Abstract: Arrangement for the protection of electrical and electronic components against electrostatic discharge, where a printed circuit board on which the components are mounted is physically connected to a metal plate via an insulating layer with the insulating layer having at least one conductor track of the printed circuit board opening over which at least one track is placed to form a first spark gap between the track and the metal plate and with the metal plate being connected to a fixed potential.

Abstract: A method of and an apparatus for the cooling of articles or materials in which the objects to be cooled are passed in succession through a precooling zone and a deep-cooling zone. A first cold-gas stream traverses the precooling zone in counterflow to the objects and is cooled by indirect heat exchange with a refrigerant while the objects in the deep cooling zone are cooled by direct heat exchange with a second gas stream produced by gasification of a liquefied gas. The second cooling-gas stream, after at least partial heat exchange with the objects or materials in the deep-cooling zone, is fed to the first gas stream prior to the cooling thereof by the indirect heat exchange.