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In the structural design of mechanical products, natural frequencies must be controlled to reduce noise and vibration. In particular, the stiffness of the joints which assemble the structural components affects the natural frequencies. Therefore, it is important to predict the influence of joint stiffness on natural frequencies. Generally, these effects are determined by iterative finite element analyses of assembled structural models. Because this results in high computational costs, the sensitivity of natural frequencies to joint stiffness should be determined by a different approach to make the structural design process more efficient. Therefore, this paper proposes the use of reflection and transmission coefficients of elastic joints to predict the dependency of natural frequencies on joint stiffness. First, we formulate the reflection and transmission coefficients of joint stiffness, and then organize the coefficients using a ray tracing method. These formulations enable us to discuss the mechanisms which determine the natural frequency of a structure based on a wave approach using the phase-closure principle. Therefore, by applying the phase-closure principle to the frame structure, we investigate the formation of bending modes, which suggests that the effects of joint stiffness on natural frequencies correspond to the dependence of the reflection and transmission coefficients on joint stiffness. Therefore, these coefficients are useful indicators for estimating the influence of joint stiffness.

The spatial cohesiveness of a group is an important element that characterizes the social structure of group-living species. Moreover, remaining cohesive is crucial if individuals are to coordinate their activities and reach collective decisions. We measured interindividual spacing in a group of wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to assess the spatial cohesiveness of a social group quantitatively. We used simultaneous focal animal sampling, with 2 observers recording individuals’ locations with a global positioning system (GPS) during 3 seasons. Interindividual distances differed among seasons; they were short in autumn (mean ± SD: 25.6 ± 20.1 m), intermediate in winter (mean ± SD: 46.3 ± 35.7 m), and long in summer (mean ± SD: 62.3 ± 47.1 m). Measurements taken in summer revealed extremely wide spacing (maximum: 1225 m), suggesting subgrouping. Distances also varied with activity during each season; they were short during resting and grooming, intermediate during foraging, and long during moving. Group cohesion was also influenced by food distribution. More group members were ≤20 m of the focal individual during foraging on clumped food than foraging on scattered food in each season, and the group foraged on clumped food most frequently in autumn. Individuals were also likely to aggregate at resting/grooming sites and clumped food patches and to disperse when moving within a day. These results demonstrate that Japanese macaques show considerable variation in spatial cohesiveness both within short time periods, e.g., 1 d, and among seasons, and that they adjust group cohesiveness flexibly depending on the food conditions and foraging tactics.

Acoustic features of coo calls in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) show large and graded variation. To explore the relevance of acoustic variation in coo calls, I examined whether acoustic features differed by the caller's activity and proximity to group members. The subjects were five adult females from a wild, habituated group of Japanese macaques consisting of 23 individuals. Coo calls from the five females were recorded with their activity and proximity to group members. Acoustic features of 280 calls were measured with a sound spectrograph. Some of the acoustic variables differed by proximity but not by activity. The callers produced coo calls with larger frequency modulation and longer duration when they were far from group members compared to when they were near another member. The results suggest that Japanese macaques produce calls with more detectable and locatable features depending on the proximity to group members. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1412–1424, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) exchange coo calls with group members to maintain contact. I examined the relationship between the distance between group members and (1) the latency of vocal responses to spontaneous calls, and (2) the latency of spontaneous call repetition in the absence of vocal responses. After a subject monkey's spontaneous call, the latency of vocal response by another group member was longer when the subject was farther from the group members than when the subject was near the group members. Furthermore, subject repeated calls with longer intervals in the absence of vocal response, which suggests that they wait longer for the vocal responses of other group members when the expected response latency is longer. These results reveal that Japanese macaques flexibly alter the timing of their calls based on others' vocal responses.

Seasonal variation in fecal testosterone levels in free-ranging male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) was examined with reference to their dominance rank and age class. Six adult (≥7 years old, three higher-ranking and three lower-ranking) and four adolescent (5–6 years old, two higher-ranking and two lower-ranking) males were selected as target animals. Fecal samples of these males were collected during the first 3–5 days of each month and analyzed by the method developed by Barrett et al. [Primates 43:29–39, 2002b]. Testosterone levels varied significantly across the 12 months, and were highest in the early and middle parts of the mating season (i.e., October and November). Higher-ranking adult males displayed a peak testosterone level in October, whereas lower-ranking adults had no clear peak in the mating season. Such a difference in testosterone peaks in males could provide higher-ranking males more opportunities to fertilize females at first ovulation in the mating season than lower-ranking males. Am. J. Primatol. 69:603–610, 2007.© 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In this study we investigated the reproductive characteristics of wild female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata fuscata) in 2 nonconsecutive years using noninvasive methods to monitor physiological events. We detected ovulation dates and ascertained conceptions from fecal hormone profiles. First ovulations occurred from middle October to early November in 1997, and from middle to late November in 1999. Most females conceived during their first ovarian cycle. On average, postconception bleeding occurred 18.4 days after ovulation, and menstruation occurred 13.7 days after ovulation. The average gestation length was 176.3 days. The average degree of facial redness and the percentage of females that copulated synchronously changed across the ovarian cycle and peaked in the periovulatory period. Although prolonged periods of postconception copulation have been reported in previous studies, they did not occur in this study, which suggests that such behavior may not be a species-typical characteristic. Female fertility varied between the 2 years. The copulation rates of females with no infant

We observed three cases of troop extinction and two cases of female fusion in the wild population of Japanese macaques on Yakushima Island, Japan. Troops P and T decreased in size relatively slowly over a few years until each troop consisted of only three monkeys. Several months later, the remaining adult female of P merged with the adjacent troop S, followed by the remaining female of T. S subsequently also decreased in size and disappeared about 2 years later. In the early stage of troop decline, the mortality rate of adult females was as low as in a growing troop, but the birthrate was quite low. In the late stage of troop decline, the mortality rate increased and the birthrate remained low. An important factor leading to troop extinction may be an increase in population density and the resulting increase in intergroup competition. During the period when P and T declined and ceased to exist, the range of the adopted troop shifted to cover their previous ranges. In the fused troop, there was no severe aggression directed towards the immigrant females or harassment from residents of the adopted troop and there was affiliative social interaction between the immigrant females and resident members. These results agree with previous reports on female fusion: it occurs when the shrinking group consists of one or no adult member, and the immigrant females are not at a severe disadvantage in their adoptive group. A possible benefit for immigrant females is to avoid disadvantage of one-adult group in conflict with conspecifics. A possible cost for immigrant females is transfer to the other troop or to unfamiliar area or both. The cost to transfer to another group may not be high because the members of the adoptive troop are relatively tolerant to immigrants. The cost to transfer to unfamiliar range may be minimized by immigration to the troop whose range shifted to the immigrants' former range.

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.

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.

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.

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.