Postmortem biochemistry is a valuable tool in forensic investigations, providing insights into the tissue damage and organ dysfunction associated with death. This study aimed to identify biochemical markers that distinguish primary and secondary hypothermia. Twenty-one Wistar rats were allocated into three groups: the Control group (n = 7), which was exposed only to hypothermic conditions, the Alcohol + Hypothermia group (n = 7), and the Benzodiazepines + Hypothermia group (n = 7). The temperature metrics assessed included the normal core temperature, the post-ketamine (0.3 ml injection) core temperature, the immersion temperature, temperature at the onset of hypothermia, and temperature at death. Blood samples were collected from the thoracic aorta in EDTA vacuum tubes for biochemical analysis. The key biochemical parameters measured included the Total Protein (g/L), Albumin (g/L), Globulin (g/L), Albumin to Globulin Ratio, Alanine Aminotransferase (U/L), Alkaline Phosphatase (U/L), Cholesterol (mmol/L), Amylase (U/L), and Lipase (U/L), using an automated IDEXX (Netherlands) cell counter. Significant between-group differences were found for the total protein and globulin levels (p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively), with post-hoc tests confirming differences between the alcohol and control, and benzodiazepine and control groups. The cholesterol levels were found to be significantly different through an omnibus test (p = 0.03), but post hoc tests did not confirm these differences on a statistically significant level. The amylase levels varied significantly across all groups (p < 0.001), with post hoc tests confirming significant differences among all pairs: alcohol vs. benzodiazepine (p = 0.002), alcohol vs. control (p = 0.003), and benzodiazepine vs. control (p < 0.001). The lipase levels showed significant differences in the omnibus test (p = 0.030), but there was no significance in the post hoc tests. Amylase emerged as the most significant parameter in our study, with reduced levels strongly associated with secondary hypothermia. These findings highlight the potential use of total protein, globulin, and amylase levels as biomarkers to differentiate between primary and secondary hypothermia in forensic contexts.

Background: Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Erythema migras is the main clinical marker of the disease. Objective: This study aimed was to investigate the frequency and clinical manifestations of European borreliosis on the skin, and to determine the significance of these findings for diagnosis and therapy. Methods: A retrospective-prospective clinical study of outpatients treated and monitored in a private clinic of an infectologist was conducted over nine years from to 2013-2021. The study was clinical, descriptive and analytical in nature. Results: In the investigated period, 509 (30.8%) patients with borreliosis symptoms were treated. EM in our patients occurred under the following conditions: a) ringed redness, b) redness of target cels and d) continuous round or oval redness of different sizes of individual redness, or multiple occurrences with primary dissemination. Skin changes with multiorgan chronic symptoms of borreliosis occurred in 67.7% of cases the including: walking redness of different shapes and sizes, pink borreliosis stretch marks, white borreliosis stretch marks, borreliosis palms and soles, psoriatic changes, Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, Scleroderma circumscripta-morphae, Erythema nodosum, Granuloma anulare and Lichen striatus et atrophicans. Of the 509 patients treated for borreliosis, 32.3% with multi-organ symptomatology had no skin changes. Conclusion: The skin manifestations of European borreliosis are multi-layered and Erythema migrans are basic, but not the only markers of the disease. ‘Pink borreliose stretch marks, “white borreliosis striae”, “borreliosis palms or soles”, and intermittent redness accompanied by itching are unique markers for the diagnosis of chronic borreliosis, if they are manifested.

Ankylosing spondylitis is a serious ailment that affects people, and the first signs or symptoms usually occurr between the ages of 15 and 45. While the condition is mostly prevalent in men, women are not immune to this disease. This problem is diagnosed with a combination of clinical history and X-rays, pathology and HLAB27 test. The aim of this case study is to demonstrate how macroscopic and microscopic analysis can be used for identification of the disease from a forensic point of view. In April 2018, we exhumed 11 remains near the city Višegrad, twenty-five years after the last war. All the remains were completely skeletonized. The skeleton of a female was specific and shaped like a bamboo branch, with a partial knitting of vertebral bodies in the lumbar region of spine and with total knitting in the thoracic part. The spinous processes were completely knitted. Her son gave informations for verbal autopsy that she had trouble walking and doing normal activities during life. Samples for analysis and pathological diagnostics were used to determine the real bone condition for forensic purposes. To our best knowledge our case is first one in the literature which combines macroscopic and microscopic analysis of AK in exhumed skeletal remains after 25 years of death in modern era of Europe.

OBJECTIVE The hard palate participates in the construction of the oral and nasal cavities and represents the bony barrier between them. Morphological differences of the hard palate are important for forensic medicine, anthropology, anatomy, as well as scientific branches dealing with the study of evolutionary development, populations differences. The aim of this study was to determine sexual dimorphism of hard palate on three-dimensional (3D) models of human skulls using geometric morphometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research was conducted on 3D models of 209 human skulls from Bosnian population (139 male, 70 female). On the obtained 3D models, we marked landmarks on the palate using Landmark editor program. Using MorphoJ program we analyzed sex differences of shape and size on hard palate. RESULTS The principal component analysis showed that the first two components (PC1 and PC2) described 55.503% of the total morphological variability of the hard palate. The results of the discriminant analysis showed predictive power for male with 66.91% accuracy and for female with 58.57% accuracy based on the shape and size of the hard palate. The influence of size of the hard palate on its shape was statistically significant (p<0.0001). The results of discriminant analysis based on shape of hard palate showed predictive power for male with 68.34% accuracy and for female with 64.29% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS Sex differences of hard palate are statistically significant and can be used for sex determination in skeletal remains. The percentage of accuracy for determining sex based on the hard palate was higher for men in this study.