Multiple suicidal gunshot wounds. Case reports and mini-review of literature.

Background: To determine the manner of death (MOD) and, there-fore, to classify the event as natural, suicidal, homicidal, or accidental is an essential and routine task in forensic medicine. The evaluation of MOD presents numerous difficulties due to unusual anamnestic and circumstantial data, in addition to autopsy findings and postmortem findings. Materials and Methods: A mini review of the literature on the topic was performed. Here we report two cases of uncommon self-inflicted multiple GWs (SMGWs) to the head and thorax, suspected of killing. The presence of more than one gunshot wound is suggestive of homi-cide, especially when they involve the head. A review of the literature on the topic was performed on PubMed's database, showing, although considered infrequent, cases documenting SMGWs are not rare. Conclusion: In the cases reported, the initial suspicion of involvement of third persons was excluded through the examination of the death scene, post-mortem (CT and autopsy) findings and clinical-circumstantial data. The analysis derived from the review of the related literature allowed us to highlight the presence of common findings which should be considered in the evaluation of such cases.

Superfluid Fraction in an Interacting Spatially Modulated Bose-Einstein Condensate.

At zero temperature, a Galilean-invariant Bose fluid is expected to be fully superfluid. Here we investigate theoretically and experimentally the quenching of the superfluid density of a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate due to the breaking of translational (and thus Galilean) invariance by an external 1D periodic potential. Both Leggett's bound fixed by the knowledge of the total density and the anisotropy of the sound velocity provide a consistent determination of the superfluid fraction. The use of a large-period lattice emphasizes the important role of two-body interactions on superfluidity.

Rotating a Supersolid Dipolar Gas.

Distinctive features of supersolids show up in their rotational properties. We calculate the moment of inertia of a harmonically trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensed gas as a function of the tunable scattering length parameter, providing the transition from the (fully) superfluid to the supersolid phase and eventually to an incoherent crystal of self-bound droplets. The transition from the superfluid to the supersolid phase is characterized by a jump in the moment of inertia, revealing its first order nature. In the case of elongated trapping in the plane of rotation, we show that the moment of inertia determines the value of the frequency of the scissors mode, which is significantly affected by the reduction of superfluidity in the supersolid phase. The case of an in-plane isotropic trapping is instead well suited to study the formation of quantized vortices, which are shown to be characterized, in the supersolid phase, by a sizeable deformed core, caused by the presence of the surrounding density peaks.

Association between genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase M1/T1 and psoriasis in a population from the area of the strict of messina (Southern Italy).

Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are antioxidant enzymes with frequent genetic polymorphisms. Homozygosis for gene deletion ("null" genotype) of GSTM1 and GSTT1, causing decrease of the antioxidant potential of the organism, is frequent, with variable frequency in different ethnic contexts. Although oxidative stress notoriously plays a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, few studies exist on the association between GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype and psoriasis, with different results. We aimed to assess the frequency of GSTM1/GSTT1 polymorphisms in Southern Italian psoriatic patients and controls and investigate the association of the GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype with individual and disease parameters. To this aim, the GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype of 148 psoriatic patients and 148 age- and sex-matched controls was defined by PCR on oral mucosa cells. GSTT1 null was associated with psoriasis (55.4% of patients vs. 25% of controls, p = 9.58 × 10-8, odds ratio 3.73), while GSTM1 null was not. The GSTM1/GSTT1 "double null" genotype conferred an even higher odds ratio for psoriasis (5.94). The association between psoriasis and GSTT1 null was stronger in women (54.1% of patients vs. 19.7% of controls, p = 8.13 × 10-5) than in men (56.3% of patients vs. 28.7% of controls, p = 0.0002). No association was found between GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype and psoriasis severity, age of onset or comorbidities (psoriatic arthritis, metabolic syndrome). The remarkable differences among the few available data on the association between GSTM1/GSTT1 polymorphisms and psoriasis suggest the need for further studies, on different and larger populations, to improve knowledge on the pathogenesis of psoriasis and possibly provide more precise and personalised prevention and treatment in the future.

Supersolid symmetry breaking from compressional oscillations in a dipolar quantum gas.

Supersolids are exotic materials combining the frictionless flow of a superfluid with the crystal-like periodic density modulation of a solid. The supersolid phase of matter was predicted 50 years ago1-3 for solid helium4-8. Ultracold quantum gases have recently been made to exhibit periodic order typical of a crystal, owing to various types of controllable interaction9-13. A crucial feature of a D-dimensional supersolid is the occurrence of D + 1 gapless excitations, reflecting the Goldstone modes associated with the spontaneous breaking of two continuous symmetries: the breaking of phase invariance, corresponding to the locking of the phase of the atomic wave functions at the origin of superfluid phenomena, and the breaking of translational invariance due to the lattice structure of the system. Such modes have been the object of intense theoretical investigations1,14-18, but they have not yet been observed experimentally. Here we demonstrate supersolid symmetry breaking through the appearance of two distinct compressional oscillation modes in a harmonically trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate, reflecting the gapless Goldstone excitations of the homogeneous system. We observe that the higher-frequency mode is associated with an oscillation of the periodicity of the emergent lattice and the lower-frequency mode characterizes the superfluid oscillations. This work also suggests the presence of two separate quantum phase transitions between the superfluid, supersolid and solid-like configurations.

A lethal Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) due to TBE Virus in Sicily (Italy): a case of IgG+/IgM- response?

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an important viral infection of the central nervous system with high morbidity and mortality. With the increase of tourism TBE is becoming a problem also outside endemic regions. Italy is considered a country with low incidence of TBE and geographically restricted to the central and north eastern part of the country. In the south of Italy there is no evidence of disease presence, but neither is there much evidence of its absence. We report our experience about a lethal case of meningoencephalitis with a single-phase clinical course of the disease likely due to TBEV infection in a 13-year-old man. This is the first report of an autochthonous case of TBE in Sicily, region in the in Southern Italy.

[Endobronchial administration of netilmicin in patients with bronchopulmonary infections seen in the neurosurgical intensive care unit]. / Somministrazione endobronchiale di netilmicina in pazienti con infezioni broncopolmonari ricoverati in unità di terapia intensiva neurochirurgica.

The Authors report the results obtained in the treatment of bronchopulmonary infections in patients hospitalized in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit. Netilmicin was administered by systemic and endobronchial routes. The cleaning of the bronchial tree was always performed. Twenty-six patients (16 males and 10 females) were enrolled and assigned to one of the following groups. Group A: 16 patients with confirmed pneumonia; Group B: 10 patients without bronchopulmonary infections, as controls for serum pharmacokinetic study. In the majority of the cases pneumonia was caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results obtained were positive: pneumonia resolution was observed in 10 patients (67%), improvement in 4 (27%) and failure in one case (6%). A pharmacokinetic study has confirmed bacteriologically active serum levels of netilmicin and also the availability of netilmicin within the bronchial secretions. Endobronchial plus systemic netilmicin administration was active and well tolerated in these critical patients.