Abstract: A power supply unit including DC-DC converter using a thin and planar inductor arranged in an IC memory card incorporating an EEPROM memory chip, wherein a voltage is adjusted by a dropping regulator, thereby reducing power consumption. The thin and planar inductor includes, stacked on a semiconductor substrate, a planar coil and magnetic thin films formed to sandwich the planar coil, so that an entire area of an IC card can be decreased. The IC card can be driven by a single power supply, thus providing a compact portable information device which can be driven by a battery for a long time.

Abstract: Crystals of an amino acid, a nucleic acid or a derivative thereof can be efficiently isolated and purified at low cost from a solution containing the crystals, bacterial cells and medium components by using a liquid cyclone.

Abstract: A method of producing a pattern shaped article includes the steps of forming at least two different courses of dry particles overlaid on a base surface; using an air flow controller having either a suction port or a blow port or both a suction port and a blow port to effect an air flow to form a cavity corresponding to a pattern expression in at least a lower dry particle course by removing a portion of the lower dry particle course under control of at least one parameter among air pressure, air flow rate, air flow speed, air flow direction, air flow pulsation, air flow intermittence, suction port size, blow port size, suction port position and blow port position; collapsing particles of an upper dry particle course of a different type of dry particles into the cavity and allowing the particles to set into an integral mass.

Abstract: An anti-skid braking system for wheeled vehicles having fluid actuated brakes associated with the vehicle wheels, speed sensors associated with the vehicle wheels and a cyclically operating control device which is responsive to speed signals from the speed sensors to actuate a pressure dump device to periodically release the fluid pressure applied to the brake of any wheel which is determined to be about to lock and to later re-apply the actuating pressure to that brake when the tendency of that wheel to lock has reduced, and wherein the pressure dump phase is arranged to be cancelled during wheel-lock when the aggregate dump time for the current cycle exceeds a limit value based upon a weighted-average dump time of previous cycles.