Space and time resolved discharge images from an alternating-current plasma display panel have been observed by a highspeed single-frame camera to investigate the electron temperatures. The plasma propagation speed on the cathode was measured to be 0.9 mm/s and 1.3 mm/s, respectively, and that on the anode was measured to be 1.8 mm/s and 2.7 mm/s, respectively, at driving frequencies of 50 kHz and 100 kHz. This finding indicates that the electron mobility on the anode is approximately two times the ion mobility on the cathode. Particularly, the electron temperatures in alternating-current plasma display panels (AC-PDP) were found to be 1.2 eV and 2.5 eV at driving frequencies of 50 kHz and 100 kHz, respectively, in this experiment, which are in good agreement with those obtained by a micro-Langmuir probe and the laser Thomson scattering method.

To investigate whether MCP-1, CINC, RANTES, osteopontin and ICAM-1 mRNA could be induced in cultured rat mesangial cells by interleukin-1beta(IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and whether MCP-1 and CINC gene expression could be modulated by dexamethasone, Northern blot assays were performed. IL-1beta induced MCP-1, CINC, RANTES and ICAM-1 gene expression in a time dependent manner. IL-1beta-induced MCP-1, CINC and ICAM-1 mRNA amount were maximal at 3 hours exposure around 14.5, 15.7, 2.2 folds increase and IL-1beta-induced RANTES mRNA at 24 hours around 2.0 folds. TNF-alpha and LPS also induced MCP-1 and ICAM-1 gene expression. TNF-alpha also induced RANTES gene expression but LPS did not. On the other hand, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and LPS had little effect on osteopontin gene expression but fetal calf serum could increase osteopontin mRNA. Dexamethasone suppressed the IL-1beta-induced MCP-1 and CINC mRNA. These results suggest that, through these gene expressions, mesangial cells are able to communicate directly or indirectly with macrophages or neutrophils, which may lead to glomerulosclerosis.

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