This paper summaries non-formal environmental education in Japan from a historical standpoint. In pre-war Japan, although development based on the policy of "rich country and strong army" brought about environmental degradation in all parts of the country, this did not lead to the birth of environmental education. The nature conservation and antiKogai movements that emerged in the post-war era prompted the "environmentalization" of society and education, marking the birth of environmental education in Japan. This education expanded to include nature-oriented education starting in the 1980s and became institutionalized starting in the 1990s. In today's context characterized by neoliberal restructuring of the entire educational system in which environmental education is becoming increasingly marginalized, the organization of locally based critical and creative learning is urgently needed.

The adsorption dynamics of mixed adsorbed films of hexadecylpyridinium chloride (HPC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were investigated through external reflection absorption FTIR (ERA FTIR) and surface tension measurements, following two different experimental approaches. In the first approach (case 1), solutions of SDS and HPC, at the desired total concentration and composition, were first introduced into the measurement cell, and then, the measurement was started. In the second approach (case 2), the HPC solution, at a given concentration, was first introduced into the cell, and after adsorption equilibrium was reached, a certain volume of concentrated SDS solution (to attain the desired total concentration and composition) was added to the cell, and the measurement was continued. The experiments clearly showed that the adsorption rate, as well as the mechanism, differed significantly between the two approaches.There are many researches concerned with the adsorbed film of binary surfactant systems 1 from the thermodynamic 2,3 and spectroscopic 4,5 point of views, and the existence of the three distinguishable surface phases has been confirmed experimentally. The gaseous state is a 2D gas of adsorbed surfactant molecules. An increase in surface density often gives rise to a surface phase transition to the expanded (liquid-like) and the condensed (solid-like) state. These surface phase transitions and the properties of each surface state probably control the stability of colloidal dispersions such as foams and emulsions. Moreover, monolayer formation as well as multilayer formation have been reported in some systems. 6,7 Several anionic and cationic surfactant mixed systems form vesicles owing to ion pairing in aqueous solution.8 For the HPC SDS system, Kawai et al. reported multilayer formation at the air/water interface, 9 while our own studies using ERA FTIR measurements revealed that first the condensed monolayer with a hexagonally packed structure is formed, and then other layers accumulate beneath or over it to form the multilayer. 10 In the present study, we investigate the formation dynamics of both multilayers and condensed monolayers by measuring ERA FTIR and surface tension as a function of time, using two experimental approaches. In the first approach (case 1), mixed solutions of SDS and HPC were first introduced into the measurement cells, at the desired total concentration and composition, after which the measurement was started. In the second approach (case 2), the HPC solution at a given concentration was first introduced into the cell, and after the adsorption equilibrium was reached, the required volume of concentrated SDS solution was added to the cell to reach a certain total concentration and composition, and the measurement was continued.The surface tension was measured by the pendant bubble or drop method, at 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. 11 The total molality and composition were fixed at the values where multilayer formation was reported, i.e.,X 2 ¼ 0:64 andm ¼ 1:9 and 1.4 mmol ...

BackgroundDengue illness is one of the important mosquito-borne viral diseases in tropical and subtropical regions. Four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4) are classified in the Flavivirus genus of the family Flaviviridae. We prepared monoclonal antibodies against DENV capsid protein from mice immunized with DENV-2 and determined the cross-reactivity with each serotype of DENV and Japanese encephalitis virus.Methods and resultsTo clarify the relationship between the cross-reactivity of monoclonal antibodies and the diversity of these viruses, we examined the situations of flaviviruses by analyses of phylogenetic trees. Among a total of 60 prepared monoclonal antibodies specific for DENV, five monoclonal antibodies stained the nuclei of infected cells and were found to be specific to the capsid protein. Three were specific to DENV-2, while the other two were cross-reactive with DENV-2 and DENV-4. No monoclonal antibodies were cross-reactive with all four serotypes. Phylogenetic analysis of DENV amino acid sequences of the capsid protein revealed that DENV-2 and DENV-4 were clustered in the same branch, while DENV-1 and DENV-3 were clustered in the other branch. However, these classifications of the capsid protein were different from those of the envelope and nonstructural 1 proteins. Phylogenetic distances between the four serotypes of DENV were as different as those of other flaviviruses, such as Japanese encephalitis virus and West Nile virus. Large variations in the DENV serotypes were comparable with the differences between species of flavivirus. Furthermore, the diversity of flavivirus capsid protein was much greater than that of envelope and nonstructural 1 proteins.ConclusionIn this study, we produced specific monoclonal antibodies that can be used to detect DENV-2 capsid protein, but not a cross-reactive one with all serotypes of DENV capsid protein. The high diversity of the DENV capsid protein sequence by phylogenetic analysis supported the low cross-reactivity of monoclonal antibodies against DENV capsid protein.

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