308 research outputs found
Undetected patricide: Inaccuracy of cause of death determination without an autopsy
Patricide (killing the father) is uncommon form of homicide. Usually the assaults occur at home in the
absence of witnesses and adult sons are frequently involved. Homicides in a domestic context usually do
not tend to recurrence, because the motivation for the crime ends with the death of the parent. However,
this is not what was observed in the present case study dealing with the death of a 70 years old white
man originally misclassified as accident and discovered three years later only after an additional
homicide in a family context of a 60 years old white lady. Multiple stab wounds to the neck and thorax
were misinterpreted at the external male body examination as blunt trauma falling down stairs. No
forensic autopsy was requested and no comparison of medical findings with the results from the death
scene, such as a bloodstain analysis was performed by the police officers nor required by the judicial
authority. This was quite surprising because an additional but preliminary post-mortem external examination
performed by a general practitioner on the male body already raised the suspicion that the
external lesions were stab wounds thus requiring a forensic autopsy. Only the exhumation of the elderly
body, performed years later, confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis raised by the first physician. The
present case is quite representative of a death investigation not run professionally and performed by
individuals with no specific training where most of the medico-legal investigations (especially for
traumatic and violent deaths) are restricted to an external body examination without subsequent autopsy.
Although misinterpretation of external lesions is inevitable and significant discrepancies between
external body examination and forensic autopsy are not rare, in the case of contradictory results of postmortem
external examination or unclear/suspicious cause and manner of death, investigation should
proceed necessarily with a forensic autopsy
Platelet lysate maintains chondrogenic potential and promotes cartilage regeneration
cartilage.
We
report
the
biological
effect
of
the
platelet
lysate
(PL),
a
PRP
derivative,
on
primary
human
articular
chondrocytes
(HAC)
cultured
under
both
physiological
and
inflammatory
condition.
Added
to
the
culture
medium,
PL
induced
a
strong
mitogenic
response
in
the
chondrocytes.
The
in
vitro
expanded
cell
population
maintained
a
chondrogenic
re-Ââdifferentiation
potential
as
revealed
by
micromass
culture
in
vitro
as
well
as
in
vivo
as
demonstrated
by
ectopic
cartilage
formation
in
nude
mice.
Furthermore,
in
chondrocytes
cultured
in
the
presence
of
the
pro-Ââinflammatory
cytokine
IL-Ââ1α,
the
PL
induced
a
drastic
enhancement
of
the
synthesis
of
the
cytokines
IL-Ââ6
and
IL-Ââ8
and
of
NGAL,
a
lipocalin
expressed
in
cells
of
the
chondrogenic
lineage.
These
events
were
controlled
by
the
p38
MAP
kinase
and
NF-ÂâÎșÎ
pathways.
The
pro-Ââinflammatory
effect
of
the
PL
was
a
transient
phenomenon.
In
fact,
after
an
initial
up
regulation,
we
observed
a
significant
reduction
of
the
NF-ÂâÎșÎ
activity
together
with
the
repression
of
the
inflammatory
enzyme
ciclooxygenase-Ââ2
(COX-Ââ2).
Moreover,
the
medium
of
chondrocytes
cultured
in
the
contemporary
presence
of
PL
and
IL-Ââ1α,
showed
a
significant
enhancement
of
the
chemoattractant
activity
versus
untreated
chondrocytes.
On
the
whole,
our
findings
support
the
concept
that
the
platelet
products
have
a
direct
beneficial
effect
on
articular
chondrocytes
and
at
the
same
time
could
drive
in
sequence
a
trans
Clickable cellulosic surfaces for peptide-based bioassays
The use of peptides in paper-based analytics is a highly appealing field, yet it suffers from severe limitations. This is mostly due to the loss of effective target recognition properties of this relatively small probes upon nonspecific adsorption onto cellulose substrates. Here we address this issue by introducing a simple polymer-based strategy to obtain clickable cellulose surfaces, that we exploited for the chemoselective bioconjugation of peptide bioprobes. Our method largely outperformed standard adsorption-based immobilization strategy in a challenging, real case immunoassay, namely the diagnostic discrimination of Zika + individuals from healthy controls. Of note, the clickable polymeric coating not only allows efficient peptides bioconjugation, but it provides favorable anti-fouling properties to the cellulosic support. We envisage our strategy to broaden the repertoire of cellulosic materials manipulation and promote a renewed interest in peptide-based paper bioassays
Utilização de chuveiros na sala prĂ©-ordenha e sua influĂȘncia na produtividade de bĂșfalas da raça Murrah (Bubalus bubalis).
O estudo foi realizado com 64 bĂșfalas, em dois tratamentos (1 e 2), durante seis dias. No primeiro, antes da ordenha, os animais permaneceram 1h em sala de espera com acesso ao chuveiro No segundo, os animais nĂŁo tiveram acesso ao chuveiro. Foram registrados Ăndice de Temperatura de Globo e Umidade (ITGU) e a Umidade Relativa (UR) das salas de ordenha e de espera, Temperatura de Corpo (TC), FrequĂȘncia RespiratĂłria (FR), Reatividade (REAT), NĂvel de Estresse (NEST) e a Produção DiĂĄria de Leite (PL). Os dados foram analisados com o auxĂlio do programa SAS. O efeito da FR nĂŁo foi significativo (P>0,57) sobre a PL. NĂŁo houve diferença significativa na PL para a REAT. O NEST foi o mesmo nos dois tratamentos. As regressĂ”es da caracterĂstica (PL_AJ) sobre ITGU Interno (ITGU_I), ITGU Externo (ITGU_E), TC e UR nĂŁo foram significativas (P>0,12). No tratamento 2 foram observados maior nĂșmero de animais em classes de estresse, verificou-se que o tratamento 1 possibilitou a mudança ( alguns animais) da zona de alerta ou estresse para a zona de conforto tĂ©rmico em relação ao ITGU_I. No tratamento 2, todos os animais estavam em estresse tĂ©rmico. Os animais submetidos ao estresse calĂłrico em ambas as situaçÔes utilizaram com eficiĂȘncia o seu sistema termorregulador, sem interferir na produção de leite
Radioisotopic purity and imaging properties of cyclotron-produced 99mTc using direct 100Mo(p,2n) reaction
Evaluation of the radioisotopic purity of technetium-99m (99mTc) produced in GBq amounts by proton bombardment of enriched molibdenum-100 (100Mo) metallic targets at low proton energies (i.e. within 15\u201320 MeV) is conducted. This energy range was chosen since it is easily achievable by many conventional medical cyclotrons already available in the nuclear medicine departments of hospitals. The main motivation for such a study is in the framework of the research activities at the international level that have been conducted over the last few years to develop alternative production routes for the most widespread radioisotope used in medical imaging. The analysis of technetium isotopes and isomeric states (9xTc) present in the pertechnetate saline Na99mTcO4 solutions, obtained after the extraction/purification procedure, reveals radionuclidic purity levels basically in compliance with the limits recently issued by European Pharmacopoeia 9.3 (2018 Sodium pertechnetate (99mTc) injection 4801\u20133). Moreover, the impact of 9xTc contaminant nuclides on the final image quality is thoroughly evaluated, analyzing the emitted high-energy gamma rays and their influence on the image quality. The spatial resolution of images from cyclotron-produced 99mTc acquired with a mini-gamma camera was determined and compared with that obtained using technetium-99m solutions eluted from standard 99Mo/99mTc generators. The effect of the increased image background contribution due to Compton-scattered higher-energy gamma rays (E \u3b3 \u2009\u2009>\u2009\u2009200\u2009keV), which could cause image-contrast deterioration, was also studied. It is concluded that, due to the high radionuclidic purity of cyclotron-produced 99mTc using 100Mo(p,2n)99mTc reaction at a proton beam energy in the range 15.7\u201319.4 MeV, the resulting image properties are well comparable with those from the generator-eluted 99mTc
ABCD2, ABCD2-I, and OTTAWA scores for stroke risk assessment: a direct retrospective comparison
Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a neurologic emergency characterized by cerebral ischemia eliciting a temporary focal neurological deficit. Many clinical prediction scores have been proposed to assess the risk of stroke after TIA; however, studies on their clinical validity and comparisons among them are scarce. The objective is to compare the accuracy of ABCD2, ABCD2-I, and OTTAWA scores in the prediction of a stroke at 7, 90 days, and 1 year in patients presenting with TIA. Single-centre, retrospective study including patients with TIA admitted to the Emergency Department of our third-level, University Hospital, between 2018 and 2019. Five hundred three patients were included. Thirty-nine (7.7%) had a stroke within 1 year from the TIA: 9 (1.7%) and 24 (4.7%) within 7 and 90 days, respectively. ABCD2, ABCD2-I, and OTTAWA scores were significantly higher in patients who developed a stroke. AUROCs ranged from 0.66 to 0.75, without statistically significant differences at each time-point. Considering the best cut-off of each score, only ABCD2 > 3 showed a sensitivity of 100% only in the prediction of stroke within 7 days. Among clinical items of each score, duration of symptoms, previous TIA, hemiparesis, speech disturbance, gait disturbance, previous cerebral ischemic lesions, and known carotid artery disease were independent predictors of stroke. Clinical scores have moderate prognostic accuracy for stroke after TIA. Considering the independent predictors for stroke, our study indicates the need to continue research and prompts the development of new tools on predictive scores for TIA
Recalibration of the insect evolutionary time scale using Monte San Giorgio fossils suggests survival of key lineages through the End-Permian Extinction
Insects are a highly diverse group of organisms and constitute more than half of all known animal species. They have evolved an extraordinary range of traits, from flight and complete metamorphosis to complex polyphenisms and advanced eusociality. Although the rich insect fossil record has helped to chart the appearance of many phenotypic innovations, data are scarce for a number of key periods. One such period is that following the End-Permian Extinction, recognized as the most catastrophic of all extinction events. We recently discovered several 240-million-year-old insect fossils in the Mount San Giorgio Lagerstatte (Switzerland-Italy) that are remarkable for their state of preservation (including internal organs and soft tissues), and because they extend the records of their respective taxa by up to 200 million years. By using these fossils as calibrations in a phylogenomic dating analysis, we present a revised time scale for insect evolution. Our date estimates for several major lineages, including the hyperdiverse crown groups of Lepidoptera, Hemiptera: Heteroptera and Diptera, are substantially older than their currently accepted post-Permian origins. We found that major evolutionary innovations, including flight and metamorphosis, appeared considerably earlier than previously thought. These results have numerous implications for understanding the evolution of insects and their resilience in the face of extreme events such as the End-Permian Extinction
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