Modelling agronomic properties of Technosols constructed with urban wastes.

The greening of urban and suburban areas requires large amounts of arable earth that is a non-renewable resource. However, concentration of population in cities leads to the production of high amounts of wastes and by-products that are nowadays partly recycled as a resource and quite systematically exported out of urban areas. To preserve natural soil resources, a strategy of waste recycling as fertile substitutes is proposed. Eleven wastes are selected for their environmental harmlessness and their contrasted physico-chemical properties for their potential use in pedological engineering. The aim is (i) to demonstrate the feasibility of the formulation of fertile substrates exclusively with wastes and (ii) to model their physico-chemical properties following various types, number and proportions of constitutive wastes. Twenty-five binary and ternary combinations are tested at different ratios for total carbon, Olsen available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, water pH, water retention capacity and bulk density. Dose-response curves describe the variation of physico-chemical properties of mixtures depending on the type and ratio of selected wastes. If these mixtures mainly mimic natural soils, some of them present more extreme urban soil features, especially for pH and P(Olsen). The fertility of the new substrates is modelled by multilinear regressions for the main soil properties.

[Incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis in Hungary 1987-1993]. / Posttransfusiós hepatitisek elöfordulása magyarországon 1987-töl 1993-ig.

The authors describe the epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis cases occurred after administration of blood or blood-preparations in Hungary, based on data collected between January 1987 and December 1993. The epidemiologists of the public health network reported 868 acute posttransfusion hepatitis within this seven years period. The number of the cases decreased year by year, and in accordance with the rapid development of virological diagnostics the rate of cases with uncovered aetiology increased gradually. Nevertheless the aetiology of more than half of the reported cases (466 patients, i.e. 53.6%) remained unknown. The results of the examinations were negative in 167 cases (19.2%), and no etiological examinations were carried out in 299 cases (34.4%). Hepatitis A was reported in 17 cases (2%), hepatitis B in 129 cases (14.9%), whilst non-A, non-B hepatitis was diagnosed in 188 cases based on examinations with an experimental NANB antigen and antibody tests or by exclusion of hepatitis A and B infectious (21.7%); from 1991 67 cases (7.7%) were diagnosed by standard tests as hepatitis C, and Epstein-Barr virus infection was reported in 1 case (0.1%). During the seven years 11 patients of the 868 (1.3%) died in the acute phase of the illness.

[Management of gas gangrene in Hungary during 1979-1988 based on data from Public Health Centers]. / A gázgangréna kezelése Magyarországon 1979-1988-ban a KOJAL-ok adatai alapján.

Authors present data on the therapy of 223 gas gangrene cases between 1979-1988, a ten years period, based on the reports of Public Health Stations in Hungary. Of the 223 patients 150 died, thus lethality was 67.3%. In lack of surgical intervention there was no chance of survive. Merely wound exposure resulted in a much higher fatality rate than necrectomy of the wound. Local hydrogen-hyperoxide treatment improved survival essentially. Specific antitoxin therapy did not influence the survival rate. The effect of a single antibiotic was poor; combined antibiotic treatment gave a significantly better result. As for combination, the most effective were erythromycin, the lincosamids and chloramphenicol. According to the data presented, it would be possible to reduce to the half the fatality rate of gas gangrene in Hungary.

[Gas gangrene cases in Hungary 1979-1986]. / Gázgangraena megbetegedések Magyarországon 1979-1986-ban.

The authors evaluate epidemiologic data of 182 patients suffering from gas gangrene during an eight year period from 1979 to 1986. Of the patients surveyed 127 died; thus lethality reached 69.2%. The average age of the survivors was 49.9 year as opposed to the 66.1 year of the fatal cases. More than half of the illnesses followed amputation of extremities, and a quarter of them was a consequence of an accident. Samples of the bacteriologically examined wound discharges yielded in 93.1% bacteria from the Clostridium genus. Hygiene was poor in operation theatres and in the hospital environment in 1/4-th of the cases. Sixty six patients died within 24 hours after diagnosis. The presented data suggest that in Hungary the number of gas gangrene cases and deaths surpass those of tetanus.