Abstract: The present invention provides a method for evaluating severity or prognosis of a patient with mixed connective tissue disease, which includes 1) a step of bringing a biological sample separated from a patient with mixed connective tissue disease into contact with a carrier in which an antigen containing one or more of component proteins of survival motor neuron complex or an antigenic partial peptide thereof is immobilized on a solid phase to form a complex of an autoantibody in the biological sample and the antigen immobilized on the solid phase, 2) a step of detecting the autoantibody in the complex of the autoantibody and the immobilized antigen, and 3) a step of associating the patient with a severe mixed connective tissue disease or a poor prognosis when the autoantibody is detected from the biological sample separated from the patient in step 2).

Abstract: This electronic component is provided with an inorganic substrate, a conductor film formed on a surface of the substrate, and bonding wires bonded to a part of said conductor film, and wire bonding sections are formed on at least a part of the electronic component. The part of the conductor film at least forming the aforementioned wire bonding sections contains an Ag-based metal formed of Ag or an alloy having Ag as the main constituent and a metal oxide which coats said Ag-based metal and which has, as a constituent element, any of the elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Zr, Ti, Y, Ca, Mg, and Zn. The coating quantity of the metal oxide is a quantity corresponding to 0.02 to 0.1 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the aforementioned Ag-based metal.

Abstract: This electronic component is provided with an inorganic substrate, a conductor film formed on a surface of the substrate, and bonding wires bonded to a part of said conductor film, and wire bonding sections are formed on at least a part of the electronic component. The part of the conductor film at least forming the aforementioned wire bonding sections contains an Ag-based metal formed of Ag or an alloy having Ag as the main constituent and a metal oxide which coats said Ag-based metal and which has, as a constituent element, any of the elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Zr, Ti, Y, Ca, Mg, and Zn. The coating quantity of the metal oxide is a quantity corresponding to 0.02 to 0.1 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the aforementioned Ag-based metal.

Abstract: A paper feed cassette or a paper transporting unit is selectively inserted into an image forming apparatus body. A manual paper feed unit is coupled to the paper transporting unit. A recording medium is fed out of the manual paper feed unit, passes through the paper transporting unit and reaches a main transporting path in the image forming apparatus body. An image is formed on the recording medium by image forming unit disposed in the main transporting path.

Abstract: A paper feed cassette or a paper transporting unit is selectively inserted into an image forming apparatus body. A manual paper feed unit is coupled to the paper transporting unit. A recording medium is fed out of the manual paper feed unit, passes through the paper transporting unit and reaches a main transporting path in the image forming apparatus body. An image is formed on the recording medium by image forming unit disposed in the main transporting path.

Abstract: A fuel reforming apparatus comprising a liquid feed heating portion, an evaporation portion, a steam superheating portion, a reforming portion, a shift reaction portion, a CO oxidization portion, a catalytic combustion portion, and a heat recovery portion. These portions are constituted by flat plates provided with heat-transfer fins in the interior and are stacked into an integral structure, thereby obtaining a temperature distribution along a stacked direction so that the flat plate elements reach a temperature suitable for reforming, combustion, evaporation, shift, and CO oxidization.

Abstract: A fixing device incorporated in an image recording apparatus has a heater 24 for fixing an image formed on a sheet 11 by heating a toner 12 constituting the image, and a thin endless belt 21 for carrying the sheet 11. The endless belt 21 is rotated by a drive roller 22 and is given tension by a tension roller 23. A tapered member 26a is located at an end of the tension roller 23 and a guide member 30 contacts with a side tapered surface of the tapered member. When the endless belt 21 skews, the tension roller 23 moves along its axis by a reaction force and inclines in a direction parallel to a tension direction of the tension roller 23 to compensate for the skew.

Abstract: An ultrasonic image output apparatus has a frame memory for storing image data for each frame of ultrasonic images. The image data stored in the frame memory is read out in a time-division manner to be transferred to a display and a scanning/recording device to be displayed and recorded. For the time-divisional data transfer to the display, data is read out from the frame memory by, for example, scanning in accordance with the standard television format. Data is read out and transferred to the scanning/recording device during a blanking period of the scanning operation by the standard television format. The time-divisional data read operation is controlled by a timing circuit synchronously with display scanning of the display.