Author: claimsbot

1. A male incontinence device for external use, comprising:
a soft elongated body having at least one flexible wire centrally positioned therein;
the body bendable to form a U-shape comprising first and second arms extending from a U-bend, each of the first and second arms comprising a gripping portion disposed between the U-bend and a distal end of the arm; and
at least one elastic band for holding the arms in a desired position.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein the gripping portions of the first arm and second arm comprise corresponding arcuate portions that bring the arms closer together at a point along the corresponding arcuate portions.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one elastic band comprises a first elastic band for holding the first and second arms together at the distal end of the arms.
4. The device of claim 3 wherein the at least one elastic band further comprises a second elastic band for holding the arms together adjacent to the U-bend.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein ends of the at least one flexible wire are sealed within the body using either glue or a cap fixed over each distal end.
6. The device of claim 5 wherein the ends of the at least one flexible wire are folded over and wherein a gap is defined between each folded end of the at least one flexible wire and a corresponding distal end of the first or second arm, the gap sealed by glue deposited therein.
7. The device of claim 5 wherein the ends of the at least one flexible wire are sealed by the cap fixed over each distal end.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein the body has a waterproof surface.
9. The device of claim 1 wherein the body is made of either foam or rubber.
10. The device of claim 1 wherein the body has a diameter of about 0.4 cm to about 1.8 cm and a length of about 16 cm to about 24 cm.
11. The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one flexible wire has a thickness of about 1 mm to about 2.5 mm.
12. The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one flexible wire has a gauge of 18 to 12.
13. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible wire comprises:
three wires having a thickness of about 1 mm and a gauge of about 18;
two or three wires having a thickness of about 1.3 mm and a gauge of about 16;
two or three wires having a thickness of about 1.63 mm and a gauge of about 14; or, three or four wires having a gauge of about 20.
14. The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one elastic band has a diameter of about 1 cm to about 5 cm and a width of at least 1 mm before extension.
15. A method of manufacturing an external male incontinence device, the method comprising:
positioning at least one flexible wire lengthwise in a soft elongated body;
bending the body to form a U-shape comprising first and second arms extending from a U-bend, each of the first and second arms comprising a gripping portion disposed between the U-bend and a distal end of the arm; and
providing at least one elastic band to be wrapped around the arms.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein positioning the at least one flexible wire comprises threading the at least one flexible wire through the body.
17. The method of claim 15, further comprising sealing ends of the at least one flexible wire within the body using either glue or a cap fixed over each distal end.
18. A method of assembling a male incontinence device for use, the method comprising:
bending a soft elongated body having at least one flexible wire positioned centrally therein to form a U-shape comprising first and second arms extending from a U-bend, each of the first and second arms comprising a gripping portion disposed between the U-bend and a distal end of the arm;
placing the gripping portions of the first arm and second arm on opposing sides of a user’s penis; and
wrapping at least one elastic band around the arms.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein wrapping the at least one elastic band around the arms comprises wrapping a first elastic band around the distal ends of the first and second arms.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein wrapping the at least one elastic band around the arms comprises wrapping a second elastic band around the first and second arms adjacent to the U-bend.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1.-25. (canceled)
26. A method of querying in a multi-tenant database, the database having one or more data tables, each table having one or more logical columns defining data categories and one or more logical rows associated with a plurality of tenants, the method comprising:
generating tenant-level statistics from data stored in each of the data tables, the data stored in the data tables comprising tenant-specific data, and the data tables being stored in one database;
receiving a SQL query; and
optimizing the SQL query based on the tenant-level statistics.
27. The method of claim 36, wherein the plurality of tenants provide the tenant-specific data in one or more custom fields specific to each of the plurality of tenants.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the tenant-specific data provided by the plurality of tenants is stored in at least one table that includes only data from one of the plurality of tenants.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein the tenant-level statistics are stored in a separate table using at least one customizable field and wherein the at least one customizable field is indexable.
30. The method of claim 36 further comprising implementing at least one security mechanism to keep the tenant-specific data separate unless the data is shared.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one security mechanism includes filtering the tenant-specific data based on an access level of the tenant.
32. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one security mechanism includes encryption.
33. A multi-tenant database system comprising:
a database having one or more data tables, each table having one or more logical columns defining data categories and one or more logical rows associated with a plurality of tenants;
logic for generating tenant-level statistics from data stored in each of the data tables, the data stored in the data tables comprising tenant-specific data, and the data tables being stored in one database;
logic for receiving a SQL query; and
logic for optimizing the SQL query based on the tenant-level statistics.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein the system is operable such that the plurality of tenants provide the tenant-specific data in one or more custom fields that are specific to each of the plurality of tenants.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein the system is operable such that the tenant-specific data provided by the plurality of tenants is stored in at least one table that includes only data from one of the plurality of tenants.
36. The system of claim 34 wherein the system is operable such that the tenant-level statistics are stored in a separate table using at least one customizable field and wherein the system is operable such that the at least one customizable field is indexable.
37. The system of claim 33 further comprising logic for implementing at least one security mechanism to keep the tenant-specific data separate unless the data is shared.
38. The system of claim 37, wherein the system is operable such that the at least one security mechanism includes filtering the tenant-specific data based on an access level of the tenant.
39. The system of claim 37, wherein the system is operable such that the at least one security mechanism includes encryption.
40. A computer program product embodied on a tangible computer-readable medium for querying in a multi-tenant database, the database having one or more data tables, each table having one or more logical columns defining data categories and one or more logical rows associated with a plurality of tenants, the computer program product comprising:
computer code for generating tenant-level statistics from data stored in each of the data tables, the data stored in the data tables comprising tenant-specific data, and the data tables being stored in one database;
computer code for receiving a SQL query; and
computer code for optimizing the SQL query based on the tenant-level statistics.
41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the plurality of tenants provide the tenant-specific data in one or more custom fields that are specific to each of the plurality of tenants.
42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the tenant-specific data provided by the plurality of tenants is stored in at least one table that includes only data from one of the plurality of tenants.
43. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein the computer program product is operable such that the tenant-level statistics are stored in a separate table using at least one customizable field and wherein the computer program product is operable such that the at least one customizable field is indexable.
44. The computer program product of claim 40 further comprising computer code for implementing at least one security mechanism to keep the tenant-specific data separate unless the data is shared.
45. The computer program product of claim 44, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the at least one security mechanism includes filtering the tenant-specific data based on an access level of the tenant.
46. The computer program product of claim 44, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the at least one security mechanism includes encryption.

1. A method for producing an epitaxial wafer including a substrate composed of a III-V compound semiconductor and an epitaxial layer structure that is composed of a III-V compound semiconductor, includes a diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and a window layer, and is disposed on the substrate, the method comprising:
a step of growing an antimony-containing layer on the substrate by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy using only metal-organic sources; and a step of growing, on the antimony-containing layer, an antimony-free layer including the diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and the window layer,
wherein, from the growth of the antimony-containing layer to completion of the growth of the window layer, the growth is performed at a growth temperature of 425\xb0 C. or more and 525\xb0 C. or less,
wherein the substrate is an InP substrate; an InP window layer is grown as the window layer; and, from initiation of the growth of the antimony-containing layer to completion of the growth of the InP window layer, the growth is continuously performed in the same growth chamber by the metal-organic vapor epitaxy using only metal-organic sources such that an interface formed between the diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and the InP window layer has an oxygen concentration and a carbon concentration that are less than 1\xd71017 cm\u22123.
2. The method for producing an epitaxial wafer according to claim 1, wherein growth temperature for the window layer is at least 25\xb0 C. lower than growth temperature for a layer ranging from the antimony-containing layer to a layer directly under the window layer.
3. The method for producing an epitaxial wafer according to claim 1, wherein the antimony-containing layer is a multilayer constituted by one or both of a pair of layers forming a multiple-quantum well structure (MQW).
4. The method for producing an epitaxial wafer according to claim 1, wherein, in the epitaxial layer structure, a type-II MQW constituted by InxGa1-xAs (0.38\u2266x\u22660.68) and GaAs1-ySby (0.36\u2266y\u22661.00) or a type-II MQW constituted by Ga1-uInuNvAs1-v (0.4\u2266u\u22660.8, 0<v\u22660.2) and GaAs1-ySby (0.36\u2266y\u22661.00) is grown.
5. A method for producing a photodiode from an epitaxial wafer produced by the production method according to claim 1, the antimony-containing layer serving as entirety of or a part of an absorption layer, the method comprising: a step of forming a selective diffusion mask pattern on the window layer of the epitaxial wafer; and a step of selectively diffusing an impurity from the window layer exposed through an opening of the selective diffusion mask pattern such that the impurity reaches the absorption layer.
6. An epitaxial wafer comprising: a substrate composed of a III-V compound semiconductor; and an epitaxial layer structure that is composed of a III-V compound semiconductor, includes a diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and a window layer, and is disposed on the substrate, wherein
the epitaxial layer structure includes an antimony-containing layer and, on the antimony-containing layer, an antimony-free layer including the diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and the window layer,
a density of protruding surface defects having a height of 10 \u03bcm or more in the window layer is 0.05 defects cm\u22122 or more and 1.25 defects cm\u22122 or less, and the antimony-containing layer and the antimony-free layer have a carbon concentration of 5\xd71015 cm\u22123 or less,
wherein the substrate is an InP substrate; the window layer is an InP window layer; and an interface between the diffusive-concentration-distribution-adjusting layer and the InP window layer has an oxygen concentration and a carbon concentration that are less than 1\xd71017 cm\u22123.
7. The epitaxial wafer according to claim 6, wherein the antimony-containing layer is a multilayer constituted by one or both of a pair of layers forming a multiple-quantum well structure (MQW).
8. The epitaxial wafer according to claim 6, wherein the antimony-containing layer is a GaAs1-ySby multilayer in a type-II MQW constituted by InxGa1-xAs (0.38\u2266x\u22660.68) and GaAs1-ySby (0.36\u2266y\u22661.00) or a GaAs1-ySby multilayer in a type-II MQW constituted by Ga1-uInuNvAs1-v (0.4\u2266u\u22660.8, 0<v\u22660.2) and GaAs1-ySby (0.36\u2266y\u22661.00).
9. A photodiode comprising the epitaxial wafer according to claim 6, wherein the antimony-containing layer serves as entirety of or a part of an absorption layer, a selective diffusion mask pattern is disposed on the window layer, and an impurity is distributed from the window layer exposed through an opening of the selective diffusion mask pattern such that the impurity reaches the absorption layer.
10. An optical sensor device comprising the photodiode according to claim 9.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A fuel cell comprising:
a membrane electrode assembly comprising an electrolyte membrane, and an anode electrode and a cathode electrode provided on both sides of the electrolyte membrane;
a diffusion layer for supplying the cathode electrode with air, disposed at a cathode electrode side of the membrane electrode assembly; and
an air introducing inlet for supplying the diffusion layer with the air,
wherein when a total effective area of the electrolyte membrane at the cathode electrode side is A cm2, an average current density in an operation state of the fuel cell is I Acm2, and a total area of the air introducing inlet is S cm2, a relation of A\xd7I\xd70.5<S<A\xd7I\xd72.0 is satisfied.
2. A fuel cell according to claim 1, further comprising an air introducing layer parallel to the electrolyte membrane, wherein the air introducing layer has two faces thereof opposed to each other and opened to the atmosphere for flowing air, and wherein when a length of the electrolyte membrane of the fuel cell is L cm, an average current density in an operation state of the fuel cell is I Acm2, and a width of a gap as the air introducing layer is w cm, a relation of I\xd7L\xd70.25<w<I\xd7L\xd71.0 is satisfied.
3. A fuel cell comprising:
a membrane electrode assembly comprising an electrolyte membrane, and an anode electrode and a cathode electrode provided on both sides of the electrolyte membrane;
a diffusion layer for supplying the cathode electrode with air, disposed at a cathode electrode side of the membrane electrode assembly; and
an air introducing inlet for supplying the diffusion layer with the air,
wherein when a total effective area of the electrolyte membrane at the cathode electrode side is A cm2, and a total area of the air introducing inlet is S cm2, a relation of A\xd70.2<S<A\xd70.8 is satisfied.
4. A fuel cell according to claim 3, further comprising an air introducing layer parallel to the electrolyte membrane, wherein the air introducing layer has two faces thereof opposed to each other and opened to the atmosphere for flowing air, and wherein a length of the electrolyte membrane of the fuel cell is L cm, and a width of a gap as the air introducing layer is w cm, a relation of L\xd70.1<w<L\xd70.4 is satisfied.