Abstract: Provided is a slot machine capable of reducing unfairness which may result between a player who has made an investment and a player who has not made an investment and allowing a player to proceed with a game by making an investment in expectation of a jackpot at ease. Each money amount which is constant is accumulated independently of a number of bets each time betting is conducted, and upon winning a jackpot, a money amount calculated by multiplying a money amount accumulated until then by a multiplying factor based on the number of bets is provided.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides, inter alia, a method of producing an outer layer material for forming into a structure and that comprises an entanglement having a hydrophobic polymer host and a hydrophilic guest, including in one embodiment the steps of: intermingling cloaked hydrophilic guest complexes with the hydrophobic host; crosslinking molecules of the guest with the guest; and performing a hydrolysis reaction.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining a possibility of return of spontaneous circulation, includes: an electrocardiogram acquiring unit acquiring electrocardiogram waveform data from a subject in a cardiac arrest condition during chest compression applied to the subject; a bandpass filter unit allowing only a frequency component in a vicinity of a frequency of a P wave of the electrocardiogram waveform to pass through the bandpass filter unit; a resuscitation possibility determining unit determining whether an output of the bandpass filter unit exceeds a predetermined value or not, and determining that there is the possibility of return of spontaneous circulation when the output exceeds the predetermined value; and an outputting unit outputting a result of determination related to the possibility of return of spontaneous circulation.

Abstract: An availability prediction apparatus includes an access section that accesses a storage section and a prediction section. The storage section stores availability specified periods occurred before a present time associated with respective frequencies of the availability specified periods, and the access section acquires the availability specified periods from the storage section. The prediction section predicts at least one target availability specified period within a prediction term, which begins at the present time and ends at a time later than the present time by a predetermined term. The prediction section includes a correlating section that correlates the availability specified periods with candidate periods included in the prediction term, and a selection section that specifies and selects one of the candidate periods having a highest occurrence probability as the target availability specified period.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for fabricating piezoresistive polysilicon on a substrate by low-temperature metal induced crystallization by: (1) providing the substrate having a passivation layer; (2) performing, at or near room temperature in a chamber without breaking a vacuum or near-vacuum within the chamber, the steps of: (a) creating a metal layer on the passivation layer, and (b) creating an amorphous silicon layer on the metal layer, wherein the metal layer and the amorphous silicon layer have approximately the same thickness; (3) annealing the substrate, the passivation layer, the metal layer and the amorphous silicon layer at a temperature equal to or less than 600° C. and a period of time equal to or less than three hours to form a doped polysilicon layer below a residual metal layer; and (4) removing the residual metal layer to expose the doped polysilicon layer.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a negative-electrode active material for lithium-ion secondary battery, negative-electrode active material which makes it possible for lithium-ion secondary batteries to exhibit higher capacities, and which makes it feasible to charge and discharge lithium-ion secondary batteries at a faster speed. In a production process according to the present invention, oxidized titanium fluoride is obtained by heating a mixed raw material, which includes a mixture of anatase-type TiO2 and hydrofluoric acid, at 70° C. or more (i.e., a heating step). This mixed raw material includes hydrogen fluoride in an amount exceeding 2 mol per the anatase-type TiO2 making 1 mol. When the oxidized titanium fluoride, which is obtained by this production process, is used as a negative-electrode active material of lithium-ion secondary battery, high-capacity and rapidly-chargeable/dischargeable lithium-ion secondary batteries are obtainable.

Abstract: Provided are methods for making and using chiral, non-racemic protected organoboronic acids, including pinene-derived iminodiacetic acid (PIDA) boronates, to direct and enable stereoselective synthesis of organic molecules. Also provided are methods for purifying PIDA boronates from solution. Also provided are methods for deprotection of boronic acids from their PIDA ligands. The purification and deprotection methods may be used in conjunction with methods for coupling or otherwise reacting boronic acids. Iterative cycles of deprotection, coupling, and purification can be performed to synthesize chiral, non-racemic compounds. The methods are suitable for use in an automated chemical synthesis process. Also provided is an automated small molecule synthesizer apparatus for performing automated stereoselective synthesis of chiral, non-racemic small molecules using iterative cycles of deprotection, coupling, and purification.

Abstract: On the slot machine, a slot game including a base game and free games is caused to proceed on a display. On the base game reel strips, on all of a plurality of reels, symbols whose each kind is the same, other than feature symbols and wild symbols, are arranged in succession. On the free game reel strips, on all of a plurality of reels, symbols whose each kind is the same, other than the feature symbols and the wild symbols, are arranged in succession and in addition thereto, only in a case of top symbols whose payout multiplying factor is the highest, the top symbols whose number is larger than a number of top symbols displayed on the base game reel strips are arranged in succession.

Abstract: A system for routing data along a path that is both efficient and secure is provided. A performance and vulnerability routing system selects a path for routing using a joint metric for a link in a network of nodes. The system calculates the joint metric based on a combination of a performance metric and a vulnerability metric of a link. The performance metric for a link indicates the cost of transmitting data over the link, and the vulnerability metric for the link indicates the security of data that is transmitted over the link. The system combines the performance metric and the vulnerability metric to generate the joint metric, which indicates a joint cost of transmitting data. The system then selects paths for transmitting data that tend to minimize the sum of the joint costs of the links along the paths.

Abstract: The invention provides methods of inhibiting the growth of a shoot apical meristem of a cucurbit rootstock plant, comprising contacting a shoot apical meristem of the cucurbit rootstock plant with an effective amount of a composition comprising one or more fatty alcohols, thereby inhibiting the growth of the shoot apical meristem of the cucurbit rootstock plant. The present invention further provides methods for preparing and producing cucurbit rootstock plants for grafting and methods for grafting. Additionally provided are cucurbit rootstock plants and plant parts and grafted cucurbit plants produced by the methods of the invention.

Abstract: A method of producing a monolithic ceramic body from a porous matrix includes providing a porous matrix having interstitial spaces, providing an infiltrating medium comprising a solvent and at least one reactive species, and infiltrating at least a portion of the interstitial space of the porous matrix with the infiltrating medium. The solvent is an inert medium that is not chemically reactive with the porous matrix, and is in a liquid phase when in the portion of the interstitial space of the porous matrix. The infiltrating medium is mechanically convected through the porous matrix. The at least one reactive species, when in a portion of the interstitial space of the porous matrix, reacts with a portion of the porous matrix to form a product, and the product fills at least a portion of the interstitial space.

Abstract: On the slot machine, a slot game including a base game and free games is caused to proceed on a display. On the base game reel strips, on all of a plurality of reels, symbols whose each kind is the same, other than feature symbols and wild symbols, are arranged in succession. On the free game reel strips, on all of a plurality of reels, symbols whose each kind is the same, other than the feature symbols and the wild symbols, are arranged in succession and in addition thereto, only in a case of top symbols whose payout multiplying factor is the highest, the top symbols whose number is larger than a number of top symbols displayed on the base game reel strips are arranged in succession.

Abstract: A method of evaluating tissue stiffness of a target area includes positioning an ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus adjacent a surface of an area of tissue where the target area is located and applying a dynamic range of force to the tissue. A plurality of ultrasound beams can be directed at the tissue and a plurality of ultrasound echoes can be acquired from the strained tissue in the target area to calculate an amount of developed strain within the target area.

Abstract: A system of stabilized metallic nanoparticles is described that includes metallic nanoparticles coated with a hydrophilic polymer that has been reacted with a catechol-based ligand. Also described are stable, metallic nanoparticles that can be used alone or in conjunction with biocides, antibiotics, or other treatment systems in a method to disrupt a biofilm and facilitate its removal from a surface. The nanoparticles can be metal, such as platinum, silver, iron (II, III) oxide (Fe3O4), and gold. The nanoparticles can be sterically stabilized, such as with a polymer, or charge stabilized, such as with citrate, resulting in nanoparticles having modified surfaces. This surface modification is thought to enhance the stability of the nanoparticles and decrease their likelihood of aggregation, which, in turn, enhances their ability to disrupt and disperse existing biofilms.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to apparatuses and methods involving nanowires having junctions therebetween. As consistent with one or more embodiments, an apparatus includes first and second sets of nanowires, in which the second set overlaps the first set. The apparatus further includes a plurality of nanowire joining recrystallization junctions, each junction including material from a nanowire of the first set that is recrystallized into an overlapping nanowire of the second set.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to the flow of analytes, particles or other materials. As consistent with one or more embodiments described herein, an apparatus includes a membrane having one or more pores in a membrane. First and second electrodes facilitate electrophoretic flow of analytes through the pore, and a third electrode controls movement of the particles in the pore by modulating the shape of an electric double layer adjacent sidewalls of pore.

Abstract: An integrated electron spin resonance (ESR) circuit chip includes a chip substrate, a transmitter circuit, and a receiver circuit. The transmitter circuit and receiver circuit are disposed on the chip substrate. The transmitter circuit includes an oscillator circuit configured to generate an oscillating output signal and a power amplifier (PA) circuit configured to generate an amplified oscillating output signal based on the oscillating output signal. The receiver circuit receives an ESR signal from an ESR probe. The receiver circuit includes a receiver amplifier circuit configured to generate an amplified ESR signal based on the received ESR signal, a mixer circuit configured to receive the amplified ESR signal and to down-convert the amplified ESR signal to a baseband signal, and a baseband amplifier circuit configured to generate an amplified baseband signal based on the baseband signal.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a chimeric protein that includes an N-terminus coupled to a C-terminus, where the N-terminus includes a portion of a paracrine fibroblast growth factor (“FGF”) and the C-terminus includes a C-terminal portion of an FGF21 molecule. The portion of the paracrine FGF is modified to decrease binding affinity for heparin and/or heparan sulfate compared to the portion without the modification. The present invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions including chimeric proteins according to the present invention, methods for treating a subject suffering from diabetes, obesity, or metabolic syndrome, and methods of screening for compounds with enhanced binding affinity for the ?Klotho-FGF receptor complex involving the use of chimeric proteins of the present invention.

Abstract: A map symbol to be substituted with another symbol is included in a symbol set for a game. When two or more map symbols are included in a symbol arrangement, symbols in a subset of the symbol set are scrolled on display blocks occupied by the map blocks in a simultaneous manner. Each of the map symbols is substituted with another symbol in the subset, thereby forming a finalized symbol arrangement. A payout process is performed based on the finalized symbol arrangement.

Abstract: There is provided a new use of protein hydrolysates and peptide derived from seahorses for preventing or treating a neurodegenerative disease, and more particularly a composition and health functional foods for preventing or treating a neurodegenerative disease including seahorse protein hydrolysates or peptide isolated and purified from the same as an effective component.