Assessment of impairment/disability due to occupational asthma through a multidimensional approach.

Subjects with occupational asthma (OA) are often left with permanent sequelae after removal from exposure, and assessing their impairment/disability should utilise various tools. The aim of the present study was to examine whether: 1) assessment of inflammation in induced sputum is relevant to impairment; and 2) use of questionnaires on quality of life and psychological factors can be useful for the evaluation of disability. In total, 40 subjects were prospectively assessed for permanent impairment/disability due to OA 2 yrs after cessation of exposure. Impairment was assessed as follows: 1) need for asthma medication; 2) asthma severity; 3) airway calibre and responsiveness; and 4) degree of inflammation in induced sputum. Disability was assessed according to quality of life and psychological distress. There was a significant improvement in airway responsiveness and inflammation from diagnosis to the present assessment. Sputum eosinophils > or =2% and neutrophils >60% were present in eight (20%) and 12 (30%) out of all subjects, respectively, one or the other feature being the only abnormalities in 15% of subjects. Quality of life was moderately affected and there was a prevalence of depression and anxiety close to 50%. In the assessment of subjects with occupational asthma, information on airway inflammation and psychological impacts are relevant to the assessment of impairment/disability, although these findings need further investigation.

Automatic sleep-wake scoring in the rat on microcomputer APPLE II.

An automatic scoring system in real time of sleep-wake behavior in the rat was elaborated on microcomputer APPLE II. Four electrophysiological recording channels were used to distinguish seven behavioral states. Because the rat shows behavioral stages which are short-lasting, the analysis is performed second by second. It is based on the detection of the signal energy in specific frequency bands. The percentage of time passed in each stage is computed every 15 min, 1 h, 6 h and 24 h, the analysis extending during several days without interruption. The data are also printed out in a listing in real time and histograms in batch mode. Because of the interindividual differences, a calibration is needed. It is performed with a program in batch mode which allows an adjustment of parameters of determination from given specific digitized sequence in each rat. The accuracy of the automatic method was tested by the C contingency test, the theoretical maximal level being at 0.93: the intra- and inter-researchers contingency was 0.89, that between researchers and the computer was 0.85.

[Real-time automatic analysis of sleep-waking behavior in the rat recorded by telemetry (author's transl)]. / Analyse automatique en temps réel du comportement veille-sommeil chez le rat enregistré par radiotélémesure.

The authors present a method of real-time automatic analysis of the sleep-waking cycle in the rat recorded by a miniature telemetry system. This method detects seven behavioural phases second by second. The correspondance computer-corrector is 88 p. 100 for the three principal phases: waking, slow sleep and paradoxical sleep.