Ethical and legal consideration of prisoner's hunger strike in Serbia.

Hunger strike of prisoners and detainees remains a major human rights and ethical issue for medical professionals. We are reporting on a case of a 48-year-old male sentenced prisoner, intravenous heroin user, who went on a hunger strike and died 15 days later. Throughout the fasting period, the prisoner, who was capable of decision making, refused any medical examination.

Ethanol and magnesium suppress nickel-induced bursting activity in leech Retzius nerve cells.

In the present study we have examined effects of ethanol and magnesium on Ni(2+)-induced bursting of leech Retzius cells. Saline with 3 mmol/l NiCl2 induced spontaneous bursting activity, characterized by rapid depolarizations to a plateau level during which bursts of action potentials occurred. To test for the mechanism of bursting initiation external Na+ was completely removed.