100

EDUCATION

immunological aspects of bacterial and parasitic diseases. A new method of chloride assay and studies on modified potassium assays has been initiated in Biochemistry. Research projects in the Depart- ment of Physiology included the adaptation to changes in environ- mental temperature, metabolic changes in thiamine deficiency, systemic effects of fish poisons, and pregnancy ketosis.

The Department of Medicine continued its research in various diseases commonly seen among Chinese in Hong Kong. Periodic paralysis in thyrotoxicosis; hypoglycaemia and erythrocytosis in hepatocellular carcinoma; anaemia in cryptogenetic splenomegaly; the genetics and manifestations of a and ẞ thalassaemia and erythrocyte glucose-six-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency; clinical syndromes associated with clonorchiasis; intrahepatic typhoid carriers (with the Department of Surgery); local causes of bronchial asthma and rheumatic fever were some of the problems being investigated.

In the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, two new research projects were started, one being an estimation of the variations in the normal cervical spine; the other a comparison of the relative lengths of the radius and ulna in the Chinese population in Hong Kong. Other problems still being investigated included the blood supply of the femoral head in the growing Chinese in relation to congenital dislocation of hips and Perthe's disease and also the experimental production of tuberculosis of the spine in animals.

In the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, the Department of Architecture continued its studies of environmental problems in relation to urban renewal. Two long-term research programmes were carried out, the first concerning humanistic enquiries into the means of perception on architecture, the second being a study of the environmental factors and comfort standards of housing and city planning in the tropics and involving a study of squatter problems in Hong Kong. A study was made by a Commonwealth scholar of the effect of land reclamation on urban development.

The Department of Civil Engineering continued research into the behaviour of composite structures; engineering properties of local soils; design methods for wind loading on multi-storey buildings; and application of statistical methods to foundation design. Considerable use was made of the digital computer for

Share This Page