A received information signal is decoded to obtain the received information and to produce at least one feature of the received information signal. Spent nickel in the plating bath is removed using an ion exchange resin and the remaining effluent solution is usable for manufacturing fertilizer compositions. In the case where a semiconductor integrated circuit is fabricated by arranging basic cells having the same structure on the right and left hand sides of this basic cell, the basic cells adjacent to each other are overlapped by portions thereof corresponding to one grid, so that the portions in the hooked shapes can be alternately inlaid with each other. The resulting protective layer structure provides superior durability to either of the thin film compositions used alone achieving a synergistic result. The electronic mask compensation processor translates an electronic mask area in accordance with the compensation information. The bracket has a base plate with an opening through which the screw stem portion passes.