Abstract: A large surfboard or paddleboard cannot be carried in an automobile or a train, but it is extremely convenient if it can. A board using carbon fiber or glass fiber and an epoxy resin for weight reduction is divided into two parts, two holes are provided in each cut surface, a female pipe is inserted in each hole, two male pipes to be fitted in each of the female pipes are used for matching the both with each other, and both cut surfaces are firmly fixed by a screw and a swing-preventing plate. Alternatively, a retaining member using projections and recesses are provided and the both cut surfaces are abutted to each other, and the cut surfaces are firmly fixed. As above, the board which can be carried in a train or in an automobile and in which bonding in use is extremely easy and reliable is provided.

Abstract: An information providing system and method and a storage medium which provide information services to each client apparatus on which a browser for browsing content and at least one object operate, through the cooperation with the operation of the object. A server apparatus has a view server for providing content to the browser, a communication server for making communication with the object, and an application sever for making the view server and the application server cooperate with each other. When a read operation from the object is performed, the communication server notifies the application server of a result of the read operation, thereby providing synchronization between the communication server and the view server.

Abstract: A vehicle-mounted voice recognition apparatus including a voice input unit for acquiring an inputted voice, a voice recognition unit for performing voice recognition on the acquired inputted voice, a guidance information output unit for providing a guidance on the basis of the result of the voice recognition, and a recognized word understanding degree determining unit for determining a user's degree of understanding of recognized words to the guidance according to the number of timeout times that a timeout has occurred in the user's operation which is monitored while the voice recognition unit performs the voice recognition, and the number of correction times that a correction has been made to the user's operation, so as to change the guidance provided by the guidance information output unit.

Abstract: The positive electrode active material in accordance with the present invention is used for a positive electrode for a lithium-ion secondary battery, includes Li, Mn, Ni, Co, and O atoms, and has a substantially halite type crystal structure. Specifically, it is preferably expressed by LiaMnbNicCodOe, where a is 0.85 to 1.1, b is 0.2 to 0.6, c is 0.2 to 0.6, d is 0.1 to 0.5, and e is 1 to 2 (the sum of b, c, and d being 1). Because of such composition and crystal structure, the positive electrode active material of the present invention reduces the amount of elution of the battery into the liquid electrolyte and enhances the stability at a high temperature.

Abstract: An on-vehicle guidance apparatus is characterized in including an output sound control means for acquiring a sound volume setting of onboard equipment, a sound volume determining means for determining whether or not the sound volume setting is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and a guidance output control means for issuing a command for carrying out voice guidance in response to a determination signal from the sound volume determining means at a time when the sound volume setting becomes smaller than the above-mentioned threshold.

Abstract: A droplet ejecting device including: plural droplet ejecting heads that eject droplets; a transporting body, disposed to face nozzle surfaces of the droplet ejecting heads, that transports a recording medium; and a head holding member that holds the droplet ejecting heads movably along droplet ejecting directions respectively is provided.

Abstract: An exhaust gas-purifying catalyst includes a support provided with one or more through-holes through which exhaust gas flows, and a catalytic layer supported by the support and containing an oxygen storage material. The exhaust gas-purifying catalyst includes a first section to which the exhaust gas is supplied, and a second section to which the exhaust gas having passed through the first section is supplied. The catalytic layer includes a layered structure of a first catalytic layer containing platinum and/or palladium and a second catalytic layer containing rhodium in the first catalytic section and further includes a third layer containing rhodium in the second section. The second section is smaller in oxygen storage material content per unit volumetric capacity than the first section.

Abstract: A client (such as a PC, portable telephone, PDA, electrical appliances), to which a device such as a IC card is connected, starts a handshake protocol to request a server to start communication. When communication is established via the handshake protocol, the initiative of communication is transferred to the server, and the state changes into a neutral state. In this neutral state, a control packet including a particular number of messages and a finished message is transmitted from the server to the client. If the client receives the control packet, the client performs a process according to the messages included in the control packet. This makes it possible to remotely control a device via a network in a highly reliable and efficient manner.

Abstract: A voice recognition unit is constructed in such a way as to create a voice label string for an inputted voice uttered by a user inputted for each language on the basis of a feature vector time series of the inputted voice uttered by the user and data about a sound standard model, and register the voice label string into a voice label memory 2 while automatically switching among languages for a sound standard model memory 1 used to create the voice label string, and automatically switching among the languages for the voice label memory 2 for holding the created voice label string by using a first language switching unit SW1 and a second language switching unit SW2.

Abstract: A client (such as a PC, portable telephone, PDA, electrical appliances), to which a device such as a IC card is connected, starts a handshake protocol to request a server to start communication. When communication is established via the handshake protocol, the initiative of communication is transferred to the server, and the state changes into a neutral state. In this neutral state, a control packet including a particular number of messages and a finished message is transmitted from the server to the client. If the client receives the control packet, the client performs a process according to the messages included in the control packet. This makes it possible to remotely control a device via a network in a highly reliable and efficient manner.

Abstract: The exhaust gas-purifying catalyst includes a substrate provided with one or more through-holes through which exhaust gas flows, and a catalyst layer which is supported by the substrate and contains precious metals and an oxygen storage material. The exhaust gas-purifying catalyst contains a first part to which the exhaust gas is supplied, and a second part to which the exhaust gas having passed through the first part is supplied and is smaller in the content of the oxygen storage material per unit volume than that of the first part.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus is provided. A density conversion component converts a density of a transparent color material so that a total amount of a plurality of color materials is smaller than a predetermined first amount when it is determined that the total amount of the plurality of color materials is larger than the predetermined first amount and when the transparent color material is included in the plurality of color materials. A density ratio calculation component calculates a ratio between a density before converting the density of the transparent color material and a density after converting the density of the transparent material. A reporting component reports that the ratio of the density is smaller than a predetermined second amount when determining that the ratio of the density is smaller than the predetermined second amount.

Abstract: A voice recognizing apparatus includes a voice start instructing section 3 for instructing to start voice recognition; a voice input section 1 for receiving uttered voice and converting to a voice signal; a voice recognizing section 2 for recognizing the voice on the basis of the voice signal; an utterance start time detecting section 4 for detecting duration from the time when the voice start instructing section instructs to the time when the voice input section delivers the voice signal; an utterance timing deciding section 5 for deciding utterance timing indicating whether the utterance start is quick or slow by comparing the duration detected by the utterance start time detecting section with a prescribed threshold; an interaction control section 6 for determining a content, which is to be shown when exhibiting a recognition result of the voice recognizing section, in accordance with the utterance timing decided; a system response generating section 7 for generating a system response on the basis of the d

Abstract: A voice recognition unit is constructed in such a way as to create a voice label string for an inputted voice uttered by a user inputted for each language on the basis of a feature vector time series of the inputted voice uttered by the user and data about a sound standard model, and register the voice label string into a voice label memory 2 while automatically switching among languages for a sound standard model memory 1 used to create the voice label string, and automatically switching among the languages for the voice label memory 2 for holding the created voice label string by using a first language switching unit SW1 and a second language switching unit SW2.

Abstract: An exhaust gas purification catalyst includes: a lower catalyst layer that contains a ceria-zirconia mixed oxide having 50 to 70 mass % of CeO2 and 5 mass % or more of Pr2O3 and carries at least one of Pt and Pd; and an upper catalyst layer that contains at least zirconia and carries at least Rh, wherein the total amount of CeO2 per liter of the carrier base is 15 to 30 g. Because the amount of CeO2 is small, formation of H2S is suppressed and a high capability of adsorbing and releasing oxygen is brought out in spite of the small amount of CeO2.

Abstract: A catalyst for purification of exhaust gas, in which a noble metal is supported on a metal oxide support, has a basic site content of 1 mmol/L-cat or less, as determined on the basis of an amount of CO2 desorbed per liter of the catalyst as measured by a CO2 temperature-programmed desorption method.

Abstract: An on-vehicle guidance apparatus is characterized in including an output sound control means for acquiring a sound volume setting of onboard equipment, a sound volume determining means for determining whether or not the sound volume setting is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and a guidance output control means for issuing a command for carrying out voice guidance in response to a determination signal from the sound volume determining means at a time when the sound volume setting becomes smaller than the above-mentioned threshold.

Abstract: A fixed constant velocity universal joint using eight torque transmitting balls has a ratio which a non-hardened layer assumes in a bar 48 of a cage 40 is set to be 0.30?C/S?0.75, where S represents a cross-sectional area of the bar 48 and C represents an area of the non-hardened layer.

Abstract: The composite particle for an electrode in accordance with the present invention contains an electrode active material, a conductive auxiliary agent having an electronic conductivity, and an oxidizing/reducing agent. Therefore, this composite particle can construct an effective conductive network, and effectively provide so-called oxidizing/reducing capacity due to the oxidizing/reducing agent. Hence, when the composite particle for an electrode in accordance with the present invention is used as a constituent material of an electrode in an electrochemical device, the electrochemical device can realize a higher capacity.

Abstract: A process of forming an ultrafine crystal layer in a workpiece constituted by a metallic material. The process includes: performing a machining operation on a surface of the workpiece, so as to impart a large local strain to the machined surface of the workpiece, where the machining operation causes the machined surface of the workpiece to be subjected to a plastic working that causes to have large local strain in the form of a true strain of at least one, such that the ultrafine crystal layer is formed in a surface layer portion of the workpiece that defines the machined surface of the workpiece. Also disclosed are a nanocrystal layer forming process, a machine component having the ultrafine crystal layer or the nanocrystal layer, and a machine component producing process of producing the machine component.