Abstract: A vascular anastomosis device comprises two rings with pins and an openable ring holder, which is made of a pair of components and detachably holds the rings. The end portion of a large-diameter blood vessel is inserted through a ring and the vascular wall is extended outward and impaled on the pins, the end portion of a small-diameter blood vessel is inserted through the other ring, and an incision is made from the end surface of the small-diameter blood vessel. The two rings are elliptically deformed so that the minor axis agrees with the diameter of the small-diameter blood vessel, the small-diameter blood vessel is elliptically opened and the vascular wall is extended outward and impaled on the pins, and the two rings are joined together by allowing the pins provided on the ring in one component to stick into the ring in the other component.

Abstract: A developing device includes: a developer carrying member; a developing container; a pair of first seal members provided at end portions of the developer carrying member along a circumferential direction of the developer carrying member so as to contact the developer carrying member in a side opposite from a side where the developer carrying member opposes the image bearing member; and a pair of second seal members provided at the end portions of the developer carrying member adjacent to the first seal members in a side downstream of the developing position and which is upstream of the first seal members with respect to a rotational direction of the developer carrying member, wherein the second seal members contact a surface of the developer carrying member.

Abstract: A recording waveform is adjusted based on the fluctuation amount of the mark edge position, focused on that fluctuation of a mark edge position is increased in aged deterioration of a recording signal. Specifically, the recording waveform is adjusted such that a fluctuation amount becomes minimum or a threshold value or less. Then, information is recorded on the optical disc using the recording waveform. Further, provided is a recording medium or an information recording apparatus which stores parameters of the recording waveform.

Abstract: A layer thickness regulating member includes: an opposing portion opposing a peripheral surface of a developer carrying member; a layer thickness regulating portion, projecting from the opposing portion toward the developer carrying member, for regulating a layer thickness of a developer carried on the developer carrying member; and a rib portion provided in a side, of the opposing portion, opposite from the layer thickness regulating portion. The opposing portion, the layer thickness regulating portion and the rib portion are integrally molded. The rib portion is disposed at a non-overlapping position with a region, at least in an image forming region, corresponding to a region where the layer thickness regulating portion is formed at the opposing portion.

Abstract: A developing device includes: a developer carrying member and a layer thickness regulating member. The layer thickness regulating member includes: an opposing portion, a regulating portion, side wall portions, and a plurality of rib portions each extending from the side wall portion in one end side to the side wall portion in the other end side with respect to the rotational axis direction of the developer carrying member. A space is formed by being defined by the side wall portions and the rib portions. Substantial no rib portion dividing the space with respect to a longitudinal direction of said layer thickness regulating member is provided.

Abstract: A motion picture is captured while a focal position is changed in a predetermined reproduction layer of a recording medium, the resolutions of a plurality of still images acquired by the capturing of the motion picture are checked using check patterns, which are recorded at a predetermined frequency, of the medium, it is determined whether the still images are usable for the reproduction of data, and a plurality of the still images determined to be usable are composed.

Abstract: An image recording apparatus includes a toner transporting member that transports a toner layer while carrying the toner layer on a first surface of the toner transporting member, the toner transporting member including the first surface and a second surface; a heating unit including heating elements that contact the second surface that is opposite to the first surface of the toner transporting member, and that generate heat in accordance with image information, the first surface contacting a recording medium and carrying the toner layer; and a transferring unit that selectively transfers toner at an image portion to the recording medium as a result of causing each heating element of the heating unit to generate the heat with a temperature of the heating elements at the image portion and a temperature of the heating elements at a non-image portion being different from each other.

Abstract: An intercellular separation structure body capable of electrically connecting a plurality of unit cells that include a laminate type solid secondary battery with each other, and capable of ion-conductively insulating a positive electrode layer and a negative electrode layer in two adjacent unit cells, as well as a laminate type solid secondary battery provided with the same. The intercellular separation structure body is an intercellular separation structure body disposed between a plurality of unit cells each of which includes a positive electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a negative electrode layer that are sequentially stacked in a laminate type solid secondary battery. This intercellular separation structure body includes an insulating layer that electroconductively and ion-conductively insulates the plurality of unit cells from each other and an electroconductive section that is formed within the insulating layer and electrically connects the plurality of unit cells with each other.

Abstract: A method for producing bacteria belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium having excellent viability even under various conditions with different environmental factors, novel bacteria belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium obtained by the method, and a method for detecting the bacteria are provided. By subculturing and storing bacteria belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium alternately in systems under conditions with different environmental factors, the bacteria belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium exhibiting excellent viability under all the conditions used for the alternate subculturing and storing can be produced.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, a glossiness imparting unit that imparts glossiness to the image formed on the recording medium, and a glossiness reducing unit that reduces the glossiness of at least a part of the image to which the glossiness has been imparted by the glossiness imparting unit.

Abstract: A printing apparatus has a sheet holding unit having a detection unit for detecting a size of a sheet which is held and a storage unit configured to store sheet information including at least a size of a sheet as information representing a sheet. The apparatus sets first sheet information selected by a user in association with the sheet holding unit from a plurality of items of sheet information stored in the storage unit and notifies the user of a mismatch in a case where a size of a sheet that the first sheet information set in the setting indicates, and a size of a sheet detected by the detection unit are mismatched.

Abstract: A developing device includes: a developer carrying member (sleeve); a regulating portion including an edge portion at a closest position to a surface of the sleeve or a flat portion tilted, at the closest position, by an angle of 2 degrees or less relative to a contact flat plane contacting the surface of the sleeve; and a rectifying portion connected with the edge or flat portion. The rectifying portion has a concavely curved surface such that a rate of a decrease in gap between the rectifying portion and the contact flat plane increases toward a downstream side of the developer feeding direction and is formed by smoothly connecting rectilinear or curved lines each of 0.2 mm or less except for the edge portion so that the gap between the rectifying portion and the contact flat plane is monotonically decreases toward the downstream side of the developer feeding direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a main body portion including an image carrier, an image-carrier driving unit, a latent-image forming unit, a developing-unit attachment section, and a transfer-unit attachment section. The developing-unit attachment section receives a first developing unit having plural developing members or a second developing unit having a single developing member. The transfer-unit attachment section receives a first transfer unit, which includes a first transfer member capable of retaining a recording medium and a first transfer driving unit that rotates the first transfer member, and a second transfer unit, which includes a second transfer member that cannot retain the recording medium. When the first developing unit and the first transfer unit are attached to the developing-unit attachment section and the transfer-unit attachment section, respectively, the first transfer driving unit is mechanically connected to the first developing unit.

Abstract: When data is recorded on an optical disc, and stored for a long period of time, there is a need to periodically evaluate whether a quality of the recorded data is determined with time, or not. If the signal quality is lower than a given level as an evaluation result, a work for moving the data to a brand-new optical disc is required. However, in periodical inspection, if the number of optical discs is enormous, a large amount of time is required to evaluate all data recorded on the optical disc. In recording user data on the optical disc, a signal of a particular pattern having a lifetime shorter than a reference lifetime of the user data is recorded in a given area of the optical disc in advance, the particular pattern signal is reading at given time intervals, and processing on the user data is determined on the basis of the evaluation result of the signal quality.

Abstract: Provided is a compact, low-cost optical measuring apparatus capable of acquiring an image of a target to be measured without moving a mirror or using a wavelength-scanning light source or beam splitter. A laser beam emitted from a light source is split into first and second beams, and the first beam is focused as a signal beam onto the target by a lens for irradiation purposes, while the second beam is reflected as a reference beam by a mirror without irradiating the target. Then, a signal beam reflected by or scattered by the target is multiplexed with the reference beam and then enters interference optics, whereby three or more interference beams with different phases are generated and detected by photodetectors. Then, the detection signals are operated by a signal processing unit. During the measurement, the focus position of the first beam is moved at least in the optical axis direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member, a transfer member, a leading-end holding member, and a trailing-end holding member. The leading-end holding member is mounted on the transfer member and holds, on an outer peripheral surface of the transfer member, a leading-end portion of a recording medium fed to a sheet feeding position that is further upstream than a transfer position in a rotation direction of the transfer member. The trailing-end holding member rotates along the outer peripheral surface. The trailing-end holding member presses the recording medium against the outer peripheral surface while waiting at a waiting position that is further upstream than the transfer position and downstream than the sheet feeding position, and holds a trailing end portion on the outer peripheral surface while rotating together with the transfer member when the trailing end portion of the recording medium arrives at the waiting position.

Abstract: A transfer device includes a transfer body that transports a recording medium to a transfer position to transfer toner images to the recording medium; a leading-end gripping member that grips a leading-end portion of the recording medium when causing the recording medium to be wrapped around the transfer body and releases the leading-end portion when causing the recording medium that has been wrapped around the transfer body to become separated from the transfer body; and a moving member that moves, after a final toner image starts being transferred to the recording medium but before the leading-end gripping member releases the leading-end portion, the leading-end gripping member while the leading-end gripping member grips the leading-end portion in order to cause a leading-end side of the recording medium to become separated from the transfer body.

Abstract: In write power adjustment for an optical disc having a plurality of information storage layers, data of trial writing is varied by the influence of layers other than a target layer. It is difficult, therefore, to determine optimal write power. A modulation M[m] is obtained from a reproduction signal amplitude of a signal subjected to the trial writing performed with use of write powers Pw[m] (m being an integer) of a plurality of kinds. At least an optimum write power intercept Pint_opt is determined by fitting a relation between the Pw[m] and the M[m] by a modulation characteristic formula M=Masy×(1?(Pint?Pasy)/(Pw?Pasy)) having an asymptotic modulation Masy, a write power intercept Pint, and an asymptotic write power Pasy as parameters. Approximation accuracy by the fitting and/or quality of the trial writing signal are evaluated with use of at least the M[m], the modulation characteristic formula, and the Pint_opt.

Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, the following inequalities (1) and (2) are satisfied: (L1?L3)×(V2/V1)<L2??(1) L2<(L1?L3+L4)×(V2/V1)??(2) where L1 denotes a peripheral length of an image carrier from an exposure position to a transfer position, L2 denotes a peripheral length of a transfer member from a gripping position to the transfer position, L3 denotes a length of a leading-end margin, L4 denotes a peripheral length of the transfer member, when recording media having a maximum transportable size are wrapped around the transfer member, between a trailing end of an image region of the first recording medium and a leading end of an image region of the second recording medium, V1 denotes a peripheral velocity of the image carrier, and V2 denotes a peripheral velocity of the transfer member.

Abstract: An interconnector line of thin film comprising 0.001 to 30 at % of at least one kind of a first element capable of constituting an intermetallic compound of aluminum and/or having a higher standard electrode potential than aluminum, for example, at least one kind of the first element selected from Y, Sc, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Th, Sr, Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Tc, Re, Fe, Co, Ni, Pd, Ir, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Cd, Si, Pb and B; and one kind of a second element selected from C, O, N and H in a proportion of 0.01 at ppm to 50 at % of the first element, with the balance comprising substantially Al. In addition to having low resistance, such an Al interconnector line of thin film can prevent the occurrence of hillocks and the electrochemical reaction with an ITO electrode. The interconnector line of thin film can be obtained by sputtering in a dust-free manner by using a sputter target having a similar composition.