A joint press including a yoke including a first end and a second end. An optical data transmission method to transmit an optical packet composed of a header and data containing steps of generating a second clock which has a frequency equal to one integer of that of a first clock carrying the data and synchronizes with the first clock, and carrying the header information on the second clock. A spring loaded notch device is adapted to lock behind a proximal end of a scalpel blade seated on a scalpel, where the scalpel is inserted in the opening and the blade edge is driven up the ramp to the top ramp. Each of the first offset spacers comprises a first silicon oxide layer with a first dielectric layer overlying. The fiber optic article can be elongate along a longitudinal axis and can include a longitudinally extending region for providing birefringence.