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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.09.005 Byline: Cristina Cattaneo (a), Stefanie Ritz-Timme (b), Peter Gabriel (b), Daniele Gibelli (a), Elena Giudici (a), Pasquale Poppa (a), Doerte Nohrden (b), Sabine Assmann (b), Roland Schmitt (b), Marco Grandi (a) Keywords: Forensic anthropology; Juvenile pornography; Aging; Sexual maturation Abstract: The issue of juvenile pornography has seen an increase in the past few years of the number of expert opinions requested to forensic pathologists, paediatricians and other various experts within the forensic and medical fields concerning the age of represented individuals. Regardless of the entity of the problem, no actual method exists which can allow us to give an objective and scientific answer, particularly in the postpubertal stage. Using parameters related to sexual maturation can be very dangerous. Nonetheless some experts still insist with similar types of 'expertises'. This study aims at verifying the ability of different experts in assessing age of postpubertal individuals represented in pornographic material. Results underline the difficulties and major uncertainties of age evaluation by visual observation of photographic material particularly when the subjects have reached the sexual maturation stage - and therefore in verifying whether the individual is above or below 18 years of age (an important age limit for most European countries as far as this type of crime is concerned). Furthermore the study stresses the need both to search for an alternate approach and to apply extreme caution in judicial evaluation. Author Affiliation: (a) Labanof, Laboratorio di Antropologia ed Odontologia Forense, Istituto di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni di Milano - V. Mangiagalli 37 - Universita degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy (b) Institut fur Rechtsmedizin des Universitatsklinikums Dusseldorf - MoorenstraAe, 5 - Dusseldorf, Germany Article History: Received 20 March 2008; Revised 1 July 2008; Accepted 23 September 2008

Background: The study was aimed to evaluate the impact of the metabolic syndrome on left ventricular (LV) structure and function in nondiabetic patients, never treated with antihypertensive or lipid-lowering drugs. Methods: Eighty-eight patients, with recent finding of clinic BP >140 or 90 mm Hg, underwent 24-h blood pressure (BP) monitoring, echocardiogram, evaluation for metabolic syndrome (Adult Treatment Panel III criteria). Results: Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 38 subjects (43.2%) (metabolic syndrome+). Age, gender, 24-h systolic and diastolic BP were similar between metabolic syndrome+ and metabolic syndrome− groups, whereas body mass index, clinic and 24-h heart rate, fasting glycemia, and triglycerides were significantly higher and HDL-cholesterol lower in metabolic syndrome + subjects. The prevalence of sustained hypertension (24-h BP >125 or 80 mm Hg) was similar between the two groups. Relative wall thickness and LV mass were significantly greater in the metabolic syndrome+ group, also after correction for body mass index. The LV systolic function was similar between the two groups, whereas all the parameters of diastolic function, but the mitral E/A ratio, were significantly lower in the metabolic syndrome+ group. From multiple regression analysis the main independent determinant of LV mass index was the presence of metabolic syndrome, followed by the 24-h systolic BP. Conclusions: Nondiabetic patients with metabolic syndrome showed more pronounced alterations of LV geometry and function compared with subjects without metabolic syndrome. These greater preclinical myocardial abnormalities were not accounted for by difference in age, gender, or 24-h BP and can be reasonably ascribed to the interplay of the metabolic syndrome components, making the metabolic syndrome in itself a relevant clinical problem, possibly a cardiovascular disease equivalent, that deserves aggressive treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Investigation of bodies recovered in water comprises an important proportion of medico-legal cases, but is affected by relevant limits concerning the specific decomposition processes and the cause of death. Few indications are provided by literature concerning the post mortem modification of corpses in water, but for a general variability in decomposition degree, and only few experimental projects have been performed in order to verify the influence of water on the decomposition process. On the other hand, in order to reconstruct the cause of death, at present, the diatom test is considered as the "golden standard" for the diagnosis of drowning, although recent literature has pointed out its relative reliability and the frequent problems of contamination. This pilot study was performed to observe the changes of animal remains in aquatic environments. The following experimental system was set up: three piglet corpses, who died by natural causes independent from the study, were immerged in water rich in diatoms (Navicola, Order Pennales) in a tank exposed to the open air; macroscopic, histochemical and diatoms analysis were performed after 1, 2 and 3 months. Decomposition effects were fast: since the first month the skin appeared colliquated with exposure of the underlying bone surface, whereas at the second and third month the inner viscera were no longer recognizable; histology revealed that the skin was well preserved at 1 month, but morphology was completely altered at the second month, whereas at the third month epidermis was no longer visible. Diatom testing showed the presence of contamination both in the first and second piglet; the finding of a sea-diatom, on the other hand, was completely unexpected. This study performed for the first time histochemical testing on animal models submerged in water: although the results became negative after the second month, some microscopic structure could still be recognized at the end of the experimental project; on the other hand, the search for diatoms in the samples proved the high possibility of post mortem contamination.