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A central issue in studies of vocalizations of non-human primates is the extent of their plasticity. Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, frequently utter coo calls and exchange these calls with other group members to maintain contact vocally. I conducted a playback experiment to examine whether monkeys that respond vocally match the acoustic features of their reply to those of the calls they have heard. Six to eight stimulus calls with different acoustic properties in terms of fundamental frequency components were played back to each of seven females, in an attempt to elicit replies from the subjects. There were significant positive regressions of the frequency range of stimuli with that of the replies. Japanese macaques thus matched some of the acoustic features of their replies to those of the preceding calls, suggesting that they might be able to modify the acoustic features of their calls according to the features of the prior calls of another group member.Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

A series of censuses of wild Yakushima macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) was carried out in a 127.26km2 area around the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan. The census area was estimated to have 131 troops in total. Monkeys seem to depend on natural broad-leaf forests. Troop density was highest in the western coastal area, where the greatest population of natural vegetation remained undisturbed. In total, 1, 852 monkeys were counted, giving an estimate of 2, 000-3, 850 monkeys inhabiting the census area.

In the previous research in 1993, three of the authors found that some troops of wild Japanese macaques were provisionized by tourists, around the road in the western forest of Yakushima Island, south of Kyushu, Japan. Again in 1995, we conducted a research with the same methods in the same area. Here we reported the results of 1995 and compared them with those of 1993.We surveyed the area along the road of 19.2km, passing through the forest. We set eight stations along the road as survey units, with a mean length of 2.4km. Each station was surveyed for two days. Each of us walked slowly in the station and searched troops of monkeys. When the observer found the monkeys on or near the road, he or she began observation session for maximum of 30 minutes. At the end of observation session, the observer began to search another troop.During the observation session, we recorded the activities of monkeys and conducted“orange tests”. In the “orange tests”, we showed an orange to a monkey and recorded its response. If the monkey accessed to the orange, it was determined as provisionized.Percentages of provisionized monkeys were significantly different among the stations. However, no significant difference was found between the results of 1993 and 1995. Numbers of traffic passing through the road per day was 138.5, which was larger by 40 than in 1993. Among the traffic in 1995, at least 60% was due to tourists.The numbers of provisionized monkeys did not increased distinctively during the two years. However, numbers of tourists visiting the area apparently increased and the percentages of provisionized monkeys increased in some of the stations. Therefore, we should continue to monitor the provisionized monkeys and to make efforts to stop tourists from feeding monkeys.

コロンビア大学附属スペイヤー校は，「ミニチュア・コミュニティー」を自認し無償制と社会教育活動を特色とする学校であった。同校のカリキュラムが1903年，1913年と2回にわたり発表されている。その内容の比較から当時10年の変化をみることができる。1903年にはF．マクマリーにより生活近接・教科相関の努力がなされたが，幼稚園ではフレーベル思想に基づく旧来の恩物・作業体系が固持されていた。しかし1913年にはそれが排除され，F．ボンサーの影響下に職業的活動の観察を重視するものに変わった。恩物・作業体系の排除は，1905年に同校幼稚園に実験遊戯室を設け，子どもと素材の新たな関係を内部から追求したP．ヒルら進歩派教師による批判の結果である。ただし職業的活動の初歩と子どもの活動はそのままでは相容れず，この時期，幼稚園独自の新しいカリキュラムが求められた。カリキュラム創造を模索するなかで，ヒルは実際の子どもの「遊び」が創作活動により目的性を帯び，持続的な「仕事」に転換する局面に注目している。この注目は後に彼女がプロジェクト法に接近する契機となった。, Speyer School of Columbia University was a free school which is characteristic of its social service work, as “a miniature community” . We can see change in the curiculum of this school, in ten years, by comparing 1903's with 1913's. In 1903, there can be seen F. McMurry's struggle for developing curiculum close to social life, and correlation of subject-matter, but kindergarten curiculum was bound by Froebel's gifts and occupation system. In 1913, however, this system was eliminated, insted of this, obsevation and expression of vocational activities was emphasised under the supervision of F. Bonser. This elimination was the result of the criticism, based on efforts that P. Hill and the other progressives had investigated new relationship between children and materials, in the Experimental Play Room established in Speyer Kindergarten, since 1905. But, on the other hand, the problem that children aren't readily accept beginnings of vocation exposed, then it was demanded that kindergarten creates originally her own curriculum. Thorough groping for new curriculum, Hill noticed on the phase that activities of children transit from “play” to “work”, more purposefully and persistently, by their creative work. This notice gave her an opportunity to adopt project method later.

The purpose of the present survey was to investigate the awareness of the public on the problems arising from provisioning. The social problems of provisioned wild Japanese macaques happens throughout Japan including Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. A questionnaire was given to residents in Yakushima and to tourists visiting. Responses were obtained from 438 people. The results may be summarized as follows: (a) The majority of people questioned were aware of some of the social problems in wild Japanese macaques caused by provisioning. (b) Many people gave wild monkeys food for reasons of amusement and in the belief that it improved their situation. This questionnaire revealed that the public understood some of the issues described above but their actions appeared to contradict this. Consequently there is a need to develop a better understanding on the influence of man particularly in regard to feeding.

The First Order Analysis for Torsion Beam Suspension (FOA/TB)/design tool has been developed as a CAE tool for suspension designers. Reflecting the needs of suspension designers, this tool tends to become more detailed and complex. In addition, FOA/TB is also used by torsion beam component designers since it is capable of creating detailed models of the torsion beam itself. However, in the design phase, torsion beam designers cannot obtain all the parameters included in the current FOA/TB model and have to provisionally set unknown parameters. To overcome this problem, this paper introduces a method for abstraction and masking of design parameters based on the concept of modular designing. It also shows how usability was improved using the new concept FOA/TB.

The area of World Heritage in the northwest of Yakushima is the only part of the island where natural vegetation still extends to the coast. The influence of the Seibu Road (19.3km) on this forest was investigated using three indicators. The first was physical discontinuity of the forest (P), which was determined from the lengths of artificial slopes above and below the road. The second was scenery disturbance (S), which was determined from the presence or absence of trees beside the road. The third was vegetational disturbance (V), which was determined from the number of invader plant species found alongside the road.In section of the road where has been relatively little disturbance the tree tops meet to form a “Green Tunnel”. The occurrence of such “Green Tunnel” sections was recorded continuously along the road.Discontinuity of the forest (P) was significant positively correlated with both scenery disturbance (S) and vegetational disturbance (V), such that section of the road which have been most developed have the least roadside trees and the greatest number of invader plant species. “Green Tunnel” existed along only one fourth of the whole length of the road and along only one third of the road within the World Heritage forest. Almost all of “Green Tunnel” sections were found in the Hanyama and Kawahara areas, where all three indicators also showed the low disturbance.These results suggested that, in order to conserve the natural environment of the World Heritage forest, the construction of artificial slopes above and blow the road should be avoided as far as possible.

Vocal exchanges of coo calls in female Japanese macaques were observed in two populations. Temporal patterns of occurrence of these vocalizations during vocal interaction were studied by analyzing inter-call intervals between two consecutive coos. When the second call was uttered by a different caller from the first (DC sequence), most of the second calls occurred at intervals shorter than approximately 0.8 sec, and the remaining ones at intervals longer than approximately 0.8 sec. These results indicate that the second coos of DC sequence are of two different types, and that second calls separated by short intervals may occur in response to the first call, whereas second calls separated by a relatively longer interval may occur independently of the preceding call. When an animal responds to a coo given by another, she appears to do so within a certain period of time. When two consecutiove calls were uttered by the same caller (SC sequence), the second coos rarely occurred within 0.8 sec, but mostly at longer intervals. These results suggest that when an animal utters a coo spontaneously, it remains silent for a short interval and when no response occurs, she is likely to give further coos addressing groups members. Acoustic analysis of two consecutive coos in DC sequence showed that the second coos given by a different caller and occurring within 0.8 sec significantly correlated with those of first coos with respect to several acoustic parameters. This correlation was not observed when coos occurred at intervals of more than 0.8 sec. This phenomenon was confirmed by a playback experiment. The results suggest the possibility that an animal is able to alter acoustic features of responding coos and matches those of preceding coos.

Wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscasta yakui) around the Seiburindo Road in the western area of Yakushima Island have been occasionally provisioned by tourists. We censused the provisioned monkeys along the Seiburindo Road (19.2km) in this area.“Orange tests” were conducted for 236 individuals in 86 observation sessions to discriminate provisioned monkeys. Adult male monkeys were more provisioned than adult females or immatures.The median time for which they stayed around the road was 26 minutes in 30 minutes observation sessions. They mainly spent time on resting and foraging around the road.The areas where provisioned monkeys were observed had significantly larger artificial slopes than those where non-provisioned monkeys were observed. In addition, the number of groups that we found along the road were positively correlated with the height of the slopes. The amount of time for which we observed monkeys along the road also showed significantly positive correlation with the lengths of the slopes.These results suggested that, in the area where the artificial slopes were larger, monkeys tended to stay there for longer time and passengers could find monkeys more easily because of high visibility. Therefore, monkeys ranging larger artificial slopes might be more likely to contact with passengers and tend to be provisioned.

Group-living primates monitor group members to maintain the spatial cohesiveness of the group. We examined the possibility that visual scanning (turning the head for more than 3 sec) and contact calls (coo calls) function as visual and auditory monitoring behaviors to avoid separation from group members in wild Japanese macaques. The rate of visual scanning increased as proximity to group members decreased and as mobile activities (foraging and moving) increased, compared with immobile activities (resting and grooming). However, the rate of contact calls varied differently with proximity and activities. During resting and moving, the rate of contact calls increased as proximity decreased. In contrast, the rate increased with closer proximity during feeding. Visual scanning during all activities and contact calls during resting and moving increased when the group members were likely to spread over a larger area, suggesting that these behaviors functioned as monitoring of group members to avoid separation from the group. Contact calls also increased when the group members stayed in close proximity during foraging, suggesting that this behavior was also associated with competitive situations. Contact calls may also function to ease tension or maintain distance to avoid conflict in competitive situations.

Coo calls, contact calls used by Japanese macaques for intragroup vocal communications, have been proposed as functioning to maintain interindividual spatial cohesion in wild populations and have served as the primary focus of previous investigations. Although behavioral variations in communication have been reported on the basis of group membership, social status, and individual differences, accumulating evidence generally shows that macaques adjust their communication style to avoid spatial separation from group members. We propose that two fundamental causes underpin these phenomena: the risk of separation and the internal motivation to coordinate the group. Separation risks and internal motivation induce variations in vocal communications relying on contact calls and likely determine the type of vocal communication used in wild primate social groups.

Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has been successfully utilized in automotive industries. CAE numerically estimates the performance of automobiles and proposes alternative ideas that lead to the higher performance without building prototypes. Most automotive designers, however, cannot directly use CAE due to the sophisticated operations. In order to overcome this problem, we proposed a new concept of CAE, First Order Analysis (FOA). The basic ideas include (1) graphic interfaces using Microsoft/Excel to achieve a product oriented analysis (2) use the knowledge of the mechanics of materials to provide the useful information for designers, and (3) the topology optimization method using beam and panel elements. In this paper, outline of FOA and application are introduced.

In current automotive development, innovations to reduce development time and to use a virtual prototype have been numerous and progressive. Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has played an important role in these innovations. CAE numerically estimates the performance of automobiles and proposes alternative ideas that lead to higher performance without building physical prototypes. However, current CAE can not usually be used at the initial design phase due to their difficult, and complex functions and characteristics. In this paper, we propose a new type of CAE, First Order Analysis (FOA). The basic ideas include: (1) graphic interfaces using Microsoft /Excel to achieve a product-oriented analysis, (2) use of mechanics of materials to provide useful information regarding structural mechanisms, and (3) a topology optimization method using function oriented elements. Also, some prototype software is presented to confirm the applicability of method presented here to the automotive designs.

We measured the concentration of steroid hormones from urine, feces, and blood samples of two captive Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, during nonconceptive ovarian cycles to compare the patterns of the excreted steroids with those of circulating steroids. Urine and feces were analyzed for estrone conjugates (E1C) and pregnanediol-3-glucronide (PdG) using enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), while plasma was analyzed for estradiol-17β(E2), progesterone (P), and luteinizing hormone (LH) using radioimmunoassays (RIAs). Urinary and fecal E1C and PdG levels were approximately parallel to plasma E2 and P levels, respectively. The E1C profiles of daily urinary and fecal samples revealed a midcycle peak, followed by a sustained PdG increase lasting up to two weeks from the E1C peak. A fecal E1C peak was one day later than the urinary E1C peak. One of the captive females exhibited a discrete plasma LH peak, one indicator that ovulation has occurred, on the day following the urinary E1C peak, i.e., the same day of fecal E1C peak. We measured excreted steroids in nine wild females and determined the timing of ovulation by comparing fecal steroid profiles to those obtained in captive monkeys. Data from wild females indicated that eight of nine females conceived during their first ovulatory cycle of the sampling period, whereas the remaining female failed to conceive during the sampling period even though she ovulated. In the eight females that conceived, E1C increased again following the detected or estimated E1C peak, with levels comparable to the preovulatory peak levels, and sustained elevations of PdG for over 40 days. These data illustrate that the urinary and fecal profiles of ovarian steroid excretion obtained through the application of these noninvasive techniques provide an accurate approach for monitoring conceptive and nonconceptive ovarian cycle in captive and free-living Japanese macaques. Am. J. Primatol. 53:167–176, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A central issue in the study of primate vocalizations concerns the extent of control over vocal production. Information on the ontogeny of vocal communication of non-human primates is limited and conflicting. Until recently, our primary data were from squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), focusing on infant isolation peeps. The major finding was that call structures were inherited, not learned (Newman and Symmes, 1982). Failure to find evidence of learning is somewhat surprising, given the influence of learning on other behaviors, and the fact that there are some clear parallels in the development of bird song and the development of human speech (Marler, 1970).