1,721,051 research outputs found
Identificazione dei corpi senza nome in Lazio: odontologia e antropologia forense, medicina legale e genetica forense
Full text linkSecondo un protocollo elaborato dal Ministero dell'Interno, a partire dal 2017, alcuni corpi censiti nel Registro Generale dei Cadaveri Non Identificati sono stati analizzati con l'intento di raccogliere adeguatamente dati post mortem derivanti da analisi antropologiche, odontologiche, campioni biologici e indagini documentali, per compiere un tentativo di identificazione secondo i moderni protocolli di analisi. 18 corpi sepolti presso il Cimitero di Roma, sono stati analizzati con un approccio multidisciplinare: 18 sono stati oggetto di esumazione più 1, ancora inumato, ma presente nel Registro. Un approccio antropologico e odontologico tradizionale è stato utilizzato per i resti umani completamente scheletrizzati, mentre per i corpi indecomposti si è proceduto a scansione TC e autopsia dento-scheletrica virtuale. Alcuni corpi, per i quali non è stato possibile procedere alle suddette analisi, sono stati profilati attraverso un’indagine documentale. Per tutti è stato delineato un profilo antropologico, definendo popolazione di appartenenza, sesso, età, statura unitamente alle caratteristiche dentali, degli effetti personali e qualsiasi altra informazione potenzialmente utile a fini identificativi. Tutti i dati relativi al precedente recupero della salma sono stati acquisiti dagli Archivi del Tribunale e presso la P.G. operante. L’insieme delle informazioni sono state poi utilizzate per ricercare fra le persone scomparse i sospetti di identità, da approfondire per una possibile identificazione. In quattro casi, si è potuto rintracciare alcune persone scomparse compatibili che, grazie al confronto 1 a 1 hanno permesso l’identificazione dei corpi e la restituzione alle rispettive famiglie. I dati dei corpi rimasti non identificati sono stati inseriti nella relativa banca dati nazionale. Il processo con miglior rapporto costi-benefici si è rivelato essere quello in parte già proposto dall’Interpol che vede come metodi identificativi la dattiloscopia, l’odontoiatria forense e il DNA. Il presente lavoro ha permesso di accentuare l’importanza del seguire quest’ordine di applicazione delle diverse metodologie, unitamente ad una esperienza specifica degli operatori nel settore identificativo. Ciò risulta controcorrente rispetto a quanto avviene oggi in Italia nella maggioranza dei casi giudiziari che vedono al primo posto, invece, l’estrazione del DNA come metodo prioritario e privilegiato
Maxillary sinusitis caused by retained dental impression material: An unusual case report and literature review
Full text linkSurgical procedures in posterior area of maxillary might cause an oroantral communication and iatrogenic sinusitis. An undetected oroantral communication can cause the penetration of foreign bodies, such as dental impression materials, in the maxillary sinus, thereby contributing to persistent sinusitis. Given the occurrence of a very rare clinical and medicolegal case of persistent and drug-resistant sinusitis due to radiologically undetected fragments of silicone paste for dental impression in the maxillary antrum, a literature review was pursued through sensitive keywords in relevant databases for health sciences. All retrieved articles were considered and data about the kind of impression materials thrusted into the maxillary sinus, the diagnostic issues, the reported range of symptoms, and the occurrence of medicolegal issues were analyzed. The diagnosis resulted to be quite challenging and belatedly especially in case of healed oroantral communication and when the material retained in the maxillary sinus has similar radiodensity compared to the surrounding normal or inflammatory tissues. The case was then discussed in comparison with the reviewed literature for both clinical and medicolegal issues. Hints were provided to professionals to face the challenging diagnosis in similar rare cases and to avoid the possible related litigation
CLEIA of humor vitreous in a case of suicidal insulin overdose
No full textInsulin overdoses have been mostly described in literature as accidental and suicidal deaths, especially in diabetic patients. The present case study deals with a 68 years old male found dead in his bedroom. The victim worked as health care professional in a rescue team, suffering from depression for several years. At the death scene, two ampoules of soluble insulin were recovered close to the body, one of which was empty. At autopsy, no signs of trauma and no injection marks were found at common sub-cutaneous or intravenous injection sites. No other remarkable findings, but hemorrhagic pulmonary edema along with astrogliosis and neuronal degeneration/necrosis in the subcortical regions and corpus callosum were observed. The blood specimen was inadequate due to hemolysis, since it was not centrifugated soon after sampling. Biochemical analysis was performed on bilateral samples of vitreous humor by using electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLEIA). The insulin concentration was 61.11 mU/L in the right vitreous humor and 74.23 mU/L in the left one; the C-peptide concentration was 0.166 ng/mL in right vitreous and 0.157 ng/mL in the left one. The results are in agreement with levels of insulin and C-peptide detected in previous case studies. Based on these findings the cause of death was determined as suicidal insulin overdoses probably by sublingual administration. This way of self-administration was a diagnosis for exclusion as it has been demonstrated that sublingual human insulin has hypoglycemic effects similar to insulin injected. The case study emphasizes the potential role of vitreous humor as reliable alternative substrate for biochemical analysis compared to post-mortem serum or blood samples in cases of fatal insulin intoxication. Furthermore, the CLEIA is an encouraging analytical method to be considered in such cases, although still not validated to perform quantitative analysis of post-mortem fluids
Age estimation by measuring open apices in teeth: a new formula for two samples of South African black and white children
Full text linkIn this cross-sectional study, the accuracy of Cameriere’s European formula was tested and a new specific model was developed for two samples of black and white South African children with known age and sex. For these purposes, 970 children of black South African ethnicity (girls 491, boys 479) and 974 with European ethnicity, living in South Africa (girls 493, boys 481), were retrospectively analyzed. The application of the European formula showed that there is a trend in the error estimates: the ages of the younger children are overestimated and those of the older children are underestimated, in both white and black children. A new model, based on the relationship between the apical width and the tooth length (maturity index) of the seven permanent mandibular teeth, was therefore constructed. The new developed equation for the South African population was able to explain 76% of total variance in white girls and 80% in white boys’ subgroup. On the other side, the model explained 76% of total variance in black girls and 78% in the black boys’ subgroup. The mean absolute error of the residuals (residuals = predicted age minus observed age) ranged from 0.718 to 0.769 years, with the interquartile range (IQRres) ranging from 1.19 to 1.31 years. Differently from the Cameriere’s European formula, the plot did not tend to underestimate the chronological age significantly as the age increases. Cameriere’s maturity index is reproducible in both samples of South African black and white children, for forensic purposes, and the Bayesian calibration approach is useful for a more accurate and precise estimation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Postmortem Otorrhagia in Positional Asphyxia
No full textOtorrhagia is generally associated with basilar skull fractures or diving accidents. In routine forensic medical practice, an accurate knowledge of the etiology of otorrhagia may have a key role to distinguish between traumatic and atraumatic causes and accidental, homicidal, or suicidal manners. The authors present the case of an unusual cause of atraumatic otorrhagia occurred in an elderly farmer found dead in a barn. He remained entrapped in a narrow tunnel created by some hay bales. The autopsy findings revealed only an intense polyvisceral congestion and subpleural petechiae, with no signs of traumatic injuries and no fractures of skull base or temporal pyramid. The cause of death was determined to be positional asphyxia, and the manner of death was deemed accidental. In fact, the head-down position resulted in diaphragm compression caus- ing respiratory failure in combination with the stasis of the upper venous circle districts. Mechanical and gravitational forces related to upside- down position and increased vascular pressure also caused postmortem otorrhagia. In this case, the death scene investigation and circumstantial information allowed for reconstruction of the unique dynamics of the death. At the death scene, the position of the corpse must be accurately investigated because it can explain some cadaveric findings such as the ear bleeding or other markers of increased cephalic venous pressure like pink teeth, facial and conjunctival petechiae, or Tardieu spots. Therefore, forensic pathologists should consider that ear bleeding in dead bodies is not always the evidence of severe head blunt trauma or diving accidents, but it might be a postmortem phenomenon mostly related to body position
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