Biomechanical study on the effect of atherosclerosis on the vulnerability of thoracic aorta, and it's role in the development of traumatic aorta injury.

Traumatic aorta injury (TAI) is the second most common traumatic cause of death preceded only by head injuries, being responsible for 5% to 30% of all mortalities in high-speed deceleration injuries. Multiple external factors might play a role such as impact speed, impact direction, occupant location, and presence or lack of restraining safety mechanism. Apart from these external factors, also human biological factors can influence its development.

Piercing the surface: A mechanical analysis of stabbing with household tools.

Estimating the applied power during a stabbing incident, or estimating the minimal force necessary to penetrate the body with a certain weapon is a challenging task in forensic practice. A thorough forensic evaluation of stabbing forces needs objective numerical experimental data. Stabbing tests of 12 different weapons - including knives, a pair of scissors, a fork, screwdrivers, a rasp, a corkscrew, and a utility knife blade - were performed with a Mecmesin MultiTest-dV material tester on pork loin and ballistic gel to estimate the stabbing forces and dynamics.

Phone cam array - An open-source, modular photogrammetry system made of Android phones.

Photogrammetry is a 3D reconstruction technique using photographs of the target from multiple angles. Taking pictures around a static object with a single camera can yield high-quality models, but if the subject moves between images, 3D reconstruction might fail. One way to mitigate this is to use multiple cameras.

Forensic assessment of a life-threatening penetrating abdominal air gun injury.

Air guns are considered mostly harmless by the public opinion, but projectiles shot from common air guns can penetrate skin and thus able to cause severe, even life-threatening injury. The prevalence of air gun injuries is constantly high, but severe injuries occur rarely. Forensic evaluation of air gun injuries can be challenging since the shot wound characteristics produced by combustion in case of firearm injuries are missing.

A low-cost and open-source mini benchtop centrifuge for molecular biology labs.

The aim of this manuscript is to provide all the necessary information to build a simple benchtop mini centrifuge that is able to remove droplets and liquid film from the inner wall of PCR tubes and PCR strips following vortexing. Users can choose between two rotors: one can hold up to six tubes (1.5/2 ml, or 500 µl and 200 µl tubes with adapters) or two PCR strips.

Application of 3D printing in assessment and demonstration of stab injuries.

In stabbing related fatalities, the forensic pathologist has to assess the direction of wound track (thus, the direction of the stabbing) and the weapon's possible characteristics by examining the stab wound. The determination of these characteristics can be made only with a high level of uncertainty, and the precise direction of the stabbing is often difficult to assess if only soft tissues are injured. Previously reported techniques used for the assessment of these wound characteristics have substantial limitations.

Sternal aspirate sampling of Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) and Cyanobacteria in suspected drowning cases.

A diagnosis of drowning is not always possible based on the traditional autopsy findings. The most widely used ancillary methods are based on the detection of diatoms and other waterborne organisms in the organs of the systemic circulation by light microscope or polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One of the greatest concerns is sample contamination.

Application of photogrammetry in forensic pathology education of medical students in response to COVID-19.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced universities to switch to distance online education, there was an urgent need to find some virtual/digital alternatives in order to continue teaching. Opportunities such as watching pre-recorded autopsy videos or creating and analyzing post-mortem computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging with various 3D surface imaging techniques are usually time-consuming and cost-intensive. Photogrammetry, which allows the creation of 3D textured surface models from a series of overlapping photographs taken from varying viewpoints, is a less common approach compared with post-mortem imaging.

The effect of steatosis and fibrosis on blunt force vulnerability of the liver.

The aim of our study was to examine the possible effect of steatosis and fibrosis on the blunt force vulnerability of human liver tissue. 3.5 × 3.

Oxidative stress induces transient O-GlcNAc elevation and tau dephosphorylation in SH-SY5Y cells.

O-linked β-N-acetlyglucosamine or O-GlcNAc modification is a dynamic post-translational modification occurring on the Ser/Thr residues of many intracellular proteins. The chronic imbalance between phosphorylation and O-GlcNAc on tau protein is considered as one of the main hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. In recent years, many studies also showed that O-GlcNAc levels can elevate upon acute stress and suggested that this might facilitate cell survival.

Hepcidin and its potential clinical utility.

A number of pathophysiological conditions are related to iron metabolism disturbances. Some of them are well known, others are newly discovered or special. Hepcidin is a newly identified iron metabolism regulating hormone, which could be a promising biomarker for many disorders.