rigor mortis

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rigor mortis

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

rigor mortis , rigidity of the body that occurs after death. The onset may vary from about 10 min to several hours or more after death, depending on the condition of the body at death and on factors in the atmosphere, particularly temperature. Rigor mortis affects the facial musculature first and then spreads to other parts of the body. It is caused by chemical changes in the muscle tissue. The state of rigor usually lasts about 24 hours or until muscle decomposition takes place by acid formation.

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rigor mortis

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

rigor mortis Stiffening of the body after death brought about by chemical changes in muscle tissue. Onset is gradual from minutes to hours, and it disappears within about 24 hours.

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rigor mortis

A Dictionary of Biology | 2004 | © A Dictionary of Biology 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

rigor mortis The stiffening of the body of an animal after death, due to a temporary rigidity of the muscles. This condition arises because ATP, which is no longer synthesized after death, is required to break down the bridges that form between actin and myosin filaments in muscle tissue during contraction.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Reading rigor mortis: offstage violence and excluded middles 'in' Johnson's 'Middle Passage' and Morrison's 'Beloved.' (authors Charles Johnson and Toni Morrison)
Magazine article from: African American Review; 12/22/1996
Free Article csi: middle school.(Schools)
Newspaper article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR); 2/22/2008
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Magazine article from: Sunset; 4/1/1989

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Reading rigor mortis: offstage violence and excluded middles 'in' Johnson's 'Middle Passage' and Morrison's 'Beloved.' (authors Charles Johnson and Toni Morrison)
Magazine article from: African American Review; 12/22/1996; ; 700+ words ; In recent interviews and in Being & Race: Black Writing since 1970, Charles Johnson often stresses one of the goals of his fiction: the decalcification of perception, especially perception that leads to binary thinking, fixed identities, and racial essentialism. To avoid the objectification and Read more
csi: middle school.(Schools)
Newspaper article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR); 2/22/2008; 435 words ; ...is that DNA? and I wonder if you guys use rigor mortis in what you do? Do you know what rigor mortis is? Sanders kindly asked his young questioner...evidence? the boy asked. Sanders explained that rigor mortis is the stiffening of the body's muscles after... Read more
After you land that salmon....
Magazine article from: Sunset; 4/1/1989; 345 words ; ...the flesh by reducing bacteria and bruises and slowing rigor mortis. You need a thin-bladed, very sharp knife (such as a...fish. For best texture, ice the fish before it enters rigor mortis (gets stiff); on ice, the process is slower and causes... Read more
Picture this: photos of dead Lebanese children outrage both critics and supporters of Israel.(LEBANON)(Brief article)
Magazine article from: New Internationalist; 10/1/2006; 291 words ; ...Lebanon' (31 July 2006). To prove the point, the report was accompanied by a picture of the child (above)--a young body in rigor mortis covered in dust from the devastation left by Israel's 30 July bombing of the village of Qana in southern Lebanon. Pictures... Read more
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Magazine article from: Trial; 2/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...dental appointment. If you saw me in the dental chair for a routine cleaning, you'd assume I was in an advanced stage of rigor mortis, given my extreme muscle rigidity. Fortunately, I have learned to disguise the physiologic effects of fear in the courtroom... Read more
SLIDESHOW: Sandy Conservatives Open Day.
Newspaper article from: Biggleswade Chronicle (Biggleswade, England); 6/6/2008; 78 words ; ...At the end of a most enjoyable day, congratulations went to the overall winners St Andrews BC, known on the day as 'Rigor Mortis'! Trophies also went to the next three highest placed teams from the Trumpington, Shefford and Baldock Bowling Clubs... Read more
The Politics of same.
Magazine article from: The American Conservative; 1/12/2009; ; 700+ words ; ...Solutions are often possible, but movement toward them isn't. The optimistic might see this as a challenge, others as rigor mortis. Consider immigration. Depending on one's politics, various solutions are possible: accept the immigrants and try to... Read more
Protein facilitates meat tenderization process.
Newspaper article from: Emerging Food R&D Report; 3/1/2005; 409 words ; ...phase before the tenderization phase begins. Right after slaughter, meat is tender. But for the next 12 hours or so, rigor mortis takes place, stiffening the muscles and making the meat tough. Toward the end of the toughening phase, while the carcass... Read more
Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me.
Magazine article from: Artforum International; 3/1/1993; ; 240 words ; ...corpse of Teresa Banks, the fiend's first victim, then focuses on the surprise and despair around her mouth, frozen by rigor mortis; the movie sheds its conceits when Laura Palmer, in a heedlessly extremist performance by Sheryl Lee, finds the same... Read more
Body lay undiscovered in bail hostel for hours.
Newspaper article from: Isle of Man Newspapers (Douglas, England); 7/31/2008; 337 words ; ...drugs. An inquest this week heard a police surgeon attended at 10.20pm on June 8 shortly after Mr Karran was found. Rigor mortis had set in on the body. She suggested that Mr Karran had died several hours earlier. A post-mortem examination was carried... Read more

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