The testes of 18 foetal sheep, of crown-rump length from 2-8 to 40 cm, have been studied by the PAS, Sudan black, and plasmal tests. Typical interstitial cells differentiate from mesenchymal precursors; the nucleus alters first, becoming ovoid and vesicular; then the cytoplasm increases in amount, its processes become fewer and smaller, sudanophil lipid droplets appear, and the result is a lipi...

The ex-utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure is a technique designed to allow partial foetal delivery via caesarean section with establishment of a safe foetal airway by either intubation, bronchoscopy, or tracheostomy while foetal oxygenation is maintained through utero-placental circulation. The most common indication for the EXIT procedure is the presence of foetal airway obstruction,...

A model for foetal growth is developed and used to construct tools for diagnosis of intrauterine growth restriction. Foetal weight estimates are first transformed to normally distributed z-scores. The covariance structure over gestational ages is then estimated using a novel regression model. The diagnostic tools include individual growth curves with error bounds, probabilities to assess whethe...

Electrocardiogram (ECG) holds high significance in medical diagnostics. Cardiologists consider it as an enduring tool and thus the improvement of the diagnostic quality the signal for various recognitions in different environments become a challenge. The signal acquisition is susceptible to the interference from physiological as well as environmental sources. Foetal ECG provides vital informati...

The molecular structure of human foetal intestinal alkaline phosphatase was defined by high-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and amino acid inhibition studies. Comparison was made with the adult form of intestinal alkaline phosphatase, as well as with alkaline phosphatases isolated from cultured foetal amnion cells (FL) and a human tumour cell line (KB). Two non-ide...

The Nc-Spain 1H isolate of Neospora caninum, which was newly obtained from the brain of a congenitally asymptomatic infected calf, demonstrated a reduced in vitro tachyzoite yield and viability rate, as well as low virulence in mouse models. The objective of the present study was to determine the ability of this isolate to induce foetal death in a pregnant bovine model. For this purpose, 13 naï...

Phthalates provide one of the most documented example evidencing how much we must be cautious when using the traditional paradigm based on extrapolation of experimental data from rodent studies for human health risk assessment of endocrine disruptors (EDs). Since foetal testis is known as one of the most sensitive targets of EDs, phthalate risk assessment is routinely based on the capacity of s...

The effects of anaesthetic agents, per se, on the asphyxiated foetus are difficult to quantitate clinically. Anaesthesia is often necessary in foetal distress, however, to effect a rapid delivery. To investigate the effect of general anaesthetic agents commonly used for Caesarean section we administered these agents to 18 chronically prepared pregnant ewes with asphyxiated foetuses in utero. Th...

IN many animals it has been found that the matemal blood at term contains a higher percentage of sugar than the foetal blood. Needham [1931] cites data illustrating this point and gives figures obtained in human subjects by 18 investigators, from which the following averages have been calculated: maternal blood 118 mg., foetal blood 94 mg. sugar per 100 ml. Aron [1924] records even wider differ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of oxidative injury in affecting foetal and placental weights in mice by exposing them to tobacco smoke with or without supplementation with antioxidants. METHODS The randomized control trial of pregnant mice at day one of gestation was conducted at Anatomy Department CPSP Regional Center Islamabad, from March 2005 to October 2005. The mice were divided into ...