Effects of girdling on Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

鳥取県鳥取市に位置する鳥取大学農学部フィールドサイエンスセンター教育研究林「湖山の森」（以下、湖山の森）の砂丘上には、肥料木として導入されたニセアカシアが繁茂している。ニセアカシア（Robinia pseudoacacia）は、北アメリカ原産の高木性の外来樹である。マメ科であり根粒菌と根で共生しているため、貧栄養な土地でも良く生育でき、根萌芽を行うことができるため、分布が拡大している。ニセアカシアは萌芽力が高いため、伐採しても多数の萌芽幹を発生させるため、個体数管理が難しい。これまで、巻き枯らしによる駆除の研究がいくつか行われてきたが、どのような巻き枯らし方法が最も有効であるかについて検討された例は少ない。そこで本研究では、湖山の森を調査地として、ニセアカシアに処理を施し、処理後の萌芽の発生数と萌芽率の調査を行った。処理については、コントロールとしての無処理のほかに次の４つの処理を行った。なお、調査対象木の平均DBH は13.4 cmであった。処理方法は、（１）地表面から高さ1 m ～1.3 m の幅30 cm、（２）地表面から高さ3 m を幅30 cm、（３）地表面から1.3 m を幅130 cm、さらに、（４）地表面から高さ30 cm で伐採した個体をそれぞれ5 本ずつ選定した。対照木とした無処理の個体も、ほぼ同じサイズになるように5 本選定した。これらの処理後、1 ヶ月後、２ヶ月半後、３ヶ月後の萌芽数と萌芽幹の長さを測定した。その結果、無処理と比較して、伐採すると萌芽本数が多くなり、萌芽幹の成長量も大きくなった。巻き枯らし処理は初期の萌芽本数は多くなるが、発生率が低くなり、枯死する萌芽幹が多くなった。根萌芽も少なくなるため、ニセアカシアの個体数管理には巻き枯らしが有効であると考えられる。さらに、巻き枯らしの中でも、地表から30 cm の高さを幅30 cm で巻き枯らししたものが最も効果的であり、労力も少なくてすむニセアカシアの個体数管理方法であると考えられる

Physical inactivity is associated with decreased growth differentiation factor 11 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Rie Tanaka,1 Hisatoshi Sugiura,1 Mitsuhiro Yamada,1 Tomohiro Ichikawa,1 Akira Koarai,1 Naoya Fujino,1 Satoru Yanagisawa,1 Katsuhiro Onodera,1 Tadahisa Numakura,1 Kei Sato,1 Yorihiko Kyogoku,1 Hirohito Sano,1 Shun Yamanaka,1 Tatsuma Okazaki,1 Tsutomu Tamada,1 Motohiko Miura,2 Tsuneyuki Takahashi,3 Masakazu Ichinose1 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku Rosai Hospital, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Wakabayashi Hospital, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai, Japan Background: Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) is reported to possess anti-aging and rejuvenating effects, including muscle regeneration and to be highly expressed in skeletal muscle. Recently, we demonstrated that the levels of plasma GDF11 were decreased in COPD. However, the effect of decreased circulating GDF11 in the pathophysiology of COPD remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the plasma GDF11 levels and various clinical parameters in patients with COPD. Patients and methods: Eighteen ex-smokers as control subjects and 70 COPD patients participated in the current study. We measured the levels of plasma GDF11 using immunoblotting, lung function, physical activity using a triaxial accelerometer, quadriceps strength, exercise capacity, and systemic inflammatory markers. We investigated the association between the levels of plasma GDF11 and these clinical parameters. Results: The levels of plasma GDF11 in the COPD patients had significant positive correlations with the data of lung function. Furthermore, the levels of plasma GDF11 were significantly correlated with the physical activity, quadriceps strength, and exercise capacity. Moreover, the levels of plasma GDF11 were significantly correlated with the data of inflammatory markers. Although various factors were related to GDF11, the multiple regression analysis showed that physical activity was significantly associated with the levels of plasma GDF11. Conclusion: Physical inactivity was significantly related to the decreased GDF11 levels in COPD, which might be useful for understanding the pathogenesis of COPD. Clarifying the relationships between the physical inactivity and GDF11 may reveal a potentially attractive therapeutic approach in COPD via increasing the plasma levels of GDF11. Keywords: physical activity, muscle strength, rejuvenating factor, COP

Heliocentric Distance Dependence of Zodiacal Light Observed by Hayabusa2#

Zodiacal light (ZL) is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) at optical wavelengths. The spatial distribution of IDPs in the Solar System may hold an important key to understanding the evolution of the Solar System and material transportation within it. The number density of IDPs can be expressed as $n(r) \sim r^{-\alpha}$, and the exponent $\alpha \sim 1.3$ was obtained by previous observations from interplanetary space by Helios 1/2 and Pioneer 10/11 in the 1970s and 1980s. However, no direct measurements of $\alpha$ based on ZL observations from interplanetary space outside Earth's orbit have been performed since then. Here, we introduce initial results for the radial profile of the ZL at optical wavelengths observed over the range 0.76-1.06 au by ONC-T aboard the Hayabusa2# mission in 2021-2022. The ZL brightness we obtained is well reproduced by a model brightness, although there is a small excess of the observed ZL brightness over the model brightness at around 0.9 au. The radial power-law index we obtained is $\alpha = 1.30 \pm 0.08$, which is consistent with previous results based on ZL observations. The dominant source of uncertainty arises from the uncertainty in estimating the diffuse Galactic light (DGL).Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication by Earth, Planets and Spac

Adjustment process of reasonable accommodation for students with disability

本研究の一部はJSPS科研費15K01683の助成を受けた。 本研究の一部は第45回中国四国大学保健管理研究集会（平成27年８月，徳島市），並びに第53回全国大学保健管理研究集会（平成27年９月，盛岡市）で発表した

Cross-national differences in socioeconomic achievement inequality in early primary school : the role of parental education and income in six countries

This paper presents comparative information on the socioeconomic status (SES) gradients in literacy skills at age 6-8, drawing on harmonized national datasets from France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We investigate whether understanding of comparative SES gradients in early-to-mid childhood depends on the operationalization of SES (parental education, income, or both); and whether differences in inequalities at the end of lower secondary schooling documented in international large-scale assessments are already present when children have experienced at most two years of formal compulsory schooling. We find marked differences in the SES gradient in early achievement across countries that are largely insensitive to the way SES is measured, and that seem to mirror inequalities reported for older students. We conclude that country context shapes the link between parental SES and children’s educational achievement, with country differences rooted in the early childhood period

Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae

We systematically surveyed period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae based on newly obtained data and past publications. In many systems, the evolution of superhump period are found to be composed of three distinct stages: early evolutionary stage with a longer superhump period, middle stage with systematically varying periods, final stage with a shorter, stable superhump period. During the middle stage, many systems with superhump periods less than 0.08 d show positive period derivatives. Contrary to the earlier claim, we found no clear evidence for variation of period derivatives between superoutburst of the same object. We present an interpretation that the lengthening of the superhump period is a result of outward propagation of the eccentricity wave and is limited by the radius near the tidal truncation. We interpret that late stage superhumps are rejuvenized excitation of 3:1 resonance when the superhumps in the outer disk is effectively quenched. Many of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae showed long-enduring superhumps during the post-superoutburst stage having periods longer than those during the main superoutburst. The period derivatives in WZ Sge-type dwarf novae are found to be strongly correlated with the fractional superhump excess, or consequently, mass ratio. WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with a long-lasting rebrightening or with multiple rebrightenings tend to have smaller period derivatives and are excellent candidate for the systems around or after the period minimum of evolution of cataclysmic variables (abridged).Comment: 239 pages, 225 figures, PASJ accepte