Topic Review
Forensic Podiatry
Forensic Podiatry is a subdiscipline of forensic science in which specialized podiatric knowledge including foot and lower limb anatomy, musculoskeletal function, deformities and diseases of the foot, ankle, lower extremities, and at times, the entire human body is used in the examination of foot-related evidence in the context of a criminal investigation. Forensic Podiatry has been defined as: The application of sound and researched podiatry knowledge and experience in forensic investigations, to show the association of an individual with a scene of crime, or to answer any other legal question concerned with the foot or footwear that requires knowledge of the functioning foot. Those who specialize in this field need to have gained knowledge and experience in podiatry and also in forensic science and practice. Forensic Podiatry is usually used to assist in the process of human identification, but can also be employed to help address issues relating to questions that have arisen within the context of forensic enquiry. Such questions could include whether or not a shoe could have had multiple wearers, what the effects of a shoe not fitting correctly could have been, whether or not someone could have placed their foot into a shoe that was too small for the postulated wearer's foot and other matters involving the podiatric interpretation of relevant evidential materials.
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Pharmacological Effects of Houttuynia cordata Thunb (H. cordata)
Houttuynia cordata Thunb (H. cordata) is a rhizomatous, herbaceous, and perennial plant widely distributed in Asia. It has multiple chemical constituents, such as alkaloids, essential oils, phenolic acids, and flavonoids used against various health problems. The essential oils and flavonoids are the main components of H. cordata that play an essential role in disease treatment and traditional health care. Moreover, the leaves and stems of H. cordata have a long medicinal history in China. In addition, H. cordata is used against several health issues, such as cold, cough, fever, pneumonia, mumps, and tumors, due to its anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, and anti-tumor effects.
  • 1.2K
  • 07 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Age-at-Death Estimation by Dental Means
Age-at-death is one of the most valuable pieces of information in a biological profile, and is an important step in identifying remains. Age-at-death estimation by dental means is performed by forensic odontologists and forensic anthropologists in their daily casework tasks. Osteological and dental methods of age estimation rely on developmental changes in younger individuals and on degenerative changes in older individuals. Skeletal methods based on developmental changes are highly reliable, while methods based on degenerative or post-formation changes show higher variability. From all skeletal methods, those relying on tooth formation and development are the most accurate to assess an individual’s age. Dental methods of age estimation can be implemented in the skeletal analysis of juvenile and adult remains, representing an additional indicator of age.
  • 1.2K
  • 07 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Criminal Poisonings
Criminal poisonings are among the least frequently detected crimes in the world. Lack of suspicion of this type of event by police officers and prosecutors, clinical symptoms imitating many somatic diseases and technical difficulties in diagnostics, as well as high research costs make the actual frequency of these events difficult to estimate. The substance used for criminal poisoning is often characterized by: lack of taste, color and smell, delayed action, easy availability and difficulty to detect.
  • 967
  • 24 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Impacts of Drugs on Skeleton in Forensic Anthropology
Forensic anthropologists rely on a number of parameters when analyzing human skeletal remains to assist in the identification of the deceased, predominantly age-at-death, sex, stature, ancestry or population affinity, and any unique identifying features. During the examination of human remains, it is important to be aware that the skeletal features considered when applying anthropological methods may be influenced and modified by a number of factors, prescription drugs (including medical and non-medical use) and other commonly used drugs. Through different mechanisms, drugs can alter bone mineral density, causing osteopenia, osteoporosis, increase the risk of fractures, osteonecrosis, and oral changes.
  • 790
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Diffuse Axonal Injury
Diffuse axonal injuries (DAI) are the result of strong rotational and translational forces on the brain parenchyma, leading to cerebral oedema and neuronal death. DAI is typically characterized by coma without focal lesions at presentation and is defined by localized axonal damage in multiple regions of the brain parenchyma, often causing impairment of cognitive and neuro-vegetative function.
  • 618
  • 05 May 2022
Topic Review
Telemedicine Applications in the Era of COVID-19
Telemedicine allows for the effective delivery of health care to patients at a distance through the application of information technology to the field of medicine. This is optimal during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce interpersonal contact to mitigate contagion. 
  • 611
  • 14 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Diagnosis and Prevention of Heat-Related Illness
Hyperthermia is an internal body temperature increase above 40.5 °C; normally internal body temperature is kept constant through natural homeostatic mechanisms. Heat-related illnesses occur due to exposure to high environmental temperatures in conditions in which an organism is unable to maintain adequate homeostasis. This can happen, for example, when the organism is unable to dissipate heat adequately. Heat dissipation occurs through evaporation, conduction, convection, and radiation. Heat disease exhibits a continuum of signs and symptoms ranging from minor to major clinical pictures. Minor clinical pictures include cramps, syncope, edema, tetany, and exhaustion. Major clinical pictures include heatstroke and life-threatening heat stroke and typically are expressed in the presence of an extremely high body temperature. There are also some categories of people at greater risk of developing these diseases, due to exposure in particular geographic areas (e.g., hot humid environments), to unchangeable predisposing conditions (e.g., advanced age, young age (i.e., children), diabetes, skin disease with reduced sweating), to modifiable risk factors (e.g., alcoholism, excessive exercise, infections), to partially modifiable risk factors (obesity), to certain types of professional activity (e.g., athletes, military personnel, and outdoor laborers) or to the effects of drug treatment (e.g., beta-blockers, anticholinergics, diuretics). Heat-related illness is largely preventable. 
  • 590
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Ketamine in Acute Brain Injury
Ketamine is a non-competitive antagonist of the NDMA receptor. The use of ketamine in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) has often been argued due to its possible deleterious effects on cerebral circulation and perfusion. Early studies suggested that ketamine could increase intracranial pressure, decreasing cerebral perfusion pressure and thereby reducing oxygen supply to the damaged cerebral cortex. Some recent studies have refuted these conclusions relating to the role of ketamine, especially in patients with TBI, showing that ketamine should be the first-choice drug in this type of patient at induction. 
  • 587
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
DNA Methylation Age Estimation
Age estimation is a paramount issue in criminal, anthropological, and forensic research. Because of this, several areas of research have focused on the establishment of new approaches for age prediction, including bimolecular and anthropological methods. DNA methylation (DNAm) has arisen as one of the hottest topics in the field. Many studies have developed age-prediction models (APMs) based on evaluation of DNAm levels of many genes in different tissue types and using different methodological approaches. However, several challenges and confounder factors should be considered before using methylation levels for age estimation in forensic contexts.
  • 579
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Difficulties in Kinship Analysis in Armed Conflicts
Regarding human identification in armed conflicts, various complications can be observed. Usually, such difficulties can be social-related, which can include the lack of access to the relative’s genetic material, or the unwillingness of administrative and judicial authorities to participate in the process of identification. In the case of genetics, the analysis allows identifying the individual from a blood sample, a part of an organ, or from skeletal remains, which is why it is considered a much more extensive and effective method when compared with fingerprint techniques or odontology. However, several factors can prevent this identification, such as considerably degraded genetic material. For successful identification, it is mandatory to have access to antemortem biological samples unequivocally attributed to the individual in question, using recombinant nuclear markers, as well as using biological samples from close relatives, whether parents or sons. Nevertheless, the problems associated with armed conflicts make this type of study very difficult.
  • 494
  • 05 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Role of Oral Microbiome on Oral Cancer
Oral cancer (OC) is the most common neoplasm in the head and neck region. OCs are defined as cancers of the tongue, the floor of the oral cavity, the lining of the cheeks, the roof of the oral cavity, the gums, and the lips but do not include laryngeal and pharyngeal cancers. The majority of OCs comprise oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). The oral microbiome hosts more than 750 common oral species. A healthy microbiome usually consists of Streptococci, Staphylococci, Neisseria species, and about 50 other aerobes. The consensus is that a normal mouth microbiome consists mainly of aerobes, while the percentage of anaerobes increases with OC (and other pathological oral conditions). The connection that exists between microbes and carcinoma is complex and influenced by a number of factors, such as the vulnerability and genetic makeup of the host, as well as environmental conditions, including the host’s dietary regime, oral hygiene, and tobacco and alcohol use.
  • 464
  • 19 May 2023
Topic Review
Role of Natural Compounds in Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer represents a major health concern for the female population. Combining innovative therapeutic techniques with established approaches can aid in improving treatment outcomes. Because of their multi-target actions, long application history, and widespread availability, natural compounds have particular advantages in this connection.
  • 394
  • 24 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Clinical and Forensic Aspect of Xylazine Poisoning
Xylazine abuse is emerging globally, while the identification of xylazine lethal cases poses a great challenge in clinical and forensic practice. The non-specific symptoms delay the diagnosis and treatment of xylazine poisoning, the pathological changes and lethal concentration of xylazine in body fluid and organs of fatal xylazine poisoning cases are seldom reported and the other toxins detected in such cases complicate the role of xylazine in the cause of death. 
  • 370
  • 25 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Clinical of Intrauterine Exposure to Opioids
Opioids have a rapid transplacental passage (i.e., less than 60 min); furthermore, symptoms characterize the maternal and fetal withdrawal syndrome. Opioid withdrawal significantly impacts the fetus, inducing worse outcomes and a risk of mortality. Moreover, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) follows the delivery, lasts up to 10 weeks, and requires intensive management. Therefore, the prevention and adequate management of NAS are relevant public health issues. 
  • 339
  • 19 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Cannabinoids in Biological Specimens
Cannabinoids are still the most consumed drugs of abuse worldwide. Despite being considered less harmful to human health, particularly if compared with opiates or cocaine, cannabis consumption has important medico-legal and public health consequences.
  • 319
  • 09 May 2023
Topic Review
Corpse Decomposition Process and Postmortem Interval
Lipids play a critical role in biology since they act mainly as a source of energy reserve, and they are part of some structural elements, being the main constituent of most membranes, such as in the case of the nuclear membrane and the membrane of some organelles. They have other essential functions, such as participation in specific processes including cell signaling, material transport, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, metabolism, and thermoregulation. Although lipids are essential for carrying out various processes in the body, they could also cause certain diseases when deregulation occurs.
  • 250
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Synthetic Material Fabrication in Tracheal Reconstruction
The advancements in 3D printing to aid synthetic material fabrication have unveiled promising alternatives to conventional approaches. Achieving successful tracheal reconstruction through this technology demands that the 3D models exhibit biocompatibility with neighbouring tracheal elements by encompassing vasculature, chondral foundation, and immunocompatibility. Tracheal reconstruction has employed grafts and scaffolds, showing a promising beginning in vivo. Concurrently, the integration of resorbable models and stem cell therapy serves to underscore their viability and application in the context of tracheal pathologies.
  • 210
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Application of Aquaporins as Markers in Forensic Pathology
Aquaporins (AQPs) in various forensic fields has offered a promising horizon in response to the need to have reliable elements for the identification of the manner of death and for the individuation of forensic markers for the timing of lesions and vitality of injury.
  • 183
  • 06 Mar 2024
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