Effects of air pollution on the respiratory tract of children.

The effects of air pollution on pulmonary function and respiratory status was evaluated in 1,626 school aged children from a European Alpine region. Based on measurements of SO2, NO2, and O3 as well as infrared imaging and lichen mapping, three zones of exposure were defined. Results of standardized respiratory questionnaires, medical examinations, and lung function tests were compared among the children in the three different exposure zones.

Cri du chat-syndrome in combination with partial trisomy 9 p.

A partial monosomy 5p leading to the Cri du chat-Syndrome combined with a partial trisomy 9p was observed in a mentally defective boy with typical clinical features for both syndromes. This chromosomal aberration is inherited from a t [5; 9] (p. 13.

[Mechanism of a genetically conditioned failure to thrive shown in a patient with ring chromosome 18].

The influence of genetic factors on growth is only partially understood. The assumed regulatory mechanism is an interplay of multiple genes, which are localized on various chromosomes. Numerical and unbalanced structural chromosome anomalies cause abundance or lack of genes and gene products.

[Complete triploidy (69,XXX) surviving until the age of 7 months].

A patient with complete triploidy surviving until the age of 7 months is described. The diagnosis was established by the observation of 69,XXX chromosomes in lymphocyte and fibroblast cultures. Our findings suggest two active X chromosomes, since only one Barr body was found in buccal smear and drumsticks were within the normal range for females.

[Chromosomal findings in patients with oligospermia and azoospermia (author's transl)].

A cytogenetical study has been conducted in patients with impaired spermatogenesis and reduced fertility or complete sterility to investigate the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in this condition. 78 patients with azoospermia and 74 patients with a sperm count of below 20 million/ml have been studied cytogenetically and endocrinologically between 1977 and 1981. Numerical or structural chromosomal aberrations were found in 27 out of the 152 patients.