scubadoc Ten Foot Stop

Please forward the below information to individuals you feel may be
interested.

I would like to invite you to attend the 2008 ocean exploration symposium
at Florida State University - Panama City June 5, 2008.  This year’s
symposium will fulfill FSU’s Advanced Science Diving Program’s charter
goal of inspiring and educating students and the community with research
relating to diving, ocean technologies, and studies that protect and
advance a better understanding of our ocean environment.

Panama City is the hub of Military, Recreational, Scientific, and Public
Safety Diving with facilities such as the Navy Experimental Diving Unit,
Naval Support Activity, Dive Lab, Museum of Man in the Sea, and Florida
State University.  That makes Panama City the ideal location for
underwater research, and consequently the ideal location to host our
annual symposium celebrating our ocean world. I look forward to seeing you
there; Did I mention that it is FREE to the publi.

Presenters:

Karen Kohanowich
Director of NOAA Undersea Research Program
NOAA’s Ocean Exploration and Research: Man and Machine Revealing the Secrets of the Sea

Marshall “Lew” Nuckols, Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Research Scientist
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Material Science at Duke University
New Technologies for Cold Water Diving

Capt. Philip Renaud, USN (Retired)
Executive Director
Living Oceans Foundation
Embracing Technology: Coral Reef Habitat Mapping and Resiliency Assessments

Christian McDonald
Scientific Diving and Small Boating Safety Officer
University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
U.S. Funded Polar Diving: Past, Present, and Future

Phillip Lobel, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology & Dive Safety Officer
Boston University
Embracing Technology: Coral Reef Habitat Mapping and Resiliency Assessments

Thursday, June 5, 2008
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
FSU Panama City Auditorium

Best regards,

Michael A. Zinszer, Director
Advanced Science Diving Program

Florida State University - Panama City
4750 Collegiate Drive
Panama City, FL. 32405

Office (850) 770-2203

<> =============================================================

Vnitr Lek. 2007 Feb;53(2):143-6.

[Paradoxical embolization and patent foramen ovale in scuba divers: screening possibilities]

[Article in Czech]

Honek T, Veselka J, Tomek A, Srámek M, Janugka J, Sefc L, Kerekes R, Novotný S.

Kardiovaskulární centrum FN Motol, Praha. tomas.honek@volny.cz

INTRODUCTION: The cause of decompression sickness (DCS) in scuba-divers is bubble formation in tissues and in venous blood during ascent. Divers with patent foramen ovale (PFO) have an increased risk of paradoxical embolization to the brain or other vital organs. The aim of our study was to assess the incidence of PFO in scuba-divers with DCS, to compare the group with asymptomatic controls, and to evaluate ultrasound contrast methods suitable for screening.

 

METHODOLOGY: We examined 28 scuba-divers (more than 100 dives). The right-to-left shunt detection was performed by bubble contrast transthoracic echocardiographic examination (TTE) and transcranial Doppler sonography over arteria cerebri media (TCD) in all divers. In divers with shunting, transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed to prove PFO.

 

RESULTS: 15 divers had DCS associated with the ascent. In this group, PFO was diagnosed in 53% (8/15). The symptoms of all of them retrospectively were of paradoxical embolization (neurological form of DCS). In the group of asymptomatic divers, PFO was proven on the basis of right-to-left shunt screening in 1 diver (8% 1/13). TCD proved right-to-left shunt in all divers with PFO.

 

CONCLUSION: DCS can unmask a so far asymptomatic intracardiac right-to-left shunting. PFO is a risk factor for paradoxical embolization in divers. TCD is suitable for screening; TEE is a gold standard in PFO detection. Our results showed that PFO detection is a useful clinical tool after repeated DCS and in all frequent divers and instructors.

Pearson Education, the world’s largest publisher of educational textbooks, recently published the latest edition in its Connect series. These English textbooks are used throughout the Caribbean to educate island children, using local examples and scenarios to make the lessons more relevant.

In this latest Connect text book, authors Orville and Vicki Aimey and Amaral and Samuel Soyer used an interview with Eric Douglas, originally published by the Cayman Compass, Cayman’s National Newspaper, to illustrate good interviewing techniques. Each unit in the text book features a different island in the Caribbean and the Cayman unit revolves around this interview.

The interview is about Douglas’ first dive adventure novel Cayman Cowboys. The book is a diving adventure set on Grand Cayman and prominently featuring Sunset House and My Bar as well. The story deals with diving, the environment and what happens when development and nature come into conflict, fueled by greed.

For more information about the textbook, or to learn more about the novel Cayman Cowboys, visit Douglas’ website at www.booksbyeric.com.

Eric Douglas
Author of Cayman Cowboys, Flooding Hollywood and Scuba Diving Safety
www.booksbyeric.com

=============================================================