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OBJECTIVE: Body mass index (BMI) was determined in a population of school students from three provinces of central Italy. Fasting serum leptin concentrations were assayed in a large number of subjects from the same area, to determine their distribution as plotted against the standard deviation score (z-score) of BMI. DESIGN, SUBJECTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight were recorded from 31 170 subjects (16 175 male and 14 995 female), aged 3-18 y, to construct BMI charts of children and adolescents from central Italy. Percentiles and zscore were calculated using the LMS method of Cole. Serum leptin concentrations were assayed in 1929 subjects (996 male and 933 female) after overnight fasting. RESULTS: BMI percentiles of central Italy were higher than those from standards of other European and USA populations. When plotted against the z-score of BMI, serum leptin values were distributed according to an exponential curve, showing a steep pattern and a wide distribution, as BMI values increased. The hypothesis of the existence of two subgroups, based on a different relation between leptin and BMI, was verified and a separation point between the two subgroups was identified using cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and a novel method developed by our group, hereafter referred to as 'regression clustering'. This method allows identification of the value of the independent variable (z-score of BMI) which can be taken as a separation point. This analysis provided the best results and indicated the following separation points: central Italy standard, z-score = 0.72 (76.4[sup th] percentile) for males and z-score = 0.69 (75.5[sup th] percentile) for females; French standard (the one suggested for a European population by the European Childhood Obesity Group, ECOG), z-score = 1.46 (92.8[sup th] percentile) for males and z-score = 1.96 (97.5[sup th] percentile) for females. Similar but variable results were obtained when the same analysis was performed on serum... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is: 1) to emphasize the importance of the capnogram in the investigation of ventilatory disorders of the obstructive type; 2) to propose a numerical parameter representative of the capnogram; 3) to ascertain, by means of this parameter, possible correlations between capnogram changes and other tests of lung function. This parameter enables a quantitative criterion to be substituted for a descriptive one in assessment of the capnogram; The study covered 245 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease; We observed that as the capnographic tracing becomes more and more pathological, the lung function tests show progressive deterioration.