Improvement in asthma endpoints when aiming for total control: salmeterol/fluticasone propionate versus fluticasone propionate alone.

Aims: To investigate the magnitude of change in morning peak expiratory flow (PEF), asthma symptoms, and rescue beta2-agonist use, when the aim of treatment is to achieve guideline-defined control.

Methods: This was a protocol-defined analysis of data from the previously-reported one-year, stratified, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group GOAL study comparing the use of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate with fluticasone propionate alone in achieving guideline-defined control; this analysis assessed the magnitude of change in single specific endpoints which were amalgamated into the composite measure of control used in the primary GOAL analysis.

Results: Across all strata, improvements were seen for each outcome at 52 weeks as compared to baseline: mean morning PEF, 58.

Measurement of femtometre-scale atomic displacements by X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

The frequencies of extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) measurements, which are oscillations occurring on the high-energy side of an X-ray absorption edge, can be used to identify interatomic distances in materials. We have used a dispersive X-ray spectrometer, which has no moving components, to make rapid measurements with minimal energy drift of the difference in EXAFS from the Fe K edge in an iron-cobalt thin film undergoing periodic strain through magnetostriction. We show that magnetostriction can be detected by differential X-ray absorption.