Abstract: An actuator includes: an electrostatic actuation mechanism including a stationary electrode and a movable electrode; a first movable part driven by the electrostatic actuation mechanism; a first elastic support part that elastically supports the first movable part; an electret formed in at least one of the stationary electrode and the movable electrode; and a drive control unit that controls application of voltage to the electrostatic actuation mechanism. In the actuator a plurality of stable states are set in which the first movable part is positioned at a stable position at which an electrostatic force generated by the electret matches with an elastic force exerted by the first elastic support part or at a stable position near such stable position. By applying a voltage to the electrostatic actuation mechanism, the first movable part may be displaced from any stable position to another stable position.

Abstract: A range sensor includes: an n-type surface-buried region selectively buried in an upper portion of a pixel layer to implement a photodiode and extending from a light-receiving area toward plural portions shielded by a shielding plate along the upper portion of the pixel layer so as to provide a plurality of branches; n-type charge-accumulation regions having a higher impurity concentration than the surface-buried region; a plurality of transfer gate electrodes provided adjacent to the charge-accumulation regions; and an n-type guide region having a higher impurity concentration than the surface-buried region and a lower impurity concentration than the charge-accumulation regions, and provided with one end below an aperture of the shielding plate and other ends extending to a part of the respective transfer gate electrodes.

Abstract: A charge-modulation element includes a first charge-accumulation region, a second charge-accumulation region, a third charge-accumulation region, and a fourth charge-accumulation region, provided symmetric with respect to a center position of a light-receiving area, and a first field-control electrode pair, a second field-control electrode pair, a third field-control electrode pair, and a fourth field-control electrode pair, arranged on both sides of respective charge transport paths, for changing depletion potentials of the charge transport paths, which extend from the center position of the light-receiving area to the first charge-accumulation region, the second charge-accumulation region, the third charge-accumulation region, and the fourth charge-accumulation region.

Abstract: A photodiode includes semiconductor layers and a gate insulating layer provided on a buried insulating layer formed on a substrate and has a diffraction grating portion in which a plurality of groove portions are formed in a two-dimensional lattice shape, on the gate insulating layer. Measurement light is guided by an optical system including a photoelastic modulator and is incident on the photodiode. The measurement light is emitted from the light source device in a state of being linearly polarized light having a predetermined wavelength and is converted at a predetermined frequency by the optical system such that states in which the measurement light becomes linearly polarized light beams of two orthogonal directions are repeated. In addition, electric signals from the photodiode in the state in which the measurement light becomes the linearly polarized light beams of the two orthogonal directions are lock-in detected.

Abstract: There is provided a novel gelator containing a monourea derivative. A gelator comprising a compound of formula (1): wherein R1 is a linear or branched alkyl group having a carbon atom number of 2 to 20, a cyclic alkyl group having a carbon atom number of 3 to 20, or a linear or branched alkenyl group having a carbon atom number of 12 to 20; and Ar is a C6-18 aryl group unsubstituted or optionally substituted with at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of a C1-10 alkyl group, a C1-10 alkoxy group, a C6-18 aryloxy group, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a phenyl group, a C2-10 alkylcarbonyl group, and a C7-18 aralkyl group.

Abstract: A distance measurement device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a photoelectric conversion device which includes a light receiving unit, a charge storage unit, a charge discharge unit, and a gate electrode, a controller which controls an irradiation timing of pulse light having a pulse width which is sufficiently shorter than response time of the light receiving unit to an object and performs control to generate control pulse voltages having at least two kinds of phases based on the irradiation timing and to apply it to the gate electrode, a charge reading unit which reads a first and second charges stored in the charge storage unit according to the applications of the respective control pulse voltages having two kinds of phases as a first and second electrical signals, and a calculation unit which calculates a distance to the object based on the first and second electrical signals.

Abstract: The compound represented by formula (IV) or a salt thereof has an inhibitory action on an abscisic acid receptor. The compound or the salt thereof can be used as a plant growth regulator. wherein X is an ethylene group, an ethenylene group or an ethynylene group, R1 is a hydrogen atom, a phenyl group or a naphthyl group, and the phenyl group and naphthyl group each optionally have a substituent selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a C1-6 alkyl group, a C1-6 alkyl group substituted with a halogen atom, a C1-6 alkoxy group, an acetyl group, an amino group, an acetylamino group, a phenyl group and a pentafluorosulfanyl group.

Abstract: A semiconductor element includes a semiconductor region (11) of a first conductivity type, a buried charge-generation region (16) of a second conductivity type, buried in an upper portion of the semiconductor region (11) to implement a photodiode (D1) together with the semiconductor region (11) to generate charges, a charge-readout region (15) of the second conductivity type, provided in the semiconductor region (11) to accumulate the charges transferred from the buried charge-generation region (16), and a reset-performing region (12) of the second conductivity type, provided in the semiconductor region (11), a variable voltage is applied to the reset-performing region (12) to change the height of a potential barrier generated in the semiconductor region (11) sandwiched between the charge-readout region (15) and the reset-performing region (12) to exhaust the charges accumulated in the charge-readout region (15).

Abstract: A range sensor includes: an n-type surface-buried region selectively buried in an upper portion of a pixel layer to implement a photodiode and extending from a light-receiving area toward plural portions shielded by a shielding plate along the upper portion of the pixel layer so as to provide a plurality of branches; n-type charge-accumulation regions having a higher impurity concentration than the surface-buried region; a plurality of transfer gate electrodes provided adjacent to the charge-accumulation regions; and an n-type guide region having a higher impurity concentration than the surface-buried region and a lower impurity concentration than the charge-accumulation regions, and provided with one end below an aperture of the shielding plate and other ends extending to a part of the respective transfer gate electrodes.

Abstract: The invention shows a production apparatus for producing carbon nanotubes by the gas-phase catalysis process, comprising: a first chamber having a growth region that is a region in which carbon nanotubes are formed; a first temperature adjustment device capable of adjusting a temperature of the growth region in the first chamber; a pressure adjustment device capable of adjusting a pressure in the first chamber; a first feed device capable of feeding a carbon source to the growth region in the first chamber; a second temperature adjustment device capable of adjusting a temperature of a solid-phase iron family element-containing material disposed in the production apparatus; and a second feed device capable of feeding a gas-phase halogen-containing substance into the production apparatus so that the iron family element-containing material of which the temperature is adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the second temperature adjustment device can react with the halogen-containing substance.

Abstract: The invention shows a production method for carbon nanotubes. The production method comprises a first step of feeding at least one kind of gas-phase catalyst into a first chamber, the at least one kind of gas-phase catalyst being formed from an iron family element-containing substance and a halogen-containing substance that are contained in a first liquid; and a second step of forming the carbon nanotubes from a carbon source fed into the first chamber using a catalyst generated based on the gas-phase catalyst existing in the first chamber, wherein the first step includes vaporization of the first liquid, and the first liquid does not contain the carbon source.

Abstract: A pupil detection light source device includes an aperture disposed to face a subject to allow light from a pupil of the subject to pass therethrough, an illumination light for obtaining a light pupil image toward the subject from the inside or the vicinity of the aperture when seen from the subject, and an illumination light for forming a reflection image with glasses obtained by canceling a reflection image with glasses of the light pupil image using an image difference toward the subject from the inside or the vicinity of the aperture when seen from the subject.

Abstract: A positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes LiX, where X represents a halogen atom.

Abstract: A high-accurate imaging increased in time resolution can be made. The camera device is provided with a plurality of pixels that include a light-receiving surface embedded region to convert incident light into charges, a charge accumulation region to accumulate the charges, and a gate electrode to control the charges to be transferred from the light-receiving surface embedded region to the charge accumulation region, and are one-dimensionally arranged in each of a plurality of columns, a timing generation circuit which generates a control pulse voltage to be applied to the gate electrode, and a correction circuit unit which is provided in accordance with each of a plurality of columns of the pixels, delays the control pulse voltage in a variable time, and applies the control pulse voltage to the gate electrodes of the plurality of pixels belonging to a column corresponding to the control pulse voltage.

Abstract: A resin coat film 39 formed on a skirt portion 10 of a piston 7 has a four-sided outer peripheral region knurled at upper and lower regions thereof corresponding in a rear view of the piston 7 to an upper skirt part 36 and a lower skirt part 38 of the skirt portion 10 extending in parallel with an axial direction of left and right piston pin boss portions 15 and 14, with a combination of short vertical grooves 43A and 43B and medium-length vertical grooves 42A and 42B extending in parallel with a central axis C of a piston crow portion 9, and at left and right edge regions thereof, with long vertical grooves 41.

Abstract: A surface of a product is divided into a plurality of patches and a polygon mesh is formed. Sequences of vertexes on borderlines between the adjacent patches are allowed to correspond to each other, and then, a texture is mapped on each of patch units. The vertexes of the polygon mesh displaced in accordance with the mapped texture are connected together to form crimp applied polygon data for each of the patch units. In each of processing stages, since data to be processed can be limited to data of the two adjacent patches at the maximum, a practicable range of a computer is not exceeded due to the restriction of capacity of an operation memory.

Abstract: A method of estimating a reflected wave arrival direction using a radar apparatus includes obtaining a first, reflected signal by performing transmission and/or reception of radio waves using a first directional distribution pattern of sensitivity, obtaining a number of first targets by estimating a number of targets in a reflected wave based on the first reflected signal, obtaining a second reflected signal by performing transmission and/or reception of radio waves using a second directional distribution pattern of sensitivity, obtaining a number of second targets by estimating a number of targets in the reflected wave based on the second reflected signal, obtaining a third reflected signal by performing transmission and/or reception of radio waves using a third directional distribution pattern of sensitivity, obtaining a number of third targets by estimating a number of targets in the reflected wave based on the third reflected signal, and estimating the number of targets and the direction of presence of th

Abstract: A waveform discrimination device includes: a waveform detector receiving waveforms of pulses to be measured and converting the waveforms to electrical signals; an analog amplifier expanding transient waveforms of the electrical signals along a time-domain axis; an AD converter converting the electrical signals to digital data in rise and fall times of the electrical signals; and a signal processing circuit calculating a characteristic-amount of the rise time as a point on a first coordinate axis by using the digital data, and calculating a characteristic-amount of the fall time as a point on a second coordinate axis, so as to define a set of the points on the first and second coordinate axes as a coordinate point, and plot the coordinate point on a discrimination plane, wherein, by plotted positions of the coordinate point, whether the pulses has a first waveform or a second waveform is discriminated.

Abstract: A pupil detection method includes a step of acquiring images by taking a facial image of a subject using each of a left camera and a right camera, a step of extracting one or more image candidate points serving as candidates for pupils from the images, a step of extracting points corresponding to a combination of image candidate points corresponding to the same point in a three-dimensional space as space candidate points, a step of selecting a pair of two space candidate points from the extracted space candidate points and calculating a distance between the selected pair, a step of excluding a pair of space candidate points where the calculated distance is not within a specified range, and a step of determining one or more pairs of space candidate points from the pairs not excluded and determining that a pair of pupils of the subject exist at the positions.

Abstract: A resin coat film 39 formed on a skirt portion 10 of a piston 7 has a four-sided outer peripheral region knurled at upper and lower regions thereof corresponding in a rear view of the piston 7 to an upper skirt part 36 and a lower skirt part 38 of the skirt portion 10 extending in parallel with an axial direction of left and right piston pin boss portions 15 and 14, with a combination of short vertical grooves 43A and 43B and medium-length vertical grooves 42A and 42B extending in parallel with a central axis C of a piston crow portion 9, and at left and right edge regions thereof, with long vertical grooves 41.