Abstract: A process for producing methionine by hydrolysis of 5-(?-methylmercaptoethyl)hydantoin in the presence of an alkali, in which the concentration of hydrogen sulfide is 5 ppm or less in a solution used for hydrolysis comprising 5-(?-methylmercaptoethyl)hydantoin and the alkali, whereby methionine can be stably produced for a long period of time.

Abstract: It is desired from the viewpoints of accessory and economy to make common use of one telephone number among a plurality of mobile telephones. A server makes an ID intrinsic to a mobile telephone and a telephone number correspond to each other thereby to relay communications between the mobile telephones made to correspond. A mobile telephone requests the server managing the telephone number and the ID of the mobile telephone from itself via the Internet, to change the correspondence between the telephone number and the mobile telephone ID. In response to this request, the server changes the correspondence between the telephone number and the mobile telephone ID.

Abstract: A regenerated sulfur recovery apparatus positioned in a sulfur recovery plant, which apparatus contains a sulfur purifier that cools gaseous sulfur and condensates it, forming liquid sulfur while removing impurities contained therein; the apparatus containing a steam supplying means for melting solid sulfur deposited on an inner wall of the sulfur purifier, a molten sulfur reservoir that recovers and stores the melted sulfur, a reservoir heating means that heats the reservoir, an exhaust gas line that directs to the outside an exhaust gas formed in the reservoir when the reservoir is heated by the reservoir heating means, and an inert gas supply means that supplies an inert gas to the reservoir, such that the inert gas supplied into the reservoir flows to the outside through the exhaust gas line when molten sulfur stored in the reservoir is discharged from the reservoir.

Abstract: A bonding apparatus including a capillary 40 having a high-frequency coil 50 on its tip end portion and allowing a bonding wire 2 to pass therethrough, a position changing unit for changing the position of the tip of the bonding wire, a gas supply unit for supplying gas into the capillary, and a high-frequency power supply unit for supplying high-frequency power to the high-frequency coil. When the bonding wire is outside a plasma region 52 in the capillary, a microplasma generated in the plasma region is ejected out of the capillary and removes foreign matter or contaminants on the surface of a bonding subject. When the bonding wire is inside the plasma region, the material of the bonding wire is turned into fine particles, and a microplasma 303 containing sputtered fine particles is ejected from the capillary, allowing the material the same as the bonding wire to be deposited on the bonding subject.

Abstract: A rail manufacturing method is provided, in which a billet is hot-rolled into a rail form and the rail is cooled to ambient temperature. The foot part of the rail can be mechanically restrained to improve the straightness of the rail during at least the period of cooling where the surface temperature is between 800° C. and 400° C. In the subsequent cooling process, at least while the surface temperature of the foot of the rail is between 400° C. and 250° C., the rail is kept in an upright state, and cooled naturally without using insulation or accelerated cooling.

Abstract: A process for producing methionine by hydrolysis of 5-(?-methylmercaptoethyl)hydantoin in the presence of an alkali, in which the concentration of hydrogen sulfide is 5 ppm or less in a solution used for hydrolysis comprising 5-(?-methylmercaptoethyl)hydantoin and the alkali, whereby methionine can be stably produced for a long period of time.

Abstract: A wire cleaning guide for guiding a wire in a feed direction and to clean the wire, including a gas supply nozzle for supplying plasma generating gas, a plasma generating chamber with plasma generating gas supplied from the gas supply nozzle thereto for transforming the plasma generating gas into plasma by energizing a bonding wire that passes there through to clean the wire by means of the plasma gas, and wire-feeder-side and bonding-tool-side guide holes for guiding the wire in the feed direction, the diameter of the wire-feeder-side guide hole is greater than that of the bonding-tool-side guide hole so that the outflow rate of gas after wire cleaning flowing between the wire-feeder-side guide hole and the wire is greater than that of gas after wire cleaning flowing between the bonding-tool-side guide hole and the wire.

Abstract: A wire bonding apparatus for manufacturing, for instance, semiconductor devices, including a cleaning case in which a microplasma generating section comprised of a plasma torch, which has a plasma nozzle 38 at the end, and capacitive coupling electrodes composed of an outer electrode and an inner electrode is fixed to the bottom of the cleaning case. The plasma nozzle is provided such that its center line is in alignment with the longitudinal center line of the capillary. Microplasma is ejected from below the capillary to clean its tip within the cleaning case. A shutter is provided on the top of the cleaning case and the wasted gas produced as a result of cleaning is exhausted out of the cleaning case through an exhaustion port of the cleaning case.

Abstract: A bonding apparatus capable of efficiently performing surface treatment using microplasma and a bonding process to an object to be bonded including a plasma capillary having a tubular plasma capillary main body made of an insulating body, a cylindrical external electrode provided outside the tubular plasma capillary main body, a linear internal electrode provided at the center of the inside of the tubular plasma capillary main body, and a seal gas nozzle provided at the outer circumference of the tubular plasma capillary main body. Microplasma produced within the plasma capillary is sprayed from the main body opening, and performs the surface treatment to a bonding pad while being sealed from an ambient air by a seal gas flow sprayed from the annular opening. In conjunction with the surface treatment, bonding is performed using a bonding capillary.

Abstract: The present invention is: a pearlitic steel rail excellent in wear resistance and ductility, characterized in that, in a steel rail having pearlite structure containing, in mass, 0.65 to 1.40% C, the number of the pearlite blocks having grain sizes in the range from 1 to 15 ?m is 200 or more per 0.2 mm2 of an observation field at least in a part of the region down to a depth of 10 mm from the surface of the corners and top of the head portion; and a method for producing a pearlitic steel rail excellent in wear resistance and ductility, characterized by, in the hot rolling of said steel rail, applying finish rolling so that the temperature of the rail surface may be in the range from 850° C. to 1,000° C. and the sectional area reduction ratio at the final pass may be 6% or more, and then applying accelerated cooling to the head portion of said rail at a cooling rate in the range from 1 to 30° C./sec. from the austenite temperature range to at least 550° C.

Abstract: A disclosed capacitor sheet attached to an electronic apparatus comprises: a laminated body; a first penetration electrode penetrating the laminated body, the first penetration electrode being electrically connected to a terminal electrode of the electronic apparatus; a second penetration electrode disposed at an arrangement position different from that of the first penetration electrode on the laminated body, the second penetration electrode being electrically insulated from the first penetration electrode and penetrating the laminated body; at least one first conductor thin film electrically connected to the first penetration electrode and insulated from the second penetration electrode; and at least one second conductor thin film disposed so as to face the first conductor thin film via a dielectric layer, the second conductor thin film being electrically connected to the second penetration electrode and insulated from the first penetration electrode.

Abstract: Disclosed is a process for producing methionine, which comprises hydrolyzing 5-(?-methylmercaptoethyl)hydantoin using at least one potassium compound selected from potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate and potassium hydroxide, crystallizing the hydrolyzate under pressure of carbonic acid gas thereby separating and collecting methionine, and heat treating at least a portion of the resulting filtrate thereby recovering methionine dimer contained in the filtrate as methionine, the process being characterized by using, as a material of an equipment of a facility for recovery through a heat treatment, a ferritic stainless steel containing 17.0 to 32.0% by weight of Cr element of, 1.0 to 3.0% by weight of Mo element and 0.6% by weight or less of Ni element, or zirconium.

Abstract: A bonding apparatus including a capillary 40 having a high-frequency coil 50 on its tip end portion and allowing a bonding wire 2 to pass therethrough, a position changing unit for changing the position of the tip of the bonding wire, a gas supply unit for supplying gas into the capillary, and a high-frequency power supply unit for supplying high-frequency power to the high-frequency coil. When the bonding wire is outside a plasma region 52 in the capillary, a microplasma generated in the plasma region is ejected out of the capillary and removes foreign matter or contaminants on the surface of a bonding subject. When the bonding wire is inside the plasma region, the material of the bonding wire is turned into fine particles, and a microplasma 303 containing sputtered fine particles is ejected from the capillary, allowing the material the same as the bonding wire to be deposited on the bonding subject.

Abstract: A lithographic printing plate precursor comprises: a support; and an image-forming layer including a fluoroaliphatic group-containing copolymer, wherein the fluoroaliphatic group-containing copolymer contains a repeating unit corresponding to monomer (i) below and a repeating unit corresponding to monomer (ii) below: (i) a specified fluoroaliphatic group-containing monomer, and (ii) at least one of a poly(oxyalkylene) acrylate and a poly(oxyalkylene) methacrylate.

Abstract: The radiator device which radiates heat generated by electronic components mounted on a printed board, and the plug-in unit which the radiator device is equipped to is provided in order to reliably absorb errors in height among various electronic components while realizing a high heat radiation efficiency. The device and the plug-in unit includes: a radiating board which is connected to an electronic component side of a printed board mounted with one or more electronic components thereon, with a specific space between the radiating board and the printed board; a heat conductive block which is connected to a side of the radiating board that faces the printed board in such a manner that the position of the heat conductive block is adjustable along a direction crossing the printed board, the heat conductive block making intimate contact with an electronic component mounted on the printed board.

Abstract: The present invention provides a copolymer comprising repeating units derived from (A) at least one fluoroalkyl (meth) acrylate represented by the following general formula (I) or (II): wherein, X1 represents —O— or —NR3—; R1 represents —H or —CH3; R3 represents a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms; R2 represents H or F; m is an integer ranging from 0 to 10; n is an integer of 2 or 3; and o and p each represents an integer of 1 or 2, and (B) at least one polyoxyalkylene group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and also provides an image-forming composition, a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, a paint composition or a photo resist composition comprising the copolymer.

Abstract: The present invention provides a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, which comprises a substrate provided thereon with a light-sensitive layer containing a fluoro-aliphatic group-containing copolymer prepared by copolymerizing at least (A) a fluoroalkyl(meth)acrylate represented by the general formula (I) and (B) a polyoxyalkylene group-containing ethylenic unsaturated monomer. By such a presensitized plate, a lithographic printing plate is provided with a light-sensitive layer whose uniformity and solubility or dispersibility in a developer are improved and which has an ability of forming high contrast images without entraining any reduction of the sensitivity.

Abstract: Infrared cameras (51, 54) and infrared illuminators (53, 55) thereof are opposed to each other across a transparent belt (41a). The infrared cameras (51, 54) photograph the front sides and the backsides of pitted fruits (prunes) which are conveyed by a conveyor (41) of the transparent belt (41a). A region of the fruit at a predetermined level or lower is determined based on the photographing data of the infrared cameras (51, 54), an average brightness level on the edge surface of the fruit region is determined, a depressed portion at a predetermined level or lower is determined based on the determined average brightness level, and it is decided whether a seed fragment remains in the fruit based on the shape of the depressed portion that is a characteristic of a measurable brightness level (shade) property.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and equipment for producing a rail, the method and equipment being capable of lowering a bend at an end of a rail effectively and the truncation amount thereof. The present invention is a method for producing a rail, characterized by: cooling a hot-rolled mother rail to an ordinary temperature substantially while the length thereof after the hot rolling is maintained; and thereafter cutting the mother rail simultaneously in a predetermined length with at least three cold-sawing machines. Further, the present invention is equipment for producing a rail, characterized by equipped with: a transfer bed capable of moving a mother rail cooled to an ordinary temperature substantially while the length thereof after hot rolling is maintained in the rolling direction and/or in the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction; and at least three cold-sawing machines disposed in parallel with each other on said transfer bed.

Abstract: A coating composition for forming a silica-containing film comprises (A) a hydrolyzate and/or partially condensed product of a compound represented by the following general formula (I) and a compound represented by the following general formula (II): 1