Forensic Entomology:an overview.

Insects are the most important, in terms of number and diversity, group of animals on the earth. Insects have colonized all the world’s environments and are associated with both human life and death. Although their economical and sanitary importance is well documented, in the past few years they have been used also in a forensic context. In forensic entomology, necrophagous insects have proved useful in; studying postmortem interval (PMI), postmortem transfer (the movement of a body from one location to another after death), presence of drugs or poisons, and in identifying the victim and/or the suspect. Many species can be used to estimate the minimum PMI (mPMI), according to the stage of cadaver decomposition, body exposure, geographical region, and season. The most important British flies of forensic interest are described

Third molar maturity index by measurements of open apices in a Libyan sample of living subjects

In most countries, forensic age estimation in living subjects has become increasingly important in the last few years. In addition, as the age of legal majority ranges from 14 to 18 in many countries, and in Libya it is 18 years, radiographic assessment of the degree of third molar development is essential for forensic age estimation of adolescents and young adults. The aim of this paper is to assess the accuracy of the cut-off value of 0.08, by measurements of third molar index (I3M), in determining if a subject is adult or not in Libyan population. Digital panoramic radiographs of 307 healthy subjects (163 girls, 144 boys), aged between 14 and 22, were analysed. The I3M, the age and the sex of the subjects were used as predictive variable for age estimation. Using a cut-off of 0.08, the sensitivity of the test for boys was 90.9% and the specificity 100%. The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 95.1% (95% CI: 91.5–98.7%). The sensitivity for girls was 90.6% and the specificity 100%. The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 94.5% (95% CI: 90.9–98.1%). Estimated post-test probability in boys and girls was 100%. Further analyses, performed using a cut-off of 0.09, do not affect the specificity (100%) while they improve the sensitivity for both boys and girls

First record of Basilia mediterranea Hůrka, 1970 from Italy (Diptera: Nycteribiidae)

The presence of Basilia mediterranea Hůrka, 1970, species with Western Mediterranean distribution, is reported for the first time from Italy. Two specimens, a male and a female, were collected from two bats belonging to the species Pipistrellus pipistrellus Schreber, 1774 captured with mist nets during a research on bats of Montecristo and Capraia islands (Tuscan Archipelago National Park, Central Italy)

Validation of third molar maturity index (I 3M ) for discrimination of juvenile/adult status in South Indian population

Deliberate falsification of age was considered to be one of the main reasons for forensic age estimation of the living individuals. This posed to be a challenging task during criminal and legal proceedings, and ultimate care must be taken not to classify juveniles as adults. Third molars are the only developing teeth during late adolescence and early adulthood. Our study was designed to analyze the usefulness of the third molar maturity index (I3M) specific cut-off value (I3M < 0.08) to discriminate adults (≥18 years) and juveniles (<18 years) in South Indian children. 216 panoramic radiographs (114 females and 102 males) of living subjects aged between 14 and 21 years were analyzed. Our results demonstrated high sensitivity (83.3% and 90.2%) and specificity (98.3% and 95.1%) for females and males respectively. The positive likelihood ratios of being adult were 50.00 and 18.35 while the negative likelihood ratios were 0.17 and 0.10 in females and males respectively. The estimated posttest probability was 98.0% in females and 94.8% in males. The obtained results showed that the specific cut-off value of I3M < 0.08 may be a useful additional tool in discrimination of individuals who are around 18 years of age

Recupero e riqualificazione delle aree produttive in provincia di Treviso

Recovery and Regeneration of Industrial Areas in the Treviso Province. In the future the reducing necessity of industrial areas and the demand for a sustainable urban management - soil use - make more urgent the challenge of recovery and regeneration of industrial areas in the province of Treviso, largely abandoned today and subject to ineffective urban and regional planning models. A decision tool has been performed in order to manage political interventions by classifying industrial areas in: suitable to expansion, not suitable to expansion and to recovery. For each of these classes urban design addresses have been commented in a perspective of environmental sustainability

On-Site Inspection Form in Veterinary Cases: The Parma Veterinary Form

Simple Summary In veterinary practice, the on-site inspection of the scene of an animal dead body is crucial for a correct interpretation of the autopsy results, in particular to determine the manner, mechanism and cause of death, as an important role in the control of public health including the prevention of zoonoses. It is also fundamental for the recognition and the contrast of crimes against animals and to animal abuse phenomena, considered an alert sign of an anti-social or violent behavior of humans, theory known as "The Link". A good practice is the presence of a veterinary pathologist on the scene. Although photographs and information made available by the police officers on the place of discovery of the animal cadaver can be useful, the information that can be achieved by a direct examination of the scene is irreplaceable. Today the best veterinary procedure requires an accurate collection of evidence at the scene that can be then handed to experts belonging to other forensic sciences for further evaluation and data interpretation. In this paper authors suggest a form aiming to facilitate either the on-site and the autopsy activities. The suggested form can contribute to guarantee the quality of the forensic process from the discovery site up to the court. Particular attention is paid to the training of non-medical personnel who often represent the first, and sometimes, the only figure to be present on the scene. The form proposed is inspired by the interdisciplinary form developed by the European Council of Legal Medicine. This form represents an initial tool to improve a multidisciplinary activity in close synergy with other forensic experts. The on-site inspection of the scene of an animal cadaver is crucial for a correct interpretation of the autopsy results, to determine the manner, method, and cause of death. This information plays a crucial role in the control of public health including the prevention of zoonoses. It is also fundamental for the recognition and the contrast of crimes against animals and to animal abuse phenomena, considered an alert sign of an anti-social or violent behavior of humans. Today the best veterinary procedure requires an accurate collection of the evidence at the scene that can be then handed to experts belonging to other forensic disciplines for further evaluation and data interpretation. In this paper authors suggest a form aiming to facilitate either the on-site and the autopsy activities, as a guarantee of the quality of the forensic process starting from the discovery scene up to the reconstruction of the case. Essential is training of non-medical personnel who often represent the first responder to be present on the scene. The form is inspired by the interdisciplinary form developed by the European Council of Legal Medicine and represents an initial tool to stimulate a multidisciplinary activity in close synergy with other forensic experts

Ecological risk assessment of agricultural soils for the definition of soil screening values: A comparison between substance-based and matrix-based approaches

The Italian legislation on contaminated soils does not include the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) and this deficiency has important consequences for the sustainable management of agricultural soils. The present research compares the results of two ERA procedures applied to agriculture (i) one based on the “substance-based” approach and (ii) a second based on the “matrix-based” approach. In the former the soil screening values (SVs) for individual substances were derived according to institutional foreign guidelines. In the latter, the SVs characterizing the whole-matrix were derived originally by the authors by means of experimental activity. The results indicate that the “matrix-based” approach can be efficiently implemented in the Italian legislation for the ERA of agricultural soils. This method, if compared to the institutionalized “substance based” approach is (i) comparable in economic terms and in testing time, (ii) is site specific and assesses the real effect of the investigated soil on a battery of bioassays, (iii) accounts for phenomena that may radically modify the exposure of the organisms to the totality of contaminants and (iv) can be considered sufficiently conservative

A case of insect colonization before the death

Forensic entomology is a branch of forensic science in which insects are used as evidence in legal investigations relating to humans, domestic animals and wildlife. One of the theoretical pillars on which the discipline is based concerns the fact that flies colonize a body after death. However in cases of myiasis, maggots are present before death, with consequences in the correct estimation of the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI). We report here the case of a woman, largely colonized by fly larvae, who has lain alive in her garden for four days prior to being rescued. Larvae were found on the conjunctivae, the bronchi, the rectum and vagina. The woman's death, two months later, was caused by tetanus. The consequences of myiasis on mPMI estimation are here discussed. In fact, despite she was still alive larvae, indicated and estimated age of 1.5–2.5 days, based on environmental and body temperature

Drosophila circadian rhythms in semi-natural environments; the summer afternoon component is not an artifact and requires TrpA1 channels

Under standard laboratory conditions of rectangular light/dark cycles and constant warm temperature, Drosophila melanogaster show bursts of morning (M) and evening (E) locomotor activity and a “siesta” in the middle of the day. These M and E components have been critical for developing the neuronal dual oscillator model in which clock gene expression in key cells generates the circadian phenotype. However, under natural European summer conditions of cycling temperature and light intensity, an additional prominent afternoon (A) component that replaces the siesta is observed. This component has been described as an “artifact” of the TriKinetics locomotor monitoring system that is used by many circadian laboratories world wide. Using video recordings, we show that the A component is not an artifact, neither in the glass tubes used in TriKinetics monitors nor in open-field arenas. By studying various mutants in the visual and peripheral and internal thermo-sensitive pathways, we reveal that the M component is predominantly dependent on visual input, whereas the A component requires the internal thermo-sensitive channel transient receptor potential A1 (TrpA1). Knockdown of TrpA1 in different neuronal groups reveals that the reported expression of TrpA1 in clock neurons is unlikely to be involved in generating the summer locomotor profile, suggesting that other TrpA1 neurons are responsible for the A component. Studies of circadian rhythms under seminatural conditions therefore provide additional insights into the molecular basis of circadian entrainment that would otherwise be lost under the usual standard laboratory protocols