The international community is presently facing a new hazard in the form of oil spills from drilling platforms rather than ships. The issue was first brought to public attention in conjunction with the 2009 West Atlas rig fire that resulted in oil pollution of Indonesia and northern shores of Australia. The wrangle continues in the wake of the recent Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
As of today there are no international measures that regulate the issues of civil liability for offshore drilling related pollution. Indonesia has put forward the matter to the International Maritime Organisation; the IMO intends to draft a convention.
Civil liability for offshore drilling related pollution within domestic law is aseparate issue. In Polish law, Article 435 et seq of the Civil Code would apply. The pollution threat extends to the Baltic Sea, Northern Sea and other parts of the world.
The issue is also being examined by the European Union. The European Agency for the Maritime Safety has mandate to act in case of damage related to offshore drilling. Following the example of the American Oil Pollution Act (1990), the EU aims to draft comprehensive laws that would cover pollution associated with the entire mining industry.
B a c k g r o u n d: Parechovirus and enterovirus belong to a family of Picornaviridae, nonenveloped, small-sized RNA viruses, responsible for multiple human diseases. Recent introduction of molecular tests enabled the identifi cation of parechovirus and enterovirus infections. Our aim was a retrospective analysis of signs and symptoms associated with confirmed parechovirus or enterovirus infections among children treated in the Department of Neonatology, St. Louis Regional Children’s Hospital in Kraków, Poland.
M e t h o d s: Based on laboratory records, we identified all cases of parecho- or enterovirus infections confirmed by identification of viral RNA in nasal swab or cerebrospinal fluid samples. Hospital records and laboratory tests results of selected patients were then analyzed, and selected data were summarized, with emphasis on clinical and laboratory findings at admission.
R e s u l t s: We identified 11 cases of parechovirus and three of enterovirus infections. All cases were neonates admitted to hospital with fever and irritability. Except for leukopenia in 50% of patients, no significant abnormalities were noted in blood counts and serum biochemistry, including low C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. In nine cases, cerebrospinal fluid was collected, the fluid protein concentrations and cell counts were moderately increased. Final diagnosis was meningitis in 12 children, and other viral infections in two.
C o n c l u s i o n s: Viral infection, including parecho- and enteroviruses, should be considered in the etiology of fever and meningitis in neonates. The available molecular tests allow for detection of viral genetic material even in a scant biological specimen collected from neonates.
Since 1978 the retreat of Ecology Glacier in the vicinity of Henryk Arctowski Station has opened new ice-free areas for colonization by terrestrial organisms initiated by pioneer microbes. Samples were collected from the soil surface, at 0, 5 and 20 cm below surface close to glacier front, then stored at below -20°C . Total bacterial count (TC), estimated by epifluorescence microscopy, reached high values, of 1010 g-1 dry wt. Healthy looking bacterial cells of mean volume 0.0209 µm3 at 0 cm to 0.0292 µm3 at 20 cm made up from 7% at 0 cm , to 30% at 20 cm of total bacterial population. The number of colony forming units (CFU) accounted for only 0.02% of TC. Taxonomically they belonged to the a, b, g subdivisions of the proteobacteria and to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group. Morphophysiologically CFU bacteria were diverse, from Gram variable short coccal forms to very long rods or filaments. Randomly selected CFU colonies were characterized by low sugar assimilation and high esterase/lipase activity. Spore forming bacteria – absent from 0 and 5 cm , formed a small fraction of 175 cells g-1 dry wt at the 20 cm depth. Filamentous fungi were relatively abundant and represented mainly by oligotrophs.