Macro H2A.1 immunohistochemical expression in an "in vivo" model of orthodontic dental movement

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Volatile organic compounds: instrumental and canine detections link an individual to the crime scene

Background: Whenever a crime is committed, forensic personnel are requested to collect every kind of evidence to establish the relationship between the suspects and the crime. When any evidence is accidentally destroyed or not found, there is one type of latent evidence that is always deposited at the crime scene: unique human scent. Recently, the use of trained canines to detect selective human scent at a crime scene has increased. To consolidate this kind of evidence, it is essential to have an exact knowledge and an awareness of the chemical signature of the volatile compounds that could indicate the presence of the alleged offender at the crime scene. This experimental study aims to detect the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from subjects who handled scent-articles to imprint their odor on. After handling, each scent-article was wrapped in sterile and VOC-free cotton gauzes for 48 h for secondary transfer. VOCs were detected by headspace/solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS/SPME-GC/MS) and well-trained dogs, at different time points (up to 15 days). Furthermore, the possibility of further DNA detection after contact was also investigated to propose a novel approach able to identify a subject from this latent forensic trace. Results: Data show that inter-individual human scent composition includes different VOCs, but dogs were able to discriminate the individual who touched the object at the crime scene. The dog training procedure showed excellent sensitivity (between 99.48 and 100%) and specificity (between 60 and 100%), having a positive predictive value (PPV) ranging between 97.94 and 100% and a negative predictive value (NPV) ranging between 85.71 and 100%. Preliminary work on DNA analysis released after contact yielded positive results, even if further studies are necessary, expanding the same experimentation to a larger sample with the aim of obtaining a statistically significant result. Conclusion: Data show that human scent is a good source of VOCs and a good target for canine training. The well-trained dog represents a specialized biological device able to discriminate personal human odor from any contaminants in the mixture detected by instrumental analysis. Furthermore, this study proposes the use of human scent as a forensic latent trace for DNA profiling

Abnormal Plasma Cell Disorders in Refinery Waste Workers

A monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) may develop into a multiple myeloma or a correlated lymphoproliferative malignancy with a progress rate of 1% per year. The immune status, occupational-environmental risk factors, and hereditary factors may influence the risk of developing MGUS. We investigated the prevalence of MGUS in 77 refinery waste workers. They were all males, averagely aged 36, with a mean working history of 18.5 years and working in the dump for about 4.2 years. After analyzing the results of standard serum electrophoresis migrations, 16% of cases (n = 12) showed levels beyond the normal ranges. In all 12 samples we observed an increase of gamma component: 67%, IgG; 17%, IgM; 8%, IgA; 8%, oligoclonal. Workers were exposed to hazardous refinery waste. After the biological monitoring of urine samples for metals and t,t-muconic acid, no extra-range values were observed. The multivariate analysis shows, however, that cigarette smoking and residence near industrial sites are significantly (p < 0.001) associated with a high risk of MGUS development; while no association was found with occupational exposure. Additional attention might be paid in particular to these conditions in epidemiological studies and further larger, prospective, population-based researches appear warranted to evaluate the strength of any positive association

Immunohistochemical expression and localization of MMP-9, MMP-13, E-Cadherin and Ki-67 in road pavers' skin chronically exposed to bitumen products.

To investigate the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, (MMP)-13, E-Cadherin and Ki-67 expressions in road pavers’ skin chronically exposed to bitumen products in order to contribute to a better understanding of the earlier tissue alteration. Skin punch biopsies from 16 daily exposed workers and a control group were studied by immunohistochemistry. Morphometric and densitometric analyses were also conducted. Morphological specimen evaluation of skin of road pavers showed epidermal thinning, flattening and loss of intercellular junction with a decreased expression of E-cadherin confined to the basal skin layer, together with MMP-9 and MMP-13 overexpressions in all epidermis layers, vascular structures and adnexa. No immunohistochemical alteration was reported for Ki-67 vs normal skin. Results from this study show that overexpression of MMP-9 and MMP-13 may represent an early response of the first human barrier to exposure to bitumen products. Regulation of MMPs could be one of the strategies to prevent primary skin disease

DOG BITE-RELATED ACCIDENTS: A NEW FORENSIC APPROACH

The alarming statistics reported around the world have shown that dog attacks today represent a health hazard where prevention strategies have not always been successful 1,2. Most of the dogs involved in these events are known to the victim or belong to him. From our study we found 19 dog bite-related fatalities in Italy from 2009 to 2016 (2,37 cases for year) 3; these data are sharply increased in relationship with previous study that describes 32 dog bite-related fatalities between 1984 to 20094 with a frequency of 1,28 cases for year. A scientific inclusion/exclusion of the involved dog is possible and also recommended because of the possible consequences for the animal’s owner that could have civil consequences or criminal consequences in the most serious cases. Since dog bite mark analysis should involve different forensic professionals such as pathologists, odontologists, veterinarians, biologists, and also police investigators, a review focused on this type of evidence from a multidisciplinary point of view is presented. To the best of our knowledge, there are different approaches for identification of offending dog when a human attack occurs. Forensic investigations in dog attacks usually involve the examination of bite marks and toothprints, the dog’s stomach and pathological methods. For the identification of the offending dog the best approach is to evaluate the canine STR typing into saliva traces on dog bite marks. Generally, it is possible to obtain a canine-specific STR profile from the dog’s saliva left on the wound area, even when high background of human DNA was present (blood). This approach is often a problem because the surface of the wounds may have been treated, for example by first aid workers, removing the canine cells. This approach causes less success in obtaining useful STR results, before that the medico-legal techniques are applied. Furthermore, the dogs appear more frequently in human social life, so it is no rare that the canine DNA is present on hands, arms, legs or foot of the people. A new forensic approach was described for offending dog identification starting from dog's buccal swabs: the target is the identification of human profile starting from this sample. The further goal of this paper was to determine the latency time of this biological trace in the dog's mouth. In this work, 10 different races of dogs were used that bite a beef meat sample, previously typed (internal control profile). At different times (30’, 45’, 60’, 90’, 120’, 150’, 180’, 240’), 2 dog buccal swabs were done (a swab for each dental arch). 160 samples were collected. Subsequently DNA was extract and bovine genotyping kit was used. We found in all samples a complete profile of our internal control until 45 minutes and a partial profile until 150 minutes. These data are very important to confirm the possibility of approaching with buccal swabs to reach the identification of offending dog. The human STRs typing kits are much more specific and sensitive compared with cattle kit, so we can supposed that a complete human STR profile could be obtained from the dog buccal swab, after aggression, at least to 150 minutes. This time is usually enough for the medico-legal team arrive. This study may offer a model that could be always applied for identification of offending dogs; furthermore, dog-bite related accidents can provide concrete cases even fatal, making it possible to develop, refine or validate medico-legal techniques