Decision by the Principle Board of the Polish Allergy Society

A review of isolates of Neisseria meningitidis and other laboratory evidence of meningococcal infection was carried out for the period 1990-1995. Thirty-three patients with evidence of meningococcal disease were identified over the six year period. Group B organisms were the most commonly identified, but an increase in Group C has occurred and is almost equal in number. Data from clinical, laboratory and public health sources should be centralized in a National Surveillance Centre.     

A PC program for diagnosing abnormal growth, growth velocity and acceleration from longitudinal observations

A human fibroblastic cell line transformed by the SV40-T antigen sequence and continuously cultured for 7 months displayed large periodic variations in cell proliferation. This contrasted with other characteristics of this cell line that remained constant: mosaic cell shape, absence of cell contact inhibition, and predominance of a hypodiploid population. Similar fluctuations in proliferative capacity were also found during the long-term growth of a transformed but nonimmortalized human fibroblastic line prior to senescence, and in the established hamster fibroblastic Nil cell line. This growth pattern suggests a recurrent stimulation of growth in these three transformed cell lines. The proliferation pattern from cultured transformed cells may thus be complex and requires further investigation. These variations presumably influence major cell functions. This observation has important implications for the analysis of data from such cell lines.     

A GAUSS program for computing the Foulkes-Davis tracking index for polynomial growth curves

Sixty-five patients initially seropositive for IgM anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) antibodies were tested for antibody levels to PGL-I, lipoarabinomannan (LAM), and the 35-kDa protein of Mycobacterium leprae at regular intervals for up to 30 months following the commencement of multidrug therapy (MDT). There was a steady decline in IgM anti-PGL-I and anti-35-kDa antibody levels to a mean of 17% and 14%, respectively, of the starting level at 24 months. The development of type 1 and type 2 reactions or the presence of drug-resistant organisms in a small number of patients had no significant influence on the changes in antibody level. The rate of decline was similar in different disease categories, but a higher proportion of lepromatous patients remained seropositive at the end of 2 years of treatment than borderline tuberculoid patients. By contrast, the mean IgG anti-LAM antibody levels remained stable or increased. Again the occurrence of type 1 or type 2 reactions had no significant effect on antibody level over 2 years. Falls in the IgM anti-PGL-I antibody levels mirrored the falls in the bacterial index in individual patients and provide an additional parameter for monitoring the response to chemotherapy.     

Controversy: Mechanical fatigue or hardening of rocks after their excavation

It is pointed out that strength value of rock samples changes with time after sample excavation from a quarry. Three main stages of strength variability with time are distinguished: 1-the stage of hardening connected with increase in the compression strength; 2-stage of equilibrium of the antagonistic processes: hardening and mechanical fatigue; 3-stage of manifestation of mechanical fatigue. Mechanical fatigue is favorable to the manifestation latent weakness surface to new crack formation and at last to total disintegration in rock samples.     

Non-contact methods of measuring moisture concentration in external layers of building partitions II—Monitoring of the water vapour condensation on porous surfaces

This paper present the results of the investigation into a potential application of laser radiation for the detection of phase transition processes occurring on the surface layers of porous materials. An attempt was made to discuss in the approximation equations, the relationships between coefficients of the reflected light, the temperature and humidity of the surrounding environment. Laser light reflected from the porous surface carries information about the roughness of the structure. The presence of water microdrop on the surface of the porous material, as a result of condensation and thus a phase transition, leads to the phase displacement of individual rays, which is represented by different images. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the reflected light parameters allows a dynamic study of the phase transition phenomena without mechanical intervention.     

A mixture theory for heat conduction in heterogeneous media

A mixture theory based on the ensemble-averaging technique is proposed for studying the thermal behaviour of heterogeneous media. Balance equations with partial heat fluxes and interaction terms are introduced for a two-component medium. Relations between these quantities and the ensemble-averaged (mean) temperatures of separate components are derived. The limits of application of widely used postulates of proportionality of the interaction term of difference in mean temperature of components is discussed. The effective conductivities of components in the mixture and the interaction coefficient are introduced and related to the so-called microstructure functions, which are functions of the microgeometry of the medium and the thermal properties of its components. Examples of the application of the theory to the calculation of the mean properties of a heterogeneous medium are presented.     

Changes in the respiratory system of patients with rheumatoid arthritis--personal observations

13 patients with RA admitted to our Institute with symptoms of respiratory involvement were described. Taking under consideration pulmonary function tests, radiological findings and histological examinations, we recognised 7 cases with interstitial lung disease, 3 cases with recurrent respiratory infection with bronchiectasis, 1 case with pleuritis, 1 with Caplan's syndrome and 1 with alveolar haemorrhage. The role of RF, and treatment with gold in the development of interstitial lung disease, as well as character of physiologic abnormalities concerning the small airways and its potential connection with bronchiolitis were discussed.