In situ enhancement of pulmonary surfactant function using temporary flow reversal.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a pulmonary disease with a mortality rate of ∼40% and 75,000 deaths annually in the United States. Mechanical ventilation restores airway patency and gas transport but leads to ventilator-induced lung injury. Furthermore, surfactant replacement therapy is ineffective due to surfactant delivery difficulties and deactivation by vascular proteins leaking into the airspace.

A survey of size-fractionated dust levels in the U.S. wood processing industry.

A survey of size-fractionated dust exposure was carried out in 10 wood processing plants across the United States as part of a 5-year longitudinal respiratory health study. The facilities included a sawmill, plywood assembly plants, secondary wood milling operations, and factories producing finished wood products such as wood furniture and cabinets. Size-fractionated dust exposures were determined using the RespiCon Personal Particle Sampler.

Longitudinal respiratory health study of the wood processing industry.

Background: A 5-year longitudinal study examined nonmalignant respiratory effects of wood processing dust exposure.

Methods: Ten study plants, investigator selected from 447 candidate plants, included 1 sawmill-planing-plywood, 1 plywood, 1 milling, 3 cabinet and 4 furniture facilities. Personal dust samples (2363) were divided into three size fractions (extrathoracic, tracheobronchial, and respirable) which were apportioned into wood solids (WS) and residual particulate matter (RPM), and used to compute each individuals TWA exposure for the 6 exposure types.

Limits of longitudinal decline for the interpretation of annual changes in FEV1 in individuals.

Objective: Spirometry-based screening programmes often conduct annual assessment of longitudinal changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) to identify individuals with excessive rates of decline. Both the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) recommend a reference limit value of > or =15% for excessive annual decline. Neither the ATS nor the ACOEM adjust this limit for the precision of the existing spirometry data.

Case definitions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the definitions for classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) recommended by the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Using data from the U.S.

Longitudinal limits of normal decline in lung function in an individual.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to propose a method of calculating longitudinal limits of normal decline (LND) in forced expiratory volume in 1 second to identify individuals with an excessive decline in lung function and to compare the method with other published LND methods.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from 11 workplace-based spirometric monitoring programs conducted from 1987 to 2001 on 12,729 workers to evaluate effectiveness of each LND method in identifying a "true" excessive decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second defined using two criteria: slope >60 mL/year or >90 mL/year estimated over 5 or more years of follow up.

Results: In comparison to the LND proposed by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the proposed method had 5.

The effects of ethanol ingestion on the accuracy of pulmonary diffusing capacity measurement.

Background: Erroneous diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (Dlco) values as measured by spectrophotometry were observed at our facility in ethanol-intoxicated subjects. An atypical methane curve tracing was noted in these subjects.

Study Objectives: We hypothesized that ethanol intoxication interferes with Dlco measurements obtained using methane and designed a study to assess the blood ethanol level at which this occurs.

On-filter determination of collected wood dust by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

A new analytical technique based on DRIFTS spectroscopy has been developed for the specific and sensitive determination of size-fractionated wood dust from 37 mm glass fiber filter samples collected with the Respicon sampler. A translational diffuse reflectance apparatus was modified to accept filter samples by incorporating a special filter holder in the sample stage and a clockwork motor to drive the translational stage during infrared scanning, thus providing an average analysis across the filter face. Filter samples were pre-treated with ethyl acetate to uniformly redeposit dust onto the filter and extract potential chemical interferences.

Field performance of the RespiCon for size-selective sampling of industrial wood processing dust.

The RespiCon sampler is a multistage virtual impactor that simultaneously collects the ISO/CEN/ACGIH size fractions of inhalable, thoracic, and respirable particulate matter. The field performance of the device for measurement of industrial wood processing dust was evaluated against reference size-selective samplers: the IOM sampler (inhalable dust), the GK 2.69 cyclone (thoracic dust), and the SKC aluminum cyclone (respirable dust).

Spray-painting and chronic airways obstruction.

Background: The aim was to investigate the respiratory response of HDI-based paint aerosol within the context of the protection afforded by current exposure guidelines.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 240 painters spraying polyurethane enamels was undertaken at four aircraft maintenance plants. Questionnaire and spirometric data were related to gravimetric measures of cumulative total and respirable paint aerosol (TPA and RPA) and estimated isocyanate in total and respirable aerosols (TIA and RIA).