The electret effect of kidney stones.

Surgically removed kidney stones were powdered and samples made from them were subjected to a d.c. field of 20-50 kV/cm whilst being heated at 1 degree C/min. The thermally stimulated polarization (TSP) spectrum obtained showed the dipolar nature of the material. Dipolar polarization in the stones was confirmed by other experiments.

Radioactive uranium in various Indian tobaccos and consumable products (snuff, chutta, bidi and cigarette).

Tobacco is chewed in the form of snuff and thus its radioactivity--if there is any--goes directly into the body. Besides normal smoking, tobacco is also smoked in reverse manner in the form of "chutta", an indigenously prepared cigar made from the home grown plants of Nicotinia tobacum in South East coastal towns and villages in India. The burnt residue and the radioactive element--if there is any--in the case of chutta smoking will also go directly in the body causing hazardous effects. Uranium traces were determined in commercially available samples of snuff, chutta, bidi and cigarette tobacco using radiation damage etch technique. The analysis showed that uranium levels varied from 7.4 to 19.1 ppm in snuff, 0.16 to 0.37 ppm in chutta, 0.13 to 0.23 in bidi and 0.037 to 0.12 ppm in cigarette tobacco.

Severe cardiac and ophthalmologic malformations in an infant exposed to diphenylhydantoin in utero.

A newborn male infant with multiple congenital malformations including lethal cardiac malformations and severe ophthalmic malformations is described. The infant was exposed in utero to hydantoin. There is no other identifiable cause for the malformations apparent in the infant's or his family's history.