In plural master apparatus connected to a bus, a master apparatus issues, to an arbiter, a request signal requesting the use of the bus after a lapse of a predetermined interval when the use of the bus becomes necessary, while another master apparatus issues, to the arbiter, a request signal requesting the use of the bus immediately when the use of the bus becomes necessary. The resistive heater includes a metallic component that is electrically conductive and an oxide, nitride, carbide, andor boride derivative of the metallic component that is electrically insulating. The depletion block stimulation may include a series of pulses at a depletion pulse frequency within a range between about 100 Hz to about 1 kHz, and the nerve stimulation may include a series of pulses at a stimulation pulse frequency within a range of about 0.