of the media files to identify putative instances of at least some of the plurality of terms. Each putative instance is associated with a hit quality that characterizes a quality of recognition of the corresponding term. One or more call center agents for performing speaker adaptation are determined, including identifying call center agents that are associated with at least one media file that includes one or more putative instances with a hit quality below a predetermined threshold. Speaker adaptation is performed for each identified call center agent based on the media files associated with the identified call center agent and the identified instances of the plurality of terms.

This invention relates to speaker adaptation in automatic speech processing systems.
Speaker adaptation is a well-studied aspect of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. Conventionally, the term speaker adaptation refers to the process of customizing the statistical models (e.g., acoustic, pronunciation and/or language models) used by an ASR system for an individual user of the ASR system. Conventional ASR systems which perform speaker adaptation are often referred to as speaker independent ASR systems.
There are a number of different speaker adaptation methodologies which can be utilized by conventional speaker independent ASR systems. Some example methodologies are MAP adaptation, MLLR adaptation, and speaker space models. In general such methodologies are based on either a manually transcribed audio or are run in unsupervised modes prior to transcription.


A system for curing composite structures. A hollow bladder having opposing open ends is secured within a metal pressure vessel so as to define an annular space within the vessel surrounding the bladder. The open ends of the bladder are sealably attached to opposing entrances formed in the pressure vessel so that the bladder is sealed from communication with the vessel and is accessible through the opposing openings. An uncured composite part can be inserted into the bladder. Preheated and pressurized fluid is circulated through the annular space and thus around the bladder in order to cure the composite part. The composite part may also be encapsulated within a forming bladder member which is then removably inserted into the pressure bladder.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for curing fiber reinforced composite structures. More particularly, it concerns a system which circulates preheated, pressurized liquid through a pressure chamber in order to cure a composite structure.
2. The Background Art
Fiber reinforced composite parts have achieved widespread acceptance for use in the construction of articles and structural parts. Until recently, such applications were limited mainly to metal parts because of the conventional thinking that only structural metals were capable of withstanding the accompanying torsional and bending stresses. However, the development of fiber reinforced composites having high strength-to-weight ratios has resulted in composites being used in many structural parts, including ski poles, spars for hand gliders and the like, golf shafts, rocket launch tubes, mechanical drive shafts, and so forth.
Historically polyester resin systems with glass fibers were the first composites. They were hand layered into a mold and the resins were brushed onto each layer. Each subsequent layer was done this way until the desired thickness was attained. The polyester resins that were used were precatalyzed with a small percent of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide and this allowed the resins to generate the necessary heat to cause chemical cross linking or cure of the layers to occur over a long period of time at atmospheric pressure. The only pressure that the lay-up saw was the pressure applied by the technician during the lay-up and gravity. This usually resulted in layered parts that had resin-rich and resin-starved areas of the lay-up and inconsistent part to part qualities.
This hand lay-up process, however crude, is still used in this industry today but only for non-critical stress applications. There have been several improvements in the resin chemistry, and in the reinforcing fibers used. Even the methods used to cure have advanced somewhat by some manufacturers adding a vacuum bag over the parts to help improve product quality. However, this additional process is not cost effective when evaluated to the end product improvement values.
The lack of uniformly applied pressure during the curing process led to the development of the traditional autoclave oven-curing process. The autoclave oven is constructed with steel walls four to five inches thick, usually cylindrical in shape with a thicker walled steel door. The door requires the use of hydraulic rams to force the door locking ring mechanism to close and form an air tight seal. Internal electric or gas heating systems provide the source of heat and internal electric fans re-circulate the hot air inside the chamber during the cure cycle. The pressure of the cure chamber is raised by compressed air pressure, controlled by the autoclave operator. Pressures as high as 100 psi and temperatures of 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cure cycles that take 2 to 4 hours to complete are common practice with these devices.
The traditional autoclave oven is extremely dangerous to use because of the very large volume of air at high pressure needed to fill the working chamber. Larger volumes of high pressure gases are more likely to cause injury upon fracture of the vessel. The oven is extremely slow to heat up and to pressurize and slow to cool down. Even though this type of autoclave is popular in the industry, it is not very efficient to operate and the initial costs are extremely high.
Compacting of the composite part is typically accomplished by applying cellophane shrink tape over the surface of the part by a high pressure applicator, after which the part is cured in the autoclave oven. After the part is cured, the cellophane tape is removed, usually by a scrubber machine. The cellophane tape leaves creases in the part which must be smoothed out by sanding or grinding. The sanding and grinding often damages some of the reinforcing fibers which reduces the structural integrity of the part. Further, the cellophane tape cannot maintain a uniformpressure on the part because the high temperatures produced within the autoclave oven cause the tape to expand. Some of the compaction needed to prevent air voids and resin seepage is therefore lost during the curing process.

Method and system for curing fiber reinforced composite structures


In one aspect, a tensioning instrument for a securing device, such as surgical cable, is provided having a pretensioning mechanism configured to allow a predetermined preload tension to be applied to the cable and a tensioning mechanism operable to increase the tension in the cable by predetermined amount in excess of the preload tension applied by the pretensioning ,mechanism. The tensioning device has a first actuator operatively coupled to the pretensioning mechanism and is configured permit a predetermined preload tension to be applied to the cable. The tensioning device also has a second actuator different than the first actuator which is operatively coupled to the tensioning mechanism. The second actuator may be moved between an open position and a locked position to cause the tensioning mechanism to increase the tension in the cable by the predetermined amount in excess of the preload tension, if any.

Securing devices, such as cables or wires, are often used in orthopedic surgery for securing bones in place and for fastening implants to the bones. In one type of procedure, a cable having a pair of opposite ends is positioned around a pair of bones. The cable has a connector at one end, and the other end is inserted into the connector to form a loop of the cable around the bones. As used herein, the term bone may refer to a bone, a bone fragment, or a portion of a bone.
A tensioning instrument may be used to apply tension to the cable and constrict the loop of cable about the bones and implant. Tensioning instruments may be very complex and include, for example, a cable locking mechanism, a cable tensioning mechanism, a detachable re-tension mechanism, and a tension scale. Some prior tensioning instruments use different mechanisms to provide each of these features, which increases the cost and size of the tensioning instrument.
Some surgeries require multiple cables to be implanted that each require tensioning. One prior tensioning instrument that may be used in such a surgery is a pistol-type tensioner having a detachable tip for holding tension in each surgical cable. During surgery, the tensioning instrument is used to apply a desired amount of tension to a first cable, the tip is engaged to the cable to hold tension in the cable construct, the tip is detached, a new tip is connected to the tensioning instrument, and the tensioning instrument is moved to the next cable. This procedure is repeated until all of the cables have been tensioned. Connectors on the cables are then crimped to secure the cables on the bones. One problem with this approach is that once a cable has been tensioned and the tensioning instrument detached from the tip, the tension in the cable may change, for example, due to tensioning of another cable around nearby bones. The operator would not be aware of the change in tension unless the tensioning instrument is re-connected to the first tip and used to gauge the tension in the first surgical cable.


Novel hydroquinone derivatives of the formulae (I) and (II), ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is an alkyl group having 7 to 11 carbon atoms, ##STR2## wherein each of R.sup.2 to R.sup.5 is independently a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group or a lower alkoxy group provided that at least one of R.sup.2 to R.sup.5 is a lower alkyl group or a lower alkoxy group, and R.sup.6 is an alkyl group having a carbon chain of at least 2 carbon atoms. as compounds having antioxidant activity and tumor incidence inhibiting activity, and an antioxidant and a tumor incidence inhibitor containing, as an active ingredient, a hydroquinone derivative of the formula (III), ##STR3## wherein each of R.sup.7 to R.sup.10 is independently a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group or a lower alkoxy group, and R.sup.11 is an alkyl group having a carbon chain of at least 2 carbon atoms, and/or a salt thereof.

Foods, feeds and cosmetics contain antioxidants (oxidation preventers) as required in order to prevent color Fading or discoloration, a change in the aroma and formation of peroxide during the preservation.
Examples of the antioxidants for the above use include the following.
(1) For foods and feeds
Butylhydroxytoluene (hereinafter referred to as BHT), dl-.alpha.-tocopherol, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, butylhydroxyanisole (hereinafter referred to as BHA) and propyl gallate.
(2) For cosmetics
BHT, dl-.alpha.-tocopherol, BHA and gallic acid.
Being excellent in antioxidant activity and less expensive, BHT is particularly preferentially used as a fat-soluble antioxidant for foods and as a fat-soluble antioxidant for cosmetics.
Meanwhile, with recent eating habits diversified, not only a variety of biological sources are put on the market, but also a variety of processed foods having new ingredients are being developed. With an aesthetical sense uplifted in the field of cosmetics in recent years, a variety of cosmetics having new ingredients are as well being developed.
An immunological study has revealed that the occurrence of human cancer is closely related to a daily life, particularly to eating habits and smoking. In recent years, it has been found that mutagens are developed by heating foods, and that most of these mutagens are nitrogen-containing aromatic heterocyclic compounds having an amino group (heterocyclic amine) (Sugiura T, et al., Perspectives on the Relative Risks, p.31, Mercell Dekker Inc, New York, 1989).
Above all, it has been revealed that 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole (Glu-P-1) formed by heating L-glutamic acid not only exhibits high mutagenic activity to Salmonellae but also exhibits carcinogenic activity to laboratory animals. An experiment with rats has shown that Glu-P-1 has a high rate of incidence of cancer particularly on the liver, large intestine, small intestine and gland of external acoustic meatus (Tkayamz S, et al., Gann, 75, 207, 1984).
It is therefore considered that the risk of carcinogenesis on humans can be avoided or decreased if the mutagenic activity and carcinogenic activity of heterocyclic amine can be inhibited. In particular, the transition of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis to cancer of the liver is highly liable to occur, and it is a large clinical problem. Not an anti-cancer drug which directly attacks cancer cells, but a compound having a tumor inhibiting activity is considered to work effectively on patients having such diseases.


An apparatus for both detecting and repairing a shunt defect in a solar cell substrate. A shunt detection module detects the shunt defect in the substrate, using at least one of lock-in thermography and current-voltage testing. A process diagnostic module determines whether the substrate should be passed without further processing by the apparatus, rejected without further processing by the apparatus, or repaired by the apparatus. A shunt repair module electrically isolates the shunt defect in the substrate. In this manner, a single apparatus can quickly check for shunts and make a determination as to whether the substrate is worth repairing. If it is worth repairing, then the apparatus can make the repairs to the substrate.

Both silicon substrate and thin film solar cells can be affected by current leakage across the junction. This leakage is called "shunting," and it reduces the total amount of current that is available to be provided from the solar cell to the load, thereby reducing the efficiency of the solar cell.
A shunted cell can also be harmful when it is electrically connected in a series with other cells to create a module. Because the shunted cell produces less current than the other cells in the module, the shunted cell can become reverse-biased and dissipate an amount of power that can be almost equivalent to the power that is generated by one of the other cells. This power dissipation often causes localized heating or hot spots that can damage the entire module. Hence, solar cells with a low shunt resistance are generally discarded during fabrication, even when the efficiency remains satisfactory.
Shunting is caused by many different types of defects, and appears to be more prevalent in thin films and polycrystalline silicon substrates than in monocrystalline substrates. Although shunts are formed in a variety of ways, they fall into two broad electrical categories: ohmic shunts and weak diodes. Ohmic shunts are characterized by a low shunt resistance in the current-voltage curve for the cell, typically less than about eight ohms. Current leakage across the junction occurs under both forward and reverse biases. Weak diodes are characterized by a low open circuit voltage in the shunted region of the cell, as compared to the nominal open circuit voltage. Under illumination the weak diode region is forward biased by the surrounding area of the cell, causing current to flow in the wrong direction across the junction. Unlike ohmic shunts, weak diodes only demonstrate current leakage under forward bias.
Often the current leakage through the shunt is localized to relatively small regions on the surface or along the edge of the cell. A localized shunt may be screened by the sheet resistance of the top conductive layer. A shunt is screened when the current flowing across the resistive surface towards the shunt creates a voltage drop equal to the difference between the nominal voltage on the surface and the voltage above the shunt. The screening distance to the shunt is that distance across the top resistive surface that is required to create the measured voltage drop. Beyond the screening distance, current no longer flows towards the shunt. Hence a localized shunt effectively removes the region within the screening distance from the active area of the cell.
At low illumination, such as in the morning or evening hours, the screening distance becomes much greater and the degradation of the cell efficiency due to shunting is more serious. The effects described above are complicated when metal fingers have been formed on the surface of the solar cell, to reduce the series resistance of the cell. For example, if the shunt is electrically connected to a metal finger, then current can flow to the shunt from the entire cell. At a low enough shunt resistance, this type of defect may effectively short the entire cell and render it inoperable.
What is needed, therefore, is a system that overcomes problems such as those described above, at least in part.

Detecting and repairing defects of photovoltaic devices


Systems and processes for robust end-pointing of speech signals using speaker recognition are provided. In one example process, a stream of audio having a spoken user request can be received. A first likelihood that the stream of audio includes user speech can be determined. A second likelihood that the stream of audio includes user speech spoken by an authorized user can be determined. A start-point or an end-point of the spoken user request can be determined based at least in part on the first likelihood and the second likelihood.

Intelligent automated assistants (or virtual assistants) provide a beneficial interface between human users and electronic devices. Such assistants allow users to interact with devices or systems using natural language in spoken and/or text forms. For example, a user can access the services of an electronic device by providing a spoken user request to a virtual assistant associated with the electronic device. The virtual assistant can interpret the user's intent from the spoken user request and operationalize the user's intent into tasks. The tasks can then be performed by executing one or more services of the electronic device and a relevant output can be returned to the user in natural language form.
Often, a spoken user request is commingled with various background noises. The background noises can include, for example, spurious conversation, music, mechanical noise, and environmental noise. To interpret the spoken user request, the virtual assistant can determine the beginning and ending of user speech within the audio input received. Detecting the beginning and ending of user speech is referred to as start-pointing and end-pointing, respectively. Start-pointing and end-pointing can be used to identify the portion of audio input that contains the spoken user request. Additionally, end-pointing can also be used to determine when to stop receiving audio input. In order for a virtual assistant to interpret and process audio input quickly and accurately, robust start-pointing and end-pointing is desired.
Conventional end-pointing algorithms rely on energy features such as short-time energy and zero-crossing rate, to distinguish user speech from background noise in an audio input. However, start-pointing and end-pointing can be significantly compromised when user speech overlaps with spurious background conversation. Spurious background conversation can also be referred to as babble noise. Babble noise can share the same frequency spectrum as user speech and thus can create co-channel interference, making it difficult to determine when user speech starts or ends within an audio input. Without accurate start-pointing and end-pointing, it can be difficult for a virtual assistant to accurately process audio input, which can lead to output errors, incorrect actions performed, and/or burdensome requests to clarify the user's intent.

Robust end-pointing of speech signals using speaker recognition


A quick connect and disconnect apparatus for an adapter employed for testing a chaff-flare firing system used in military aircraft. The apparatus comprises two threaded members rotatably carried by the base of the adapter for attaching the base to the housing of the chaff-flare firing system. The two threaded members of the adapter base are rotated by a knob and two drive means for threading and unthreading purposes. Each drive means is characterized such that if its associated threaded member is threaded to a tightened position before the other, it will slip allowing the knob to continue to be rotated for threading the other threaded member to a tightened position. Neither drive means will slip during the unthreading operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quick connect and disconnect apparatus for an adapter used for testing a chaff-flare firing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently military aircraft employ chaff-flares which are fired to confuse enemy missiles. These devices are ejected from the plane by a system which is electrically actuated. The chaff-flares are loaded in a downward facing recess formed in the plane and which has a plurality of electrical contacts for providing actuating current. Prior to loading, the firing system and contacts must be tested to determine if sufficient current is obtainable when the firing system is on and if no current is present on the contacts when the firing system is off.
Devices are employed for carrying out these tests, however, installation and removal of the prior devices is time consuming. For installation, the prior devices must be fitted up into the recess and secured with threaded members individually tightened with a hex wrench. For removal, the procedure is reversed. As can be understood, installation and removal can be a very tedious operation particularly in cold weather when one is required to wear gloves.

Chaff-flare test adapter connecting and disconnecting apparatus


Disclosed is a circuit substrate and a semiconductor device to which the circuit substrate is applied. The circuit substrate has an insulating layer and an electrically conductive layer. The insulating layer is composed of a sintered aluminum nitride composition containing: aluminum nitride; a first component given by a compound containing an element which is selected from the group consisting of group IIa elements and group IIIa elements of the periodic table; a second component given by either a simple boron or a boron compound; and a third component give by either a simple manganese or a manganese compound. The electrically conductive layer contains: a conductive component given by a metal or an electrically conductive compound for exhibiting electric conductivity; aluminum nitride; the first component; the second component; and the third component. The semiconductor device has the above circuit substrate, a semiconductor element mounted on the circuit substrate, and a cap being tightly bonded to the circuit substrate with a sealing glass to cover the semiconductor element.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a substrate on which a semiconductor element is mounted to form the semiconductor device, particularly to a semiconductor and a substrate suitable for mounting an electrical element which is highly integrated.
In recent years, the requirements for materials for semiconductor devices have reached a new stage of strictness, as high densification and high integration of electrical elements for semiconductor elements progress. In particular, it has been required to improve the material which is formed into the substrate of the semiconductor device, for advancing durability and reliability of the semiconductor devices on which an highly integrated electrical element is mounted.
Conventionally, substrates which are made of alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) has been utilized to equip the electric elements, form electric circuits or make insulation. However, thermal conductivity of the alumina substrate is about 20 W/m.multidot.K, and it is too low to sufficiently radiate the heat generated on the electrical element toward the outside of the semiconductor device, particularly, when a highly integrated circuit such as LSIs, ICs and the like is applied to the semiconductor device.
In the above circumstances, a great deal of attention is now being paid to the realization of circuit substrates utilizing a base material formed from an aluminum nitride (AlN) sintered product with a high thermal conductivity which can cope with the densification and high integration of LSIs which has been taking place in recent years.
However, aluminum nitride exhibits strong covalent bonding and is a difficult material to sinter. Therefore, the minimum sintering temperature of 1800.degree. C. is indispensable in obtainig a finely sintered body.
In order to improve this situation, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 61-117160 discloses a method whereby low temperature sintering is provided using a raw material in which a compound of rare earth elements and an oxide of alkaline earth elements are added to an aluminum nitride powder. The sintering temperature of this method is 1,700.degree. C. or less. However, there is a tendency toward staining and the like within the sintered body. In addition, when the circuit substrate is adopted for a semiconducEor element package, there is even the problem that the sealing characteristics deteriorate in the process of glass-sealing a cap onto the base material, the aluminum nitride sintered body, of the circuit substrate.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 82-158178 discloses the provision of high densification and high thermal conductivity in the aluminum nitride sintered body obtained by using a raw material to which at least one type of material selected from elements in group IVa, group Va, group VIa, group VIIa, and group VIII of the periodic table is added to aluminum nitride powder. However, this document discloses nothing about a circuit substrate manufactured by using the disclosed aluminum nitride sintered body or a semiconductor element packages for which the circuit substate is adopted, and the glass-sealing characteristics of this sintered body, in fact, is insufficient.
Moreover, addition of boron and an element selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, zirconium, molybdenum, cadmium, tin and tungsten is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 4-130064. However, the additives of this case are to improve the coloration or the transmission characteristics of the aluminum nitride, and there is no description about densification or glass-sealing characteristics of the sintered aluminum nitride.
In the above-described circumstances, even with use of a conventional aluminum nitride sintered body as described above, there is still the problem that it is rather difficult to manufacture a circuit substrate having prominent electric properties and a semiconductor package with high durability and reliability.

Circuit substrate including insulating layer of aluminum nitride and electrically conductive layer of conductive component, aluminum nitride and other components, and semiconductor device containing same


An engine intake structure for a small boat arranged in a comparatively small space. The structure includes an intake box having an upper intake section facing one or more intake ports, and a lower intake section extending downwards from the upper intake section. The upper intake section and the lower intake section are partitioned by a mesh member. An air cleaner element is arranged in an extension section of the lower intake section, so that, after external air flows into the lower intake section via the air cleaner element, the air flows to the upper intake section, and then into the intake ports.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine intake structure for a small boat, and particularly to an engine intake structure for a small boat having intake pipes extending sideways from cylinders provided in the engine, and these intake pipes being housed inside an intake box.
2. Description of Background Art
As a small boat for gliding over the surface of the sea or a lake, there is a known a small propelled boat driven having a water jet propulsion unit attached to the rear of the boat body. The boat is driven by taking in water from the bottom of the boat using the water jet propulsion unit and spraying the taken in water to the rear. This small boat is provided with an engine intake structure for taking in external air into an intake box, and introducing the taken in external air to intake pipes, as a structure for introducing air into a cylinder. See for example, Japanese patent Laid-open No. 2003-2292.
FIG. 13 is a reproduction of FIG. 7(a) of patent Japanese patent Laid-open No. 2003-2292. However, the reference numerals have been changed. The engine intake structure 200 of the small boat has four intake passages 202 . . . (only one is shown in the drawing) extending above a four cylinder engine 201, respective porous members 204 (in the following called "mesh members") attached to intake opening 203 . . . of these intake passages 202 . . . , with the respective intake openings 202 . . . being arranged inside an intake box 205, and this intake box 205 is attached to an upper part of the engine 201 with an air cleaner element 206 being housed inside the intake box 205 and the intake box 205 being covered by a cover 207.
With the engine intake structure 200 for the small boat, air is introduced from an external air introduction opening 208 of the intake box 205, and the introduced air passes through the air cleaner element 206 and is introduced to the inside of the intake box. The introduced air is introduced to the intake opening 203 . . . through the mesh members 204 . . . , and introduced into the intake pipes 202 . . . from the intake openings 203 . . . .
The air cleaner element 206 is housed inside the intake box 205, and external air passes through the air cleaner element 206 and is introduced into the intake box 205. In this way, dust particles etc. in the air are removed by the air cleaner element 206, and that air is introduced into the intake box. Also, mesh members 204 . . . are attached to the intake openings 203 . . . of the intake pipes 202 . . . , to form a flame arrester.
Here, in the engine intake structure 200 for a small boat, the air cleaner element adopts a cylindrical shape, but the air cleaner element 206 is comparatively large. As the air cleaner element 206 is housed inside the intake box 205, the intake box becomes large. As this large intake box 205 is incorporated into the boat body of a small boat, it is necessary to ensure a comparatively large space inside the boat body.
However, since the engine 201 and various components are arranged inside the boat body of the small boat, it is difficult to ensure a comparatively large space inside the boat body. Therefore, in order to ensure space for attachment of the large intake box 205, studies to determine layout (arrangement) of various components take time, and this hinders increase in productivity.


Process for the burning of lime, cement or other lumpy bulk materials in a shaft kiln using coal. Coal dust or particulated dry coal is continuously fed into a gasification chamber positioned in the center of the shaft kiln and is therein partially or fully gasified by the addition of air in substoichiometric proportions. The partially or fully gasified fuel is mixed with air at an elevated temperature. Such mixture is then burned in the burning zone of the shaft kiln. The flow of the heating medium, i.e., the burnt fuel, and the flow of the kiln charge are co-current within the kiln. The shaft kiln has a centrally postioned gasification chamber which is mounted on radial supports which are positioned in the shaft kiln in such a way as to produce a space below the supports. The space is substantially free from kiln charge. Uniform distribution of the gases is guaranteed across the cross section of the shaft kiln by the space.

Field of this Invention
This invention relates to a process and correspondingly designed shaft kilns for the burning of lime, cement or other lumpy bulk materials using coal.
Numerous processes are known in which fuel oil in a fully or partly gasified state or gas is introduced peripherally into a shaft kiln. In addition, kilns have been built that were designed to feed in the fuel--usually gas--centrally from below with the cooling air. These are mainly shaft kilns in which the flow of the kiln charge and the gas are completely or partly countercurrent during the burning process. In this type of kiln the quantity of fuel fed in centrally at the lower end of the shaft is limited by the fact that premature ignition must be avoided in order to prevent hot kiln charge from being discharged. The disadvantage of peripheral fuel feed is that, especially where the cross section of the shaft is large, the penetration depth into the bulk material is unsatisfactory.
Rotary kilns heated by coal dust are also well known. However, the thermal efficiency of this type of kiln is so low that shaft kilns should be used wherever possible. One possibility is the Schmid-Hofer co-current/countercurrent regenerative system (Austrian Patent No. 211,048 and West German Patent (DBP) No. 1,157,133). In such system, two or three shafts are switched alternately to co- and countercurrent, and fuel (gas or fuel oil) is fed only to the respective co-current shaft. The cooling zone is only supplied with air.
At present about 160 kiln systems operate according to such principle. However, they now all run on mineral fuels (oil or gas), of which the price has increased fourfold in recent years. Furthermore, since both supplies and prices of mineral fuels are subject to numerous political influences, further drastic increase can be expected in the next few years.
Another known shaft kiln for the burning of cement, lime and similar materials has a central combustion chamber located at the upper end of the shaft. Such chamber produces heating gases that are no longer combustible as the only source of heat for the burning process [See West German Application (AS) No. 1,205,884 and West German Patent (DBP) No. 1,109,080.]Such type of shaft kiln is intended for use mainly with liquid or gaseous fuels or completely gasified solid fuels.

Process and shaft kiln for the burning of lime or similar bulk materials


A keel hoist assembly for use in raising and lowering the keel of a retractable keel sailboat and including a winch unit and a generally tubular retractable support tube. The winch unit is removably mountable to a top end of the retractable support member which, in turn, fits within a tubular receiving column provided to the sailboat and extending between the bottom of the boat hull and the deck. The retractable support member is adapted for telescoping movement within the tubular receiving column and is movable between a first retracted position within the tubular receiving column and a second extended position wherein the support member is disposed extended upwardly at a distance above the top deck. locking pin members are provided to lock the support tube in the retracted and extended positions. When not in use, the winch unit is removed from the retractable support tube and stowed below deck and the retractable support member is moved to its retracted position and locked in place.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements in sailcraft which are provided with retractable keels. More particularly, the invention relates to a sailboat keel hoist assembly which is constructed to be collaspable and permit rapid disassembly for convenient out of the way stowage on the sailboat.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is becoming increasingly popular to provide high performance sailboats with a retractable keel. Such retractable keel sailboats offer many advantages over conventional sailboats which have fixed keels. For example, a sailboat having a retractable keel is easier to position and mount on a boat trailer. Also, when the keel is moved to the raised or retracted position, the mounts on the boat trailer may be adjusted such that the sailboat sits at a lower height above the ground. This yields a desirable reduction in the frontal area of the sailboat/trailer combination which, in turn, contributes to improved handling and fuel economy of the towing vehicle.
In accordance with conventional retractable keel sailboat design, the keel is retracted by pulling the keel upwardly from the hull of the boat much like a conventional dagerboard is raised from a sailboard or windsurfer. However, unlike a sailboard dagerboard, a sailboat keel is very heavy and cannot be easily raised or lowered by a single person without the aid of some mechanical advantage. For instance, the keel weight for a typical twenty foot sailboat is on the order of 450 pounds or more.
In order to facilitate the keel retraction procedure, many sailors have fashioned their own hoist assemblies for raising and lowering the sailboat keel. Typically, these home made solutions comprise a one piece hoist structure which consists of a winch that is secured to one end of a long rigid pole. The other end of the pole is adapted to fit within a receiving socket which is secured to the bottom of the hull adjacent the keel. The receiving socket is typically reinforced by a liberal amount of fiberglass and polyester resin. The pole length is selected to provide a desired lift displacement.
These single piece hoist assemblies are typically very heavy and cumbersome to use and further take up a lot of space on the sailboat. As a consequence, they are usually left at the dock or car when sailing. A problem arises in shallow water sailing conditions when it is desirable or even necessary to be able to raise the keel in order to avoid running aground and possibly causing damage to the sailboat and/or keel.
Accordingly there is a definite need in the art for an improved sailboat keel hoist which is light weight and which is constructed to permit rapid and space saving disassembly for convenient out of the way stowage on the sailboat when sailing.


The invention provides a thin-profile displacement signal output device. The device comprises a first member having a periodic pattern consisting of alternating high-transmittance and low-transmittance regions, a second member having a periodic pattern consisting of alternating high-reflectance regions, a light emitting source for emitting a detection light beam and a light-receiver for receiving the reflected light, the first member and second member facing each other and spaced apart by a distance which is smaller than the pitch of the periodic pattern, the light-emitting source and light receiver means being both disposed on one side of said first member which is opposite to the side on which said second member is disposed, and the first and second member being displaceable relative to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a displacement signal output device which covers both linear and rotary encoders.
2. Related Art
The dominant type of displacement signal output devices in use today is a rotary encoder of the transmission type such as that illustrated in FIG. 13. This conventional rotary encoder 181 comprises a rotary disk 183 fixedly mounted on a shaft 182 and provided with a plurality of slits 194 at a constant pitch. Disposed in confronting relation with the rotary disk 183, is a stationary slit plate 186 provided with a plurality of slits 185 disposed at the same pitch as above. The device further includes a light-emitting means 187 and a light-receiving means 188, the former being disposed on the side of the slit plate 186 and the latter on the side of the rotary disk 183.
This arrangement, however, has several disadvantages. First, because the light-emitting means and the light-receiving means are disposed closer to the stationary slit plate and the rotary disk, respectively, it is difficult to implement a displacement signal output device in a compact unit with a flat profile. Furthermore, because the light-emitting means and the light-receiving means are not disposed on the same side, there is imposed a fair restriction on the layout of component members, and it is sometimes difficult to install the device in the required position or build the device into machinery. Moreover, since both the rotary disk and the stationary slit plate should transmit light, there are limitations on the material and construction of these members. For example, only transparent materials or materials in which slits may be formed can be utilized. This, too, narrows the applicability of the device.
As a reflection type displacement signal output device, a linear encoder of the diffraction interference type is also known. In this type of system, laser light is projected on a movable scale provided with a diffraction grating, and the amount of shift in the interference pattern of diffracted light is used to detect the amount of displacement.
Although such an encoder of the diffraction interference type features a high resolution, it unfortunately requires many optical elements, for example three reflectors and a half-mirror, so that the optical system is complicated and the device is of necessity large. In addition, any adjustment calls for a complicated and costly procedure and, moreover, the device is easily susceptible to environmental factors.