A study on the mercury content in muscles in the fish family Carangidae from the fishing grounds off the coast of north-west Africa

The mercury content in muscles was determined for 171 fishes belonging to three species of the family Carangidae. Significant differences in the content of this element were found between the species. Moreover, as regards the horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), no correlation was detected between the weight of fishes and the amount of mercury and no difference in the level of this element between males and females

Prenatal diagnosis in Medical University of Gdańsk - A summary of the results obtained in first three years (1997-1999)

The paper summarises the results of prenatal diagnosis obtained during first three years after introducing this method in the Medical University of Gdansk. During that period 270 pregnant women, aged 18-47 years, underwent amniocentesis. The most frequent indication for prenatal diagnosis was the advanced age of a pregnant woman - 72.6% of women were tested for this reason. Other indications were: previous birth of a child with a chromosomal rearrangement, or a central nervous system defect and familiar occurrence of a chromosomal translocation. The efficacy of prenatal diagnosis was high and amounted to 99.2%. Foetal karyotypes were normal in 94.8% of cases, whereas abnormal results were obtained in 4.2% of cases. Among abnormal results autosomal trisomies were observed most often, and the trisomy 21 was the most frequent (1.9%). Among other chromosomal abnormalities single cases of trisomies 13 and 18, two cases of monosomy X, pericentric inversion of chromosome 2 and two translocations - unbalanced between chromosomes 13 and 18 and reciprocal, probably balanced between chromosomes 9 and 13 were found. Familial constitutional polymorphism of chromosome 9 (pericentric inversion) was observed in five cases, with the frequency of 1.8%, equal to the frequency of this rearrangement in the general population. It should be noticed that most mothers (73.3%) and fathers (65.9%) from the couples who decided to undergo prenatal diagnosis had secondary or higher education. Prenatal diagnosis meets with general acceptance of pregnant women, who have expressed their positive opinion about prenatal diagnosis more than once

Veterinary Expert Opinions on Conflicts Involving Dogs and Cats in Poland

Veterinary experts witnesses issue opinions contributing to improved detectability of crimes in which cats and dogs are victims. The aim of this study was to analyse veterinary expert opinions on conflict situations concerning cats and dogs in regard to the types of entities which commissioned such opinions, the structure of entities liable to criminal proceedings, the reasons for which criminal proceedings were initiated and the experts’ conclusions. Proceedings were initiated by law enforcement bodies mainly because of violations of the animal protection act; law enforcement bodies accounted for the majority of the entities commissioning such opinions. Smaller numbers of opinions were commissioned by individuals and single opinions were commissioned by an underwriter for professional liability, civil courts, insurance agencies and animal welfare associations. Criminal proceedings were usually initiated against individuals and veterinary surgeons. Cruelty to dogs and cats were found to be the main cause of conflict situations. Veterinary malpractice or a fraud in sale/purchase transactions were identified as the cause in a smaller percentage of cases. The autopsies of cats and dogs performed for such opinions showed that the deaths had been caused mainly by physical injuries and cardiopulmonary insufficiency. The division of the investigated period into two decades demonstrated that in 2006-2015, as compared with the data recorded in the previous decade, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of animal deaths due to hitting/beating and shooting and a decrease in fatal cases resulting from cardio-respiratory failure, poisoning and infectious diseases