Fetus Papyraceous in a Twin Pregnancy: A Case Report.

Fetus papyraceous or compress is the compressed, mummified, parchment-like remains of a dead twin, which is retained in utero after intrauterine death in the second trimester. It is an uncommon finding. The incidence of fetus papyraceous is reported as 1 in 17,000 to 1 in 20,000 pregnancies. Incidence of fetus papyraceous in twin pregnancy is 1 in 184 to 1 in 200 pregnancies. Here we report a case of fetus papyraceous in a twin pregnancy with no adverse effects on mother.

Effect of railway engines emission on the micromorphology of some field plants.

Plant species as indicator is the most common method used to indicate the effects of pollution on plants. However, the present study explores the usage of micromorphological parameters of the plant species as the indicators. The plants selected for the present studies included Croton bonplandianum, Cannabis sativa and Calotropis procera. The parameters examined were (1) abnormalities of stomata, (2) number of stomata per unit area, (3) number of epidermal cells per unit area, (4) stomatal index. The present studies on these field plants revealed that diesel engines emission caused appreciable changes in the number of epidermal cells and stomata per unit area. Plants of all the three genera growing very close to the railway tracks displayed an adverse effect on these numbers.

Immunoprotective potential of polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate in Klebsiella pneumoniae induced lobar pneumonia in rats.

The polysaccharide (PS) derived from K. pneumoniae NCTC 5055 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was covalently linked to tetanus toxoid by using carbodimide with adipic acid dihydrazide as a spacer molecule. The conjugate was found to be non-toxic and non-pyrogenic at 100 microg dose level. At a similar dose, the conjugate did not elicit any local skin reaction on intradermal preparatory injection in rabbits. The conjugate was immunoprotective as was evident from the decrease in relative colonization of bacteria in lungs of immunized rats as compared to the control animals. Immunization with the conjugate resulted in alveolar macrophage activation in terms of their ability to phagocytose bacteria in vitro.