Abstract: This invention relates to a hydrogen-absorbing alloy, and particularly provides a hydrogen-absorbing alloy having a body-centered cubic structure which has a periodical structure formed by spinodal decomposition, has a large hydrogen storage amount, has excellent hydrogen desorption characteristics and can mitigate activation conditions, the alloy comprises at least two elements of alloy components, wherein the relational curve between chemical free energy of solid solutions and an alloy composition has a shape describing an upwardly convexed curve, or said alloy comprises two solid solutions having a regular periodical structure formed by spinodal decomposition within a region satisfying the relation d.sup.2 G/dX.sub.B.sup.2 <0 (where G is chemical free energy and X.sub.B is a solute alloy concentration) as the principal phase.

Abstract: A titanium-containing porous silica having a molecular sieve framework in which more than 3 mole % but not more than 25 mole % of silicon ions are isomorphously substituted by titanium ions. The porous silica may be obtained by gradually adding a liquid containing water and an alkylamine to a mixture containing a silicon alkoxide and a titanium alkoxide with stirring to hydrolyze the silicon alkoxide and the titanium alkoxide and to obtain a gel. The gel is then dried and calcined to obtain the titanium-containing porous silica.

Abstract: A method of testing frequency characteristics of a laser displacement/vibration meter by the use of a novel method which can cope with a broader frequency range and finer micro-level displacements to enhance the reliability of the displacement/vibration meter. Upon applying impact on one end face of a round metal rod, an elastic wave pulse which propagates through the metal rod generates a stepwise dynamic displacement of the other end face of the rod when reflected there. This dynamic displacement is measured simultaneously by a reference laser interferometer with a reference laser beam and a laser displacement/vibration meter with unknown frequency response characteristics, followed by comparison of measurement data over a frequency range to determine the frequency response characteristics of the unknown laser displacement/vibration meter.

Abstract: A method of separating copper from chalcopyrite, including heating a mixture containing chalcopyrite particles containing copper components and hydrochloric acid at a temperature of at least 110.degree. C. for a period of time sufficient to convert the copper components into a water-soluble state. The heated mixture is then mixed with water to leach out the water-soluble copper components from the particles into water.

Abstract: A magnetic field source movable type phantom head has a vessel filled with physiologic saline. The vessel preferably has an inner contour corresponding to an outer contour of a cerebrum of a patient to be tested. An electrode support tube has electrodes at one end. The electrodes are arranged within the vessel and movable at least in a vertical direction toward a center of the vessel as guided by a guiding and fixing device which guides the electrode support tube in a liquid tight fashion and fixes at a predetermined position. A position of the electrode support tube is measured to determine a position of the magnetic field source in the vessel.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a high-porosity, high-strength porous silicon nitride having great tolerance with respect to strain and stress, and a method for producing the same, and the present invention relates to a high-porosity, high-strength porous silicon nitride having great tolerance with respect to strain and stress, characterized in that rodlike grains of silicon nitride with a minor diameter of 0.5 to 10 .mu.m and an aspect ratio of 10 to 100 are oriented in a single direction, and the rest of the structure other than the rodlike grains consists solely of pores with a porosity of 5 to 30%, and further the above-mentioned porous silicon nitride is produced by mixing rodlike particles of silicon nitride with a minor diameter of 0.5 to 10 .mu.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for forming a titanium alloy by powder metallurgy, which comprises the processes of mixing uniformly a powder of titanium or an alloy thereof with a low-melting point metal or alloy powder, injecting the mixture into a press forming die, then press forming them under heating to a temperature near and over the melting point of the low-melting point metal, or to a temperature between the liquidus and the solidus of the low-melting point alloy, or to a temperature near and over the liquidus to obtain the targeted compact, and holding this compact in the pressurized state to cause the molten low-melting point metal or alloy to infiltrate the powder grain boundary of the titanium or alloy thereof, and then sintering the compact thus obtained in an inert atmosphere or a vacuum to diffuse the titanium or alloy thereof and the low-melting point metal or alloy into each other and to make alloys of them.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for producing an Sr--Bi--Ta or Nb-based composite alkoxide with the structure of an atomic arrangement controlled, having a metal atomic ratio of Sr:Bi:Ta or Nb=1:2:2, characterized in that an Sr alkoxide (Sr(OR).sub.2) prepared from an Sr metal is allowed to react with a Bi alkoxide (Bi(OR).sub.3) in alcohol to produce an Sr--Bi double alkoxide (Sr?Bi(OR).sub.4 !.sub.2), and subsequently the alkoxide is allowed to react with a Ta alkoxide (Ta(OR).sub.5) or an Nb alkoxide (Nb(OR).sub.5).

Abstract: A lipid represented by the following formula:MO--(CO--CH.sub.2 --NH).sub.p --CO--(CH.sub.2).sub.n --CO--(NH--CH.sub.2 --CO).sub.q --OMwherein M represents a hydrogen atom or an alkali metal, n is an integer of 6-18 and p and q each represent an integer of at least 1 with the proviso that a total of p and q is not greater than 6. When an aqueous solution of an alkali metal salt of the lipid is allowed to stand for 2-3 weeks, a fibrous microtube including a tubular body having a diameter of 1-3 .mu.m and a plurality of spherical vesicles contained within the tubular body and having a diameter of 0.1-3 .mu.m is formed.

Abstract: The primary object of the present invention is to provide an electrode for an alkali secondary battery, the electrode being capable of exhibiting high binding power and showing a high electrical conductivity without use of a binder. An electrode for an alkali secondary battery, the electrode comprising a molded product molded from a mixture containing an active material-containing powder and a flaky nickel powder which has lowered strain.

Abstract: The present invention provides silicon nitride ceramics having high thermal conductivity and a method for production thereof. This invention relates to a method for producing a silicon nitride sintered body having a microstructure with silicon nitride crystals oriented uniaxially and exhibiting high thermal conductivity of 100 to 150 W/mK in the direction parallel to the orientation direction of the crystals, which comprises of preparing a slurry by mixing a mixed powder of a sintering auxiliary, beta-silicon nitride single crystals as seed crystals and a silicon nitride raw powder with a dispersing medium, forming the slurry by tape casting or extrusion forming, calcining the formed silicon nitride body with beta-silicon nitride single crystals oriented parallel to the casting plane to remove the organic components, densifying it by hot pressing and the like if required, and further annealing it at 1700 to 2000.degree. C. under the nitrogen pressure of 1 to 100 atmospheres.

Abstract: The present invention provides a die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy with high-workability, which is inexpensive and easy to handle, and has detailed shape-reproducibility and no reactivity with titanium-based alloy to be processed, and has excellent accordance with it in a thermal expansion coefficient. This invention relates to a die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy characterized by comprising quartz, cristobalite and calcium silicate. The above die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy is produced by kneading a mixed powder of quartz and cristobalite, together with a binder containing a plaster additive of less than 30 weight % based on the total amount with water, forming the mixture, drying the formed product and sintering it in the atmosphere to convert the plaster additive into calcium silicate.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for analyzing information relating to the physiological and psychological conditions of a driver. Psychological conditions such as comfortableness or degree of alertness are estimated on the basis of physical data such as fluctuation in brain waves. This apparatus comprises a first neural network having a pre-processed 1/f fluctuation signal for brain waves as an input and for estimating a degree of alertness of the driver, and a second neural network receiving the estimated degree of alertness and the pre-processed 1/f fluctuation signal, for estimating and outputting driving comfortableness. By employing a neural network, which has a mapping ability as well as flexible adaptability even for non-linear data, based on the learning function, more accurate estimation of mental conditions can be achieved in comparison with conventional statistical analysis.

Abstract: A lipid represented by the following formula:MO--(CO--CH.sub.2 --NH).sub.p --CO--(CH.sub.2).sub.n --CO--(NH--CH.sub.2 --CO).sub.q --OMwherein M represents a hydrogen atom or an alkali metal, n is an integer of 6-18 and p and q each represent an integer of at least 1 with the proviso that a total of p and q is not greater than 6. When an aqueous solution of an alkali metal salt of the lipid is allowed to stand for 2-3 weeks, a fibrous microtube including a tubular body having a diameter of 1-3 .mu.m and a plurality of spherical vesicles contained within the tubular body and having a diameter of 0.1-3 .mu.m is formed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel FGF-5 analogous protein derived from mature mRNA formed by directly binding exon 1 to exon 3 in the splicing of a gene coding for FGF-5 protein as well as to a pharmaceutical composition containing the same as an active ingredient. The pharmaceutical composition containing the novel FGF-5 analogous protein of the present invention as an active ingredient can regulate physiological functions of FGF-5, such as regulation of restoration or development of hairs on the head and body, regulation of trophic and functional regulation in the brain and nervous system, proliferation of fibroblasts, etc.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a silicon nitride sintered body having a remarkably increased strain-to-fracture, a low elasticity and high strength, characterized by consisting of a layered structure of alternating porous silicon nitride layers 1 to 1000 .mu.m thick with a porosity of 5 to 70 volume % and dense silicon nitride layers 1 to 1000 .mu.m thick with a porosity of less than 5 volume %, being layered as materials with optional tiers. In addition, this invention relates to a method for producing the silicon nitride sintered body as described above, which comprises of forming dense layers and porous layers by sheet casting or extrusion forming so as to prepare the layers to be capable of 1 to 1000 .mu.m thick after sintering, stacking them to obtain layered materials with optional tiers and sintering them at 1600.degree. to 2100 .degree. C. under a nitrogen atmosphere.

Abstract: A semiconductor silicon single crystal wafer having a flat surface plane in a crystallographic orientation slightly deviated from the (001) axis was subjected to an oxidation treatment to form an oxidized surface film to such an extent that ordered stepwise level differences are formed in the interface between the oxidized surface film and the silicon surface followed by removal of the oxidized surface film with a hydrofluoric acid solution containing hydrogen chloride and having a pH not higher than 1 in such a fashion that the oxidized surface film is dissolved away by dipping the wafer in the acid solution while keeping equivalency relative to each of the stepwise level differences so that the wafer surface can be concurrently cleaned and flattened in an atomic level as evidenced by the scanning tunneling microscopic photographs.

Abstract: A composite material having at least one fullerene layer and at least one layer of an auxiliary substance provided on the fullerene layer and selected from metals metalloids, metal compounds, metalloid compounds and mixtures thereof. The auxiliary substance layer is formed by sputtering. The composite material emits strong luminescence when irradiated with an argon laser.

Abstract: Disclosed are a polymerizable sugar ester of the formula shown below and a process for the production thereof:S(OH).sub.q-1 --OOC--R--COOCH.dbd.CH.sub.2wherein S(OH).sub.q-1, represents a sugar residue obtained by removing one hydroxyl group from a sugar compound composed of a sugar skeleton S and q number of hydroxyl groups bonded thereto, and R represents an alkylene group. The polymerizable sugar ester is produced by reacting a sugar compound represented by the following general formula:S(OH).sub.qwherein S represents the sugar skeleton and q is the number of the hydroxyl groups bonded thereto, with a divinyl ester of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid represented by the following general formula:CH.sub.2 .dbd.CHOOC--R--COOCH.dbd.CH.sub.2in the presence of a hydrolytic enzyme. The polymerizable sugar ester gives a sugar-based polymer by polymerization.

Abstract: A process for removing nitrogen oxide from exhaust is disclosed, comprising contacting exhaust containing nitrogen oxide with an alumina catalyst which contains not more than 0.5% by weight of an alkali metal and/or an alkaline earth metal and has a total pore volume of from 0.48 to 1.2 cm.sup.3 .multidot.g.sup.-1 with 0.26 to 0.6 cm.sup.3 .multidot.g.sup.-1 of the total pore volume being formed of pores of not greater than 80 .ANG. or has a volume of pores formed of pores of not greater than 60 .ANG. of from 0.06 to 0.2 cm.sup.3 .multidot.g.sup.-l and which may have supported thereon tin in an oxidative atmosphere containing excess oxygen in the presence of a hydrocarbon or an oxygen-containing organic compound.