Abstract: Provided are a sweetness and/or saltiness enhancing agent and a method for enhancing sweetness and/or saltiness. This sweetness and/or saltiness enhancing agent includes, as an active ingredient, an oxidized oil or fat that has a peroxide value of 15 to 180 and contains 10 to 100 mass % of milk fat. This method for enhancing sweetness and/or saltiness of a food product is characterized by adding to a food product an oxidized oil or fat that has a peroxide value of 15 to 180 and contains 10 to 100 mass % of milk fat.

Abstract: An anomaly determination device executes a first anomaly determination process and a second anomaly determination process. The anomaly determination device determines in the first anomaly determination process that an anomaly is present in a link mechanism when a fully-closed-time detection value is outside a closed-side normal range and when a fully-open-time detection value is outside an open-side normal range. The anomaly determination device determines in the second anomaly determination process that an anomaly is present in the link mechanism if the difference between the fully-closed-time detection value and the fully-open-time detection value is outside a normal distance range set in advance when it is not determined in the first anomaly determination process that an anomaly is present in the link mechanism.

Abstract: A wastegate is provided in an exhaust bypass passage that allows exhaust gas to bypass a turbine wheel of an exhaust turbine-type forced-induction device. A required boost pressure is set in accordance with a running state of an engine. A controller is configured to control a drive force of the wastegate to a magnitude that achieves the required boost pressure when the required boost pressure is higher than a preset pressure, and control the drive force to a magnitude that achieves a higher boost pressure than the required boost pressure when the required boost pressure is less than or equal to the preset pressure.

Abstract: A focusing adjustment unit changes a relative positions of an optical system and an element of a camera the imaging direction of which faces a predetermined target shooting position from a first side to a second side in an imaging direction. Each time the focusing adjustment unit changes the relative position of the optical system and the element, an evaluation unit calculates an evaluation score monotonously increasing relative to a standard deviation in an adjustment range of an image captured by the camera, the adjustment range being such that an adjustment member a pattern of a plurality of colors provided at the target shooting position comes out. A focusing position determination unit determines a focusing position of the camera based on a change of the evaluation score calculated by the evaluation unit.

Abstract: A battery monitoring apparatus monitors a state of a nickel hydrogen battery. The apparatus includes a board having a high voltage part having a voltage detection section detecting a voltage of the nickel hydrogen battery, and a low voltage part operating at voltage lower than voltage of the high voltage part, a housing that accommodates the board, and an attachment member that is attached to an opposed portion of the housing, which is opposed to a board surface of the board to attach the housing to a predetermined position. A passage is formed between the opposed portion and the attachment member. The passage extends from an opening part provided at a circumference part of the housing and along the opposed portion. The passage is located at a position that overlaps with the low voltage part, when viewed in a normal direction of the board surface.

Abstract: A spark plug includes an insulator; a center electrode; a metal shell; and a ground electrode whose base end is fixed to the metal shell. A distal end of the ground electrode includes a first surface facing the center electrode, a second surface facing a side opposite to the first surface, and an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the second surface. A noble metal tip is partially buried in the inclined surface. A width of the inclined surface is larger than that of the noble metal tip. In this spark plug, A B is satisfied, where A is a distance from a distal end of the ground electrode to a proximal-end-side end portion of the inclined surface and B is a distance from the distal end of the ground electrode to a proximal-end-side end portion of the noble metal tip.

Abstract: An arc welding system of a consumable electrode type comprises: a wire feeding device that feeds welding wire from a wire feeding source to a welding torch; and a power supply device that supplies electric power between the welding wire fed to the welding torch and a base material, the system being configured to weld the base material by arc generated by the supplied electric power. The wire feeding device is provided with: an intermediate wire feeding source that is disposed between the wire feeding source and the welding torch and is configured to temporarily accommodate the welding wire fed from the wire feeding source and to feed the accommodated welding wire to the welding torch; a pull-out feeding part that feeds the welding wire at the wire feeding source to the intermediate wire feeding source; and a push-out feeding part that feeds the welding wire accommodated in the intermediate wire feeding source to the welding torch.

Abstract: A manufacturing method of a spark plug in which an electrode has a noble metal tip joined to an electrode body by laser welding. The manufacturing method includes a fixing step and first and second separate welding steps. In the fixing step, the noble metal tip is fixed to the electrode body so as to define a joint interface of a first surface of the noble metal tip and a second surface of the electrode body. In the first welding step, laser welding is performed on a first zone of the joint interface excluding at least a part of a region of the noble metal tip fixed by the fixing step. In the subsequent second welding step, laser welding is performed on a second zone of the joint interface including an unwelded portion of the joint interface left without being welded by the first welding step.

Abstract: A battery monitoring apparatus monitors a state of a nickel hydrogen battery. The apparatus includes a board having a high voltage part having a voltage detection section detecting a voltage of the nickel hydrogen battery, and a low voltage part operating at a voltage lower than a voltage of the high voltage part, a housing that accommodates the board, and an attachment member that is attached to an opposed portion of the housing, which is opposed to a board surface of the board to attach the housing to a predetermined position. A passage is formed between the opposed portion and the attachment member. The passage extends from an opening part provided at a circumference part of the housing and along the opposed portion. The passage is provided at a position that overlaps with the high voltage part, when viewed in a normal direction of the board surface.

Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide an oil and fat composition having excellent milk feeling or milk flavor and a method for manufacturing the same. An oil and fat composition which contains 50% by mass to 100% by mass of milk fat and has a pentanal/hexanal ration by mol, based on volatile components at 180° C., of 0.15 to 0.70. A method for manufacturing an oil and fat composition, said method comprising a step for heating a starting oil and fat composition, which contains 50% by mass to 100% by mass of milk fat, while supplying oxygen to give an oxidized oil and fat composition which has a pentanal/hexanal ratio by mol, based on volatile components at 180° C., of 0.15 to 0.70.

Abstract: A voltage monitoring device has a capacitor circuit having capacitors connected in series, first switches connecting end terminals of the capacitor circuit to specific electrode terminals of unit cells in a battery pack, second switches connecting remaining electrode terminals of the unit cells to the connection nodes between the capacitors, first voltage detection sections corresponding to each of the capacitors, a second voltage detection section connected to the end terminals of the capacitor circuit, and a microcomputer which selectively performs a first process of charging each capacitor, and a second process of charging the capacitors simultaneously. The respective specific electrode terminals correspond to the unit cells, and are arranged at an interval corresponding to the number of connection nodes formed between the capacitors.

Abstract: A spark plug having a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a noble metal tip that is joined to a part of the ground electrode near one end of the ground electrode via a fused portion. The fused portion extends outward beyond an outer shape of the noble metal tip so that a part of the fused portion is present at each of positions that are located inward from and separated from both side edges of the ground electrode in a width direction of the ground electrode. The fused portion includes a fused protrusion that is located near at least one of two side edges of the noble metal tip in the width direction of the ground electrode and that protrudes in a direction away from the one end of the ground electrode.

Abstract: There is provided an X-ray nondestructive testing device which irradiates X-rays to an article, the article including a substrate having a predetermined X-ray absorption coefficient and a measurement target object disposed therein and having another X-ray absorption coefficient differing from that of the substrate, the device including: an X-ray source configured to irradiate the X-rays to the article; a detector configured to detect the transmission amounts of the X-rays passed through the article at at least paired different locations; a detection position specifying designator configured to specify the paired different locations as a set of paired locations based on a pre-stored design information; a driving mechanism configured to move the detector to the set of paired locations; and an operation calculator configured to calculate the thickness of the measurement target object based on the transmission amounts of the X-rays detected by the detector.

Abstract: Provided is a food or beverage composition for suppressing an expression of an interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7R) gene, including a resistant starch-rich starch satisfying the following conditions (a), (b), (c) and (d) as an active ingredient: (a) having a resistant starch content of 60% or more, as determined by the AOAC Official Method 2002.02 for measuring resistant starch, (b) having a molecular weight peak more than or equal to 6×103 and less than or equal to 4×104, (c) having a molecular weight dispersity more than or equal to 1.5 and less than or equal to 6.0, and (d) having a gelatinization enthalpy at 50° C. to 130° C. of 10 J/g or less, as measured by differential scanning calorimetry.

Abstract: An ignition plug includes an insulator that includes a through hole; a center electrode; a metal shell that holds the insulator; a bar-shaped ground electrode body; an electrode tip that is disposed along a side surface of the ground electrode body opposing a discharge surface of the center electrode; and a welding portion that is disposed between the ground electrode tip and the ground electrode body. Over ¼ of a range from a first end to a second end of the ground electrode tip, a length L1 of the ground electrode tip and a length L2 of the welding portion in the direction satisfy (L2/L1)?0.25.

Abstract: A spark plug capable of suppressing the occurrence and growth of a crack and oxide scale between an electrode tip and a melt portion, satisfies the relationships of C1?D1 and C2?D2, where C1 is a distance between a reference line RL and a point Pa5, D1 is a distance between the reference line RL and a point Pa1, C2 is a distance between the reference line RL and a point Pa6 and D2 is a distance between the reference line RL and a point Pa2.

Abstract: A spark plug having a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a noble metal tip that is joined to a part of the ground electrode near one end of the ground electrode via a fused portion. The fused portion extends outward beyond an outer shape of the noble metal tip so that a part of the fused portion is present at each of positions that are located inward from and separated from both side edges of the ground electrode in a width direction of the ground electrode. The fused portion includes a fused protrusion that is located near at least one of two side edges of the noble metal tip in the width direction of the ground electrode and that protrudes in a direction away from the one end of the ground electrode.

Abstract: An ignition plug includes an insulator that includes a through hole; a center electrode; a metal shell that holds the insulator; a bar-shaped ground electrode body; an electrode tip that is disposed along a side surface of the ground electrode body opposing a discharge surface of the center electrode; and a welding portion that is disposed between the ground electrode tip and the ground electrode body. Over 1/4 of a range from a first end to a second end of the ground electrode tip, a length L1 of the ground electrode tip and a length L2 of the welding portion in the direction satisfy (L2/L1) ?0.25.