The present invention relates to an mass distribution device for supplying a mass of foodstuff starting material to one or more cavities of a mold drum for molding products from the mass, comprising a base member which extends partially around the outer cylindrical circumference of the drum and which has an introduction area through which the mass is the fed to the cavities. The invention further relates to a molding device and to a process for operating the inventive mass distribution device.

The present disclosure is related to illustrative embodiments of an apparatus and method for maintaining carbonation of sparkling beverages, such as sparkling wines, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages such as sodas and coffee. A transparent, shatter-resistant, height-adjustable carbonation enclosure is used to contain an opened bottle of a sparkling beverage. An air-tight carbonation cap with a built-in one-way valve is used to re-carbonate the beverage inside the bottle using a pressurized gas source. The base of the carbonation enclosure includes a platform that may be used to adjust the effective height of the enclosure to fit the height of the bottle and provide an air-tight interface between an opening of the bottle and the carbonation cap. The carbonation enclosure further includes a number of openings to open air to prevent pressurization of the carbonation enclosure. Another illustrative embodiment includes a safety enclosure for multiple bottles pressurized directly by conical nozzles.

An emulsion is provided including: an oil component and a water component, the oil component including: fish oil triglycerides in an amount of about 60% to about 90% based on the weight of the oil component; wherein the fish oil triglycerides include omega-3 fatty acids, expressed as triglycerides, in an amount of at least 60%, based on the total weight of the fatty acids of the fish oil triglycerides; wherein the fish oil triglycerides include a total amount of EPA and DHA, expressed as triglycerides, of at least 45%, based on the total weight of the fatty acids of the fish oil triglycerides; and, at least one medium-chain triglyceride, wherein a total amount of the at least one medium-chain triglyceride is from about 10% to about 40% based on the weight of the oil component.

Disclosed are nutritional formulations including predigested fats that can be administered to preterm infants, infants, toddlers, and children for improving tolerance, digestion, and absorption of nutrients and for reducing the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis, colic, and short bowel syndrome. The predigested fats include fatty acid-containing monoglycerides and/or a fatty acid component.

An electric fan is provided, including a labyrinth structure with increased performance of preventing entry of a liquid into a receiving space to receive a stator and a rotor. A clearance is defined between an opposed wall portion of a base and an opposed wall portion of an impeller body, which are opposed to each other in an axial direction of a rotary shaft, to form a labyrinth structure. The opposed wall portion of the base and the opposed wall portions of the impeller body are shaped to form a volume expanding portion within the clearance. The volume expanding portion is constituted from a groove portion for expanding the clearance, having a volume larger than other portions within the clearance.

A temperature range in which an electric oil pump to supply oil to a vehicle drive system can start is enlarged to enhance an effective use degree, enhance a start success probability, and suppress malfunction occurrence. When a measured oil temperature To is in a temperature range (T1≦To

A suction duct for a compressor such as a scroll compressor may include a plastic ring body with a metal screen heat staked in a window of the ring body to filter refrigerant gas entering the motor cavity. The ring body may be in surrounding relation of the motor and resiliently compressed in the housing through intermittent contact with the inner housing surface to better seal around the inlet port. Oil drain channels and stabilizing ribs may be along the outside surface of the ring body.

A centrifugal blower in a cooling system of an electronic device having asymmetrical blade spacing with acceptable balance. The asymmetrical blade spacing is determined according to a set of desired acoustic artifacts that are favorable and balance that is similar to that found with equal fan blade spacing. In one embodiment, the fan impeller can include thirty one fan blades. The perceived sound quality from the fan is improved with essentially no effect on the thermal performance of the fan.

An apparatus for mounting a mobile device on a tripod includes a frame with a rigid peripheral member defining an opening therethrough. The peripheral member includes a mount configured to releasably couple the frame to the tripod. An insert is sized and shaped to be placed into the opening of the frame and releasably engage at least a portion of the peripheral member in an assembled configuration. The insert has a membrane in the form of a cavity configured to releasably receive and support the mobile device. The membrane extends over at least a portion of the opening of the frame in the assembled configuration and includes at least one camera hole extending therethrough that is aligned with a camera lens of the mobile device when the mobile device is mounted in the cavity.

An optical active fiber is configured with an asymmetrically-shaped core having at least one long axis and a shortest axis which extends transversely to the long axis. The outmost cladding of the active fiber is configured with a marking indicating the orientation of the short axis. The marking allows for bending the fiber so that the shortest axis extends along and lies in the plane of the bend thereby minimizing distortion of a mode which is guided by the asymmetrically-shaped core as light propagates along the bend.

Implementing a layered hyperbolic metamaterial in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) to improve thermal conductivity and thermal dissipation thereby stabilizing optical performance. Improvement in the thermal management and power is expected by replacing the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors in the VCSEL. The layered metamaterial structure performs the dual function of the DBR and the heat spreader at the same time.

A method for fabricating a group-III nitride semiconductor laser device stably supplies laser cavity mirrors having a low lasing threshold current through the use of a semi-polar plane. A blade 5g is forced down through a first region ER1 to keep the first region ER1 squeezed between a support member H2 and a movable member H1 together with a part of a protective sheet TF in contact with the first region ER1 while the tension generated in the area of the protective sheet TF in contact with the first region ER1 with the movable member H1 increases until the semi-polar principal surface SF at an end face EG1 of the first region ER1 tilts by a deflection angle THETA from the semi-polar principal surface SF of a second region ER2, and a force is thereby generated in the first region ER1 in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the blade 5g toward the first region ER1. For example, an angle ALPHA is within the range of 71 degrees to 79 degrees, and the deflection angle THETA is within the range of 11 to 19.

A third-order distributed feedback laser has an active medium disposed on a substrate as a linear array of segments having a series of periodically spaced interstices therebetween and a first conductive layer disposed on a surface of the active medium on each of the segments and along a strip from each of the segments to a conductive electrical contact pad for application of current along a path including the active medium. Upon application of a current through the active medium, the active medium functions as an optical waveguide, and there is established an alternating electric field, at a THz frequency, both in the active medium and emerging from the interstices. Spacing of adjacent segments is approximately half of a wavelength of the THz frequency in free space or an odd integral multiple thereof, so that the linear array has a coherence length greater than the length of the linear array.

A device is provided to shape a spine of a book casing positioned horizontally spread out flat and oriented to be distributed evenly over a spine of a book block. Two fold-shaping rails are arranged extending in a direction parallel to one another. A movable, shaping tool is arranged to face the inside of the book casing spine to shape a web on the book casing spine with the aid of the two fold-shaping rails. The shaping tool includes two spaced-apart support bars that extend parallel to the fold-shaping rails and are arranged to be adjustable so that together they adjust the web width of the book casing spine in a direction transverse to the direction of extension of the fold-shaping rails.

In a device for cutting to length and feeding spine strips (3) for a case maker (1), a center strip conveying device (30) is provided that advances the spine strip material (5, 6) by the spine width (BS) transverse to the board feed direction (23) in a cyclic fashion. The spine width (BS) can be changed from work cycle to work cycle without accumulating additional waste. This can be realized because the previously required width sizing on the material web is eliminated.

A manufacturing method and device for supporting conductors. Using a non-metallic insulating material extending beyond one or both parallel legs of a staple the thumb and forefinger may grip this extension while the staple is being driven into a supporting structure. This finger grip allows for a small, insulated staple to be held with increased safety to thumb and forefinger during penetration of staple into support.

A shift register includes cascade-connected stages, each of which includes a data latch and an output stage. In at least one embodiment, the latch has a single data input which, in use, receives a date signal from a preceding or succeeding stage. The output stage includes a first switch, which passes a clock signal to the stage output when the output stage is activated by the latch. The output stage also comprises a second switch, which passes the lower supply voltage to the stage output when the output stage is inactive.

A working portion of load restraint strip may include an attachment region. The attachment layer may include an adhesive layer. When the adhesive layer is exposed, at least part of the attachment region on an exterior side of the load restraint strip is colored differently from regions on the exterior side outside the attachment region.

A module in the form of a pallet or a closed container includes a grouping together of the electrical devices in an avionics bay, in which the electrical devices are interconnected and attached so as to facilitate the mounting and thus limit the time it takes to mount the electrical devices in the avionics bay.

The disclosure relates generally to triple-redundant sequential state (TRSS) machines formed as integrated circuits on a semiconductor substrate, such as CMOS, and computerized methods and systems of designing the triple-redundant sequential state machines. Of particular focus in this disclosure are sequential state elements (SSEs) used to sample and hold bit states. The sampling and holding of bits states are synchronized by a clock signal thereby allowing for pipelining in the TRSS machines. In particular, the clock signal may oscillate between a first clock state and a second clock state to synchronize the operation of the SSE according to the timing provided by the clock states. The SSEs has a self-correcting mechanism to protect against radiation induced soft errors. The SSE may be provided in a pipeline circuit of a TRSS machine to receive and store a bit state of bit signal generated by combinational circuits within the pipeline circuit.

A semiconductor integrated circuit including: a circuit block having an internal voltage line; an annular rail line forming a closed annular line around the circuit block and supplied with one of a power supply voltage and a reference voltage; and a plurality of switch blocks arranged around the circuit block along the annular rail line, the plurality of switch blocks each including a voltage line segment forming a part of the annular rail line and a switch for controlling connection and disconnection between the voltage line segment and the internal voltage line.

This invention relates to a novel rotary control valve with new joint methods and flow control mechanisms, inline-reparability and fully metal seals more particularly to a triple offset butterfly valve or ball valve with those features used for on-off and flow controlling under multiple extreme conditions or in severe services; such as the integrated gasification combined cycle under high temperature and pressure, Fluid Catalytic Cracking under high temperature over 1200 F with hard diamond like catalytic particles, shale fracking process under extreme high pressure and high velocity fluid with solid particles and corrosive additives and other critical applications for products life lasting 5 to 30 years like deepsea flow control systems and nuclear power plants and for the applications of millions cycles like jet or rocket turbine engine fuel delivery systems with high velocity fuel fluid mixed with highly oxidative gas under temperature 1365 F.

A most recent electrostatic capacitance value for a backup capacitor is measured periodically. Each time the most recent electrostatic capacitance value is measured, a charging voltage (a required charging voltage) that is required in order to cause a return operation of a valve from the setting opening at that time to an emergency opening/closing position (for example, the fully closed position) is calculated based on the electrostatic capacitance value that has been measured, and the terminal voltage of the backup capacitor is adjusted so as to become equal to the calculated required charging voltage.

A supply device (10) for a machine for transversely cutting two strips (11 and 12) of a flexible material, in particular a strip of paper, moving continuously, to produce separate stacks of documents cut transversely according to predetermined formats. The device comprises lower and upper driving mechanisms (13, 14) associated with the two strips (11, 12) of flexible material respectively, which each include a mechanically rotated first roller (13a, 14a) and a freely rotatable second bearing roller (13b and 14b). The driving mechanism is mounted on a frame (15) supported by a movable platform (16) which is rigidly connected to a linear actuator (17) arranged to be moved transversely with respect to the direction of movement of the strips (11 and 12). Optical reading cells (11a, 11b, 12a, 12b) define the operating modes of the driving servomotors (13b and 14b) and of the linear actuator (17).

A base at least one principal plane of which is a nitride is prepared for use in epitaxial growth. The base is placed on a susceptor in an epitaxial growth reactor and heated to a predetermined temperature (step A). The heating is started with inactive, nitrogen gas being supplied into the reactor. Then, active, NH3 gas is supplied. Then, a growth step (step B) of a first nitride semiconductor layer is started without an intervening step of thermally cleaning the principal nitride plane of the base. In step B, the first nitride semiconductor layer is epitaxially grown on a principal nitride plane of a base without supply of an Si source material. Then, a relatively thick, second nitride semiconductor layer is epitaxially grown on the first nitride semiconductor layer by supplying an n-type dopant source material (step C).

A method for producing a Ga-containing group III nitride semiconductor having reduced threading dislocation is disclosed. A buffer layer in a polycrystal, amorphous or polycrystal/amorphous mixed state, comprising AlGaN is formed on a substrate. The substrate having the buffer layer formed thereon is heat-treated at a temperature higher than a temperature at which a single crystal of a Ga-containing group III nitride semiconductor grows on the buffer layer and at a temperature that the Ga-containing group III nitride semiconductor does not grow, to reduce crystal nucleus density of the buffer layer as compared with the density before the heat treatment. After the heat treatment, the temperature of the substrate is decreased to a temperature that the Ga-containing group III nitride semiconductor grows, the temperature is maintained, and the Ga-containing group III nitride semiconductor is grown on the buffer layer.

A method for forming an amorphous semiconductor which contains an impurity element and has low resistivity and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with excellent electrical characteristics with high yield are provided. In the method for forming an amorphous semiconductor containing an impurity element, which utilizes a plasma CVD method, pulse-modulated discharge inception voltage is applied to electrodes under the pressure and electrode distance with which the minimum discharge inception voltage according to Paschen's Law can be obtained, whereby the amorphous semiconductor which contains an impurity element and has low resistivity is formed.

Disclosed are new members of a class of non-lipid small molecule inhibitors which interfere with the interaction between phosphoinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate (PIP3) and pleckstrin homology (PH) domains. These molecules target a broad range of PIP3-dependent signaling events in vitro and exert significant anti-tumor activity in vivo, with improved activity and selectivity toward particular PH domains. The small molecule inhibitors of the invention can be used alone or together with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) or other cancer medicament to treat cancer. Small molecule inhibitors of the invention act synergistically in combination with TRAIL and with other Akt inhibitors in treating cancer. Pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating cancer are provided.

Devices and methods are provided for reducing matrix effects in protein precipitated bioanalytical samples comprising: a support, and a sorbent associated with the support capable of binding matrix interfering agents present in the bioanalytical sample, wherein the device further comprises filtering means for removing precipitated protein particles. The filtering means is a size exclusion filter or a polymeric or inorganic monolith having a maximum pore size less than or equal to the diameter of the particles to be removed from the sample, and can be integral with the sorbent or associated with the sorbent. The sorbent is characterized by sufficient selectivity between the matrix interfering agents and analytes of interest to provide retention of the matrix interfering agents while providing elution of the analytes of interest (e.g., a reversed phase or a polar modified reversed phase). Typical devices incorporating these features include luer syringe filters, individual filter cartridges, multiwell plates, pipette tips, or inline columns for multiple or single use.

The present invention relates to a composition useful for the diagnosis of diseases associated with aberrant expression of the genes encoding the secreted proteins Futrin 1, 2, 3 and/or 4(=R-Spondin 2, 3, 1 and 4, respectively), e.g. in connection with tumors or diseases of the muscle, kidneys or bones. The present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound which is capable of modifying (a) the expression of the gene encoding Futrin 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 or (b) the activity of the Futrin 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 protein.

A mechanism for vertically adjusting a component on a shaft has a collet sleeve riding on the shaft. A spiral track of the component's hub receives a radially outwardly projecting pin on the collet sleeve. The outer surface of the collet sleeve and the inner surface of the hub are tapered so that the hub can rotated one direction to advance the hub on the collet sleeve and compress the collet sleeve onto the shaft to frictionally lock the collet sleeve to the shaft. Because the hub is joined to the collet sleeve by the pin, this also locks the vertical position of the component. Conversely, the hub can be oppositely rotated to release the compression of the collet sleeve so that the collet sleeve, and therefore the vertical component, is slidable on the shaft.

The present invention provides a central frequency adjustment device and adjustable inductor layout; wherein, the central frequency adjustment device is applied in an inductor/capacitor tank (LC tank) for adjusting the central frequency of the LC tank. The device comprises a first inductor with a first end and a second end; a second inductor with one end coupled with the second end of the first inductor; and, a first trimmable wire connected to the first inductor in parallel and to the second inductor in series, which adjusts the central frequency by cutting off the first trimmable wire.

An electrical component provides a ceramic element located on or in a dielectric substrate between and in contact with a pair of electrical conductors, wherein the ceramic element includes one or more metal oxides having fluctuations in metal-oxide compositional uniformity less than or equal to 1.5 mol % throughout the ceramic element. A method of fabricating an electrical component, provides or forming a ceramic element between and in contact with a pair of electrical conductors on a substrate including depositing a mixture of metalorganic precursors and causing simultaneous decomposition of the metal oxide precursors to form the ceramic element including one or more metal oxides.

A semiconductor trimming circuit includes parallel coupled PMOS devices coupled in parallel with parallel coupled NMOS devices and an additional pair of dummy NMOS devices. The dummy NMOS devices are coupled in parallel with the NMOS devices. A trimming circuit for an internal clock source may be formed with an array of such switches for selecting one or more trimming capacitors of the trimming circuit. Such an array has a low leakage current and permits good trimming linearity.

The invention provides an aqueous ink comprising a polymer having hydroxyl groups and a pigment, which can provide images excellent in scratch resistance and highlighter resistance and can inhibit the seeping out phenomenon of the polymer and the deterioration of storage stability and ejection characteristics even when it is stored for a long period of time. The aqueous ink comprises a polymer having hydroxyl groups and a pigment, wherein a proportion of a content of a polymer that is not adsorbed on the pigment out of the polymer having hydroxyl groups to the content of the pigment in the ink is 2.0 mass % or more, and a content (mass %) of the polymer that is not adsorbed on the pigment out of the polymer having hydroxyl groups is 0.20 mass % or less based on the total mass of the ink.

An RF test and measurement device, including a front end for receiving a time-varying signal and a real-time engine for generating digital frequency domain spectrums based on the time-varying signal. The device also includes a memory subsystem containing a frequency domain bitmap which is updated through sequential receipt and storage of the digital frequency domain spectrums. The real time engine is further configured to monitor the frequency domain bitmap for occurrence of a signal characteristic, and in response to detection of the signal characteristic, cause a capture of the time-varying signal into a storage location of the RF test and measurement device.

A floating retrieval device that can be either manually launched or automatically launched via a compression spring.

A tool for retrieval of dropped and other items includes an elongated rod member having a first end and an opposite second end, with a handle mounted at the first end of the rod and defining a user gripping surface, and a retrieval member mounted at the second end of the rod and defining a lower planar retrieval surface. The retrieval member includes a magnet and the lower planar retrieval member surface defines a sticky surface region, both for attachment and retrieval of dropped and other items.

An axial power distribution control device includes an axial offset calculation unit 52, a parameter calculation unit 53, and an axial offset determining unit 55. The axial offset determining unit 55 predicts whether a core axial offset of the power distribution is increased or decreased after a current time, based on a major axis of an ellipse drawn by the xenon parameter and the iodine parameter calculated by the parameter calculation unit 53 and the xenon parameter and the iodine parameter at the current time. This makes it possible to predict a change of the axial offset of the power distribution of a reactor for suppressing a xenon oscillation in the reactor.

Disclosed embodiments include electromagnetic flow regulators for regulating flow of an electrically conductive fluid, systems for regulating flow of an electrically conductive fluid, methods of regulating flow of an electrically conductive fluid, nuclear fission reactors, systems for regulating flow of an electrically conductive reactor coolant, and methods of regulating flow of an electrically conductive reactor coolant in a nuclear fission reactor.

This document's object is to provide an axial power distribution control method in which only the control of an axial power distribution in a nuclear reactor with a simple operation with a clear operational target keeps the control of a xenon oscillation, thereby suppressing the xenon oscillation to an extremely small magnitude in advance at the same time. An axial power distribution control method comprises an axial offset calculation step of calculating an axial offset of the current power distribution (AOP) and axial offsets of the power distributions (AOX, AOI) which would give the current xenon and iodine distributions under equilibrium conditions, respectively, based on relative powers (PT, PB) in the upper and lower halves of the nuclear reactor core, a parameter calculation step of calculating parameters (DAOPX, DAOIX), a trajectory display step of displaying a trajectory to plot the parameters (DAOPX, DAOIX) on one and the other axis, respectively, an allowable range excess judgment step of judging if the axial offset of the current power distribution (AOP) exceeds an allowable range, an alarming step of giving the alarm when the AOP exceeds the allowable range, and a control rod moving step of controlling the movement of control rods to guide the plot to the major axis of an ellipse formed by the trajectory of said parameters upon receipt of the alarm.

A reader for a card having an information strip, the reader comprising a first movable member, a read head capable of reading the information strip, the read head disposed on the first movable member and a second movable member which upon translation causes the first movable member to translate in a direction opposite to the second movable member. The reader includes a guide slot disposed in line with the direction of translation of the second movable element such that when a card is placed in the guide slot and subsequently moved transversely along the guide slot, the card urges the first movable member in the opposite direction and moving the head across the information strip as the information strip is moved in the opposite direction as the read head movement.

An electronic transaction verification system for use with transaction tokens such as checks, credit cards, debit cards, and smart cards that gathers and transmits information about the transaction token and biometric data. Customers can be enrolled in the system by receiving customer information that includes at least a biometric datum, associating the received customer information with a transaction instrument issued to the customers and storing the received customer information and the issued transaction instrument information in a database for future reference.

A method for operating a brushless electric motor, the windings being energized by an inverter with the aid of six switches. A detection unit for detecting defective switches, a unit for measuring voltage at the outputs of the inverter, and a microcontroller for controlling the switch and for generating a pulse width modulated voltage supply for the windings are provided. A short-circuited switch causes a torque in the electric motor opposite the actuating direction of the electric motor. The method proposes that after detecting a short-circuited switch, the windings (U. V. W) are energized to generate a motor torque that is, on the whole, positive. An actuating period of the electric motor is divided into a plurality of sectors, wherein, in accordance with the defective switch, individual sectors are deactivated for the actuation of the windings (U, V, W), while other sectors are used to actuate the windings (V, W).

The disclosure relates generally to sequential state elements (SSEs), triple-mode redundant state machines (TMRSMs), and methods and systems for testing triple-mode redundant pipeline stages (TMRPSs) within the TMRSMs using triple-mode redundant SSEs (TMRSSEs). The SSEs, TMRSMs, TMRPSs, and TMRSSEs may be formed as integrated circuits on a semiconductor substrate. Of particular focus in this disclosure are SSEs used to sample and hold bit states. Embodiments of the SSEs have a self-correcting mechanism to protect against radiation-induced soft errors. The SSE may be provided in a pipeline circuit of a TMRSM to receive and store a bit state of a bit signal generated by combinational circuits within the pipeline circuit. More specifically, the SSEs may be provided in a TMRSSE configured to perform self-correction. Also disclosed are methods for using the TMRSSE to test redundant pipeline stages of the TMRSM.

A frequency tripler device is disclosed. The frequency tripler device includes a first graphene based field effect transistor (FET) of a first dopant type, having a gate, a drain, and a source, and a second graphene based FET of a second dopant type, having a gate, a drain, and a source, the gate of the first FET coupled to the gate of the second FET and coupled to an input signal having an alternating current (AC) signal of a first frequency, the combination of the first and second FETs generates an output signal with a dominant AC signal of a frequency of about three times the first frequency.

A storage cell having a pulse generator and a storage element is proposed. The storage element input is connected to receive a data input signal. The storage element output is connected to provide a data output signal. The storage element is operable in one of a data retention state and a data transfer state in response to a storage control signal received from the pulse generator. The pulse generator is connected to receive a clock signal with rising and falling clock signal edges and is adapted to provide control pulses in the storage control signal. Each control pulse has a leading edge and a trailing edge. The control pulses have a polarity suited to invoke the data transfer state on their leading edges. The novel feature is that the pulse generator is adapted to initiate a rising-edge control pulse when receiving a rising clock signal edge and to initiate a falling-edge control pulse when receiving a falling clock signal edge. In this way, a dual-edge-triggered flip-flop may be made using only combinatorial logic circuitry and one level- or single-edge-triggered storage element. The storage cell has low power consumption, facilitates scan testing and can be used by existing design tools and test equipment.

A resonant clock distribution network architecture is proposed that enables a resonant clock network to track the impact of parameter variations on the insertion delay of a conventional clock distribution network, thus limiting clock skew between the two networks and yielding increased performance. Such a network is generally applicable to semiconductor devices with various clock frequencies, and high-performance and low-power clocking requirements such as microprocessors, ASICs, and SOCs.

An industrial spark plug (20) includes a central electrode (24) with a central base (30) formed of a nickel-based material and a central firing tip (32) formed of an iridium-based material. The central firing tip (32) has a tip thickness (tct) of 0.02 to 0.03 inches, a tip diameter (dct) of 0.1184 to 0.1776 inches, and an aspect ratio of 4.736 to 7.104. The central firing tip (32) is electron beam welded to the central base (30) to provide a robust joint therebetween. The central electron beam weld (36) includes a mixture of re-crystallized iridium-based material and re-crystallized nickel-based material extending continuously along and over the entire welding interface. The spark plug (20) also includes a ground electrode (26) with a ground firing tip (38) electron beam welded to a ground base (42).

The present invention relates to a method of and a vertical pumping device (1) for internally distributing Hg in a fluorescent tube body (3). The bottom (7) of the fluorescent tube body (3) is closed. The device (1) arranges, in a first position, a first solid body (9') comprising a predetermined first amount of bound Hg. The device (1) arranges, in a second position, a second solid body (9″) comprising a predetermined second amount of bound Hg. A first release (E1) of the first amount of Hg is achieved in the fluorescent tube body (3) by gasification with heat and under pressure for purification of contaminant particles in the fluorescent tube body. A second release (E2) of the second amount of Hg is achieved in the fluorescent tube body (3) by gasification attained for the occluded mercury vapour of the fluorescent tube body (3).