We are studying to estimate the behavior of care recipients and patients in bed from the sounds they generate. Since the distribution of the sound source and its movement, and spectral information are supposed to be the input information for the behavior estimation, it is important to generate high reliable sound source image against friction sound which is the most of action sound. By installing microphone arrays in units of microphone pairs with relatively small spacing on the headboard and footboard, and comparing the amplitude strength of the cross-correlation and delay sum for each microphone pair with the diagonal microphone pair, I construct an estimation method stable for friction action sound and improving longitudinal resolution.

The Metaverse has revolutionized the way of human activities in society, and the way we think about measurement technology is also about to change. Nevertheless, the use of the Metaverse for measurement has not yet been considered. This study examines a fundamental feasibility of a measuring system in the Metaverse, taking an optical fiber sensor as an example. A “measuring system world” in the Metaverse is primary built, and visibility and operability of the measuring instrument are investigated. The measuring system is redesigned to operate an actual optical fiber sensor in a remote physical space by using a cloud-based speech recognition system. Commands are defined on the basis of the evaluation of the speech recognition system. Then, the measuring instrument in the Metaverse is commanded to start measurement and display the data obtained from the actual measuring instrument. The system works well and succeeds in demonstrating the concept of the measuring system using the Metaverse.

A mastication sound is one of the important factors in the perception of taste. Effects of the mastication sound on texture, pleasure, and discomfort have been investigated by sensory evaluation based on psychological questionnaires and texture evaluations. However, few quantitative evaluations of effects of mastication sound on human cognitive processes have been conducted. In this study, we evaluated statistically and quantitatively the physiological, psychological, and behavioral parameters measured by the oddball task using each of three types of mastication sounds as target stimuli. As a result, significant differences were found between preference and latency of P300 depending on the type of sound, suggesting that latency of P300 is an index that reflects preference. In the correlation analysis, a negative correlation was found between ease of audibility and latency of P300 and reaction time. Therefore, it is suggested that event-related potentials are an effective index that can evaluate the cognitive characteristics of mastication sound.

A transformer plays a key role in electric power distribution system; therefore, when the transformer fails, several electrical components may get affected. As a result, diagnosing the deterioration of transformers is important for the management of electric power distribution system. The furfural content in the insulating oil of a transformer is widely used as an indicator of deterioration because furfural is generated by the decomposition of insulating paper. However, analyzing the furfural content is time consuming because of the requirement of a professional and the complexity of the diagnosis process. In this study, we propose a novel method for analyzing the amount of furfural in the insulating oil based on near-infrared spectroscopic data obtained using the developed portable spectrometer, which can be used for the on-site analysis at transformer installation sites. We selected wavenumbers with high correlation coefficients between the furfural content of oil and the spectroscopic data and estimated the furfural content by partial least squares regression. The results suggest that the furfural content can be analyzed in a few minutes using a small amount of oil through a portable diagnostic device.

Receiving augmentation signals from the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) via each of our fixed Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennas, geocentric Cartesian coordinates for the three multi-frequency GNSS antennas, including an antenna for comparison with the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), were determined, with uncertainty of about 10-20 cm (95% level). Since we also performed positioning using real-time data for the real time kinematic (RTK) through a Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (Ntrip) Server, in parallel, we succeeded positioning also for the other two multiple frequency GNSS antennas despite unable to receive the augmentation signal from the QZSS, with the same degree of the uncertainty.

The B-H loop is a widely used method of evaluating the magnetic properties of magnetic material. While AC excitation supplies are most commonly used, there are also citations in the literature for DC magnetic properties. The coercive force of magnetic materials is known to be dependent on excitation frequency, decreasing as excitation frequency decreases. The authors experimentally determined the B-H loop DC magnetic properties for the minimum excitation frequency. The experiment required an integrator with an opamp capable of generating stable B-H loops at 0.01 [Hz] or below. There has been no ideal CR-type integrator with an opamp yet because the opamp's gain cannot be increased to infinite. The authors resolved the problem of opamp infinite gain, and prototyped an integrator capable of generating stable B-H loops of 0.01 [Hz] or below, dubbed the CR-type ideal integrator, as described in this paper. The prototyped CR-type ideal integrator was used with a Ni-Fe-based amorphous, 2-3 [mHz] supermalloy magnetic core and an excitation frequency of about 20 [mHz] to generate what can be accurately described as a DC B-H loop. This prototyped CR-type ideal integrator enables B-H loop measurement as frequencies too low for existing CR-type integrators equipped with opamps.

In recent years, there has been an increasing need to estimate emotions objectively using biological data. The relationship between Russell's Circumplex Model and autonomic nervous system indicators has been widely discussed. However, there needs to be a more detailed discussion about the model in relation to hemodynamics, which we consider an important variable in sentiment estimation. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between hemodynamic indices, measured during emotional arousal by images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), and the emotions elicited. The results showed that when the mean value during the resting condition with closed eyes was used as a baseline, stroke volume significantly increased over time due to drowsiness and fatigue. When the mean value during the viewing of “Neutral” images was used as a baseline, heart rate significantly decreased due to increased parasympathetic activity when the emotion of “Comfort” was aroused. Conversely, when the emotion of “Anger” was aroused, mean blood pressure and total peripheral resistance increased due to a passive coping response, while HR and cardiac output decreased. Additionally, the coefficient of variation of HR in the “Joy” condition was large and decreased over time.