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Background: In the last decades, body art practices such as tattooing and piercing have known an increasing popularity, mainly in young people. These procedures are associated with infectious and non-infectious health risks. The aim of this multicenter study was to evaluate the knowledge of health risks related to body art procedures among undergraduate students from ten Italian universities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on undergraduate students attending universities in northern, central and southern Italy. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to the participants for collecting their socio-demographic characteristics and for assessing their knowledge about health risks associated with tattoos and piercing. Results: A total of 2985 students (mean age 23.15 3.99, 73.9% females) completed the questionnaire. 775 (25.9%) of them were from northern Italy, 906 (30.3%) from the Centre and 1324 (44.4%) from the South. More than 90% of the sample were aware that tattoo/piercing procedures can cause health problems. However, the mean values of correct answers about the health risks associated to body art practices were low (5.38 2.39 on a total of 11 correct answers for tattooing and 5.93 3.12 on a total of 14 for piercing). Higher knowledge of the health risks related to tattooing was found among those attending university since more than four years (p < 0.001), life science courses (p < 0.001) and residing/living in the university area (p = 0.023). Those attending North/Centre universities (p < 0.001), since more than 4 years (p < 0.001), life science courses (p < 0.001), and those with graduated father (p = 0.013) had better knowledge of the health risks related to piercing. Conclusions: These results show a lack of knowledge about health risks related to body art practices in the sample. Educational interventions on this issue targeted to youth are needed in Italy. Key messages: Undergraduates do not show a good knowledge of health risks related to tattooing and piercing. Educational interventions are needed to raise youth awareness and knowledge of health risks of body art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of vaginal fluids is crucial in forensic science. Several molecular protocols based on PCR amplification of mfDNA (microflora DNA) specific for vaginal bacteria are now available. Unfortunately mfDNA extraction and PCR reactions require manual optimization of several steps. The aim of present study was the verification of a partial automatization of vaginal fluids identification through two instruments widely diffused in forensic laboratories: EZ1 Advanced robot and Rotor Gene Q 5Plex HRM. Moreover, taking advantage of 5-plex thermocycler technology, the ForFluid kit performances were improved by expanding the mfDNA characterization panel with a new bacterial target for vaginal fluids and with an internal positive control (IPC) to monitor PCR inhibition. Results underlined the feasibility of a semi-automated extraction of mfDNA using a BioRobot and demonstrated the analytical improvements of the kit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the source of a specific soil sample is a crucial step in forensic investigations. Rapid advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) technology and the strong reduction of the cost of sequencing have recently opened new perspectives. In the present work a metabarcoding approach has been successfully applied to forensic and environmental soil samples, allowing the accurate and sensitive analysis of microflora (mfDNA), plants, metazoa, and protozoa DNA. The identification of the biological component by DNA metabarcoding is a strong element for the discrimination of samples geologically very similar but coming for distinct environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioaerosols associated with wastewater treatment process may represent a health risk for occupationally exposed personnel. To evaluate microbial contamination in plant workers, we compared oral cavity isolates against isolates collected from aerosol surrounding the aeration basin. Typing was performed by metabolic profile and arbitrarily primed-polymerase chain reaction. The latter is more sensitive and rapid than conventional tests. After comparison, isolates from the air samples were not related to those obtained from the exposed workers. This molecular approach can support bioaerosol risk evaluation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]