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When faced with an unidentified body, identifying the victim can be challenging, particularly if physical characteristics are obscured or masked. In recent years, microbiological analysis in forensic science has emerged as a cutting-edge technology. It not only exhibits individual specificity, distinguishing different human biotraces from various sites of occurrence (e.g., gastrointestinal, oral, skin, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts), each hosting distinct bacterial species, but also offers insights into the accident’s location and the surrounding environment. The integration of machine learning with microbiomics provides a substantial improvement in classifying bacterial species compares to traditional sequencing techniques. This review discusses the use of machine learning algorithms such as RF, SVM, ANN, DNN, regression, and BN for the detection and identification of various bacteria, including Bacillus anthracis, Acetobacter aceti, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus, among others. Deep leaning techniques, such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) models and derivatives, are also employed to predict the victim’s age, gender, lifestyle, and racial characteristics. It is anticipated that big data analytics and artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role in advancing forensic microbiology in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms, which are widely distributed in nature and human body, show unique application value in forensic identification. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technology and significant reductions in analysis costs have markedly promoted the development of forensic microbiology and metagenomics. The rapid progression of artificial intelligence (AI) methods and computational approaches has shown their unique application value in forensics and their potential to address relevant forensic questions. Here, we summarize the current status of microbial metagenomics and AI analysis in forensic microbiology, including postmortem interval inference, individual identification, geolocation, and tissue/fluid identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryotherapy is one of the most common treatments for warts; however, pain during treatment and relatively high recurrence rates limit its use. Local hyperthermia has also been used successfully in the treatment of plantar warts. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical effectiveness of local hyperthermia vs cryotherapy for the treatment of plantar warts. This multicentre, open, 2-arm, non-randomized concurrent controlled trial included 1,027 patients, who received either cryotherapy or local hyperthermia treatment. Three months after treatment, local hyperthermia and cryotherapy achieved complete clearance rates of 50.9% and 54.3%, respectively. Recurrence rates were 0.8% and 12%, respectively. Pain scores during local hyperthermia were significantly lower than for cryotherapy. Both local hyperthermia and cryotherapy demonstrated similar efficacy for clearance of plantar warts; while local hyperthermia had a lower recurrence rate and lower pain sensation during treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is an aggressive cancer, the incidence of which is increasing worldwide. Limited therapies are currently available, particularly following metastasis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the inhibiting effect of methionine enkephalin (MENK) on human melanoma via opioid receptors. The results of the present study revealed that MENK markedly regulates the proliferation of A375 cells, causing cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the percentage of cells in S and G2/M phases. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that MENK treatment increased opioid receptor expression in A375 cells. Furthermore, the expression level of survivin, an inhibitory apoptotic protein, was 1.1% of the level in the control group in the MENK group following 48 h of treatment. In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, that MENK may inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of A375 cells, and describes a potential mechanism underlying these effects. Therefore, MENK should be investigated as a primary therapy for human melanoma cancer and as an adjuvant to other chemotherapies. Further studies are required to develop an optimal strategy for the use of MENK for the treatment of human cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study related to 52-year-old, otherwise healthy, woman was referred to our clinic, with a rough wart that had been present on her perineal region for the past 4 months. Topics include the neoplasm had proliferated and gradually formed a large protruding verrucous plaque, and the patient refused any surgical/ablative laser procedures for fear of scars or pigmentation on the treated sites, but agreed to hyperthermia treatment.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recently discovered small non-coding RNAs and can serve as serum biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognoses. Lack of reliable serum miRNA endogenous references for normalization in miRNA gene expression makes single miRNA assays inaccurate. Using TaqMan® real-time PCR miRNA arrays with a global gene expression normalization strategy, we have analyzed serum miRNA expression profiles of 20 female mice of NOD/ShiLtJ (n = 8), NOR/LtJ (n = 6), and C57BL/6J (n = 6) at different ages and disease conditions. We identified five miRNAs, miR-146a, miR-16, miR-195, miR-30e and miR-744, to be stably expressed in all strains, which could serve as mouse serum miRNA endogenous references for single assay experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been anecdotal reports that local hyperthermia was effective in the treatment of viral warts. We conducted a randomized, patient-blinded, placebo-controlled trial to test the effect of local hyperthermia (44°C for 30 min a day for 3 consecutive days plus 2 additional days 2 weeks later) on plantar warts. By the end of 3 months, 53.57% of patients (15/28) in the treatment group and 11.54% of patients (3/ 26) in the control group were cured (P < .01). The effect was not influenced by patient age, duration of disease, or number or size of lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved small non-coding RNAs that repress target genes at post-transcriptional level. Langerhans cells (LCs) are skin-residential dendritic cells (DCs) with a life cycle distinct from other types of DCs. miRNA deficiency interrupts the homoeostasis and function of epidermal LCs, suggesting the critical roles of miRNAs in LC development and function. However, the roles of individual miRNAs in regulating LC development and function remain completely unknown. MiRNA miR-150 is highly expressed in mature lymphocytes and regulates T- and B-cell development and function. Here, we reported that miR-150 is also expressed in epidermal LCs, and its expression is significantly down-regulated during in vitro LC maturation. Using a miR-150 knockout mouse model, we found that lack of miR-150 reduces the capacity of LCs to cross-present a soluble antigen to antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, but does not disturb the development, maturation, migration and phagocytic capacity of LCs. Thus, our data indicate that miR-150 is required for LC cross-presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]