[Computer-assisted stress analysis in rehabilitation with ABBA (job requirements and capacity analysis)]

ABBA is a recently devised, ergology-based expert system software for vocational analysis, documentation and evaluation--inter alia in the context of medical and vocational rehabilitation-, drawing on some 20 years of experience in job analysis with the AET (Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur Tätigkeitsanalyse). Designed for broad and differentiated coverage, a PARADOX data bank comprising the entire data collected enables comparison of job requirements and client performance potential, reaching for beyond individual analysis on account of its integration of job profiles for a given industry or occupation, or for an entire company. The related, and easy-to use, software for data processing and appraisal is now being made available by ABBA along with dialogue-based ergological know-how.

Comparison of sodium nitroprusside and isoprenaline aerosols in histamine-induced bronchial asthma of the guinea pig

1. Sodium nitroprusside (NP) is a potent relaxant of the guinea pig's tracheal smooth muscle contracted by carbachol or histamine. 2. At high doses, aerosols of NP delay the occurrence of symptoms of bronchial asthma in guinea pigs subjected to a histamine aerosol. However, the beta-adrenergic bronchodilator isoprenaline is at least 2,600 times more potent as an anti-asthmatic than NP on a molar basis. 3 NP and isoprenaline both reduce the blood pressure in rats when given either as infusion or as aerosol. The aerosol/infusion dosage ratio for comparable reductions of blood pressure were 1 for isoprenaline, and 10 for NP. After cessation of the application of the NP aerosol, the blood pressure rose more than twice as fast (t1/2 of blood pressure recovery) than after cessation of the application of the isoprenaline aerosol. 4. The poor antiasthmatic effect of NP aerosols may result from low permeability of the bronchial epithelium to the NP anion, from partial destruction in the airways or during tissue permeation, and from short half life of NP in the circulating blood. 5. Because of its inferiority to known bronchodilators, aerosols of NP cannot be recommended for the treatment of acute bronchial asthma.