[Primary and secondary complex suicide. A 30-year retrospective suicide]. / Primární a sekundární kombinovaná sebevrazda: Retrospektivní studie let 1980-2009.

UNLABELLED: Suicides are divided into simple and complex suicides. Complex suicides are further classified as primary (planned) and secondary (unplanned) complex suicides. The term "complex suicide" refers to a suicide in which more than one suicide method is applied. In primary complex suicide several methods of suicide are employed simultaneously (two and more). In secondary complex suicide additional suicide methods are involved after the initial chosen suicide method failed. Authors present a 30-year retrospective study of complex suicides (1989-2009). Of the 2753 finished suicides in the given time period, 66 complex suicides were identified: 15 primary complex suicides and 51 secondary complex suicides. Complex suicides were analyzed in terms of gender, age, methods of suicide, locality and time of suicide, presence of alcohol and of the presence of suicide note and were compared with remaining 2687 cases of simple suicides from the same time period. KEYWORDS: suicide - complex suicide - primary complex suicide - secondary complex suicide - methods of suicides.

Effect of low and high temperatures on infectivity of Encephalitozoon cuniculi spores suspended in water.

The survival of Encephalitozoon cuniculi Levaditi, Nicolau et Schoen, 1923 spores suspended in distilled water and exposed at defined temperatures was investigated. Infectivity of E. cuniculi spores was tested by inoculation of SCID mice. There was no marked loss of infectivity of spores stored at 4 degrees C for two years or frozen at -12 degrees C and -24 degrees C for 1, 8, and 24 h. Although there was a remarkable loss of infectivity, spores remained infective after freezing at -70 degrees C for 1 and 8 h. Heating at 60 degrees C and 70 degrees C for 5 min and 1 min, respectively, rendered the microsporidia non-infective. These findings demonstrate that E. cuniculi spores suspended in water can survive freezing temperatures but lost infectivity in water that reached a temperature of 60 degrees C at 5 min.

Role of acquired immunity and natural age resistance on course of Isospora suis coccidiosis in nursing piglets.

Thirty-two piglets from three litters were experimentally inoculated with 200000 sporulated oocysts of Isospora suis at 3 days of age and/or rechallenged at 19 days of age or primary inoculated at 19 days of age, to compare the role of acquired immunity and natural age resistance on the course of coccidiosis. Twelve piglets were not inoculated and served as a control. Following challenge, the signs of coccidiosis characterised by clinical symptoms, oocysts shedding and weekly weights were similar to those which occurred in piglets primary inoculated at 19 days of age. This comparison suggests that maturation of non-specific components of the immune system plays a more important role in the resistance of neonatal piglets to I. suis infection than specific immune mechanisms.

Intestinal microsporidiosis in African skink Mabuya perrotetii.

Intestinal microsporidiosis was documented by detecting abundant slightly curved spores (2.9 x 1.2 microns) in the faeces of five of twelve skinks Mabuya perrotetii Duméril et Bibron, 1839 that originated from Ghana. Clinically, the microsporidiosis was characterized by decreased appetite, diarrhea, and weight loss. Histopathological changes consisted of villous atrophy, blunting of mucosa and flattening of individual epithelial cells in the large intestine. The ultrastructure of microsporidian spores was consistent with an Encephalitozoon species. The PCR-RFLP assay and the heteroduplex mobility shift analyses were used to verify that the skink microsporidian is a species of the genus Encephalitozoon Levaditi, Nicolau et Schoen, 1923 and indicate that this microsporidian is not E. hellem, E. intestinalis or a strain of E. cuniculi. The microsporidia in African skink represent an Encephalitozoon species morphologically identical to Encephalitozoon lacertae Canning, 1981.