Chapters authored
Impact of Temperature on Morphological Characteristics of Erythrocytes and Heart Weight: Experimental Study on Wistar Rats
The aim was to find what happens to heart weight and forms of erythrocytes antemortemly and postmortemly as a result of exposure to high water temperature. Total of 40 adult Wistar rats is divided into three groups, depending on water temperature exposure of 37°C (KG, n = 8), 41°C (G41, n = 16), and 44°C (G44, n = 16). Depending on the length of time of exposure to water, temperatures of 41 and 44°C are further divided into G41-AM, G41-PM, G44-AM, and G44-PM. The anesthetized rats were exposed to preheated water using the water bath. May-Grünwald-Giemsa coloring technique was applied to blood samples. Light microscopy was performed to detect poikilocytes. Heart weight was measured after dissection with a scale. A statistically significant difference in heart weight was found in the experimental groups (p = 0.024). The lowest value was observed in KG37 and was 0.99 ± 0.11 g, and the highest values were found in rats of the G41-PM group, with a mean value of 1.26 ± 0.26 g. There is a statistically significant difference between the experimental groups in forms of poikilocytes.
Part of the book: Animal Models and Experimental Research in Medicine
Postmortem Analysis in Drowning-Related Death Determination: Application of the “Diatom Test” in the Forensic Field in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Microscopic signs are not specific only to drowning, but to any other type of suffocation, the background of which is mechanical obstruction. What about cases where there are no soft tissues when he has a skeletal body? This pilot research aims to examine for the first time the attendance of diatoms in teeth and bones, with regard to the peripheral vascularization of bones and teeth, in the Bosnia River. The thirty rats were divided into groups: Group A (n = 6; autopsy—1 hour after death; cause of death-hanging); Group B (n = 6; autopsy—72 hours after death; cause of death-hanging); Group C (n = 6; autopsy—immediately after drowning; cause of death-drowning); Group D (n = 6; autopsy—24 hours after drowning; cause of death-drowning) and Group E (n = 6; autopsy—72 hours after drowning; cause of death-drowning). In Group D and Group E, diatoms were found in one rat per group. By optimizing the “Diatom Test” in experimental settings, it could potentially become a routine method in the future. This is just the initial research that leads us toward optimizing testing and taking samples in cases of uncleared etiology, when there are no preserved soft tissue structures for autopsy.
Part of the book: Unlocking the Mysteries of Death