Abstract: A medical device made of an ester resin, such as a hollow-fiber-type blood treatment device, is put into a packaging material made of a gas-impermeable material, and, with at least a reducing gas, such as hydrogen gas, being further enclosed therein, the packaging material is hermetically sealed to provide a medical device package. The medical device package is exposed to radiation to sterilize the inside thereof. In the medical device package, an oxygen scavenger may be further enclosed. The reducing gas may be mixed with an inert gas and enclosed as a mixed gas. As a result, it becomes possible to effectively suppress the generation of by-products, such as acetic acid, from the ester resin.

Abstract: Objects of the invention are to provide a blood purifier package which shows a less increase in the amounts of extracts from the materials of its blood purifier, particularly of its selective permeable separation membranes, attributed to the deterioration of the same materials with time after exposure to a radioactive ray or an electron ray, and which is therefore highly reliable in safety in use for hemocatharsis, and to provide a process for manufacturing the same. The present invention relates to a blood purifier package obtained by packing a blood purifier which comprises selectively permeable separation membranes as a main component, and this blood purifier package is characterized in that the blood purifier is packed and sealed together with an oxygen scavenger in a packaging material capable of shutting out an external air and a water vapor, under a condition of a relative humidity of above 40% RH at 25° C.

Abstract: The invention provides a blood purifier which shows a decreased amount of hydrogen peroxide extracted from its selectively permeable separation membranes, and thus is highly reliable in its safety in use for hemecatharysis. The blood purifier comprises selectively permeable separation membranes as a main component and is characterized in that the amount of hydrogen peroxide which is extracted from the selectively permeable separation membrane removed from the blood purifier after 3 months or longer has passed since the sterilization of the blood purifier by exposure to a radioactive ray and/or an electron ray is not larger than 10 ppm.

Abstract: Objects of the present invention are to provide a blood purifier package which shows a less increase in the amounts of extracts from the materials of its blood purifier, particularly of its selective permeable separation membranes, attributed to the deterioration of the same materials with time after exposure to a radioactive ray or an electron ray, and which is therefore highly reliable in safety in use for hemocatharsis, and to provide a process for manufacturing the same. The present invention relates to a blood purifier package obtained by packing a blood purifier which comprises selectively permeable separation membranes as a main component, and this blood purifier package is characterized in that the blood purifier is packed and sealed together with an oxygen scavenger in a packaging material capable of shutting out an external air and a water vapor, under a condition of a relative humidity of above 40% RH at 25° C.

Abstract: A method of producing an electromechanical transducer element includes forming a first, common electrode on one of a substrate and an undercoat layer; forming an electromechanical transducer film on the first electrode; forming a second electrode on the electromechanical transducer film; forming a first protective film on an upper surface of the second electrode, the electromechanical transducer film, and a side wall of the second electrode, and selectively forming a second protective film on a portion of the first protective film protecting the electromechanical transducer film and the side wall of the second electrode.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for sterilizing a blood purifier, which method is effective to decrease the amounts of extracts from the blood purifier attributed to the deterioration of the selectively permeable separation membranes with time during and after exposure to a radioactive ray or an electron ray, and which method is highly reliable in safety when employed for hemocatharsis therapy. The present invention also provides a blood purifier package. The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing a blood purifier which comprises substantially dried selectively permeable separation membranes as a main component, by way of the exposure of the same blood purifier to a radioactive ray and/or an electron ray, and this method is characterized in that the blood purifier is sealed in a packaging bag, together with an oxygen scavenger and a humectant or together with an oxygen scavenger capable of releasing a moisture, and is then sterilized in such a sealed state by the above exposure.

Abstract: The present invention provides a blood purifier which shows a decreased amount of hydrogen peroxide extracted from its selectively permeable separation membranes, and thus is highly reliable in its safety in use for hemecatharysis. The present invention relates to a blood purifier which comprises selectively permeable separation membranes as a main component and which is characterized in that the amount of hydrogen peroxide which is extracted from the selectively permeable separation membrane removed from the blood purifier after 3 months or longer has passed since the sterilization of the blood purifier by exposure to a radioactive ray and/or an electron ray is not larger than 10 ppm.

Abstract: A piezoelectric actuator includes a vibrating plate, a lower electrode provided on the vibrating plate, including a platinum film and a titanium oxide film formed on the platinum film, a piezoelectric thin film provided on the lower electrode, and an upper electrode provided on the piezoelectric thin film, in which the titanium oxide film is provided between the platinum film and the piezoelectric thin film.

Abstract: An electromechanical transducer includes a first electrode mounted on one of a substrate and a base film, an electromechanical transducer film mounted on the first electrode and made of a piezoelectric substance having a perovskite crystal structure, and a second electrode mounted on the electromechanical transducer film. The electromechanical transducer film includes a {100} plane preferentially oriented to be orthogonal to a thickness direction of the electromechanical transducer film and has a full width at half maximum corresponding to a {200} plane in an X-ray diffraction measurement curve in 2?-? scan that is measured by emitting an X-ray beam onto a surface of the electromechanical transducer film at an incident angle ?. The full width at half maximum is not greater than 10 degrees.

Abstract: A piezoelectric thin film element includes a substrate, a vibration plate provided on the substrate, a lower electrode provided on the vibration plate, the lower electrode including at least a platinum metal film or an iridium metal film, a piezoelectric film provided on the lower electrode, the piezoelectric film including a polycrystalline body, and an upper electrode provided on the piezoelectric film, the lower electrode being provided on an upper portion of a titanium oxide film formed on the vibration plate, the lower electrode including a platinum metal film or an iridium metal film formed on the titanium oxide film and conductive oxide formed on the platinum metal film or the iridium metal film, and the platinum metal film or the iridium metal film being a precise film.

Abstract: A method that produces heat-expandable microspheres includes the use of a shell of thermoplastic resin and a non-fluorine blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin. The method includes a step of dispersing an oily mixture containing a polymerizable component, the blowing agent, and a polymerization initiator containing a peroxydicarbonate in an aqueous dispersing medium to polymerize the polymerizable component contained in the oily mixture. The resultant heat-expandable microspheres have a shell which is less apt to become thinner than its theoretical value, contain minimum amount of resin particle inside their shell, and have excellent heat-expanding performance.

Abstract: The present invention provides heat-expanded microspheres having high packing efficiency, and a production method thereof. The heat-expanded microspheres are produced by expanding heat-expandable microspheres, which comprise shell of thermoplastic resin and a blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin and have an average particle size from 1 to 100 micrometer, at a temperature not lower than their expansion initiating temperature, and the heat-expanded microspheres result in a void fraction not higher than 0.70.

Abstract: A method that heat-expandable microspheres includes the use of a shell of thermoplastic resin and a non-fluorine blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin. The method includes, a step of dispersing an oily mixture containing a polymerizable component, the blowing agent, and a polymerization initiator containing a peroxydicarbonate in an aqueous dispersing medium to polymerize the polymerizable component contained in the oily mixture. The resultant heat-expandable microsphres have a shell which is less apt to become thinner than its theoretical value, contain minimum amount of resin particle inside their shell, and have excellent heat-expanding performance.

Abstract: Heat-expandable microspheres include a shell of thermoplastic resin and a blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin, have a maximum expanding ratio not lower than 50 times, and are thermally expanded into hollow particulates having a repeated-compression durability not lower than 75 percent. The method of producing the heat-expandable microspheres includes the steps of dispersing an oily mixture containing a polymerizable component and the blowing agent in an aqueous dispersing medium containing a specific water-soluble compound and polymerizing the polymerizable component contained in the oily mixture.

Abstract: Heat-expandable microspheres include a shell of thermoplastic resin and core material encapsulated in the shell. The core material include a blowing agent having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin and a gas migration inhibitor having a boiling point higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin. The ratio of the gas migration inhibitor to the core material is at least 1 weight percent and below 30 weight percent. The average particle size of the heat-expandable microspheres ranges from 1 to 100 micrometers.

Abstract: A packaged blood purification device including a hollow fiber blood-processing device having a bundle of hollow fibers and a cylindrical container holding the bundle of hollow fibers; and a gas-impermeable container for packaging the hollow fiber blood-processing device. The hollow fiber blood-processing device is sealed together with an oxygen absorber in the gas-impermeable container, and is sterilized with radiation. The blood-processing device is produced by a method including the steps of sealing a hollow fiber blood-processing device in said gas-impermeable container together with an oxygen absorber, and radiation sterilizing the blood-processing device held in the sealed gas-impermeable container.

Abstract: The present invention provides heat-expanded microspheres having high packing efficiency, and a production method thereof. The heat-expanded microspheres are produced by expanding heat-expandable microspheres, which comprise shell of thermoplastic resin and a blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin and have an average particle size from 1 to 100 micrometer, at a temperature not lower than their expansion initiating temperature, and the heat-expanded microspheres result in a void fraction not higher than 0.70.

Abstract: In heat-expandable microspheres as a starting material for hollow fine particles, which have excellent performances required for giving not only a durability in steady running region but also a durability in high-speed running region to a tire-rim assembly, and each consisting of an outer shell made of a thermoplastic resin obtained by polymerizing a monomer component in the presence of a polymerization initiator, and a foaming agent encapsulated in the outer shell and having a boiling point not higher than a softening point of the thermoplastic resin, the polymerization initiator comprises a peroxydicarbonate as an essential component, and the foaming agent comprises a fluorine-containing compound having an ether structure and a carbon number of 2-10 and containing no chlorine atom and bromine atom.

Abstract: Heat-expanded microspheres having high packing efficiency are produced by expanding heat-expandable microspheres, which include a shell of thermoplastic resin and a blowing agent encapsulated therein having a boiling point not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin and have an average particle size from 1 to 100 micrometer, at a temperature not lower than their expansion initiating temperature, and the heat-expanded microspheres result in a void fraction not higher than 0.70.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process for producing thermo-expansive microspheres comprising a thermoplastic resinous shell and a blowing agent being encapsulated in the shell, the blowing agent which is a fluorine-containing C2-10 compound having ether linkage, being free of chlorine and bromine atoms and gasifying at a temperature not higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin. The thermo-expansive microspheres have preferably an average particle size ranging from 1 to 100 ?m and a CV, or coefficient of variation, of particle size distribution being 30% or less, and a retaining ratio of blowing agent encapsulated being 90% or more.