We propose a method for promoting human-robot interaction based on emotion recognition with particular focus on tension emotion. There are two types of emotions expressed in a short time. One is ...autonomic emotion caused by a stimulus, such as joy and fear. The other is self-reported emotion, such as tension, that is relatively independent of a single stimulus. In our preliminary experiment, we observed that tension emotion (self-reported emotion) obstructs the expression of autonomic emotion, which has demerits on speech recognition and interaction. Our method is based on detection and moderation of tension emotion. If a robot detects tension emotion, it tries to ease it so that a person will interact with it more comfortably and express autonomic emotions. It also retrieves nuances from expressed emotions for supplementing insufficient speech recognition, which will also promote interaction.
Hypertrophy of the thyroid gland in Graves' disease is related to an autoimmune response directed against TSH receptors found in thyroid cells. Recently, investigators have suggested that autoimmune ...diseases, including thyroid diseases may, at least in part, correlate with the expression of proteins encoded by the retroviral genome. In the present study, to confirm the correlation between thyroid autoimmune disorders and retroviral infections, we examined reverse transcriptase (RT) activity in thyroid tissues as a marker of retroviral infection.
Thyroid tissues obtained at surgery from patients with various thyroid disorders (normal thyroid adjacent to adenoma, six cases; Graves' disease thyroid tissue, 25 cases; adenoma, eight cases; papillary carcinoma, 12 cases; Graves' disease peripheral blood lymphocytes, 11 cases) were used for RT assay, using a specific, improved assay system.
Thyroid tissue extracts from patients with Graves' disease contained high RT activity which resembled that demonstrated in retroviruses. The RT existed in the thyroid tissue as a complex, with endogenous template RNA, and the activity was confirmed not to be due to other DNA polymerases.
Retroviral RT distinguished from known cellular DNA polymerases is expressed in the thyroids of patients with Graves' disease. In a permissive genetice and immunological environment, retroviral DNA integrated into genomic DNA could precipitate the onset of Graves' disease.
We have achieved the symbiotic cultivation of an apparently achlorophyllous orchid, Epipogium roseum Lindl., with a mycorrhizal fungus isolated from an underground organ of this orchid. Although the ...seed germination rate was extremely low, subsequent growth from protocorm to flowering was induced in a medium containing volcanic soils and sawdust. Stolons elongated from each protocorm, and rhizomes were formed at certain intervals on the stolons. Some of the rhizomes developed into a coralloid form, and tubers were formed from the coralloid rhizomes. The coralloid rhizomes degenerated concurrently with maturation of the tubers. Six months after seed sowing, around 80 tubers were produced from a single protocorm. An inflorescence appeared from each of the large tubers, and the process to flowering was observed in one of these. Consequently, the developmental processes from seed to flowering in E. roseum was clearly revealed in this study.
The RITS code was developed for quantitative evaluation and visualization of crystalline structural information (e.g. crystallographic texture, preferred crystal orientation, crystallite block size ...and crystal lattice strain, etc.) of a material, analyzing position-dependent Bragg edge transmission spectra measured in an imaging experiment with pulsed neutrons. Originally, this code was neither able to deal with all the crystal structures that were classified into 230 types of space groups, nor applicable to materials composed of multi elements and multi crystalline phases. Therefore, we improved the RITS code for expansion of its capability, and then performed some demonstrations of simulation calculations and profile fitting analyses of experimental data. In this article, we present the new algorithm and the new functions of the improved RITS code, and the results of the simulation calculations and the experimental data analyses.
Tristimulus colorimetry using a digital still camera (DSC) as a colorimeter has been developed. A photograph of a sample and standard solutions was taken simultaneously with the DSC, and it was ...transferred to a PC. On the PC, the colors of the sample and of the standard solutions were analyzed and L* (brightness), a* (red-green component), and b* (yellow-blue component) values were determined with laboratory-made software. A dedicated light-box containing white-color LEDs as light source was made of white acrylic to make constant exposure at each photograph. Various settings of the DSC, such as exposure mode, white balance, and so on, that affect analytical figures, were studied with determination of iron with 1,10-phenanthroline. This method was successfully applied to the determinations of iron in a river water sample and of residual chlorine in tap water samples with N,N-diethylphenylenediamine (DPD).
Effects of ectomycorrhizal fungus Astraeus odoratus on Dipterocarpus alatus seedlings. Astraeus odoratus is an edible ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus found in natural dipterocarp forests. The efficacy ...of two different inoculum types of this fungus, namely, spore suspension and cultured mycelium in inducing ECM formation on pot-cultured seedlings of Dipterocarpus alatus was studied. Both types of inocula increased ECM formation. A positive correlation was found between the ECM rate and seedling growth. Both inoculation methods could be used to produce ECM seedlings of D. alatus. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the roots of drought-resistant trees, Moringa spp., was examined in semiarid regions in Madagascar and Uganda. Root samples were ...collected from 8 individuals of M. hildebrandtii and 2 individuals of M. drouhardii in Madagascar and from 21 individuals of M. oleifera in Uganda. Total DNA was extracted from the root samples, and partial nSSU rDNA of AM fungi was amplified using a universal eukaryotic primer NS31 and an AM fungalspecifi c primer AM1. The PCR products were cloned and divided by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with HinfI and RsaI. Some representatives in each RFLP types were sequenced, and a neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis was conducted for the obtained sequences with analogous sequences of AM fungi. The RFLP and phylogenetic analyses showed that AM fungi closely related to Glomus intraradices or G. sinuosum were detected in many samples. The AM fungal groups frequently detected in the Moringa spp. might be widely distributed species in semiarid environments.
In the brain, three isoforms of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS), namely neuronal NOS (nNOS, NOS1), inducible NOS (iNOS, NOS2), and endothelial NOS (eNOS, NOS3), have been implicated in biological ...roles such as neurotransmission, neurotoxicity, immune function, and blood vessel regulation, each isoform exhibiting in part overlapping roles. Previous studies showed that iNOS is induced in the brain by systemic treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Gram-negative bacteria-derived stimulant of the innate immune system. Here we found that eNOS mRNA is induced in the rat brain by intraperitoneal injection of LPS of a smaller amount than that required for induction of iNOS mRNA. The induction of eNOS mRNA was followed by an increase in eNOS protein. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that eNOS is located in astrocytes of both gray and white matters as well as in blood vessels. Induction of eNOS in response to a low dose of LPS, together with its localization in major components of the blood-brain barrier, suggests that brain eNOS is involved in early pathophysiologic response against systemic infection before iNOS is induced with progression of the infection.
The identity of mycorrhizal fungi associated with the achlorophyllous orchid Epipogium roseum was investigated by DNA analysis. The fungi were isolated from each coiled hypha (peloton), and the ITS ...region of nuclear rDNA was sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis based on the neighbor-joining method showed that all the isolates clustered with fungi belonging to Psathyrella or Coprinus in Coprinaceae. Those fungi are known as saprobes. using dead organic materials for a nutritive source. Large colonies of this orchid were frequently found around tree stumps or fallen logs. In such colonies, these decaying wood materials would be used as a large and persistent carbon source for the growth of this orchid. This is the first report of Coprinaceae as an orchid mycorrhizal fungi.
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