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There are three types of motorcycle accidents: crashes against a fixed non-vehicular object; crashes between motorcycle and another motor vehicle; other harmful action. Crashes against guardrails are included in the first crash category. Guardrails are roadside barriers erected to restrain vehicles whose driver has lost control in order to reduce the severity of collisions with off-road fixed objects. Despite such measures, guardrails may still be inadequate to reduce mortality related to motorcycle crashes. The present authors report a case of a man who died after a collision against a guardrail near an Italian city (L'Aquila). The crash against the pole of the guardrail determined a right angle dent of the upper part of the helmet. This dent led to a fatal fracture of the skull. The authors report this case to underline the necessity to modify crash barrier homologation criteria in Italy, because they may actually fail to protect motorcyclists and be responsible for specific, and sometimes even lethal, lesions. K ey Words: motorcycle accidents, mortality, skull fracture, helmet, roadside guardrails homologation.

Long-distance truck drivers have been found to be associated with many medical problems because of their lifestyle and work environment. Many studies have revealed an increased risk in sexually transmitted infections, musculoskeletal disease, sleep disorders, hypertension, gastrointestinal disease, substance abuse and alcoholism, lung cancer, as well as human immunodeficiency virus infection. To our knowledge, there are no any articles about a fatal case of pulmonary thromboembolism. We report a case of a 45-year-old truck driver, who was found dead in his truck at a service station along the A1 motorway in Umbria, Italy. Autopsy findings revealed pulmonary thromboembolism as cause of death. Our report underlies that future actions must be addressed to provide health care access to this vulnerable, medically underserved population.

In the last years, the increased sensitivity of a new generation of STR kits has contributed to a stronger focus on the issue of contamination. DNA contamination can occur by either direct or indirect transfer. Direct transfer includes contact, but also activities within the vicinity of an item that may result in the transfer of DNA from an individual without any contact (speaking or coughing). Indirect transfer of DNA is when DNA from an individual comes to be on an item via an intermediary surface. Contamination within the laboratory may occur as a result of unprotected speaking, through the presence of DNA on unused laboratory gloves, and ineffective cleaning procedures. A recent study noted the transfer of dried blood from and to cotton via tools used during examination (scissors, forceps and gloves), and indicated that these instruments pose a high contamination risk if they are not adequately cleaned. In our work, we analyzed all the gloves used in one day by four operators working in our laboratory. For every glove, we evaluated the presence of contamination DNA from the operator or from other samples. The results are presented here. In forensic caseworks, it is imperative to change gloves every time after touching items or surfaces, prior to touching the exhibit. It is desirable to wear multiple layers of gloves to avoid skin exposure during the changing of gloves.

In the process of development of modern medicine, organ transplants represent one of the most important and more meaningful achievements, allowing to extend and improve the lives of patients around the world. However, increasing requests and the global lack of organs have created the basis for a highly profitable black market in organs that promotes criminal enterprise.

Pulmonary ThromboEmolism (PTE) is an important disease for legal medicine. Because of their sudden lethal onset, generally medicolegal autopsies show few clinical information when PTE is the cause of death. During medicolegal autopsies, the autopsy operator must answer to important questions. For example, autopsy operator can need to assess the casual relationship between PTE and recent accident, such as trauma or long air travel. Furthermore, the autopsy operator needs to investigate the pathology of PTE as a cause of sudden cardiovascular death. It is relatively simple to confirm a fatal massive thromboembolus in the initial stage of thoracic investigations, but sometimes it might be difficult to distinguish this from postmortem clot. In such cases histopathological examination can help in the differentiation. Histological examination is also required for observation of chronological changes of the thrombi. Chronological evaluation is an important factor especially to determine whether the death coincides with the date of a specific accident/event or instead there is an earlier onset of PTE. In addition, histological sections sometimes show additional information, such as tumor fragments in cases of malignancy or small fragments of bone marrow in cases of active resuscitation, that can be useful in a medicolegal scenario. Furthermore, new diagnostic tools are arising, which they can be very helpful in the individuation of this frequently underdiagnosed disease. The goal of our work is to investigate these aspects through the review of the recent literature.

Pulmonary ThromboEmolism (PTE) is an important disease for legal medicine. Because of their sudden lethal onset, generally medicolegal autopsies show few clinical information when PTE is the cause of death. During medicolegal autopsies, the autopsy operator must answer to important questions. For example, autopsy operator can need to assess the casual relationship between PTE and recent accident, such as trauma or long air travel. Furthermore, the autopsy operator needs to investigate the pathology of PTE as a cause of sudden cardiovascular death. It is relatively simple to confirm a fatal massive thromboembolus in the initial stage of thoracic investigations, but sometimes it might be difficult to distinguish this from postmortem clot. In such cases histopathological examination can help in the differentiation. Histological examination is also required for observation of chronological changes of the thrombi. Chronological evaluation is an important factor especially to determine whether the death coincides with the date of a specific accident/event or instead there is an earlier onset of PTE. In addition, histological sections sometimes show additional information, such as tumor fragments in cases of malignancy or small fragments of bone marrow in cases of active resuscitation, that can be useful in a medicolegal scenario. Furthermore, new diagnostic tools are arising, which they can be very helpful in the individuation of this frequently underdiagnosed disease. The goal of our work is to investigate these aspects through the review of the recent literature.

In recent years new molecular biology techniques have emphasized changes in cancer research and important advances in genomic and proteomic fields have led to the need to develop tissue banks for research purpose. Since pathology departments must store tissue blocks for many years, the biomaterial stored in their archives can represent a very useful tool for research. However, the lack of specific laws and the absence of an explicit consensus to the use of these specimens for research purposes cause many difficulties. We must also notice that, sometimes, for these tissues it is particularly difficult to obtain an "a posteriori" consensus, because many subjects could be dead or unavailable. On May 1st 2012 “The Italian Privacy Authority” established that, when the involved person is unavailable or dead, this kind of samples can be used for research purposes without a consent or, as an alternative, in anonymous way. We would like to underlie both the importance of histopathology specimens in cancer research and the essential role of the pathologists because they are the only ones that can recognize and classify pathological tissues, ensure that the tissue removals for research projects do not compromise the diagnosis and the analysis of the resection margins

During the last years, DNA profiling techniques have become more sensitive and mixtures with multiple contributors occur often. Nevertheless, interpretation of mixture profiles is the most complex task in the forensic field. The ISFG published recommendations for the interpretation of mixed DNA profiles that may have allelic drop-out or drop-in. The DNA commission of the ISFG has supported the use of likelihood ratios (LRs) as preferable to other methods. LR can be calculated by probabilistic programs, using semi and fully continuous (probabilistic) methods. These methods increase the efficiency of forensic laboratories and improve the consistency and transparency of the reported results. LRmix is an open-source system dedicated to the interpretation of forensic DNA profiles with a particular focus on complex DNA mixtures. This software is programmed on a LR model and facilitates the calculation of LR for complex mixtures, with partial profiles with known and unknown contributors. Here, we report the re-analysis of two old complex cases processed in our laboratory in the last years. In both cases, we used the software LRmix Studio with interesting consequences: in one case we solved the crime, in the other one, the results allowed the case to be reopened.

The ubiquitous presence of plant species makes forensic botany useful for many criminal cases. Particularly, bryophytes are useful for forensic investigations because many of them are clonal and largely distributed. Bryophyte shoots can easily become attached to shoes and clothes and it is possible to be found on footwear, providing links between crime scene and individuals. We report a case of suicide of a young girl happened in Siena, Tuscany, Italia. The cause of traumatic injuries could be ascribed to suicide, to homicide, or to accident. In absence of eyewitnesses who could testify the dynamics of the event, the crime scene investigation was fundamental to clarify the accident. During the scene analysis, some fragments of Tortula muralis Hedw. and Bryum capillare Hedw were found. The fragments were analyzed by a bryologists in order to compare them with the moss present on the stairs that the victim used immediately before the death. The analysis of these bryophytes found at the crime scene allowed to reconstruct the accident. Even if this evidence, of course, is circumstantial, it can be useful in forensic cases, together with the other evidences, to reconstruct the dynamics of events.

Lipomas are common benign tumors most frequently found within the subcutaneous areas of the body. Deep-seated lipomas are rare and tend to be larger than cutaneous ones. Lipomas are rarely seen in the thoracic cavity, and they are usually located in the mediastinum, bronchiole, and lungs. Diaphragmatic lipomas have been occasionally reported in the literature, the first being described by Clark et al. in 1886. The authors report two rare cases of giant diaphragmatic lipoma incidentally found during forensic autopsies. In the first case, a Caucasian 85-year-old woman burned to death with another passenger, after her methane-fueled car collided with another car on a highway near Terni, Umbria, Italy. In the second case, a Caucasian 45-year-old man collapsed while walking through the countryside of Perugia. In either case, a large mass in the thorax was observed. The definitive pathologic diagnosis was giant intrathoracic diaphragmatic lipoma without evidence of malignancy. The authors also review the relevant literature and discuss differential diagnoses. These case reports contribute to the establishment of the actual incidence of diaphragmatic lipomas.

Suicide by self-incineration is an uncommon method of suicide in the western world in contrast with Asian countries, where this type of suicide is more common. If there is a lack of witnesses, genetic analysis for identification is mandatory, especially when anthropologic or dental identification is barely significant.The authors report a case of self-incineration of a 55-year-old white man, which occurred near Siena, Tuscany, Italy.The recovered bones were classified according to the Crow-Glassman scale and assigned to category 5 (the highest extent of combustion according to this scale). Therefore, because of the extent of the bone damage, analyzing the residual soft tissue around the pelvic bones was the only way to reach a genetic identification.The authors report this case to emphasize that even if the highest level of burn injury to human body is reached, an accurate analysis of the findings may lead to a genetic identification. In these cases, an efficient cooperation among police, fire experts, and forensics is necessary, especially because it is the only way to determine if the modality of death was accidental, suicidal, or homicidal. Language: en

Introduction. We report a case of thrombotic microangiopathy (TM) in patient with UC and kidney transplantation. Case Report. A 59-year-old Caucasian may with a renal transplant, with atrial fibrillation and ulcerative colitis (UC), was referred for asthenia, fever (38°C), anemia, colicky pain, and bloody diarrhea. The maintenance therapy consisted of CSA, sodium mycophenolate, steroids, ticlopidine, and mesalazine. Laboratory data, colonscopy, and colic mucosal biopsy revealed de novo colic TM. We administered antibiotics and antishock therapy, reducing CSA, withdrawing ticlopedine and maintaining mesalazine with the resolution of the problem. Conclusion. Posttransplantation TM is an uncommon but severe complication of kidney transplantation associated with reduced graft survival and a high risk for death. Only an early, accurate diagnosis with optimal treatment permits resolution of the problem.

Nowadays, the use of formalyn fixed tissue for forensic identification is frequently requested. This is why forensic laboratories must often study normal or tumour tissue specimens that are usually archived with this method. The somatic instability of tumour tissue on STR loci and the DNA damages caused by formaldeide are well described. These conditions can cause an incorrect allelic determination that makes a forensic identification fail. In order to evaluate the real incidence of the genetic alterations caused by somatic instability of tumour tissue, and the incidence of the DNA damages caused by formalyn, we studied 25 specimens of patients who have been operated for neoplasia. For each patient, we studied a specimen of fresh tumour tissue and a specimen of formalyn-fixed tumour tissue, and the results of these analyses were compared to a specimen of fresh normal tissue and to a specimen of formalyn-fixed normal tissue of the same patient.

We herein have described a case of de novo gastric cancer in a renal transplant recipient with a concomitant diagnosis of gastrointestinal cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. We hypothesize that CMV, through causing an imbalance between cell proliferation and cell death, functions as the causative agent for the progression of the gastric tumor in this case after gastric colonization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second such case ever reported of such kind and may represent a platform for investigations aimed at understanding the possible interplay between CMV and gastric cancer.

ChrX markers represent an efficient supplementation of autosomal and Y-chromosomal STR analysis and ChrX haplotyping can elucidate complicated kinship situations. This is the reason why it needs to increase the population data for ChrX STR allelic frequencies and to create national or local databases. An esaplex PCR was developed to amplify DXS6789, HumARA, DXS7423, DXS6807, DXS101 and DXS8377 in some Italian samples from Perugia and Terni. This system represents a protocol for the ChrX analysis with a shorter procedure. The DNA was extracted from 100 blood samples using the QIAmp DNA Minikit produced by Qiagen. The samples were detected on an ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems), using the same dye labels, run conditions, standard (GeneScan 500 Liz) and matrix file of AmpFlSTRIdentifiler. We performed statistical analysis for all the loci.

STRs are today one of the most effective tools for individual and populational genetic characterization. This paper presents the results of a population study of 15 STR loci included in AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit (Applied Biosystems) that has the aim of creating a local database. Blood or oral swab samples were obtained from 100 unrelated individuals, who were born in Terni (in the center of Italy) and lived there for at least two generations. DNA was extracted from blood, using QIAamp, miniKit of Qiagen and from oral swab, using Chelex method. For each locus allele frequency was calculated and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was evaluated. The Expected Heterozygosity (He), the Observed Heterozygosity (Ho), the Polymorphic Information Content (PIC), the Power of Discrimination (PD) and the Power of exclusion (PE) were also calculated.

The X-chromosomal markers are increasingly used in forensic genetics, particularly for relationship testing. Their use has become a valuable tool in complex cases of kinship but rather in criminal caseworks is still quite rare. In this paper the authors present a case of sexual assault in which the use of X chromosome polymorphisms has been crucial. The victim was a young immigrant woman found dead in her home. The main suspect was her husband. However, the couple lived in a community in which the particular cultural context suggested the involvement of the other males of the husband family. The suspect lived together with his brother, his father and his uncle. Generally, a useful tool to solve cases of sexual violence is undoubtedly the use of Y chromosome, but in this case this device could not discriminate between the four males involved. An additional factor has further complicated the situation: the most important biological evidence (typed with AmpFlSTR Identifiler and AmpFlSTR NGM) showed a mixed profile in which was very difficult to discriminate the suspects profiles. To solve the casework, the authors typed the victim, the suspects and the biological traces with 6 X-STRs in an homemade esaplex. The results showed the presence of victim and her husband profiles in the biological trace excluding his brother, father and uncle's profiles.