COVID-19 Pandemic and Non-standard Employees in Japan

This article aims to grasp the influence of the pandemic on standard and non-standard employees in Japan and clarify its disparity between them. In 2020, there was an imbalance between the slight increase in standard employees and the massive loss of non-standard employees in the labour market. Non-standard employees' working hours were greatly reduced, often without allowances for absence, and hence their monthly income considerably diminished. As a result, their well-being also declined. Thus, the pandemic has affected employment, and its impact has been felt most strongly by non-standard employees. This does not mean that there is no discriminatory treatment of non-standard employees in firms. However, a closer look at the real picture reveals a variety of factors. In addition to the discriminatory treatment that is related to the Japanese employment system, a combination of managerial factors such as the shortage of standard employees, practical factors such as differences in wage systems, and the lack of sufficient information about the expansion of the coverage of the Employment Adjustment Subsidy, have placed non-standard employees at a huge disadvantage.     

Use of an empirical probability generating function for testing a Poisson model

We present a test of the fit to a Poisson model based on the empirical probability generating function (epgf). We derive the limiting distribution of the test under the Poisson hypothesis and show that a rescaling of it is approximately independent of the mean parameter in the Poisson distribution. When inspected under a simulation study over a range of alternative distributions, we find that this test shows reasonable behaviour compared to other goodness-of-fit tests like the Poisson index of dispersion and smooth test applied to the Poisson model. These results illustrate that epgf-based methods for anlyzing count data are promising.     

Experimental studies on the distribution of the aphid counts

Summary The present paper dealt with the sequential changes of the distribution pattern of apterous females aphid populations, that were artificially settled at the beginning on the experimental barley ‘field’. The aphids were settled at random or even with a fixed denisty per plant. For five or six days after the settling, the number of individuals followed the negative binomial distributions in all cases while the parametersk andp were varying. The estimated values ofk were rather small for the first one week after the settling, which may suggest that the number of moving aphids between plants was relatively small and the degree of concentration expressing the intrinsic increase was high. After that, as the number of individuals increased, the number of moving aphids between plants would be considered to be increased. It was found that with the lapse of time the degree of concentration decreased ork became larger. The distribution of aphids per blade in a plant was also described briefly.     

Sleep disturbance as a clinical sign for severe hypogonadism: efficacy of testosterone replacement therapy on sleep disturbance among hypogonadal men without obstructive sleep apnea

Objective: The present subanalysis of the EARTH study investigates the effects of one year testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on sleep disturbance among hypogonadal men without obstructive sleep apnea.

Methods: Sleep disturbance was defined as three or more points in question 4 of the aging males symptoms (AMS) questionnaire. All participants completed the AMS scale, International Prostatic Symptoms Score (IPSS), Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) and Short Form 36 (SF-36) health survey at baseline and after 12?months. Sexual symptoms were also evaluated based on three AMS subscores (Q15, 16 and 17).

Results: We identified 100 patients with sleep disturbance, of whom 48 (24 each in the TRT and control groups) were ultimately included for analysis. All SF-36 categories , AMS scale, IPSS and SHIM score subdomains were significantly worse in patients with sleep disturbance than in those without disturbance. Statistically significant differences in sleep disturbance, erectile symptoms, sexual desire and some domains of the SF-36 were observed between the TRT and control groups after 12?months.

Conclusion: Sleep disturbance may be one of the clinical signs for severe hypogonadism. Moreover, TRT improved sleep conditions, sexual function and quality of life among hypogonadal men with sleep disturbance.     

The estimation of population density of the green rice leafhopper,Nephotettix cinticeps Uhler, in spring field by the capture recapture method

Summary The population parameters of green rice leafhopper,Nephotettix cincticeps in hibernated generation was estimated by the capture-recapture method on the gramineous weeds of resting paddy field from late in April to mid-May, 1962–1965. The difficulty of applying the capture-recapture method to this insect is caused from the low density and the low activity of the leafhopper, so that it is necessary to make the suitable plan of capture-recapture series and to construct the special method to detect the population parameters. The number of adults differed greatly among the years and among the plots in the same year. But, in general, the density was relatively high late in April, and decreased rapidly in May. The number of males was higher than that of females late in April, but decreased rapidly to become lower in May. The sampling efficiency with sweep-net depends upon the many factors, such as weather and floristic conditions; especially the atmospheric temperature and the force of wind are considered to affect greatly to the efficiency. In general, low temperature and strong wind are the cause of low sampling efficiency. Contribution from JIBP-PT No. 20.     

Ecological studies on a dragonfly,Nannophya pygmaea ramber (Odonata: Libellulidae) I. seasonal changes of adult population and its distribution in a habitat

Summary Adult population of a dragonflyNannophya pygmaea Ramber inhabited in a damp ground was investigated with mark-and-recapture method in 1975. The following results about the seasonal changes of the population size and distribution in the habitat were obtained. Adults emerged from late May to mid August. The number of the adults was most abundant in early June, but that of matured males in early July. From the recapture data, the estimate of daily survival rate was 0.82, and the length of immature stage in males was estimated as 5 days or so. Total number of post-teneral adults emerged in the habitat was estimated as about 9,000. The mean crowding-mean density regression method was applied for the analysis of the distribution pattern of the adults. Matured males showed a spaced-out distribution, while females and immatured males distributed themselves rather aggregatively. Such a distribution pattern of the matured male would be attributed to their territorial behaviour. The territorial behaviour was considered to force the matured males to extend the distribution area in July when they were most abundant. From the above-mentioned results and some observations, the meaning of the territoriality in this species was discussed.     

The History and Timing of Depression Onset as Predictors of Young Adult Self‐Esteem

Depression often emerges early in the lifecourse and is consistently shown to be associated with poor self‐esteem. The 3 main objectives of the current study are to (1) evaluate the association between a history major depression and self‐esteem in young adulthood, (2) assess the relationship between timing of depression onset and young adult self‐esteem, and (3) help rule out the alternative interpretation that the relationship between major depression and self‐esteem is due to state dependence bias stemming from recent depressive symptoms and stressful life events. To address these objectives we use data from a 2‐wave panel study based on a community sample of young adults in Miami‐Dade County, Florida (n=1,197). Results indicated that a history of major depression during sensitive periods of social development is associated with negative changes in self‐esteem over a 2‐year period during the transition to young adulthood. Among those with a history of depression, earlier onset was more problematic than later onset for young adult self‐esteem, although the difference disappeared once the level of self‐esteem 2 years prior was controlled. The linkages between the history and timing of depression onset with self‐esteem were observed net of recent depressive symptoms and stressful life events and are thus robust to an alternative interpretation of state dependence. The findings support the argument that major depression, especially if it develops earlier during child‐adolescent development, has negative consequences for one's self‐esteem.     

Survivorship and fertility schedules of two Sumatran tortoise beetles,Aspidomorpha miliaris andA. sanctaecrucis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) under laboratory conditions

Summary Two species of tortoise beetles,Aspidomorpha miliaris (AM) andA. sanctaecrucis (AS) feeding on a shrub-like morning glory,Ipomoea carnea, were reared under laboratory conditions to study their survivorship and fertility schedules. AM and AS required 34–39 days and 30–37, respectively, for the development of the immature stages. The mean longevity of the males was 88.4 days in AM and 63.8 in AS, and that of females was 87.9 days in AM and 83.3 in AS. The mean length of the pre-reproductive period (27.2 days in AM and 33.8 in AS) was much longer than that of the post-reproductive period (10.9 days in AM and 14.3 in AS). Females laid eggs at a nearly constant rate throughout their reproductive period. The reproductive valueV _x /V ₀ of the two species remained high for most of their adult life, as a result of prolonged survivorship and fertility periods. The total number of eggs produced per female was 442.9 (AM) and 80.1 (AS). The intrinsic rate of natural increaser was 0.070 (AM) and 0.044 (AS) per capita per day. The prolonged reproductive schedules, coupled with strong dispersal power, of these species no doubt have an adaptive value for living in highly disturbed tropical environments, where rainfall is ample but unpredictable and food resources are available throughout the year in a wide area, but distributed in widely flung patches. Contributions to the knowledge of population dynamics of tortoise beetles in Sumatra 3. Contribution No. 33 of Sumatra Nature Study (Entomology). Partly supported by Grants from Japan Society for Promotion of Science for JSPS-DGHE Scientific Cooperation (1980, 1982) and Grants-in-Aid for Overseas Scientific Survey from Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan (Nos. 56041027 and 58041030).