Even if anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse is clearly associated with a wide spectrum of collateral effects, adolescents and athletes frequently use a large group of synthetic derivatives of ...testosterone, both for aesthetic uses and for improving performance. Over the last few years, the development of MicroRNA (miRNA) technologies has become an essential part of research projects and their role as potential molecular biomarkers is being investigated by the scientific community. The circulating miRNAs detection as a diagnostic or prognostic tool for the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases is very useful, because with a minimal quantity of sample (peripheral blood), miRNAs are very sensitive. Even more, miRNAs remain stable both at room temperature and during freeze-thaw cycles. These characteristics highlight the important role of miRNAs in the near future as new tools for anti-doping. The article provides a systematic review and meta-analysis on the role of miRNAs as new potential molecular biomarkers of AAS use/abuse. Particularly, this paper analyzed the "miRNA signature" use as biomarkers for health disorders, focusing on the organ damages which are related to ASS use/abuse. Moreover, this review aims to provide a future prospect for less invasive or non-invasive procedures for the detection of circulating miRNA biomarkers as doping assumption signaling.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) abuse is often associated with a wide spectrum of adverse effects. These drugs are frequently abused by adolescents and athletes for esthetic purposes, as well as ...for improvement of their endurance and performances. In this literature review, we evaluated the correlation between AAS and anxiety or aggression. Two pathways are thought to be involved in AAS-induced behavioral disorders. Direct pathway via the amygdalo-fugal pathway, which connects the central nucleus of the amygdala to the brainstem, is involved in cognitive-emotive and homeostatic processes. The latter is modified by chronic AAS use, which subsequently leads to increased anxiety. Indirect pathways via the serotonergic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic signals which are modified by AAS abuse in latero-anterior hypothalamus and can mediate the aggressive behavior. In conclusion, the molecular mechanisms underlying the behavioral alterations following AAS abuse is unclear and remains ambiguous as additional long-term studies aimed to understand the precise mechanisms are required.
•Dog attacks today represent a health hazard.•Aggressor dog identification is critical to ascertain the owner.•This experimental study proposes a new forensic approach.
Dog attacks today represent a ...health hazard considering that prevention strategies have not always been successful. The identification of the dog that attacked the victim is necessary, considering the civil or criminal consequences for the animal’s owner. An accurate scene analysis must be performed collecting a series of important information.
Forensic investigations in dog attacks involve different methods, such as the evaluating of the canine Short Tandem Repeat (STR) typing in saliva traces on wounds or bite mark analysis, however, these techniques cannot always be applied. The effort to find new methods to identify the dog that attacked the victim represents a very interesting field for the forensic community.
This study aims to propose an innovative approach, based on the identification of the victim's profile in the dog's mouth, using a buccal swab on the suspected aggressor dog, to find the victim’s genetic profile. In addition, a further goal of this study is to determine the persistence time of hexogen DNA in the dog’s mouth to define a timeframe for performing this particular technique.
For this purpose, ten different dogs were used to aggressively bite a bovine sample (reference sample) to simulate the victim. For each dog two buccal swabs were taken at different time intervals: 30′, 45′, 60′, 90′, 120′, 150′, 180′ and 240′. The typing of the swabs provided an interpretable profile after 45′ while traces of bovine profile were found until 150′ after the dog attack simulation.
These results could be improved using the human identification kit, which is more sensitive. In the light of this experimental study, the forensic community should consider using this approach in real casework studies with the aim of collecting new data, validating this technique for forensic use.
Highlights • Mafia murders are always finalized to establish one’s potency or capacity to control the territory of action of their criminal activities. • The “Lupara Bianca” seems to be a method ...primarily used in Mafia homicides with the main purpose to hide cadavers and attempting to throw the inquiry off the track for the longer time. • A complete forensic investigation in these cases should include both radiological investigations and DNA profiling.
The aim of this feasibility study was to investigate the potential role of ex-situ heart MRI and angiography (MRA) after formalin fixation.
The heart of a 22-year-old dead male was explanted and ...placed inside a container, filled with 10% formalin solution. MRI was performed with 1.5 T scanner at three different times (24 hours, 7 days and 30 days). The examination protocol included eight sequences. Two readers completed image analyses after randomization and blinded to both cause of death and examination timing.
Both readers reported no significant differences among the three groups of images and no signs of pathological alterations, even when analyzing coronaries, performed without an additional contrast agent. Histological examinations confirmed these results.
This study demonstrates the reliability of an MRI protocol to study an ex situ fixed-heart, not influenced by acquisition timing. Moreover, MRA allows coronary arteries to be easily studied thanks to the formalin solution as contrast.
Background: The aim of this study was to test the association between periprostatic adipose tissue (PPAT)—apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value recorded at multiparametric magnetic resonance ...imaging (mpMRI) and determinants of prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness in the preoperative setting. Methods: Data from 219 consecutive patients undergoing prostate biopsy (PBx) for suspicion of PCa, between January 2020 and June 2022, at our institution were retrospectively evaluated. Only patients who had mpMRI performed before PBx were included. The distribution of demographics and clinical features among PPAT-ADC values up to vs. above the median was studied using both parametric and non-parametric tests, according to variables. Linear and logistic regression models tested the association between PPAT-ADC values and determinants of PCa aggressiveness and the presence of intermediate-high risk PCa, respectively. Results: Of 132 included patients, 76 (58%) had PCa. Median PPAT-ADC was 876 (interquartile range: 654 − 1112) × 10−6 mm2/s. Patients with PPAT-ADC up to the median had a higher rate of PIRADS (Prostate Imaging—Reporting and Data System) 5 lesions (41% vs. 23%, p = 0.032), a higher percentage of PBx positive cores (25% vs. 6%, p = 0.049) and more frequently harbored ISUP (International Society of Urological Pathology) > 1 PCa (50% vs. 28%, p = 0.048). At univariable linear regression analyses, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), PSA density, PIRADS 5, and percentage of PBx positive cores were associated with lower PPAT-ADC values. PPAT-ADC up to the median was an independent predictor for intermediate-high risk PCa (odds ratio: 3.24, 95%CI: 1.17−9.46, p = 0.026) after adjustment for age and body mass index. Conclusions: Lower PPAT-ADC values may be associated with higher biopsy ISUP grade group PCa and a higher percentage of PBx-positive cores. Higher-level studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.
Even if there are well-known consequences of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse, their full pathway of action is still being investigated. In this context, the presented case report aims to ...discuss and provide evidence of unusual adverse effects linked to immunodeficiency in an AAS abuser. In fact, this kind of chronic complication, even if not usually considered, may lead sudden death. In this case a 31-year-old aesthetic weightlifter, who presented to the emergency department due to an accidental fall that resulted in left thigh trauma. This subsequently developed into left thigh necrotizing myofasciitis in the following few days. Although surgery and hyperbaric therapy were carried out, the man died. An autopsy with complete biological sampling for toxicological studies was performed. This case highlights the close relationship between AAS abuse and immunodeficiency and highlights it’s importance for further studies. However, it should be considered that of all the dangerous effects produced by AAS use, necrotizing fasciitis is not such an unusual consequence.
One of the main characteristics of the Mafia of Gargano is their use of ritual murders: they shoot their victims in the face and then conceal the corpses in the numerous natural ravines present in ...the Gargano area. Skeletal remains are often recovered in a poor state of preservation under particular conditions related to the environmental situation. Humidity, temperature and environmental contaminants could be considered very important for forensic examinations and are strictly related to the bone preservation status. One of the most important analyses is the identification of the victim: the success rate is linked to the condition of the bones.
During military investigations in the Gargano area, several bones were recovered and analyzed in a karst ravine about 30 m deep. The forensic examination highlighted the presence of fly puparia from an intact human femur. The colonization of the inner bone cavity by a species of the Heleomyzidae family is described for the first time. Puparia, despite not being identified at the species level, are described and illustrated and their potential role in the degradation of the victim's DNA is discussed. This work increases our knowledge about the effects of Diptera in the taphonomic process underlying the need of a multidisciplinary approach to skeletal investigations.
•The main characteristic of the Mafia of Gargano is their use of ritual murders.•Skeletal remains are often recovered in a poor state of preservation.•To obtain the genotyping of the bones, sampling of the femur is usually performed.•The unusual finding of puparia inside a femur was described.•The inner examination of the bones may provide useful entomological evidence.
Pediatrics, among all the branches of medicine, is a sector not particularly affected by a high number of claims. Nevertheless, the economic value of the compensation is significantly high, for ...example, in cases of children who suffered multiple disabilities following perinatal lesions with a long life expectancy. In Italy, most of the claims for compensation concern surgical pathologies and infections. Among these latter, the dominant role is taken by respiratory tract infections. In this context, the purpose of this manuscript is to present a case series of infant deaths in different emergency-related facilities (ambulances, emergency rooms) denounced by relatives. Following these complaints, the autopsy was performed, and subsequent histological examinations revealed the presence of typical and pathognomonic histological findings of acute viral bronchiolitis, whose morphological appearance is poorly reported in the literature. The analysis of these cases made it possible to highlight the following conclusions: the main problems in diagnosing sudden death causes, especially in childhood, are the rapidity of death and the scarce correlation between the preexistent diseases and of the cause of death itself. For all these reasons, the autopsy, either clinical or medicolegal, is mandatory in cases of sudden unexpected infant death to manage claim requests because only the histological examinations performed on samples collected during the autopsy can reveal the real cause of death.
Neurodegenerative diseases are frequently associated with structural changes in the brain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can show these variations and therefore can be used as a supportive ...feature for a number of neurodegenerative diseases. The hippocampus has been known to be a biomarker for Alzheimer disease and other neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, it requires accurate, robust, and reproducible delineation of hippocampal structures. Fully automatic methods are usually the voxel based approach; for each voxel a number of local features were calculated. In this paper, we compared four different techniques for feature selection from a set of 315 features extracted for each voxel: (i) filter method based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test; two wrapper methods, respectively, (ii) sequential forward selection and (iii) sequential backward elimination; and (iv) embedded method based on the Random Forest Classifier on a set of 10 T1-weighted brain MRIs and tested on an independent set of 25 subjects. The resulting segmentations were compared with manual reference labelling. By using only 23 feature for each voxel (sequential backward elimination) we obtained comparable state-of-the-art performances with respect to the standard tool FreeSurfer.
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