A pull-tab sealing member for a container is provided combining the advantages of an insulation or foamed polymer layer for effective heat sealing together with an overall laminate structure having a higher internal strength even with the use of the foamed polymer layer. The fluid-advancing fiber has an inner portion and an outer portion, one or more conductive elements adjacent the outer portion, wherein the one or more conductive elements are adapted to constrict when heated by electric current and relax when cooled. Dead program code is identified by propagating constants received as inputs from other stream processing programs and by analyzing a first stream processing program and determining the outputs of a second stream processing program that are unused by the first stream processing program. The temperature gradients on the strata can be used for analyses of molecules, particularly biological macromolecules. Alternatively, each corresponding pair of fiber-optic input and output lines are disposed in opposing, optically-aligned relation and probe-type instruments are not used. A quantization parameter predictor for deriving the quantization parameter is created using quantization parameters of a left coding unit and a top coding unit of a current coding unit.