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EDUCATION
hypothyroidism in Chinese new-born babies; correction of spinal deformities and dis- orders due to poliomyelitis; an ongoing mass school screening programme for spinal and other orthopaedic deformities; a longitudinal study of growth and development in children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis compared with normal children; the pharmacology of Chinese medicinal herbs; changes in the pattern of disease in Hong Kong; common local occupational diseases; smoking and carcinoma of the lung; aetiology of bacterial and viral diseases; detection of carcinogenic substances in local food items; prevalence of diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease; metabolic disturbances in narcotic addicts; early detection of heart disease; cardio-vascular risk of oral contraceptive pills and thrombo-embolic disorders in the Chinese; treat- ment of hypertension and various forms of heart failure; peptic ulcers in the Chinese; viral hepatitis and therapeutic responses; cirrhosis and cancer of the liver; the im- munopathology of leprosy; the immune response to infectious diseases; common hereditary anaemias in the Chinese; immunological changes in collagen-vascular disorders; aetiology and treatment of cancer of the oesophagus, liver and urinary bladder; peripheral arterial diseases and venous thrombotic problems in Chinese; aetiology and management of peptic ulcers and of malignant blood diseases; con- traception; psychiatric sequelae of therapeutic abortion; aspects of female homo- sexuality among the Chinese; psychopathology in the Chinese as revealed by group psychotherapy; attempted suicide; and EEG characteristics of children with febrile convulsions.
Within the Faculty of Science, projects in the Department of Zoology include in- vestigations into the ecology of marine and freshwater organisms; the physiology and metabolism of fish with application to pond and marine culture; a survey of parasites in humans and animals; the endocrinology of reproduction and foetal development; investigations into agricultural pests; nerve endings in back muscles of scoliotic patients; the structure and function of avian muscle stretch receptors; the genetics, development and cell biology of unicellular animals. Investigations are also being carried out on fouling problems in freshwater pipelines and sea-water intakes.
The Department of Botany is proceeding with projects on pollution studies on Hong Kong roadside plants and the cell and tissue culture of some important local crop plants.
The Department of Physics has projects' on studies of astrophysics, cosmic rays, local ionospheric and meteorological phenomena; research in solid state physics in- cluding luminescence, semiconductors, amorphous solids and gemmology; plasma physics and application to radio-astronomy; and the application of electro-chemistry to plating and storage batteries.
The Department of Chemistry is involved with studies of Hong Kong's atmosphere, particularly the amounts of sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxide and solid partic- ulates. The isolation of naturally-occurring substances from Hong Kong plant ma- terials is continuing.
In the School of Architecture research is being undertaken relating to densities in urban areas; rural Chinese architecture; space utilisation in buildings; the phrase- ology of the Hong Kong Standard Form of Contract; the building industry with reference to construction costs, resources and industrial capacity; and the urban landscape.