Seasonal fluctuation, age structure, and annual changes in a population of Cassida rubiginosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in a natural habitat

金沢大学大学教育開放センター創薬科学Cassida rubiginosa Müller (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has attracted considerable interest as a potential biological control agent against thistle (Astaraceae: Cardueae) weeds, but population characteristics of this species are not well understood. We conducted an intensive mark-recapture study from 1996 to 1999 in Yuwaku, Kanazawa, Japan, to estimate adult population parameters such as population size, longevity, movement activity, reproductive rate, and winter survival. Overwintered adults began to emerge from hibernation in early April and actively moved among host plants until early May. Thereafter, adult dispersal activity decreased until late June, and the number of beetles gradually declined. New adults were active for only 2 to 3 wk after emergence and began aestivation at the end of August. Despite low reproductive rates per generation, the overwintering population was stable at a high density. Beetle longevity was substantial, and many individuals overwintered more than once. The age structure of adult beetles was responsible for the high stability of the population and low reproductive rate. © 2006 Entomological Society of America

A Comparison of Aquatic Invertebrate Diversity between Paddy Fields under Traditional and Modern Management in Western Japan

We compared aquatic invertebrate diversity in paddy fields under traditional and modern management practices. We also examined the general factors that may be related to diversity within each paddy field. The Kitadan area was farmed with traditional management practices, with much longer periods of irrigations compared with the Kahoku area, which was farmed with modern agricultural practices using intermittent irrigation. We measured physicochemical factors and collected aquatic invertebrates from the two areas. Collected animal specimens were taxonomically identified and classified based by desiccation tolerance ability. At Kitadan, the total biodiversity parameters increased over time, while, biodiversity fluctuated temporally at Kahoku. The mean Shannon-Wiener diversity index was higher at Kitadan than at Kahoku. However, the mean taxon richness was not significantly different between locations. Both paddy fields were dominated by highly desiccation-tolerant invertebrates at the beginning of the rice cultivation period. Over time, the ratio of desiccation-sensitive invertebrates increased more at Kitadan than at Kahoku. Our canonical correspondence analysis showed that the time since rice transplanting, water permanence, pH, water depth, and chlorophyll a were significant factors affecting faunal assemblage composition. Our results indicate that water management practices have important roles in the aquatic biodiversity of paddy-field ecosystems

Stage-specific mortality, fecundity, and population changes in Cassida rubiginosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on wild thistle

Cassida rubiginosa Müller (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), one of the most conspicuous defoliators of thistle weeds, is capable of severely damaging thistle leaves; however, populations rarely reach sufficient density for effective thistle control under natural conditions. To investigate the impact of natural mortality factors on C. rubiginosa populations, life table studies were conducted between 1996 and 1998 in Kanazawa, Japan. Egg mortality, mortality in early larvae, and lost fertility contributed strongly to total generational mortality in every year studied. Egg mortality was primarily attributable to parasitism by wasps of the genus Anaphes, and the impact of predation and egg inviability was small. Mortality factors that affected the larval and pupal stages were largely unknown. Under field conditions, females only realized approximately 8.1-13.7 % of their potential fecundity, varying from 36.0 to 61.4 eggs per individual. Since annual changes in lost fertility exhibited a similar pattern to those in generational mortality, fertility loss might be the key factor driving C. rubiginosa populations. These results suggest that reproduction is the most important process that determines the level and fluctuation of the C. rubiginosa population. © 2012 The Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology

Demography of the Heike firefly Luciola lateralis (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), a representative species of Japan\u27s traditional agricultural landscape

Populations of the Heike firefly, Luciola lateralis, a representative species of Japan\u27s traditional agricultural landscape (known as satoyama), have recently experienced rapid declines in many areas of Japan. Owing to the popularity of this firefly, many local communities have increased conservation efforts through the restoration of aquatic habitat complexes in satoyama. To provide fundamental parameters to predict population dynamics of the firefly, we conducted a mark-recapture study in restored paddy fields, and we estimated adult population parameters such as population size, survival, recruitment, sex ratio, and body size. We found that capture probability generally decreased as the season advanced, probably because of seasonal changes in detectability and/or firefly behavior. The daily survival rate of adults decreased over the season and may be related to a seasonal decline in adult body size. Adult population exhibited a highly male-biased sex ratio. Firefly abundance in the restored paddy fields doubled during the 4-year study period. Our analysis showed that adult detectability, recruitment, and survival rate are seasonally variable and could affect population size estimates obtained by a simple flash census. The mark-recapture technique can provide precise estimates of adult L. lateralis population characteristics and, thus, is a valuable method for predicting firefly populations and assessing the success of the restoration program. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

金沢市湯涌におけるヤマトアザミテントウとアオカメノコハムシの個体群動態

取得学位：博士(理学)，学位授与番号：博甲第517号，学位授与年月日：平成14年3月31日,学位授与年：200

金沢市湯涌町におけるハクサンアザミとカガノアザミの昆虫相の比較

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Reexamination of Refrigeration Power of the LHD Cryogenic System After Fire and Restart of Operation

The Large Helical Device (LHD), built in the 1990s, is a heliotron-type fusion plasma experimental device with the world\u27s first fully superconducting magnetic confinement system. The LHD cryogenic system operated stably for 18 years from 1998 to 2015 with high availability exceeding 99%. Unfortunately, in August 2015, a fire occurred in the cold box of the He refrigerator during maintenance, and nonmetallic components such as multilayer insulation films, temperature sensors, and measuring instruments were burnt down. Repair work started in November 2015 and completed at the end of July 2016. In August 2016, a test operation of the He refrigerator was conducted, and the refrigeration power was compared with that measured in the initial performance test conducted in 1995. The measured equivalent refrigeration power at 4.4 K was 9.19 kW, representing a decrease ~2% from the value of 9.38 kW measured in 1995. We attributed this slight decrease in refrigeration power to performance deterioration owing to aging over 18 years and not to the fire. The LHD restarted operation in January 2017, and its 19th operational cycle for a deuterium plasma experiment was conducted successfully up to August 2017. This paper reports the operational history and restart of the LHD superconducting magnet and cryogenic system

Prognostic impact of clinical factors for immune checkpoint inhibitor with or without chemotherapy in older patients with non-small cell lung cancer and PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50%

IntroductionThe proportion of older patients diagnosed with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been increasing. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) monotherapy (MONO) and combination therapy of ICI and chemotherapy (COMBO) are standard treatments for patients with NSCLC and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion scores (TPS) ≥ 50%. However, evidence from the clinical trials specifically for older patients is limited. Thus, it is unclear which older patients benefit more from COMBO than MONO.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 199 older NSCLC patients of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0-1 and PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50% who were treated with MONO or COMBO. We analyzed the association between treatment outcomes and baseline patient characteristics in each group, using propensity score matching.ResultsOf the 199 patients, 131 received MONO, and 68 received COMBO. The median overall survival (OS; MONO: 25.2 vs. COMBO: 42.2 months, P = 0.116) and median progression-free survival (PFS; 10.9 vs. 11.8 months, P = 0.231) did not significantly differ between MONO and COMBO group. In the MONO group, OS was significantly shorter in patients without smoking history compared to those with smoking history [HR for smoking history against non-smoking history: 0.36 (95% CI: 0.16-0.78), P = 0.010]. In the COMBO group, OS was significantly shorter in patients with PS 1 than those with PS 0 [HR for PS 0 against PS 1: 3.84 (95% CI: 1.44-10.20), P = 0.007] and for patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SQ) compared to non-squamous cell carcinoma (non-SQ) [HR for SQ against non-SQ: 0.17 (95% CI: 0.06-0.44), P < 0.001]. For patients with ECOG PS 0 (OS: 26.1 months vs. not reached, P = 0.0031, PFS: 6.5 vs. 21.7 months, P = 0.0436) or non-SQ (OS: 23.8 months vs. not reached, P = 0.0038, PFS: 10.9 vs. 17.3 months, P = 0.0383), PFS and OS were significantly longer in the COMBO group.ConclusionsECOG PS and histological type should be considered when choosing MONO or COMBO treatment in older patients with NSCLC and PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50%