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Background: Over the past few decades, allergic diseases have become more prevalent and impact around 20% of the global population. There is clinical significance of allergic march as it places a burden on the quality of life of children and their families. Objectives: To assess the current situation of allergy conditions experienced by children attending elementary and junior high schools in Oyama and Tochigi cities, Japan. Methods: A letter was sent to parents informing them about an opt-in online survey concerning children's allergies along with a weblink and a QR code. A video explained the survey process and informed parents that their replies could not be retracted. Parents who had watched the explanation video and answered yes to participating were considered to have provided consent for the survey. Results: A total of 2038 valid replies were gathered. Allergic Rhinitis was the most commonly diagnosed allergy, followed by Asthma, Food Allergy, and Atopic Dermatitis. Around 70% of the children were affected by the allergies, of whom half had been affected by multiple allergies. Most children affected by Atopic Dermatitis, Food Allergy or Asthma were affected by other allergies. Atopic Dermatitis and Food Allergy were mostly diagnosed before Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis. Conclusions: Children who are diagnosed with either Atopic Dermatitis or a Food Allergy will likely be affected by other allergies later in life. Allergic march perpetuated an earlier peak diagnosis incident rate for allergic rhinitis. Allergic Rhinitis can occur independently from other allergies compared to Atopic Dermatitis, Food Allergy and Asthma.

This study investigated the immobilization of recombinant lipase onto modified Nickel foam to enhance enzyme lifespan and reusability in palm oil hydrolysis. Nickel foam, with its high porosity and extensive surface area, provides optimal support for enzyme catalysis, facilitating enhanced substrate-enzyme interaction. Employing Nickel foam as an immobilization matrix for lipase within a Rotating Bed Reactor (RBR) offers a novel method to optimize fatty acid production. Physicochemical analysis confirmed a 97.45 % immobilization yield and 74.93 % retention of its initial activity, demonstrating efficient immobilization and stability. The turnover frequency (TOF) of the immobilized lipase increased with rotation speed, achieving an optimal 55.38 % fatty acid conversion at 600 rpm over 9 hours. Compared to the free enzyme, the immobilized form showed notable thermal stability, retaining 85.40 % activity after two days at 60 °C, and maintained performance over six reuse cycles. Furthermore, the immobilized lipase required 3.82 times less enzyme to achieve the same amount of product as the free enzyme. These findings highlight the potential of Nickel foam as an effective support for His-tagged enzymes, significantly enhancing durability and reusability in palm oil hydrolysis, thus supporting more efficient fatty acid production.

In a previous study, we developed an integrated reaction system combining NH3 decomposition and CO2 methanation within a membrane reactor, significantly enhancing reactor performance through efficient H2 separation. Ru/Ba/γ-Al2O3 and Ru/ZrO2 were employed as catalysts for each reaction. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of our results, they were validated through 1D models using FlexPDE Professional Version 7.21/W64 software. Key parameters such as reactor arrangement, catalyst bed positioning, overall heat transfer coefficient, rate constants, and H2 permeance were investigated to optimize system efficiency. The study revealed that positioning the NH3 decomposition on the shell side and CO2 methanation on the tube side resulted in a better performance. Additionally, shifting the methanation catalyst bed downward by approximately one-eighth (10 mm from 80 mm) achieves the highest CO2 conversion. A sensitivity analysis identified the rate constant of the NH3 decomposition catalyst and the H2 permeance of the membrane as the most influential factors in enhancing CO2 conversion. This highlights the priority of improving membrane H2 permeance and catalytic activity for NH3 decomposition to maximize system efficiency.

Background: It is speculated that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic–associated reduction in the prevalence of respiratory tract infections has influenced the incidence of asthma in young children. Objectives: We investigated an association between the reduction in viral infections and the reduction in asthma in young children. Methods: The subjects were infants born in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which began in February 2020. A questionnaire survey related to asthma and allergy was conducted at 18 months and 3 years of age. These results were compared to those of age-matched infants during the nonpandemic period. Results: There were no epidemics of viral infectious diseases until the target child was 18 months old. At 18 months, the incidence of asthma/asthmatic bronchitis diagnosed by physicians in pandemic children was significantly lower than that in nonpandemic children. In 3-year-olds, no marked difference was observed between nonpandemic infants and pandemic children, except for an increase in respiratory syncytial virus infection in pandemic children. In a comparative study of the same children at ages 18 months and 3 years, an increased prevalence of asthma/asthmatic bronchitis was observed in pandemic children. Furthermore, the incidence of asthma after respiratory syncytial virus infection in pandemic infants was significantly lower than that in nonpandemic children. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic–associated reduction in respiratory tract infections may have reduced the incidence of asthma in early childhood, and respiratory syncytial virus infection after 18 months of age had little effect on the onset of asthma. These results indicate the importance of preventing respiratory tract infections in early infancy.

In this study, a novel CO2 photocatalysis system was developed by modifying TiO2 as a photocatalyst and introducing CO2 nanobubble to the system. TiO2 photocatalyst is modified by adding CNCs as support to increase the surface area and adding nitrogen doping to reduce the band gap and minimize electron–hole recombination. CO2 nanobubbles are introduced to increase the surface area between the CO2 gas and liquid phases to reduce mass transfer limitations. Thus, the amount of CO2 in the liquid phase increases. Nanobubbles have been successfully generated by the hydrodynamic cavitation method, which produces bubbles with two size clusters, namely 200–400 nm, which belong to nanobubbles, and 2–10 um, which belong to microbubbles. The TiO2 has an anatase phase and crystallite size of 20.90 nm for TiO2/CNCs and 19.20 nm for N-TiO2/CNCs. The activity test without nitrogen doping produced a methanol product of 0.77 mmol/g catalyst, which shows that this multiphase CO2 photocatalytic system is feasible for CO2 photocatalytic reactions. The addition of nitrogen doping succeeded in reducing the band gap from 3.20 eV to 3.10 eV and increasing the methanol yield. The photocatalysis activity test with N-doped TiO2/CNCs resulted in a higher methanol yield, which is 1.13 mmol/g catalyst under UV-C irradiation for 6 hours.

Background: In young healthy children, assessing airflow limitation may be difficult because of narrowing of the airways, which is a pathology of asthma, and responsiveness to bronchodilators. Objective: We investigated whether lung sound analysis could predict the development of recurrent wheezing (RW), which is one of the signs of asthma. Methods: In healthy children aged 3 to 24 months, we recorded and analyzed lung sounds before and after inhalation of bronchodilators and conducted a questionnaire survey. The children were followed up and assessed for the development of RW at age 3 years. Results: Of the 62 patients analyzed, 19 (30.6%) developed RW. The parameters ratio of power and frequency at 50% of the highest frequency of the dB power spectrum (RPF50) and ratio of power and frequency at 75% of the highest frequency of the dB power spectrum (RPF75), calculated by lung sound analysis, were lower in the RW group, with odds ratios of 0.77 (95% CI = 0.61-0.98) and 0.81 (95% CI = 0.66-0.99), respectively. The rate of change of lung sound analysis parameters after bronchodilator inhalation did not differ among the participants as a group; however, in the subgroup of children with a history of atopic dermatitis, the fourth area under the curve (B4) divided by the total area under the curve of 100 Hz to the highest frequency of the dB power spectrum (AT) and difference between the values of the ratio of power and frequency at 50% of the highest frequency of the dB power spectrum (ΔRPF50) were elevated in the RW group (P = .015 and P = .041, respectively). In the subgroup of children with total a IgE level greater than 20 kUA/L, the sensitivities and specificities for predicting the development of RW were 85.7% (95% CI = 48.7-99.3) and 68.8% (95% CI = 44.4-85.8), respectively, when the cutoff value of ΔRPF50 was set at 10.5%. Conclusion: The method of lung sound analysis allows noninvasive assessment of the airway, including airway hypersensitivity, in young children and may predict the risk of development of RW.

Background: Vascular-type Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (vEDS) is caused by collagen III deficit resulting from heterogeneous mutations in COL3A1, which occasionally causes sudden death due to arterial/visceral rupture. However, it is difficult to conduct basic research on the pathophysiology of vEDS. Moreover, the number of patients with vEDS is small, limiting the number of available samples. Furthermore, the symptoms of vEDS may vary among family members, even if they share the same mutation. Accordingly, many aspects of the pathology of vEDS remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the structural abnormalities in collagen fibrils and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in skin samples using electron microscopy as well as their relationship with clinical symptoms in 30 patients with vEDS (vEDS group) and 48 patients without vEDS (disease-negative control group).Methods: Differences between the two groups were evaluated in terms of the sizes of collagen fibrils using coefficient of variation (COV).Results: COV was found to be significantly higher in the vEDS group than in the disease-negative control group, indicating irregularity in the size of collagen fibrils. However, in the vEDS group, some patients had low COV and seldom experienced serious complications and ER stress.Conclusion: ER stress might affect collagen fibril-composing proteins. Moreover, as this stress varies among people based on environmental factors and aging, it may be the underlying cause of varying vEDS symptoms.

The work aimed to study the influence of co-existing gaseous mixture (H2–N2–CO–CO2) on hydrogen permeation through the counter-current flow of a Pd82–Ag18/α-Al2O3 membrane during transient start-up at 350 °C and atmospheric pressure. The membrane was operated for an 8-h. Its performance was measured in terms of hydrogen flux and recovery. The results were mapped on Sieverts-Fick's line and showed a slight membrane deactivation because of the presence of N2 and CO2 in the feed gas. The membrane deactivation became more profound when CO was a constituent. The effect of the co-existing gases on the hydrogen flux, in increasing order, was CO > CO2>N2. The co-existing gases, if present as a significant fraction, induces dilution, concentration polarization, and inhibition over the membrane surface, decreases the membrane performance in term of hydrogen recovery, time lag during transient start-up, and deactivation. It is recommended that the start-up might be run using equimolar H2–N2 mixture.

Pollen food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is caused by cross-reactivity with pollen; however, not all-pollen-sensitised individuals develop PFAS, and studies on the characteristics of PFAS development are limited in Japan. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors for the development of PFAS in Japanese children and adolescents sensitised to pollen and their association with pollen-specific IgE levels. The characteristics of PFAS were investigated in patients with allergies aged 3–18 years who visited Dokkyo Medical University Hospital between January 2016 and December 2019. Specific IgE levels for alder, Japanese cedar, ragweed, and orchard grass were measured in patients sensitised to any of the pollens. Patients were categorised into preschool (G1), elementary school (G2), and middle-high school (G3) groups. Overall, 600 patients were enrolled. The prevalence of PFAS was 8.5% in G1, 20% in G2, and 36.3% in G3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated strong associations between the risk of developing PFAS and older age (odds ratio (OR), 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06–1.19; P

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.

Abstract Background and objectives Using a lung sound analysis, the prognosis of asthma was investigated in infants with risk factors for asthma development by a long‐term observation. Methods A total of 268 infants were included (median age: 8 months old). The lung sound parameters (the ratio of the third and fourth area to the total area under the curve [A3/AT and B4/AT], and the ratio of power and frequency at 50% and 75% of the highest frequency [RPF50 and RPF75]) were evaluated at the first visit. At 3 years old, using a questionnaire, we examined the relationship between the lung sound parameters and risk factors of asthma development. Results Among the 268 infants, 175 infants were in good health and 93 had a history of acute respiratory infection (ARI) within 7 days at the first visit. Among the 3‐ to 12‐month‐old infants with an ARI, the A3/AT, B4/AT values in those with a history of asthma/asthmatic bronchitis, atopic dermatitis, and atopy were smaller than in the infants without such histories. Among the 13‐ to 24‐month‐old infants with an ARI, the A3/AT and B4/AT values in those with a wheezing history were larger than in the infants without such a history. Conclusions The characteristics of the lung sounds in infants with risk factors for asthma development were demonstrated over long‐term follow‐up. Lung sound analyses may be useful for assessing the airway condition of infants.

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

Hydrophobic pure-silica *BEA-type zeolite membranes with large pores were prepared on tubular silica supports by hydrothermal synthesis using a secondary growth method and were applied to the separation of alcohol/water mixtures by pervaporation (PV), an alternative energy-efficient process for production of biofuels. Amorphous pure-silica tubular silica supports, free of Al atoms, were used for preparing the membranes. In this study, the effects of the synthesis conditions, such as the H2O/SiO2 and NH4F/SiO2 ratios in the synthetic gel, on the membrane formation process and separation performance were systematically investigated. The successfully prepared dense and continuous membranes exhibited alcohol selectivity and high flux for the separation of ethanol/water and butanol/water mixtures. The pure-silica *BEA membranes obtained under optimal conditions (0.08SiO2:0.5TEAOH:0.7NH4F:8H2O) showed high PV performance with a separation factor of 229 and a flux of 0.62 kg·m−2·h−1 for a 1 wt % n-butanol/water mixture at 318 K. This result was attributed to the hydrophobicity and large pore size of the pure-silica *BEA membrane. This was the first successful synthesis of hydrophobic large-pore zeolite membranes on tubular supports with alcohol selectivity, and the obtained results could provide new insights into the research on hydrophobic membranes with high permeability.

Silicalite-1 membranes with high pervaporation performance were prepared successfully on a silica-particle-coated tubular silica support using a gel-free steam-assisted conversion (SAC) method. The effects of the silica-particle layer formed on the top surface of the silica support and the physical properties of the silica particles themselves on the membrane-formation process were investigated. The silica particles coated served as the additional silica source for growing the silicalite-1 seed crystal layer into the silicalite-1 membrane. As a result, it was possible to form a dense and continuous membrane even under gel-free conditions. Furthermore, it was found that the properties of the silica particles, such as their primary particle diameter, had a determining effect on their solubility during the steam treatment, that is, on the supply rate of the silica source. The silicalite-1 membrane obtained using the spherical-silica-particle-coated support had an approximately 9-μm-thick separation layer and showed very high pervaporation performance, exhibiting a separation factor of 105 and a flux of 3.72 kg m−2 h−1 for a 10 wt % ethanol/water mixture at 323 K. Thus, the gel-free SAC method can be used with a silica support coated with silica particles to readily prepare high-performance membranes without producing any chemical waste.

In this study, a novel CO2 photocatalysis system was developed by modifying TiO2 as a photocatalyst and introducing CO2 nanobubble to the system. TiO2 photocatalyst is modified by adding CNCs as support to increase the surface area and adding nitrogen doping to reduce the band gap and minimize electron-hole recombination. CO2 nanobubbles are introduced to increase the surface area between the CO2 gas and liquid phases to reduce mass transfer limitations. Thus, the amount of CO2 in the liquid phase increases. Nanobubbles have been successfully generated by the hydrodynamic cavitation method, which produces bubbles with two size clusters, namely 200-400 nm, which belong to nanobubbles, and 2-10 um, which belong to microbubbles. The TiO2 has an anatase phase and crystallite size of 20.90 nm for TiO2/CNCs and 19.20 nm for N-TiO2/CNCs. The activity test without nitrogen doping produced a methanol product of 0.77 mmol/g catalyst, which shows that this multiphase CO2 photocatalytic system is feasible for CO2 photocatalytic reactions. The addition of nitrogen doping succeeded in reducing the band gap from 3.20 eV to 3.10 eV and increasing the methanol yield. The photocatalysis activity test with N-doped TiO2/CNCs resulted in a higher methanol yield, which is 1.13 mmol/g catalyst under UV-C irradiation for 6 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]