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Buckwheat is a rare causative food for food protein–induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES). To date, it is unknown what laboratory data patients with FPIES caused by buckwheat show. We report a 4-year-old female with FPIES caused by buckwheat and the laboratory results. Skin prick, specific IgE antibody, and basophil activation tests were negative; however, the lymphocyte stimulation test (LST) revealed a 10.2-fold increase in activation compared with the negative control. In an open-label oral food challenge (OFC) of 80 g boiled buckwheat noodles, 3 hours after ingestion, vomiting occurred four times in a 2-hour duration. Therefore, we diagnosed the patient with FPIES caused by buckwheat. Her neutrophil count, C-reactive protein, and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine were elevated after the OFC. Moreover, the patient had a positive reaction to the LST, which may theoretically be useful in diagnosing non-immunoglobulin E-mediated gastrointestinal food allergies. FPIES caused by buckwheat is rare; however, we found that the same laboratory results were observed in a comparison of FPIES cases caused by other foods.

2022年9月現在，COVID-19の小児用mRNAワクチンは約288万回接種され，ワクチンに関連したアナフィラキシーとして報告されたのは9件であった．そのうち，専門家による検討で明らかなアナフィラキシーと判断されたのは2名で，100万接種あたり0.7件の発生率であった．これは既存のワクチンの副反応によるアナフィラキシー発生率と同等と考えられる．ワクチンの副反応はブライトン分類に基づき評価されるが，迷走神経反射を含む予防接種ストレス関連反応等の紛れ込みがみられるため，正確に診断することが必要である．アナフィラキシーが生じた場合は，治療の第一選択であるアドレナリンの筋肉内注射を躊躇せずに行う． mRNAワクチンに含まれるアレルゲンは，ポリエチレングリコール（PEG）である可能性が高いとされる．そのため，これまでにPEGを含む薬剤でアレルギー症状を生じた既往がある者に対するワクチン接種は慎重に判断する必要がある．しかし，接種前にPEGのアレルギー反応を確認する臨床検査は確立していないため，問診によるハイリスク患者の抽出が試みられている．いずれにしても，アナフィラキシーへの対応法を各施設で明文化し，スタッフ間で情報の共有を行うことで，アナフィラキシー発生時，確実に治療を行えるようにしておく必要がある．, By September 2022, approximately 2.88 million doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine had been administered in Japanese children, and 9 cases of vaccine-related anaphylaxis had been reported. Of these, 2 cases were determined to be definite anaphylaxis by expert review, for an incidence rate of 0.7 cases per million doses. This is equivalent to the incidence of anaphylaxis from adverse reactions to existing vaccines. If anaphylaxis occurs, pediatricians should administer an intramuscular injection of adrenaline, the first choice of treatment for anaphylaxis. The allergen contained in mRNA vaccines is likely to be polyethylene glycol （PEG）. Therefore, we must be cautious in our decision to vaccinate individuals with a history of allergic reactions to PEG-containing agents. However, since no clinical test has been established to confirm allergic reactions to PEG prior to vaccination, efforts are being made to identify high-risk patients by questionnaire. It is necessary for each facility to clearly state how to respond to anaphylaxis and share information among staff so that treatment can be reliably administered in the event of anaphylaxis.

This study is one of the few to develop a strategy that inhibits coke deposition by loading Cr on zeolite defects. We revealed that Cr6+ species, which interacted with hydroxyl groups in the zeolite framework inhibited coke deposition.

The modification of solid adsorbents with aminating agents amid severe climate change has been intensively studied. Previous organic carbon dioxide (CO2) sorbent like nanoporous activated carbon develops micropores but can be easily blocked by organic amine molecules during the impregnation process. Therefore, in this study, aminosilanes with different chain lengths and nitrogen (N) content were used in nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) modification prior to solid adsorbent aerogel fabrication to investigate their effect on pore formation, surface area, thermal stability, and capacity of CO2 capture. The NCC derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFB) has been modified with 3-(aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS), 3-(2-aminoethylamino) propyl-dimethoxymethylsilane (AEAPDMS), and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) diethylenetriamine (DET3) by grafting method, respectively. Based on the results, aerogel modified with the shortest chain length aminosilane, APTMS-NCC aerogel has a higher CO2 sorption (0.20 mmol/g adsorbent) than the unmodified NCC aerogel (0.10 mmol/g adsorbent). Meanwhile, the highest surface area properties and thermal stability are demonstrated by NCC grafted by the intermediate chain length aminosilane, AEAPDMS-NCC aerogel. Thus, our work concluded that NCC's modification with low and intermediate chain length and N content aminosilanes prior to aerogel fabrication improved the pore formation, surface area, and CO2 sorption of the aerogel. The aerogels from aminosilanes functionalized NCC could be developed as a new value-added product in the palm oil industry.

Little is known about the association between maternal use of heated tobacco products (HTPs) during pregnancy and the onset of allergy among offspring. This study aimed to determine whether maternal HTP smoking is associated with allergy in their offspring and to evaluate the potential dose-response association.In this web-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in July and August 2021 in Japan, we investigated 5688 pairs of postpartum women and infants (3 years). Clinical diagnoses of infant asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, or atopic dermatitis were reported. Using multilevel Poisson regression, we estimated the prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of allergy in infants with HTP smoking categories cross-classified by pregnancy periods, and adjusted for potential covariates including maternal cigarette smoking and partner's smoking status. Non-smokers served as the reference group.In total, 2.4% women smoked HTPs during pregnancy. Allergy occurred in 7.8% of the infants. The prevalence of allergy increased among the offspring of current HTP smokers during pregnancy at 15.2% (PR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.28-3.05); this association was the most pronounced during the first trimester but attenuated before pregnancy and postpartum. Dose-response associations were observed, for example a one-unit increase in daily maternal HTP use during pregnancy was associated with a 5% increase in allergy onset. Sub-group analyses excluding cigarette smokers during pregnancy and sensitivity analyses using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire showed a similar pattern.Maternal HTP smoking during pregnancy is associated with allergy in the offspring.

Extensive effort has been focused on the advancement of an efficient catalyst for CO2 reforming of CH4 to achieve optimum catalytic activity together with cost-effectiveness and high resistance to catalyst deactivation. In this study, for the first time, a new catalytic support/catalyst system of bifunctional NiO/dolomite has been synthesized by a wet impregnation method using low-cost materials, and it shows unique performance in terms of amphoteric sites and self-reduction properties. The catalysts were loaded into a continuous micro-reactor equipped with an online GC-TCD system. The reaction was carried out with a gas mixture consisting of CH4 and CO2 in the ratio of 1 : 1 flowing 30 ml min−1 at 800 °C for 10 h. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized catalysts were determined by various methods including X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption, H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), temperature-programmed desorption of CO2 (TPD-CO2), and temperature-programmed desorption of NH3 (TPD-NH3). The highest catalytic performance of the DRM reaction was shown by the 10% NiO/dolomite catalyst (CH4 & CO2 conversion, χCH4; χCO2 ∼ 98% and H2 selectivity, SH2 = 75%; H2/CO ∼ 1 : 1 respectively). Bifunctional properties of amphoteric sites on the catalyst and self-reduction behaviour of the NiO/dolomite catalyst improved dry reforming of the CH4 process by enhancing CH4 and CO2 conversion without involving a catalyst reduction step, and the catalyst was constantly active for more than 10 h.

Oral uracil and tegafur plus Leucovorin(UFT/LV)therapy is one of the standard adjuvant chemotherapies for colorectal cancer, and is widely used without any serious adverse events. Herein, we describe a case of UFT/LV-induced acute liver failure in a 75-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer. She was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and lymph node metastasis by postoperative histopathological analysis, and adjuvant chemotherapy was initiated. After 30 days of commencing the therapy, the patient visited our hospital with complaints of severe diarrhea and difficulty in food intake. The apparent cause of these symptoms was unclear on computed tomography(CT), and mild liver damage was revealed in blood test results. The hepatic disorder gradually progressed after the hospitalization, and the condition was diagnosed as acute hepatic insufficiency. Additionally, obvious atrophy of the liver parenchyma and significant ascites were confirmed on CT. Two months later, the platelet count decreased markedly, but fortunately, no bleeding occurred. There has been no recurrence since 2 years after the surgery without any additional adjuvant therapy.

BACKGROUND: The parameters of lung sounds have been suggested as biomarkers of airway changes. Using a commercially available lung sound analyzer, we investigated the characteristics of the lung sounds in infants with acute respiratory infection (ARI). METHODS: Infants with ARI who were 6 to 18 months of age were included in this study. The lung sound parameters, the ratio of the third area and fourth areas to the total area under the curve of the sound spectrum (A(3)/A(T) and B(4)/A(T)), and the ratio of power and frequency at 75% and 50% of the highest frequency of the power spectrum (RPF(75) and RPF(50)) were evaluated. With an original Japanese questionnaire based on American Thoracic Society-Division of Lung Disease, the risk factors of asthma development in infants were examined. RESULTS: One hundred ten infants with ARI and 248 infants in good health for comparison were included. All infants were completely analyzed, and then divided into 2 age groups for a stratification analysis (6–12 and 13–18 months). In the overall analysis, among infants with a history of wheezing, recurrent wheezing, allergy, and atopic dermatitis, the values of RPF(50) of infants with ARI were significantly lower compared with those without ARI. In the 6- to 12-month-old group, the RPF(50) values of atopy-positive infants with ARI were lower compared with those without ARI (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The lung sounds of the infants with asthma-developing risk factors were more affected by ARI than those of infants without risk factors. Analyzing the changes in the lung sounds induced by ARI may be useful for evaluating the characteristics of the airways in infants.

The energy shortage and environmental pollution crises have prompted the investigation of hydrogen based cleaner energy system. Therefore, hydrogen has been considered as a promising energy carrier due to its sustainability and environmentally friendly. This research considered the separation of hydrogen from mixed gas (H2 and N2) by using Pd-based membrane. In order to produce extra high purity of hydrogen, the separation of hydrogen using Pd-based membrane under steady state operation suffers from long time lag and membrane deactivation. These two technical problems leading to the decrease of hydrogen permeability were intensively addressed in this work. The separation of hydrogen was conducted by using a Pd/α-Al2O3 membrane with aim to improve the performance of separation, indicated by time lag and hydrogen recovery. The novel method of the dynamic membrane operation was applied by performing a composition modulation of the feed gas flow rate. The steady state operation was used as a base case for comparison to dynamic operation. All experiments were carried out at 325 °C, atmospheric pressure, and H2/N2 ratio of 1:1, while varying the switching time and concentration amplitude for dynamic operation. The Pd based membrane was prepared, characterized, and it showed no pin hole could be found. The permeability constants for unsteady state condition resulted in higher when compared to steady state condition. The experiment results showed that the recovery of hydrogen under steady state condition was 21%. On the other hands, the recovery of hydrogen under invoked unsteady state operation was significantly improved three times higher than that of the steady state operation. The recovery of hydrogen increased 8–13% when the feed gas amplitude decreased from 1.5 mL/s to 0.5 mL/s. Operations at 300 s switching time and 0.5 mL/s flowrate amplitude reached the hydrogen recovery up to 63%.

Novel hydrophilic PML-1 (PML: porous material transformed from a layered silicate) membranes were prepared on a porous tubular α-alumina support by a calcination-driven topotactic transformation of a hydrothermally pre-coated layered silicate SSA-1 (SSA: silicate synthesized with a quaternary amine) layer. The effects of seed crystal, synthesis time, and repetitive synthesis on the formation and morphologies of the supported layered silicate layers and corresponding membranes were investigated in detail to reveal that repetitive synthesis allowed the preparation of a dense and continuous layered silicate layer. The performance of the PML-1 membrane with an approximately 6-μm-thick separation layer for the pervaporation dehydration of aqueous acetic acid was examined, and the observed water-selective permeability was ascribed to the presence of numerous residual silanol groups in the membrane framework. These results indicate that the prepared PML-1 membrane is applicable to the separation of water/acetic acid mixtures and hence, provide a new approach to the further development and application of layered silicates as novel membrane materials.

The growth of a silicalite-1 coating on ZSM-5 zeolite crystals is one of the surface modification methods allowing to improve its catalytic p-xylene selectivity. Aiming to understand this increase in p-xylene selectivity, the effect of silicalite-1 coating on the adsorptive properties of ZSM-5 was investigated. Pulse chromatographic experiments revealed the silicalite-1 coating improved the separation factors of p-xylene over o-xylene and m-xylene, resulting in a better chromatographic separation of p-xylene over m-xylene on silicalite/ZSM-5 compared to that on parent ZSM-5. Additionally, slower adsorption kinetics of m-xylene on silicalite/ZSM-5 compared to ZSM-5 was also confirmed by gravimetric adsorption measurements. It is concluded that the enhanced p-xylene selectivity is achieved by steric effects leading to a more pronounced exclusion of m-xylene in the outer silicalite-1 layer and a reduction in number of surface adsorption sites.

Chabazite SSZ-13 has attracted wide attention due to its physiochemical properties and excellent potential as a catalyst for various application. In this study, pure phase SSZ-13 CHA zeolite with wide range of Si/Al ratio has been synthesized in a fluoride-free media by dry gel conversion method where the conversion of SSZ-13 from aluminosilicates precursor gel occurs under water vapor. The difference between products produced by conventional hydrothermal synthesis method and the new method has been investigated and characterized with XRD, SEM, XRF, and N2 adsorption. Pure SSZ-13 with wide range of Si/Al up to 182 was obtained by dry gel conversion method while pure SSZ-13 with higher Si/Al ratio than 20 with similar starting gel composition could not synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis method. Our work has demonstrated that dry gel conversion method was an effective method to synthesize pure SSZ-13 with a wide range of Si/Al ratio under fluoride media-free condition.

An efficient and simple methodology was proposed to synthesize CHA zeolite without the use of solvent and OSDA. The synthesis strategy is based on a mechanochemical-assisted interzeolite transformation using only Na-type FAU zeolite and KOH as starting materials, for ease of handling and large-scale production. The role of KOH on crystal transformation behaviors and adsorption characteristics of the obtained CHA zeolite were investigated. The important factor was the loading KOH into the cages of starting FAU zeolite with adjusted appropriate amount. In this method, vapor-solid interzeolite transformation occurs by local rearrangement of silicon and aluminum species without accompanying macroscopic dissolution of FAU zeolite, resulting in formation of CHA zeolite maintaining the Si/Al ratio of the starting FAU zeolite.

Zeolite Beta has been widely utilized on large molecular systems because of its three dimensional large micropores, 12-membered ring. Controlling amount of acid and its strength of zeolites depending on the composition is very crucial to improve their catalytic performance. Incorporation of heteroatoms into the framework of zeolites is one of the effective ways to control catalytic activities. However, it is difficult to synthesize high-silica zeolite Beta with heteroatoms, which has been limiting the functions of zeolite Beta. To overcome the problem, we developed a dry gel conversion method using dealuminated zeolites; we can synthesize *BEA type ferrisilicate (Fe-Beta). In this method, it is necessary to use two silica sources; dealminated Beta and colloidal silica. The dissolving process of these silica sources by NaOH plays a significant role in the crystallization to Fe-Beta. The Fe-Beta shows higher selectivity to isobutene on acetone-to-olefins (ATO) reaction compared to Al-Beta and Fe-MFI. This is due to the acid strength weakened by substituting Al by Fe and the large diffusivity of isobutene in the large micropores of *BEA structure.

Propane dehydrogenation (PDH) is one of the most promising candidates for the propylene production process to meet the growing demand of propylene for the future. There is an urgent need to develop catalysts for PDH. In this work, we have synthesized high silica Ga-Beta as a new candidate for a catalyst from dealuminated zeolite using the dry gel conversion method. A high silica Ga-Beta catalyst with a Si/Ga ratio of up to 177 can be synthesized. In the PDH reaction, the synthesized Ga-Beta showed the highest propane conversion and the highest propylene yield amongst the Ga-based zeolites. The combination of the Ga species being incorporated into zeolite frameworks, its large microporosity and Bronsted acidity is likely to lead to the excellent catalytic performance of Ga-Beta. Moreover, Ga-Beta with a higher Si/Ga ratio shows a longer catalyst lifetime for the PDH reaction, since the coke deposition rate decreased with the decrease in the amount of acid. This work provides new insights for the PDH reaction over Ga-based zeolite catalysts, and contributes to the progress in the activation and transformation of light alkenes to value-added chemicals.

Background: Breath sound parameters have been suggested as biomarkers of the airway narrowing in children. Using a commercially available breath sound analyzer, the characteristics of the airway condition were investigated in infants with the risk factors for asthma development. Methods: A total of 443 infants (mean age, 9.9 months; range, 3–24 months) were included in the present study. The breath sound parameters of the frequency limiting 99% of the power spectrum (F99), the roll-off from 600 to 1200 Hz (Slope) and spectrum curve indices, the total area under the curve of the dBm data (A3/AT) and the ratio of power and frequency at 50% and 75% of the highest frequency of the power spectrum (RPF75 and RPF50), were evaluated. Using an ATS-DLD based original Japanese questionnaire, we examined the characteristics of airway condition of infants. Results: Finally, 283 infants in good health were included in the present study. The RPF75, RPF50, Slope and F99 in infants with positive results of allergy and atopic dermatitis were significantly increased more than those in the infants with negative result. Conclusions: Our data highlight the characteristics of breath sounds in infants with risk factors for asthma. The breath sound analysis may be useful for assessing the airways of infants for asthma development. Keywords: Asthma, Breath sound analysis, Infant, Risk factors, Sound spectrum