1/5. diatoms and drowning.An examination is made of the applicability of quantitative and qualitative diatom analysis to the diagnosis of death by drowning, definition of the environment in which drowning occurred, and delimitation of the area where it occurred. the material comprises 107 bodies of subjects known or suspected to have died by drowning together with a control series of 15 bodies of subjects over 30 years of age who had died of various diseases on land. Whenever diatoms were found in the greater circulatory organs they were also found in the lungs, and when none were present in the lungs none were found in the other organs either. No diatoms or fragments of diatoms were found in the samples from the control subjects. All the fresh, well-preserved bodies for which death by drowning could be regarded as certain from the macroscopic autopsy findings and police reports, the cases used to test the method, gave quantitative diatom results that supported a diagnosis of water aspiration. The diatoms identified in the qualitative analyses served well to describe the ecological properties of the environments in which death had taken place, and the site of drowning could be defined by means of comparative water samples provided that sufficient diatoms were present, the local environment was not too homogeneous or the diatoms were not of quite different species due to a completely unknown location of death.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = environment (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. Studies on the composition of gases in the post-mortem body: animal experiments and two autopsy cases.The composition of gases was measured in a cadaver, particularly in the stomach, using gas chromatography. High concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) and a low concentration of methane (CH4) were found. At an environmental temperature of 25 degrees C, the concentrations of CO2 and H2 were approximately 80% and 10%, respectively, at an advanced stage of putrefaction, while at an environmental temperature of 15 degrees C the concentrations were approximately 60% and 35%, respectively. These gases were not produced until the fourth day at 15 degrees C, but after that the volume of gases was greater than that produced at 25 degrees C, the cadaver becoming greatly enlarged. oxygen (O2) in air injected into a body disappeared during putrefaction. This study revealed that H2 was the main component of inflammable gas in a dead body. The mechanisms of production of the gases are also discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.66666666666667keywords = environment (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. lactose-positive vibrio in seawater: a cause of pneumonia and septicemia in a drowning victim.lactose-positive vibrio is a recently recognized marine organism that has pathogenic potential for humans. An organism was isolated from the sputum and blood of a man who was resuscitated after drowning in the sea. The isolates from both sources had the characteristics of lactose-positive vibrio, which include positive oxidase, citrate, indole, and o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside reactions and negative Voges-Proskauer, urease, and sucrose reactions. seawater samples from 21 sites around Galveston Island were cultured for lactose-positive vibrio over a period of 4 weeks, and 36% of the samples yielded the organism. The environmental isolates were very similar to the clinical isolates in biochemical reactions and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. The results indicate that lactose-positive vibrio is a common organism in the marine environment and that it should be considered in the diagnosis of infections, including pneumonia, associated with exposure to the sea.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.66666666666667keywords = environment (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. Cerebral support for near-drowned children in a temperate environment.The case histories of three children who were admitted to Modbury Hospital after immersion accidents in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide during the period from November, 1978, to March, 1979, are presented. hypothermia of moderate degree was found in one child. A Canadian treatment regimen is reviewed, and a plea made for a more vigorous management of the near-drowned victims of immersion accidents.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.3333333333333keywords = environment (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. diatoms and drowning--a cautionary case note.A case is described in which, due to long-term repeated exposure to the same body of diatom-containing water, comparable diatom findings in the tissues and environmental samples were not acceptable as proof of drowning. A commonly overlooked pitfall limiting the value of acid-digestion in marine cases is emphasized.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = environment (Clic here for more details about this article) |