ObjectiveWe examined developmental aspects of the emotional awareness of adolescents by evaluating their responses to a self-reported questionnaire based on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20).MethodsThe items of the TAS-20 were modified to make them more understandable by adolescents, and nine new items related to a limited capacity for imagination were added. The Japanese Linguistic Ability Test and the multi-dimensional empathy scale for adolescents were administered to examine concurrent validity. Two hundred and two normative young adolescents and thirty-two adolescent patients with psychosomatic and/or behavioral problems participated in the study. Eighty junior high school students also participated in a separate examination of test-retest reliability.ResultsThirteen items were extracted after exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and four core factors were identified in the resulting scale: Difficulty Identifying Feelings (DIF), Difficulty Describing Feelings (DDF), Externally-Oriented Thinking (EOT) and Constricted Imaginal Capacities (CIC). Interestingly, scores on the multi-dimensional empathy scale correlated positively with DIF and DDF, but negatively with EOT and CIC. Higher DDF scores were associated with higher Japanese linguistic abilities. DIF/DDF scores were higher for females than males, irrespective of linguistic ability. Test-retest reliability coefficients were significant. The patient group showed significantly higher DIF scores than the normative students.ConclusionThe present findings indicated that subjective difficulties in identifying and describing feelings are associated with empathetic and linguistic abilities. The developmental aspect to emotional awareness herein described suggests that self-reported questionnaires for alexithymia must be carefully constructed and examined, even for adults.

Comorbidity of BA and AR was high in both populations of BA and AR. The symptoms of both BA and AR co-occurred on both a daily and seasonal basis. These results suggested that BA and AR share a common immuno-pathogenesis in the airway and need to be treated as a single airway disease.

The aim of this multi-centre prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the combination of sodium cromoglycate (SCG) and salbutamol (administered as a nebulized solution), compared to SCG alone and salbutamol alone, in the management of severe, intractable asthma in childhood. The study was an open, randomized, cross-over trial of 12 weeks' duration in children with moderate-to-severe intractable asthma. All treatments were administered twice daily by powered nebulizer. The primary outcome measure was the change in asthma severity, as measured by the mean asthma score during the last 2 weeks of a baseline period and the last 2 weeks of each treatment. Secondary outcome measure was the patient's opinion of the effectiveness of treatment. The change in asthma scores from baseline values were significantly greater with the combination treatment compared to each component administered separately. The mean difference in asthma score between the combination and salbutamol was: -7.5; 95% CI, -11.70 to -3.29 (p < 0.0001). The mean difference between the combination and SCG was: -8.53; 95% CI, -14.03 to -3.25 (p < 0.0001). Patients were also significantly in favor of combination treatment (p < 0.001 vs. salbutamol; p < 0.01 vs. SCG). Two patients reported adverse effects. We concluded that regular twice-daily inhalation of a combination of SCG and salbutamol gave better control of symptoms than previous treatments in patients with severe, intractable asthma. Few adverse effects with this therapy suggest that it is extremely useful, safe, and effective.

Formation of the methyl- and n-butyl monolayer on (Cl)–Si(111) surfaces by using the Grignard reaction and their electrochemical behavior was investigated. The modified Si(111) surfaces were indicated to be closely packed with a single moiety species. The methyl-modified Si(111) surface was composed of (1 × 1) adlattice structure. The methyl-modified surface was stable in aqueous solution, and showed essentially good electrical conductive property with p-n junction like behavior.

With initial hopes of establishing a diagnostic test for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), five types of immunoadsorbents were used to search for occult antiglobulins in sera from children. The immunoadsorbents included glutaraldehyde-aggregated globulin, heat-and glutaraldehyde-aggregated globulin, Affi-Gel-bound globulin, Sepharose-bound globulin, and bromoacetyl cellulosebound globulin. The glutaraldehyde-aggregated immunoadsorbents retained nonspecific protein. The Affi-Gel, Sepharose, and bromoacetyl cellulose adsorbents were effective and specific, but the Affi-Gel and bromoacetyl cellulose were impractical for routine use. Sepharosebound globulin was selected for use in a survey of 52 patients with JRA and 8 normal children. Materials resembling occult antiglobulins, measured as acid elutable