Basic Study on Behavior Disturbance of Whitefly by Acoustic Means

科学研究費助成事業(科学研究費補助金)研究成果報告書：挑戦的萌芽研究 2009-2011課題番号：2165808

Regulation of P450 oxidoreductase by gonadotropins in rat ovary and its effect on estrogen production

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>P450 oxidoreductase (POR) catalyzes electron transfer to microsomal P450 enzymes. Its deficiency causes Antley-Bixler syndrome (ABS), and about half the patients with ABS have ambiguous genitalia and/or impaired steroidogenesis. POR mRNA expression is up-regulated when mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiate into steroidogenic cells, suggesting that the regulation of POR gene expression is important for steroidogenesis. In this context we examined the regulation of POR expression in ovarian granulosa cells by gonadotropins, and its possible role in steroidogenesis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Changes in gene expression in MSCs during differentiation into steroidogenic cells were examined by DNA microarray analysis. Changes in mRNA and protein expression of POR in the rat ovary or in granulosa cells induced by gonadotropin treatment were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Effects of transient expression of wild-type or mutant (R457H or V492E) POR proteins on the production of estrone in COS-7 cells were examined in vitro. Effects of POR knockdown were also examined in estrogen producing cell-line, KGN cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>POR mRNA was induced in MSCs following transduction with the SF-1 retrovirus, and was further increased by cAMP treatment. Expression of POR mRNA, as well as Cyp19 mRNA, in the rat ovary were induced by equine chorionic gonadotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin. POR mRNA and protein were also induced by follicle stimulating hormone in primary cultured rat granulosa cells, and the induction pattern was similar to that for aromatase. Transient expression of POR in COS-7 cells, which expressed a constant amount of aromatase protein, greatly increased the rate of conversion of androstenedione to estrone, in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of mutant POR proteins (R457H or V492E), such as those found in ABS patients, had much less effect on aromatase activity than expression of wild-type POR proteins. Knockdown of endogenous POR protein in KGN human granulosa cells led to reduced estrone production, indicating that endogenous POR affected aromatase activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrated that the expression of POR, together with that of aromatase, was regulated by gonadotropins, and that its induction could up-regulate aromatase activity in the ovary, resulting in a coordinated increase in estrogen production.</p

Robust Indoor Localization in a Reverberant Environment Using Microphone Pairs and Asynchronous Acoustic Beacons

In this paper, a robust indoor localization method using microphone pairs and asynchronous acoustic beacons was proposed. The proposed method is applicable even with a two-channel microphone pair, which is the minimal configuration of a microphone array. The proposed method estimates location by using the cross-correlation functions of the measured signals as location likelihoods. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the proposed method. Four beacons were located at the corners of a localizing area of 4 m by 4 m and emitted signals with a bandwidth of 2 kHz. The localization results were compared to the previous method with deterministic direction-of-arrival estimation. The 90th percentiles of the localization error were 0.23 m for the proposed method with two microphones, 0.19 m for the proposed method with four microphones, and 0.30 m for the previous method under conditions without significant reverberation. Under a condition with reflective walls, the 90th percentile of the localization error of the previous method increased to 0.49 m, while that of the proposed method was only increased to 0.23 m for two microphones and 0.19 m for four microphones. The proposed method contributes to a robust localization in indoor environments and relieves the constraints of receiver configuration

地球環境変動に伴う海洋音波伝搬減衰の長期変化

発表番号: 15-19 / 海洋音響学会2015年度研究発表会（2015年5月14日～15日, 東京大学） / 海洋音響学会2015年度研究発表会講演論文集から転

地震前後におけるアルゴフロートを用いた海洋物理データ収集の研究

Tohoku region Pacific Ocean earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011, resulted in extensive damage to vast areas rangingfrom the Tohoku to Kanto. However, at the time of an earthquake occurrence, the research vessel which was researching aboutmarine in earthquake hypocenter area adjacent seas is not confirmed, and ocean physical data like water temperature or salinityincluding ocean sound speed data required for echo sounder etc. cannot be acquired. Therefore, paying attention to the oceanautomatic profiling system (Argo system) in this study. Currently, Argo float has deployed about 3600 units in all the worldocean. Thus, it does not require large-scale observation system by research ship or tethered buoy. And we became able to graspthe marine structure of the scale of the earth immediately and easily.In this study, tried the acquisition of ocean physical data from the Argo data (water temperature, salinity, pressure) which unfolded before and after an earthquake near the focal area. As a result, In this earthquakes associated with the huge tsunami,rapid water temperature change has been confirmed in the vicinity of the sea after the earthquake.In addition, we analyzed about Sumatra offing earthquake accompanied by a similar huge Tsunami. Data was acquired fromtwo Argo floats which was observation in the seismic center area of ocean in 2005. As a result, a few days after the tsunamioccurrence, the thing by which the ocean physical data indicates a profile different from usual was suggested. Thus, to variationsin sudden marine environment, Argo system has been shown to be one of the effective database.SSS02-04発表要旨 / 日本地球惑星科学連合2015年大会（2014年5月24日～5月28日, 幕張メッセ国際会議場） / 日本惑星科学連合の許諾に基づき本文ファイルを掲

Change of Sound Speed Profile in the Epicenter near the Large-scale Undersea Earthquake Observed by Ocean Observation Float

The Tohoku region Pacific Ocean earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011, resulted in extensive damage in a vast area ranging from the Tohoku to Kanto. However, at the time of the earthquake, no research vessel was confirmed to be investigating marine life in the seas adjacent to epicenter area, so physical data like water temperature and salinity, as well as ocean sound speed data required for the echo sounder, could not be acquired. Therefore, in this study, we compute the sound speed profile from the Argo system data(water temperature, salinity, pressure) that was being deployed near the area of the epicenter both before and after the earthquake, and attempt to detect the change in the sound speed field. In addition, the Tohoku region Pacific Ocean earthquake and the Sumatra earthquake in December 2004, which were accompanied by a giant tsunami, were also investigated. Results showed that in the main temperature front between the central thermocline and deep-sea isothermal layer, water temperature did not change very much. However, we confirmed the tendency for the underwater sound speed to suddenly increase dramatically after an earthquake

Suppression of sound radiation to far field of near-field acoustic communication system using evanescent sound field

A method of suppressing sound radiation to the far field of a near-field acoustic communication system using an evanescent sound field is proposed. The amplitude of the evanescent sound field generated from an infinite vibrating plate attenuates exponentially with increasing a distance from the surface of the vibrating plate. However, a discontinuity of the sound field exists at the edge of the finite vibrating plate in practice, which broadens the wavenumber spectrum. A sound wave radiates over the evanescent sound field because of broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. Therefore, we calculated the optimum distribution of the particle velocity on the vibrating plate to reduce the broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. We focused on a window function that is utilized in the field of signal analysis for reducing the broadening of the frequency spectrum. The optimization calculation is necessary for the design of window function suitable for suppressing sound radiation and securing a spatial area for data communication. In addition, a wide frequency bandwidth is required to increase the data transmission speed. Therefore, we investigated a suitable method for calculating the sound pressure level at the far field to confirm the variation of the distribution of sound pressure level determined on the basis of the window shape and frequency. The distribution of the sound pressure level at a finite distance was in good agreement with that obtained at an infinite far field under the condition generating the evanescent sound field. Consequently, the window function was optimized by the method used to calculate the distribution of the sound pressure level at an infinite far field using the wavenumber spectrum on the vibrating plate. According to the result of comparing the distributions of the sound pressure level in the cases with and without the window function, it was confirmed that the area whose sound pressure level was reduced from the maximum level to −50 dB was extended. Additionally, we designed a sound insulator so as to realize a similar distribution of the particle velocity to that obtained using the optimized window function. Sound radiation was suppressed using a sound insulator put above the vibrating surface in the simulation using the three-dimensional finite element method. On the basis of this finding, it was suggested that near-field acoustic communication which suppressed sound radiation can be realized by applying the optimized window function to the particle velocity field

南極海における長距離音波伝播の越冬観測

In this paper, long-term observation in the AntarcticOcean using newly developed profiling float for deep sea"Deep NINJA", it succeeded in the deep sea profilingobservation under the winter sea ice for in about sixmonths for the first time in the world. From the dataobtained by this, it was analyzed for ocean soundthat depth of up 4,000 m in under winter ice inthe Antarctic Ocean. In the place deeper than2,000m that was not observed by the Argo float,it was found that variations in salinity and watertemperature is small, and does not affect thesound speed changes therefore. Moreover, in thesea surface, it succeeded in capturing clearseasonal variation in the freezing season and thethawing season. Therefore, the possibility thatthe sound propagation path and the signal levelis different depending on the season was found inthe shallow sea area of Antarctic Ocean. Fromthis, the possibility to affect the predation actionsof passive sonar or marine mammals is thought about.Poster 3P6-1, The 35th Symposium on Ultrasonic Electronics (3-5 December 2014, Meiji University, http://www.use-jp.org/j/) / 第35回超音波エレクトロニクスの基礎と応用に関するシンポジウ

Soft chromophore featured liquid porphyrins and their utilization toward liquid electret applications

Optoelectronically active viscous liquids are ideal for fabricating foldable/stretchable electronics owing to their excellent deformability and predictable π-unit-based optoelectronic functions, which are independent of the device shape and geometry. Here we show, unprecedented 'liquid electret' devices that exhibit mechanoelectrical and electroacoustic functions, as well as stretchability, have been prepared using solvent-free liquid porphyrins. The fluidic nature of the free-base alkylated-tetraphenylporphyrins was controlled by attaching flexible and bulky branched alkyl chains at different positions. Furthermore, a subtle porphyrin ring distortion that originated from the bulkiness of alkyl chains was observed. Its consequences on the electronic perturbation of the porphyrin-unit were precisely elucidated by spectroscopic techniques and theoretical modelling. This molecular design allows shielding of the porphyrin unit by insulating alkyl chains, which facilitates its corona-charged state for a long period under ambient conditions