Scanning electron microscopy: application in the identification of diatoms in cases of drowning.

A simple and rapid method is described for processing organ and water samples for the identification of diatoms so that they can be studied and recorded for taxonomic and diagnostic purposes. Samples are treated with concentrated nitric acid; the fluid obtained is centrifuged, and its sediment is dried, coated, and examined under the scanning electron microscope. The method does not alter the morphology of diatoms and allows the study of freshwater and seawater species present in the organs of bodies found in the water, making possible the diagnosis of drowning under specific conditions.     

Ethics and the Physician-Patient Relationship

Book Reviews in This Article:
Getting Rid of Patients: Contradictions in the Socialization of Physicians . By Terry Mizrahi
Physicians and Social Change . By John Colombotos and Corinne Kirchner
Changing Values in Medicine . Edited by Eric J. Cassell and Mark Siegler
Professional Ethics and Primary Care Medicine: Beyond Dilemmas and Decorum . By Harmon L. Smith and Larry R. Churchill
Physician—Patient Decision-Making: A Study in Medical Ethics . By Douglas N. Walton
With Dignity: The Search for Medicare and Medicaid . By Sheri I. David
The Dismissal of Students with Mental Disorders. Legal Issues, Policy Considerations, and Alternative Responses .
Courtroom Toxicology . By Marshall Houts, Randall C. Baselt, and Robert H. Cravey     

Asian literature as a tool for cultural identity creation in Europe. Goethe’s Hafiz

By the eighteenth century the colonial powers in Europe already had well-defined images and self-images, crystalised from their native cultures, their significance within Europe, and their mercantile and political relations with other continents. Yet Germany, which would have no prospect of a unified polity till late in the following century, remained severely challenged in all these respects. From the mid eighteenth century, however, Germany’s greatest minds sought to mould for it a cultural identity, and as a vital step in this, the poet, statesman and scientist Goethe, a man indebted to a form of patronage which peculiarly qualified him to undertake such experiments, conducted a series of literary encounters with the great traditions of Asia. Their purpose was to situate Germany within the wider world culture, for one can only be a cultural force within a world to which one has some cultural relation. Goethe’s forays into the worlds of Persian, Indian and Chinese literature were attempts at creative imitation, cultural absorption and public confrontation, but their culture-building and appropriative character was also a form of vicarious imperialism, a new-world enterprise conducted by means of old-world patronage. Goethe’s carefully nuanced representations in the West-Eastern Divan indicate the advocacy of a secular cosmopolitanism, the popular impact of which has been hitherto underestimated.     

WORKING TOGETHER

Family Court of Australia has employed four Aboriginal Family Consultants within the Family Court Mediation Service in Darwin and Alice Springs. The consultants were selected from local indigenous people and assist indigenous families who are often in heated dispute over children following family breakdown and separation. The program ultimately seeks to promote access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Stvait Islander people in the jurisdiction of family law. The program seeks to achieve this by assisting indigenous people to access and utilize the dispute resolution services provided by the Family Court. Family consultants work closely with court mediators in responding to the needs and issues of indigenous families in dispute. The article describes the model of intervention adopted and highlights the benefits of the program with reference to case studies.