We applied a supervised machine learning method for the purpose of auto detecting cavities under paved roadway from

（Ground Penetrating Radar） images. In cavity detection surveys under paved road way, we typically use vehicle-born systems for the necessity to cover wide survey area without any traffic controls. To detect cavity from massive data acquired by vehicle-borne swiftly, skilled-engineers carefully interpret data considering features based on physics of response. Automatic process based on knowledges of skilled-engineers is required, although automatic anomaly detection has not practically realized cause of un-uniform or complex responses from cavities. We applied machine learning methods to detect cavity anomalies using actual data which were acquired on natural occurred cavities as training data. At the veri?cation with actual survey data, our method was able to detect cavitycaused patterns. This will be helpful for analyzer to narrow down cavity responses, meanwhile there were still too many over detections. We think accumulation of labeled data of cavity will also contribute to improvement of our method.

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 The marine isotopic stage (MIS) 5e marine terrace, a paleo-sea-level indicator, is widely distributed at Cape Shiriyazaki, which is located at the northeastern end of Shimokita Peninsula, NE Japan. The elevation of the inner edge of the marine terrace indicates a relative uplift at the site during late Quaternary. However, the marine terrace surface in the study area is covered with colluvium, loess, and soil. Therefore, to reveal the 3-dimensional structure of horizons buried under cover sediments, ground penetrating radar () profiling was performed across and in parallel to the inner edge on the ground surface. The survey area is about 100 m across the inner edge and about 200 m in parallel to the inner edge. Impulse profiling was carried out along nine survey lines above a depth of about 5 m, and stepped frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) profiling along nine lines above a depth of about 8 m. data were collected with common-offset modes using the 350 MHz system (Koden Electronics Co., Ltd) for impulse profiling and the 5-160 MHz FMCW system (Kawasaki Geological Engineering Co., Ltd) for FMCW profiling. Furthermore, to estimate the electromagnetic wave velocity used for depth-conversion of sections, the common mid-point (CMP) ensemble composed of 31 scan data was acquired at the site, located at the center of the survey area, with wide-angle measurements. As a result of geological interpretations of depth-converted sections after careful data processing, we obtained the 2-dimensional structures of the boundary horizons between the loess and gravel bed, and the horizons between the gravel bed and bedrock on all sections. We constructed 3-dimensional structures of horizons using these 2-dimensional structures. The form of the top of the gravel bed is similar to the ground surface with the exception of a few small areas. Although the top of the bedrock dips a little toward the present coast, the form is almost horizontal. The top of the bedrock probably shows a surface of an uplifted wave-cut platform. The elevations of inner edges inferred from the ground surface, the top of the gravel bed (the bottom of the loess), and the top of the bedrock (the surface of uplifted wave-cut platform) are 32–34 m, 30–32 m, 28–29 m, respectively.

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Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely applied in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and micro-grids. State of health (SOH) estimation is always a crucial issue for battery management, timely maintenance, and safety incident avoidance. In order to provide an accurate and reliable SOH estimation, a novel method based on the charging and discharging characteristics and an improved combination Gaussian process regression (

) is proposed to realize the battery SOH estimation. Firstly, three specific health indicators (HIs) extracted from the charge-discharge curves are used as the inputs of the model instead of the traditional cycle numbers. The Pearson correlation analysis method is effective to analyze the relational grade between the HIs and SOH. Then, a comparative study of for SOH estimation is conducted. Four covariance functions widely used in , including squared exponential (SE), Double-SE, SE-Periodic and Linear-SE, are applied and compared. The proposed HIs selection method and four kernel function methods are evaluated using the public battery data sets from the NASA. The experimental results show that the composite has an overall superior estimation performance in terms of both reliability and generalization.

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The selection of covariance function significantly affects spatial distributions estimated by Gaussian Process Regression (

). Gaussian and Markovian models have been used for the covariance function in many studies. Special covariance functions, which assign a correlation of 0 when the distance exceeds a certain value, are proposed also. In this paper these functions are called as sparse covariance functions. The covariance function M-R proposed by Melkumyan and Ramos is one of the sparse covariance functions, and is formulated to have a shape similar to the Gaussian model. This study examined the spatial distribution and computation cost by with the sparse covariance function, using synthesized data. The spatial distribution by with Gaussian and M-R were in good agreement with the true distribution. The contour map of the negative log-likelihood about hyperparameters shows a unique minimum point. When dealing with large-scale data, requires a lot of matrix computations, so reduction of computation cost and computer memory are important research topics. By utilizing the sparsity of the covariance matrix, the computational cost may be reduced. Matrix sparsity is a feature in which the components are mostly composed of zeros. We confirmed that the sparse covariance function M-R can reduce the computation cost depending on the sparsity.

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  Food intake regulates energy balance, and its dysregulation leads to metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Free fatty acids are not only essential nutrients but also act as signaling molecules in various cellular processes. Recent studies have shown that the receptors 40, 41, 43, and 120 are new drug targets for treating metabolic disorders because they are activated by free fatty acids. Two of these receptors, 41 and 43, are activated by short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs: acetate, propionate, and butyrate), which are important energy sources for the host. During feeding, SCFAs are produced by the microbial fermentation of dietary fiber in the gut. The gut microbiota affect nutrient acquisition and energy regulation of the host, and can influence the development of obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes. Hence, 41 and 43 are also a focus of research into energy regulation via SCFAs. We report that these SCFA receptors are involved in energy homeostasis: 41 regulates sympathetic activity, and 43 regulates adipose-insulin signaling by sensing SCFAs produced by gut microbiota. We believe that these results will provide valuable insight into therapeutic targets for treating metabolic disorders and diabetes, as well as in the use of probiotics to control gut microbiota.

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Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the major anions in the lumen of the large intestine. SCFAs are produced by bacterial fermentation of undigested carbohydrates and proteins. Luminal SCFAs are not only absorbed as nutrients, but also influence various physiological and pathophysiological functions of the gastrointestinal tract. Such effects of SCFAs in the intestinal lumen are considered to be induced via the activation of specific receptors and/or via absorption in epithelial cells. However, the sensing mechanism of SCFAs in the intestinal lumen is currently unclear. Nowadays, SCFA receptors were identified from orphan G-protein coupled receptors, specifically 41 and 43. We have reported the expression of 43 in the human colon. In this study, we investigated the expression of 41 in the human colon used by RT-PCR analysis, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. As a result, we have discovered 41 mRNA and protein were expressed in mucosa of human colon, and the co-localization study demonstrated that 41-immunoreactive enteroendocrine cells contained peptide YY, but not serotonin. These results are similar to another SCFA receptor, 43. Therefore, it is considered that SCFAs are recognized by 41- and/or 43-immunoreactive enteroendocrine cells, which secrete peptide YY. Peptide YY is also known to be an important appetite control hormone, inhibiting food intake as a satiety signal. There is a possibility that luminal SCFAs may influence appetite control. [J Physiol Sci. 2008;58 Suppl:S85]

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55 is a G protein-coupled receptor that is proposed as a novel type of cannabinoid receptor. Lysophosphatidylinositol is an endogenous ligand for 55. The physiological roles of 55 have not yet been elucidated in detail. In the present study, the expression of mRNA was evaluated in various mouse tissues and organs using real-time RT-PCR. mRNA expression was highest in testis, the male reproductive system, among mouse tissues. mRNA expression was high in immune organs such as the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus. mRNA was also detected in the small and large intestines. The expression of mRNA was relatively low in a mouse brain. The distribution of in mice is very similar to that in humans, however, the rank order was somewhat different. The sub-fractionation revealed that mRNA was expressed in both germinal cells and somatic cells in the testis. In the small intestine, was expressed in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. was highly expressed in B and T lymphocytes and dendritic cells in the mouse spleen.

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The exploration of underground environments is important especially in urban areas due to the presence of cavities or utilities under road infrastructure. Ground penetrating radar (

) is a suitable tool to carry out subsurface underground environment exploration with high resolution thanks to the properties of electromagnetic waves. Since the application of has increased and many products now exist, users have to consider appropriate instruments and consider whether can be applied to their field or not. This paper describes the idea of a standard evaluation method aiming to evaluate instruments and applicability to various fields for objectively. After the definition of standard anomaly model, we define an evaluation process which reveals how much information can be correctly estimated by exploration. This evaluation method was demonstrated by using a real dataset. And as a result, we concluded the method is reasonable and valuable to the evaluation of instruments and the investigation of applications.

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Adrenergic receptors (ADRs) are widely distributed in the peripheral and central nervous systems. We previously reported that L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), the precursor of dopamine, sensitizes adrenergic α₁ receptor (ADRA1) through a G protein-coupled receptor

143. Chimeric analysis, in which the transmembrane (TM) domains of 143 were replaced with those of 37, revealed that the second TM region was essential for the potentiation of phenylephrine-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation by 143. In HEK293T cells expressing ADRA1B, phenylephrine-induced ERK phosphorylation was augmented by the co-expression of 143, compared to the mock vector. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that a synthetic transactivator of the transcription peptide fused with TM2 of 143 (TAT-TM2) disrupts the interaction between 143 and ADRA1B. This TAT-TM2 peptide suppressed the augmentation of phenylephrine-induced ERK phosphorylation by 143 in HEK293T cells co-expressing ADRA1B and 143. These results indicate that the interaction between 143 and ADRA1B is required for the potentiation of ADRA1B-mediated signaling by 143. The TM2 region of 143 is a crucial dimeric interface for the functional coupling between ADRA1B and 143.

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ドコサヘキサエン酸（DHA）などのn-3系脂肪酸の低下は，うつ病や統合失調症などの精神疾患の病態形成と密接に関係しているとされている。一方，n-3系脂肪酸の摂取は，産後うつ病などの精神疾患の緩和やその発症率を低下させる可能性も示されている。しかしながら，これらのメカニズムについては不明である。 　近年，G‐蛋白質共役型受容体の一つで中・長鎖の脂肪酸によって活性化される脂肪酸受容体40/FFAR1が同定され，中枢神経系における役割が注目されている。我々はこれまでに，40/FFAR1欠損（KO）オスマウスを用いた検討から，脳内の脂肪酸-40/FFAR1シグナル機構の破綻が，脳内のノルアドレナリンの増加を示し，情動行動の異常を示すことを報告した。一方，40/FFAR1欠損メスマウスでは，育児放棄および喰殺行動の個体数が，野生型（WT）マウスよりも増加することや，仔を巣へ運ぶレトリービング行動に異常があることを見いだしている。したがって，母性行動に本シグナル機構が関与している可能性を提唱している。以上より，脳内の脂肪酸‐40/FFAR1シグナル機構の低下または破綻は，情動行動および養育行動に密接に関係している可能性が考えられる。本総説では，精神行動制御における脂肪酸受容体40/FFAR1の役割と創薬への可能性について我々の成績をもとに紹介する。

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We investigated the expression of G protein-coupled receptor 40 and 120 in the rat tongue. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, we detected a significant expression of 120 mRNA in the epithelium of the circumvallate papillae but not in the nonsensory epithelium, while the expression of 40 mRNA was undetectable in the sensory papillae. Western blotting analysis of colon and circumvallate papillae for 120 showed a protein band with a molecular weight that corresponds to that of 120, indicating that this antibody could recognize a native form of 120. Immunohistochemistry using anti-120 antibody revealed 120 immunoreactivity in the enteroendocrine cells of the colon. Furthermore, some cells in each taste bud were stained positively with more intense labeling in the apical part of the cells. These results suggested that 120 is expressed in the taste cells of the circumvallate papillae to sense dietary fat, like the receptor expressed in the enteroendocrine cells.

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G protein-coupled receptor 56 (56) is an atypical G protein-coupled receptor, with the long extracellular N-terminus. 56 can trigger various downstream signaling responsible for cell survival, proliferation, adhesion, and migration. Expression of 56 is associated with cell malignant transformation and tumor cell metastasis in several carcinomas such as melanoma and glioma. Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in adolescents and young adults with high metastasis tendency. The overall survival of osteosarcoma is unsatisfied, partially due to the lacking of predictive markers for metastasis and overall prognosis. This study aimed at figuring out whether expression of the 56 was associated with clinicopathological features of osteosarcoma. Eighty-nine patients who received osteosarcoma operation between March 2004 and February 2011 in Linyi People’s Hospital were recruited. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) was carried out to identify the expression of 56 in those osteosarcoma tissues, and our cohort was divided into higher-expression group and lower-expression group according to the cut-off of IHC score. Expression of 56 in osteosarcoma tissues was correlated with the TNM stage and overall survival. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that 56 could act as an independent prognosis factor for osteosarcoma. Western blot results demonstrated that 56-siRNA down-regulated the expression of GTP-RhoA and Ki67. GTP-RhoA participates in the cell migration process, while Ki67 plays important roles in cell proliferation, indicating 56 may function in tumor development. Correspondingly, we show that 56 regulates the proliferation and invasion capacity of osteosarcoma cells. Our study has revealed the prognostic value of 56 expression in osteosarcoma.

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Many countries in the world are suffered from buried landmines, remaining after various kinds of wars and conflicts. In order to save these courtiers and the people living there, technical contributions of scientists and engineers are required. Ground Penetrating Radar () is a very effective landmine detection sensor, and many tests have been carried out in order to deploy the technique in the Demining operation. In this paper, we first summarize the current technology of and related signal processing, and then we introduce our research activities on application of to humanitarian Demining. We developed two dual sensor systems for demining, namely ALIS and SAR-. ALIS is a hand held system and it has a visualization function of . ALIS was tested by local deminers in Afghanistan. SAR- is a system equipped with an array antenna and a compact vector network analyzer. It is a very adaptive system and can select operation frequency depending on the soil condition, and high clutter reduction can be achieved using signal processing.

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Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetate, propionate and butyrate, are the most commonly found anions found in the monogastric mammalian large intestine, and are known to have a variety of physiological and pathophysiological effects on the gastrointestinal tract. We investigated the protein and mRNA expression levels of 41, a possible G protein coupled receptor for SCFA, using Western blot analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. We found that 41 protein and mRNA are expressed in human colonic mucosa. Immunohistochemistry for 41 showed that mucosal 41 protein is localized in cytoplasm of enterocytes and enteroendocrine cells. Moreover, 41-immunoreactive endocrine cells contained peptide YY but not serotonin or 43. The cellular population of 41 (0.01 ± 0.01 cells/crypt) was much smaller than that of 43 (0.33 ± 0.01 cells/crypt) in the human colon. However, the potency order of SCFA-induced phasic contraction of colonic smooth muscle that we previously reported is consistent with 41 (propionate >= butyrate > acetate) but not 43 (propionate = butyrate = acetate). Therefore, the present study suggests that 41 expressed in human colonic mucosa may function as a sensor for luminal SCFAs.

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We evaluate the performance of Gaussian Process Regression (

) in estimating the current-voltage characteristics of a Langmuir probe, as well as its first and second derivatives. The results show good agreement between the estimated and measured data. When comparing with the conventional Savitzky-Golay filter, we find that is comparable to the Savitzky-Golay filter in terms of the accuracy of the estimated data. The uncertainty of the estimated data is also evaluated, and the results indicate that underestimates the uncertainty of the electron current. This is likely due to the assumption of a homoscedastic noise model in the standard .

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To ensure the reliability of reciprocating multiphase pumps, it is necessary to predict the flow rate curve of the discharge process under different multiphase transportation conditions. Unfortunately, an accurate model describing the complicated characteristics is still not available. A modeling method of automatically selecting a probabilistic model is proposed for prediction of the discharge flow rate. A posterior probability index is proposed to evaluate the trained local Gaussian process regression (

) models. Additionally, to enhance the prediction reliability, the prediction variance-based index is explored to automatically choose a more suitable model from the selected local and just-in-time models for each new sample. Consequently, with limited samples, an efficient probabilistic modeling method is developed for online prediction of the discharge flow rate curve. The experimental results for a reciprocating multiphase pump validate its superiority.

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 研究目的 :

68はGタンパク質共役受容体であり, 破骨細胞に発現している。近年, 68は酸性条件下で働くプロトンセンサー以外に機械的刺激受容体としても機能することが報告された。しかし, 中性条件下での68の破骨細胞分化における役割についてはまだ完全に解明されていない。そこでわれわれはの68を正にアロステリック調節するオゲリンの破骨細胞分化に対する影響を中性条件下で検討することとした。

 材料と方法 : 破骨細胞前駆細胞として, マウスマクロファージ細胞株RAW264.7およびC57BL/6マウスの大腿骨と脛骨から採取した骨髄単核球 (BMMC) を用いた。RNAの定量はサイバーグリーンを用いたリアルタイムPCR法で行った。破骨細胞分化は可溶性RANKL (receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B) およびM-CSF (macrophage colony stimulating factor) で誘導し, TRAP (Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) 陽性で3核以上の多核細胞を破骨細胞とし, その占有面積を測定することで定量化した。

68のノックアウト細胞はCrispr/Cas9法を用いて行い, DNA配列はシークエンシングにより確認した。

 結果 :

68の遺伝子発現はRAW264.7細胞でもBMMCにおいても破骨細胞分化に伴い有意に増加した。オゲリンはRANKLによる破骨細胞分化作用を有意に促進した。そこで, オゲリンの効果が68を介するか否かを検討するためにRAW264.7細胞由来68ノックアウト細胞 (A12) およびRAWGPR68KOに68を強制発現させた細胞 (A1268) を樹立した。オゲリンによる破骨細胞分化促進作用はA12では認められなくなったが, A1268ではその作用は回復した。さらに, オゲリンは用量依存的にA1268の細胞内カルシウム濃度を上昇させた。

 結論 : オゲリンは

68を介して細胞内カルシウム濃度を上昇させることにより, 破骨細胞分化を促進した。

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Detection and evaluation of contaminated soil and ground water by method was discussed. The electric properties of soil and contaminant and their mixed material are significant for . Some models for mixed material including CRIM model were discussed. As an example, CRIM model was compared with the measured parameters using sampled core, and showed good agreement under low water content condition. Generally, if soil is contaminated by hydrocarbon contaminant such as DNAPL and LNAPL, the contaminant will replace the water in soil. Consequently, the conductivity of the soil will decrease, and the dielectric constant of the soil will also decrease. We think detect the change of the dielectric constant of the soil and can detect the anomaly caused by the contamination. However, we should note that if there is chemical or bio-chemical reaction related to the contamination, the phenomena will be much more complex. Then we showed some examples of profiles, which were applied to soil contamination and ground water problems. We showed that the change of ground water table by 5cm can be detected by , which means has a good possibility for detecting small anomaly due to contamination, if the phenomena happen in a short period, or if we can measure the time-lapse data. When the contamination is steady state, we can use the combination of profile and CMP measurements by . CMP measurement will provide good information about the material that causes reflection in profile measurement.

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  Free fatty acids (FFAs) are not only essential nutrient components, but they also function as signaling molecules in various physiological processes. In the progression of genomic analysis, many orphan G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are found. Recently, GPCRs deorphanizing strategy successfully identified multiple receptors for FFAs. In these FFA receptors (FFARs), 40 (FFAR1) and 120 are activated by medium- to long- chain FFAs. 40 is expressed mainly in pancreatic β-cell and mediates insulin secretion, whereas 120 is expressed abundantly in the intestine and regulates the secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagons-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), it promotes insulin secretion. Due to these biological activity, 40 and 120 are potential drug target for type 2 diabetes and selective ligands have been developed. In this review, we provide recent development in the field and discuss their physiological roles and their potential as drug targets.

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120 is a G-protein-coupled receptor that is activated by long-chain fatty acids. In our previous study, 120 expression was detected in gonadotrophs of the mouse anterior pituitary gland. It is well known that the function of anterior pituitary cells is largely under the influence of circulating sex steroids. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the modulatory roles of the ovarian hormones, estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P), on the expression levels of 120 mRNA in mouse pituitary glands. 120 mRNA expression levels in the pituitary gland were increased after ovariectomy or P treatment, and were decreased after the administration of E2. Simultaneous injection of E2 and P interfered with the action of E2 on 120 mRNA expression. The GnRH antagonist, Cetrotide, did not inhibit the increase in 120 expression in ovariectomized (OVX) animals. In addition, immunohistochemistry revealed that more than 95.4% of 120 immunoreactive cells colocalized with the luteinizing hormone β (LHβ) in the anterior pituitary gland of intact, ovariectomized (OVX), estradiol-primed OVX (OVX+E2), or progesterone-primed OVX (OVX+P) animals. Furthermore, 120 mRNA expression levels were not significantly different in the pituitary gland of females throughout the ovarian cycle. It is suggested that low levels of P may mask the inhibitory effect of estradiol on the synthesis of 120 in the estrous stage in intact animals. These results demonstrate that ovarian hormones may directly regulate 120 expression in the reproductive cycle at the pituitary level.

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