Abstract: A textile dyeing method includes a drying step 100 of drying a natural material within a set temperature range in which a coloring component of the natural material is hardly altered, thereby bringing the natural material into an absolutely dried state or a nearby state, a pulverizing step 200 of pulverizing the dried natural material obtained in the drying step 100 into fine powder of not larger than particle size being passable through at least 80 mesh in terms of sieve standards while controlling temperature of the natural material not to exceed the set temperature range, and a dyeing step 300 of mixing and dispersing the fine powdery natural material into a liquid, and immersing a textile in the liquid containing the fine powdery natural material in suspended condition, thus causing the fine powdery natural material suspended in the liquid to be physically attached to the textile.

Abstract: A light source and a light irradiating device are provided to efficiently regulate a biological rhythm of a user without changing a color temperature of illumination light, an average color-matching index (Ra) or both.

Abstract: A light source and an illumination device are provided for making it possible to adjust influence of light over a living body while keeping good brightness and color taste of illumination light. A conversion characteristic in the degree of effect indicative of a relationship in a light wavelength between a living body reaction characteristic and an isochromatic characteristic of the visual perception is derived out and the light emitting intensity of a plurality of light emitters with different wavelength characteristics is controlled in accordance with the conversion characteristic, so as to adjust influence of light over a living body while keeping brightness and color taste of illumination light.

Abstract: A power converter of the present invention is connected between a direct current power source and controls power to a load by switching equipment. The converter is equipped with a first conductor for connecting a negative pole of the power converter and the switching equipment, and a second conductor for connecting a housing of the power converter and the negative pole of the power converter to the first conductor through a resistor.

Abstract: A fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine has a lubricity improver supply for adding a lubricity improver to low-viscosity fuel supplied to a fuel injection apparatus of the engine. A controller controls the lubricity improver supply so that the amount of the lubricity improver added to fuel at the inlet to the fuel injection apparatus is increased as engine rotation speed, engine load, or injection pressure is increased. With the system, wear or sticking of the plunger can be prevented even when low-viscosity fuel is used by improving lubrication conditions to secure necessary lubrication condition for the sliding part in accordance with engine operation conditions, fuel temperature and viscosity.

Abstract: An external combustion engine provided with a main container in which a working fluid is sealed flowable in a liquid phase state, a heater heating part of the liquid phase state working fluid in the main container to make it vaporize, a cooler cooling steam of the working fluid heated and vaporized by the heater so as to make it liquefy, an output part converting displacement of the liquid part of the working fluid caused by a change of volume of the steam into mechanical energy and outputting the energy, an auxiliary container communicated with the main container through a venturi means and having a liquid sealed inside it, an auxiliary heater heating the liquid in the auxiliary container to make it vaporize, a storage container communicated with the auxiliary container and storing the liquid, and a liquid draining means for draining liquid in the auxiliary container into the storage container when the internal pressure of the auxiliary container becomes a first predetermined pressure or more.

Abstract: A novel therapeutic agent for organ disease, in particular, a therapeutic agent for liver disease is provided. It has been found that a diarylsulfide or diarylether derivative having 2-amino-1,3-propanediol structure, the compound that act as a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor agonist, and a pharmaceutically acceptable salt and hydrate thereof are used as effective therapeutic agents for various diseases in organs, in particular liver diseases.

Abstract: A poppet valve device includes a plurality of axial passages of substantially the same diameter and length communicating with a high-pressure room formed inside a valve seat member between a poppet valve body and the valve seat member. The passages are located adjacent to each other and an annular gap formed between the periphery of the poppet valve body and an inner perimeter of a projecting part on which a valve seat face of the valve seat member is formed, is narrow to restrict liquid flow through the annular gap. An electronic controlled fuel injection apparatus equipped with the poppet valve device is composed such that a lower end part of the poppet valve body and a bottom of a valve device accommodating part of the fuel injection apparatus are formed to restrict flow of fuel to prevent the occurrence of bouncing.

Abstract: In a steam engine having multiple main containers, first and second communication pipes are arranged in parallel to each other for respectively communication an auxiliary container with the main containers. Restricted portions and a first switching device are formed in the first communication pipe. The first communication pipe is closed during a start-up step of a starting operation of the engine, in order to prevent that an excess amount of working fluid may flow back from the auxiliary container to the main containers. As a result, a start-up time can be reduced.

Abstract: An external combustion engine provided with a pipe-shaped main container with a heating portion and a cooling portion, an output part converting displacement of the liquid part of said working fluid generated due to the change in volume of said working fluid accompanying generation and condensation of said steam to mechanical energy for output, a venturi provided at a communicating part of the main container and an auxiliary container, a communicating member forming a communicating passage bypassing the venturi and communicating the main container and the auxiliary container, and a shutting means for closing the communicating passage at the time of normal operation and opening the communicating passage at the time of startup, wherein at the time of startup, the pressure loss at the communicating passage becomes smaller than a saturated steam pressure at the temperature of the heating portion.

Abstract: An external combustion engine comprising a pipe-shaped main container in which a working fluid is sealed flowably in a liquid state, a heated part formed at a location of one end of the main container and heating part of the working fluid in the main container in order to make it evaporate, a cooled part formed at a location next to the heated part toward the other end of the main container and cooling the vapor of the working fluid evaporated at the heated part in order to make it condense, an output unit communicated with the other end of the main container and converting the displacement of the liquid phase part of the working fluid to mechanical energy for output, and a controller alternately performing a heat storage mode making displacement of the liquid phase part of the working fluid stop in order to make the heated part store heat and an output mode allowing displacement of the liquid phase part of the working fluid and taking output from the output unit.

Abstract: An external combustion engine suppressing boiling of cooling water in a cooler. A heater 12 uses waste heat of a heat engine 1 as a heat source to heat a working medium to make it evaporate. A cooler 13 uses cooling fluid cooling the heat engine 1 as a cooling source to cool steam of the working medium and make it condense. A heated part temperature reducing means is provided for reducing a temperature Th of the heated part 12a when the amount of heat radiated from the cooling fluid to the outside becomes smaller than the amount of heat transferred from the working medium to the cooling fluid. Due to this, it is possible to suppress the rise of the temperature Tw of the cooling fluid in the cooler 13, so it is possible to suppress boiling of the cooling water in the cooler 13.

Abstract: A disclosed billing system includes a client apparatus, a multi-functional peripheral, a server apparatus and a billing apparatus. A communication unit of the billing apparatus sequentially transmits first account balance information read from a storage medium to the server apparatus; receives from the server apparatus a copy permission signal which is then transmitted to the multi-functional peripheral; receives from the multi-functional peripheral a copy-output signal regarding a copy output having been performed on the multi-functional peripheral, the copy-output signal being then transmitted to the server apparatus; and receives copy billing information transmitted from the server apparatus according to the transmitted copy-output signal.

Abstract: An intravascular obstruction removing wire includes an elongate wire body, at least two non-branched wire portions having distal ends and proximal ends which are connected to a distal end of the wire main body, and a plurality of filament portions extending across the wire portions. The non-branched wire portions and the filament portions form a trapping portion. The trapping portion is deformable from a large-diameter state in which the non-branched portions branch to the distal end of the wire body forward in different directions and the filament portions are separated from each other, so that a space surrounded by the non-branched wire portions and the filament portions is formed to trap therein an obstruction in a blood vessel, to a small-diameter state in which the non-branched wire portions are positioned so that a distance between the wire portions is smaller than that of the wire portions in the large-diameter state.

Abstract: An external combustion engine formed with a plurality of heaters for improving output, provided with a container in which a working medium is sealed flowable in a liquid state, the container being formed with heaters for heating part of a working medium to generate vapor of the working medium and coolers for cooling the vapor to liquefy, the generation and liquefaction of the vapor causing the working medium to change in volume and the displacement of the liquid part of the working medium caused by the change in volume of the working medium being converted to mechanical energy for output, wherein at least the parts of the container connected with the heaters being branched into pluralities of tubular parts, a plurality of heaters are formed so as to be connected with the plurality of tubular parts, a plurality of vapor reservoirs for storing the vapor of the working medium are formed so as to be connected with the plurality of heaters, and the plurality of vapor reservoirs are connected with each other.

Abstract: Subjects are repeatedly photographed efficiently and automatically. An input receiving means, for receiving input of photography intervals between completion of a previous photography operation and initiation of a next photography operation; and a photography control means for controlling the photography unit to perform a plurality of photography operations, based on the photography intervals received by the input receiving means; are provided.

Abstract: An external combustion engine alternately repeating a first stroke of making a working fluid evaporate at a plurality of heating portions and making a liquid phase part of the working fluid displace toward an output part side and a second stroke of making the working fluid evaporated at the first stroke condense at the plurality of cooling portions and making the liquid phase part of the working fluid displace toward the side of the plurality of the heating portions and provided with inflow adjusting means for reducing differences in inflows among the plurality of the heating portions, wherein the inflow is defined as the amount of a liquid phase part of the working fluid flowing into the heating portions when the liquid phase part of the working fluid displaces from the output part side to the side of the plurality of the heating portions in the second stroke.