A case of suicidal suffocation simulating homicide

This case concerns an unusual suicidal plastic bag suffocation. An elderly white man was found dead and partially disrobed in his apartment lying supine on a sofa with a plastic bag closed by a rope over the head and the upper and lower extremities tightly tied with two other ropes, the end of both arranged into slipknots (self-rescue mechanism). Police investigations found no pornography in the apartment, and circumstantial data alleged no psychiatric disorders or suicidal intentions. The autopsy excluded signs of struggle and sexual intercourse as well as any type of injury or physical illness. Chemical analyses on the peripheral blood excluded acute drugs and/or alcohol intoxication. A differential diagnosis of the manner of death was performed, including scenarios of accidental autoerotic asphyxiation, homicide during either sexual activity or ritualistic, elderly suicide. The collected data most strongly supported the hypothesis of a suicidal asphyxiation simulating homicide to devolve a life insurance to the victim's sons because of economic difficulties

[Retrato del Padre Pedro Segura] [Material gráfico] / Nic. Mª de Fatio ad viv. y Pin. ; Ioseph Aloja Reg. Sculp

Inscripción en óvalo: "REVERENDISSIMUS P. PETRUS SEGURA ARAGONIAE BIS PROVINCIALIS, ET TOTIUS ORDINIS MINIMORUM GENERALIS". Inscripción en friso: "Ut Imago Viri amicissimi meritissimique Ubique ... MDCCLXXIV

I delitti contro la vita e l'incolumit\ue0 individuale

Nell'ambito di un Manuale che si prefigge di avvicinare i cultori del diritto e della medicina legale a un obiettivo comune, vale a dire la maturazione di un atteggiamento cross-functional (ossia una maggior familiarit\ue0 con i numerosi territori in cui Salute e Diritto sono tanto legati da rendere indispensabile una visione d\u2019insieme dei principi e dei metodi caratterizzanti i rispettivi campi), il presente contributo si occupa specificamente dei delitti contro la vita e contro l'incolumit\ue0 individuale

The use of bone block allografts in sinus augmentation, followed by delayed implant placement: A case series

Purpose: This article reports the clinical outcomes observed in a large number of patients receiving block bone allograft used for sinus augmentation and delayed implant placement. Patients and Methods: In total, 28 patients (13 males) with a mean age of 49.8 ± 10.1 years (range: 33-67 years) were included in this case series. All selected patients suffered from severe alveolar ridge atrophy in the posterior maxilla and required bone augmentation procedures, followed by implant placement after 6 months. All patients were followed for 18 months after the grafting, with scheduled monthly visits and/or more frequent visits if required. The survival rates for both the bone blocks and placed implants were then evaluated. Results: A total of 42 blocks and 90 implants were placed. Only one bone graft and 5 implants failed; the survival rate was 97.2% and 95.5% for the bone grafts and implants, respectively. The graft failed due to the onset of post-surgical infectious sinusitis, while in some patients′ implants showed absence of osteointegration at the end of the healing phase. Of note, all failed implants were observed in heavy smokers; in all other patients, blocks and implants were successful. Conclusions: This preliminary case series suggests that the grafting of bone allograft followed by delayed implant placement may be a promising strategy for sinus augmentation. More extended and larger follow-up studies are needed to confirm this preliminary data

Comparative use of aqueous humour 1H NMR metabolomics and potassium concentration for PMI estimation in an animal model

Estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) remains a matter of concern in the forensic scenario. Traditional and novel approaches are not yet able to fully address this issue, which relies on complex biological phenomena triggered by death. For this purpose, eye compartments may be chosen for experimental studies because they are more resistant to post-mortem modifications. Vitreous humour, in particular, has been extensively investigated, with potassium concentration ([K+]) being the marker that is better correlated with PMI estimation. Recently, a H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomic approach based on aqueous humour (AH) from an animal model was proposed for PMI estimation, resulting in a robust and validated regression model. Here we studied the variation in [K+] in the same experimental setup. [K+] was determined through capillary ion analysis (CIA) and a regression analysis was performed. Moreover, it was investigated whether the PMI information related to potassium could improve the metabolome predictive power in estimating the PMI. Interestingly, we found that a part of the metabolomic profile is able to explain most of the information carried by potassium, suggesting that the rise in both potassium and metabolite concentrations relies on a similar biological mechanism. In the first 24-h PMI window, the AH metabolomic profile shows greater predictive power than [K+] behaviour, suggesting its potential use as an additional tool for estimating the time since death