Observer variation in spirometry.
The intra-observer and inter-observer variation associated with clinical spirometry was statistically analyzed. The technical errors for the MEFR and MMF measurements were large enough to question their clinical reliability, especially in borderline instances. Measurement differences between two observers, as in this study, are statistically significant. This observation has special meaning for groups engaged in epidemiologic studies. Significant inter-individual variation will diminish the quality of pooled results.
Influence of cigarette smoking on the spirometric evaluation of employees of a large insurance company.
SUMMARy _ Forced expiratory spirograms were performed on 1,059 healthy employees of a large insurance company coincident with their routine, periodic, health evaluation. Reliable prediction equations for forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second, based on multiple regression analysis, were derived for this healthy population representative of white-collar workers residing and working in a large metropolitan area. Cigarette smoking among men was associated with lower forced vital capacity and forced expira­ tory volume in one second, and the level of cigarette smoking was related to the impairment of spirometric function. The data suggested reversibility of this impairment on cessation of cigarette smoking. Among women, there was little difference in forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second between current cigarette smokers and those who had never smoked cigarettes. The younger, female ex-smokers exhibited greater forced vital capacities and forced expiratory volumes in one second than those of younger, female nonsmokers; however, these differences disappeared rapidly with advancing age.
Resonant Auger decay study of C1s -> pi* core-excited OCS
The present work aims at characterizing short-lived C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) core-excited states of the OCS molecule based on the analysis of the vibrational fine structure and lineshape profiles of the high-resolution resonant Auger decay spectra recorded at the excitation energies along the C1s -> pi* resonance in the binding energy region 15-19eV. Very different behavior in terms of lineshape and resonant enhancement is observed for the (A) over tilde, (B) over tilde and (C) over tilde final states. This is explained by (1) the variation in the C-O bond lengths for the states involved in the electronic relaxation and (2) different contributions in terms of Mulliken population to the molecular orbitals determining the electronic character of the corresponding states. Since the final-state geometries are known from a number of previous experiments and ab initio calculations, the geometry of the C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) intermediate states can be predicted in analogy with e.g. the N-2, CO2 and N2O molecules. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)