Abstract: A sound signal processing method includes: receiving a line-inputted sound signal; controlling a volume of the line-inputted sound signal; and generating an early reflected sound control signal using the line-inputted sound signal having the controlled volume.

Abstract: An optical semiconductor element including a semiconductor substrate, a first cladding layer of a first conductive type provided on the semiconductor substrate, an active layer provided on the first cladding layer, a second cladding layer of a second conductive type provided on the active layer, a first mesa constituted of a part of the first cladding layer, the active layer, and the second cladding layer, an auxiliary cladding layer of the second conductive type provided on the first mesa, a second mesa constituted of the auxiliary cladding layer, and a semi-insulating layer provided on the first cladding layer and on both sides of the first mesa and both sides of the second mesa, wherein a width of the second mesa is greater than a width of the first mesa.

Abstract: A vortex water generator forms a vortex water flow for passing arc discharge. The vortex water flow generator includes a cylindrical portion configured to form a vortex water flow along an inner circumference; first middle partition and second middle partition protruding from the inner circumference of the cylindrical portion, a rear partition formed in a rear end side of the cylindrical portion, and a front partition provided in a front end side of the cylindrical portion. Each partition has an opening to include a center axis line position of the cylindrical portion. Each opening has a different opening shape in size. The middle partition and the front partition have negative electrode side surfaces formed by tapered surfaces receding from the negative electrode as close to the center axis line. Arc-shaped beveled portions are formed between the tapered surfaces and inner circumferential surfaces of the openings.

Abstract: A map generation system provides to: acquire an image of the vehicle's environment from the imaging device; analyze the image to calculate the position of a feature on the road; upload map information including the position of the feature to a server; and statistically determines the coordinates of individual features in the uploaded map information. The features include a reference mark whose absolute coordinates are determined. The coordinates of the features other than the reference mark are corrected so as to match the observation coordinates of the reference mark corresponding to the absolute coordinates of the reference mark.

Abstract: A map generation device according to one embodiment includes a reception unit that receives probe data transmitted from at least one vehicle and indicating a feature detected in vehicle surroundings by an environment monitoring sensor incorporated in the vehicle, and the device creates or updates map data based on the probe data received by the reception unit. The map generation device includes: a characteristic determination unit that determines whether the probe data includes sufficient characteristic information usable for alignment with other probe data or map data; and a combining unit that joins a target probe data set including an insufficient amount of characteristic information to the probe data previous or subsequent to the target probe data set in consecutive probe data sets acquired from the same travel of the same vehicle.

Abstract: A vibrator which is constructed by bonding a piezoelectric element and an elastic body together via a bonding layer. The piezoelectric element has a piezoelectric ceramic and electrodes. The bonding layer has an unbonded region that is located close to a nodal line of a vibration in a primary out-of-plane vibration mode when the vibration is excited in the vibrator, and in the unbonded region, the piezoelectric element and the elastic body are not bonded together.

Abstract: There is provided an exhaust gas purifying catalyst including a substrate and catalyst portions. The substrate includes an inflow-side cells, outflow-side cells, and porous partition walls, each partition wall separating the inflow-side cell from the outflow-side cell. The catalyst portion includes: (group A) first catalyst portions, each first catalyst portion being provided on a surface of the partition wall that faces the inflow-side cell on an upstream side in an exhaust gas flow direction; and (group B) second catalyst portions being provided on a surface of the partition wall that faces the outflow-side cell on a downstream side in the exhaust gas flow direction. Each catalyst portion of one of group A and group B includes at least one oxidizing catalyst layer and at least one reducing catalyst layer, and each catalyst portion of the other of group A and group B includes at least one oxidizing catalyst layer and/or at least one reducing catalyst layer.

Abstract: In an exhaust gas purifying catalyst according to the present invention, a substrate includes inflow-side cells, outflow-side cells, and porous partition walls, each partition wall separating the inflow-side cell from the outflow-side cell. Catalyst portions include: first catalyst portions, each first catalyst portion being provided on a surface of the partition wall that faces the inflow-side cell on an upstream side in an exhaust gas flow direction, and second catalyst portions, each second catalyst portion being provided on a surface of the partition wall that faces the outflow-side cell on a downstream side, and the exhaust gas purifying catalyst satisfies the following expressions: IB1/IA×100?60%, IB2/IA×100?60%, IC1/IA×100?3%, and IC2/IA×100?3%, where IA, IB1, IB2, IC1, and IC2 represent pore volumes, definitions of which can be found in the specification.

Abstract: An air conditioner for a vehicle includes a cooling water circuit and a heater. The cooling water circuit allows a cooling water to circulate between an engine and a heater core in a heating operation. The engine is a power source of the vehicle. The heater core is configured to heat air using a heat of the cooling water. The heater is located downstream of the engine and upstream of the heater core in the cooling water circuit and is configured to heat the cooling water.

Abstract: A carbon dioxide slow-release pack for skin according to the present invention is a carbon dioxide slow-release pack which has a bag shape for slowly releasing carbon dioxide enclosed therein, thereby bringing the carbon dioxide into contact with the skin, and is formed into a bag shape by at least a resin sheet (A), and the resin sheet (A) satisfies at least the following requirements (A-1) and (A-2): (A-1) A carbon dioxide permeability measured under the conditions of 23° C. and a relative humidity of 0% according to JIS K7126-1 is 20 L/(m2·day·atm) or more, (A-2) An Oken-type air permeability measured at 23° C. according to JIS P8117: 2009 is less than 5 ?m/(Pa·s).

Abstract: A vehicle control device for a vehicle including an engine that is a power source of the vehicle, and a heating unit that heats a coolant of the engine includes a water temperature determination part that determines whether or not a temperature of the coolant is lower than a predetermined value, and a heating control part that performs an operation limitation to stop an output of the heating unit or to limit the output of the heating unit to a predetermined upper limit value or lower, when the water temperature determination part determines that the temperature of the coolant is lower than the predetermined value.

Abstract: A piezoelectric material including a perovskite-type metal oxide represented by the following general formula (1); Bi; and Mn, wherein the content of Bi is 0.1-0.5 mol % with respect to 1 mol of the metal oxide, the content of Mn is 0.3-1.5 mol % with respect to 1 mol of the metal oxide, and the piezoelectric material satisfies (L4?L5)/L5?0.05 and (L8?L9)/L9?0.05 when the lengths of twelve Bi—O bonds with Bi that is located at a 12-fold site with respect to O in a perovskite-type unit cell as a starting point are taken to be L1 to L12 in length order: (Ba1-xM1x)(Ti1-yM2y)O3??(1) wherein 0?x?0.2, 0?y?0.1, and M1 and M2 are mutually different metal elements which have a total valence of +6 and are selected from other elements than Ba, Ti, Bi and Mn.

Abstract: An air conditioner for a vehicle including an engine, which serves as a power source and is configured to allow a cooling water to flow therethrough, includes a cooling water circuit, a heater, temperature sensors, and an output controller. The cooling water circuit allows the cooling water to circulate therein in a heating operation. The heater serves as a heat source, other than the engine, configured to heat the cooling water circulating in the cooling water circuit. The temperature sensors are connectable to the cooling water circuit and are configured to detect a temperature of the cooling water. The temperature sensors are positioned upstream and downstream of at least one of the engine and the heater. The output controller is configured to adjust at least an output of the heater based on the temperatures of the cooling water detected by the temperature sensors.

Abstract: A heat pump and a heater core are provided at a heating coolant water circuit connected to an engine. As heating thermal amount control, the control of decreasing the output of the heat pump and increasing the output of the engine with an increase in an engine outlet water temperature detected by an engine outlet water temperature sensor, thereby ensuring a target heating thermal amount. Thus, in response to a decrease in a heat generation efficiency of the heat pump with an increase in the engine outlet water temperature, the output of the heat pump is decreased so that fuel economy can be improved while the output of the engine is increased so that the target heating thermal amount can be ensured.

Abstract: A manufacturing method for an optical semiconductor device includes: forming a first semiconductor layer; forming a first mask pattern on the first semiconductor layer in a first area where an electro absorption type modulator is formed; forming an evenness along the first direction on the first semiconductor layer; forming a second semiconductor layer on the unevenness; and forming an optical waveguide layer on the second semiconductor layer. The first mask pattern includes a first pattern in the first area and a second pattern in a second area where a DFB laser is formed, the first pattern including a first opening pattern and a first cover pattern, and the second pattern including a second opening pattern and a second cover pattern, and a ratio of the first opening pattern to the first cover pattern is different from that of the second opening pattern to the second cover pattern.

Abstract: Provided is a method of manufacturing a piezoelectric element in which, at a time when the piezoelectric element is manufactured, a piezoelectric material is prevented from being exposed to a temperature higher than a Curie temperature thereof to be depolarized, to thereby significantly decrease piezoelectric properties. The method of manufacturing a piezoelectric element includes a first step of arranging a plurality of electrodes on a piezoelectric material, electrically short-circuiting two or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, and subjecting the piezoelectric material to heat treatment, and a second step of, after the first step, electrically opening the short circuit of the two or more electrodes at a time when a temperature of the piezoelectric material decreases to less than a temperature of the piezoelectric material at a time of the heat treatment.

Abstract: An electretized film of the present invention includes a cyclic olefin polymer, in which the electretized film is a non-porous film, and a piezoelectric constant d33 in a thickness direction, which is measured by applying a pressing force to the electretized film in the thickness direction, under conditions of a load of 0.5 N, a dynamic load of ±0.25 N, a frequency of 110 Hz, a temperature of 23° C., and a humidity of 50%, is equal to or more than 100 pC/N.

Abstract: A duplex stainless steel has reduced precipitation risks of Al nitride and Cr nitride which are undesirable precipitates, and has superior low temperature toughness. The duplex stainless steel has in mass %, indicated as “%”, C: 0.001 to 0.030%, Si: 0.05 to 0.5%, S: not more than 0.002%, Ni: 6 to 7.5%, Cr: 23 to 26%, Mo: 2 to 4.0%, N: 0.20 to 0.40%, Al: 0.005 to 0.03%, Mn: 0.05 to 0.3%, B: 0.0001 to 0.0050% and Fe, and the remainder being inevitable impurities. The duplex stainless steel has an impact value of not less than 87.5 J/cm2 at ?46±2° C. as defined in Japanese Industrial Standards Z2242.

Abstract: A road information learning device acquires a map extraction curve and a measurement curve for a traveling curve along which a vehicle travels, determines whether the map extraction curve and the measurement curve correspond to an identical traveling curve, and registers the measurement curve as a definitive registration curve when the map extraction curve and the measurement curve correspond to the identical traveling curve, and a predetermined definitive registration condition is satisfied.

Abstract: The present invention provides a piezoelectric material not containing lead and potassium, showing satisfactory insulation and piezoelectricity, and having a high Curie temperature. The invention relates to a piezoelectric material includes a main component containing a perovskite-type metal oxide represented by Formula (1): (NaxBa1-y)(NbyTi1-y)O3 (wherein, 0.80?x?0.94 and 0.83?y?0.94), and an additive component containing at least one element selected from Mn and Ni, wherein the content of the Ni is 0 mol or more and 0.05 mol or less based on 1 mol of the perovskite-type metal oxide, and the content of the Mn is 0 mol or more and 0.005 mol or less based on 1 mol of the perovskite-type metal oxide.