The diagnosis of early acute myocardial infarction is of particular importance in forensic practice considering the frequency of sudden cardiac death and the difficulty of positively identifying it through classical histological methods if survival is less than 6 h. This article aims to analyze potential immunohistochemical markers that could be useful in diagnosing acute myocardial infarction within the first 6 h of its onset. We conducted an extensive evaluation of the literature according to the PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic literature reviews. We searched the Web of Science and PubMed databases from their inception to 2023 using the following keywords: “myocardial infarction” and “immunohistochemistry”. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Immunohistochemical markers as complement factors and CD59, myoglobin, fibrinogen, desmin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), P-38, JNK (Jun N Terminal Kinase), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), cardiac troponins, fibronectin, H-FABP (heart fatty acid binding protein), dityrosine, fibronectin, CD15, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-15, IL-8, MCP-1, ICAM-1, CD18, and tryptase can be used to identify the first six hours of acute myocardial infarction. These markers are mostly studied in experimental animal models. It is necessary to conduct extensive studies on human myocardial tissue fragments, which will involve the analysis of several immunohistochemical markers and careful analysis of the available data on perimortem events, resuscitation, and postmortem intervals in the context of a uniform laboratory methodology.

The awareness concerning RNA-based therapies was boosted significantly after the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines. However, they can potentially lead to significant advances in other areas of medicine, such as oncology or chronic diseases. In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in the number of RNA-based therapies that were evaluated as potential treatments for cardiovascular disorders. One of the areas that was not explicitly assessed about these therapies is represented by their overall ethical framework. Some studies evaluate ethical issues of RNA-based treatments in general or targeting specific disorders (especially neurodegenerative) or interventions for developing RNA-based vaccines. Much less information is available regarding the ethical issues associated with developing these therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular disorders, which is the main aim of this study. We will focus our analysis on three main topics: risk-benefit analysis (including the management of public awareness about these technologies), and justice (in both research and clinical medicine).

Peripheral nerve injuries represent a significant challenge in legal medicine, and their proper management and evaluation are at the intersection of clinical medicine, anatomical science, and legal medicine. In this review, we aimed to integrate current knowledge about the anatomy, physiology, clinical management, and paraclinical assessment of peripheral nerve injuries, targeted explicitly for medical–legal practice. We conducted a comprehensive review of the medical–legal evaluation framework needed to evaluate peripheral nerve injuries, with particular emphasis on anatomical variations, imaging techniques, and methods to assess the timing of injury. Peripheral nerve injuries should be analyzed using a complex approach, which includes anatomical characteristics, variants, microanatomy, physiopathology, imaging, and other paraclinical evaluations. The analysis of causation and timing of injury should be heavily based on objective criteria and should be performed using a reproducible, objective, and scientifically based approach.

Background: Methods for sex estimation through dental analysis can be classified into qualitative methods, which examine morphological traits, and quantitative methods, which employ objective techniques for sex classification, including, among others, discriminant functions. This study offers a comprehensive perspective on the efficacy of dental measurements in sex estimation. Materials and methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were systematically searched according to PRISMA guidelines. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 56 relevant articles were included in this review. Results: Canines exhibited the most pronounced sexual dimorphism both in adults and children, followed by molars and premolars, highlighting their significance in forensic investigations. Conclusions: Although dental methods for sex estimation are generally cost-effective and highly accurate, it is crucial to recognize the various limitations associated with these techniques.

Recent developments in the research field of artificial intelligence (AI) based on neural networks provide challenging questions regarding the ethical principles that should be applied in this complex domain. Kagan et al.’s published study highlights the fact that their synthetic biological intelligence (SBI) called ”DishBrain”, made of neurons from embryonic mice or human pluripotent stem cells grown on electronic chips connected to a computer, is capable of learning to play the arcade game Pong and shows signs of sentience. Based on this study, we tried to address some ethical questions regarding the bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids in SBI’s. Firstly, we approach the ethical aspects of human-animal chimeras in SBI’s based on the concept of human dignity and if it can or cannot be attributed to those hybrid systems. Secondly, we focus on if we can and what type of moral status should we attribute to SBI’s starting from different conceptualizations of human and animal moral status to different model-based arguments considering the capacity of sentience and the presence of human cells in this type of construct. We highlight how many arguments are in favor of starting an ethical debate on the emergent technology of bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids to obtain a consensus on how these organoids will exist and will be accepted in society.