Tokyo University of Agriculture Repository / 東京農業大学リポジトリ
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Color characteristics and psychological healing effects in Rokuon-ji Temple Garden: a quantitative analysis
Get PDFThis study quantitatively analyzed the color characteristics and psychological
healing effects of Rokuon-ji Temple Garden (Kinkaku-ji) through a systematic
methodology combining color extraction, fractal analysis, and semantic differential
evaluation. From an initial collection of 150 photographs documenting the garden’s
complete visitor experience, 42 landscape photographs were systematically
selected based on healing quality ratings (mean ≥5.0, median ≥5.0, standard
deviation <1.2) and analyzed for six color categories (red, yellow, brown, gray,
white, green) using three quantitative metrics: fractal dimension, diversity index,
and concentration index. Factor analysis of semantic differential evaluations from
58 participants identified six psychological dimensions: Openness, Decorativeness,
Clarity, Naturalness, Unity, and Complexity. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed
eight distinct landscape types with characteristic color profiles corresponding to
specific psychological effects. Significant correlations were found between color
metrics and psychological factors, particularly between brown fractal dimension
and Openness (r = 0.455), green fractal dimension and Naturalness (r = 0.402), and
white concentration and Unity (r = 0.350). The findings provide evidence-based
guidelines for therapeutic garden design while demonstrating that the healing
efficacy of traditional Japanese gardens derives from sophisticated orchestration
of color complexity, diversity, and concentration patterns
Obesity impairs ciliary function and mucociliary clearance in the murine airway epithelium
Get PDF肥満モデルマウスを用いて、電子顕微鏡による形態解析、高速度撮影による行動解析、薬理学的な手法による生理解析をおこない、肥満における気管・繊毛運動の機能障害とウイルス性呼吸器感染症との連関を明らかにした
The vomeronasal organ and incisive duct of harbor seals are modified to secrete acidic mucus into the nasal cavity
Get PDFMost terrestrial mammals have a vomeronasal system to detect specific chemicals. The peripheral organ of this system is a vomeronasal organ (VNO) opening to the incisive duct, and its primary integrative center is an accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). The VNO in seals is thought to be degenerated like whales and manatees, unlike otariids, because of the absence of the AOB. However, olfaction plays pivotal roles in seals, and thus we conducted a detailed morphological evaluation of the vomeronasal system of three harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). The VNO lumen was not found, and the incisive duct did not open into the oral cavity but was recognized as a fossa on the anteroventral side of the nasal cavity. This fossa is rich in mucous glands that secrete acidic mucopolysaccharides, which might originate from the vomeronasal glands. The olfactory bulb consisted only of a main olfactory bulb that received projections from the olfactory mucosa, but an AOB region was not evident. These findings clarified that harbor seals do not have a VNO to detect some chemicals, but the corresponding region is a specialized secretory organ
Flower Longevity Quantification in Greenhouses Using Deep Learning Models for Computer Vision
Get PDFFlower longevity is essential to maintain the quality and value of ornamental crops. The distribution of high-quality ornamental flowers has been established by developing various preservatives, especially for cut flowers. However, genetic improvements to promote flower longevity have not progressed, except for some ornamental crops. This is partly due to a lack of analytical methods to evaluate flower longevity in large-scale trials. This study showed that high-throughput image analysis using deep learning models for computer vision, which has rapidly progressed, can quantify the flower longevity of multiple lines in greenhouses. Seven lines of Portulaca umbraticola, a one-day-flowering crop for summer gardening, were photographed at regular intervals from the top of the greenhouse. Using trained object detection models, including the YOLO series, multiple flowers and pots were accurately detected in each image. The opening degree of flowering was calculated by trained image classification models, such as Densenet and VGG. Although the images generally contained many flowers, multiple object tracking models, such as ByteTrack and StrongSORT, enabled us to track each flower and estimate its longevity. Additionally, video classification sorted the tracked flowers into seven P. umbraticola lines. Each line’s flower longevity could be quantified and it differed each day and within the same flower line. Therefore, applying the proposed method using deep learning models could dramatically accelerate research and breeding of flowers with increased longevity. The applicability of this method to various ornamental crops and traits is also discussed
Functional Modification of Cyanobacterial Phycobiliprotein and Phycobilisomes through Bilin Metabolism Control
Get PDFPhycobilisomes (PBSs) are light-harvesting antenna complexes in cyanobacteria that adapt to diverse light environments through the use of phycobiliproteins within the PBS structures. Freshwater cyanobacteria, such as Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, thrive under red light because of the presence of phycocyanin (PC) and its chromophore, phycocyanobilin (PCB), in the PBS. Cyanobacteria in shorter-wavelength light environments such as green light, employ phycoerythrin paired with phycoerythrobilin (PEB) along with PC in the PBS. Synthetic biology studies have shown that PEB production can be achieved by expression of the heterologous PEB synthases 15,16-dihydrobiliverdin:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PebA) and PEB:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PebB), leading to PEB accumulation and cellular browning. This approach is genetically unstable, and the properties of the resulting PEB-bound PBS complexes remain uncharacterized. In this study, we engineered a novel strain of Synechococcus 7942 PEB1 with finely tuned control of PEB biosynthesis. PEB1 exhibited a reversible change in the color of the culture from green to brown and pink based on PebA and PebB induction levels. High induction led to complete PCB-to-PEB substitution, causing the disassembly of the PBS rod complex. In contrast, low induction levels of PebA and PebB resulted in the formation of a stable chimeric PBS complex with partial PCB-to-PEB substitution. This acclimation enabled efficient light harvesting in the green spectrum and energy transfer to the photosynthetic reaction center. These findings, which improve our understanding of PBS and highlight the structural importance of the bilin composition, provide a foundation for future studies on PBS adaptation in bioengineering, synthetic biology, and renewable energy
Effects of biochar amendment at various soil depths on maize roots and growth indices
Get PDFBiochar application in the soil has shown its potential for improved plant growth, root structure, and nutrient availability. However, uncertainties remain regarding the optimal depth for biochar application and its interaction with roots, which significantly influence plant growth and development.
This transparent rhizobox trial consists of five treatments: control treatment (T1) with recommended dose of fertilizer, and four biochar addition treatments with different depths viz. 5 (T2), 10 (T3), 15 (T4) and 20 cm (T5). FESEM, EDX-Spectroscopy was performed to elucidate the change in morphology and element distribution pattern of biochar after application in soil. Fresh biochar has 53.7% carbon and 19.9% oxygen, however, aged biochar shown 37.4% carbon and 36.4% oxygen content. The T5 exhibit the best outcomes, with the most significant increment in maize root traits over the control treatment (T1). In particular, T5 recorded a maximum improvement in root length (+ 48.2%), root volume (+ 42.7%) and root dry biomass (+ 56.7%) compared to the control treatment when biochar was applied at 20 cm soil depth. Shoot traits at 20 cm biochar incorporation revealed an increase in shoot fresh biomass (+ 23.1%), shoot dry biomass (+ 15%), leaf area (+ 50.5%) and number of leaves (+ 40.7%) as compared to the control treatment. As compared to the control, a considerable rise in soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium was observed in biochar amendment at 20 cm depth, with the highest nitrogen in T5 (20.9%), phosphorus in T5 (103%), and the percentage increase in potassium in T5 (55.5%). One of the most consistently prevalent molecules examined by GC–MS was methyl stearate, a fatty acid ester detected in all five treatments. Methyl stearate content increased as the depth of biochar increased: T1 (10.26%), T2 (8.67%), T3 (12.40%), T4 (12.93%), and T5 (14.65%). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that uniform application of biochar in the top soil layer significantly enhances the above- and below-ground attributes of plants
Effects of landscape structural changes on species composition in mountainous rural communities
Get PDF山間地域の農村集落において、耕作放棄による農地の減少と、伝統的な土地利用の消失による景観構造の不均質性の低下を促進する要因を明らかにするとともに、景観構造の変化が集落の生物群集の種組成に与える影響について、複数分類群間で比較することを本研究の目的とした。長野県小谷村の隣接する2地域において耕作放棄の進行程度が異なる20集落を対象に、鳥類、チョウ類、地表徘徊性甲虫類、植物の種組成を集落間で比較した。GLM解析により1950年代から現在にかけての農地の減少と景観の不均質性（景観のシャノン多様度指数）の低下には、家屋数（労働力）と年間の総日照量（作物の生産性）が有意に影響していることが示された。こうした景観構造の変化が各分類群の種組成に明瞭に影響していることがNMDS解析により確認された。年一化性チョウ類の個体数の増加に寄与することがGLM解析により示されるなど、特に生物群集の機能的組成の決定に景観構造の変化は有意に影響していた。このように山村集落の存続に影響するような自然的要因と社会・経済的要因に応じて、景観構造の変化程度が異なり、景観構造の変化が生物群集の種組成や機能的組成の成立に影響していることが明らかになった。Farming and other traditional land uses are being abandoned in mountainous rural communities throughout Japan. This study investigated factors influencing this trend and the effects of resulting landscape structural changes on species composition and function in four taxa in 20 rural communities of the village of Otari, at the foot of the Hakuba Mountains in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The four taxa (birds, butterflies, ground-dwelling beetles, and plants) were selected for their different dispersal and resource dependence characteristics. Generalised linear model (GLM) analyses showed that the number of houses (as an index of workforce) and solar radiation amount (as an index of crop productivity) significantly influenced declines in farmland and landscape diversity from the 1950s to the present. Landscape structural changes significantly affected the species composition of the four taxa according to nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination, as well as the numbers of individual migratory birds, univoltine butterflies, and specialist ground beetles according to GLM analysis. We conclude that the natural and socioeconomic factors controlling the persistence of rural communities played a significant role in altering the landscape structure in the study region, which in turn affected the species and functional composition of biological communities