There is interest currently in the AgNOR technique, for NOR-associated proteins. In some cases, this technique enables the distinction to be made between certain grades of malignancy and may enable prognostic assessment. This paper attempts to suggest a standardized means for the enumeration of NORs in histological sections. Attention should be paid to rigorous technique and careful resolution of intranucleolar AgNOR dots. The timing of the reaction and fixation methods are also most important.

A descriptive study of acute bronchitis in patients without pre-existing pulmonary disease was undertaken in the community during the winter months of 1986-87. Forty-two episodes were investigated in 40 individuals. The cardinal symptom was the acute onset of cough (100%), usually productive (90%). Wheezing was noted by 62% of patients, but heard on auscultation in only 31%. A potential pathogen was isolated in 29% of cases with a virus (eight cases) being identified more frequently than either Mycoplasma pneumoniae (three cases) or a bacterium (three cases). The acute illness was associated with significant reductions in forced expired volume in 1 second (P less than 0.02) and peak expiratory flow (P less than 0.001) but not forced vital capacity compared to 6 weeks later. Ten of the 27 (37%) patients who had a histamine challenge test performed at 6 weeks had a PD20 of less than 7.8 mumol histamine. Thirty-nine episodes (93%) were treated with antibiotics by the general practitioner, the clinical course being unremarkable apart from one patient who developed a lingular pneumonia despite antibiotic therapy. Further studies are required to assess whether acute bronchitis causes an acute increase in bronchial hyperresponsiveness and whether either antibiotics or inhaled bronchodilators or anti-inflammatory therapy has a useful role in the management of this predominantly viral illness.

Five patients had asthma provoked by cyanoacrylates and one by methyl methacrylate, possibly because of the development of a specific hypersensivity response. Acrylates have wide domestic as well as industrial uses, and inhalation of vapour emitted during their use can cause asthma.Acrylates are widely used in the manufacture of adhesives, solvents, acrylic resins, and thermoplastics. Cyanoacrylate based glues give a high bond strength between a variety of materials and are available for domestic use as Superglue and for surgical use as tissue adhesives.' Methacrylates, which are chemically distinct from cyanoacrylates, serve as bases for acrylic resins, which have various applications, including use as adhesives and fillers in dental and orthopaedic procedures.23 Workers in pathology laboratories may be exposed as a result of their use in the plastic embedding of histological specimens.Low molecular weight acrylic monomers are irritant to the eyes and mucous membranes, and have been reported to produce dermatitis4 and pulmonary oedema,5 but there is no previous report of an association with asthma. We report five cases of asthma occurring in association with exposure to cyanoacrylate based adhesives, and one case occurring in relation to exposure to methyl methacrylate. In each case, inhalation testing that mimicked exposure at work6 provoked an asthmatic reaction. MethodsIn patients 2 and 3 histamine reactivity was measured by a modification of the method of de Vries.

Background-The British Thoracic Society report on the diagnosis and treatment of the sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS) suggests that, ifthe pulse oximetry baseline oxygen saturation is above 90%,

The argyrophil (AgNOR) staining technique for nucleolar organizer regions was applied to both cell imprint preparations and 3 microns sections of 40 specimens of lymphoid tissue (10 normal tonsil, 10 reactive follicular hyperplasia, and 10 low-grade and 10 high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas). The mean AgNOR count per nucleus was higher for imprint preparations than for 3 microns sections for each group of specimens (P less than 0.01). The difference was particularly evident for specimens with high AgNOR counts, that is, the high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (pooled mean AgNOR count/cell 16.3 for imprints as opposed to 6.0 for 3 microns sections, P less than 0.0001). Furthermore, individual AgNOR dots were much more readily discerned in cell imprints than in sections, and this appears to be the method of choice if pathologists wish to at least approach absolute rather than relative AgNOR counts.