Comparative studies on nebulizers for antigen inhalation in experimental asthma

The majority of cases of allergic asthma in experimental animals have been provoked by inhalation with mist antigen. Because of the inherent inability of some species to breathe through the mouth, including guinea pigs, mice and rats, an upper airway response may be substantially involved in experimental asthma induced by antigen inhalation. With this in mind, we evaluated three types of nebulizers (a hand-made glassware pressure nebulizer (GPN), a DeVilbiss nebulizer (DN) and an ultrasonic nebulizer (UN)) with respect to their ability to adequately sensitize/challenge guinea pigs by antigen inhalation in bronchial asthma. Several solutions and suspensions, including antigen and AI(OH)3, were atomized with these three nebulizers. The results obtained were as follows: irrespective of the type of solution or suspension used, of the three nebulizers, GPN generated mists with the smallest diameter. The rank order of median diameter of the mists generated was GPN (1.6-2.1 μm) < DN (2.2-3.5 μm) < UN (4.3-4.7 μm). When Evans blue mists produced by the GPN were presented to guinea pigs, 79% of the mist trapped in the whole airway was found in the lung, while 49 and 79% of mists produced by DN and UN, respectively, were already deposited in the upper airway. These results strongly suggest that GPN is more useful for inhalation challenge in experimental asthma in animals

Dry etching of ternary metal carbide TiAlC via surface modification using floating wire-assisted vapor plasma

Abstract Dry etching of ternary metal carbides TiAlC has been first developed by transferring from wet etching to dry etching using a floating wire (FW)-assisted Ar/ammonium hydroxide vapor plasma. FW-assisted non-halogen vapor plasma generated at medium pressure can produce high-density reactive radicals (NH, H, and OH) for TiAlC surface modifications such as hydrogenation and methylamination. A proposed mechanism for dry etching of TiAlC is considered with the formation of the volatile products from the modified layer

Purinergic receptors are involved in tooth-pulp evoked nocifensive behavior and brainstem neuronal activity

Abstract Background To evaluate whether P2X receptors are involved in responses to noxious pulp stimulation, the P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptor agonist α,β-methyleneATP (α,β-meATP) was applied to the molar tooth pulp and nocifensive behavior and extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation in trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc), trigeminal spinal subnucleus interpolaris (Vi), upper cervical spinal cord (C1/C2) and paratrigeminal nucleus (Pa5) neurons were analyzed in rats. Results Genioglossus (GG) muscle activity was evoked by pulpal application of 100 mM α,β-meATP and was significantly larger than GG activity following vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline PBS) application (p < 0.01). The enhanced GG muscle activity following 100 mM α,β-meATP was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) by co-application of 1 mM TNP-ATP (P2X1, P2X3 and, P2X2/3 antagonist). A large number of pERK-LI cells were expressed in the Vc, Vi/Vc, C1/C2 and Pa5 at 5 min following pulpal application of 100 mM α,β-meATP compared to PBS application to the pulp (p < 0.05). The pERK-LI cell expression and GG muscle activity induced by 100 mM α,β-meATP pulpal application were significantly reduced after intrathecal injection of the MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD 98059 and by pulpal co-application of 1 mM TNP-ATP (p < 0.05). Conclusions The present findings suggest that activation of P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors in the tooth pulp is sufficient to elicit nociceptive behavioral responses and trigeminal brainstem neuronal activity

A Report on the Effectiveness of Digital Textbook （1）－Case of Japanese and Social Studies －

教科学習などにおけるデジタルコンテンツの教育活用が進められてきている。しかしながら、その利用に関わっては、その所在情報、内容情報について、学校や教員に十分に認識されているとは言い切れず、その活用可能性に関わって見通しがもてていない状況がある。そこで本研究報告では、現在出版されている教科書準拠のデジタルコンテンツ（国語科・社会科）に着目し、授業場面におけるその利用可能性とさらに改善が求められる点について検討を行った