Abstract: A care support apparatus includes a lateral pair of leg links held by a main body. The leg links include first links provided with first wheels at respective one ends of the first links, and second links provided with second wheels at respective one ends of the second links and rotatably coupled to the first links. The second links are rotated to allow the first wheels to approach or leave the second wheels, respectively, to change the height of a main body from a ground surface to support a care receiver.

Abstract: A distal end of a manipulator having a redundancy is constrained so as to leave one degree of freedom, an attitude of the manipulator is changed into a plurality of attitudes that are allowed by the redundancy by outputting joint position command values from a controller to servomotors that drive links that constitute the manipulator of which the distal end is fixed, and calibration is performed by obtaining parameter deviations of a robot constant of the manipulator on the basis of the joint position command values and actual measured values from rotary encoders, which are respectively provided at the servomotors, after each attitude change.

Abstract: A thermoelectric conversion material having a novel composition is provided. The thermoelectric conversion material comprises a first dielectric material layer, a second dielectric material layer, and an electron localization layer that is present between the first dielectric material layer and the second dielectric material layer and that has a thickness of 1 nm.

Abstract: Rapid, reversible redox activity may be accomplished at significantly reduced temperatures, as low as about 200° C., from epitaxially stabilized, oxygen vacancy ordered SrCoO2.5 and thermodynamically unfavorable perovskite SrCoO3-?. The fast, low temperature redox activity in SrCoO3-? may be attributed to a small Gibbs free energy difference between the two topotactic phases. Epitaxially stabilized thin films of strontium cobaltite provide a catalyst adapted to rapidly transition between oxidation states at substantially low temperatures. Methods of transitioning a strontium cobaltite catalyst from a first oxidation state to a second oxidation state are described.

Abstract: A pair of manipulators are caused to take a plurality of attitudes in a state where distal ends of the manipulators are coupled to each other, coordinates of joints between links at each attitude change are acquired on the basis of detection signals, at each attitude change, of rotary encoders provided for servomotors that drive the links of the manipulators, and a position and attitude of an installation point of a slave robot with reference to an installation point of a master robot are calculated on the basis of the joint coordinates acquired at the corresponding attitude change in a forward kinematics manner. A deviation vector for each attitude change between actual measured values of the installation point of the slave robot and the calculated values of the installation point of the slave robot is calculated, and robot constants of both manipulators are identified from the deviation vector.

Abstract: A CPU of a robot control device calculates load torque based on the inertia force, centrifugal force or Coriolis force, gravity force, friction torque, and actuator inertia torque applied to a joint axis of each link, each time an orientation parameter indicative of the link position and orientation allowed by a redundant degree of freedom is sequentially changed, under a constraint of end-effector position and orientation as target values. The CPU obtains the link position and orientation at which the ratio of the load torque to the rated torque of a rotary actuator provided for each joint is minimized, while the orientation parameter is being changed, and provides a feed-forward value that gives rise to each load torque obtained when the ratio of the load torque to the rated torque of the rotary actuator is minimized, to a control command generated to the rotary actuator of each joint axis for achieving the end-effector position and orientation as target values.

Abstract: Provided is a solid electrolyte including an epitaxial thin film crystal made of an electrolyte containing at least lithium.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide DNA encoding novel NADH oxidase from a microorganism belonging to the genus Brevibacterium having excellent pH stability and thermostability. The present invention relates to DNA encoding NADH oxidase from a microorganism belonging to the genus Brevibacterium that is the following (a) or (b): (a) NADH oxidase comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18; or (b) NADH oxidase comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18 by deletion, substitution, or addition of 1 or more amino acid(s) and having NADH oxidase activity.

Abstract: A CPU of a robot control device calculates load torque based on the inertia force, centrifugal force or Coriolis force, gravity force, friction torque, and actuator inertia torque applied to a joint axis of each link, each time an orientation parameter indicative of the link position and orientation allowed by a redundant degree of freedom is sequentially changed, under a constraint of end-effector position and orientation as target values. The CPU obtains the link position and orientation at which the ratio of the load torque to the rated torque of a rotary actuator provided for each joint is minimized, while the orientation parameter is being changed, and provides a feed-forward value that gives rise to each load torque obtained when the ratio of the load torque to the rated torque of the rotary actuator is minimized, to a control command generated to the rotary actuator of each joint axis for achieving the end-effector position and orientation as target values.

Abstract: A distal end of a manipulator having a redundancy is constrained so as to leave one degree of freedom, an attitude of the manipulator is changed into a plurality of attitudes that are allowed by the redundancy by outputting joint position command values from a controller to servomotors that drive links that constitute the manipulator of which the distal end is fixed, and calibration is performed by obtaining parameter deviations of a robot constant of the manipulator on the basis of the joint position command values and actual measured values from rotary encoders, which are respectively provided at the servomotors, after each attitude change.

Abstract: A pair of manipulators are caused to take a plurality of attitudes in a state where distal ends of the manipulators are coupled to each other, coordinates of joints between links at each attitude change are acquired on the basis of detection signals, at each attitude change, of rotary encoders provided for servomotors that drive the links of the manipulators, and a position and attitude of an installation point of a slave robot with reference to an installation point of a master robot are calculated on the basis of the joint coordinates acquired at the corresponding attitude change in a forward kinematics manner. A deviation vector for each attitude change between actual measured values of the installation point of the slave robot and the calculated values of the installation point of the slave robot is calculated, and robot constants of both manipulators are identified from the deviation vector.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide DNA encoding novel NADH oxidase from a microorganism belonging to the genus Brevibacterium having excellent pH stability and thermostability. The present invention relates to DNA encoding NADH oxidase from a microorganism belonging to the genus Brevibacterium that is the following (a) or (b): (a) NADH oxidase comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18; or (b) NADH oxidase comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18 by deletion, substitution, or addition of 1 or more amino acid(s) and having NADH oxidase activity.

Abstract: A thermoelectric conversion material includes a superlattice structure produced by laminating a barrier layer containing insulating SrTiO3, and a quantum well layer containing SrTiO3 which has been converted into a semiconductor by doping an n-type impurity therein. The quantum well layer has a thickness 4 times or less the unit lattice thickness of SrTiO3 which has been converted into a semiconductor by doping an n-type impurity therein.

Abstract: A thermoelectric conversion material includes a superlattice structure produced by laminating a barrier layer containing insulating SrTiO3, and a quantum well layer containing SrTiO3 which has been converted into a semiconductor by doping an n-type impurity therein. The quantum well layer has a thickness 4 times or less the unit lattice thickness of SrTiO3 which has been converted into a semiconductor by doping an n-type impurity therein.

Abstract: A thermoelectric conversion material having a novel composition is provided. The thermoelectric conversion material comprises a first dielectric material layer, a second dielectric material layer, and an electron localization layer that is present between the first dielectric material layer and the second dielectric material layer and that has a thickness of 1 nm.

Abstract: [Object] To provide a method for synthesizing derivatives of natural compounds; a method for constructing a compound library containing derivatives of natural compounds; a compound library containing derivatives of natural compounds; and a screening method using a compound library, which are useful for a HTS random screening, a search for drugs or agricultural chemicals, or a search for a lead compound of a drug or an agricultural chemical. [Solving Means] A derivative of an organic compound can be synthesized by culturing a microorganism producing the organic compound in a predetermined culture broth, and reacting the organic compound obtained by the culturing with a reaction reagent for synthesizing the derivative of the organic compound in the culturing broth.

Abstract: A low-resistance ITO thin film having a resistivity on the order of, or lower than 10−4 &OHgr;cm, and a method for manufacturing such a film are disclosed. The ITO thin film is manufactured by depositing ITO on a crystalline substrate by pulsed laser deposition, low-voltage sputtering, oxygen cluster beam deposition, chemical vapor deposition, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, metal organic chemical vapor deposition—atomic layer deposition, or molecule beam epitaxy.

Abstract: An industrially advantageous production method of an optically active alcohol useful for cosmetics and medical supplies or production intermediates thereof using an esterase having an ability to selectively hydrolyze an optically active sphingoid compound.

Abstract: There is disclosed a process for producing a nucleoside derivative of the formula [I]: ##STR1## characterized by contacting 2',3',5'-O-triacylribonucleoside derivative of the formula [II]: ##STR2## with an ester hydrolase: (i) capable of regio-selectively deacylating the acyl group at 5'-O-position in the formula [II] above, and(ii) having an amino acid sequence encoded by a gene which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1.

Abstract: A device for detecting a position of an edge of a cutting tool includes a reference plate positioned to form a slit between the edge of the cutting tool and the reference plate. The slit extends in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the cutting tool. A laser light source is provided to irradiate a laser light to the slit. A detecting device detects a diffraction pattern created through diffraction of the laser light by the slit. A processing device is provided to determine the position of the edge of the cutting tool based on an output signal of the detecting device.