Influences of the variation in inflow to East Asia on surface ozone over Japan during 1996–2005

Air quality simulations in which the global chemical transport model CHASER and the regional chemical transport model WRF/chem are coupled have been developed to consider the dynamic transport of chemical species across the boundaries of the domain of the regional chemical transport model. The simulation captures the overall seasonal variations of surface ozone, but overestimates its concentration over Japanese populated areas by approximately 20 ppb from summer to early winter. It is deduced that ozone formation around Northeast China and Japan in summer is overestimated in the simulation. On the other hand, the simulation well reproduces the interannual variability and the long-term trend of observed surface ozone over Japan. Sensitivity experiments have been performed to investigate the influence of the variation in inflow to East Asia on the interannual variability and the long-term trend of surface ozone over Japan during 1996–2005. The inflow defined in this paper includes the recirculation of species with sources within the East Asian region as well as the transport of species with sources out of the East Asian region. Results of sensitivity experiments suggest that inflow to East Asia accounts for approximately 30 % of the increasing trend of surface ozone, whereas it has much less influence on the interannual variability of observed surface ozone compared to meteorological processes within East Asia

介護保険外部サービス利用型特定施設の開設状況と経営上の特性

2005年介護保険法改正で、外部サービス利用型特定施設が創設された。このサービス提供形態は施設サービスの細分化とサービス提供主体の多様化を進めるものであり、施設と在宅の格差を縮小し住む場に関わらず公平な公的サービスの利用を可能とする。本論の目的は、この新形態の施設の開設状況と経営上の特質を明らかにすることである。外部サービス型施設について『WAM NET』介護保険事業者情報などによりデータを収集し分析した。施設数は特定施設全体の施設数の増加を下回り制度創設年度に８割以上が開設した後は微増状態であり、養護老人ホームによる開設が94.93％を占めていた。外部サービスを委託可能な居宅介護事業所を自ら経営している法人が97.6％あり、訪問系・通所系ともに経営している法人が72.84％、職員の兼務状況をみると介護職員では84.08％、相談員では69.67％、計画作成担当者は77.18％が兼務者であるなどの状況が明らかとなった。The 2005 revisions to the Long-Term Care Insurance Act introduced the Specified Facilities with Care-Service Outsourcing. These revisions increase the range of services offered by care facilities, as well as increase the number and variety of service providers. The intent seems to have been to reduce the disparity between the care offered in care facilities and that available to people living at home, as well as to make comparable services equally available to all, in whatever area they may live. The purposes of this paper are to clarify the establishment situation of the facilities of this new form, and the characteristic on management. Data was collected from the“WAM NET”care-service provider database, with particular reference to facilities outsourcing their care services. Analysis revealed that the number of newly-founded care-service companies has been less than the number of new specified facilities opened during the same period. Furthermore, over 80% of these care service providers appeared in 2005, the year the revisions were introduced, and their numbers have only slightly increased since then. 94.93% of these new care-service companies are connected to Care Facility for the Elderly. 97.6% of the companies providing home-visit services also include the possibility of outsourcing to other care-service providers, and 72.84% offer both outpatient care services and home-visit services. Many of their employees have professional duties in more than one field: 84.08% of the caregivers, 69.67% of the advisors and 77.18% of the care-planners also perform duties in fields other than their specialization

The Crystal Structure of p-Azoxyanisole

The stable crystalline form ofp-azoxyanisole is assigned to space group P21/a (C~h) with four molecules in the unit cell having parameters a= 15-776, b= 8.112, e= 11-018 A and b\u27= 114 57 °. The crystal structure was refined by full-matrix least-squares to a final R value of 0.091 using 2507 reflections measured with a manually operated single-crystal diffractometer. The molecules are arranged in the unit cell with their long axes approximately perpendicular to the (100) plane. The angle between the normals to the two benzene rings is 22.6 °, and the -N=N- bond conformation departs from the planar trans position by approximately 4 2 °

Click chemistry and its unique benefits in composite formulation

Although proposed only 15 years ago, “click” chemistry has already become a powerful tool in many synthetic/preparatic schemes in polymer science. The simplicity and robustness of “click” chemistries render them ideal candidates in engineering composite materials with well-defined physiochemical properties for vast range of applications. Herein we present the advances in the implementation of thiol-X “click” chemistries in various composite materials, exemplified by dental restoration materials, shape memory programmable composites/laminates and latex composite materials. In the first example, we developed a series of thiol-ene monomers in which esters are absent so that they are hydrolytically stable in basic conditions. We strengthened these thiol-ene polymers with functionalized silica nanoparticles (up to 65 wt% loading). Compared with the commercialized polymethacrylate systems, these polymeric composites show exceptional stability in both chemical and mechanical properties. Second example involves a two-stage thiol-isocyanate-methacrylate network polymer used for fabricating of programmable surface patterns and geometric shapes, which are induced by external strain and are erasable or permanently fixable. Moreover, the narrow and highly controllable glass transitions were also utilized for constructing layer-by-layer multiple shape memory laminates. Further, composites with multiple Tg’s were also prepared by polymerization induced in situ phase transition, and polymeric microparticle-filled thiol-Michael materials. In final example, several novel latex materials were developed by the thiol-Michael addition miniemulsion polymerization. Inherently functionalized latex films were shown to undergo facile further surface functionalizations, as well as the dual-cure latex materials by a second stage photo-polymerization of excess acrylates after the first stage off-stoichiometric thiol-acrylate Michael addition polymerization

Polymorphism of β2-Microglobulin Amyloid Fibrils Manifested by Ultrasonication-enhanced Fibril Formation in Trifluoroethanol

This research was originally published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Eri Chatani, Hisashi Yagi, Hironobu Naiki and Yuji Goto. Polymorphism of β2-Microglobulin Amyloid Fibrils Manifested by Ultrasonication-enhanced Fibril Formation in Trifluoroethanol. J. Biol. Chem. 2012; 287, 22827-22837. © the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biolog