https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35097 Fri, 02 Oct 2026 06:15:55 GMT 2026-10-02T06:15:55Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149064 Title: A study of asthma in a cohort of Maltese school children Abstract: This study concerns the epidemiology of asthma in 5291 Maltese school children who were born on and between the 1.10.1976 and 30.9.1977. A pilot study carried out on 265 children, 5% randomly chosen from the whole population revealed that the cumulative prevalence of asthma was 9.5%. The response rate was 91.7% in the pilot study. A large scale screening study of the whole population, in which the response rate was 88.3%, showed that the cumulative prevalence of asthma was 8.1%. Screening by means of a questionnaire revealed that there were 523 children with symptoms. Asthma was confirmed in 377 of these children. The children with symptoms were classified into five different grades: children with no asthma were assigned to grade 0, children who had asthma were arbitrarily classified into four separate grades according to the frequency and persistence of attacks. These children were studied and compared to 113 control children who were randomly obtained from the same population. The children in the different groups were studied in relation to different clinical and physiological characteristics. The group of control children and the group of children who did not have asthma resembled each other in many respects. The differences between children with different grades of asthma and the control group could be more clearly defined by the clinical and physiological findings. The treatment which the children with asthma had received was also studied in relation to the different grades. It was found that several parents (33%) did not know the diagnosis although symptomatic treatment had been adequate. Prophylactic treatment in children who had persistent recurrent attacks was grossly under-utilized. The arbitrary method of grading of asthma adopted in the present study was found to be a quick and practical method for the assessment of the type of asthma. It helped identify those in need of prophylactic treatment and was useful for prognosis. The frequency of some allergic clinical and immunological features were also studied in controls and symptomatic children. The findings in controls and children with no asthma were alike in many respects. Children suffering from asthma were found to have a higher frequency of several allergic manifestations which when considered as a whole distinguished them from children who did not have asthma. No single feature distinguished asthmatic children form controls. The frequency of allergic manifestations in asthmatic children seemed to be related to the time lapse since the last attack of asthma. Different and multiple triggering factors, as well as respiratory infections, exercise and strong emotion could precipitate attacks in asthmatic subjects. Breast-feeding for periods in excess of six weeks appeared to have a significant protective effect in preventing the development of asthma. The disease affected families of all Maltese social classes but, for as yet unknown reasons, asthma was found to be over-represented in children of families of social class 1 (professional upper managerial, etc.) and social class 4 (unskilled workers). The prevalence of regular smoking in the homes of children of all groups, including controls, was disturbingly high. Parents need to be better informed about their children's asthma. The special services for the treatment of asthma need to be increased. Active educational intervention to promote prolonged breast-feeding and to discourage smoking in the environment of children is essential. Description: Sc.D.Medicine Wed, 01 Jan 1986 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149064 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/105713 Title: Some aspects of acute anterior poliomyelitis in the Maltese islands in 1950 and 1951 Abstract: Small islands, since their populations are more static, lend themselves more readily to the study of the Epidemiology of disease than do land-bound territories where movement in and out of the country is more frequent. The islands of the Maltese Dependencies in this respect are particularly interesting since there is always a considerable movement of foreigners coming to and going from the islands yet, the islanders themselves seldom journey abroad unless emigrating permanently to other lands. Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis has been notifiable in the Maltese Dependencies since 1921 and up till 31st May, 1951, a total of 841 cases had been notified. 237 of these cases occurred between 27th May 1950 and the end of May 1951. It is the purpose of this dissertation to comment upon the habits and customs of the people, the topography, water supply, sewage disposal and other Public Health aspects in the Islands and to ascertain whether any feasible explanation can be found for the progress of the disease on the islands during the year under study. Thu, 01 Jan 1953 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/105713 1953-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102502 Title: The structure and histochemistry of the olfactory and vomeronasal organs in the mouse Abstract: Morphological and histochemical studies using light and electron microscopy have been carried out on the olfactory and vomeronasal organs of albino mice during development in adult life. At 10 days gestation, the earliest morphological evidence of differentiation of olfactory receptors from the cells of the olfactory placode is the outgrowth of centrally directed axonal process, followed at 11 days by differentiation of olfactory dendrites ending in ciliated knobs at the epithelial surface. Further morphological changes leading to the maturation of the olfactory receptors occur in the receptor perikaryal after the 17th day of gestation. During development, olfactory receptors are situated in juxtaposition to one another but become isolated by supporting cells in the adult. Morphological differentiation of supporting and basal cells and of Bowman’s glands is first evident on the 17th day of gestation. In the adult vomeronasal sensory epithelium the receptors are incompletely separated from one another by supporting cells, cilia are not present on their terminal knobs and typical basal cells and Bowman’s glands are absent. The histochemical distribution of enzymes alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, Ca++ adenosine triphosphatase, succinic dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase and non-specific esterase in the adult olfactory and vomeronasal epithelia and the changes in their pattern of distribution during development have been investigated. The levels of activity of the first four enzymes at various developmental ages have been compared using microdensitometric methods. The presence of a neutral mucosubstance within the olfactory and vomeronasal receptors has also been described. The olfactory surface fluid and the secretions of Bowman’s glands have been characterised histochemically and found to contain a sulphated mucosubstance, in contrast to the secretions of the other nasal glands which contain either a neutral mucosubstance or sialomucins. The morphological and enzymatic characteristics of the olfactory and vomeronasal organs are discussed in relation to their possible functions. Description: PH.D. ANATOMY Sat, 01 Jan 1972 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102502 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100503 Title: Impiego del sevofluorano in anestesiologia veterinaria = Use of sevoflurane in veterinary anaesthesiology Abstract: Sevoflurane was first synthesized in 1968, and immediately after studies started to be carried out by various researchers, in order to investigate its useful characteristics and properties. This was followed by authorization for its use in the 1990's, especially in the pediatric field. Contemporary, studies started to be carried out by veterinary researchers to study its possible use in veterinary anaesthesia. This studies have notebly increased in the last 5-10 years. This thesis, after briefly considering the properties in common to all volatile anaesthetic agents, looks at the physical and chemical properties of sevoflurane, its effects on the Central Nervous System, on the Cardiovascular System, and on the Respiratory System, its metabolism in the liver, its clinical use, its collateral side effects, its pharmacokinetics, and its interaction with other therapeutic drugs (especially other anaesthetic agents, such as nitrous oxide and propofol), in reference to the results of important studies carried out in the last years and clinical observations in both humans and animals (especially the dog), but also compares the characteristics and properties of sevoflurane with the classical halogenated volatile anaesthetic agents presently used in veterinary anaesthesia, i.e. halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane. This thesis concludes that sevoflurane has important advantages with respect to other volatile agents, and therefore it seems probable that sevoflurane will eventually substitute other volatile anaesthetic agents presently utilized for veterinary anaesthesia, in the near future. Description: PhD Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100503 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z