An integrated tapered diode laser arrangement comprises an injector region and a region which is optically coupled to the injector region and expands in a cross section. In one aspect, a composition is provided that comprises an array of one or more types of chemical compounds attached to a solid support, wherein the density of the array of compounds is at least 1000 spots per cm2. The system additionally includes a determiner component that accesses a data store that includes an action graph and automatically determines an action undertaken by the animate object in the received video data based at least in part upon the action graph. A ratio LH of the length L of the vibrator to the thickness H is not less than 15. Arbitration uses a fast mutual exclusion algorithm and a reservation mechanism to challenge for and defend the exclusive reservation of each member. Three semiconductor circuits that can efficiently supply the DC currents required in both discrete and integrated circuits being operated at low DC supply voltages are disclosed.