Highly accurate intensity factors of pure CO2 lines near 2 µm.

Line intensities for carbon dioxide are measured with a novel spectroscopic approach, assisted by an optical frequency comb synthesizer for frequency calibration purposes. The main feature of the spectrometer consists in the exploitation of optical feedback from a V-shaped high-finesse optical resonator to effectively narrow a distributed feedback diode laser at the wavelength of 2 µm. Laser-gas interaction takes place inside an isothermal cell, which is placed on the transmission from the cavity. High quality, self-calibrated, absorption spectra are observed in pure CO2 samples at different gas pressures, in coincidence with three lines of the R-branch of the ν1 + 2ν2 + ν3 band. Line intensities are determined using a global fitting approach in which a manifold of spectra are simultaneously analyzed across the range of pressures between 5 and 100 Torr, sharing a restricted number of unknown parameters. Various sources of uncertainty have been identified and carefully quantified, thus leading to an overall uncertainty ranging between 0.17% and 0.23%. The measured values are in a very good agreement with recent ab initio predictions.

Rotationally resolved water dimer spectra in atmospheric air and pure water vapour in the 188-258 GHz range.

New experimental results regarding "warm" water dimer spectra under equilibrium conditions are presented. An almost equidistant series of six peaks corresponding to the merged individual lines of the bound dimer with consecutive rotational quantum numbers is studied in the 188-258 GHz frequency range in water vapour over a broad range of pressures and temperatures relevant to the Earth's atmosphere. The series is a continuation of the sequence detected earlier at lower frequencies at room temperature. The signal-to-noise ratio of the observed spectra allowed investigating their evolution, when water vapour was diluted by atmospheric air with partial pressure from 0 up to 540 Torr. Analysis of the obtained spectra permitted determining the dimerization constant as well as the hydrogen bond dissociation energy and the dimer spectral parameters, including the average coefficient of collisional broadening of individual lines by water vapour and air. The manifestation of metastable states of the dimer in the observed spectra is assessed. The contribution of three possible pair states of water molecules to the second virial coefficient is evaluated over the broad range of temperatures. The work supports the significant role of the water dimer in atmospheric absorption and related processes.

[Efficacy and adverse effects of using large doses of corticosteroid preparations administered every other day]. / Effektivnost' i pobochnye iavleniia primeneniia kortikosteroidnykh preparatov v bol'shikh skheme po cherez den'.

The authors analyze the efficacy and side effects of prednisolone administered to 600 patients for myasthenia and polymyositis in a dose of 0.8 to 1.5 mg per kg body weight every other day for a period ranging from 3 months to 10 years. Practically complete remissions and substantial improvement were attained in 74% of the patients. None of them showed pronounced symptoms of hypercorticism. Of the side effects the most frequent were luniform face, vegetative disturbances, hirsutism. It is shown that the degree of the side effects is associated not with the duration of the prednisolone treatment, but with initially large doses of the hormone. Transition to supporting therapy in a dose of 0.4 to 0.6 mg/kg led to a substantial diminution and disappearance of the corticosteroid-produced side effects.