Trace elements in forensic human lung: A new approach to the diagnosis of seawater drowning. A preliminary study.

The diagnosing of drowning remains one of the most challenging activities for the forensic pathologist. There is little information on the impact on the lung as a target organ in death by drowning. We aimed to investigate the concentration of trace elements in the lungs of people who had suffered different types of death to evaluate the discriminating ability of trace elements to identify seawater drowning (SWD). A total of 11 trace elements were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry in 74 forensic cases. Sampler scanning electron microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to identify ultrastructural lung alterations. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of trace elements was carried out. The trace elements in SWD lungs were detected in the following order of concentration: Br˃Zn˃Sr˃Cr˃Cu˃As˃Pb˃Se˃Mn˃Ni˃Cd. Our results showed significantly higher concentrations of Br and Sr (P = 0.010 and P = 0.000) and significantly lower concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, and Se in SWD compared with other causes of death. After adjusting by confounder factors, Sr and Br remained as predictive independent factors for diagnosis of drowning (p = 0.042, in both cases). These results were confirmed by PCA, which revealed a wide separation between SWD and the rest of the causes of death. Our SWD cohort was characterized by high concentrations of the trace elements Br and Sr and low concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, and Se in lung tissue, while PCA showed its discriminatory capacity to identify death by seawater drowning. These findings, together with those obtained using other techniques, can be of great importance in the diagnosis of SWD.

Elder abuse among Spanish and Iranian people: new methodological approach to the same old story.

Elder abuse continues to be a taboo, mostly underestimated, ignored by societies across the world. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses have revealed significant variations in the prevalence of elder abuse, with large geographic variations. This is the first study that compares the prevalence of elder abuse and risk factors between a European and Asian countries and using the same method. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Spain and Iran. Eight hundred forty subjects, aged 65 and over, were chosen randomly from patients in primary care health centres. Prevalence of abuse and subtypes and risk factors were obtained using structured interviews. To minimize the potential effects of selection bias, a propensity score matching was performed. Multiple correspondence analysis was used to evaluate the possible relationships among all the variables and to identify specific profiles. Five hundred thirty-two older people remained for the analysis after matching. The prevalence of abuse was 39.1% in Spain and 80.5% in Iran. Elder abuse and its subtypes are significantly more probable in Iran than in Spain. Out of every five elderly people questioned, two in Spain and four in Iran responded affirmatively to a question concerning elder abuse. Multiple correspondence analysis allows the differences between patterns of elder abuse between both populations to be visualized. Elder abuse is a prevalent problem in Spain and Iran. While some characteristics are shared in the pattern of abuse there are different profiles between the two countries. Detecting elder abuse should be a priority objective in clinical and forensic setting. Key points • This is the first study that compares the prevalence of elder abuse between a European and Asian country, using the same methodology. • Multiple correspondence analysis allows specific elder abuse profiles to be identified. • Elder abuse is significantly more likely to occur in Iran than in Spain. • Out of every five elderly people questioned, two in Spain and four in Iran responded affirmatively to a question concerning elder abuse.

Aging and trace elements in human coronal tooth dentine.

Teeth are a fundamental tool in forensic odontology for identification in a legal context of those individuals who cannot be identified visually or by other means. Dentine presents physiological exchanges of in trace elements after a period of mineralization and several factors can affect its concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of 25 trace elements in the coronal dentine according to sex and type of tooth to determine their relationship with age. A total of 25 trace elements were analyzed in 150 human coronal dentine. Teeth were classified into three age groups, sex and tooth type. The trace elements were grouped as potentially toxic or essential. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry and Atomic Emission Spectroscopy were used. The toxic and essential elements were detected in the following order of concentration: Al > Pb > Sn > Li > As > Cd and Ca > P > Mg > Na > S > K > Sr > Zn > Ba > Fe > B > Ti > Mn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Co > Se > V. Our findings show an increase in the concentration of toxic (Pb, Li and Sn) and essential (B, Ba, K, Sr, S and Mg) elements in coronal dentin related to the age of the teeth, regardless of sex. The concentrations of Pb and K in dentin of molars and premolars are the elements that best relate their variations with age. In view of our results, the analysis of these trace elements in dentin in combination with other types of techniques could be established as an element to consider in age dating studies in different forensic situations.

Association between protein profile and postmortem interval in human bone remains.

Proteomic techniques in bones forensic samples are increasingly, being applied. The main aim of forensic sciences is the estimation of postmortem interval. Most current techniques are useful for the first post-mortem stages. However, in the case of osseous remains, these techniques may be difficult to use due to the high level of decomposition of the sample. Our objective was to attempt to know whether there is a protein profile in human bone remains that would enable a late postmortem. interval ranging from 5 to 20 years postmortem to be estimated. A total of 40 femur bones from 40 different cadavers (data range 5-20 years) were use. Of the 275 total proteins, we excluded the circulating ones (n = 227), leaving a total of 48 proteins (29 structural and 19 functional) were found. A multiple correspondence analysis was applied on the 48 proteins. Finally selecting 32 proteins that allowed us to discriminate between the. two groups of postmortem interval. Analysis of the protein profile present in bone permits an approximation of the date of death within the studied interval, and could be used to complement other tests for estimating the postmortem interval.

Assessment of Motivations and Willingness to Participate in Research of Outpatients With Anxiety, Mood, and Psychotic Disorders.

The motivations of participants recruited for research, especially from potentially vulnerable populations, have received increasing attention. The present investigation compares the motivations and willingness to participate in research of 134 psychiatric outpatients and 50 controls. The willingness to participate of both groups was similar. We found a higher proportion of psychiatric admissions and a higher degree of computer literacy among those willing to participate. Regardless of their decision concerning participation, the reasons given by the members of both groups were logical and concordant with the related literature. This suggests that negative views about the motivations of psychiatric patients to act as research participants are unfounded. Efforts should focus on the predictors of willingness to participate that we have identified for improving recruitment. The implications of these results for research are discussed.

Consistency between indexers in the LILACS database (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Literature)

Introduction. Consistency in indexing of Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud is analysed and some features are compared with those of MEDLINE, ISA and PsycInfo. Method. The study was carried out with 194 duplicate entries chosen from 8,547 entries, which is analogous to the process followed in MEDLINE, ISA and PsycInfo. Analysis. Consistency was calculated using the Hooper and Rolling formulas. Analysis. Consistency was calculated using the Hooper and Rolling formulas. The Mann-Whitney U Test and the Student T were used to study the relationships between different variables. Results. Consistency increased on separating out the quailifiers for secondary terms. The quailifiers are used more consistently than secondary terms. Secondary terms are used with very low frequency in the description of documents. In general, the more terms used to describe the documents, the lower the level of consistency. Conclusions. Indexing consistency in LILAC is shown to be substantially less than that offered by MEDLINE, ISA and PsycINFO.