Comparison of weight reduction in different designs of solid and hollow obturator prostheses

Seven types of the partially edentulous maxillectomy arches based on Aramany's classification were designed to evaluate the weight reduction of hollow obturator prostheses. Six obturator prostheses were made for each type of maxillary defect, three of the solid type and three of the hollow type. The weight of each of the 42 obturator prostheses was measured and all of the data were collected and statistically analyzed. The results showed that the hollow obturator prostheses had significantly increased weight reduction, from 6.55% to 33.06% depending on the size of the defect.

Percutaneous superfine-needle aspiration biopsy of intrathoracic lesions guided by simulator

The result of percutaneous superfine-needle aspiration biopsy in 100 patients with intrathoracic lesions guided by simulator is reported. The success rate of aspiration biopsy was 94%, and no major complication was observed. The method of localization by simulator had advantages such as accuracy in localization, no limitation of mass size and site, and a high rate of puncture success. Cell smears obtained by superfine needle were similar to those obtained by fine- or large-bore needles, but fewer complications were encountered. This is a useful technique that can provide early cytological diagnosis, especially for the peripheral type of pulmonary mass.

An outbreak of epidemic diarrhoea in adults caused by a new rotavirus in Anhui Province of China in the summer of 1983

Shexian County of Anhui Province in East China experienced a severe outbreak of nonbacterial diarrhoea in May and June of 1983. Over 20,0000 cases were reported. Most were adults of 20 to 50 years old. The isolated virus was morphologically indistinguishable from ordinary infantile rotavirus, but CF and ELISA tests showed that the new virus lacked the common group-A antigen shared by ordinary rotavirus. Nine of 10 convalescent-phase and three paired sera of patients showed antibody positive, with a greater than four-fold antibody rise against new rotavirus in the CF test. Seventeen faecal samples from patients showed identical, and special, electropherotype. They all had a double-stranded RNA with 11 discrete segments. The RNA profiles were quite different from those of reference rotavirus Wa strain and ordinary infantile rotaviruses. Third and 4th segments were near to each other, 5th and 6th segments were very close, but 7th, 8th, and 9th segments were widely separated. This study indicates the new virus can be identified as part of a new group of rotaviruses. This new rotavirus has been incriminated as the causative agent of the epidemic.

Epidemiological studies of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome: analysis of risk factors and mode of transmission

During an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in the Anhui Province of China, a door-to-door survey was conducted of all of the 10,024 residents of eight village communities. The incidence rates were higher in males than in females and higher in adults than in children. Of all the residents surveyed, however, those who had slept on the ground or had been engaged in heavy farm work were at a significantly higher risk of illness than were those who slept on wooden beds or did light work. Among men who did heavy farm work and who gave a history of sleeping in straw huts on the drained swamp, the attack rate was 2.33 times higher than it was for those sleeping exclusively in their permanent homes. Among both sexes, threshers had a significantly higher attack rate than did nonthreshers. Suspicions that trombiculid mites or gamasoid mites act as vehicles of transmission cannot be accepted as an explanation for the association of the risk of illness with the type of work done and with sleeping arrangements. Circumstantial evidence supports our hypotheses of airborne transmission and transmission by inoculation of infectious materials into skin lesions.

Observation on erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in infants and children with Hirschsprung's disease

In 31 cases of Hirschsprung's disease, the mean value of erythrocyte AChE activity was discovered to be 91.24 +/- 10.24 u/mL, being significantly higher than that from 127 normal children of 73.51 +/- 9.36 u/mL (P less than 0.001); whereas serum ChE mean value of 14.49 +/- 4.04 u/mL showed no difference from normal control (16.89 +/- 8.86 u/mL, P greater than 0.05). In addition, the erythrocyte AChE activity of six newborns with Hirschsprung's disease was also found to be much higher than its own normal control. It was therefore, concluded that this assay may be of supplementary diagnostic significance in diagnosing neonatal Hirschsprung's disease.